MFP Blog Hop Day 1 - Fantastic Dogs

   January Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Fantastic Dogs Featured January 15
No Sour Grapes Featured January 16
In My Den Featured January 17
Love, Love, Love Featured January 18

Please hop along with us! You have a chance 
 to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on January 19, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday January 18, 2013.


Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the first blog hop of 2013! We are so excited to share the great stamp sets we are releasing this month and the months to come. 

 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

" OH Baby"

 

The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Not So Ugly"

 

I admit that the first set this week was the hardest for me -- not because I'm not a dog lover, but just because I haven't had a dog in a very long time.  But I jumped in with my fingers crossed.  My first card uses the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge from last week.

A lot of this card was stamped on card stock from my scrap pile.  After stamping one of the dogs from today's set on a small piece of vanilla paper, I colored him with Chromatix markers.  They are alcohol markers I bought at Michaels, and they blend nicely.  The pawprint DP was also in my scraps -- just the right size for the sketch.  The background is embossed with a Sizzix plaid embossing folder and the sentiment panel and dog bone are both popped up with dimensionals.  The inside says, "It's Your Birthday."

My second card was actually inspired by a photo I received recently.  Last year, after my uncle died, my 90-year-old Aunt Mary moved into an assisted living facility.  As you may or may not be aware, many volunteer groups visit such facilities; and one of the groups visiting my aunt's ALF is a Pet Therapy group.  This photo was taken of my aunt and one of the visiting dogs.

The cocker spaniel's name is Lilly, and she reminded me very much of the other dog from today's set.  So after I stamped the image, I colored it to look like Lilly.

 After coloring the dog with Copic markers, I used some Copic blending solution on a dish cloth and sponged it over the image -- leaving a little texture to the coloring.  I had done the same thing to the dog in my first card, but it did not show as dramatically as the second one.

Be sure to check out the following blogs and comment for a chance to win a free stamp set.

Patty P., Lois (that's me), Vicky, Jane,  Debbie,  Pam,  Pat,  Thrifty Stamper,  MariLynn,  

Karen,  Bonnie,  Kathy,  Angela,  Cathy,  Toni,  Sue,  Janine,  Tammylee, An'jenic,  Kate,  

Shirley,  Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co