Primarily a cardmaking and papercrafting blog featuring both my own creative designs-including the products and techniques I used to create them-as well as projects by the Sparkle Blends Designing Divas team and other Guest Designers. I welcome comments, design suggestions, and questions, but I do ask that they remain respectful and kind.
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
To Dive For
This blue haired mermaid is swimming along in a sea of beautiful shells, pearls, sequins and so much more.
The underwater scene came to life with the "Mermaid Kisses" stamp and die set from Brutus Monroe. Everything was colored with Copics and mounted atop a background from Catherine Pooler's 6X6 Seaside patterned paper pack. The sentiment was stamped in the coordinating Sea Glass ink.
Look close and you will find all sorts of under water creatures including various types of fish, seashells, sparkle discs, bubbles...the list goes on. And the color palette leaves so many options for coordinating patterned papers. I used pieces from Just Keep Swimming to decorate the outside of the card as well.
The pink starfish in the mermaid's hair are one of the many different clay pieces that include 3 different types of fish. I used various discs and sequins to create bubbles. And of course, the clear colored bubbles to complete this scene. If you love this blend as much as I do, swim on over to the shop and grab yours!
Hello! Alison Heikkila here. Hello! Today I am sharing a card that was created by my husband Gene for the June Sparkle Blend release from Doodles Paper Playground. He really liked the "Go Bananas" Sparkle Blend, so he decided to go with a rainforest vibe on his card.
He found an old Bird of Paradise stencil that he liked a lot, so he used a couple of embossing pastes and applied it to cardstock. After they dried, he inked it up a bit to give kind of a blurry, jungle background. Using some dies from Stampendous for his window and the foliage around it, he created his shaker. He inked the foliage a bit by tapping on some Distress Oxide Ink. This gave the leaves a lot of texture.
His window is quite large, so he wanted to use a lot of the "Go Bananas" Sparkle Blend in the shaker panel. Instead, I offered him some of my beloved (and retired) "Broken Glass" Sparkle Blend to fill in the window, while still allowing you to see what's inside. In the photo above, you can see the clear and opalescent sequins....that's from "Broken Glass." Everything else is from "Go Bananas," so look for the little banana slices, the monkey heads, the various shades of yellow in different styles of sequins, and even 2 styles of full sized bananas! There are a lot of great elements in this Blend, and I really love the surprising pops of bright pink and bronze.
For his card base, Gene did a bit of ink smooshing with the same colors of Distress Oxides that he used behind the shaker window. I believe the colors were Rustic Wilderness, Twisted Citron, and Cracked Pistachio.
This card gave him a bit of trouble. It's not easy to use different colors of embossing pastes on such small areas, especially since they were from different brands with very different consistencies. But in the end, I really love how his card turned out. There is so much movement in his shaker window and those Sparkle Blends are really on display. Please visit the Sparkle Blends Shop on Etsy to see the entire new collection, plus some new goodies that Amber has added to the shop! And make sure you join the Sparkle Blends Fan Club on FB to always get fantastic inspiration on how to use those Sparkle Blends. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!
Somewhere over the rainbow you will find the gorgeous new blend "Subtle Rainbow" from Doodles Paper Playground. But don't be fooled by the name. The colors, sparkles and shine are gorgeous rainbow shades in lighter tones.
As always, this mix does not disappoint with its fun mix of shapes, patterns, colors and clay slices. There's an array of colors and elements that make this easy to use with just about any color palette.
If you take a close look, you will see all the colors represented in patterns, shapes, and even bubbles. There are different flowers, spirals, several sizes of discs and sequins, rings, mylar stars and even rainbow clay slices. I chose to make a full front panel shaker side so all these fun pieces could easily be displayed.
This is a great mix to have on hand for any occasion. With all the colors and shapes, it can be used for almost anything. Grab yours in the shop today!
I did some smooshing and spattering of Distress Oxide inks onto watercolor cardstock for the background. I also used the inks to stamp the seaweed, crab and turtle.
Recollections Brand 110# cardstock: White (card base)
Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black
VersaFine Ink: Onyx Black
Distress Oxide Ink: Tumbled Glass
Acetate & Foam Tape
Sakura Gelly Roll Pens: White and Black
Copic Markers: Elephant: C1 & C2
Balloon: R81, YR61, Y21, YG11, BG000 & V01
Basket: E11& E13
Thank you for stopping by the blog today. I hope you found some inspiration!
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Tastes like Summer
What tastes more like summer than a Rocket Pop? This new tasty Sparkle Blend from Doodles Paper Playground makes me want throw on my sandals and chase the ice cream man down the street. It will bring you right back to your childhood on a warm Summer day.
Whether it's fireworks, ice pops or a bright starry sky you're reminiscing about–this blend has it all. From bright, bold stars to tiny twinkles this blend is perfect for a 4th of July or Summer themed project. There are plenty of glitter and holographic discs in red, blue and silver.
And of course, the star of this blend, there are Rocket Pops! These clay discs are so cute and make the blend sparkly and fun. Grab yours today and get in the mood for Summer.
Saturday, June 12, 2021
Cut it out
Gnome pun intended, this new Sparkle Blend from Doodles Paper Playground makes the cut. "You Make the Cut" is full of so many gorgeous elements, it will never be cut. The metallic scissors alone are enough to make this a truly unique blend. I instantly thought scrapbooking and paper crafting, but this blend could be used for a hair dresser, seamstress, or anyone you want to let know they made the cut.
this mix shine. The color palette is not to be missed. I used Photoplay's "Crafting with my Gnomies" stamp set to create this crafty themed card. The background was made with a Photoplay stencil from the same line.
If you want to make the cut, head over to the shop and grab yours today!
You know how it goes. Birds of a feather and all that. Well this stunning new Sparkle Blend called Twilight Meadow from Doodles Paper Playground definitely gives new meaning to that saying. All the different elements in this blend definitely flock together.
Take a close look and you will see some amazing, unexpected pieces in this blend. The deep color palette is so rich that you would never expect to see bright pink gemstones or pale green owls. Yet all those different pieces come together to make this an exquisite blend of feathery delight. My favorite part of this blend is definitely the feathers. So naturally I chose to use a bird stamp. However, I wanted to keep it fun since there are pops of bright colors in this blend. That is reflected in the Copics I chose to color the birds. I tried to match all the bright bolds.
Twilight Meadow is definitely a blend you do not want to miss out on. This blend will enhance any paper craft project and bring it to the next level. Grab yours today and check out some amazing new products in the shop including Sparkle Sticks, Sequin Trays and Bling Butterflies.
Happy Sunday Everyone! If you are like me then you never seem to have
enough Happy Birthday cards on hand. So I am working on some with the
amazing new release from Sparkle Blends! If you haven't seen it, OMG go
look!!!! It is fabulous! And I have been eagerly waiting to purchase the
new release from Clearly Besotted. It went live yesterday and we are
talking cuteness overload! I am playing with some of their most recent
past release stamp sets for this project while i wait for my order. Have
a look at what I created!
I am using the new blend called Subtle Rainbow.
You all know I totally have a thing for rainbows and of course I HAD to
use this one first! I am also using from Clearly Besotted called
Brighter Days and Freshwater Friends. I am also using a fabulous die
from Spellbinders that I finally got and have been wanting from the
moment I saw it! The dot for the I is actually attached to the rest of
the word so you don't lose your dot, which of course, I always do!
