Not your usual January Blues!

Hi everyone,

It's OK, I am still here - just a little oil needed to get me going again!   Unlike most, I really like January, as I look forward to getting my own time back and getting back to a routine - which I tend to lose every year right around Halloween!  Each year it just seems to get worse instead of better!  Why is that? You'd think I would know by now to start making these Christmas cards in July - with 162 to do this year (I was still up there on Christmas Eve)!

I have a few birthdays (all older ladies) right between Christmas and New Year and had to come up with something quick after I was done with the Christmas cards.  I don't even remember where I got the recipe, but it was just the ticket and I quickly was able to make four of them while everyone else in the house was sleeping in on Boxing Day!

It made a nice change of pace from the Christmas theme too.  

As you can see there wasn't much stamping to it, the only stamp being the saying from Sparkle N Sprinkle set 429 Blossoms,  but it sure was fun to do.  Hope you like my version of the January Blues!  

IT'S A CULTURAL THING!

Hi there!  I'm so glad you are joining the Sparkle N Sprinkle Team for another Blog Hop - this time round "It's a Cultural Thing".  Today we are celebrating all of America's customs and cultures, so you're bound to find something that appeals to you among the many designers' blogs.  We have a few newbie designers, which I'm looking forward to viewing and of course our Golden Oldies are with us for one more round!

If you got here by way of one of our new designers, Amanda Reed, then you are in the correct place, but if you didn't, then you really need to go back to the start of the blog hop at the Sparkle N Sprinkle home page in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize.  You also need to leave comments on all of the designers' blogs to be able to pick up one of the three other possible prizes.  Good luck and now let's get going!

We had a few options for our Blog Hop theme this time round, to celebrate American diversity.  Being Scottish, I felt it would be appropriate for me to embrace one of the many other countries that join me in sharing your great America, so I chose to make my two cards from Asian Set 300.  Of course, as always, the stamps that we are highlighting this month are on sale.

For my first card, I used Umbrella Geisha, and colored her with Copics.  For the background I stamped the willow branch, several times, using the thumping technique.  You can see full instructions on how to make this card right here.

For my second card, I decided to have a try at another fun fold, this time it is the "Side Spring Card".  Here is how it came out!  It has 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" dimensions, although it appears smaller when completed.  This was definitely one of the more fun fold cards to put together!  You have to give it a try!  Click here, to get the full instructions.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Remember to leave a much appreciated comment here, so that you have a chance to pick up one of the three extra prizes as well as the Grand prize.  Once you've done that, you should jump on over to  Angie Blasingame, who is another talented newbie for our Design Team, to see what she has in store for you.

Have a great day!

Double Z-Fold Card

Today I am sharing a birthday card that I made yesterday.  My good friend, Donna Ellis, forwarded some card ideas including this Double Z-Fold card, which immediately caught my attention!  The tutorial, by Beate Johns, is very easy to follow and I can just tell you that you'll be seeing a few more of these types of cards coming from me!

I needed a birthday card for a special family friend, Nathan.  He's the kids' old Choir Director, so it had to be music-related.  I recently picked up the Sissix Sizzlits Sheet Music Decorative Strip and so I decided to incorporate that into my card.  After die cutting, I placed it along a strip of Sparkle N Sprinkle's 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape (SAT11) and then I applied Fantasy Gold Glitter (G1001).  That became the border along the top of the card.

I made my own music note out of the brown background card  and covered the stem in Versamark and then heat embossed with Sparkle embossing powder (EP107).  The sentiments are both from Set 416 - Happy Birthday and were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Detail Gold embossing powder (EP168).  The little notes are from Set 175 - Music, which are also embossed with Gold Detail.  I cut out the saying with Spellbinders Lacey Circles and applied Versamark and heat embossed with Sparkle again.

Here is the end result:

You have to give this a try - it really is much easier than it looks!  For any of the fine products used in this card just pop on over to Sparkle N Sprinkle!   Thanks for stopping by.