Welcome back and Nancy, here.  I have a nephew's whose birthday falls on Halloween and he loves his dog.  So I made this birthday card with these adorable dogs getting bone treats for Halloween.  So what perfectly way to get started is with the new arrivals of Lawn Fawn Purrfectly Wicked, Lawn Fawn Purrfectly Wicked Add On and  Lawn Fawn Furry and Bright stamp sets.  I will have some very fun Christmas cards made with these adorable stamps this holiday season and excited to share them with you soon. These Lawn Fawn new arrivals will put a spell on you to get your hands on them and create magically cards but better get your order in while supplies last at The Rubber Buggy because these stamps are too cute to pass up.  

I cut out the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Slimline With Hearts die but just used the outside frame.  I love how this fits so well in a regular envelope for easy mailing.  I sponged on the colors of Distress inks such as Black Soot around the edges, Chipped Sapphire Blue and Shabby Shutters inks in the center.  I found an ole Tim Holtz Halloween web stamp for the sides and also many doggie bones with bows from the Lawn Fawn Christmas Dreams stamp set. Also, I used a pumpkin for the dog from the Lawn Fawn Pick of the Patch stamp set.   I always use Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp and color my stamps since I struggle with the other black inks bleeding black into into my Copic Markers colors and use Altnew Crispy Black ink for these tiny sentiments. 

For stamping tips, I always use my Misti My Sweet Petunia Stamp Platform tool.  If you don't have a stamp platform, get it since it is on the top of any stamper's tools and I use mine every time. You will treasure this forever and all of my friends got one after seeing mine to eliminate the frustration of stamping which can be huge. There are many tutorials online to help you get started as well as tips and other techniques. 

I use additional technique for some of the stamping using this platform for this specific stamp set.  Lay the card or image down behind a clear sheet of plastic acetate using the magnetics in the stamp tool. Much easier to stamp and color the images before stamping these tiny words on the books and jars in this stamp set to prevent any black ink bleeding with the Copic Markers coloring before cutting it out.   I stick the stamp where I think I want it stamped in the stamp tool.  I apply the ink lightly on the stamp and then stamp onto the plastic with the card visible.  If it isn't where I exactly want it, I move the stamp or you can sometimes move the card around to try to get the right locations of the stamp.  Try this technique again until you get it where you want.  Then take the plastic off and stamp onto the card.  If you don't have any plastic acetate around, just use the plastic that comes with the stamps.