the road less traveled | Sparkle N Sprinkle May Reveal/Blog Hop.

Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle's
 May 1 New Reveal Blog Hop!

This month we are doing something a little different. Instead of releasing new stamp sets, all the designers have been creating projects with Dreamweaver stencils, using various techniques and products.

Be sure to visit the SNS blog all month long, as well as the designers' blogs to see different techniques used with the stencils. Each designer always posts two different projects to the SNS Blog and four different projects to their personal blogs each month. All Dreamweaver stencils, soap, and embossing pastes are 20% off until May 3. Once you finish the blog hop, head on over to the store and start shopping. The Large Feather is the stencil featured with this month's Technique Video Kit.

On May 3, one GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be selected from the comments left on the designers' blogs. Please leave a comment with each designer in order to be eligible for the grand prize. You never know who the mystery designer will be that has the winning comment.  

The winner will be able to choose $55 worth of any products listed under the Stencils and Templates category, mica powders (Pearl Ex), glitters, embossing powders, flock, and sticker paper or adhesive sheets.

The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on June 3 on the SNS Facebook page, the Designer's blogs, and here on the SNS Blog.  

The Blog Hop order this month is:

Eret
Anne
Ashley
Marie
Belinda
Diane
Shona

We love reading your comments and hope that we have inspired you as well.  If you can not leave a comment for some reason, please email icinganne@yahoo.com with your comment and the name of the blog or the designer you are commenting about.

The Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge also begins today.  There are lots of prizes and recognition badges.  Come check out how you can become a SNS Featured Artist as well.  The theme is always Anything Goes using Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder, and/or Flock.

We hope you enjoy the New Reveal Blog Hop as much as we do.  Thanks for joining us and remember to comment on each of the Designers' blogs to be eligible for the Grand Prize. Last month Diane was the mystery designer with the winning comment. Wonder who it will be this month????

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to be a part of SNS as a guest designer. I loved working with these stencils and embossing paste. I'd never used embossing paste before! Let me tell you about my project.

First I taped my stencil down to a piece of paper. I worked with the Dreamweaver zebra skin stencil for this card. I applied a good layer of Dreamweaver white embossing paste over the top of my stencil. I removed my stencil carefully and then applied my embossing powders one at a time, tapping off the excess. I used cherry (EP228S), raspberry sherbet (EP243S), lemon (EP242), spring willow (EP388S), and skylight (EP212S). Then I heat embossed the entire card base. The embossing powders I chose are all cosmic, semi-transparent embossing powders and they look beautiful.

Next I grabbed a sheet of vellum and the Travelin' stamp set (630). I love the sentiments with this stamp set. I stamped my sentiment with Versamark ink and then used black detail (EP171S) embossing powder. I heat embossed my sentiment and then adhered the vellum to my card base. I used my Xyron X2 Adhesive Runner and I love how the vellum helps tone down the bright zebra print, yet you can still see the colors.

For finishing touches I used some brads from my stash in colors that coordinate with my embossing powders and tied on some ribbon. I especially love the colorful zebra print on black cardstock.

Thanks so much for looking and commenting! Your next stop is: Marie!

adventure.

I've found a bit of free time lately and I'm enjoying scrapping again. I found this sketch at Stuck?! Sketches and I loved it. I used one large 4x6 photo instead of the two smaller photos.

Believe it or not, this is an actual film camera photo! I was afraid to take my iphone with me (good thing, because I immediately tipped over!) so I bought one of those cheap water cameras. Only a few of the photos turned out but I am glad to have them.

still have to add the date + journaling

Thanks for looking! 

supplies
stamp: Elle's Studio (Saltwater Summer Happiness); Studio Calico; Sweet Stamp Shop (Ahoy kit);
ink: StazOn (jet black); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (peacock feathers)
dew drops: Freckled Fawn
stickers: Lily Bee (Sweet Shoppe); SN@P! by Simple Stories; 
die cuts: Elle's Studio (Summer Lovin' Note Tags)
patterned paper: Simple Stories (Good Day Sunshine); Studio Tekturek (One Way Ticket)
shaped paper clip: The Paper Studio

sweet|ScrapMuch?!

Today is our Sketchy Friday reveal on the ScrapMuch?! blog and my last post as part of the design team. Here is our sketch:

Here's my page. I really tried to use up the MME On Trend chipboard pieces.

I know Easter was a couple of weekends ago now, but when I started working on this page it was Easter weekend. These photos are from 1985. I still need to add my journaling and the date. Thanks for looking today and make sure you visit the ScrapMuch?! blog to see how the other ladies used this sketch.

Thanks to Laura, Eileen, and Elaine for having me for the past year!

friendship is like a well watered garden | Sparkle N Sprinkle.

I'm on the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog today, sharing a card I made with one of the new April stamp sets. I made this card using the Friendship Flowers stamp set (702). 

I'll share a peek of my card, but you have to go to the SNS blog to see the full reveal and details about my project.

I love finding unique ways to use my stamps and I hope this inspires you to try something different with your stamps! Visit the SNS blog for more ideas!

other supplies
ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (scattered straw; broken China; shabby shutters; picked raspberry)
die cut: Hero Arts Frame Cuts (Tag); Paper Smooches (Hearts)
die cut machine: Spellbinder's Grand Calibur
wood veneer: Studio Calico
adhesive: Brushable Glue (54) 
flocking: Soft N Sparkle in Petal Soft (SS116)
 

my Nerium experience.

I recently had a friend approach me about a free trial of Nerium AD night cream. She sells the stuff, wanted me to try it for seven days, said a lot of people are using it. I have sensitive skin and use products my dermatologist recommends but I figured I'd give this the old college try.

I took before photos. I applied the cream at night before bed (after running and showering, which is why my face is so red!). I took after photos. This stuff is supposedly "age fighting" and "age defying." Well, I didn't notice a difference. Maybe I needed to use it longer than seven days. Maybe my 30 year old skin hasn't aged enough to need an age fighting product. Whatever the case may be, I am not selling/endorsing/making money off of this post, which I why I can say that you should not waste your money on it. I should also say that this is just my experience.

Here are my results:

Age-Defying Night Cream

NeriumAD Formula

$110

30 ml/1 fl.oz.

This clinically tested age-fighting product is powered by our excusive NeriumAD® Formula. Age-Defying Night Cream contains the most concentrated, powerful form of our proprietary NAE-8® extract. It is designed to adhere to skin for maximum delivery of key ingredients. Apply at night when skin is in its rest-and-repair cycle.

You can visit the Nerium website and view some of their testimonials, which I've got to admit, are pretty impressive.

friendship | Sparkle N Sprinkle.

Hey there! I am feeling Spring in the air and I have a bright bouquet of flowers to prove it! For this card, I used one of the April new release stamp sets Friendship Flowers (702) and some Copic markers. 

I stamped my image with VersaMark and heat embossed with Black Detail embossing powder (EP171). This detail embossing powder is quite amazing.

I used Elephant Gray flocking (FL111) on the watering can. 

To finish the card, I added a strip of 1/2" Tear-ific tape and sprinkled on the Dogwood Rose Velvet Glitter (GM2021) - this stuff is seriously amazing. It feels like suede and it does NOT flake off of the Tear-ific tape! Finally, I grabbed one of the sentiments, stamped it with Versamark, and heat embossed it with Raspberry Sherbet (EP243) Cosmic semi-transparent embossing powder. I love this slightly pearlescent, light pink color. I fussy cut my sentiment and used Zap Dots to give it some dimension. 

Isn't that a pretty bouquet?! Check out the SNS blog all month to see how other design team members are using this stamp set + a few other new release April stamp sets.

thanking God for you||Scrapping Turtle.

Scrapping Turtle is having a mini crop over at the Turtle Soup forums. My challenge is to use a stamp on your project. Here's my card for the challenge:

First I spread a thin layer of gel medium on my card over a polka dot stencil. After it dried, I started heat embossing with the PWP Mini Flowers stamp set. Then I mixed some gel medium + gelatos to create the darker pink color and stamped a couple of times with the same Mini Flowers stamp set and one of the stamps from the PWP Art Textures stamp set. 

After that, I put the stencil back down on my paper and spritzed some of the Lindy's Stamp Gang over the top. I also added some splatters. The Sunset Pink mist is a very light pink when used alone. Then I heat embossed my sentiment, which was chosen from the PWP Scripture stamp set. Finally I grabbed some of my distress ink mini pads and started blending around the edges of the card.

For the final touches, I added some enamel dots and ribbon. I hope this gives you some inspiration to pull out your stamps and use them on a project for our mini crop!

supplies
stamps: Paper Wings Productions (Mini Flower; Art Textures; Scripture)
inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spun Sugar; Milled Lavender)
ribbon: American Crafts
embossing powder: ZING! by American Crafts (opaque grapefruit); Ranger Super Fine Detail (silver)
gelato & gel medium: Faber-Castell
enamel dots: Studio Calico
stencil: Prima Marketing (Poppies and Peonies)
mist: Lindy's Stamp Gang (Sweet Treats)

you are so nice [card]|Stick It Down.

Hello there! It's starting to get to a busy time of year with the weather getting nicer and more activities being planned. I love it :)

Today I'm sharing the card I made for the April Stick It Down card sketch. Here is our sketch this month:

Here is my card:

I used a Unity Stamp + clear embossing powder for the background. Then I used four distress inks to blend and resist the stamped image. Instead of the frame and the large circle die cut, I used the stars in a half circular frame. Sort of combining the two separate parts of the sketch. I love that the stars follow the same color scheme as my inks.


Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure to visit the Stick It Down blog where you can see inspiration from other designers and link up your own projects!

supplies
inks: Tim Holtz Distress ink (scattered straw; wild honey; picked raspberry; festive berries); StazOn (claret)
puffy stickers: twine + ink
stamp set: Paper Smooches (word salad)
gold die cut labels: a Studio Calico kit

There is beauty in simple things | Sparkle N Sprinkle.

I'm on the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog today, sharing a card today with one of the Sparkle N Sprinkle April stamp release sets: Spring Window 704.

This is just a sneak of my card... you'll have to visit SNS blog to see the full reveal:)  

other supplies inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (picked raspberry; wild honey; spiced marmalade)
stencil: The Crafter's Workship (Mini Bricks)
vellum: Die Cuts with a View

sugar & spice|ScrapMuch?!

Hey everyone! I'm sharing THE cutest layout today on the ScrapMuch?! blog. Today is Sketchy Friday and we have a fantastic sketch + I have photos of the cutest little baby. This is my friend's daughter. She turned one year in January. How great do these papers match those photos?! Meant to be. Here's our sketch:

My page came together really quickly. The colors in the photo were perfect for the papers I chose and since there were gold accents in the photos, it made choosing accents on my page super simple too. Here's my page:

I stayed pretty close to this sketch, but I added some extra embellishments. I had so much 'stuff' that coordinated so beautifully that I just kept adding and adding things. I got to use some stuff from my stash + a mix of new things so that was really great too! 

So enough about my page. I want to see yours! Be sure to stop by the ScrapMuch?! blog today to see what the other girls did and you can link up your own page HERE.

supplies
patterned paper: Studio Calico (striped); We R Memory Keepers (script); 
chipboard shapes: Studio Calico + Hello Forever; Crate Paper (Notes and Things)
stickers: Pink Paislee (SwitchBoard); Basic Grey (Hey Girl!)
die cut shapes: My Mind's Eye (On Trend); Studio Calico (blue/gold);

Sparkle N Sprinkle April 2015 reveal winner.

April 2015 Reveal Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month's release.  One Grand Prize winner will win the entire collection revealed this month! This month FOUR new rubber stamp sets were introduced.   The sets are:

Get Well Friends #701   (digi version DIGI701)

Friendship Flowers #702   (digi version DIGI702)

Old Well #703  (digi version DIGI703)

Spring Window #704   (digi version DIGI704)

 One Grand Prize Winner was selected from the comments left on the participating Designers' blogs.  
The Grand Prize Winner will receive each of the New Reveal rubber stamp sets (or digi versions, if preferred)

Congratulations goes to  Jodie Stoddard
who said...

Wonderful card. I love how you made your brick background. I would never have thought of that technique. Thank you for sharing.

April 2, 2015 at 10:32 AM

Her comment came from Diane's blog.

Please email Anne at icinganne@yahoo.com to claim your prize.  Be sure to include your mailing address and phone number (if you are an international winner).

love || Scrapping Turtle spring blog hop.

Welcome to the Turtle Soup design team spring blog hop! Lots of spring inspiration from the design team, some individual blog prizes, and the overall main randomly selected blog hop prize. Visit all the blogs on the hop before April 9 at 11:59 pm EST and leave a comment on each blog. Finish at the Turtle Soup blog where you'll leave a comment for another entry into the randomly drawn prize winner, which will be announced Friday April 10.

Hello everyone & welcome to the spring blog hop! We're so glad you could join us! Follow along on the blog hop and leave comments every where you stop for a chance to win a prize package! We're all sharing spring projects and I have a card to share today.

For my simple spring project, I created a card using the new cracked pistachio Distress Spray Stain + a Hero Arts stamp set. I inked up the stamp and stamped the image several times with Versamark. I covered my stamped images with white embossing powder and heat embossed it. Then after it was dry, I used a resist technique with the spray stain. I love how this spray stain gives a mottled background appearance.  So pretty! Next I just added some American Crafts glitter ribbon, a die cut from MME (On Trend collection), and the gold bling for a final touch.

As a special thanks for participating in the blog hop and visiting my blog, I'm offering a spring themed prize package as well! Use the Rafflecopter below to enter and then hop to your final destination: Turtle Soup blog.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

let your faith be bigger | Sparkle N Sprinkle April reveal/blog hop.

Welcome to Sparkle N Sprinkle's 

April 1, 2015 Reveal

We have FOUR new stamp sets to share with you this month and these sets are 20% off their regular price until April 3.  All the new reveal sets are available on cling mounted rubber and as a digital image.  Friendship Flowers #702 is the stamp set featured in  this month's technique video.

The sets are:

Get Well Friends #701   (digi version DIGI701)

Friendship Flowers #702   (digi version DIGI702)

Old Well #703  (digi version DIGI703)

Spring Window #704   (digi version DIGI704)

On April 3, one Grand Prize Winner will be selected from the comments left on the designers' blogs listed below.  The Grand Prize Winner will receive all FOUR of the new rubber stamp sets (or digi sets, if you prefer)

The winner of the blog hop will be announced on April 3 on Facebook, the SNS blog, and on our blogs. This month's blog hop order is:

Shona 

Diane 

Eret

Anne

Ashley

Marie

Belinda

April

(Tip: if you have a problem with a particular link, try clicking on the person's blog title to send you to their Home page.)

Don't forget to leave a comment with each designer to be eligible for the grand prize. We love reading your comments and hope we have inspired you as well. If you absolutely can not leave a comment for some reason, please email icinganne@yahoo.com with your comment and the name of the blog or designer you are commenting about.

~~~~~~~~~

The new SNS Creative Challenges also begins today, with lots of prizes and recognition badges.  The theme is always anything goes using loose glitter, embossing powder, and flock.

Thanks for stopping by today! If you've arrived from Anne, you're in the right place!  I'm sharing a card I made with one of the new stamp sets, Spring Window (704).

This card was totally different from anything I've ever done and it was fun. First I colored the branches and flowers with Faber-Castell Big Brush pens in shades of red. I stamped the image and wiped the stamp clean. Then I colored the window with Faber-Castell Big Brush pens in shades of blue and re-stamped the image. I didn't worry about having the stamp perfectly lined up. 

After I wiped the stamp clean again, I inked the whole stamp with Versamark ink and stamped the image for a third time. Again, I didn't worry about having the stamp perfectly alined because I already knew which embossing powder I wanted to use. I coated the stamped image with Magic Speckle (EP175), which is a gorgeous specialty embossing powder that has a Mother of Pearl-like finish. It's lovely!

Versamark with Magic Speckle before heat embossing / after heat embossing

Since I didn't have my stamped image perfectly lined up, you can see some of the reds from the flower branches and the blues from the window coming through from the pearl finish. Isn't that neat?! I think it gives almost a sketch-like appearance. 

For the "sky," I used Ocean marbled embossing powder (EP438). I actually used two coats, but I let the first coat dry completely before I added the second coat. For the brick wall, I used some Tim Holtz Distress ink to blend some brown ink, darker on the edges and lighter toward the middle. Finally for the vase sitting on the window sill, I used Raspberry Sherbet embossing powder (EP243).

blue Ocean marbled embossing powder

 Here's my finished card. This was really fun to make! I think it looks sort of like a water color or a sketched image.

Now it's time for you to hop along to your next stop: Marie

other supplies
Faber-Castell PITT artist pen big brush (magenta; deep scarlet red; cobalt green; skyblue)
ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (gathered twig)

Haul Video: Sparkle N Sprinkle.

happily homed...Apu|ScrapMuch?!

Hello! We're revealing our Sketchy Friday this week over at ScrapMuch?! I loved this one photo sketch and I stuck by it pretty closely.

We started fostering for the Humane Society of Hamilton County in December last year. Apu was our first foster. We already foster dogs for Love of Labs, but we foster the ill kitties for the HSHC because they can't go to fosters with other cats since they are contagious. We generally have the sick kitties two weeks at a time and may have to give them medication while we foster them. Usually by the time two weeks is over, they've had quiet time to recover and are ready for adoption! We returned Apu after two weeks and he was adopted that week! He was a great kitty, so laid back. I'm so happy for him!

Here's Apu:

Want to play along with us? Great! Here's how: Link up your creations HERE to be entered into a random draw for our monthly prize. You have until March 31 at midnight to participate in any of this months sketch challenges. Each linkup tool will remain open until that date! Can't wait to see what you make!

supplies
patterned paper: Pink Paislee (Bella Rouge)
plastic shapes, pink labels: Studio Calico
cat die cuts: SN@P! by Simple Stories
cat paper clip: Maya Road
stamp: Paper Smooches (Charmed Cat); Unity Stamp Co (SMAK Kit December 2014/Moments Like These)
stamp + die cut label set: Studio Calico
letter stickers: American Crafts Dear Lizzy (Soar Thickers)