Sparkle N Sprinkle & Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to the February Blog Hop. We are so amazingly grateful to be pairing up with Really Reasonable Ribbon today for some great fun. If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from Anne’s blog. If you haven't, please please please pop over to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog and hop along. The Design Team members from Sparkle N Sprinkle and Really Reasonable Ribbon have created some amazing projects. You can see that these creations go hand in hand with each others products.

In addition to the 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.

This month everyone received the wonderful February Ribbon Kit from Really Reasonable Ribbon, filled with the perfect trims and ribbons for those cheery Springtime projects. Lots of great pastels to match up with some amazingly beautiful glitters, flocking, stamps and embossing powders from Sparkle N Sprinkle. If you love using great glitter and embossing powders, check them out. I absolutely LOVE their color choices and the stamps leave the perfect images.

I have 3 new card creations for you today.

 My first card is is made up of stamps from set 417, Cocktails II, perfect for party invitations or scrapbooking that last year’s luau you had or whatever you might come up with. Tropical drinks remind me of great tropical colors and the ribbon in the February Ribbon Kit has a perfect shade to go with all the wonderful tropical colors I used on this card. I used Spellbinders Circle dies to showcase the appetizers and words and I used the Watercolor Pencils to get those soft iridescent colors.

On my next card, I used a stamp from the stamp set 413, Daddy’s Princess.

The Becca with Tulips stamp is so cute and to frame her, I used a new embossing folder that cuts and embosses. I added Buttercup Petal and Green Apple Embossing Powders in the debossed areas of that design. The trim that I used is the beautiful ribbon from the February Ribbon Kit. Copic markers were my choice for coloring the Becca stamp. Copics are so easy to color with and the range of colors to choose from is awesome.







The third card is a really unique card and it’s definitely able to be mailed. It is called a Fan Fold card and is so cute. The stamped images are again from set 413, Daddy’s Princess. The images are stamped and embossed with Black Detail EP and then colored with my favorite, Copic Markers. I used the Scor-Pal to score the cardstock. The card front utilizes a punch that combines flowers and leaves. I used Copic markers to color that and added a little Sparkling Snow Glitter as an accent. The oval shapes were made using Spellbinders Oval sets. And check out that ribbon, it's shear, it's feminine and has flowers on it too. Look for that ribbon in the February Ribbon Kit.  And it goes great with the card and the card colors. I am working on a video to show you how easy this Fan Fold card is to make, so check back for that.

All my cards use Tear-ific Tape for adhering and layering of cardstock. I also used the Versamark Pad in my embossing.



Make sure that you have left a comment here and at every stop along the way, you want to be eligible for the Blog Candy that will be awarded. Thank you so much for stopping by today and it has been a great time partnering up with Really Reasonable Ribbon for this fun Blog Hop. Your next stop is Aphra – just click here

Happy Birthday Jules Verne

I just happened to go out to Google to look up something and low and behold, the Google logo had changed. So then I saw that they were celebrating the 183rd birthday of Jules Verne. WOW isn't that awesome!! Normally this wouldn't mean too much to me, however, I just finished a card that had a deep sea theme.So I thought the card I made would be so appropriate for his birthday. 

He is best known for novels such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).  We all have probably read one of these books and maybe even saw one of the movies made based on his writings. He wrote about things that hadn't been invented yet, a true visionary. His works are considered science fiction. I find that so amazing because as I read some of his works as a kid, some of the things he wrote about , we had, like submarines. Click here for a site with more info pertaining to Jules Verne, its very interesting.

So here's to you Mr. Verne, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Snow and Easter

Well it snowed for most of the day Thursday and now the weatherman is forecasting more snow to come next week. The Farmer's Almanac predicted a snowstorm between Jan. 15-21 . They hit that on the nose, and here is what the Almanac is saying, Jan. 22-25 snow squalls and bitter cold and Jan. 26-31 snow showers and cold. The weatherman is saying, Arctic cold temps.with single digits for last nite and tonight. And yep he was right  about last nite, and so was the the Almanac. Wind chill below zero and more snow to come. We got 4.9"  of snow Thursday.

Well, as all that weather is going on, I've been making a few cards and even made one for Easter. Even though Easter is late this year I thought you'd like to see it and get into the Easter mode. Maybe this card will warm you up.(OK, OK, I am a couple of holidays ahead.)

Isn't that chick cute??? I even added a feather to his head to give him even more personality.Check out those eggs. They are glitter paper that I made myself. And it is so easy to do. You can make your own, get the color you want and save a whole lot of money, as glitter paper is about $3.00 per 12X12 sheet. And if you only need a small piece, you won't have to buy a big sheet just to get a little piece or not find the color you are in need of. If you want to learn how I make my glitter paper click here to see my tutorial.

That chick is in the new Easter set available at Sparkle N Sprinkle. He is in set #426. That set has a total of 10 stamps. To check out that set click here.

Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon and keep warm,

 

I Have Been Published and some new card designs for you

WOW!!!!!     I have been published in the March issue of CardMaker Magazine on pages 16 and 17. The March issue is on the newsstands  right now. That's so exciting!!! Here is a link to an online extra to see one of the designs that I submitted. Here are 2 more photos of items that I submitted.The photos of the items in the magazine are so much better than these pic's so you'll want to check out the magazine. If you get a copy of the CardMaker magazine, make sure to look at the complete instructions outlined on the two pages.

The stamps I used are Sparkle N Sprinkle's medallion stamps. I really like using medallion stamps because you can get double duty out of the stamps. You can just stamp the image once and get a great image as seen on the pink card below. However, if you stamp the image multiple times and then cut those images out, you can add dimensional foam and achieve a 3-D raised look. Those looks are so cool on cards, boxes, gift bags and many other things. I have added a raised dimensional medallion to the gold/yellow pillow box.

I just had to share that piece of exciting news with everyone.

Boy, I have had a busy few weeks so that's why it's been quiet here on the blog. But, behind the scenes, I've been quite busy designing about 8 or 9 new cards and I thought today I would share a few cards with you that I just completed.

Cards designed using new stamp sets.

These cards are using stamps from three new stamp sets 424, 427 and 428 from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Click on the link and check out those new sets. If you like music themed stamps or if you are looking for new music themed stamps, I think you are going to love these new releases.


Stop back tomorrow for additional cards with new designs, so until then.........
Thanks for stopping by

Inchies and Inchies+

We all have probably made a card and added a small stamped square to the card. Well I needed to make a few cards with inchies on them so I thought I'd share my creations with you today. These cards are perfect for Valentine's Day. I know, that is a long way off but it really is right around the corner. Stamps used are: Sparkling Daisy 1040-211D and Tossed Hearts 1041-211B from set 221 and the sentiment Happy Valentine’s Day 3202-401B is in set 401

I really like the Nymph stamp I used on this card. She is really awesome isn't she. Here are the stamps I used on this card: Flower Nymph 1034-211E , Posy Cluster 1039-211A and Hearts & Stars Swirls 1036-211G are in set 221

This card that is appropriate for the fall season. The stamps used are: Swirly Maple 3279-410M, Swirly Oak Leaf  3280-410A, Swirly Acorn 3286-410A , Faith 3283-410B. These are all in set 410

All of the stamped images featured in these cards are from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Clink on the link to see the stamp sets and the other stamps in those sets.










That is it for now,thanks for stopping by, and I will see you soon,

Barbara

Photo Stamps

Have you ever looked at a stamp and knew what you wanted to do with it or how you were going to apply color etc. In other words the stamp was calling to you??? Well I had spied a few stamp sets that I believed would lend themselves to a particular coloring technique that I just love to do. These are stamps that look like photos,you know the ones that have those tiny little dots on the stamp, and no matter how you work the stamp up, it just doesn't come out just the way you want it. I happen to love those kind of stamps. I call them photo stamps. They have all the little pixels (dots) that make up the image. I learned this technique from a friend, Jackie, and wow what a difference this color technique will make on those type of stamps.

Just a couple of notes:
1. Kromekote Glass Cover cardstock gives a very glassy gloss. It is by far, the best ever, for a glossy paper. Marco's Paper carries it.
2. I use Marvy Markers because I have that brand in my stash, this technique will work with Tombow makers and their blender marker as well. However, I have not tried this technique with any other marker brands on the market other than the Marvy or Tombow.




Here is how I achieved the look on this card.

Have on hand:
Black StazOn
Kromkote Glass Cover Cardstock
Marvy Blender Marker.(A Dove Blender will not work)
Markers of assorted colors that you plan on using in your project.
Stamp

I stamped the image with StazOn Black, onto the Kromkote CS. After the StazOn is dry you will want to start to work in a small area and remember to always use the blender marker before you apply the colored marker. I start with the blender marker and apply circles of blender to the bare image. A little area at a time, about the size of a quarter. Next over that blender area, apply your color in the same manner, circles. Go back over the area you just colored with the blender again in a circular motion and blend out to the edge of the area of the image you are working on. Keep doing the blending, coloring and blending until you are finished with your image. Remember when changing from one color to another you will want to take your blender marker and swipe it on scrap paper til the color is gone, otherwise you will be applying old color with the new color and will wind up with a color you don't want.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Barbara

Fathers Day is coming

Fathers Day will be here before we know it. So, to get you in the mode, I made a fathers day card. You all know, man cards are sometimes a challange to make. I have a stamp from Paulines Kit Club and I thought it would be the perfect image. If you notice the background, it looks like wood. Quite appropiate for masculine cards, I think. Hope you like the card.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Barbara

The Challange

A week or so ago I was given an image and asked to make a card using it. I thought about it for a few days and came up with my idea. I wanted to incorporate a few different things into the end result.

First I decided to copy the image onto a transparancy sheet.  I placed the transparancy onto the image and using a Sharpie fine tip pen, I traced the image. Next, I flipped the transparancy over and traced over the image with a glue pen. I worked in small areas and applied glitter. I did the leaves first. I let it dry overnight. Next I went back and traced the center with the glue pen and added blue glitter. Again I let it dry overnight.
I brushed off the excess glitter and that was a chore from the beginning because the transparancy has static in it and the glitter will cling to every area of the transparancy.

I flipped the transparancy over, now the glitter is on the back and I can see the sharpie outline . The glitter shines thru also and makes for a striking result. I decided the background needed to be something other that a plain color or just white. So next I cut a piece of glossy CS the same size as the transparancy. I then got my alcohol inks out and applied green where the leaves were and a blue where the center flowers were. Next I used the gold mixitive  over the leaves and silver over the center flowers. Where there was still white, I used butterscotch and filled in the last of the white areas, adding gold over that area as well. I trimmed the pieces and added brads in the corners to hold the pieces together. Lastly I adhered it to a card (5" X 7") and added the ribbon & button.
Sometimes photos just do not show all the glitter on a card. This card turned out fabulous, too bad the pic doesn't really show the glitter in all its splendor.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,
Barbara

Medallions

Ever do a medallion card?? They are pretty easy but they do take some time. You have to stamp and heat emboss 4 or 5 times, the same image, and then you have to cut the images out. The technique is easy but time consuming. But, don't let that scare you away, the end result is so worth it. Here are a few medallion cards I just finished for the month of April. The stamps I used are all from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Make sure you stop over at their website and check out her stamps. There is a large variety to choose from. You're bound to fine something you will like.

Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Barbara

A Birthday Card

Over the weekend I went looking for my muse, she has been gone for a while. I guess I found her, but she is still a little shy. I decided to use stamps that have been sitting around for a long time. This stamp is one by Susie Toronto. I love her stamps. I only have two and I really cherish them. I decided to make this into a Birthday card, you know, there is a birthday always going on somewhere, so, Happy Birthday to You, whoever you are.

I stamped the birthday girl in India ink and colored her using Permapaque pigment parkers. These markers are great to use stright from the marker or squiggle a little of the paint from the marker onto a piece of plastic and using a watercolor brush and a little water, you can use the paint as a watercolor.

When I decided to layer the paper behind her, I tried to stay with the colors I used in the stamped image. I tore the paper which reminds me of ripping open packages.

Tomorrow, have a card that is just about finished, for the upcoming Mothers Day celebration. Stop in tomorrow to see what I have made for you.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,


Barbara