Saturday, December 31, 2016

Milton Dreams Big {Sparkle N Sprinkle January Reveal}


Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle's
 January 1, 2017 New Reveal Blog Hop!

We're starting the New Year off with a BANG! We have a huge reveal to share with you - our largest ever!

 There are TEN new stamp sets (one is a digi-only set) being released this month!  These new sets are 20% off until January 3, 2017.  So once you finish the blog hop, head on over to the store and start shopping.  

The sets are:

Right Beside You 812  (digi version DIGI812)
Milton Friendly Giraffe 817  (digi version DIGI817)
Cattleya Orchid Friendship 818  (digi version DIGI818)

Easter Chicky 820  (digi version DIGI820)
Party #1 821  (digi version DIGI821)
Party #2 822  (digi version DIGI822)

Eggs-traordinary Kindness 825  (digi version DIGI825)

Emily Showers of Love 831   (digi version DIGI831)




On Jan 3rd, ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs listed below. Please leave a comment with each Designer in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  You never know who the Mystery Designer will be that has the winning comment.

The Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on the SNS Facebook page and on the SNS Blog, will receive ALL of the new stamp sets released this month (or the digi versions, if preferred).


The Blog Hop order this month is:

Anne (you are here 😀)

(*Tip: if you have difficulty with a particular link, try clicking on the Designer's blog title to send you to their Home page.)


We hope you enjoy the New Reveal Blog Hop as much as we do.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  
 Wonder who the Mystery Host will be this month????


The Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge also begins today.  There are lots of prizes and recognition badges.  Come check out how you can become a SNS Featured Artist as well.  The theme is always Anything Goes using Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder, and/or Flock.


Have you checked out the SNS YouTube Channel featuring Demo Donna?  If not, then you are in for a real treat.  Subscribe today to get all the latest Demo Donna tips and techniques!



Now a bit about my card.  The design for Milton Friendly Giraffe came about when I was thinking of all the people who graduate in December instead of in the spring.

This card has lots of layers on it (at least more than I usually do) and each layer is a different die set.

To start out, I used the digi version of Milton and printed the image and two of the sentiments that come with this set at the same time.  After die cutting the image and sentiments out with a Spellbinders die (Mega Curved Rectangle), then I got out my Copics and began coloring the image.  To combine the two sentiments into one statement, I used the ampersand die by Sizzix (Tim Holtz Halloween set) and covered it with Evening Glow glitter.  A Sakura glue pen was used to outline the word "stars" and then Evening Glow glitter was added to the word for emphasis.  (Evening Glow glitter was used to accent most everything on the focal point.)

The Graduation Set dies from Die-Versions were used to create the accent pieces.  For the graduation cap, I first applied a thin layer of Nuvo Glimmer Paste (Black Diamond) onto a scrap piece of paper.  Once this was dry, I die cut it out, making sure to leave all the negative pieces in the die cut.  Luckily, my glimmer paste was just thick enough to die cut the outline, but didn't cut all the way through.  I die cut the graduation cap a second time from black cardstock and then added Blue Raven glitter to the outline.  This was then adhered on top of my Black Diamond die cut.  This gives it the appearance of shades and shadows, just like a real graduation cap.  The tassel was accented with Evening Glow glitter.

I used the negative pieces of the diploma as well and highlighted certain areas of the cardstock with a Copic marker.  Again, Evening Glow glitter was used for the ribbon around the diploma as well as the border around the die cut.

Digi paper (which I've had for years) was used for the second layer.  For glimmer, Sparkle embossing powder was added to the edges.  The third layer was dry embossed with a Crafters Companion embossing folder (Pebbles).

For the final layer, I used a Sue Wilson Designs die (Noble dies-Double Pierced Rectangles Set B) as a guide for how large to cut the black cardstock.  Then I dry embossed this same die over the cardstock to get the pierced edges.  I also sprayed a homemade glimmer spritz on top.  You could also use Pearl Mist as well.

Now it's time for you to visit Belinda.  She has something extra special for you too.  Be sure to leave a comment on each of our blogs for your chance to win all TEN of the new stamp sets revealed this month.

Happy New Year!


Thursday, December 29, 2016

Build A Wreath



Today's sweet little note card was created using the new digi-only stamp set Build A Wreath that was revealed this month from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  This digi set has over 48 images that come with it, so it's easy to create lots of different projects with it.

For the note card, I started out by creating my own "digi paper" for the background.  I added a couple different leaves and added a couple different berries and arrange everything how I wanted.  Once I was happy with it, I printed that portion out.

I then began building my wreath.  I started out with the base, added several different types of leaves and the bow.  I printed the bow out twice so I could pop dot it on top of the original bow for added dimension.  Then I fussy cut the wreath and the bow.



Rose Gold velvet glitter and Bronze Splendor glitter were added to the wreath base and Green Nugget glitter was used to add emphasis to the leaves.

The bow was heat embossed with Sparkle embossing power.  If you look at the bow from the side, you'll notice that the edges are curled upward.  I didn't want to add a pop dot that could be seen from the side to keep the sides of the bow raised, so after adhering the bow in the center, I added some glossy accents underneath the raised areas and let it dry.  Once dry, the sides stay in the upward position and the glue dries transparent.

A strip of vellum was added between my digi paper background and the wreath for eye appeal.  Some red mirrored cardstock as a second layer really helps the bow to pop.


Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Celebrate the Season


I have one last Christmas card to share with you today.  This one uses two Die-Versions dies: Sweet Nativity and the Compliments Holiday 1 set.

I started out by creating my background using Dark Night embossing powder.  As you can see from the two photos, it looks very different, depending on the way light hits it.  This is one of my favorite embossing powders to use when depicting a night sky.


 I die cut the Sweet Nativity several different times so that I could accentuate the shining star.  The main part of the star was die cut twice and colored with a Spectrum Noir sparkle marker (Moonlight).  The inner part was die cut three times and glued on top of each other.  This third layer was added because I wanted it to be taller than the outer area of the star.  I also added Sunny Daze glitter to this smaller part for added sparkle.



The entire die cut was heat embossed with Sparkle embossing powder for a shimmery look.  You can really see this detail in the first photo.


The sentiment was die cut from white cardstock and adhered to the bottom.  If you look at this die, you will notice that the actual word on here is "Seasons".  As you can see, I cut off the "s" to fit my needs. 😊






One last look at how the light can affect the way this card looks.


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you the best in the new year.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Christmas Mittens {Scrapy Land #56}



It's the third Wednesday of the month and that means it's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge.  As you probably guessed, the theme is Let It Snow/Holidays plus use any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.  It's also a few days before Christmas, so I have one more Christmas card to share with you.

The following dies were used to create this card:


Sue Wilson Designs: Spanish Collection - Cordoba
Sue Wilson Designs: Spanish Collection - Granada
Die-Versions: Merry Christmas
Die-Versions: Wee Petites Cold Weather set (retired).  Here are some other mitten dies that would also work well.

To start out, I die cut both the Cordoba die and the Granada die from blue cardstock.  I also dry embossed the Granada die cut using a Sue Wilson Designs embossing folder (Climbing Vines).

Take a piece of sticker paper cut the same dimensions as the outside of the Cordoba die cut.  Remove the protective sheet to expose the adhesive and place the Cordoba die cut on the outside edge.  Then place the Granada die cut in the center.  Add Sequin Gold glitter to the remaining adhesive and burnish it into the sticker paper with your finger.



Next I die cut my sentiment and heat embossed it with Halo embossing powder.  Die cut the mittens and add color to the bow with a Copic marker.  Heat emboss the bow with Clear embossing powder.  Then add glue to the mittens, leaving the area next to your wrists clean, and cover with Cabernet velvet glitter.  Add Dimensional Glue to the wrist area and cover with Snow White flock.  Allow to dry completely before adhering to the bottom of the sentiment.



This is a pretty quick card to create and it looks so sparkly in person.  It would also be easy to create multiples in a relatively short time period.

Now it's your turn to upload your project to the Scrapy Land Challenge  You'll have until January 1 to play along with the Scrapy Land Design Team.  The winner, chosen by the team, will receive a $15 gift certificate to go shopping at Scrapy Land.


Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year!

Monday, December 19, 2016

Build A Flower


This is a fun new set called Build A Flower that was revealed this month from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  There are so many different combinations that can be used - long and tall, short and squat, single flower.... and the list goes on and on 😀

As you can tell, I decided to go long and tall.  I began by stamping the flower pot and then masking it so I could stamp the stems.   Then I used the smaller blossom stamp to add flowers to the stems.  Finally, the leaves were added.  I also stamped the flowers and leaves on plain cardstock so I could fussy cut them out and adhere them on top of the ones on the main image.  Everything was then colored with my Copic markers.

I had originally stamped everything onto white cardstock.  Once everything was coming together, I decided that I didn't want it white, nor did I want to color all that white space with Copics.  I created a mask of the entire stamped image by photocopying it on my printer and then fussy cutting that out.

I recommend that you do the photocopying before adding the glitter to the base flowers though, otherwise, you might get glitter on your printer glass (ask me how I know this 😜.)  Once my mask was ready, I adhered it with some temporary double sided tape and then lightly spritzed the entire area with Memories Mist (Pale Ale).  A nice side effect was that it gave my mask a nice sepia look, which could always be used on a future project.

I added Purple Dust glitter to the veins and out sie edges of my flowers.  I also outlined the outside edges of the flowers on the main image with glue and covered them with Purple Dust glitter as well.  that way, when I added my offset blossoms, everything would be sparkly.  Dimensional glue was added to the centers of the flowers and covered with Evening Glow glitter.

The sentiment, which comes with the stamp set was heat embossed with Amethyst embossing powder.  The black frame around my image is a die cut from Impression Obsession (All-in-One Frames Rectangles 2).  In order to make it into a square, I took one of the frames that fit my sentiment, cut it in the center and adhered the ends together.  To make the seams less noticeable, I heat set the frame with Ebony Spark embossing powder.  This also gave the frame a subtle bit of sparkle.

The bee is part of a retired die from Die-Versions (Wee Petites - Buggy).  I die cut him from white cardstock and colored him with Copic markers.  Glue was added to the inside of his wings and covered with Starfire glitter.

The die cuts that border the sides of the focal point are from Tonic Studios and is actually a Christmas die (Christmas Strips - Merry Christmas die set)!  I cut off the parts that I wanted, covered them with VersaMark and heat set each of them with Sparkle embossing powder.  Although the camera didn't capture the subtle sparkle of these die cuts, you can definitely see it in person.  A bit of Mon Ami Gabby ribbon are the finishing touches.


Thursday, December 15, 2016

Spring Bunny


Spring Bunny is one of six new stamp sets released this month form Sparkle N Sprinkle.   The image was colored with Copic markers and a colored pencil was used for the sky background.



Various glitters were used to accentuate the flowers and eggs on the image: Purple Dust, Sunny Daze, Bubble Gum, Pinkerbell, Charcoal (for his eye).  The die cut in front is by Die-Namites (Spring Grass) and the eggs were embellished with Nuvo Crystal Drops and Nuvo Glitter Drops (Pink Champagne, Blue Lagoon, Sunlit Meadow, Dandelion Yellow, and Ripened Pumpkin).  I also pop dotted the center of the die cut and adhered the edges straight onto the image for more dimension.

The background was created using Nuance pigment powders and then dry embossed with a Sue Wilson Designs embossing folder (Quilted Flower).  A Sue Wilson Designs die ( Spanish Collection - Cordoba) was used for the frame.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Singing Carolers


Today I'd like to share another Christmas card with you.  This uses a stencil from Dreamweavers (Bare Trees) and the Singing Carolers die from Die-Versions.

I started out by creating the background using the Dreamweaver stencil and Nuvo Glimmer paste (White Blizzard) on black cardstock.  This glimmer paste looks very different on different color cardstock.  Even on the black, depending on how you hold it in the light, you'll see different colors.  You can see some variances in the background between the photo above and the one below.  (Love this stuff!)

While this was drying, I die cut the Singing Carolers from white cardstock and colored various areas with Copic markers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle markers.  I also added more Nuvo White Blizzard onto their bodies and the books they are holding.  I squeezed some out and spread it around with my finger tip.

For the lady's "hair", I added dimensional glue and covered it with Snow White flock.  Once this was dry, I colored her hair with a light yellow Copic marker.

I pop dotted the carolers in front of the trees and added some patterned paper and kraft cardstock.  A golden rope is the finishing touch.


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Retro Birthday {Scrapy Land #55}


It's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge, and since it's the first Wednesday of the month, the theme is Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.

I used the following dies to create this birthday card:


Die-Versions: Retro Car
Impression Obsession: All-in-One Frame Rectangles 2
Tonic Studios: Retro Birthday.  Here are lots of other choices for the sentiment as well.

I started out by die cutting the Retro car from both white cardstock and red mirror cardstock.  I embellished a couple of the negative white pieces by adding glossy accents and sprinkling a little glitter onto the wet glue.  Copic markers were used to color the wheels.

The background was created by die cutting the All-in One rectangles die twice - once from the plaid cardstock and once from black cardstock.  Since this die cuts all the frames at the same time, I just inserted the ones I wanted and then adhered together on the back.  then I added my snowy backdrop (since this is for a winter birthday).

The sentiment was die cut twice as well - once in the red mirror cardstock and once in black cardstock.  Then these are layered together to give a shadow effect.  Normally, the white that you see between the letters is open space, but it needed to be emphasized more.  To create the backing for this sentiment, I used the negative cutout.  I traced around it with a pencil and then fussy cut it out.

The card front was dry embossed with a Tonic Studio embossing folder (Modern Chevrons) before adhering the focal pieces.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Wishing Ewe A Wonderful Day


Today's card features the new Will Ewe Be Mine stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  There are several different sentiments, so it's for more than just for Valentine's.  I combined two of the sentiments for an all-occasion type of card.



I stamped the image twice so I could fussy cut out their heads and pop dot them onto the main image.  These cute guys were colored with Copic markers and the hearts and string were outlined with a red Copic multiliner before being covered with Neon Flamingo glitter.

The image was then die cut using the new Sizzix/Tim Holtz Snowglobe die set. The strip at the bottom of the globe and the outside edge of the globe was covered with Cloud Nine velvet glitter.

As I mentioned before, I used two of the sentiments and stamped them together on one line.  The stamps were stamped with Memento Ink (Rose Bud) and then quickly covered with Clear Detail embossing powder.  Even though this is a dye ink, if you act quick enough, you can heat emboss with it.  (Have you container of embossing powder open and ready to pour as soon as you've stamped!)

The sentiment was then die cut using the Fishtail Flags die from My Favorite Things.  I also added a couple of pop dots under the die cut and wrapped a strip of 1/8" Tear-ific Tape around the end.  I added more Neon Flamingo glitter to the top and used the tape that was wrapped underneath the flag to adhere to the card base.


Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Rustic Flowers - Snapdragons {Sparkle N Sprinkle Dec Reveal}



Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle's
 December 1 New Reveal Blog Hop!

We have six new stamp sets to share with you today.  These new sets are 20% off until the 3rd of the month.  So once you finish the blog hop, head on over to the store and start shopping.  All of the new sets are available on cling mounted rubber or as a digital image.  


The sets are:


Build A Flower 811  (digi version DIGI811)
  Will Ewe Be Mine 813  (digi version DIGI813)
   Light Up My Life 814  (digi version DIGI814)
Rustic Flowers-Snapdragons 816  (digi version DIGI816)
Spring Bunny 819  (digi version DIGI819)
Build A Wreath (Digi Only)  DIGI3128B
   


On Dec 3rd, ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs listed below. Please leave a comment with each Designer in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  You never know who the Mystery Designer will be that has the winning comment.

The Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on the SNS Facebook page and on the SNS Blog, will receive ALL of the new stamp sets released this month (or the digi versions, if preferred).


The Blog Hop order this month is:


(*Tip: if you have difficulty with a particular link, try clicking on the Designer's blog title to send you to their Home page.)


We hope you enjoy the New Reveal Blog Hop as much as we do.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  
 Wonder who the Mystery Host will be this month????


The Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge also begins today.  There are lots of prizes and recognition badges.  Come check out how you can become a SNS Featured Artist as well.  The theme is always Anything Goes using Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder, and/or Flock.


Have you checked out the SNS YouTube Channel featuring Demo Donna?  If not, then you are in for a real treat.  Subscribe today to get all the latest Demo Donna tips and techniques!




Now for a bit about my project:


The new Rustic Flowers - Snapdragons stamp set comes with four different sentiments, plus the main image.  I decided to watercolor the image and background with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  I love how you can keep part of the image bold and bright and mute other areas.

I stamped my image onto watercolor paper and then die cut both the image and sentiment using an older Lifestyles Craft die set (Nesting Scallop Ovals).


After the watercolor area was dry (if it feels cold to the back of your hand, it's not completely dry yet), I added glue with my Sakura glue pen randomly over the blossoms and then covered the glue with Starfire glitter.  I have to say, the photos do not give the sparkle justice (even though I tried).  It's subtle, but very effective.


The mat behind the image was dry embossed using an embossing folder that my friend Donna sent to me.  I went over the raised areas with a white pigment ink so that they would be emphasized a bit more.

Here's a trick that I used for the card base.  The paper was a freebie in a crafting magazine.  So, as you can image, it was extremely flimsy - not at all suitable for a card base.  So, I decided to copy the colored pattern onto plain white cardstock using my copier/printer.  It worked beautifully.  I also ran a couple strips of 1/8" Tear-ific Tape along the sides and covered them with more Starfire glitter.

The sentiment, which was also die cut from watercolor paper, was adhered to a strip of ribbon that I had tied into a knot in the center.  This not only gave me added dimension by placing the die cut on top of the knot, but it also emphasized the sentiment perfectly.

Now it's time to go visit Diane.  I know she's created something special for you.  Be sure to visit all of the Designers on the New Reveal Blog Hop and leave a comment for each of us for your chance to win all six of the new stamp sets being revealed this month.  (This is checked for compliance. 😌)