Dream Catcher Maiden

Hey everyone, today I'd like to share one of the new stamp sets released this month from Sparkle N Sprinkle called Dream Catcher Maiden.

I started out by stamping her onto white cardstock and then coloring the image with Copic markers.  I added Waterscape glitter to her headband as well as her bracelet and a couple of the feathers.  Nuvo Crystal Drops (Morning Dew) was added to each of the beads to make then really stand out.   Purple Dust glitter was added to each of the small dots all around the image for a bit more sparkle.

To create the sentiment, I began by die cutting an Elizabeth Crafts Designs (Dreamcatcher) die set.  The circle is one of the negative pieces from the die cut.  I inked it up with Distress Inks and Oxides and then stamped the sentiment with Ground Expresso Distress Ink.  I then heat embossed it with Clear Detail embossing powder.  I used my new Tim Holtz Stamp Platform to stamp the image.  I left the stamp in place and then after heat setting the Clear embossing powder the first time, I repeated the process a second time to give the words an even more raised profile.  I also sprinkled some Clear embossing powder on the top and heat set it from the bottom to give a bit more pizazz.  I like how the light catches the Clear embossing powder when held at different angles.  I added a couple feathers and beads from the die set to complete the sentiment.

I have a quick unsolicited comment regarding the Stamp Platform.  I also have the Misti as well as a few older stamp positioners (Fiskers; the old stamp-ma-jig thingy 😛) and I have to say I like the Tim Holtz Stamp Positioner the best - by far!!!  It feels more durable and I don't feel that I might accidentally break or crack the cover like I do when I use the Misti.  I also like the fact that you don't have to add inserts when switching from rubber to clear stamps.   I haven't had the platform long enough to do lots of creative things with it yet, but I know it's a keeper and it won't be collecting dust like all the other stamp positioners I have. Thought I'd throw my two cents into the ring. 😊

Peacock Feathers

It's the third Wednesday of the month and that means it's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge!  The theme for this challenge is Add Texture, plus use any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.

Now that's a pretty broad field and can mean anything from added glitter, dry embossing, cheese cloth, embossing paste, and the list can go on an on.  For my card, I added dry embossing, heat embossing with glitter, and Nuvo glimmer paste for my various textures.

The following dies were used to create my shadowbox style card:

                             

Die-Versions: Love Frame

Impression Obsession: Tied Line

Sue Wilson Designs: Italian Collection Background

The arch behind the Peacock Feathers is also a die cut, but I had borrowed it from a friend and for the life of me I can't remember who made it.  If you know who the manufacture is, please let me know so I can give them credit.

To create this shadowbox card, I started out by spritzing a piece of watercolor paper with water and then randomly adding yellows, reds, and oranges of Color Bursts.  This was spritzed again with water and I kept adding and drying until I was happy with the results.

Next I die cut the Sue Wilson background die and then ran it through my die cutting machine a second time with the embossing mat to dry emboss it.  This step really brings out the veins on the leaves.  I lightly spritzed this layer with a homemade glimmer mist (water and Perfect Pearls).  Unfortunately, the added bling is so subtle that I can't get the camera to pick it up (but it looks great in person 😃).  I then added a double layer of dimensional foam tape to the back of the die cut so that it would look like a shadowbox with the watercolors in the background.

Another option would have been to add a piece of acetate sheeting to the back before adding the dimensional tape and then adding some sequins to make a shaker card.  That would have really given it lots of texture.

To create the Peacock feathers, I began by taping down the Peacock Feather stencil from Stampendous/Dreamweaver down onto a piece of acetate.  Then I randomly added three different colors of Nuvo Glimmer Paste (Tanzanite Lavender, Peridot Green, Blue Topaz).   After the Glimmer Paste was dry, I cut around the outside edges of the feathers. I had so much fun making these that I made several and will use them in some future projects coming up.

The backdrop for these feathers is a die cut piece of patterned paper that I enhanced with a little Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo).  This helped the feathers to be more of a focal point.

The "Love" sentiment is part of the Die-Versions Love Frame die that I cut out of fun foam and then heat set it to make it shrink.  Once it was shrunk down to a smaller size, I applied VersaMark and Royal Violet embossing powder and heat set it again.

For the bow and string, I die cut the Tied Line from Impression Obsession twice and fanned out the strings on either end and glued the two pieces together.  I then added VersaMark and heat set this with more Royal Violet embossing powder.

Now it's your turn to join us for some fun.  Maybe try a new technique that gives texture, or use one of your tried and true formulas.  Either way, I hope you join us for this Scrapy Land Challenge.  You have until February 26 and the winner (chosen by the design team) will win a $15 gift certificate to go shopping at Scrapy Land.  New Arrivals are added all the time!

Thanks

Today's quick and easy card features four recently released Die-Versions dies: Bird, Curly Words "thanks", Curly Words "friends" (I cut off the "s" at the end of the word), and Curly Fries font (the letters that spell out "my"). The Curly Fries font was specifically designed to coordinate with the new Curly Words.

The background was created with Color Bursts (Lemon Yellow, Alizarin Crimson) and a small piece of canvas paper.  After allowing the paper to dry, the various dies were adhered to the background and framed with a basic shape.  A few seed beads and sequins were added and the two curly words were embellished with a Spectrum Noir Sparkle marker (clear).  It's really hard to capture the sparkle these markers give to an image, but in person you can easily see it. 

The card base was spritzed with Dylusions Ink Spray (Lemon Zest) to coordinate with the watercolors.

If you'd like to save 15% on your next Die-Versions purchase, add the code anne15 when you're getting ready to check out.  This code is good anytime for all everyday priced dies.  Hve fun looking at all those fabulous dies.

Some Bunny Loves You

Today's card features two of the new Die-Versions dies from the most recent release: Bunny and Curly Fries font.  And, as you might have guessed by reading the sentiment, today is my anniversary.  My how time flies! :-)

To create this anniversary card, I die cut the bunny on the left from double sided adhesive and used the Kiss Cut technique, a technique where you cut through the top layer but not the base layer for this bunny.  I carefully removed the negative pieces and added Toffee Flower Soft to the exposed adhesive areas.  Polar White Flower Soft was added to his tail, a little Pink Spirit flock was applied to his nose, and then Nut Brown Flower Soft was added to the rest of his body.



The bunny on the right was run through my Xyron machine.  Elephant Grey flock was added to the body, Pink Spirit flock to the nose, and Polar White Flower Soft to the tail.   I wanted both of their tails to be more dimensional (like the big cotton tailed bunnies we have around here), so I applied some Dimensional Glue and added a lot more Polar White Flower Soft.

The background was created using watercolor paper and Color Bursts (Ultramarie Blue, Violet, Pthalo Green, and Terre Verte).  The letters for my sentiment were die cut from the Curly Fries font, which also coordinates with the new Curly Words that were introduced during this release.

Happy 29th Anniversary to my sweet hubby who lets me work in my craft room as much as I want!

Be sure to use the code anne15 to get 15% off your next order from Die-Versions.  Happy shopping :-).

Madonna Ornaments {Scrapy Land #32}

Holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's etc.) is the theme of the new Scrapy Land Challenge, which begins today.   The winner will get to go shopping at the Scrapy Land store and will receive a $15 gift certificate.

I have a couple of cards to share with you today using both the negative and positive parts of the Madonna Ornament die by Die-Versions.  So one pass through my die cutting machine creates two cards.  Very shiny silver metallic cardstock was used to die cut the ornaments.

The dies I have used to create these cards are:
Die-Versions: Madonna Ornament
Die-Versions: Noel Sweet Wordlet
Sizzix: Tim Holtz's Holiday Words
Memory Box: Pine Needle Border

Version One uses the positive parts of the Madonna die (the actual die cut) and the Die-Versions Noel sentiment.   The blue background was dry embossed using the Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Diffuser and the Spellbinders Dainty Dots M-Bossabilities embossing folder.  The diffuser allows parts of the cardstock to not be embossed.  For this version, I didn't want any dots behind the ornament.

Version Two uses the negative portions of the Madonna die and the Holiday Words die cut sentiment.  I used an actual die cut as a guide and glued the negative pieces back into the appropriate spots, like puzzle pieces.  The entire blue background was dry embossed with the Dainty Dots embossing folder.

To create the pine boughs, I started off with white cardstock and spritzed on Color Bursts and water.  Once the cardstock was dry, I die cut all the pine boughs.  I added a small ribbon to each of the ornaments so that they could hang from the pine branch.

Now it's your turn to join in on the fun.  You'll have until January 3, 2016 to upload your Holiday projects to the Scrapy Land Challenge.

Witching Hour

I have another Halloween card for your today featuring the Witching Hour stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  

To start out, I dry embossed a piece of YUPO synthetic paper and then added color with my Color Bursts.  After that dried, I heat embossed the witch from the stamp set onto the background using Black Magic embossing powder.  (Be careful heating this paper, as it can curl if you get it too hot.)

The spider web and spiders are from the Spider Web die by Die-Versions.  Glow in the Dark embossing powder was added to the spider web for a fun aspect.  It gives off a yellowish color when see in normal light and really glows in the dark.  The cat was die cut from black patterned paper and is by Poppy Stamps.

The sentiment, which is part of the set was heat embossed onto a piece of Embossable Acetate as I wanted it to be on top of the web.  Amethyst embossing powder was used for this. 

Happy Halloween!

Sparkle N Sprinkle Oct Reveal

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

We have SIX new stamp sets to share with you today.  These new sets are 20% off until Oct 3.  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:
Witching Hour 742  (digi version DIGI742B)
  Cackle On 743  (digi version  DIGI743B)
  Sleigh Ride 744  (digi version DIGI744J)
 Jefferson 745  (digi version DIGI745B)
Wilson 746   (digi version DIGI746B)
Hats DIGI3120 (digi only)

On Oct 3, one GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs.  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 Oct 3 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).

In addition to our regular Designers, we are happy to introduce you to two new Guest Designers this month.  Irit and Jess will be our Guest Designers for the months of October, November, and December.  We'd also like to say Thank You to our second set of Guest Designers, Ani and Chris, for a job well done!


The Blog Hop order this month is:
Jess
Belinda
Eret
Marie
Shona
Anne
Irit

(*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 have enjoyed creating new projects for it.  We also hope that we have inspired you as well.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  (We love reading these as your comments also inspire us.)  Our Latest Mystery Designer was Shona. Wonder who will be the Mystery Designer 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.

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. 

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inside

Now for a bit about my fun fold project.  The front of the card was created out of a synthetic watercolor paper called YUPO paper and Color Bursts.  It's basically a type of plastic that you can water color on.  You definitely need to let it air dry for a quite a while as the liquid sits on top of the paper and slowly dries.  If you try to dry it with a heat gun, be careful as the heat can make the paper curl (ask me how I know :-).) 

I started out by creating a mask.  I die cut a large circle out a pice of cardstock that was larger than my YUPO paper.  I used the negative portion to create the moon and once that was dry (I let it dry overnight), I used the circle to mask the moon and colored in the sky.  Again, I let that dry overnight as well.  Be aware that any liquid you use on this paper will reactivate the watercolor (think liquid glue.)   The clouds are die cuts from MFT (Clouds) and Memory Box (Puffy Clouds) that were die cut from white cardstock and covered with Dimensional Glue and Twinkling Clouds Sparkle N Soft flock.

The witch was heat embossed on Embossable Acetate with Ebony Spark embossing powder.  The broom bristles are a combination of Ebony Spark and Antique Gold embossing powder.  I decide to use the embossable acetate as I knew the YUPO paper would melt/curl with the amount of heat needed to emboss the witch.  The back side of the tags (the part that is seen when the card is closed) were covered with Sparkle embossing powder.

For the inside of the card, I created an accordion style piece using the top edge of a Taylored Expressions die (Tag Stacklets One).  Each panel then uses a different die.

The Skeleton is from Die-Versions and he is covered with Super Thick White embossing powder.  As I was melting the embossing powder, I was careful not to completely melt it so that it was smooth.  I wanted rough parts to it so that it would look more like bones.  The bat is an old Spellbinders die (Nested Bats) cut out of cryogen text weight paper.

The second panel is the Black Widow die, also from Die-Versions.  He's covered with more Ebony Spark embossing powder and is inlayed into the background patterned paper.

The third panel is covered with some gauze that I glued down with a spray adhesive.  The Ghosts are a really, really old die from Sizzix.  Do you remember the Sizzix Original dies?  That's how old this die is :-).  Both of these guys are covered with White Spark embossing powder.

Finally, the sentiment on the last panel, which is part of the stamp set,  was heat embossed with White Detail embossing powder.  The RIP Tombstone is from Die-Versions and the letters and the crow are covered with Black Ice glitter.

This last photo shows what the card looks like from the top.  This was a really fun card to put together and I'd like to thank my friend Ann Williams for the fun fold inspiration.  She doesn't have a blog, but she creates amazing cards and projects.

Your next stop along the hop is Irit and I know she has something amazing for you too.  Don't forget to leave a comment with each of the Designer's for your chance to win all of the stamps released this month!

Tag, You're It! {Scrapy Land Challenge #24}

It's the second Wednesday of the month and that means it's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge.  The theme for this bi-monthly challenge is Pockets and/or Tags: create a pocket and/or include a tag on your project.  Plus, use any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.

I created an anniversary card and started out by die cutting a tag out of watercolor paper using an Elizabeth Crafts Designs die (Tags and More 1: Lace).  The background was created by using various colors of Ken Oliver's Color Bursts.  Once that was dry, I used an old Cornish Heritage Farms rubber stamp and heat embossed the script with clear embossing powder.  Distress Inks were used to distress the edges and a Mon Ami Gabby pearl mesh - large was added to the top of the tag.

The vintage girl and boy are a die cut from Die-Versions (Victorian Kids) and so is my sentiment (I Love You Sweet Wordlet).  The doily behind the tag is from Cheery Lynn Designs (Canadian Kaleidoscope).

I also heat embossed another background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms with clear embossing powder onto the mat before attaching the tag.

Now it's your turn and you can submit as many entries as you like (as long as you don't backlink and you follow the criteria) until Aug 31.  Be sure to check out what the rest of the team has created for you too.

Scrapy Land has created a new Scrapy Land Pinterest account and has lots of boards for inspiration and pinning of your favorites.  

There will be a very generous prize given once we reach 100 followers, 200 followers, etc.  To make it more fair, the winner will be chosen  randomly from all the followers.   

So be sure to follow Scrapy Land on Pinterest too!

I'm entering this in the following challenge: Cheery Lynn Designs - Doily

Faith, Hope, Love

For today's project, I used the new Awareness dies from Die-Versions, paired with a couple stamp sets from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I wanted to show many of the different colors that are associated with cancer.  Here is a chart that lists various colored ribbons for various cancers.

To start out, I die cut the Awareness Ribbon Words out of white fun foam.  Then I applied VersaMark to each fun foam ribbon and covered them with embossing powder: Jazzy Orange (representing Kidney Cancer), Green Apple (representing Lymphoma), and Lemon Chiffon (representing Bladder and Sarcoma/Bone Cancer).  As I've shown you in previous posts (you can see an example here), when you heat fun foam, it shrinks.  That's exactly what I wanted; a smaller ribbon that was colored.

To create my background on the blue circle,  it was stamped using sentiments from both the Sparkle N Sprinkle Survivor stamp set as well as the Awareness stamp set.  I then heat embossed the center stamp (also from the Survivor stamp set), with Gold Detail embossing powder (representing Childhood Cancer).

The larger and smaller multicolored circles are actually from a paper towel that I used to soak up excess Color Burst water colors.  In order to get the paper towel to die cut easily, I first adhered it to a piece of cardstock using a spray adhesive.

The outside edges of the two squares were covered with Sunny Daze glitter (smaller square) and Green Apple embossing powder (second largest square).  To give the card base a bit of shimmer, I spritzed kraft cardstock with Smooch Spritz.

I also wanted to remind you that a portion of proceeds from the sale of the Die-Versions Awareness dies and SNS Awareness stamp sets will be donated to cancer research.  Every little bit helps in reaching the goal of eradicating all cancers completely.

What!?!!

front

open

My flip/swing card uses the new mid-month release of the Cool Chicks stamp sets from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I used digi versions of all the images and sentiments.

The flip card was die cut using a Sizzix steel rule die (Cards, Square Flip It) and was cut out of watercolor paper.  Ken Oliver's Color Bursts were used to give color to the watercolor paper.  I started out by placing a Dreamweaver stencil (Feathers- Large) onto the right hand side of the card and sprinkling a little blue and violet Color Bursts into the openings of the stencil.  Then I spritzed the entire area with water.  The metallic parts in the feather are just concentrated areas of the Color Burst.

Once the feather was dry,  I wadded up a small piece of paper towel and dabbed it into the extra Color Burst that was on my craft sheet.  I then dabbed the paper towel onto the rest of the card (front and back).  I also randomly added little dots of Dimensional Glue to the entire card front and covered them with Orchid glitter.

Both images were colored with Copic markers and placed on the swing panel.  Orchid glitter was also added to the flower and the shoes of the bird on the front panel.  Glossy Accents was added to her beak.

When you flip the panel to the interior image, you can see the surprise reaction.  Her beak was printed twice so I could add a little extra dimension and it was also covered with Glossy Accents.

Just A Note {Scrapy Land Challenge #23}

Today is the start of the newest Scrapy Land Challenge #23.  The theme for this challenge is Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.  You have until Aug 16th to upload your project and the winner will get to go shopping at Scrapy Land with a $15 gift certificate.

Although this is a pretty simple card, I used a lot of different products on it.  To start off, the dies used were

Sue Wilson Designs: Expressions - Just A Note
Sue Wilson Designs: Finishing Touches - Delicate Fronds
Heartfelt Creations: Blazing Poppy

(If the items aren't showing up at the moment, they may be out of stock.  So check back often.)

I started off by stamping the Heartfelt Creations Blazing Poppy Petals rubber stamp onto white cardstock and coloring with my Copic markers.  Then I die cut them using the coordinating Heartfelt Creations die.  Once everything was die cut (you'll need to die cut two sets to create layered petals), the petals were formed and glued into shape.  As you can see in the photos below, this flower definitely has some height to it.  I also added a few drops of Glossy Accents here and there on the petals to create dew drops.

I used the Sue Wilson Delicate Fronds for my foliage behind the flower blossom.  The sentiment, which was die cut from Sticker Paper, was covered with Black Ice glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

The background mat was created by using Ken Oliver's Color Bursts on watercolor paper and letting it do whatever it wants :-).  This is such a fun product to use and I know you'll be seeing more of it here (and probably everywhere else too :-).)

To finish off this 6" x 6" card, I used Heartfelt Creations Blazing Poppy Paper Collections papers and a strip of lace.

The Scrapy Land Challenge is having a new Guest Designer call, so head on over to the blog to find out how you can be a Guest Designer!