SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S OCTOBER 1ST REVEAL

Hi there everyone and welcome to Fall 2015 and Sparkle N Sprinkle's October 1st Reveal!! Today I am sharing a Box card which I made using the new Jefferson Set 745. If you are participating in the hop, then you should have arrived here by way of Marie's blog. If you wish to be eligible for winning all of the six sets, then go back to the beginning of the hop with Jess.

The Jefferson Set is one of SIX new stamp sets Sparkle N Sprinkle is sharing with you today.  These new sets are 20% off until Oct 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:
Witching Hour 742  (digi version DIGI742b)
  Cackle On 743  (digi version  DIGI743b)
  Sleigh Ride 744  (digi version DIGI744j)
 Jefferson 745  (digi version DIGI745b)
Wilson 746   (digi version DIGI746b)
Hats DIGI3120 (digi only)

On Oct 3, one GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs.  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 Oct 3 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).

In addition to our regular Designers, we are happy to introduce you to two new Guest Designers this month.  Irit and Jess will be our Guest Designers for the months of October, November, and December. 

 We'd also like to say Thank You to our second set of Guest Designers, Ani and Chris, for a job well done!


The Blog Hop order this month is:
Jess
Belinda
Eret
Marie
Shona
Anne
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 hope you enjoy the New Reveal Blog Hop as much as we have enjoyed creating new projects for it.  We also hope that we have inspired you as well.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  (We love reading these as your comments also inspire us.)  
I was the latest Mystery Designer. I wonder who it 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.

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.  

I have seen the Box card used quite a lot lately, so thought to give it a try myself. I searched for a template and found this one, which was pretty straight forward and only used a half sheet of cardstock (5 1/2" x 8 1/2"). If you kept your pigeons inside the box it would have gone in a regular envelope. I decided to let them fly a little so I will need a slightly larger envelope!! I also put in a second insert, so that I had more places for my pigeons to pop out from.

After making the box itself, I began to decorate the outside panels, using the Lace Technique. I needed six 2 1/2" x 1 3/4" panels. One 5 1'4" x 1 3/4" for the back strip and another 4" x 1 3/4" to tuck in at the back of the inserts. I attached the 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape on to white cardstock and used the lace technique with Pinkerbell and Jasper Blue glitter:

Here is Pinkerbell before adding the Jasper Blue:

Here are some of the completed panels:

Then on to the birds - stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, the pigeons were colored with Copic B21, the flamingo with RV06 and their beaks were colored using YR16. To brighten them up, I applied Versamark to all of them and heat embossed them with Clear Detail:

Now I had a flock of shiny birds:

I then added Fascination glitter with the pigeons' wings with Brushable Glue, Sea Spray was added to the tip of their heads and bellies.

The Flamingo was decked out in Neon Flamingo (what else?) in the same manner. They were then attached to pieces of Embossable Acetate (1/2" wide in various lengths) and attached with Tear-ific Tape to the front and backs of the inserts. One little fellow was attached to the back of the front and one was attached directly to the back panel. The Flamingo was centered.

I stamped the sentiment on to a piece of glossy white cardstock in Versamark and heat embossed with Mediterranean (one of the detailed Tuscany colors). It was cut to a fish tail banner and also attached to a piece of acetate and was positioned among the birds.

The Happy Birthday was stamped in Versamark and also heat embossed with Mediterranean and the three brads were blinged with Mulberry Star embossing powder to add a little more pizzazz! So that completes my share for you today. Hope I've inspired you to give this Box Card a go - they really are quite fun!

Remember to leave a comment for me before going over to check out what Anne has up her sleeve! Good luck in the drawing for these six sets.

Till next time,

Hugs,

Shona

EMBOSSED BEACH SCENE FRAME

Hi there, 

I know it is already officially fall, but I have another beach themed project that I just have to share with you. Instead of a card today, I decided to frame a cute photo that I took on the beach last summer in California, as we headed for Hawaii.

I started with a plain clip photo frame and took it apart. I taped a piece of 3.5" x 5" card to the center of the piece of glass with temporary tape. My photo would be inserted into the free space once I was done with my embossing.  I turned the frame over so that the piece of card was underneath and I placed the photo in the center of the frame (in the same spot as the piece of card). Using a die based ink marker, I drew little lines where the white of the crest of the waves started and ended, the different grades in the sand and the sand bar at the top of the photo. These were to be my guides for my "painting".

I removed the photo and set it aside as a guide to my "painting".  I started with where the white was going off the photo, with the waves and along where the beach meets the ocean. Turning the frame over, I drew the lines out with a Versamarker Pen to the edge of the frame along the left and right sides of the frame. White Detail powder was then applied. 

I then covered the bottom edge of the frame with a Versamark pad along the lines and below to create the sand. Hit the Beach was applied to this portion. I then heat set these two colors, before proceeding with the other powders.

Cappuccino Star was then applied to the next tier of the sand with the Versamarker Pen. This was also then heat embossed. The two blues, Poolside and By the Lake were last in line to be applied. The photo below shows the embossed (back) side of the frame. The piece of card was discarded at this point.

The shells and the sentiment are all from the same set 560: Ocean Treasures. I stamped the shells on watercolor cardstock with Timber StazOn and used a waterbrush and watercolor crayons to color them in. 

When they were dry they were fussy cut and applied with Versamark and heat embossed with Sparkle EP.

The photo was next -  I used some Brushable Glue and Sparkling Snow Glitter on the waves in the photo and then the Sakura Glue pen was used to add a little shine to the sand with Celestial glitter being applied.

Once everything was dry it was just a case of putting it all together. The photo was slipped into it's spot and I put a piece of 5" x 7" light blue cardstock behind the photo and frame. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark onto glossy white cardstock and was heat embossed with Bronze Rose. 

It was then cut out with Spellbinders Framed Tags One and before removing the die, was daubed with a little Memento Lulu Lavender ink. I ran a piece of organdy ribbon through the hole and attached the sentiment with dimensional foam before attaching the ribbon to back of frame. This was then clipped on to the frame base. The shells were attached with dimensional foam and tape, having been shaped before placement.

.... and that completed my project. I hope this has inspired you to look at using your embossing powders in a different way than usual.

Hugs,

Shona

SEPTEMBER MINI BLOG HOP - THE BIG DAY!

Hi there,

So glad you stopped by today. If you are participating in the Mini Blog for the chance to win the cute "Big Day Stamp Set", along with a calendar, you should have visited me via Chris's blog. If you didn't and want to be in the running for the prize this month then go back to the beginning of the hop with Jess.

Now that summer is" almost" behind us and school is back in session - it's back to getting up early (5.30am for me - GROAN!) and getting back to a routine! To help us keep everything straight, Sparkle N Sprinkle is debuting this cute little set - The Big Day! Here is what I created:

Decided to branch out and do something other than a card this time! Had no idea how far this was going to go, but I got on a roll and then just couldn't stop myself!!

This planner/calendar stamp set that was included in this month's video technique kit club. This new set is 20% off until Sept 23.  So once you finish the blog hop, head on over to the store and start shopping.  

Big Day 749

A WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the Designers' blogs and will receive this new Big Day set along with the Basic Grey calendar kit also showcased in this month's video.

  Please leave a comment with each Designer in order to be eligible for this Prize.  You never know who the Mystery Designer will be that has the winning comment.  

The Grand Prize Winner, will be announced on Sept 23 on the SNS Facebook page and on the SNS Blog.

The Blog Hop order for our Mini Reveal is:

Jess

Chris

Shona (you're here)

Eret

Anne

Marie

Diane

Ashley

Ani

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

WARNING! This post is heavily loaded with pictures!

It was inspired by this:

Hubby, David changes this daily (when he's home - I do it when he is travelling). I thought the little stamps were the perfect size for the little special days. Our new calendar will be more for our routine than just major holidays (afterall - you really do remember when Christmas and New Year's Day is, don't you? - they are on the back of the 25 and the 1st! - however, you don't always remember your anniversary!) Now you have no excuse!

So you see how it works? The month you are in is posted at the top and then there is a space between the dates and after the space is the date you are on (everything has a magnet on the back,  so the extras are kept conveniently on the back). The tin plaque hanger was a cheap find from Michaels. It was a happy accident that the month plaques coordinated nicely with the shape of the plaque!

I started with the special days from the stamp set. These were done using little wooden blocks, which were each given two coats of Acrylic paint. (Note to self - paint both sides of each wooden piece next time - I think it would look more professional). I then stamped the images with Black StazOn ink and colored them in with Dye based ink markers. I did a few extra birthday blocks. Pink icing for the girls and blue for the boys, as our calendar only had one, which was never enough!

The dates were created using a piece of black cardstock covered in Versamark and heat embossed with Clear Detail. This was then attached to a strip of 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape and then each date was punched out.

These numbers were attached to each of the blocks from 1 to 31.

The Magnetic Sheets were cut into 1 inch squares, which worked really well with the little 1 1/4" wooden squares. They were attached to the back of each of the squares. 

So on to the months! Did you see Demo Donna's last video using Dimensional Glue as embellishments. I had to add a finer applicator to the dimensional glue spout as it needed to come out in a finer flow to fit the area I was working with - but doing this worked very well. I then applied 12 different glitters to the glued lettering:

Which colors to choose? Well, I decided to use the Velvet Glitters for the birthstone for each month and there was one for all, except for January and February! So for January I used Collegiate Garnet and Periwinkle for February, both Opaque Ultra Fine glitters:

January - Garnet - Collegiate Garnet (G1114)
February - Amethyst - Periwinkle (G1060)
March - Aquamarine - Teal Velveteen (GM2017)
April - Diamond - Reflection (GM2007)
May - Emerald - Lator Gator (GM2008)
June - Alexandrite - Purple Rain (GM2020)
July - Ruby - Gypsy Red (GM2005)
August - Peridot - Luau Green (GM2004)
September - Sapphire - Cobalt Glaze (GM2013)
October - Opal - Mountain Mint (GM2015)
November - Yellow Topaz - Daisy (GM2019)
December - Blue Topaz - Jasper Blue (GM2012)

All that was left was the letters for the days of the week. I found some letters that were self adhesive, and got permission to use two brand new, not-yet-released embossing powders - Polka Dot and Dalmation!:

Aren't these powders stunning? They will be in the Shoppe soon!

I practiced first on the least useful letters to make sure it would work! Loved the results!

All of the months, dates and images were sealed several times with an Acrylic Sealer. 

...... and then it was complete! Front:

.... and back:

  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  (We love reading your comments as they inspire us as well.)  Now it is time for you to hop on over to Eret's blog. 

Till next time,

Hugs,

Shona

IT'S ANOTHER HOLE IN ONE!!

OK, so today I have a little cheating going on! I'm repeating a card that I did many moons ago - actually almost three years ago! I was really pleased with the card last time I made it, however, the instructions were almost gone for this one so I had to change up the colors and such, but the main idea remained the same.

This card is for a very dear friend of my Dad. When Dad comes to visit the US,  John takes him golfing at least once a week. They've built up quite the relationship to the point that John traveled to Scotland last October for the Dunhill Golf Competition - and they had a blast! Not playing - just spectating - but had a blast just the same! They are always joking around with one another, so I thought this might be a good fit for this golf fan!

The crazy golfer from the Golf McDuff Set 255 was stamped with StazOn and I used water color pencils and a water brush to color him in. The "wallpaper" is white cardstock - colored with Memento Cantaloupe and then run through the Cuttlebug Striped embossing folder,distressed with  Memento Olive Grove.

The crack in the window was done on Embossable Acetate with a splat of Staz-On ink and then I used a pin to pull the cracks out! A hole was punched in the middle. Pretty realistic, right! The window frame is Spellbinders Window Die Template, colored with Peanut Brittle, with the acetate piece behind. The golfer is then positioned behind to give maximum shock effect!!

The sentiment is from the same set and was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in one of my favorite Tuscany Colors - Sienna! After die cutting and embossing with the Spellbinders Ribbon Banners, I daubed a little Memento Cantaloupe on the cardstock before removing the die. The card front was layered to a piece of orange and then to the white cardbase which had been edged with Peanut Brittle to match the window frame.

Here's the inside (a little changed!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

Hugs,

Shona