Heart Wings from New SNS Stamps

Hi there!!  Today I wanted to share a card using one of the two new Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp sets by Beccy Muir that were just released this week - Bird Song and Bicycles.  You can see the full sets by just clicking on their names. 

I have to say I'm in LOVE with these two sets! So pretty, fun, and versatile - good for cards of all occasions & scrapbook pages too!  Be sure to check them out, I think you're going to love them as much as I do!



I haven't had as much time as I'd like to play with them yet; but I have SO many ideas tossing around in my head! So, until I can put all those ideas to paper; here's the first card I got to create using the Bird Song set.  (click photo for closer view)


There's three different styles of feathers on this set and they are all gorgeous!  So I decided that I wanted one of them to be the focus of this card.  Isn't that feather gorgeous?!


The set also has some beautiful sayings as well.  But for this card, I wanted to show how well this set works with some of our other sets too!  I think it's great when you have sets that you can mix and match.  So much versatility!







And to show you even more versatility.....this great saying is actually from one of our Valentine themed sets!  Stampette Set 454 - Heart Wings  So, Don't forget to keep a really open mind when you look at all your stamps!

Used this way, the saying works so well for something other than Valentines day.....anniversary? mother's day? best friend? maybe even a birthday?  There's probably lots more great ways to use it!  And I just loved the way the "heart wings" saying worked with the feathers!



What do you think?  Be sure to let me know you stopped by!  I always love and appreciate your comments!  Hope you'll stop back again!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Sparkle N Sprinkle Anything But a Card Blog Hop

Welcome! Today us ladies from SNS are hosting an "Anything But a Card" Blog Hop.  Hopefully you've just arrived here from Barbara's Blog and have been enjoying all the interesting projects the girls have come up with.    (If you just happened upon this post, why not go to the SNS Home Blog to check out the details for joining us on this hop.  There's some great prizes to be won too!)

I knew exactly what I wanted to do when this hop was planned.  I've been wanting to do one of these for a long time and this was the perfect time to make it happen!  And I happened to have one of the great new sets that was recently released that would work perfectly for this too; so I was really excited to try this out!

My non-card project features the new Sweet Strawberries Set 484.  And I decided to make this adorable basket to hold a delicious treat!  I had the strawberries on hand the whole time I worked on this; even when I was doing the coloring to get it just right.  And boy did they smell yummy!!  Are you hungry for a little sweet taste of summer yet?!

My neck of the woods just last week.... I'm so ready for summer!

We're still quite cold here in my part of the US (even had snow flurries the last couple days!); so I'm definitely ready for any warm thoughts!!  So this summery project is just what I needed!










The basket is made using a Spellbinder Grand Label die cut that is cut in half and has a strip inserted between the two halves to form the sides and bottom of the basket.  Add a decorative strip for the handle and Viola - adorable little basket to fill with any treat!  Full instructions for how to make the basket can be found in the SNS Art Gallery here. 

 
The image was stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.  The sentiment is embossed with Teddy Brown embossing powder (one of my favorites) to match the brown basket.  


There's so many different things you could make one of these baskets for - change the paper color, the Spellbinder die, and/or the image and you could create lots of different types of treats.  Whether it's a just little treat for a special person or perhaps something more formal like a shower favor; the ideas are endless!



We're getting close to the end of the hop, but there's a couple more stops and some great projects left for you to check out! So leave a comment (I love to hear what you think!) and then hop on over to Marie's Blog to see what fun idea she has for you!

Hope you enjoy the rest of the hop!  And do stop back again!  

Until next time,

***Julie***

Sparkle N Sprinkle April Creative Challenge

Happy April 1st!  Today us gals at Sparkle N Sprinkle have a new Creative Challenge for you (no April foolin')!  This month the Creative Challenge at SNS is to use a digit image in your project.  So if you love working with digital images; be sure to jump in and join us!  And if you're new to digital images; this is the perfect reason to take the plunge and give it a try! 

Here's what I came up with for this months challenge:


I chose to use the use the adorable "Rose" by Michelle Perkett.  Now I know she has some pretty roses on her dress and her name is in fact "Rose".  But for whatever reason, I just didn't see her in pink lol.  When I saw Rose, I really wanted to see her in a pretty purple dress and I have always loved yellow roses. 


I think she looks adorable in her purple & yellow!  A little bit of leaf green accents on the card and in the ombre bow pull out the tiny bit of green on her dress and adds a little extra pop of color too.

I often love to combine digital images with rubber images.  In this case, I added the saying from the Sweet Treats - Set 374; which is perfect for this image and also makes the card so versatile.  You could use this card for so many different occasions.






The tiny rose I added is from Set 382 - Sympathy.  It's probably not the first set you'd think to go to for accent pieces.  But if you're not familiar with the set; be sure to click the set name to check it out.  Not only does it have lovely sayings for those tough times when you need to make a sympathy card.  But it also has some very pretty accents like this tiny rose and several swirls/scrolls that make perfect accents for lots of sayings and cards of all types. 

I loved how well the tiny rose fit with the saying and tied in the saying piece with the flowers on Rose's dress. 

A little bit of sparkling snow glitter was added around the image (of course!) for just the right amount of sparkle!  

**************

I hope you like my project for this month's challenge to use Digital image(s).  And I really hope you'll decide to play along with us!!  So grab a favorite digital image & join in on the fun!  We look forward to seeing what you create!

Don't forget to stop back on Thursday - we're having another blog hop and it's a little earlier in the month than some of our other hops; so we don't want you to miss it (more prizes to be won)!  We'll be featuring "Anything But a Card"; so we hope you'll join us then too!

 Until next time,

***Julie***

Simply Pattern Play

Hello there!  Today was the last day for the "interactive" part of the Pattern Play class I had signed up for.  I only had the time to post one card during the class and I wanted to post at least one more card today.  Still fighting my cold and super busy with other projects this week; so I didn't get to do as much with Jennifer and Kristina's class as I wanted to.  But I really enjoyed everything I did get to do - so many great ideas from the instructors and even more from the other participants!  I'm really looking forward to checking out more from the class later.


So in any case, since today was the last interactive day; I was hoping to add a few projects related to the lessons / ideas presented.  This was the only one I had time to work up unfortunately.  I have at least three more on the "drawing board" that I really wanted to work up too.  But alas, there's only so many hours in a day!  Perhaps another time for those cards!


This card idea is based on taking a bold or busy patterned paper and breaking it up (or softening it up) by cutting it into strips and allowing stripes of the card base show through.  And it's quite effective at toning down the pattern just enough!  There's so many patterns out there that are really interesting; but can be "too much" and this really does the trick to make it much less overwhelming.  The idea is also to keep the card relatively simple when using a busy pattern.  So generally you only add one main sentiment or other element.  The sentiment I used is from Sparkle N Sprinkle's Nature - Set 467 .   I lightly shaded it with Old Paper Distress ink to soften it a bit & then it's framed with a Spellbinder Label Ten.


I took my card one more step further yet still maintained the simplicity of it by adding a strip of bakers twine between each panel. I really liked the little extra touch of interest that it added without being too much.  A very simple card, but it gave me a chance to actually test out some of the ideas discussed in the class.  I really like the overall effect.  You certainly get to appreciate a beautiful paper.  Sometimes simple really does give the best effect!  Hopefully I'll get a chance to try out some of the other ideas sometime soon!  Hope you enjoyed my take on the technique!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Experimenting with Patterned Paper

Hi everyone!  This needs to be a quick post (yes, yes, I know - almost impossible for me)!  But, I'm sure going to have to try.  Knowing me, it probably won't be short, but you might have to excuse some typos & formatting issues lol! 

I'm trying to finish up some things for Sparkle N Sprinkle and now I'm also trying to fend off a cold too.  It's been going through my house for a couple weeks and I've been really trying to avoid getting it.  Last night the aches and stuffiness set in - yay!  So what I'd really like to do is crawl back into bed and try to sleep it off.  But of course, how often do we get to do that?!

So in any case, things to do - so here we go.....Today's card is a very quick one. 

I'm trying to follow along with Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire's Pattern Play class.  Always good to expand your mind, learn new things, and see other peoples perspectives!!  So, This is a quick card I did to try out one of the many things demoed on the first day. 

This is basically a case of one of Kristina's cards (there were so many great ideas; I had a hard time deciding). For mine, I changed up the border giving mine more sharp lines using a Spellbinders Ric Rac edge.  I also made a subtle change to my sentiment piece - from a circle to an oval (also Spellbinders).  The saying is from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  It's from the Lolly Garden Set 397 - Love the fun sayings on that set!  I chose to use bakers twine (My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist) in place of the natural twine. 

I also chose to use four papers instead of three....since both of my grays were really subtle; I chose to add 2 different gray patterns just to make them stand out from each other a bit more.  The paper is Doodlebug Boys Only.  I picked it up specifically to make a card for my older nephew.  Really great paper pad - used it for his card about a week ago (will have to share that later) and have been continuing to use this pad for couple other projects too.  Card base is Bazzill.

I also decided to add the white stitching (in homage to Kristina lol) - seriously though, I didn't intend to add it (it's a whole other story); but the gray panel needed something.  Just don't look too close - it looked great on my test sample, but got a little wonky when I did it on the actual card.  No time for do-overs right now!

The overall feel of the card is very much the same as Kristina's.  And I followed her & Amber's tips for picking the papers. 

(I just thought I'd post this second view to show you that when it's closed, you can see the teal from the card back behind the gray ric rac border).

Hope you like today's card.  Be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you think.  I hope I get a chance to try out some of the other things they are showing in Pattern Play later in the week.  And maybe I'll be lucky enough for the yucky aches & cold to pass quickly too ;-)!

Until next time,

***Julie***

SNS March Blog Hop

Welcome to my page on the Sparkle N Sprinkle Favorite Techniques blog hop.  I hope you have been enjoying the hop and have arrived here from Jackie's blog.  If not, you may want to return to the starting point on the SNS Home Blog so you don't miss of the great projects (or details about prizes you can win!)

So....favorite technique.....hmmm.  Definitely not an easy answer.  First off, would that be favorite "to do" or favorite as in "do it most often".  Well, I have lots of favorites - but the one I'm going to showcase today is a bit of both types of favorites.  I do really like to do this one & it's definitely one that I do often - Glittered Stained Glass.  Normally when I do the glittered stained glass technique, I do something pretty fancy or a very elegant look.  So I thought for today, I'd do something completely different.  Today I wanted it to be just totally fun and bold.  And here's what I came up with.

At first glance at this project, you might not even realize that this is glittered Stained glass; which is why I chose this picture that shows a little bit of the stained glass "glare" on it.  Plus, on this card I chose a stained glass piece that didn't dominate the whole card (usually I make it the main focus).

So even though I did it completely differently this time; it still works great!

I often think of glittered stained glass as a lot like painting by numbers.  You stamp your design onto a piece of acetate and then one color at a time you paint in the glue and add your glitter colors.




And since we're sharing techniques, I thought it might be nice to share one of my favorite tips for doing Glittered Stained Glass.

And it's something I do all the time.....
When doing this technique, you can attach your acetate right to the front of your card using brads or another decorative element.  But more often than not, I prefer to put my acetate behind the top layer of my card using a frame or some type of cut out.  

One of the ways you can make a cut out is so simple I thought I'd demo it on this card.  Simply chose where you'd like your stained glass piece to be and then stamp the design in that position using a light colored ink.  Then just simply cut it out!  Then your window matches your stained glass piece perfectly!  (You might not even be able to tell that I actually cut out that window for this piece.  It almost looks like the stained glass is right on the top of the card!)

Obviously, this works best when you have a design with relatively simple outer edge lines.  But if you have something with a more complex outer edge; you can just chose one of the many dies out there to die cut a frame to place your stained glass piece behind.  However, you chose to do it - brads, matching hand cut frame, or die cut frame; give Glittered Stained Glass at try.  It's fun and full of sparkling goodness!

Do you remember these stained glass projects from past hops?  These are two of my favorite stained glass projects!  Definitely a lot more "elegant" than today's project.  But it's always nice to try new looks and stretch a bit from what is your "norm" too!

Up next is Shanna's blog - hop on over to see what technique she has to share with you!  Be sure to leave a comment before you hop on!  And I hope you have a great time on the rest of the hop!!

Until next time,

***Julie***

PS - When you're done with the hop, Don't forget to stop by the SNS Tips & Techniques page so you can find your favorite technique!!

A Taste of Spring

It was yet another cold, gray, and a bit rainy/sleety day around here today. (Yep, I've had enough of winter!!)  And unfortunately, the weather man is saying it's going to be in the 30's & 40's for most of the next couple weeks yet.  They're even still tossing around that nasty four letter word SNOW.  Sheesh - enough already lol!  But, over the weekend, we did get a WONDERFUL break for a couple days.  Exactly the spring pick up we really needed!  Hopefully this Easter card is just what you need to give you a little Spring lift whether you're lucky enough to have some beautiful spring weather around you or are just dreaming about some!  

 I love how this card turned out - bright, colorful, super sparkly - perfectly springy!!


The card started with that fun, glittery rainbow border.  There's several different ways you can make a border like this.  (Check out the SNS Tips & Techniques pages for a variety of ideas).  I chose to use 3/4" Tearific Tape & a border cut from sticker paper to make my borders.  I was so excited about the way they turned out; I couldn't wait to add some brightly colored eggs!





The eggs are from one of SNS's great new Easter sets - Set 487 Hippity Hoppity Easter.  And there's still plenty of time to pick up one of those great sets & make up some of your own Easter cards!  I chose to only use one of the three eggs to keep the focus of the card on the colors and the glitter.  And I even glittered these up for even more sparkle!

click any photo for better view

The really sweet saying is also from the same set and was embossed in an "easter-y" Amethyst embossing powder. 

The saying was cut out using a Spellbinders scalloped rectangle and two Spellbinder doily accents were added to either end.  Then the entire saying piece was accented with Sparkling Snow glitter to coordinate with all the sparkling goodness in the rest of the card.  A complete product list and full instructions for this card can be found here in my SNS gallery.



I hope you are feeling the warmth of this "happy and sunny" Easter card and I really appreciate your stopping by.  And don't forget to stop back on Thursday for this month's SNS Blog Hop - "My Favorite Technique".  Let me know what you think of today's card and I'll see you on Thursday!

Until next time,

***Julie***