.....come enjoy some handmade creations and heartfelt experiences. I'm glad you're here & hope you'll come back often.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

For Your Paws

Hi again!  Well, I said I'd share another project today using the fun Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp "For Your Paws Only" and one that was not Christmas-y.  And so I will!  I did this one at the same time as the dog bones card, but this one is for the cat lovers this time!


Click any photo for closer view
This time I went with a gift bag.  And for cat lovers it's got to be a fish for the treat!  The fish was cut out on a Cricut machine, the saying was then embossed with By The Lake embossing powder, and then the entire fish & his details were all done with a Quickie glue pen and Aquamarine glitter.  I added a white stud that I drew the eye onto & added a fun "fish stringer" from jute rope.  One (or more) of these strung onto a rope would also be perfect for a fisherman.  The fish was pop dotted onto a Spellbinders Label One Nestability that was run through an embossing folder, attached to the bag & accented with paw print ribbon & coordinating rhinestones.  I just love this little fishy & how he's tied up with the rope!  I think any cat lover (or fisherman!) would love receiving this!  Below there's a close up too.  If you'd like to see the full instructions for this project, go to my gallery page at Sparkle N Sprinkle by clicking here.





Take a look at all that sparkling goodness!  Not only does all that Sparkle N Sprinkle glitter shine, but the embossing powder (which is also from Sparkle N Sprinkle) has it's own sparkling goodness too!  Well, I hope you enjoyed this project as much as the dog one.  And don't forget to always really take a good look at everything you can do with your stamp sets.  Sparkle N Sprinkle often has stamps like this that are intended for a particular holiday, but can be used for so much more!  More bang for your buck......I'm always a big fan of that!  Oh, and don't forget you can get the stamps individually or as part of the money saving set - always up to you!

Okay then, thought for today is.....

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.
Corita Kent

Hope you make the most of every moment!  
Unitl next time,
**Julie**

Supplies:
Fish die cut - Cricut
Label - Spellbinders Nestability
Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug
Stamp - Sparkle N Sprinkle
Glitter - Sparkle N Sprinkle
Embossing Powder - Sparkle N Sprinkle
 

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Blog Hop Winners Announced

Winners from the Sparkle N Sprinkle "Sparkling Winter Sensations" Blog Hop have been announced.  Thought I'd pass that along in case you didn't get to see them yet.  And one of the 5 extra prizes was hidden on my blog - Yeah!  Well, here they are:

The Grand Prize is awarded to Mitzi Vogel!

Secondary winners (extra prizes)
1. From Barbara Bruder’s Blog –  Peg Klitch
2. From Eleanor Jenkins’ Blog – April of South Carolina
3. From Julie Zippel’s Blog – NWFlamingo (yeah again! a winner from this blog!!)
4. From Marie Berquist’s Blog – Lois (lew1993)
5. From Karin Martin’s Blog – Donna Levine


More details (including details on what to do if you're a winner) & a special thank you from all of us on the design team are on the "home blog" - Sparkle N Sprinkle blog.  And similar to what it says there I'd like to say myself because it's so absolutely true.....we truly enjoy & appreciate every comment   It encourages & inspires us more than you know!  Thank you so much for joining us & spending a little part of your day with us.  We're so glad you did!

And in the spirit of sharing & the hop; I thought I'd share a card with you today from another Christmas set from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I did this card a little while back; but that was before I had a blog to share projects on.  And since the main stamp comes from a Christmas set; I thought this would be the perfect occasion to share this as a follow up to the hop!

Click any photo for closer view
At first this card does look "Christmas-y" because of the colors.  But really, it could be used almost any time of the year and for almost any occasion (birthday, thinking of you, thank you, get well, you name it)!.  Just add whatever saying fits your occasion inside!  You could even change the green background paper to another color to tone down the holiday feel if you wanted to.  The dog bowl & dog bones are from an older Sizzix die.  The "For Your Paws Only" stamp comes from Set 342 below.

 
Here's a close up of the bowl & bones so you can see all the dimension with the corrugated background, and pop dotted bones & bowl.  I used pop dots only in certain parts of the bones & bowl (instead of all over) to get those to pop up more realistically in just right places !  It's is a card any dog lover would enjoy.  The paw prints on the bowl are also from Sparkle N Sprinkle - Set 249 - Dogs - Kramer.  Full instructions for this card can be found in my SNS gallery here.  

Sparkle N Sprinkle sets are such a great value.  And you never want to forget how versatile the different sets can be - there's always so many more ways to use them than what may be obvious at first.  This "For your paws only" from a Christmas set is a perfect example! And don't forget to come on back tomorrow & I'll share a completely different (completely non-Christmas look) using the same "For Your Paws Only" stamp - this time for the cat lovers!  Don't miss it!  And remember,

Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.
                                                                                                                             (-Grandma Mary)
Make the best of yours!
Until next time -
** Julie** 

Supplies used:
Stamps - Sparkle N Sprinkle
Embossing Powders - Sparkle N Sprinkle
Die Cuts - Sizzix 
Sm Dog Bone Punch - McGill or Fiskars?
 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Sparkle N Sprinkle "Sparkling Wintry Sensations" Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle "Sparkling Wintry Sensations” blog hop! The very best way to Beat the Heat this July!!  If you hopped here by way of Judy's great blog, then you're in the right spot. If you'd like to start from the beginning and become eligible for SIX great prizes, then click here.

Most of Sparkle N Sprinkle's stamps are available in great coordinated sets.  But for this holiday hop I chose two of our "stand alone" stamps that I just love & I used them to create two completely different looks in the cards I have to share with you today.  **Click on any highlighted words for links to products, instructions, or further information**

Click any photo for larger vie

This first one is my personal favorite - a very rich and elegant card using the gorgeous Nestle In for Christmas stamp.  This stamp is so beautiful it can be the entire main focus of a card.  I stamped it twice & colored up one "whole copy" & then the bird only (with two holly leaves) with Copic markers - you get such rich tones & highlights with the Copics.  Cut out the the main image with a Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Oval (I used the great new Grand Caliber machine!), pop dotted the bird for some dimension, and layered it all onto a beautifully embossed piece of Stardream cardstock & black Mirrorcard.  Attached all the layers to a white card base and added some red & white rhinestones for just the right amount of accents.  When it all comes together; you can see how this stamp makes such a beautiful card just by itself.  For all the details on how to make this card; please click my gallery to see the full instructions.
 
For my second card, I wanted to do something completely different - something warm, rustic, and "home-y".  And I wanted to include a different technique too.  And that's where my "Warm Wishes Bleached Snowman" came about.


Yes, it's completely different from the first card, but that's what I was shooting for.  The Heart Snowman were stamped & embossed onto a rustic blue cardstock with cream speckles that has a beautiful subtle shimmer to it.  Then the snowmen were bleached out before having accent colors added with Copic markers.  The matching saying was done with one of my favorite embossing powders -  Dark Night.  While it is dark in color; it has such a beautiful blue sheen that reflects in the light.  The perfect accent for the blue background paper.  A snowflake background was embossed onto the cream card base and the snowmen & accent piece were both cut out with Spellbinders.  All the directions for this warm & rustic card can be found on this page of my gallery, Warm Wishes Bleached Snowman.

Well, there you have it - two completely different looks for the holidays.  I hope you enjoyed them & that one (or both) of them speaks to you! Don't forget.... Maybe I'm one of “The Five” with a secondary prize, so be sure to leave a comment to become eligible for the Grand Prize and one of the 5 secondary prizes, then hop on over to Karin's awesome blog 

Thanks so much for stopping by & do come back often!  (This blog is brand new & I have lots of great things on the backburner to share with you)  Why not become a follower & see what I have in store!

Have lots of fun on the rest of the hop!  And don't forget to .....
Enjoy the Simple Things in Life!
Until next time -
**Julie**

Here is the blog hop order for this hop in case you've gotten lost anywhere along the way:
Sparkle N Sprinkle Home Blog / Blog Hop Details -  SNS Blog
Sandy - Simply Sandy Lee
Dawn - Belladonna's Garden
Shona - Shona's Stamping Stage
Eleanor - Stamping in Virginia
Julie W - The Write Stuff
Joan - Stamp in Slippers
Judy  - Joy In a Jar
Julie Zippel - (that's me you're here!)
Karin  - With an "i" for Paper
Linda - Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...
Marie - CraftEMarie
Barbara Bruder - Art and Soul Creations
Patti - I Live for Glitter
Donna Ellis - Creative Smiles

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Convention Time! - StampScrapArtTour

This Saturday (& Sunday) was our local convention here in Western PA.  So let's open with a card from the convention.
Click photo for larger view
This really cute & fun lemonade card was a make-n-take by Art Tech Supplies.  While I was working on this, I "heard" that there's been lots of cards similar to this online in the last couple years (ok, I googled it when I got home & found that to be true).  But.... I gotta say, with the literally  thousands & thousands of cards out there on all the blogs, forums, and galleries - I had never seen it.  You're just never going to get to see everything out there.  So it was "new to me" and I thought it was such a great make & take - bright & fun, perfect for a summer convention.  And Art Tech did such a great job making their version quick & easy so lots of stampers could get to make it.  It was the only make & take I got to & I really enjoyed it!

For the last few years, StampScrapArtTour has been doing our conventions.  In my "general" (read driveable) area, there are three conventions - Adventures in Stamping - Cleveland/Akron, Stampaway - Cincinnati, and the StampScrapArtTour here in Western PA.  I've been to all three many times & while this one isn't quite as big as the other two; I'm really grateful that we even have one that close to us.  (This one is about an hour away from me).  For anyone that doesn't have a convention anywhere in their neck of the woods; I can just imagine how much you wish you'd have anything come your way!

And I have to say, even for a smaller convention; the StampScrapArtTour people do such a nice job.  I've also gone to their Make-n-take "class" they hold the night before the show in past years and it was also a lot of fun. The convention itself is done really well - nice atmosphere, good vendors, nice door prizes & raffles and most importantly - very friendly.  I don't know, it's a whole different atmosphere than one of the big conventions.  You can really take your time & get to look at everything with the smaller size.  Plus, no booths three & four people deep where you can barely even get a look at the products or get up close with the vendors.  I've been to conventions where it's like shopping on Black Friday - everybody's bumping into each other, trying to squeeze past each other (literally) just to to try to get to the next section of a booth and all the while trying to grab things as fast as they can before it's gone.  Nope, I've done that before.  But ok, I'll be fair, I was the first in line in the very early pre-dawn hours (no, I'm not kidding) for Stampaway at several of it's first years.  And I had tons of fun every time (& spent WAY too much money- lol)!  But I'll definitely take this type of show anytime now.  I've done the craziness before - lol; I've had that fun.  Now I really enjoy not fighting the huge crowds & being able to really get up close & personal with the vendors.  And I feel grateful that we're lucky enough to even have a convention so close to us & always hope they do well enough to come back the next year.  Big or small, conventions are so much fun & I had a great time.  Didn't win any prizes this time - Darn!  Maybe next year!! Well, remember.....


 Life isn't measured in moments of time, but in Timeless Moments
Hope you make the best of yours!

Until next time -
**Julie**

Don't Forget - Sparkle N Sprinkles July Blog Hop is coming up in just a few days!  Don't miss it!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Favorites from the past - An Elegant Bridal Shower Card

Hi Everybody -
I thought I'd start out by sharing one of my favorite cards from awhile back.  Now that I'm sharing my cards with "all of you out there"; I have quite a few past cards that I really liked & would like to share.  I thought I'd start out by sharing one of those & include a few of the others here and there as I start adding things to this blog.  Hope you enjoy what I have to share.

Click photo for closer view
This first card may be simple in design; but it's quite beautiful in person.


It was done a couple years ago for my cousins wedding shower and I still really like this card.  Her colors were Navy & White; so this card was perfect.

Inside

Sadly the photo doesn't do it justice at all - the beautiful navy of the card base matches so nicely to the ribbon but didn't show up too well in the photo.  (You'll have to forgive my photography skills at that point - we won't even talk about where I took this picture - I was heavily involved with getting things ready for the shower & was in a pinch for time - LOL!)  Fortunately, my skills have improved & you should get a much better view with my more current cards - I hope!

This was just my card from me to her and everyone really seemed to like it - it was passed around quite a bit.  We also did all the invitations for the shower, the shower thank you's, and several other pieces for the wedding.  I also handmade all her wedding thank you's myself as a wedding present to her.  Everything turned out so beautifully & despite all the work of making such large quantities of everything; we still had a lot of fun making everything so personal.

I hope you like this card & I'd love to hear your comments!  Please let me know what you think before you hop on by.  I'll be sure to read every comment!  Make sure you stop back to see more of my "...Basics & Beyond"  And......

Don't forget to enjoy the little things in life!  
Until next time, 
 **Julie**

Supplies:
  • Die cut dress - Sizzix
  • Pearl Embossed Paper (dress) - Marco's Paper
  • Mulberry Paper - Marco's Paper
  • Stamp - Studio G
  • Paris Dusk Ink - Memento              
  • Glitter Glue - Stickles
  • Small Rhinestones - Martha Stewart