May SNS Blog Hop - On The Beach

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the May "On The Beach" Blog Hop from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  If you arrived here by way of Barbara Bruder's Blog  then you are at the right place, but if not and you want to be eligible for great prizes, then click here to start from the beginning. WOW.... by now you should be getting inspired. Are you having fun? On the beach!!!!  What a great time for this blog hop as the weather here in Washington has finally stopped raining and is now warming up a bit...

Prizes will be awarded, so don't forget to leave comments on everyone's blog, 'cause that's how you become eligible for the prizes that are to be given away. This is a 2 day blog hop so you'll have plenty of time to view all the projects and leave comments.The prizes are stamp sets, flocking, glitter embossing powders, etc.  BTW, there are 3 designers who've been designated to have prizes "hidden" on their blogs, so comments are important and we LOVE getting comments.They really make our day. So without further adieus, here is the card I chose to share with you for this blog hop...

 

For this card, I started with a simple medium blue cardstock base making my card A2 size.  I used I cut slits in a 5 1/4 X 4 sheet  of Super Adhesive Sheets and removed the individual backing pieces 1 by 1 adding each glitter color individually making the graduated effect from sand to water, to sky and sun....  The rest of the card is really simply put together.  I stamped the lawn (beach) chair and colored it with copic markers, I cut my nestie frame and tied a couple ribbons to the edge and then I attached everything to my glittered background...

Thanks from me and the rest of the SNS team on this blog hop. Before hopping on to Cammy Vietzke's blog, please leave a comment here on my blog to be eligible for a prize.... Now don't forget to return to Sparkle N Sprinkle so that you can purchase everything you saw while on our blog hop so you too can recreate all of these wonderful projects..

In case you get lost on your blog hopping trip, just return to Sparkle N Sprinkle and look at all of the wonderful projects again...  :)

 

February SNS Blog Hop - Monochromatic

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the February Monochromatic blog hop by Sparkle N Sprinkle.  If you arrived here by way of Julie's Blog , then you are at the right place, but if not and you want to be eligible for great prizes, then click here to start from the beginning. WOW.... by now you should be getting inspired. Are you having fun? Monochromatic!! What a great theme and such a great way to get started without having to pick out a few coordinating colors... Pick just one and roll with it...

Prizes will be awarded, so don't forget to leave comments on everyone's blog, 'cause that's how you become eligible for the prizes that are to be given away. This is a 2 day blog hop so you'll have plenty of time to view all the projects and leave comments.The prizes are stamp sets, flocking, glitter embossing powders, etc.  BTW, there are 3 designers who've been designated to have prizes "hidden" on their blogs, so comments are important and we LOVE getting comments.They really make our day. So without further adieus, here is the card I chose to share with you for this blog hop...

For this card, I started with a simple white cardstock base making my card 5X5 in size.  I used my scor pal to create the embossed edges around my card.  I embossed the sentiment in the upper right corner using Princess Rose Embossing powder from SNS.  This embossing powder is a cosmic powder which leaves a beautiful sheen.  I DID NOT use my embossing buddy because I wanted to cover the entire card front with the embossing powder and tapped it off... I heat set the card so the shimmer would stay on the card front instead of wiping it away.  That is how I got the pink shimmer effect to my white cardstock.  I then punched out my border and added a strip of tear ific tape across the center and applied my bubblegum glitter.  I attached the strip and then layered my cut out hearts in their desired location.  I added a crochet bow to finish this card off...  I made this card for my husband who is currently deployed and can't be here to celebrate with me this year... I photographed the card with a dozen red roses and 2 heart balloons and I will be sending him a photo to look at while he is away...  That is the best I can do for him this year..  :(

Thanks for me and the rest of the SNS team on this blog hop. Before hopping on to Brigita's Blog, please leave a comment here on my blog to be eligible for a prize.... Now don't forget to return to Sparkle N Sprinkle so that you can purchase everything you saw while on our blog hop so you too can recreate all of these wonderful projects..

In case you get lost here is a list in order of all the team members on today's hop.

** April Williams  **  Barbara Bruder ** Shana Sands  **  Jackie Smith **  

** Marie Berquist ** Dawn Bennett  ** Julie Zippel  **Keri Brown (this is me)  ** 

** Brigita Skopas ** Karalee Ingram**Cammy Vietzke  ** Anne Temple ** 

Shona Erlenborn **Karin Martin  ** Brenda Smalle

 

Fancy Folds Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,
If you arrived here by way of Donna's Blog , then you are at the right place, but if not and you want to be eligible for great prizes, then click here to start from the beginning.  WOW.... by now you should be getting inspired.  Are you having fun? Fabulous Folds!! What a great theme for our first blog hop for 2013.

Prizes will be awarded, so don't forget to leave comments on everyone's blog, 'cause that's how you become eligible for the prizes that are to be given away.  This is a 4 day blog hop so you'll have plenty of time to view all the projects and leave comments.The prizes are stamp sets, flocking, glitter embossing powders, etc.BTW, there are 3 designers who've been designated to have prizes "hidden" on their blogs, so comments are important and we LOVE getting comments.They really make our day. 

I have made a cute bookmark card for you today.  Not only is this a cute card to send, but the recipient can continue to use this bookmark long after the card has met the round recycle bin.  This is such a super simple card to make and so much fun to receive.  At first glance this looks like just your ordinary card....

But when you open it.....    You get a cute little flap...  Of course we had to decorate this flap...  But it's not just your ordinary every day flap...  Lo and behold the magic....

This adorable (detachable) gift can be saved and used even after the recipient no longer desires to keep the card.  Let's face it ladies... We want to keep all of them, but it just doesn't happen....  :(

I hope you like what I have done for you today...  I once again ran back to my favorite stamp set Rose Garden.  I knew it was going to be my set of choice when I chose to make this card.  I made my beads from designer paper and rolled them in glossy accents to make them look real and even added a small amount of waterscape glitter for that extra shine.  I added the yellow glitter to the flower centers as seen on the front of my card.  I chose to leave the inside of my card very simple and plain and let the bookmark and card front take the center stage here...

Once again I hope you enjoy what I have done for you today.

Thanks for joining us on our first blog hop for 2013. Before hopping back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle  blog, please leave a comment here on my blog to be eligible for a prize.... Now don't forget to return to Sparkle N Sprinkle so that you can purchase everything you saw while on our blog hop so you too can recreate all of these wonderful projects..

In case you get lost here is a list in order of all the team members on today's hop.

** Brigita Skopas  **  Karalee Ingram **  Shona Erlenborn **  Anne Temple **  

** Karin Martin ** April Williams  ** Julie Zippel  ** Dawn Bennett ** 

** Jackie Smith ** Marie Berquist ** Barbara Bruder ** Shanna Shands ** 

Cammy Vietzke ** Donna Ellis ** Keri Brown (this is me)

Music in the Air

I love how this card turned out... I made this card last month but never uploaded it to my blog.  Per request from a friend, I am uploading it now... absolutely love how the glitter changed colors on this card...

I stamped the music background in versamark and embossed and then distressed the edges a little by rolling the corners as well as sponging around the edges.  My sentiment is also embossed.  I then used the Waterscape Glitter from SNS around the edges of my label.  The actual color is more of a semi-transparent white almost clear glitter but when I added it to the brown cardstock it almost turned a golden color.  I was pretty amazed and absolutely loved the look so I added more to the butterflies.  I added some twine and a button to finish this one off.  I hope you like this card as much as  I do... Thank you so much for taking the time to look...  :)

Golden Poinsettias

I made a few different Christmas cards to send out this year but this is by far my favorite one...  I can honestly say that this took me so long to make that my mom and dad were the only ones to receive it...  My mom is big into crafting and she allows me to enable her with all the wonderful products  I find and since I love them, she does too and ends up getting them too...  So she deserved this card and then some...

I

I started with shimmer gold cardstock and layered with neenah solar white that I ran though with my snowflake embossing folder.  This was the easy part...  The poinsettias are what took all the time to create...  The 2 smaller poinsettias have 3 layers and the larger one has 4.  I stamped the layers individually and then embossed them.  I used my Spellbinder's poinsettia dies to cut out all the layers.  I then adhered the layers together to create my flowers...  Probably doesn't seem like a lot of work, but the dies had to line up perfectly with the stamped image to look right...  Had quite a few mess ups...  I then stamped and embossed my sentiment and cut out with spellbinders ovals and scallop oval dies.  I added some gold balls and a gold cord to finish off this card...  I love the look of this and I really wish it were easily duplicated because I would have loved to find the time to create more of these to send...  That being said, I like how all of my Christmas cards turned out...  Some of you will see them when they show up in your mailbox and you aren't even expecting one...  ;)  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card today...  I would love to know what you think... 

Triple Fold Tutorial

Tutorials really do take some extra time to put together...  They require so much time and work...  So I hope that you will grab a cup of coffee and a snack and join me here today...  As I said in my previous post, the Sparkle N Sprinkle DT members are creating projects this month incorporating "fun folds."  I want to share with you my favorite fold card and a tutorial to show you how to create this fabulous jaw dropper in your home...  All glitters, embossing powders and adhesives can be purchased at Sparkle N Sprinkle, as well as the 2X2 acrylic blocks that I am using in this tutorial.  You don't have to use the 2X2 size and they have plenty others to choose from...  So I hope you have your drink and snack in hand.... Here we go...  Start with a sheet of cardstock measuring 4" X 12" and score lengthwise at 4" and 8"

 

Then on your center panel find your center point with intersecting lines and draw with a light pencil mark.

 

Place your 2 X 2 sized square die cut side facing you on your center lines as shown and tape in place with removable adhesive.

Fold both left and right sides over your die and run through you die cut machine.  This will cut out both left and right panels at the same time exactly where you need them.

When you have finished running through your die cut machine, reopen both flaps and carefully remove die                                                and erase pencils markings as shown.

As you see in the next photo close up, you die will leave an indentation in your cardstock... Don't worry                               as you will be covering this in a later step and will aid in placement of your block.

Now it is time to start preparing our acrylic block to emboss.  This step is very important.  Remove protective film from 1 side of your acrylic and rub your anti static bag over surface really well.  If you don't do this step you will end up with a lot of "flakes" left on your acrylic and you won't get a clear crisp image.

Next carefully stamp your image on your acrylic block without touching your block.  You don't want to
                                                  leave fingerprints or oil from your fingers.

Apply desired embossing powder and heat set.  I chose to use Sweetheart EP for my sample shown here.

Remove paper backing from other side of acrylic again being careful not to leave finger prints on the new side and gently press entire block into your versamark pad to coat the backside of your block (NOTE:  You want to versamark the OPPOSITE side of your block then you embossed on....)

Using a coffee filter to catch any extra powder, apply stickum powder to your wet versamark and heat set just until melted and quickly sprinkle glitter onto hot wet stickum powder and gently heat set again to "seal" in glitter.  (Use can also use sparkle embossing powder which has a glitter look to it as well but I wanted to get the full sparkle on my block.)

                       This is what your finished block will look like...  Nice and sparkly and shiny....

Now using the same die as in the first couple steps above, die cut a white square to place behind your                                                                                 acrylic block.

Now cut out scallop squares the same size as your square block.  Cut 2 "window" squares as shown on the left and 1 solid square like shown on the right.

Attach acrylic block to white die cut square using "tear"ific tape (you won't see it I promise) and being very careful not to scratch your glitter off the block when you are removing paper backing from tape and then adhere to solid die cut scallop square as shown below. (Your glittered side should be adhered to the white die cut square.)

Attach to your card base centering and covering the indented portion previously created with your die.

Now when you close both left and right flaps closed again you will be able to see the beautifully                                                         created  acrylic block now showing through those openings. 

Decorate as desired to finish off your card.  I have 2 samples shown here for you.  The best part is that these acrylic blocks are so thin that you will be able to mail them as you normally would with no added bulk. 

These are gorgeous eye catching cards that sparkle with the look of glitter but won't give your recipient the surprise of being covered with glitter when they open their card.  This is a fun technique to do and an even more fun card to receive.  I hope you will try one of these cards and  I would love to see what you come up with...  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today... I really do appreciate all of the love and support you show...  Please let me know what you think as I value your comments and feedback greatly!!!

Easel Cocktails

I know I haven't posted in a couple weeks but my life has been turned upside down a couple times in the last month and I am desperately trying to get the pieces picked up.  I have made several cards and had time to play but I just don't have the time to sit and blog them...  I do want to share this on with you though because I absolutely love how it turned out...   This month the Sparkle N Sprinkle DT members are focusing on making cards with "fun folds."  I absolutely love fun folds but never stop to take the time to make any.  I usually stick with the typical A2 size and nothing more...  So this is a really cool card and I hope you will love it as much as I do...  This is an easel card and upon first glace it looks like your typical 4 X 4 card....

Well take another look at this beauty when it is popped open and displayed...

Now you can really see how cute and fun this card really is...  Let me show you a side view of this one as well so you get the full idea of this one...

I hope you can see here how the card pops up and then rests on the inside layers of cardstock to keep it open and displayed...  I tried very hard to capture all the details on these drinks but wasn't able to get the full shot.  I added glossy accents to all of my drinks to make the glasses look real and shiny and then I added some glitter to all of the rims to look like either salt or sugar rimmed glasses.  These look so cool in real life.. Here is a close up in hopes of showing a little more of the details...

The images, embossing powder and glitter used on this card can all be found at Sparkle N Sprinkle  Make sure to stop by their store and check out all of the wonderful new goodies they have to offer.  I promise you won't be disappointed...  Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have enjoyed my card...

SNS December Sketch

This is my card for this month's sketch challenge over at Sparkle N Sprinkle... I really hope that you will all be inspired to play along with us this month. The sketch is fabulous and leaves for so many awesome ideas...

The sketch challenge can be found here: Sparkle N Sprinkle Sketch Challenge I chose to use one of our newest Digi images from Beccy Muir.  If you haven't checked out her new images, please take the time to stop by and check them out.  You will also notice many new items in the store including embossing folders and Lifestyle Dies...  Check them out. Please check out what the rest of the DT has shared for inspiration and then play along with us. You will have until December 31st to upload your card to the SNS Sketch site. Here are the rules to play along...
 1. Create a new project for the challenge. No back links please. Altered art, ATCs, cards, scrapbook      pages, or any other craft projects are acceptable as long as they adhere to the month’s challenge. You may enter as many projects as you like.
 2. Please use Sparkle N Sprinkle images only.  Rubber images and digi images are all okay to use. IF USING NO STAMPS AT ALL, please use one of our other fine products on your project.
3. Please link to the exact post on your blog - not the home page URL of your blog - using the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the challenge. Be sure to link directly from your blog post back to our Challenge Blog. And that's all there is to it! If using SplitCoastStampers gallery (SCS) please see step 4.
 4. If posting to the SCS gallery - please be sure to include the code that appears on the Challenge page to tag your card to the challenge. Each monthly sketch or challenge will have its own unique code that will appear above the sketch or challenge. Please link the card or project by clicking the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the current challenge page. You’ll be prompted for the next steps. (Remember, please make sure to link directly to your challenge card)
 5. Posting starts at 12:01 a.m. ET on the first day of the month and ends at 8:00 p.m. ET on the last day of the month If you have any questions please email Barbara@sparklensprinkle.com

Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Winter Wonderland Blog Hop! If you hopped here by way of Cheryl Bennett, then you are in the right place. Otherwise, you might like to start from the beginning to become eligible for 6 fabulous prizes (and link back to www.sparklensprinkle.com/blog) Today I am sharing two projects with you. The first one is this great Christmas card which uses our new "Velvet" glitters. They are amazing and you will definitely want to get your hands on them...

I used the quickie glue pen to add glue to my border and then added my glitter. The glitter gives this card such a wonderful sparkling look... I added my row of "candi" to the bottom to finish off my card. I truly hope you enjoy this card as much as I did making it... Second item I would like to share with you today is my Christmas Wreath. I am a big fan of decorating for Christmas. We start the day after Thanksgiving and nothing comes down until the new year.. I wanted to makes something special this year so I tried my hand at a wreath. Can I say I love it...

This was such a fun wreath to make and it looks just adorable hanging on my front door. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this beauty, but it was so hard.

I hope you have enjoyed my projects for you today. Make sure you leave a comment in the comment box before you head on over to Marie Berquist for your chance to win one of 6 fabulous prizes... Happy Hopping!!!

Shhhh! It's a surprise!

I made a couple cute little treat boxes for a couple fellow Sparkle N Sprinkle DT members. They don't know who they are yet, but soon they will find out... The box is filled with Hershey kisses... I mean who doesn't like some chocolate while crafting... Am I right?

I know it is hard to tell but I used a cute little sunflower template and I added flock to the openings to create this beauty... The sunflower is created entirely from the flocking sold at Sparkle N Sprinkle. It is a great quality and this flower is so soft and fuzzy... I wish you could see the softness and feel the fuzzy via the computer... Unfortunately you can't so please take my word for it... It's soft!!! Thank you so much for stopping by. Please let me know what you think.. Happy Stamping!!!

For Fun

My mommy sent me a whole grip of heat and stick rhinestones in various different sizes and I just couldn't wait to play with them so I made a card for fun...

I love how this card came together for me... I chose the DSP and built my card from there... The flowers were made using the Bitty Blossoms dies from Spellbinders. Thank you mom for the awesome package of rhinestones... I am definitely going to need some more of the smallest ones... ;) Thank you so much for stopping by today.. I hope you like my cards today... Happy Stamping!!!

Layered Scallops

This is my card for today's "scallops" challenge... I chose to scallop punch my bottom, scallop layer emboss the punched edge and added a cute ribbon that has some scallops... I hope this counts for the challenge...

I want to say a thank you to a fellow SNS DT member for helping me create this absolutely stunning flower today... Her tutorial is just perfect and you should check it out here at CraftEMarie For my flower, I punched the same flower sizes as Marie and I used white lightweight cardstock. I painted both front and back of each flower with Twinkling H2O's (which I haven't used in YEARS!!!) and let dry. Then I shaped my flowers to give them the dimension I was looking for. Then I crystallized all the flower fronts using the tutorial found at Sparkle N Sprinkle Once they dried again I used my Brushable Glue from Sparkle N Sprinkle to add the new Velvet glitter to the petal edges. Once they dried I put everything together... I LOVE THIS FLOWER!!!!

Day Late and a Dollar Short

It is a true bummer that this card is late and won't be seen by very many people as I think it turned out AMAZING!!! I don't usually feel very good when I finish my cards... It's usually ok, or good enough but today I am super happy with the outcome...

I haven't been playing along in the daily challenges over at splitcoast and I really miss that daily challenge to get my morning started...So I am hoping the get back into it a little better next week... This week is already gotten away from me and it's only Monday... Big weekend coming up... I hope that you will enjoy my card today and that you will come back to see what else I have in my back pocket... Happy Stamping!!!

SNS November Sketch Challenge

This is my card for this month's sketch challenge over at Sparkle N Sprinkle... I really hope that you will all be inspired to play along with us this month. The sketch is fabulous and leaves for so many awesome ideas...

The sketch challenge can be found here: Sparkle N Sprinkle Sketch Challenge I chose to use the "covered with glitter" technique for my card which can be found in the Techniques and Tutorials section as Sparkle N Sprinkle. Please check out what the rest of the DT has shared for inspiration and then play along with us. You will have until November 30th to upload your card to the SNS Sketch site. Here are the rules to play along... 1. Create a new project for the challenge. No back links please. Altered art, ATCs, cards, scrapbook pages, or any other craft projects are acceptable as long as they adhere to the month’s challenge. You may enter as many projects as you like. 2. Please use Sparkle N Sprinkle and Michelle Perkett images only – (rubber or digi is fine). Computer-generated sayings may be used (but no digi-art from other companies please). IF USING NO STAMPS AT ALL, please use one of our other fine products on your project. 3. Please link to the exact post on your blog - not the home page URL of your blog - using the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the challenge. Be sure to link directly from your blog post back to our Challenge Blog. And that's all there is to it! If using SplitCoastStampers gallery (SCS) please see step 4. 4. If posting to the SCS gallery - please be sure to include the code that appears on the Challenge page to tag your card to the challenge. Each monthly sketch or challenge will have its own unique code that will appear above the sketch or challenge. Please link the card or project by clicking the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the current challenge page. You’ll be prompted for the next steps. (Remember, please make sure to link directly to your challenge card) 5. Posting starts at 12:01 a.m. ET on the first day of the month and ends at 8:00 p.m. ET on the last day of the month If you have any questions please email Barbara@sparklensprinkle.com

Last Sparkle N Sprinkle Sample

Here is my last sample for the newly released Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp sets. This sample is from the Fall Harvest set and it can be purchased here Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look. I hope that you will find your way to the Sparkle N Sprinkle store... I promise you will find some absolutely wonderful products...

More Sparkle N Sprinkle New Release Samples

Here are a couple more samples using the new Sparkle N Sprinkle Sets: These samples come from the Walter & Abby set that can be purchased here... I hope you enjoy these samples....

Fall Rosettes

I did this card for today's "rosette" challenge.. I love the look of the rosettes but they are just too bulky and don't mail well... So I thought I would try and make these a little smaller...

I scored at every 1/8" instead of every 1/4" so that I would get a flatter rosette... And how cool that it looks exactly the same and gives the same look in dimension as well and I can mail this a lot easier now... I stamped my main image using Ranger Distress ink and colored with my copic markers. I then took a strip of "tear"ific tape and covered my image and peeled the second backing off to expose the sticky and added glitter to my entire image. I then matted the main panel onto a scallop rectangle panel and added my rosettes. I really like how this turned out and I love the "covered with glitter" technique that can be found at Sparkle N Sprinkle... Thank you so much for stopping by today... Happy Stamping!!!

Beautiful Blue Butterflies

This is my card for today's sketch challenge... I tried to get this done before work this morning but my mind wasn't working very quickly... A fresh mind is best... I had fun making this card and I really like the colors used here...

This card was very simple to put together with minimal layers. I cut out 3 different butterflies and layered them slightly off from each other with the smallest butterfly having pearls down the center. I simply added my ribbon and sentiment and that was the extent of this card... I hope you like what I did today... Happy Stamping!!!

Sparkle N Sprinkle October Sketch Challenge

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today... This month Sparkle N Sprinkle is starting a new blog exclusively for their monthly sketch challenge.. Take a look at their new home here... This is the challenge layout for October...

We like to make things simple, so here are the guidelines for playing: Create a NEW project for the challenge. No back links please. Please use Sparkle N Sprinkle images only – Rubber Stamped images or SNS Digital Images. Please link to the exact post on your blog, or if using SplitCoastStampers gallery (SCS) please see the next step (it lets all the viewers see your masterpiece without searching). If posting to the SCS gallery, please be sure to include the code that appears on the sketch to tag your card to the challenge. Please enter that code using the keyword SNSSCXX. (XX represents the sketch number on the current sketch.) If posting on your blog please include the code on your blog also. Each monthly sketch will have its own unique code that will appear on the sketch. Please link the card or project by clicking the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the current challenge page. You’ll be prompted for the next steps. (Remember, please make sure to link directly to your challenge card and not just to your blog home address.) If you have any questions please email me at Barbara@sparklensprinkle.com October 2012 Sketch SNSSC12 – October Sketch Here is my take on this month's sketch. I hope you like and will join in playing along with myself and the rest of the Sparkle N Sprinkle DT...

Woven Card Tutorial

I am so excited to be guest hosting today's "Try A New Technique" challenge over at Splitcoast. Here is a simple tutorial for your viewing pleasure. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I am more than happy to help in any way I can. To start.. Choose a die as your template. Cut a sheet of Sticker Paper just larger than your die.

Next cut your coordinating cardstock into 1/2" strips and as long as your Sticker Sheet..

Next peel your sticker sheet backing off just far enough to expose 2 rows of adhesive like so

Carefully position your first set of vertical rows and the first 2 horizontal rows on the adhesive and press firmly making sure not to touch the rest of your adhesive.

Now pull your adhesive backing down far enough to expose enough "sticky" for your next row of strips..

Finish weaving your rows carefully aligning them and pressing to the adhesive.. Make sure you press them firmly to ensure proper adhesion..

Run finished piece through your die cutting machine to cut out your woven background.

Emboss edges if you choose... Remove woven background from die and assemble card as desired... Here is my finished card: