SEASIDE PEACE

When I think of the word peace, calming sounds are what come to my mind.  When it comes to calming sounds - nothing can beat that of the tide lapping up on a beach, with the soft breeze rustling the sea grasses - just all so soothing! 

So here is my photo of peace: The North Sea!! Taken from behind the sand dunes in St. Andrews, Scotland. It was a warm and not windy day, I might add!

In an attempt to capture the sea breeze and the sound of the tide I used Sparkle N Sprinkle's Set 493: Silhouettes, which till now has been one of my favorite sets. I have to say I am a little partial to silhouette stamps on the whole - and therefore was delighted when another Silhouette Set was brought out - it's with a garden theme, but you'll have to wait till next week for the May 1st Reveal to see that one!

After stamping the scene on Embossable Acetate with Black StazOn, I tried to make the scene look like it was viewed through an old cracked window, as I wanted to use the new Crackle Background from this month's reveal. However, it was too much on top of the scene, so I decided to go with a "crackled" frame instead.

The frame was cut and embossed from a piece of chipboard and then after applying Versamark, I heat embossed with Ocean and Squash embossing powders first. Versamark was reapplied and then Magic Speckle was next. It is best to heat from the underside when using the marbled embossing powders as the white flecks tend to fly off if heated from the top. With the chipboard being thicker, it took a while to emboss this! Vintage embossing powder was used to achieve the crackled background.

The background isn't quite so swirly in reality - but I loved what the camera did here, so kept it!  I wanted to create a dreamy looking background and was able to achieve it by dabbing ink from the Kaleidacolor Creole Spice Ink Pad directly onto an acrylic pad, then misting with water, before placing glossy white cardstock face down in the ink.

The acetate scene was attached to the back of the frame and then I attached dimensional foam to make a well for the shaker card.  I put in some real sand and some micro beads, thinking that when it got shaken it would make the noise of the tide on the beach! Which it actually does! The protective backing was removed from the tape and the inked background was placed over the well, encasing the sand and the beads.

The Chipboard word "Peace" was covered with Versamark and heat embossed with Antiquities, then again with the Ocean marbled powder. I added some Ice Sea Glass Mudd Puddles to the right hand side and attached "Peace" with some Mega Tack Glue to finish off the card.

I'd like to enter today's "Peace" card in the challenge over at the Path of Positivity. 

Can't you just hear the tide swishing over the beach? Summer will be here before we know it! Yeah!

Remember to stop back next week for our May 1st Reveal - to check out the new Garden Silhouette set. I assure you - you will not be disappointed! OK, I'll be nice - here's a little sneak preview!  

Hope you've enjoyed your visit, see you next week!

Hugs,

Shona

WHEN SKIES ARE GRAY!

OK, so we had 70 degrees at the weekend and then snow yesterday, three days later! Really? The poor daffodils have been whipped by the wind, and are looking a little droopy as a result, but hopefully they'll perk back up, as our temperatures are supposed to gently increase over the next week. 

Last week I left you with a sneak peak of another card that used the April Shower's Set from Sparkle N Sprinkle:

I used Dimensional Glue to get the "wet look" for my orange brolly and wellies and added some Waterscape and Cloud Nine Glitter with the Sakura Glue pen for the sparkle on the yellow umbrella and the puddle.

I had made a flocked background using the Darice Heart Embossing Folder with Sun Dazzle Sparkle N Soft and Lady Bug Memento ink. If you missed the tutorial on the flocked backgrounds - it can be found here. 

Doesn't the top photo look as though the heart center is raised? Funny how the camera can play tricks! Here is what it really looks like:

The Spellbinder's Scalloped heart was cut from the center of the flocked background and then I put the smaller red heart behind it. The image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The sky and puddle were sponged with Memento inks.

The image was attached to a yellow card base and then the flocked piece was layered over the top with dimensionals. Sentiment was stamped on yellow card stock in Versamark and heat embossed with Detail Black. I cut out the saying using the same scalloped heart die and then cut along the top and bottom of the sentiment and edged it with the Lady Bug ink.

I love this little SNS set - so appropriate for this time of year. Just think of all the May flowers these April showers will bring! Full directions for the card, if needed, can be found in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Gallery.

I think I may have found the perfect challenge for this little card - it's with Stampotique Designers Challenge, April Showers!

Hope you have a great week and that if you do get caught in an April shower that you've got an umbrella handy!

Hugs,

Shona

YOU MAKE ME HAPPY!

Hi there,

Hope you're having a great day! I'm here today to share another card with you made from one of the five sets from the Sparkle N Sprinkle April Reveal. What a great little stamp set this is - just perfect for this time of year with all the April Showers - which also happens to be it's name!

I decided to make another shaker card with this set. I thought the micro beads would look and sound like rain (which they do when rattling around in the window)! 

I recently picked up the embossing folder knowing it would be the perfect compliment to this set. After running the gray cardstock through the folder and cutting out the window, I swiped the embossed raindrops and umbrella with a Brilliance White ink pad:

I heat set the ink, then applied dimensional glue to the umbrella and went over it when it dried with some Copic markers.

I cut out part of the Spellbinders Ornamental Tags One for the sentiment as I thought the little flower could just as easily be the sun - don't you think?

The image was colored with Copics and I added more dimensional glue to the slickers and wellies to make them shiny. Starfire Glitter was added for some sparkle to the rain. I framed in the image with dimensional foam and added the micro beads before attaching embossable acetate for the window. The card front was attached to the acetate and then layered to a yellow card base and with the sentiment attached with dimensionals the card was complete. Full details for this card can be found in the SNS Gallery, right here.

Doesn't it look like they are getting soaked with the rain? 

Hope you've enjoyed your visit with me today and that you're not experiencing too much April rain wherever you are.

I'd like to enter this card in the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge, Challenge No. 113: You've been Framed!

Let me leave you today, with a sneak peak of another card that I made with the same set. Pop back next week, to my blog for all the details!

Have a great week!

Shona

THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTFULNESS, DONNA!

Hi there and welcome to April! The birds are singing, it's not snowing and the crocuses are up! Spring is definitely on it's way, and I have so much to be thankful for.

Today, I'm sharing this thank you card that I made for one amazing women - she goes by several different titles - here are just a few I know of: "Miss Donner", "Donut", "De", "Computer Guru", AKA Donna Ellis! If you follow me on Blogger then you most probably know Donna too. I don't doubt that she has probably even helped you with something along the way. 

Were it not for Donna, you wouldn't be reading this post right now. When we first were informed about changes that were being made over at Sparkle N Sprinkle and one of those changes was to have a blog - I thought I would have to quit!  I'm not very computer savvy (to put it mildly) but Donna got me up and running with a blog and has saved me on countless (and do I mean countless!) occasions since then, when I have messed up! This thoughtful soul even offered to write on my blog during Sandy, when we had no power, so that I could keep in touch with my folks back home. 

A couple of weeks ago, when I was having Picasa/Blogger problems she offered to have me e.mail my gigantic photos (she's always teasing me about the size of my photos - but I have no idea how to change that!) and she would insert them in to my blog. Now who thinks of that, let alone can do it? Here is the link for that blog. Yes, she's the Computer Guru extraordinaire! I'm sure you've all seen posts that she has written, where she has researched something and found answers, then shares the found knowledge unselfishly with everyone, who follows her blog. You can tell what a kind person Donna is straight from her blog, she writes with such passion and humility.

This caring, and thoughtful lady has several debilitating health issues, and sometimes they are extremely severe, where she has had to step down from responsibilities from time to time. She hates when this happens, who wouldn't?, but she always accepts what she gets handed with grace and I so admire this quality in Donna. 

She is also very intuitive. A couple of days ago, I got an e.mail from her, titled "Hiya" and it read: "Shona, hope you are doing well - haven’t heard from you recently".  Who would have thought that perhaps something was up? Donna did - in fact I was going through a period of a few days, where things were not going too well, and after a telephone call to explain my situation, I felt so much better and ready to move on. She is such a good listener and always has the best advice. I believe this is because at some point in time in her life, she has had a similar situation and can relate. It's actually quite scary how similar our lives are. We often will be having the same thing for dinner on a given night (and neither of us get that memo!)

Oh, almost forgot - this lady does have one vice! She is an enabler!! When there is a good deal - you get the link!! She always shares the wealth - if she comes across someone or something that she thinks you'll appreciate, you get the information, sometimes you even get a package! 

I had to steal something from Donna's blog. She won't be mad at me - because she'll be proud and amazed that I was able to do that without her help! ROTFL! This sentiment sums up beautiful Donna in a nutshell:

(Wow - I even managed to center it, Donna!!) 

She continues to inspire me each and every day, with her stamped creations, her wisdom, her patience, her encouragement and her thoughtfulness. Which brings me to why I wrote this blog. She is always encouraging me to enter challenges, and so this one is for you Donna:

I'd like to enter this card in the Path of Positivity Challenge where you have to create or write something about Thoughtfulness. 

Thank you for all the special things you do, Donna and for being such a thoughtful friend to us all!

Details, if needed for the card, can be found here:

Hugs,

Shona