A Blue Bottle Stamping post!

Once Christmas is over, it’s time to think about Valentine’s Day! The new Hot Dog photopolymer stamp set was my inspiration for Valentines this year. The sweet little heart stamp is just begging to be used on a Valentine! This Hot Dog Stamp set is so versatile!

I love to start with Kraft paper card stock. So versatile! And I hope you didn’t hide away all your holiday designer series papers, because those red prints come in handy for Valentines. Designer Series Paper Brights would work as well. I used the Real Red Classic Stampin’ pad. Additional supplies I used are an old wood stamp for the greeting, a bit of washi tape and baker’s twine.

I started out by cutting circles with my die cutter to stamp the dogs on. The photopolymer stamps make centering your stamp so easy, unlike the wood stamp I used for the greeting. I need to remember to stamp first, then cut out as you can see I struggled to center the ‘love’ stamp! I colored the dogs with our Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack. The Ivory Card Stock worked with the Stampin’ Blends far better than the scrap of white paper, which tended to bleed. Below is the basic layout, and you could stop here and call it done. I used one and a half-two inches of the red print down the middle, and a bit of washi tape under the greeting.

I wanted to add those cute little hearts, so I stamped those kind of random, and added a baker’s twine bow to the dog with a mini glue dot.

So I was ready to leave it go at that, but the circles the dogs were on didn’t pop quite as much as I hoped. I thought a band of red print would be enough, but I decided to try cutting a slightly bigger circle in another random red print. Also, the dogs kind of appear to be floating, so I added a shadow underneath. You could put a few blades of green grass, but I didn’t really want to add another color.

So that’s how I will finish the rest. Inside I plan to stamp the phrase from the Hot Dog set that says “I love you – that’s the long and short of it.” As a Basset Hound owner, I love the short legged pups. My brother-in-law’s comment about Rosie, our pup, was she’s half a dog high and a dog and a half long. I’m making a total of 6 with this basic design, so the first 2 maybe aren’t quite as cool, but I always say, done is better than perfect. If I waited to get them perfect, I’d never finish any, lol!

So what are you stamping for Valentine’s Day? If I can help you with your Stampin’ Up products, give me a shout. Be sure to follow my Blue Bottle Stamping page on Facebook for all the latest news and specials. Sale-A-Bration continues through Feb. 28, 2021. Earn fabulous free products with every $50 purchase! Happy Stamping! And if you want to read more about Rosie, check out my post, Life is Better with a Dog.