Happy Easter

Hello and welcome to my blog. Thank you for stopping by. I was in an antique store a while back and they had a small section of new stamps there! Sometimes religious stamps can be a little cheesy looking, but this one is beautiful and I had to buy it! I loved making this card with it. I want to wish you a wonderful and blessed Easter! "He is not here; He is risen, just as He said." Matthew 28:6a.

Technique Tuesday -- Glue Stick Resist

Hi Everyone! Happy Easter! I hope you will have a nice one. It is Technique Tuesday at Sparkle N Sprinkle again! I want to show you an easy background technique today.

Supplies needed:

1. glue stick -- purple
2. background stamp ( I used Spring Branch Background 3162-399R )
3. white card stock
4. tissue or paper towel
5. heat tool
6. 2-3 colors of ink that go together -- I used a dark and light blue
7. sponges

Take the glue stick and rub it lightly over the background stamp several times. I found that the glue sticks that are purple and then turn white when they dry are the best. They seem oilier and glide over the stamp better without leaving a lot of clumps. There is an added plus that you can see that you have covered the whole stamp too!

Now stamp the glued background onto your white card stock.

Next use a heat tool to dry the glue. This is important or you will end up with a goopy mess!

After the purple color has disappeared showing that the glue is dry, start sponging on color over the background. I started with light blue.

I then went with a darker blue for contrast in my "sky".

Take your tissue or paper towel and rub over the inked card stock and the glue will rub off leaving the pretty white image of the background.

Here is another background I made using kraft colored card stock and various brown inks.

I hope you enjoyed today's technique. Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day and Easter!

April

Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Spring Branch Background 3162-399R
2. 3 Peeps 3439-426C
3. Peepin' Chick 3438-426B
4. Got Carrots 3440-426K
5. Easter Borders 3434-426G
6. Sun Dazzle Sparkle N Soft SS112
7. Twinkling Clouds Sparkle N Soft  SS107

Just Ducky

Hi and welcome to my blog! It is a really cold and rainy day here today. Good for ducks! LOL! I want to show you a card that I made for the Impression Obsession " All About Dies" challenge. I just love this cute duck called Just Ducky F7039. This is a great image to use this time of year. The die is also by IO. It is the Fence Die DIE004-J. I hope you are having a good weekend. I am hoping we start warming up real soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Too Cute!

Hi Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your day. Each day keeps getting colder here and winter wants to hang on even though it is the first day of Spring! But I hope my card will put you in the Spring spirit. I just love using my House Mouse stamps. They always put a smile on my face. I am using a stamp that is new. It is perfect for a Spring card. I used Basic Grey paper Euphoria/Trance. My TIP is to sponge the edges of the patterned paper and the circle around the image. I do this quite often on my cards because it adds that extra little touch. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

I am entering this card into several challenges:

House Mouse -- Ribbons & Pearls

Basic Grey -- Spring is in the Air

Top Tip Tuesday --  Rolling on the Floor Laughing

Technique Tuesday -- Rock N Roll

No, we are NOT going to be jammin'  today at Sparkle N Sprinkle, but the name of my technique is Rock N Roll. This is an old technique that I really like and decided to bring out again. I hope you will enjoy doing this one and will try it on some of your Spring cards. It is really easy and fun to do.

Supplies needed:

1. various colors of pigment inks -- some light and some dark
2. white card stock
3. solid stamps

I use pigment inks because they stay juicier longer.  You will need a light and a dark ink for each stamp.

Next ink up the whole stamp with the light color of ink.  I started with yellow.

Now take the inked stamp and roll it around on the darker color ink pad,  just rolling the stamp around on the edges. Here I used red.

Stamp on your card stock.  Keep doing this with the other flower stamps until you have the look you want.

I also stamped more flowers, cut them out and added glitter on the edges to add interest.  I pop dotted them on top of the other flowers that I stamped first.  Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

April

Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Peony 2    3476-429C
2. Daisy 2     3471-429AA
3. Leaf Small    3478-429A
4. Celebration velvet glitter    GM2010
5. Gypsy Red velvet glitter    GM2005
6. Purple Potion velvet glitter    GM2001
7. Jasper Blue velvet glitter    GM2012

Stamping Cat

Hi Everyone, I hope you are enjoying your weekend. It is warm here, so I am enjoying mine very much! Lately I have had a "helper" in my craft room. My cat, Pepper, seems to love my room as much as I do! As you can see she has to get right in the middle of things! LOL! I have never heard such squeaking and purring from her. Yes, she squeaks instead of meowing! Crazy cat! Just wanted to share. Enjoy!

Pepper is tired after all that "crafting" !

Sparkle N Sprinkle -- My Favorite Technique Blog Hop

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle "My Favorite Technique" Blog Hop. If you have come by way of creative Shanna, then you are in the right place. If not, you might want to start at the beginning at the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog so that you will be eligible for some fun prizes! I just love techniques and when I saw this technique that our very talented designer, Marie, came up with, I knew I had to try it! You can see her instructions here. Basically I poured glitter on a Super Adhesive sheet and then pounced a few light colors of alcohol inks all over the glitter for a shimmery background. Since Easter is right around the corner, I thought I would use this cute little stamp set -- Easter Chicks. These stamps just make me smile. You can click here to see the card instructions.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please make sure that you leave a comment on each designer's blog. Prizes are hidden in some of the designer's blogs, so don't miss out! Now hop on over to Brigita's blog to see her wonderful creation!

Technique Tuesday -- Acetate and Tissue Paper

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Technique Tuesday. I am looking forward to Spring, aren't you?  I am using a new Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp set with my technique today. It is called Silhouettes and it is perfect for those Spring cards you are making. 

I hope you will enjoy the technique I am showing, so here goes!

Supplies needed:

1. acetate or thin plastic
2. white tissue paper
3. clear glue
4. Staz On Jet Black ink pad 99704
5. clear glitter ( I used Bridal G1029 )
6. markers
7. water spritzer
8. white card stock
9. reinkers ( I used blue and green )
10. gloves ( optional )

Stamp your image on the piece of acetate using Staz On Jet Black ink. This is permanent so that it dries on the acetate and doesn't smear.

Take the other flower stamps and color directly on your stamps with markers.

Spritz the colored stamp lightly with water and stamp onto the white card stock.

Now take the stamped acetate piece and turn it over on the non stamped side. Add clear glue all over the image. The clear glue makes it easier to see what you are doing.

Drop a few drops of reinkers into the glue. I used blue at the top and green at the bottom. 

Take your finger and smear the reinkers into the glue. I tried using white glue at first and found the reinkers got too muddled.

I wanted to add a little sparkle to my piece, so I sprinkled some glitter over the glue and spread it around with my finger.

Now take the white tissue paper and place it over the glue and glitter. If you want it less wrinkled, press the tissue paper more into the glue.

Now for the last step! Take the white card stock that you stamped the colored flowers on and press this on top of the tissue paper.  Let all of this dry well. You will see that you have the color showing through behind the silhouettes, and that there is a soft background with shimmer. 

Now cut out the piece in the shape you want it and add to your card. Thanks for stopping by. Have fun with this technique and have a wonderful day!

April

Flower Girl

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by today. I am really looking forward to Spring and it's right around the corner! It seems that winter came late for us, so we are having cold weather when we should be warmer! Here is a card I made recently using the Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp, Catherine 0900-164M. I made flowers that I cut with a die from a coffee filter. I stamped the coffee filter all over with Versa Mark ink and added Candlelight, Cerulean Star and Antiquities embossing powders also from Sparkle N Sprinkle. When you heat set the embossing powders the coffee filter looks waxy and shimmery. You can see the instructions for this technique here. I am looking forward to a warmer weekend as they are forecasting! I hope you have a good one!

Technique Tuesday -- Glitzy Glue

Wow! Technique Tuesday came around fast at Sparkle N Sprinkle! I hope you had a good weekend. I named this technique Glitzy Glue because you use a lot of glue and as you can see it is very glitzy. I loved this technique and ended up making a lot of backgrounds with it.

Supplies needed:

1. Brushable Glue 540
2. water spritzer
3. stipple brush
4. black glossy card stock
5. 3 colors of pigment powder paints
6. glitter ( I used Autumn Medley G1013 )
7. heat tool
8. plastic or metal plate or pan for glue
9. spray sealer

Squeeze about a quarter size puddle of glue onto plate and spritz it with water to make it soupier.

Take the stipple brush and start pouncing the glue all over the glossy black card stock.

Add your first color of pigment powder paint over the glue. I poured it straight from the bottle, tapping gently. Be careful not to pour out a bunch in one spot. You may want to dip a paintbrush into the powder and flick off the powder.

Do this with the other 2 colors of powder paints.

I wanted to add a little more sparkle so I sprinkled on some glitter at the end.

Now this is the tricky part! WARNING! Make sure you heat this piece from the bottom! My friend, Bren, and I found out the hard way. We had powder flying everywhere! LOL! Heat this from the bottom using your heat tool and heat until you see the glue bubble. Then start heating from the top. There will still be some powder flying, but not too much. You can see that the glue gives a neat shimmery texture with the powder paints. Of course the glitter added that special touch! You will definitely have to use a spray sealer to seal your work.

I hope you have as much fun as I did making these backgrounds. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

April

Other Sparkle N Sprinkle supplies used:

1. Fancy Butterfly 3546-437G
2. Fiery Fushia glitter G1004
3. Mirror Gold card stock 99570
4. Sakura glue pen 99202

12 Tags of 2013 -- March

Hi Everyone! I hope you have been enjoying your weekend. It has been pretty chilly here, but mostly sunny. I am looking forward to Spring. Tim Holtz's tag challenge for March is all about Spring. You can see his demo here.  I always look forward each month for the new tag that Tim will show, and what technique he will teach. The sparkle on the egg cutout is courtesy of Sparkle N Sprinkle. I used Moon Rise Glitter Tinsel. It is white -- semi-transparent, so it picked up the colors from the paper behind it! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!