SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S JANUARY 1ST REVEAL

Happy New Year and
Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle's January 1 Reveal.


We hope you enjoy all the new SNS products in 2014.
Among them are new, less expensive stamp sets, our own line of digital stamps, and an exclusive line of designer papers to match our glitters and embossing powders.
This month we are featuring four fun new stamp sets by artists Michelle P erkett and Beccy Muir (whose design team is also showcasing her new images) 
and EIGHT chances to win

Four chances in our "January 1 Reveal" Contest (details below)
 and
four more chances with the SNS monthly challenge where the monthly theme is always
"Anything Goes with Glitter, Embossing Powder and/or Flocking."

The Spunky Valentine stamp set is available on line or is included in Jazzy Jill's Technique Video for the month.

I chose to use the new Spunky Valentine stamp set, glittering my hearts up with Gypsy Red Velvet Glitter on top of a dry embossed background - making a "hearty" background!  I stamped Spunky twice - once on cardstock, colored with Copics and the other on cardstock covered with Super Adhesive Sheet then Snow White flocking, stamping the image directly on top of the flocking. I cut out the white stripes and stuck them to the colored image, giving some fluffy dimension!

The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Red Apple, before removing the die after cutting and embossing, I distressed it with a little Angel Pink Memento ink:

Click here for full directions:

This month four Winners (one for each new stamp set) will be selected by Random.org during the Designers Mystery Party. Winners will also get to choose one Glitter and one Embossing Powder to go with their new stamp set.

Here are the four new sets:

#521 Spunky Valentine

#525 Dress Up

#528 Cinderella Slipper

#527 Rocco with Roses

Here's a little sneak peak at a card that I will post in a couple of days, using the new Rocco with Roses set: 

How the Mystery Party works:

On four of the participating blogs below, a Commenter will be selected to receive the prize. 

No one knows who the FOUR Mystery Designers are, so you may wish to visit each blog to leave a comment.

The winners will be announced on January 3 on Facebook, the SNS blog, and on our blogs:

Eret Pank

Marie Berquist

April Williams

Anne Temple

Belinda Shupe

Emmy van den Heuvel

Mayra Duran-Hernandez
Shona Erlenborn (that's me!
Anita Scroggins

Donna Ellis
Jazzy Jill's Video Technique Kit
Beccy Muir's design team

Each of the four stamp sets are available at 20% off. Promotion valid through January 3. You may also phone the SNS Shoppe to place your orders.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! See you soon!

Wishing each and every one of you a very happy and healthy New Year!

Shona

WARM WINTER WISHES

Hi there, So are you done making your Christmas cards yet? I'm getting there, only another 40 to go. Today I'm going to share one with you that I made using one of my photos taken last week in the early morning of a snow day!

I was lucky - as I was looking out the kitchen window last Tuesday, I saw this rather handsome little chap crossing over the back yard. I grabbed my camera quickly and took a few snaps, most of which were blurred, but then the clever little guy stopped (and posed!).

Unfortunately, you can't really make out his handsome tail, which was a fine specimen, but I thought the picture came out well nonetheless. I immediately thought of what I was going to do with this snap. It got e.mailed to Costco!

I used the Spellbinders Labels 23 to cut out the photo and then taped it down on to a glossy white cardstock base with the die still in place.  I ran a silver Uniball pen around the outside of the die, to create a border for the photo.

For the snow on the log and bottom of card, I applied Brushable Glue with our new "chunky" Diamond Dust glitter on top. For the tree branches I used a Sakura Glue Pen and Starfire glitter. See the difference in the textures of the glitters. All these Sparkle N Sprinkle products are acid free, so will not harm your photos at all.

The greeting, which is from Stamp Set 384: Holiday Penguins, was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Silver Lightning. This is a detail opaque powder, so it works well with sentiments.

.. and that was all I did! A quick and effective card for Christmas:

Till next time, "my" fox says - enjoy the holidays!

Shona

CELEBRATE THE SEASON!

Hi and thanks for stopping by,

I have to say, I was naughty today (I hope Santa's not listening!). Instead of making Christmas cards and getting what I really needed to do done, I started playing - with some really fun products from Sparkle N Sprinkle! 

We recently introduced two fun and appropriate seasonal embossing powders: Red Marbled Christmas and Green Marbled Christmas - now that isn't hard to remember is it, but look at the results!:

Full of sparkle - OK, I know, what isn't, over at Sparkle N Sprinkle - it would be a misnomer it it didn't sparkle!

OK, sorry about that I digressed yet again today!  If you didn't see my post yesterday, have a quick look at that card. Look at that beautiful metallic background cardstock!

Using a different combination of this lovely metallic cardstock, I decided to go with a more "orangy" hue for my card today. So I took a lovely orange patterned designer paper, die cut it with Spellbinders Botanical Swirls and and covered it in Magic Speckle - "Thanks April" , what a gorgeous covering it became. Felt like I didn't want to cover up the background, metallic look, but couldn't help myself. (Come on, more is never enough!). 

I did feel bad covering the entire left side bottom with the Spellbinder's Nested Poinsettias, but that was what I had intended to do - so I did get over it -  and on with the show! Oh, and don't forget the leaves from Spellbinder's Rose Creations.

I had some "pinkish" colored paper scraps and cut and embossed them with the Poinsettia Spellbinder's die and then covered them in Versamark and applied the new Red Marbled Christmas to each layer.  Oh, yes, and I did the same with some sage green cardstock and the Spellbinder's Rose Creations, except after the Versamark - I applied the Green Marbled Christmas embossing powder. But doesn't it look like the flower and leaves were outlined?  OK, I confess, with a Sakura Glue pen and some Celestial glitter!

The frame was done with a couple of sizes from the Spellbinder's Grand Large Labels. So after cutting and embossing the frame, I applied Versamark and then some Verdigris embossing powder - and then a little Magic Speckle.

The base card was edged with Versamark and then heat embossed with some of the Red Marbled Christmas embossing powder, and edged with a little Distress ink - Rusty Hinge. The frame was set on top with dimensional tape and then the poinsettia was positioned!

The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed in Pine. These Tuscany powders are perfect for detail embossing. I used the Spellbinders Fancy Tags for the Sentiment from Sparkle N Sprinkle Set 507 ( another new and awesome Christmas SNS set). I distressed the tag with Pine and Rusty Hinge.

Wishing I had done something more than copper brads for the flower centers but yellow didn't seem appropriate - thus the metallic look!

Hope you liked what I did today - felt it needed a ribbon of some sort (but that is truly outside my comfort zone! - not enough space on the card!).  This was already a 5 x 7!  Sorry Margaret!

Hugs,

Shona

JINGLE BELL!

Hi there,

Here today with a personal card that I just finished up for the Handbell Choir Director at the church. Just want to point out that there is a definitely a dearth of handbell stamps out there!  Anyone have any leads? I've managed to pick up a wee collection over the years when attending handbell festivals with the kids.

Each winter and summer break for the past 10 years at least, I've been making a card for this wonderful lady. She has instilled a love for handbells in our family, particularly Gillian, who is set to pursue this as a career. This Christmas, I was stumped, as I hadn't managed to get a new bell stamp this year.  Well, I'll just have to do something different with the fold and use this little Christmas handbell stamp as the main focus. 

I had taught a class for Sparkle N Sprinkle at a Convention in the fall and thought that I could use the same card fold idea. The base of the card is 11" x 5 1/2". You will score 2 3/4" in from each end of the long side:

I had been at Michael's over the weekend and picked up some metallic paper - and thought that the red, with gold and silver flecks might work for what I had in mind.  It wasn't too heavy a cardstock, so I had to beef it up with cream on the inside. I added some Goldenrod Velvet Glitter with 1/4" Tear-ific Tape to the edges of the middle inside panel. I used a Tim Holtz Holly bough stencil for the side panels, sponging with Memento inks Pistachio, Ladybug and Desert Sand.  

For the focal image I heat embossed the pretty little Christmas Handbell in Gold Detail and colored in with Copics, to match the colors of the holly on the inside.

I added Dimensional Glue to the bell base and berries and left it to dry. Then used the Sakura Glue pen to add some Celestial glitter to the leaves and bell for extra sparkle!

Using Spellbinders Labels 13, the frame is made by cutting and embossing two of the dies from Gold Metallic cardstock - so pretty!

For the center of the frame, apply Super Adhesive Sheet to white cardstock and use the smaller of the frame dies to cut and emboss, then rip the protective backing so that there is a strip left in the middle of the piece, and to the exposed tape add Reflection Velvet Glitter. Remove the middle section and apply Goldenrod.

Glue the right hand side of the gold frame to the middle of the front and using 1/4" Tear-ific Tape, stick the left hand side of the glittered piece to the left hand side panel. The little handbell, cut and embossed with the small sized matching die cut is attached with a Wobble!

Now for the sound of the bells! I added my "jingle" to the left hand side panel with some gold thread. Here is the closed finished project:

You get the jingling of the bell when you open the card! Hope you've enjoyed my little show and tell today.  Enjoy the rest of the holiday bustle - only 13 days to go! Hey, but whose counting?

Hugs,

Shona

SPARKLE N SPRINKLE DECEMBER MYSTERY PARTY WINNERS

Hi!  Thanks to everyone who played in Sparkle N Sprinkle's recent "Beautiful Geraniums" Mystery Party. We enjoyed making the new projects, and hope you enjoyed browsing. 

April Williams was our Mystery Designer for the contest. With 22 comments left on April's blog, Mr. Random.org was used to generate our Commenting Winner - . Jean Bullock!

Here is another card that I made, while playing with this beautiful new set 519: Geraniums:

I used the same floral frame that I had used in my first card (scroll down to last post to see). I used the two-step stamping technique, stamping the silhouette geranium on watercolor paper with the stamp colored with crayon and misted with water. Then went over the top of the image with the detail stamp. I love the soft look it gives.

I took some of the 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape and stuck it down to white cardstock. I then cut out some little flowers  and a base for my sentiment and after removing the protective backing, covered them with Bubblegum Glitter.  I fussy cut one of the flowers from the stamped image to go along with my other two little flowers.

The background is the silhouette geranium stamped randomly over white cardstock and then heat embossed with Clear Detail Powder. I ran Memento Angel Pink ink over the top to achieve the resist technique.  

Full instructions for making this card can by found here:

Hope you've enjoyed your little visit with me today!

See you again soon, off to continue with some Christmas cards now!

Hugs,

Shona

SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S DECEMBER REVEAL - GERANIUMS ABOUND

Hi there and welcome to the latest Sparkle N Sprinkle Reveal where we are featuring the beautiful Geranium set 519 by Beccy Muir: 

I love that this set has a silhouette stamp in it.  Great for two step-stamping (remember back when that was all the rage?).  Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? ..... 

... and in-keeping with a vintage, romantic look, here's what I came up with:

The ribbon was given to me by a neighbor after her mother-in-law passed away. She has no idea how old it is, but given the dates on some of the items that I was given, it's at least 10 years old. Anyone remember using or wearing it? 

To make things look uniformly "vintage" I went with a lace background, using Champagne and Cyclamen glitters, then continued with the Floral Ovals frames from Spellbinders.

I stamped the outline of the geranium in StazOn black on watercolor paper and then came back with the silhouette stamp, to which I had directly applied the pinks and green watercolor crayons, misted them with water and stamped on top of the detailed image.  I love the outside-the-line look that gets achieved with this method of stamping.  I then went in with the glue pen and added some more Cyclamen glitter to the petals along with brass brad centers.

I'm kind of wishing I had used the cracked ice technique on the image, but was happy the way the Antiquities floral frame came out? So delicate and pretty.  You'll find complete instructions right here, if needed. Here she is - one more time - in all her glory!:

Would you like to get in the running to win some of these products?  If so, it's really easy, you have 5 chances to win:

the first chance is in our "Beautiful Geraniums" Release Contest
 and
four more chances with the SNS monthly challenge where the monthly theme is always "Anything Goes with Glitter, Embossing Powder and/or Flocking."

The Geranium stamp set is available on line or is included in Jazzy Jill's Technique Video for the month.

The Geraniums stamp set, one glitter and one EP will be awarded to one commenter.
To win, just come to our Mystery Designer Party!

How the Mystery Party works:

On one of the participating blogs below, a Commenter will be selected to receive the prize. 

No one knows who the Mystery Designer is, so you may wish to visit each blog to leave a comment.

The winner will be announced on December 3 on Facebook, the SNS blog, and on our blogs:

Shona Erlenborn (that's me)

Eret Pank

Marie Berquist

April Williams

Anne Temple

Belinda Shupe

Emmy van den Heuvel

Mayra Duran-Hernandez

Donna Ellis

Jazzy Jill's Video Technique Kit

The beautiful Geraniums set is available at 20% off 

as part of our December specials. 

Just use the code DEC20 in the COMMENTS SECTION 

when checking out in the SNS on-line store 

to receive these brand new sets at 20% off.

Promotion valid through December 3.(sorry, credit card customers only. Total will be manually adjusted. Or phone the SNS shoppe on Wednesday and ask them to manually adjust the charge on the phone for you).

So pop on over and check out the other blogs to be in the running for some awesome prizes and have a look at the other Design Team Member's takes on the new Geranium set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Shona

NOEL SNOWPEOPLE

Hi there, so glad you've stopped by for a little visit!  

Today, I'm sharing another card using the cute little snowpeople, from Sparkle N Sprinkle's "Snow One Like You" set. They were stamped in Memento black and colored with Copics on top of Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter. 

Sparkle N Sprinkle is now also carrying some awesome stencils and templates, and one of my favorites is the Leafless Tree. I placed the stencil temporarily on top of navy cardstock and applied embossing paste with a spatula. I removed the stencil and washed it, to remove the paste that was left on the stencil. When the paste was dry, I returned the stencil over the tree and this time applied Mega Tack glue with a foam brush and applied Lavender Iris glitter on the glue, once I had removed the stencil. I washed the stencil again, with mild soapy water.  You can see the dimension the paste gives in this photo:

Other new products being offered at Sparkle N Sprinkle are chipboard shapes and words.  I decided to emboss the chipboard word, "Noel" with Gold Detail and Silver Lightning (see that little twinkling star on the "e"?):

I finished off the card by edging the card base with 1/2" Tear-ific Tape, centering the navy card front and then applying Goldenrod and Reflection Velvet Glitter.  The snow people and "Noel" were attached to the card front with dimensionals.  Click here for full directions, if needed.

Doesn't that little guy with the open arms make you want to just give him a hug? Have you started your Christmas cards yet? I plan to get started next week, I'm way behind where I usually am by this point. Hope to see you pop by again soon.   

Till then,

Shona

WINTER WONDERLAND PART TWO!

Hi there, thanks for stopping by.  

Did you get a chance to see the Sparkle N Sprinkle November 1st reveal?  If you did, then you saw what the Design Team came up with using the new Winter Wonderland set:

 

It is such a versatile stamp. In my last card I spotlit the scene:

So now I've taken a totally different spin on my second card.  I stamped the winter scene on white card and colored with Copics.  I framed over it with embossable acetate covered with Velvet Sparkle, so that it looked like a snow scene. I used April's Faux Patina  technique to create the snowflake background. I had a little Cloud Nine Snowman, from the Snow One's Like You set, sitting on my desk and decided to incorporate him into the scene.  

Plenty of sparkle and fun! Hope you enjoyed your visit today!

Please stop by again soon!

Shona

Sparkle N Sprinkle Winter Wonderland - November 1st Release

Welcome to the latest Sparkle N Sprinkle November Release
 (two lovely new sets), along with our November Challenge.

This month we have two new awesome sets by artist Rosiland Solomon and there are five chances to win these sets!

the first two chances are with our "Winter Wonderland" Release Contest
 and
three more chances with the SNS monthly challenge where the monthly theme is always "Anything Goes with Glitter, Embossing Powder and /or Flocking."

The Winter Wonderland stamp set and the Flourishes Two stamp set are both available on line.
The beautiful Winter Wonderland stamp set is included in Jazzy Jill's Technique Video for the month.

The Winter Wonderland stamp set, one glitter and one EP will be awarded to one commenter.

The Flourishes Two stamp set, one glitter and one EP will be awarded to another commenter.

To win, just come to our Mystery Designer Party!

I chose to "highlight" this lovely Winter Wonderland Set (literally I used the Spotlight "Highlighting" Technique in my card).  I took each of the three animals and framed them in the same way as the scalloped frame, by heat embossing with Vintage embossing powder, I then reapplied Versamark and heat embossed with Magic Speckle.

I stamped the same scenic image twice - one on glossy in detail black embossing powder and then the second in black StazOn and then used watercolor crayons with a waterbrush to apply color. I punched out the three animal images and framed them with the little Vintage/Magic Speckle frames.

I added more sparkle and shine with my favorite Cloud Nine glitter and Twinkling Clouds Sparkle N Soft, applied with Brushable Glue and a Sakura Glue Pen for the snow highlights. Here are another couple of angles to try to capture the sparkle and shine of the card:

 How the Mystery Party works:

On two of the participating blogs below, a Commenter will be selected to receive the prize. 

No one knows who the Mystery Designers are, so you may wish to visit each blog to leave a comment.

The winners will be announced on November 3rd on Facebook, the SNS blog, and on our blogs:

Mayra Duran-Hernandez

Shona Erlenborn

Eret's Kaardimaania 

Craft E Marie Berquist
Anita Scroggins

April "Stampwilly" Williams

Belinda Shupe
Anne Temple
Donna Ellis

Both sets (here is the flourish set):

 

are available at 20% off 

as part of our Wintry specials. 

Just use the code WINTRY20 in the COMMENTS SECTION 

when checking out in the SNS on-line store 

to receive these brand new sets at 20% off.

Promotion valid through November 3.(sorry, credit card customers only. Total will be manually adjusted. Or phone the SNS shoppe on Wednesday and ask them to manually adjust the charge on the phone for you).

ANOTHER THREE PUBLISHED CARDS

Today, I would like to share with you another three of my cards which were published in the Special Issue of CardMaker.

The three cards, use different techniques to add color with glitters.

First up is a Welcome to your New Home:

Using Sparkle N Sprinkle's lovely Set 481: Shabby Chic Birdhouse, I applied the amazing Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter to the Super Adhesive Sheet, stamped the images in black StazOn and then colored the images on top of the glitter with watercolor crayons applied with a waterbrush.  This is my favorite way of coloring on the glitter - but check out the tutorials in the Tips and Techniques Section for others. The frames were made by adding Magic Speckle on top of Vintage embossing powder. Full details for the card can be found here.

The second card highlights the Glittered Lace technique:  Taking a piece of lace and two coordinating glitters you can make amazing glittery backgrounds for all your projects:

Here, I used the new Velvet Glitters, Reflection and Gypsy Red. these glitters feel like velvet when you run your finger over them, and they are totally opaque, so that no card color will be seen through them.  ... but wait - there's more, since they are so fine, you can even stamp and emboss on top of them! I used the Set 424: Music Labels, for the stamps for this card, and ran red cardstock through an embossing folder inked with London Fog ink. Complete details can be found here. 

For my last show and tell today, using Velvet Glitters once again, but this time with Sticker Paper and a brass stencil, I bring you Fishy Birthday Wishes!:

Super glittery in real life, this little fish was created using a brass stencil on Sticker Paper (rub stencil with soap before hand - it makes it easier to peel off the paper).  Remove the backing from the Sticker paper and place the stencil on sticky surface. I applied Gypsy Red Velvet Glitter to the exposed sticky paper, then carefully peeled the glittered paper away from the stencil.  Apply Golden Rod Velvet Glitter to the remaining exposed sticky surface. Cut around outline and your fish is ready to swim!

I created the background by sponging white glossy cardstock with blue and green inks and then running it through a Tide embossing folder. Sand the raised pattern to reveal the white crests of the waves.

The little shells were made by sticking outline stickers on exposed Sticker Paper and then burnishing in Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter. Again just fussy cut and attach to the card with dimensionals. The edge of the card also sports two others of the Velvet Glitters: Jasper Blue and Luau Green, Simply edge your card base with 1/4" Tear-ific Tape, remove backing and center your card front. Apply the two glitters, one at a time to the exposed sticky edge. Full directions can be found here.

Well that's all for today.  I'll be back in a few more days to share the last of the published cards. 

Have a wonderful day!

Shona

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!

A few months back, the designers at Sparkle N Sprinkle were asked to submit cards for consideration to Cardmaker Magazine for a special issue on coloring techniques for cardmaking. I submitted six cards and was thrilled when I heard that they were going to use all of them in this special issue. Several other designers from Sparkle N Sprinkle are also featured in this issue, all using unique techniques. The magazine is full of great coloring tips and ideas, including a very informative section on Copic coloring: 

That's my little fishy card at the top on the front cover, but today I'm going to share another of the two cards with you.

The first one is Happy Bloomin' Birthday:

I ran a piece of vellum and white glossy cardstock through Pure Pleasure embossing folder at the same time. After separating them I applied the chalks with a blender pen to the back of the vellum and stamped the sun on the white glossy.  I taped them temporarily together and ran them through the embossing folder again. The two layers were attached to the peach with the pastel brads, after removing the tape.  The sentiment was heat embossed with Black Detail.

The second card I would like to share with you today was "colored" both with Copics and Flockings. Since making this card, I have learned that you can take it a step further and even color on the flocking with Copics!!  Here is a tutorial on how to do that! This way you can have flocking in every color that you have a Copic. Sorry, I digressed! Back to the card in question:

Isn't that "one cool cat"?  So my coloring technique here was to use flocking. The ribbon was two pieces of white ribbon, colored first with brown ink and then I stuck a strip of 1/4" Tear-ific Tape down the center of each piece.  I applied Amber Wheat flocking to one and Mustard Yellow to the other. Then I taped the two pieces together to make a two-toned ribbon. The frame was die cut and the same flockings were applied with Brushable Glue. The outside edge of the card is also flocked.  Full directions can be found here (or in the magazine!)

So that is my share for you today.  I'll be back in a few days with another couple of the cards.

See you then,

Shona