SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S JANUARY 1ST REVEAL

Happy New Year everyone! Well can you believe it is already January 2016? It's crazy how quickly time is flying - it feels like the kids just started back to school after summer, and here they are already back from College for the holidays!  So today we have the first Reveal for 2016 for Sparkle N Sprinkle. I chose to make my card with the Poppy Set 771.

We have FIVE new stamp sets to share with you today.  These new sets are 20% off until Jan 3.  So once you finish the blog hop, head on over to the store and start shopping.  All of the new sets are available on cling mounted rubber or as a digital image.  

The sets are:

Three Tenors 767 (digi version DIGI767)

 Sing On 768 (digi version DIGI768)

  Thinking of You 769 (digi version DIGI769)

 Happily Ever After 770 (digi version DIGI770)

 Poppies 771 (digi version DIGI771)

On Jan 3rd, ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs listed below. Please leave a comment with each Designer in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  You never know who the Mystery Designer will be that has the winning comment. 

The Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on the SNS Facebook page and on the SNS Blog, will receive ALL of the new stamp sets released this month (or the digi versions, if preferred).

The Blog Hop order this month is:

Shona (You're here)

Marie

Jess

Eret

Diane

Belinda

Anne

(*Tip: if you have difficulty with a particular link, try clicking on the Designer's blog title to send you to their Home page.)

We hope you enjoy the New Reveal Blog Hop as much as we do.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  

 Wonder who the Mystery Host will be this month????

The Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge also begins today.  There are lots of prizes and recognition badges.  Come check out how you can become a SNS Featured Artist as well.  The theme is always Anything Goes using Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder, and/or Flock.

Have you checked out the SNS YouTube Channel featuring Demo Donna?  If not, then you are in for a real treat.  Subscribe today to get all the latest Demo Donna tips and techniques!

So I am first up this month. I chose to work with the Poppies Set 771. There are some lovely sayings along with a group image of poppies and one single poppy in this set. I thought it would make a simple and elegant sympathy card. I began with stamping the group image on black cardstock with Versamark and then heat embossed with the gorgeous Gold Detail embossing powder. I then "colored" the poppies with bleach, by putting some fresh bleach in a water brush. 

I used the Spellbinders Decorative Labels Twenty Two to cut out the image and then distressed the edges edging with Versamark and then applying more of the Gold Detail EP. Dimensional Glue was added to the centers of the poppies to hold down the Prills.

The mustard backing was run through a Sizzix Dot Matrix Embossing Folder, and was then layered to a black layer.

The sentiment, from the same set, was stamped in Versamark and again heated with the Gold Detail powder. It was cut out using the Spellbinders Fancy Tag die. I made a sheer black ribbon bow and tied that around the mustard card front and tucked the sentiment under part of the bow with Dimensional Foam. Three Want to Scrap Self Adhesive black pearls were added to finish off the card.

Hope you liked my share today? Remember to leave a comment below and on the other Designers' blogs too. You'll be in with a chance to win all five new sets. Wouldn't that be a great way to start the New Year? Next on the hop is our own crafty Marie.

Happy New Year!

Till next time,

Shona

DOG LOVER'S 70TH!

Well, here we are at the end of 2015! I don't know about you, but this year went by in a blink of an eye for me. The say the older one gets, the faster it continues, I hope not! I had pieces of this card sitting on my desk and decided I should put it together before the end of the year, and I had a dog lover's 70th that I needed a card for, so this is what I came up with.

I had originally stamped the image (Woofie's Birthday Set 758) in Memento Tuxedo Black on top of a piece of Super Adhesive Sheet which had been covered with Snow White Flocking. Then I decided to just highlight Woofie and the wee pup in front of him so I fussy cut them out. I then masked off Woofie's hat and scarf and using a dauber colored him in with Desert Sand. I cut out the wee pup from the mask and daubed it in Cantaloupe, adding the ribbon with a red Copic.

The entire image was stamped on watercolor cardstock in Black StazOn and was colored using crayons and a Dove Blender. Fluffy Woofie was attached with tape.

The balloons were covered in Dimensional Glue and left to dry to give them the shiny look. I had some 70th silver stickers and decided to use those for the sentiment for a change of pace. The card front was layered to black cardstock, then yellow, then to the black card base. A tied a yellow ribbon around the left side to finish the card. E voila - my desk was cleared of yet another pile! The inside which I forgot to take a picture of says "party your tail off!" Appropriate for the recipient,

So that's it for 2015! I'll be back on New Year's Day with our Sparkle N Sprinkle January 1st Reveal. Hope you'll pop back to see what all the designers have to share. By commenting on the Designer's Blogs you will be in for a chance to win the six awesome new sets.

Till then, big hugs and an early Happy New Year!

Shona

MERRY CHRISTMAS NUANCE POINSETTIAS!

Hi there, 

....... and a very Merry Christmas!  I hope you're all finished with chores and are able to sit back and enjoy the Holiday season at this point.  I'm still dashing around but wanted to share my last card for Sparkle N Sprinkle for 2015! Where has this year gone?

First of all I started with a piece of watercolor cardstock and stamped the Poinsettia from Holiday Foliage Set 475 in Versamark.  I then heat embossed the Poinsettia with White Detail  and sprinkled the purple and green  Nuance powders into the "petal" and "leaf" areas.

These powders when spritzed with water shower color all over the place! Just heat set, like I did, if you can't wait for it to dry!

Once dry, I added Lavender Iris to the flower petals with the Sakura Glue Pen. I then cut the poinsettia into four pieces to make the corners for my card.

On to the center of the card! I made the background with watercolor paper  sprinkling the same two Nuance Powders and spritzing with water. I die cut the Cheery Lynn Designs Merry Christmas Die from green cardstock and applied Versamark to the entire piece, which was then heat embossed with Clear Detail embossing powder. I stuck a piece of Super Adhesive Sheet over the Nuance background, removed the protective backing and centered the die cut on the top.  Sparkle embossing powder was then sprinkled over the entire piece, sticking to the sticky surface and was then heat embossed, which resulted in this sparkly look.

I layered the "image" onto a piece of purple cardstock (which had a fun textured side and then a purple/red side) and added the four corners of the Poinsettia. The sheer green ribbon bow was added at this point before being layered on to the white card base.

Merry Christmas Hugs,

Shona

Let's take a Sleigh Ride!

Hi there,

A quick post from me today - mainly because I'm still feverishly getting my cards made and secondly because I didn't photo document this one as I was making it (as it was bits and pieces of other cards that ended up together)!

I had received a free package of an embossing folder (with border strip), a British Robin stamp and a couple of sayings, with a magazine last month and had used the folder on this piece of purplish textured cardstock.

I had some scraps of watercolor paper where I had been playing with my purple and green Nuance powders, which I had also heat embossed with Sparkle. I used the anti static bag over the piece before stamping the couple sleigh riding in Versamark and heat embossing with black detail. It was then cut and embossed with Spellbinders Classic Oval die.

The sentiment was also from the freebie package and I stamped in black StazOn before coloring the poinsettias with pencils to match my scrap piece of "Nuances Poinsettia" left over from a project that I will share next week. The sentiment was die cut and embossed with Spellbinders Mega Ovals and I added some Lavender Iris to the purple petals using a Sakura Glue Pen.

A little green sheer ribbon bow was tucked behind the sentiment and then it was all attached with dimensional foam. This was layered on to a white card base to finish the card.

That was it! Not bad for a bunch of bits and pieces, right?

OK, that's all for now - back to the drawing board or should I say craft room!

Hugs,

Shona

.... AND A PEACOCK IN A CHERRY TREE!

Hi there, 

I'm back to share with you some more goodies we got in our SNS surprise package last month. I got some Gold Mirror Cardstock which I thought I would highlight this time round - making a gold and black card. Difficult to photograph always, but here goes!

I took the stencil that I had also received (Dreamweaver Cherry Blossom) and taped it down to mustard cardstock - remember to tape in order that when you remove the tape you are left with the top "hinge".  Apply Matte Black Embossing Paste over the stencil. Remove the stencil and let the paste dry for 30 mins at least. Clean off the stencil.  I worked on the peacock in the meantime.

Stick a piece of 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape down on white cardstock and run the Peacock Stencil (Sizzix Thinlits Peacock #659070) through your embossing machine, both to cut and then to emboss. You can see how the pattern of the peacock's tail eyes are raised. Remove the protective backing and apply Fleur De Lis embossing powder and then heat set.

Apply the anti static bag to the piece before proceeding to the next step.  Replace the stencil over heat embossed peacock. Using a Versamarker pen trace the tail eyes and the wing of the peacock and "color in" with the ink pen. Remove the stencil and then apply Black Detail embossing powder and heat emboss.

Back to the background! Replace the clean stencil and apply glue (using the Essentials Glue Pad) and then using a small stencil brush, apply Dreamweaver Metallic F/X Gold Dust. Again remove stencil and clean. Below you can see the dimension that the paste and the Pearl Ex provide.

On to the embellishment! I took three flowers (not sure of the source - but they had music on them!) I took my Versamark pad and just swiped here and there on each of the three flower layers, as I didn't want to completely cover the music design, but wanted to tie in the gold. This time I heat set with Gold Detail embossing powder. The brad was also "blinged" with Fleur De Lis to tie everything together.

So then to put everything together. I cut an oval (using Spellbinders Grand Ovals) from the Gold Mirror Cardstock (which was slightly smaller than the mustard piece) to make a frame for the background. The "blinged" flower was attached to the corner of the frame, before being layered to the black cardstock base.

The peacock was then attached with Dimensional Foam as shown to complete the card. I deliberately kept the embellishments to the bottom of the card so as not to cover the entire background.

I left off a sentiment on  the card, but it really could be used for anything - Christmas, Sympathy, Birthday .... endless possibilities! Love Gold and Black! ... and Fleur De Lis is just that!!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Hugs,

Shona

BIRTHDAY QUEEN OF HEARTS!

Hi there, I really appreciate you stopping by today. There has been a lot of using embossing pastes and stenciling going on here - instead of Christmas cards! Will get to that in my next post (I hope!) I went up to my stamping room today and found myself knee deep in embossing paste again!

When I saw the new Birthday Queen Set 759 from Sparkle N Sprinkle, I had a  perfect background in my mind! I went to work with the Heidi Swapp Heart Stencil. I taped the stencil down on pink cardstock and applied Dreamweaver's Matte Black Embossing Paste.  I removed the stencil and cleaned it in soapy water.

When the paste was dry, I taped the stencil back on top and applied glue (from the Essential Glue Pad) with a dauber to the dried paste. Dreamweaver Metallic F/X Rose Berry Pearl Ex Powder was then applied to the sticky paste with a stencil brush.

Loved the velvety result!

The Birthday Queen from the new Birthday Queen Set 759 was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with some Copics and Spectrum Noir markers.

She was cut out using Spellbinders Floral Ovals and some Memento Angel Pink was sponged on to the background before I removed the die. I applied some added sparkle accents with the Sakura Glue Pen and some Bubblegum Glitter.

I stamped the sentiment in Versamark on white glossy cardstock and heat embossed with the new Rosa (EP462) embossing powder. The sentiment was then cut with Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Heart die and the edges were distressed with Versamark and a little more of the Rosa powder. Plum sheer ribbon was used to make my bow, which tied in nicely to the color of the hearts in the background.

The background piece was then layered to a piece of white cardstock which had the same distressed treatment as the sentiment heart. The image, sentiment and ribbon were then added with tape and dimensionals as shown to complete my card today.

Hope I've given you some inspiration to get out the Pearl Ex powders and some embossing paste!

Hugs,

Shona

SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S DECEMBER 1ST REVEAL

Hi everyone - hope your Thanksgiving (if you are in the US) was amazing and that you are well on your way to a beautiful holiday season and recovered from Part One of over-eating!

Welcome to the December 1st Reveal! Yikes December already (I haven't even started my Christmas cards yet!)

This month the Designers were given a Surprise Package full of products found at the SNS Shoppe and were asked to create projects with these products.  So sit back, enjoy the Hop and get ready to have those creative juices flowing! Here are two of the products that were in my package that I chose to create with:

On Dec 3rd, ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs listed below. Please leave a comment with each Designer in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  You never know who the Mystery Designer will be that has the winning comment.

The Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on the SNS Facebook page and on the SNS Blog, will receive a $20 gift certificate to go shopping at the SNS Shoppe.

The Blog Hop order this month is:

Anne

Shona

Jess

Belinda

Marie

Eret

Irit

(*Tip: if you have difficulty with a particular link, try clicking on the Designer's blog title to send you to their Home page.)

We would also like to thank all the Guest Designers who joined us this year: Diane, Ashley, Ani, Chris, Irit, and Jess.  It was a pleasure having each of you on the team as Guest Designers!

We hope you enjoy the Surprise Package Blog Hop as much as we enjoyed creating projects for it.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  

 Wonder who the Mystery Host will be this month????

The Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge also begins today.  There are lots of prizes and recognition badges.  Come check out how you can become a SNS Featured Artist as well.  The theme is always Anything Goes using Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder, and/or Flock.


Have you checked out the SNS YouTube Channel featuring Demo Donna?  If not, then you are in for a real treat.  Subscribe today to get all the latest Demo Donna tips and techniques!

In Thanksgiving mode I envisaged my birds - one in the nest waiting on the other to fly home! First I created the background. I took the Cherry Blossom Dreamweaver Stencil and taped it down on top of the mustard cardstock. Start taping at the top, then bottom and then the two sides. Once you have applied your preferred medium, remove the tape in reverse order so that you are left with a "hinge" effect at the top edge so that the die comes up cleanly and doesn't smudge the wet paste. Put the stencil into warm soapy water and clean off any excess paste at this point.

I used Dreamweaver's Matte Black Embossing Paste. Leave it to dry, this should take 30 mins at least. When dry, replace the stencil on top of the dry embossed image and using a dauber apply glue (I used the Essential Glue Pad) through the stencil to the flowers. Then using a stencil brush apply the Pearl Ex powders. I used Dreamweaver Metallic F/X: Kiwi Mica and Purple Satin.

Undo the tape again in the reverse order and remove the stencil - putting it back in the soapy water. 

I made my frame using the Spellbinders Lattice Rectangles. I cut out the die from white cardstock and then covered the piece with Versamark and applied Gold Detail embossing powder, before applying more Versamark and then the Fleur de Lis enamel powder. These chunky powders should be heated from below to prevent "fly aways". 

Cut the background to fit the inside of the frame and attach with 1/8" Tear-ific Tape. We are now ready for the birds! These were from Want to Scrap, I again applied Versamark and Gold Detail powder first and then reapplied Versamark and heat from underneath with Super Thick Gold. I heated them up again with the heat gun and while the embossing powder was still hot I sprinkled a little Fleur de Lis on their bellies and on the "tail" and then heat set..

I made a little ribbon for the "nest" with my Craft-Dee BowZ, and wrapped it around the frame before attaching to black cardstock which was then layered to a Gold Mirror cardstock base. The birds were attached with Dimensional Foam Squares, one nestled in the nest and the other flying home!

That completes my share for today! Hope you've enjoyed your visit? The next stop on our blog is Jess. Remember to leave a comment on each of our blogs in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize - 1 $20 gift certificate to the store!

Good Luck!

Shona

KISS CUT POPPIES

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wanted to share a technique that I came up with that gets more from your dies. We are calling it the Kiss Cut technique over at Sparkle N Sprinkle. 

This card uses the Sizzix Inksheets Transfer pad for the way it was planned but you can also use this transfer pad for the Sparkle N Sprinkle's Kiss Cut technique using Tear-ific Tape and glitters. This is how it works:

Apply a piece of 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape to a piece of white cardstock and then using the die cut (I'm using Memory Box Dainty Poppies here)  run it through the embossing machine using the sandwich that Demo Donna does in the video. This way the machine will just cut through the protective backing of the Tear-ific Tape (which is what you want) and not cut completely through the cardstock too. On my machine I can use the normal cutting plates, if it is cutting too far (through your cardstock too) just place a card shim on top of the adhesive sheet. It will cut through the card and then just "kiss cut" the tape. I've found that the calibration of each machine is different.

Using an exacto knife or other piercing tool, remove the outline first. It's best to work from the darkest colored glitters through the lightest ones - so as not to contaminate the lighter shades. So I started with Gypsy Red (for the flowers), followed by Luau Green (for the stems) and then Orange Tiger and Daisy (for the petals).

Remove the background protective layer and apply Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter to the entire background. Your piece is then ready to be die cut. I used Spellbinder's Mega Oval die.

Now on to the background. So this is what the Transfer Inksheets Pad was initially purposed for, but who doesn't like tools that are "ambidextrous"! So place the gold Sizzix Ink Sheet (shiny side up) on top of the black cardstock. Run through your machine as indicated.  I did this process a few times to get the effect I was going for to get my background. It's a great way to get use from your dies other than just cutting. Looks like a stamp - but it is from a die! Very cool. 

Using the same die as the focal image, I used the same die as a "stamp" with the gold Ink sheet on the black background. Once I had "stamped" it five times, I then attached the poppy oval to the card front and tied the yellow bow (made using my new Craft-Dee BowZ) around the bottom of the cardstock.

Also, take a look at another blogger friend, Kathi Jo, (tell her I sent you!) who extends the use of dies even further by using your dies with ink pads. This gives you an unlimited color range, instead of just the five colors that are available in the sheets. 

My card base was distressed with Versamark and then Gold Detail embossing powder before the card front was layered to it. Hope you've enjoyed your visit here today! While you're waiting on the turkey to cook or "settle" down - take a quick run to your stamping room and give this technique a try.

Big hugs,

Shona

GELATOS CHICKEN RUN

Hi there, 

Today I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I have recently been playing around a bit with Gelatos, so decided to have a go at making a little canvas creation.

First I took a blank 5" x 7" canvas and scribbled Yellow, Orange and Red Gelatos over it. I took a baby wipe and using a circular motion I blended the gelatos into one another to create a "sunset" hue.

I dried this with my heat tool, before proceeding.  Then I took a stencil (TCW Mini Meadow) and stencil brush and began to create a meadow with grass, stems, butterflies and flowers, using different colors of Gelatos:

I kept going until I had an entire meadow. Then it was time to add my chickens, from the Chicken Run Set 761, using Versamark and Black Detail embossing powder:

So now it needed some dimensional elements and I did want to include a sentiment from the set, which was stamped on white cardstock in Versamark and heat embossed with Black Detail. The chickens stamped out like they were made of burlap, because of the canvas backing, so I decided to make a burlap frame to be in-keeping with the chickens:

I cut a piece of burlap ribbon in half and attached it around the sentiment using 1/2" Tear-ific Tape, this was then colored with Yellow and Red Gelatos and dabbed with the wipe again to tie it in with the background.

I repeated the Gelatos and wipe technique with three Prima flowers, whose centers were made by "blinging" a brad with Tequila Sunrise embossing powder after applying Versamark to the brad. Then a Sakura Glue pen was used to add Sparkling Snow glitter to the petals to give them some sparkle.

The frame and the flowers were attached to the canvas with dimensional foam. I added dots to the butterflies and flowers with a white Signo pen, for some highlights.

... and I added some gold Prills with Dimensional Glue at the chickens feet for seed.

I think I might be doing some more of these. Kind of liked having a play date in my craft room today! Hope I've inspired you to get those Gelatos out and start playing!

Enjoy your day!

Shona