Oh The Merry, Merry Month of May - and New Stamps and a New Sale!

We roamed the fields and river sides, When we are young and gay; We chased the bees and plucked the flowers, In the merry, merry month of May. Refrain: Oh, yes, with ever changing sports, We whiled the hours away; The skies were bright, Our hearts were light, In the merry, merry month of May.

So here it is again -- the first of the month and another wonderful Blog Hop for Technique Junkies. The place to start is here -  www.http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-blog-hop-new-stamps-new-inspiration.html  . All May Technique Junkie Release stamps are on sale for 15% until May 8 -- so don't delay, go shopping and choose YOUR new stamps from the Technique Junkie Stamps May release found here -  http://techniquejunkies.com/may-2016-release/.  For some strange reason Blogger isnot working correctly today.  So if you come across any links that don't seem to work, please the Design Team has tried hard to correct everything -- and in some cases to no avail.  Please just copy the link and paste it into a browser.  If that still doesn't work right, then click on the HOME button in their blog and it will take you to today's post. 

Please be sure to read to the very end of my Blog post today as I have a contest for you.  Read and see what you will need to do to enter the contest. 

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) sized stamps are fun to use.  You can use them on an ATC of course, but they are also useful as a focal image on a card.

For this card I used the new Technique Junkie Stamp London ATC -  found here http://techniquejunkies.com/london-atc/.  I stamped it in Versafine black ink and covered it with clear embossing powder.   Then I spray Art Anthology Colorations over it and quickly wiped off the excess on the embossed sections with a paper towel.  Lots of layers on this card and lots of ribbon.  It is just a fun card to show case this terrific stamp!

My dog wood tree is about in bloom. When I was much younger I remember dogwood trees as only have white flowers. Now I know they come in a very different color.  But this one is white, with rusty brown at the tips.  This is of course, a Technique Junkie May release stamped called Dogwood Branch - http://techniquejunkies.com/dogwood-branch/ .  This fun Technique Junkie Stamps saying is called  Keep Calm and Behave Yourself - http://techniquejunkies.com/behave-yourself/ .

And this Kansas gal like sunflowers.  So I  really wanted to do a good job on this sunflower which is a Technique Junkie May Release called Face the Sunshine - http://techniquejunkies.com/face-the-sunshine/.  It is stamped with Memento black ink  and then colored with Copic markers. I added a little color to each space within  the letters. There is Sponging all over for the sky.  Then I used a a clear liquid glue and added copper Roxs for the seeds. And now --for the background. I wanted to use the sunflower and not the words on card stock behind the focal image.  So I VERY, VERY carefully used my craft scissors and cut between the letters and the sunflower to separate them.  And it worked! Now I have  two stamps!  These two stamps  remain like a puzzle so that when I want to use them together they are like a puzzle on my acrylic block and will perform as though I never cut them apart. 

This is a fun card at this time of the year.   Dandelions seem to be everywhere.   Children everywhere seem to delight in blowing the seeds of the dandelion puff ball - much to chagrin of every person out there trying to get rid of dandelion weeds. This delightful Technique Junkie stamp is called Weed or Wish -  http://techniquejunkies.com/weed-or-wish/. 

To create this look of the soft puff ball, I carefully inked only the flower puff and blowing seeds with Versamark ink.  Then I used markers directly to the stamp and over the Versamark ink.  Then I inked up the words with Black Versafine ink.  I stamped it all on white card stock and covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set the powder.  Then I sponged on blue for the sky.    I used a variety of background papers  and solid card stock to create texture interest in the layers on the card.  

And now for the contest.  One person who comments on my Technique Junkie May Release Blog Hop post will win ONE of the above cards.  Any one may win.  Please make your comments before May 5.  On May 5 I will draw one name as the winner and contact you for your snail mail address. Let me know 2 things: 1. which card you like the best AND  2. which new Technique Junkie May Release stamp you like the best. And your favorite Technique Junkie May Release stamp does not have to be a stamp I used. 

Quite often I can tell the email address of the comment writer but not always. So to be sure I can find your email address, you might want to put your email addy in the body of the comment.   Please do it safely -- write it like this: janedoe at yahoo dot com.  If I cannot find your email address, then you cannot win. 

Now -- on with the HOP!!  Begin the hop at the tip of this list and hop on!  Enjoy the day and enjoy the HOP!  You will  hop to Tonya Davidson's blog after me -- http://stampintonya.blogspot.com/2016/04/mays-new-releases.html .

Have a wonderful day and get inky!