AUTUMN INSPIRATIONS

Did someone mention Autumn?

Autumn already?!!!  Are you  kidding!  I am so, not ready, for the kids going back to school, because that means 5 am wake-ups, and I'm kind of enjoying the fact that I don't even "have" to get up at 6, when my body tells me that I really "should"!!  I have to say, when they are at school, so much more gets done around the house, garden and definitely the stamping room!!  It's still certainly nice to have a three month break, don't you think?

If you fell from the tree of Patti White, then you are in the right place, if not, you may want to go back to the SNS home page, so you start at the beginning to make sure you don't miss out on picking up all the possible prizes.  There will be one Grand Prize and five extra prizes, on five of the designers' blog spots.  I hope I have a surprise hiding for you, so make sure you leave a comment for me!   

On to business!  When asked to re-purpose stamps for an Autumn Blog Hop,  I hung on to the thought of summer as long as I could!  For my first card, I decided to use autumn colors with some summer elements, including flowers and butterflies.    

I decided to make some flowers, with a more Autumn feel to them, by embossing coffee filters with three different "fall-themed" embossing powders.  To learn how to make these fun little flowers, you can find a complete tutorial on the Sparkle N Sprinkle website, right here.  Then I found this great butterfly designer paper, that also echoed fall's colors, and then the card took flight!  I also incorporated one of Sparkle N Sprinkle's new sets Thoughtful Frames. And.... here is the result.

All the details on how to make the above card can be found here:

Now for card number two!  I decided, I'd really like to go totally fall, but bring in some "fun" element - (after my daughter played Snoopy in the Church musical - I decided puppies could be a good choice!!)  So what to do with some pups?  Fall pups .... have them playing in a pile of leaves?  Yep, that sounds like it might work!  I used our new SNS 2 1/2" tape to make a backdrop for the many choices of SNS's flocking!!  With a background of Blissful Blue for sky, Palm Leaf for the grass and Amber Wheat for the leaves, just add the punched out leaves and pups, using glue and dimensionals.  Frame the fun with Spellbinders Grand Large Labels, embossed with my all time favorite Sparkle Embossing Powder!

 

Full details of how to make my doggie framed picture can be found right here.  Don't you just want to jump in those leaves with them?

Well, that's all from me, now you have to jump into that pile of leaves and see if you can find Donna.  She is sure to be brewing up something in her caldron, "witch" you'll find extra creepy!  Remember to leave a comment, here, and at the SNS home blog to be eligible for the prizes!



  

Two Passions in One

Well I came down and looked out the kitchen window this morning.  The deer have been in last night and had themselves quite the gourmet meal!  I now have a sinking feeling in my tummy!  Well, I'll just have to get out the nasty smelling spray, it's raining, so we won't be eating out on the porch today anyway.  As you know, if you've already read my profile, gardening and stamping are two of my favorite passions.  That's why I was furious this morning!  I love taking pictures of my yard, as each new plant comes into bloom (of course, I'll have to wait a couple of weeks now, 'till they come back), but there is usually something new every week.  Today, I want to show how I put the two passions together in my latest card.

Our challenge for this month with Sparkle N Sprinkle, was to create a card using at least one glittery product and a greeting.  I had done a Scrapbooking Convention with Margaret, about a month ago, and we demonstrated on how to add "bling" to photos.  So I decided to go that route for my glittery card.

I took a photo out in my yard and sent it down to Costco, but had it developed in black and white, instead of color.  I took four Copic markers: two pink, RV02 Sugar Almond Pink and RV42 Salmon Pink, 0 the Colorless Blender and G99 Olive and put color back into the photo.




Next I punched the bottom of the photo with the Tulip punch from EK Success.                           

Sparkle N Sprinkle has started to carry this great 2 1/2" tear-ific tape (SAT11).  It is wonderful for making all kinds of backgrounds - just apply it to card stock and remove the protective backing and apply glitter, flocking, tinsel, even beads - it is very sticky and everything sticks to it!  I took this tape and stuck it behind the punched area of the  photo.  I then applied Cyclamen Glitter (G1090) which stuck to the open areas of the punch.

Cut the photo down to 4" x 5 1/4" at this point, so it will fit nicely on to your finished card.  Then using the Quickie Glue Pen draw around the petals and leaves of the roses and add different glitters (one at a time).  For my card, I used Cyclamen (G1090), Bubblegum (G1088) and my all-time favorite SNS Glitter Sparkling Snow (G1003).  When you want some bling, but don't need color - then he's your man!  Put the photo aside at this point to dry (although it only takes five minutes).  Meanwhile make the label for the card.

Take a piece of pink card and stamp your sentiment in Staz-On ink.  I used the saying Happy Birthday to You from the new  Happy Birthday Set 416  from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  A very versatile set, full of great sayings for every birthday occasion!            

Cut and emboss the saying with Spellbinder's Ribbon Tag Trio Two.  Then take a Versamark pad and cover the entire label with the ink.  Heat emboss with the "one and only" Sparkle Embossing Powder.  It gives a lovely sparkly, intensified color to the label.




Thread a piece of white organdy ribbon through the label as shown and using dimensionals attach it to the front of the card.

Tape the ribbon down on the back of the photo with Tear-ific tape and then remove the protective backing of the 2 1/2" tape then you can go ahead and stick it down to your card front.

Here is the finished card:

I hope you have enjoyed making this card with me.  I also hope that you will see the endless possibilities you have with your very own black and white photos.   Have fun!

My Mother's Day Card

Welcome back, after all the excitement of last week's Blog Hop!  After making several more cards, I decided to stick with this one for my Mum.  She loves all flowers, whether in the garden or in a vase.  I embossed the frame by using the Oval die cut from Spellbinders.  The vase stamp is from Sparkle N Sprinkle Vase Set 265 which I stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored in with Copics.  The blue background paper is just blue cardstock with Versamark applied to the edges and then heat embossed with Sparkle Embossing Powder.  I make my own glittery backgrounds with this Embossing Powder all the time - It just adds so much bling!  I added a little Stickles to the flowers and wrapped a little, blue, squiggly, sparkly ribbon around the bottom!  Ok, got to get it to the post office, so that it'll arrive in time - Catch you later!

SNS UNTRADITIONAL MOTHER'S DAY BLOG HOP

Well a warm hello from a finally unfrozen NJ - hope you're all enjoying the first signs of Spring (no need to rub it in, you Floridians!).  If you have hopped over from Patti White's blog, then you are on the right bunny trail.  If, however, you have "hopped" over a few, might I suggest that you turn around and take your cute little cotton tail back to the beginning, http://sparklensprinkle.com/blog/ so you won't miss a hare!!

Here is a photo of my token crocus clump that comes up annually, despite the New Jersey deer which only ate them down to the roots once this year (I covered them in human hair, so that I could take the photo!).  They always signify the start of Spring for my family!  "Mummy, the crocuses are back!!"

So here I am getting ready for my first Blog Hop - hope you are all as excited as I am.  I know, you're all saying, "What's the big deal?  It's only a Blog Hop."  Remember - I'm not even on Facebook yet!!! (LOL)  Maybe soon.  OK, so now on to business.

For this Blog Hop, we are doing an untraditional Mother's Day theme.  So right there, I didn't listen.  My three MD cards are all quite traditional.  Not sure which one my "Mum" is getting, but since Mothering Sunday is on April 3rd in the UK this year I had better decide quickly - don't you think?  And no she doesn't blog either - so we're OK - she's in the UK! 

Anyway, on to the Blog Hop.  Did you know that Sparkle N Sprinkle is now a preferred partner with Spellbinders?  That means some of our new sets, are made to fit very nicely into some of the Spellbinders die sets.   For the Mother's Day Blog Hop, I chose to use one of those such Combo Sets.  It's set 429 the Blossoms - Nestibilities Combo.  Oh how easy (not to mention fun!) is this going to be!!

So here we go with my first card: Happy Mother's Day Blossoms

So, this is my most "untraditional" card.  Not sure why I did this, maybe because I thought it sounded untraditional for a flowery card, but I decided to start with a black and white background.  I made masks of the three flowers I was going to use, and covered the black cardstock with flowers embossed with White Detail Embossing Powder.  Actually, it looked really pretty just like that, but, of course, I couldn't stop there!  I stamped the flowers in Memento Black Ink and colored them in with Copic markers.  Still not bold enough!  So after cutting them out, I covered the flowers with Versamark Ink and heat embossed with Clear powder - twice!!  You'll find the complete instructions here.

Now on to the more feminine side of me.  Next is my Stripes and Blossoms card:

For this card, I decided to go mono-chromatic, so I used double-sided cardstock.  It was a two-tone pink cardstock.  For the card's background, I made my own glitter paper - I covered strips of both colors of the cardstock with Super Adhesive Sheets.  I took off the protective backing and applied Sparkling Snow Glitter to the entire piece.

I just love the way it twinkles - don't you?  I love this technique, because when you need some pizzazz , but want to stay in the same color family - it's a no-brainer!  I made my flowers out of white, and the two tone pink cardstock, and embossed them with Petal Pink EP and Melon Twist EP. 

Here is a more detailed shot of the dimensions on the card, which I achieved by using different height dimensionals.  Complete details for this card are right here.

Hope you're enjoying being with me on my first Blog Hop (actually I'm enjoying doing this way more than I imagined I would).  So I'll just keep going!! - I see that little Energizer Bunny is still hopping! - but at least he's going in the right direction this time!

... And now on to my final card - Mother's Day Jar. While at Stamp Fest (right before going on the cruise) I was looking around the booth and for some reason one of our other new sets Fill the Jar just jumped out at me and "screamed" to be filled with flowers!!  I think this may be my favorite of the three (maybe my Mum's MD card too - what do you think?).

So I decided to take the Large Jar from the Fill the Jar set and take it to another level!  I suppose after you're finished with your dryer sheets, you clean off the lint screen and throw it in the garbage?  Well don't do that anymore!  You need to give it a quick iron (oh, do stop complaining - the effect you get is way worth it!).  Stamp the Large Jar and Happy Mother's Day in Memento Ink then cover in a piece of the Super Adhesive Sheets.  Stick down the dryer sheet and apply Sparkling Snow glitter to the surface and burnish it in with your finger.  Cut out - now you have a frosted jar! Isn't that cool!

The flowers were stamped on white cardstock with Versamark and then heat embossed with Melon Twist, Morning Glory, Petal Pink and Princess Rose Embossing Powders.  I used green raffia for the stems.  Here is a close-up photo to show how, by using different heights of dimensionals, the flowers take on the look of a real posie popping out of the jar.  For the complete directions on how to make a Mother's Day Jar, just click here! 

I'm so glad you took the time to be part of my first Blog Hop.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing my projects, along with all the other beautiful cards presented by my fellow Sparkle Team designers.  So for now, I bid you a fond farewell and hope to see you back real soon!  After leaving a comment on my blog, hop on over to the blog of the last, but certainly not least - the one and only - Donna Ellis, to see what lovely creation she has to s(hare) with you. Here is the address to her burrow!  http://creativesmiles2.blogspot.com/   With all those lucky rabbit feet out there - I wonder who will win the prize!  Good luck!