Easter Pocket Card

We had a beautiful day here today. I spent it outside watering as my husband and crew laid sod! Here is a pocket Easter card I made for several challenges. I haven't made one of these pocket cards in a long time. It was fun to make. My tip for Tip Top Tuesday's challenge is this -- I didn't have a large enough frilly frame die to go around the image, so I used a smaller one I had, cut it in half and glued it on either side of the back of the image. At Just Magnolia the challenge is to use more than one fold on your card. For the Magnolia-licious challenge we have this lovely picture as inspiration.




And here is my card.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely rest of the week!

Technique Tuesday -- Inked Acetate

Welcome back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Technique Tuesday. When I saw this technique I just had to try it! It is so pretty. This technique is perfect for butterfly and flower stamps.

Supplies:

1. acetate sheet
2. 3-4 colors of alcohol inks
3. Jet Black Staz On ink pad
4. applicator for inks with felt pad

Stamp images on acetate using Staz On ink being careful not to move the stamp on the acetate, because the ink will smear and not leave a clean image.

This is very important! Make sure you turn over the images and apply the alcohol inks on the back side. If not the ink will smear. Drop the lighter color ink on an edge of the applicator and pounce it over areas of the butterflies. Then add another color to another side of the applicator and pounce it over other areas. Keep doing this with your colors until all the butterflies are completely colored. I did not use any blending solution when applying my colors because I wanted the colors to be bright.

The ink dries very quickly. When all the butterflies are inked, cut them out  and use a heat gun to curl the wings a bit.  Be careful not to burn yourself.  I used a plier like tool to hold mine and don't over heat. If you don't like how the wings are shaping you can heat from the other side to bend it back in a different direction.

I hope you enjoyed the technique today. I had so much fun with this. I hope you do too. Thanks for stopping by.

April

Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Butterflies and saying from the Fancy Butterflies set 437
2. Waterscape Glitter  G1108
3. Jet Black Staz On ink

Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog Hop Winners

Thanks for all who joined in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog Hop! Here are the winners!!! Congratulations!

Grand Prize #1:  A Stamp Set of your choice on cling cushion

Carrie

Grand Prize #2: A Stampette Set of your choice on cling cushion

A French Accent

1st Place:  From Julie Zippel’s Blog       2 Glitter Tinsels of your choice

Katy

2nd Place:  From Brenda Smalle’s Blog (that’s me :O)    3 Embossing Powders of your choice

Sherry Murphy

3rd Place:  From Charlene Driggs’ Blog   3 Glitters of your choice

Susannah

Stampin' Sisterhood Blog Hop

Stampin' Sisterhood is having a Mother's day blog hop today. Hop on over to see the lovely creations with a chance to win a Rubbernecker stamp set! 

I'm a Little Teapot.

In the UK they just recently celebrated Mother's Day. The challenge this week at Top Tip Tuesday is to make a Mother's Day/Craft Buddy card. I followed Deneen's teapot tutorial and made a Mother's Day card. I made flowers from acetate using alcohol inks to add to the teapot. My tip is this -- When stamping images on acetate using Staz On ink, remember to turn over the acetate and use the alcohol inks on the other side, because the alcohol will make the Staz On ink run. I messed up a few flowers because I forgot this tip! LOL!

House Mouse Photo Inspiration

I hope you are having a good day. It started off here today with heavy rain, but the sun has come out now.  At House Mouse this week the challenge is a photo inspiration. I also love these colors together.

It was fun to use one of my new House Mouse stamps. Isn't it cute?

I am also entering the Cuttlebug Spot challenge where we are to make a children's card using an animal. I used corner die cuts from Provo as well as the buckle die.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Sparkle N Sprinkle Flower Child Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Flower Child Blog Hop! The hop dates are March 22nd and 23rd. We are glad that you could join us. Please make sure you visit all the blogs along the way and leave a comment on each one. If you have arrived here from Karin's wonderful blog then you are at the right place. If not you may want to start at the beginning at the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog to see how you can win some great prizes. I made two cards from the Dani's Umbrella stamp set 392. It is Spring, but here it has felt like Summer! I was in the mood for some bright colors as you can see. On my first card I used Dani's Umbrella and made a round card. I had fun using different dies and layering them to make an interesting background for this stamp.

I used Dani's Ladybug on my second card. Isn't she cute walking her pet ladybug? I used a border a punch on each side and filled in the flowers with Cerise Glitter.

Thanks for stopping by. Now it's off to the talented Gerlinde! Please don't forget to comment on each blog and then return to Sparkle N Sprinkle when you are through to let them know you have completed the hop.

Girlie

In the UK they just celebrated Mother's Day, so at Basic Grey the challenge is to make a Mother's Day card or girlie card. The cream background is the back side of the Wassail sleigh ride paper. At Simon Says, the challenge is to show a handmade background. I just learned this new background technique and had to use it for this card! I painted kraft cardstock with green and pink acrylic paint and ran the piece through and embossing folder. I then sanded the raised areas and applied brown ink on some of the sanded areas. The flowers are made from inked baby wipes that I used to wipe ink off my stamps with. I used a flower die cut to cut out the flower shapes and then bunched them up to make the flower fluffy.

Technique Tuesday -- Acrylic Distress

Welcome back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Technique Tuesday! Two weekends ago I was on a stamping retreat and my good friend, Susan, was doing this technique. I really liked it and I want to share it with you today.  It is called Acrylic Distress.

Supplies:

1. white cardstock
2. one or two colors of acrylic paint daubers
3. embossing folder ( I used a paisley folder )
4. sanding block
5. darker ink than paint ( I used purple ink )
6. finger sponge dauber

Using your acrylic paint dauber, spread the ink all over the card stock.  Let dry.

Run painted piece through an embossing folder.

Lightly sand the raised embossed areas with the sanding block.

With a sponge finger dauber, sponge ink onto sanded areas, leaving some white showing here and there.

I also tried another piece using kraft cardstock and two colors of paint. Here is the result.

I hope you enjoy this technique as much as I do.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

April

Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Girl Bunny 0596-214E
2. Starfire Glitter G1017

Entered in Joan's Gardens Spring has Sprung challenge.

Mosaic Butterflies

Have you stopped by Tim Holtz's blog to see his mosaic butterflies tutorial? I thought I would give it try. I really had fun making them. Here is the tag I made with them. You can click here to see his demonstration. I hope you have had a good weekend. I am still enjoying the beautiful weather here.

Oopsie Card

The other day I was cutting a lot of dies. I wasn't paying attention and grabbed my embossing pad instead of the cutting pad and ran it through the cuttlebug.  Instead of the die being cut out, it just made an impression on the cardstock and I like the results! The circle on this card is my oopsie. I will experiment with some other dies to see how they turn out. I like it when I make a good oopsie!

Spring is in the Air

I am entering this card in the Impression Obsession challenge -- Spring is in the Air. It feels more like summer here, but I am enjoying these beautiful days we have been having! This little duck ( Just Ducky F7039 ) from Impression Obsession is too cute for words don't you think? Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Technique Tuesday -- Faux Linen

Welcome back to Technique Tuesday at Sparkle N Sprinkle!  Today I am showing how to make a linen look background.  I really like the look of this technique.

Supplies:

1. brayer
2. multi-colored ink pad ( I used a Big N Juicy pad)
3. sanding block
4. white glossy cardstock
5. stamps ( I used butterflies from the Fancy Butterflies set 437 )
6. purple permanent dye ink pad

Brayer the glossy cardstock with the multi-colored ink.

1. Randomly stamp butterflies over the brayered cardstock using the purple ink.

Take the sanding block and sand across the entire cardstock and then sand up and down.

You can see faint lines like linen going across and up and down. This makes a very nice background.  Here is a close -up of  how it looks.

I hope you enjoyed the technique today. Have fun giving it a try! I hope to see you again next week!

Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Fancy Butterflies set 437
2. Sienna Star Embossing Powder EP425

April

March Sparkle N Sprinkle Sketch Challenge

Hi! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I just got back from a fun stamping retreat! While I was there I made this card with the Sparkle N Sprinkle sketch for the month of March. I used Henry from the Cars-Henry set 251. Hop on over, try the sketch and enter your card for a chance to win a stamp set! Good luck!

Technique Tuesday - Salty

Welcome once again the the Sparkle N Sprinkle Technique Tuesday! I always love the effect of the technique I am showing today. It is the salt technique.

Supplies:

1. white glossy card stock
2. multi-colored ink pad in blues and purples
3. salt -- I used sea salt in a grinder
4. brayer
5. water spritzer
6. heat gun 9 ( optional )

Brayer color on your glossy card stock.

Spritz the card well with water.

Sprinkle the wet card with salt.

Let dry or use a heat gun a little to speed up the drying.  Then wipe off the salt with your hand or paper towel.

You will end up with a sea looking effect. I tried this technique using matte card stock, but I like the effect better on the glossy card stock.

I hope you enjoyed the technique today. Please  check back next Tuesday to see a new one. Have a great day!

April

Sparkle N Sprinkle products used:

1. Clarence T Crab
2. Florida Beach glitter

Punched Card

Good morning! I hope your Monday is going well. It is bright and sunny here. This card was inspired by a discussion on the Two Peas stamping board. Daniel was discussing how he had used punches and I thought I would give it a try. I started with a die cut piece and then punched inside of it to make a design. You can see the discussion here. I really had fun with this and I was pleased with the results. Here is the punched piece and then the card I made with it.

Secondly, I folded my paper and punched, sort of like you make a paper snowflake, but you can't have as many folds because they would be too thick. This time I got an all over pattern.

Going in Circles

We have another lovely day here, but it is very windy. Yes, we are in March! I have had these circle cards for a long time and I haven't used them in awhile. The challenge at Penny Black is to case a round card, so I was happy to use this circle card for it. Isn't this a cute cat from Penny Black?  At Basic Grey we have an inspiration picture of beautiful flowers. I used paper from the Basic Grey pad, Sweet Threads.

Blue and Green and Lots of Layers

Hello! It's been a few days since I have posted. I have been working on Easter cards. Here is a card I made for two challenges. At Joan's Gardens the challenge is to use blue and green and at Cheery Lynn the challenge is to use lots of layers. I have been working on this all morning, listening to music and having a good time! I hope you enjoy your weekend.