SNS Monthly Challenge - New Challenges Await

Well Hello again!

 Wow, January has quickly slipped by already – hard to believe.  And February is already coming in like gangbusters around my place.  We had a busy & long first weekend in Feb. with the kids being off on Monday for a teacher in-service day this week.  So with them home an extra day; that meant a slow start to my week.  And it will be a busy week to boot.  It’s Valentine’s week around here!  Our school district always celebrates holidays on Fridays and they’ve decided that they want to celebrate before Valentine’s day instead of the day after.  So…..lots of Valentine preparations going on around here this week-  card’s, mailboxes, party games & treats are all the fare for us this week!  Busy times, but always special memories created for sure!

But here we are in February! And I don’t want you to forget about Sparkle N Sprinkle’s February Creative challenge going on all month; so I wanted to tell you a little about what I did for this month's challenge!

This month, SNS embarks on some new things with their monthly challenges; so you'll definitely want to be sure to go over to the Creative Challenge page to get all the details on what's new! 

One of the biggest changes though is that we will be hosting a wide variety of challenges instead of just sketches this year. How Fun!!

This month is the first non-sketch challenge and it focuses on a swatch from Design Seeds.

 

My take on the swatch was to take both the color (basically blues) and also the gradient in color that you see on the swatch.  Even though my gradient uses different hues; I wanted to build on having a gradient.  It's a little hard to see in my pic, but the glittery colors on the cross go from a rich dark navy in the center out to a soft pale blue near the edges.

Color swatch courtesy of Design Seeds®

For this design, I used one of my favorite SNS techniques - Glittered Stained Glass (video tutorial here March 2011) - it's also referred to as Glitter on Acetate and can be found in the SNS Tip & Technique section under that name. Or click the name to go right there!  Unfortunately, the pics don't do it justice - bad time of year for that up here in the north - I need more SUN lol!.  But I have to say, the sparkle with this technique in real life is just phenomenal! That's why I like it so much ;-)!  

 
Now I have to admit, I don't always design my cards with something specific in mind; but this card was one of those exceptions.  I had a baptism coming up and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  And this card was exactly what I had in mind!  (Everyone loved the card too by the way!  It was so pretty and sparkly; I decided to put it in a clear envie and attach it right to the front of the gift bag instead of putting it inside the bag!)


The other thing I liked about this card is with the versatile saying on it, you could mix up the colors and use it for SO many different special occasions - baptism, 1st communion, confirmation, weddings, even Christmas and Easter.  The possibilities are endless!  (And if you wanted something more specific for a communion or confirmation; the same set that these stamps came from also has two great sayings specific for those events)!

Here's a look at the whole set!  Set 362 - Crosses Floral



Ok, I better get back to those school Valentine's projects I should be working on! Hope you enjoyed today's card!  And I truly hope you'll join us for this month's Creative Challenge at Sparkle N Sprinkle!  We love seeing your work as much as we love sharing ours with you! Thanks so much for visiting today & don't forget to leave a comment so I know you stopped by!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Coming This Week!

Don't forget!  

This week, all us gals at Sparkle N Sprinkle will be holding our first Blog Hop of 2013 - the Fancy Folds Blog Hop!  As always, we'll be sharing lots of great ideas & there will be lots of great prizes to be won too.  We sure hope you'll join us this Thurs. (and the hop will run for four days so you have lots of time to check out  all the great ideas too!)

To get you in the mood; I thought I'd share a fancy fold I did quite a while back.  This card was showcased on one of the SNS blogs way back before I had my own blog.  It's always been one of my favorites; so I thought this would be a good time to add it to my personal blog.  I liked this card so much I did it in three different versions.  Each one used a different variety of SNS's beautiful embossing powders and a different treatment for the center of the flowers.


 This lovely version focused on vibrant shimmering pastels with pearl centers.

If you'd like the full instructions for how to make a Flower Pot Card card; they can be found in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Tips & Techniques section (click any bold name to go there!).  

Or you can find the instructions for this version in the SNS Art Gallery Here.

My second version was done in a "bridal style" in pinks and white.  

This one has handmade floral centers that were created with shrink plastic, scallop punches, and a coating of the "oh so versatile" Sparkle embossing powder.

(Don't forget you can  click on any photo for a better view!)

Full instructions and products used for this version can be found Here.

My last version is just bright and bold and featured buttons for the floral centers. I love the look of the golden yellow with the brown buttons - reminds me of black eyed susans.  And the orange posies complemented them so well.   On this card, I also added my message to a a sweet little tag on the front for something different.

Full instructions and product list for this version can be found Here.

All the images and sayings for all three cards are from the wonderful Set 391 - Solid Butterfly. Love, love the sayings and style of this set! Definitely one of my all time "go to" sets!!



Well, I hope you enjoyed these cards & it puts you in the mood for some more "Fancy Folds" coming up in the blog hop Thursday!  Don't forget to let me know what you think of these before you hop on by and I'll See you on Thurs. for the Hop!

Until next time,

***Julie***

And They're Off!

Well, we've been super busy the last couple weeks (thus no recent blog posts), but today is finally the day.....the first day back to school!  We always have so much to cram in those last precious couple of weeks of summer and this year was no exception.  And it's always extra busy around here since it's not just the kiddo's going back, but my hubby too since he's a teacher.

For this year's end of summer rush, we were very excited to be able to spend a weekend out of state with my sister in law & brother in law and also take a day trip to bike & swim at Lake Erie.  Both were very enjoyable since we can't get away from the farm very much! We also spent a lot of time the last couple weeks repairing things - both at our place (my washer & dryer both were having issues).  And also for my sister & mother in law - they both were having plumbing problems.  And since they're both about an hour away from us, we always try to squeeze in their stuff before the end of summer too since it's harder to get down there once school's back in.  And of course, most of our back to school items needed attention too.  Yesterday we spent the entire day getting lunch boxes, backpacks, clothes, ID tags, etc., etc., etc. all ready.

So it's just been a whirlwind of activity around here and all to get to this all important day!  It's BACK to SCHOOL TIME!

Creativity, I've been working on some new SNS projects during all this activity.  (A couple of my first digi's too!)  So you'll want to keep an eye out for that stuff in the future.  But last night (quite late, last night lol!), I took a quick break from everything to make up a couple simple back to school projects for everyone to start to school year off on a good note!



 I made up these two simple cards for the kid's teachers.  I saw these great Teacher stamp sets from PapertreyInk during their Aug release and just had to have them!  Since I do A BUNCH of stuff for school and the PTO; and since my husband, myself, and my sister are all teachers - I knew they'd get lots of use!  This card uses a combo of the stamp set they just released and an earlier coordinated set as well as one of their dies.  Both sets are really super cute. 









 I did these up fairly simply in school colors (& tiger stripes) - just a little note to their new teacher's to let them know we're thinking of them and looking forward to a great year!

(paper is from the Paper Studio & the cute ribbon is from Michaels)

 I also did a couple really quick Lunchbox notes for the kids using PaperTrey's coordinating apple die and some stamps I picked up at a discount store over the weekend  Again a very simple project, but paired up with some colorful Heidi Grace paper; they're just the ticket to let them know I'm thinking of them even when we're apart!

(Both Stamp sets TPC Studio)

I even did a larger one of these for my Hubby & put it on his car's dash before I went to bed - it's his "first day of school" too LOL!  (He did appreciate it too - he texted me as soon as he got a chance to say thanks! I'm sure it made him smile!)

So for us (and probably many of you out there too!), life's about to take a complete 180 degree turn - back to our "other" schedule again!  I think it's going to take me a while to rearrange my schedule again too LOL! 

Well, I just thought I'd let you know what I've been up to and share those couple simple school projects with you real quick.  The kiddo's ought to be home real soon; so I best get ready for them.  I'm sure they've got LOTS of stories (& papers lol!) to share with me!! 

Here's a pic of them before they headed out this morning.  They always look so cute all dolled up for their first day!!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Guys & Glitter - Part 2

I'm back today with "Part 2" of Guys & Glitter as promised!  (If you didn't get a chance to see the first card, scroll down to the previous post to see the previous Guys & Glitter card!)

Sometimes we find it hard to come up with "Guy cards"; so ideas for them are always handy.  And what card doesn't look even better with a bit of glitter on it!  But for guys?  Sparkly things? really?  Ab-so-lutely!  Glitter always gives any card that extra something that really makes it extra special and stand out.  And that's no exception when making a "guy card".  There's lots of different ways to incorporate glitter into guy cards without being too sparkly or "girly".  While there's not enough time to discuss all of them, I thought I'd share a couple different ways to incorporate it (one yesterday & one today).

Today's card uses the same fun saying as yesterday's post in a great "over the hill" type card.  Why give the same old silly or boring "over the hill" cards when you can make something really fun & personal.  Keep the typical black & white color scheme, but add this great saying and some rich & sparkly glittered numbers in the age of the birthday boy.  What a great way to recognize a special guy for any landmark birthday - 50 yrs, 60 yrs, 65, 75 - whatever!


And the glitter isn't too overpowering or "girly" because it's done in a nice deep, rich color tone (black in this case).  So keep that tip in mind  - dark, rich colors of glitter are frequently a good choice for Guy cards!

I love the look of this card with it's bright & bold contrasting colors and pattern.  And the glitter accent makes it extra special (and really personal too!)  Click on any photo for a better view.

The scalloped die cuts used on this card were another "older" Spellbinders that I recently picked up.  And they were lots of fun to work with.  I think I'd like to play with a lot more ideas using this set of dies yet.  So many possibilities with different color combinations alone, not to mention playing around with the spacing between the layers of the card.  This one is going to be a really neat one to have in my collection.  I'm betting you can expect to see more cards using this die set in the future!

In the meantime, thanks so much for stopping by to see this second installment of "Guys & Glitter".  Hope you enjoyed this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Full instructions for this card, including how to create the glittered numbers, can be found in the Sparkle N Sprinkle gallery here.

Don't forget to come back Thursday for Sparkle N Sprinkle's next great blog hop - Flower Child .  As always, great prizes will be awarded; so be sure to join in!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Supplies used:

Stamp - Sparkle N Sprinkle

Glitter - Sparkle N Sprinkle

Embossing Powder - Sparkle N Sprinkle

Background Dies - Spellbinders Paper Arts

Number Dies - Sizzix

Exciting & New at Sparkle N Sprinkle

Hi Everyone - Been having a lot of computer issues over the last couple months & it's been acting up for the last several days again.  My computer is quite old & way over due for being updated (ahem, I mean replaced); so I guess that's to be expected.  But issues & trying to fix issues keeps taking me away from time I'd rather to be posting things.  But I didn't want anyone to miss out on some of the exciting news that has been happening at Sparkle N Sprinkle.  So even though it's later than I wanted; I still wanted to pass along some updates from SNS so you don't miss out on anything!

First, if you haven't heard yet, SNS just added 9 great new & diverse artists to the Design Team last week.  I am always so honored to be a part of this great team and am so excited to see all the new & interesting things that each of these ladies is going to bring to SNS.  They each have their own unique artistic style and I'm really looking forward to getting to know each of them & I just know you're going to as well.  Each of their blogs is listed on my sidebar & I hope when you have a chance you'll take a moment to get to know them a little bit better through their blogs!  So to each of my new team mates, welcome again - Amanda, Angie, April, Charlene, Gerlinde, Jessica, Karalee, Lana, & Shanna!  So excited to get the chance to work with each of you!

Next, this isn't exactly brand new either; but I do have something new to share with you.  Sparkle N Sprinkle now sells smaller stamp sets called Stampettes that just became available this fall.  These fun little sets come in a variety of themes (with more to come) and are a really great price.  So to get you in the "swing of things" with these new Stampettes - I have a new card to share with you using one of these great little economical sets!

This sweet little card was created using the lovely Blossoms to Go Stampette Set 440 (which also coordinates with Set 429 Blossoms & Spellbinders Blossom 3 dies which makes this set extra versatile).  There's four great florals, 3 sayings, and a great little floral flourish all packed into this great set; so you really get your money's worth out of this set!

For this card, I started with a beautiful My Mind's Eye floral card - which I promptly cut apart and made into layers.  Typical maneuver isn't it.....we see something really pretty & then we still have to cut it apart and change it - lol!  Well, I did really love this floral & loved that it wasn't in more "traditional" floral colors.  For something a little different, the muted blues & greens on the brown really called to me.  And I thought it was the perfect background to call attention to the saying piece I had in mind.  For that piece, I put two dotted daisies behind the saying to tie it into the background floral & then the saying itself was made to stand out by embossing it with one of my favorites - Teddy Brown embossing powder.  The embossing powder really makes the saying pop out & come to life.  That whole piece was layered onto a Spellbinders Lattice Rectangle.  I attached the oppsite side of the Spellbinders rectangle piece than you would probably normally use for a little extra interest and because I thought it looked a little more "lacely" on that side.  I really liked the effect.

With that lovely saying, I think this would make a really sweet card for lots of different occasions - birthdays, weddings, thinking of you, or even just a note.  There's so many things you could use this for.  I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I did!  Full directions for this card can be found in the SNS Art Gallery Here.  And since the subject of this post is "New"- fyi, SNS has even more new stamps, glitters, and embossing powders coming out; so make sure to stop by for more details on those too! 

Don't forget - I love it when you leave a comment before you hop on by & thanks a bunch for stopping by!

In a world where you can be anything, Be Yourself.  Author Unknown

Until next time, 

***Julie***

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