Mark Your Calendar - Christmas in July

Hi again.  I told you I'd try to be back today with another project.  But, I can't show you what I've been working on recently just yet......I'm saving that for the next Sparkle N Sprinkle blog hop which is coming up in just a couple weeks.  So, I thought this would be a good time to remind you to mark your calendar so you're sure to be there for all the great designs the team has come up with and take a chance on some great prizes.  The SNS "Christmas in July" Blog Hop is coming up July 12 & 13th - you'll want to make sure you're there!

And to get you in the mood, here's a fun holiday project that I can show you.  I love how this project turned out!  And it's using one of my favorite mediums to play with - craft metal - so many neat effects you can get with this.  The word Joy was stamped onto the metal in Versamark ink and embossed with Christmas Lights Embossing Powder.  You have to be a little careful so the stamp doesn't slip around on the shiny metal and emboss carefully as the powder tends to melt fairly quickly on most metals.  But the end result is worth the extra care.

After embossing Joy, I stamped it again onto a post it note (using any ink) and cut around that (leaving a small border) to make a mask.  With the mask in place, I stamped the swirls & curls (from Set 393 Dani's Garden Swing) randomly around the word using Staz On ink.  Having the mask in place leaves a clean border around the word.  The Staz On ink will take a little while to dry on the metal.  But when it's completely dry, you can go over all the swirls and around the word with an embossing stylus to create a really neat quilted effect.  Be sure to put a piece of fun foam or something similar under your metal as you work to get the best impressions.  But....don't press too hard or you could rub off your ink (if this does happen, just go over the line with a permanent marker to restore the line - this is also how I got the black outline around the word Joy).

The metal piece was mounted under a piece of Mirror card that had a window cut out using a Spellbinder Nestabilites Label and then the whole piece was mounted to white cardstock.  Ribbon was wrapped around the piece like a present for a finishing touch.

What's great about this piece is that it makes a great card, but it's just as beautiful as a piece of home decor!  You can even frame it so you could use it year after year.  What a lovely decoration for your house during the holidays! Complete instructions for this piece can be found in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Art Gallery here.
(Note: This particular Joy stamp is no longer available in the SNS store.  But....you can still request to purchase this stamp or the whole set it came from by contacting Margaret.  Numbers identifying this stamp are found in the full directions linked above. Or....there's lots of other great holiday sayings you could use to create a similar piece.  Check out all the great SNS holiday stamps starting on this page.)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this piece - it's one of my favorites!  And I hope it's got you thinking about the Christmas in July Blog Hop coming up real soon!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Flower Child Blog Hop Winners & Another Project

Hi Everybody!  Sure hope you were able to join us for the Flower Child Blog Hop.  And I wanted to post the list of winners here just in case you haven't had a chance to see them yet.  But first, I wanted to personally thank everyone who stopped by and left a comment.  I'm not sure I can really convey how very much I appreciate and am inspired by the kind gesture of your comments.  Perhaps even more so on this hop because I took on a project that was very new to me.  I was so very touched by all the heartfelt comments.  I do hope you all know how very much your visits are appreciated!

Ok, on to our winners!  (Winners, please see details on how to claim your prize on the SNS Blog) Congratulations to the following hoppers who have won a prize:

Grand Prize #1 – Stamp Set on cling  -   Carrie

Grand Prize #2 – Stampette Set on cling  -  A French Accent

1^st Place – 2 Glitter Tinsels  -  Katy  (from Julie Zippel’s Blog - yeah, we have a winner from here!)

2^nd Place – 3 Embossing Powders – Sherry Murphy (from Brenda Smalle's Blog)

3^rd Place – 3 Glitters – Susannah (from Charlene Driggs Blog)

Now, for an extra project (as promised!).  Using the same Sweet Briar Frame as I used on the scrapbook page, this time I created a really sweet home decor project.

For this project, I was inspired by some floral metal picture frames I already had in my house.  So, I thought, why not try to recreate that same look with the Sweet Briar Frame stamp?  Not only did it turn out great, but it was the perfect size for (full sized) wallet photos.  Perfect!

To create the look I was going for, I did in fact stamp on actual metal.  I love working with this medium and stamping.  The look is so unique, the material so versatile, and to top it all off; it takes heat embossing so very well.  Lots of fun to work with.  If you'd like to see a couple more projects I've done with metal (completely different styles too); check out these samples of Embossing on Metal in the Tips & Techniques section of the SNS website. 

For this project, I used basic craft metal that you can buy in most craft stores.  You'll find that different stores sell different variations of this and you'll find it in different parts of the store.  The metal I used came in squares, but you can also find it in larger sheets or rolls.  Normally, I don't "back" the metal to work with it.  But for this project (after a lot of experimenting!), I found that backing it before stamping, embossing, & cutting out gave a much smoother look (& more substantial) to the finished piece.  This metal is fairly flexible so it can get "kinks" and mark fairly easily.  For some projects this wouldn't matter.  But to retain the smooth look on this project, adding a backing helped resolve this problem.  (Another option would be to use a heavier gauge metal - I just happened to have this metal to work with.)

Click pictures for best view

Here's a close up of one of the frames so you can see the embossing better.  I experimented with both detail and regular silver embossing powders to see which gave me the best overall look and decided to use the regular.  Detail powder does exactly that, show details really well.  But I wanted a little bit more dimension (thickness) for this than detail powder gives.  (Side note: Super thick embossing powder would give even more dimension than the regular silver powder, but you'd lose most of the details on an image like this).

Full instructions for this project can be found on the SNS Art Gallery here.  This turned out to be such a cute project.  Plus you can "customize" it - match the ribbon to your decor or the picture backgrounds and of course.....add as many photos as you'd like!  Make one for Grandma with all the kids photos hanging from it.  Or how about a family one with a picture of each family member.  Pictures don't even have to be professional.  Snap photos with a simple background & have them printed up in wallet size - almost every photo dept is able to do that nowadays - most even in an hour!

I Hope you've enjoyed this project & perhaps will make one for yourself or someone you love!  I'd love it if you could take a second and leave a comment or two  - I do love to know you were here & read your feedback.  Hope you'll stop back again soon!

Until next time,

***Julie***

Supplies Used:

Stamp - Sparkle N Sprinkle

Embossing Powder - Sparkle N Sprinkle

Craft Metal - Walnut Hollow

Wall Hanger - Scrap Essentials/Joann Fabrics

Ribbon - ? (Hobby Lobby)

Finally Back......And Showcasing New SNS Stamps!

Wow, I'm finally "back on the blog"!  It seems I've hit one of those little spells where I've ended up being much busier than I expected and I haven't gotten to blogging for awhile.  While I really enjoy sharing things with you all, at times, things with higher priorities just take over.  And with two young school age kids, the end of summer seems to have "snuck" up on me.  Suddenly our days have been extra filled with everything from extra outings we wanted to go on during the summer to back to school shoppping to those doctor appts. that you just want to squeeze in before school starts.  It's amazing how fast the days can slip away with even the little "mundane" things!

Well, in any case, I definitely wanted to get back to blogging and share some more fun things with you.  And while I haven't been blogging for awhile; I definitely have been creating; so I've got some great things to share as we catch up.

Plus, this is the perfect time to start catching up because Sparkle N Sprinkle is getting ready for another great blog hop this Thursday & Friday - Autumn Inspirations - I have a really fun project to share with you for that too!  And of course, there will be some great prizes for those that leave comments along the hop; so make sure you check in for that on Thursday!!

Click any photo for a larger view

(Don't forget, click on any highlighted word(s) for further details/links).
Ok then, what I have for you today is from a new stamp release from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  This card uses a beautiful butterfly and saying from the new Fancy Butterflies - Set 437.  This stamp set coordinates with Spellbinders new summer release butterfly dies and can be purchased as individual stamps, as a money saving set, or in either of two combo's that include one or both of the two great Spellbinder die sets!  So you can get exactly what you want - so many options!  (Pics of the sets are further down in this post)

For my card, to add a little extra interest, creativity, and fun; the butterfly is stamped & embossed on metal!  This is such a fun medium to work with for this image because you can mold & shape the butterfly exactly how you want to make it really dimensional & lifelike.  There's a great little tutorial on the SNS Tips & Techniques section for Embossing on Metal & you'll find another example there where I embossed on metal.  If you haven't tried this yet; you have to try this.  It's so much fun & adds so much interest to your creations.  For this card, I did cut my butterfly out by hand to get the look I wanted; but the Spellbinders dies will cut the craft metal; so that's another great option you have too.  Here's a look at the stamp set & the coordinating dies from Spellbinders:

This card also takes on a fun feel by having the whole card cut out in an oval shape.  I used the Spellbinders new Grand Calibur and Grand Oval Nestabilities to cut out the main card base & layers.  While I chose a simple shape for this card, all the Grand Nestabilities make such great (& interesting) card bases!  If you'd like to see the full directions for this card; they can be found here in my gallery on the SNS site.

Fancy Butterflies set is just one of a bunch of new stamp releases from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  You might enjoy taking a look at 5 of the new sets in the newly released You Tube video showcasing some of the great new Spring & Summer sets.  I only have one card in this group, but I did another card that uses a bunch of the new sets (& some older ones too!) that isn't on the video because it's part of the up coming blog hop.  So you'll have to make sure you come back to check that out!!  In the meantime, here's a link to the YouTube video so you can check out the new sets -
  Sparkle N Sprinkle 5 New Sets (Spring/Summer 2011)

Be sure to come back Thursday for the Autumn Inspirations blog hop & I'll share the card I did with a bunch of these new sets!  Looking forward to seeing you then! 

     "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."  

Theodore Roosevelt

 Until next time,

** Julie**

Supplies used:
Stamps & Embossing Powder - Sparkle N Sprinkle
Dies - Spellbinders Nestabilities
Embossing Folder - Quickutz
Craft Metal - Walnut Hollow