Fireworks at Coney Island

Greetings! Alison here. I am writing this post on behalf of my husband Gene, who created this card. He had the idea a couple of weeks ago, for the kids, him, and myself to have an evening of card making together. I needed to make some samples for the June Sparkle Blend release for Doodles Paper Playground, and he thought it would be fun for the family to work together and help.

I recently received the Boardwalk Dreams stencil from Brutus Monroe, and he immediately wanted to work with it. Gene has been crafting with me more frequently and he's been experimenting with a lot of tools and techniques. So playing with this stencil was going to introduce him to some fun things. He said the stencil reminded him of Coney Island, which is only about 30 minutes from us.

He knew he wanted fireworks, so I pulled out an old Dreamweaver Stencil that had several on it. Then he decided that the Stars & Stripes Sparkle Blend was the perfect one to use on this card. He sprayed the Boardwalk Stencil with 2 different Fireworks! Sprays from Imagine and flipped them on to the card base that he had blended with Distress Inks. Then he applies VersaMark ink through the fireworks that he wanted to use, and chose some embossing powders from Stampendous to make them shine.

He picked through the Stars & Stripes Sparkle Blend to see which components he wanted where, and chose a smattering of stars and assorted sequins to apply on the card. I love the stars in the fireworks, and how he accented the Ferris Wheel with a few sequins too. This Blend is all red, white, and blue, so it's perfect for anything patriotic or summery.

Gene came up with the entire concept himself, and I think it looks amazing. I am really proud of him for doing so many different techniques (ink blending, embossing, stencil flips, etc.) all on one card. I taught him what things he could do with each item he wanted to add, but ultimately, he did everything himself...and he had fun doing it! I am excited for you to see the rest of the brand new Sparkle Blends, which are available right now in the Sparkle Blends shop on Etsy. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!