CELEBRATING SUMMER

Hi there,

Well here we are half-way through May,
and Summer is definitely on it's way!  (Oh cool - that rhymes!).

Welcome to the latest Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog Hop, where this time we are celebrating everything about summer! If you've hopped here by way of our very creative Marie, then you are on the right track,   If not then you should stop back at the SNS home page to become eligible for five great prizes. To be eligible for these fabulous prizes, all you have to do is a leave a little comment on each one of the blogs on the hop.

 I had fun with this month's theme, as it was wide open to the many summery images of Sparkle N Sprinkle.  At the same time - we had an in-house challenge to use embossing powders in ways a little more differently than just embossing an image and then coloring in.  I, of course jumped in straight away and got my feet wet!!

I did a few different techniques on my first card.  One of my favorites: the Cracked-Ice technique, was used on the star fish.  I embossed the Beach Squares (all stamps from Set 431 - Summer Swirl) by arranging them all on an acrylic block and applying Versamark then spooning the three EPs (one at a time): Electric Blue, Tuscan Star and Blue Fizz. The background piece was done in the same manner, just apply Versamark ink to the edges, this way you get a totally color-coordinated base for your card. The tag was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with the Tuscan Star EP again and then I covered the tag with Versamark and heat embossed with Super Thick Clear embossing powder.  Full details for the card are right here:

For my second card, I used the Embossing Painting technique, which is to cover the entire card with Versamark and either working up or down, spoon on the different colors of embossing powders to emulate a scene. Here, I started at the bottom and used Hit the Beach for the beach, White Detail for the sea foam, Jamaican Dream for the Sea, Silver for the horizon and Poolside for the sky. I added a little White Detail to the sky and sea and then heat embossed from the underside to create the clouds and sea foam. Oh, and then use a Versamarker to add a little Sparkle embossing powder to the sea and sand to add the sun's bling!  You then emboss your images on top of your background and color with Copics where needed.  Full instructions for the card can be found here:

So on to my third card. Yes, I was on an embossing roll!  This time I used "my" embossing painting technique.  This is where you paint on Embossable Acetate using different colored embossing powders on the back-side of your image.  You can stamp the image in Staz-On or in Versamark and then heat emboss with Black embossing powder. That's what I did with this last card.  Then use a Versamarker or Penboss to apply the ink inside the lines of the image. Do one color at a time.  For full instructions for this card, click here:

The items on sale this month are: Water, Food and Beverages and our Featured Artist is Rosiland Solomon. So if you've had your eye on something in those categories - now is the time to get it!

I hope you've enjoyed what I had to show you today. Remember to leave a comment before you hop on over to see what our talented Julie has in store for you.  

As always, thanks for stopping by .....

Shona