An Untraditional Mother's Day Blog Hop with Sparkle N Sprinkle

Welcome to An Untraditional Mother's Day Blog Hop With Sparkle N Sprinkle. Did you arrive from Shona's amazing place? Then you're right on. If not, to view all the beautiful cards and become eligible for one of two great prizes, begin at the SNS Home Blog.

This is your last stop before returning to the Home Blog. 

The incredibly diverse and beautiful cards presented by my fellow Sparkle Team designers reveal a glimpse into their feelings about special woman in their lives. Our Mother's Day inspired hop is untraditional because we're displaying cards which honor extraordinary women, whether they are Moms or not. We hope you have enjoyed these feminine cards, and perhaps want to create something special for the dear women who meaningfully touch your life. 

Today's card is intended for my Dad's wife. Linda is one of those rare and kind individuals who shines  a certain happiness and light in our family. Hard working, and lots of fun, she always seems to be thinking of others, making each day more enjoyable. How fortunate she and my dad found each other! The card style is a little different for me, because I tried tearing paper so that everything would not be uniform - the layers of designer and mulberry papers are all torn, and intended to overlap. (No reflection on Linda, LOL).

Also employed is the newly re-released set "Flower Vases", which is on special this month. 

The images have great potential no matter what your coloring forte. Water color pencils were applied with a brush. Vases were then "colored in" with a VersaMarker and covered with clear detail embossing powder. 

The "Special Warmth" saying is perfect! The stamp can easily be cut in half to have a "before and after" placement on the front of the card, or to employ an "innie and outie" effect on the inside of the card. The combinations of bead and glitter colors were specially mixed to create a dimensional texture in the card colors. It's fun mixing custom elements! Check out the enhanced designer paper - an image was randomly stamped on the DP with VersaMark and then heat embossed with Princess Rose embossing powder which is also on special this month.


A complete recipe for this card, and its components is on the SNS Gallery here.

Thanks for stopping by! To become eligible for one of two prizes, remember to leave a comment below, before continuing on to SNS Home Blog for one last comment. I hope you win a prize! 

Stamping hugs,

Glitter Tinsel and Quilting

Designer, Teacher, Coordinator - she does it all. Dawn Thomas, that is. Dawn coordinates our Tampa Bay Area get togethers for The Florida Stampers group. Saturday we enjoyed 2 sweet projects, courtesy of demo artists Kim Davenport and Dawn!

Kim helped us make darling little bird house containers which hold little goodies or candy. Armed with excellent directions and lots of patience, Kim guided us through lots of laughter, diversions, and "how do you do it?" questions.

Here's my finished product after a lot of fumbling:

This little birdie's house has a thatched roof made with Yellow Gold Glitter Tinsel to resemble straw. Sparkly straw from Sparkle N Sprinkle, of course. :-)

It's true what they say about "a bird in the hand..."
Jack quickly relieved the bird of the candy cache inside. Jokingly he claimed to have ripped off the roof. My response was laughter, musing that I wished I could have seen that... then he CLAIMED not to have done it. What do you think? Did he?

Dawn demo'd how to achieve a look which simulates hand-made paper with embedded dried flowers. I thoroughly enjoyed this demo because I'm passionate about flowers and addicted to easy texturing. I wonder if it will work with REAL dried flowers - does anyone know? SIMPLE - stamp an image, pop on the paper flowers with a droplet of glue, place in detailed embossing folder, and put it through the die cut machine. In THIS case, we christened my brand new Grand Calibur!

This card is size A7 (5"x7"). Sentiment to be added later. A very fun technique, I'll be doing more of it. Even though it's not easily seen, there IS glitter present! :-)

A great day all 'round! Are you in the Tampa Bay Area? Our next meeting is the third Saturday in May.
Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle & Really Reasonable Ribbon's Fantastic Blog Hop!

   

Welcome to the February Sparkle N Sprinkle and Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! We are so excited to be pairing with Really Reasonable Ribbon today for some great new ideas and products. If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from the very talented Aphra Bolyer!  If you haven't, please please please pop over to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog and hop along. Both design teams have created some amazing projects, demonstrating how stamps, ribbons and glitter just naturally go hand in hand.


This month we all received the wonderful RRR February Ribbon Kit, filled with a gorgeous array of trims and ribbons for lovely Springtime projects. Lots of great pastels to match up with SNS's hand-blended glitters, embossing powders, flockings, and specialty stamps. If texture is something you enjoy adding to your crafting projects, SNS has the colors for you. The SNS glues are specially formulated to keep glitters and flockings where they belong. 

In addition to the coveted Really Reasonable Ribbon blog candy, Sparkle N Sprinkle is giving a stamp set to one lucky hopper!  Leaving a message on every blog increases your chances of winning, because it's a mystery which of the artists' blogs has been chosen to house the prize! On Tuesday February 15, a name will be drawn from the comments on the mystery blog. Winner gets to choose a stamp set of their choice from SparkleNSprinkle.com!"

My Spring time creation uses 3 of the hand-selected ribbons from RRR's inspirational February Ribbon Kit, SNS Starfire glitter, 3 images from the "My Rose Garden" set, colored pencils, Lime Pearlescent Brilliance ink, and a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Adhesives were dimensional Zots, SNS Brushable Glue, SNS Dimensional Glue, and SNS glue pen.

This closeup helps show the detail in the ribbons, and how a touch of sparkly glitter adds happiness and texture to any paper project. A toothpick dipped in SNS Dimensional Glue was placed over the stripes on the ribbon to add more cheerfulness.


It was great fun using RRR's spectacular ribbons with our quality SNS products. It's time for me to say good-bye. Thanks for hopping by. Let me know what you think about the card, and what other colors might create an even prettier version! Don't forget to leave comments along the way to qualify for the prizes! Now hop on over to view Kerri Michaud's marvelous designs!


Stamping Hugs,

SNS Birthday Blog Hop!

I'm so glad you're here! Welcome to the final stop in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Fall Inspiration Blog Hop! If you hopped here by way of Sandy Meier's blog, then you're on the right track. If you've arrived from somewhere else, you might want to start from the beginning, at the SNS blog, so as not to miss anyone's remarkable cards and your chance to win a prize! At least one prize is involved. 

The more visitors we have, the more prizes will be awarded, so tell your friends! To become eligible for a prize just leave a comment at each designer's blog about her card AND who you think has the Hidden Birthday Prizes. If you've only just arrived, please check the GAMES page at the SNS website, or the link above. Feel free to return to the SNS Home Blog if there is another comment you'd like to leave there. In the meantime, we hope you have enjoyed the hop and obtained some great technique ideas in the process.

My Fall Inspiration is a bit different over traditional Autumn Ideas. We live in Central West Florida. The colors are taken from an indigenous tree called the"Turkey Oak".  The vibrant colors only last a brief 3 or 4 days. Displaying a single stamp from the SNS "Frames and Borders Set #219" and two colors embossing powders, this project portrays a unique grasp on Autumn - the metallics reminiscent of icy-sparkly frost on the pumpkin, with golden leaves still waxy and dazzling in the Florida sunshine.

To show how much embossing powders can change the appearance of cardstock -- all the embossed images are stamped on the same color cardstock! What a difference the EP colors make! Cordial Red EP is very clear. Spiced Cider, one of the newest Essentials colors, creates the metallic look blended with glitter. Unfortunately, glitters and EPs don't show up well in photographs, but are amazing in person.

On a more traditional note, SNS Designer Barbara Bruder sent a surprise package containing blank die cuts just itching to be colored and used! One was a large pumpkin. I painted the pumpkin with regular acrylic paint, shaded with Createx translucent paint, and chalked in a reddish orange. Frosted with glitter, it appears to have frost on the pumpkin. 

The entire background has been coated in Black Ice Glitter. The vine and stalk have been coated with 3 colors of EP. The coats are thicker on the stalk to create dimension. VersaVine Onyx Black stamped "Wish" from our Fairy Dust set.

So... who do you think has the hidden birthday prize(s) on her blog? I'm interested in seeing what you say in the comments below. :-D The names of our winners will be placed on the SNS Home Blog October 20.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck! 

Sparkle N Sprinkle images:

Flowers in the Square 0470-219V

Mirror Gold Cardstock 99570

Cordial Red Embossing Powder EP352

Spiced Cider Embossing Powder EP407

Brushable Glue #540

Dimensional Adhesive Dots

Cardstock: Red, Yellow Gold, Ivory, Gold Mirror

1/4” Tear-ific Tape SAT01

Grand Calibur

Spellbinders Standard Circle Sm S4 116

Spellbinders Petite Scallop Circle S4 117

Spellbinders In Spades Pendants S4 208

Corner punch

Scissors

Plain Tape

NOTES:

a) embossing powders can change the appearance of cardstock -- all the embossed images are stamped on the same color cardstock.

b) the base of this A8 card is actually the yellow gold CS (the background was for photographing)

1. With Yellow Gold CS, create A8 size card base. Corner punch red panel and adhere to card base. Set aside.

2. With VersaMark Ink, Stamp image twice on Ivory CS. Emboss one image with Cordial Red EP, and the other with Spiced Cider EP. Fussy cut image in manner pleasing for layering. Slip the two outer frames together to form an interlocking effect. Tape backs together so they don’t slip apart.

3. Cut dies for layering, adhering some with Tear-ific Tape, and others with Dimensionals, depending on the look you wish to achieve. Cut some of the dies in half, and piece together from the back side with plain tape.

4. When layers have been constructed to your liking, adhere to card base on the red panel. 

Pumpkin card:

Stamp Credits Sparkle N Sprinkle:

Wish 3131-394AA

Other Supplies:

Bullfrog EP404 

Bronze Rose EP335 

Butterscotch EP115 

Orange Crush Glitter G1092 

Black Ice Glitter G1020 

Brushable Glue 540 

VersaMark Ink 99702

VersaMarker 99561

1/4” Tear-ific Tape SAT01

cardstock (orange, black)

die cuts

optional border punch

heat tool

black ribbon

1. Paint die cuts (pumpkin, vine) with paints, inks, pencils or chalks. Apply a thick layer of VersaMark Ink (either with refill or VersaMarker on pumpkin stalk and vine. Sprinkle with the 3 colors of EP, as desired. Thicker application gives added texture and depth. Set vine aside.

2. With Brushable Glue, lightly “paint” a shaded area at the top of the pumpkin to resemble due or frost and sprinkle on Orange Crush Glitter.

3. Paint black background entirely with an even coat of Brushable Glue. Adhere pumpkin and sprinkle Black Ice glitter on the rest of the black cardstock. Allow 15 minutes to dry. Border punch if desired.

4. Adhere glitter black panel to an orange piece of cardstock. Attach embossed vine. Tape on the black bow.