Ability to Laugh

Hey Divas!  It's EK back with another Sparkle Blend card.  So the holidays are over, and I am feeling a bit of craft fatigue. So many heavy holiday cards and crafts of recent seems to have sucked my creativity. So today I thought I would go with something light hearted and CAS. Can you have CAS with sequins? Well, today I am sure gave it a try.

I stamped a old Penny Black image in grey ink and colored here in with colored pencils, keeping everything simple. I added a light hearted sentiment from Funny Bones that seemed perfect for someone with craft fatigue. Finally I pulled out the Doodles Paper Playground Flutter By Butterfly Sparkle Blend mix.

It may not be CAS, but I sure do love how the Flutter By Butterfly sequins look on this card. What do you create when you are feeling craft fatigue? Let us know in the comments below. Until then, happy crafting.

Oh, and if you want to save 10% on your order feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10. 

Warm and Wonderful Christmas

Hey Friends! Today I am playing around with some non holiday Sparkle Blends and yet creating a Christmas Card. I wanted to see if there were any older blends that were meant for other seasons that could become beautiful non traditional holiday themed. I found that the Citrus Tornado Sparkle Blend was perfect for a southwestern Christmas.

I started by pulling the Citrus Tornado Sparkle Blend and an older distress oxide ink paper I had laying around in my stash. I wish I could tell you what colors I used on this piece of paper, but it is so old I can only guess. I think I was Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemon and maybe abandoned Coral.

I then stamped a holiday image from Art Impressions and traced out a horizon and sun that could become my shaker.

Using my xacto knife, I cut out the sun.

Using my derwent watercolor pencils, I colored in the image. I enhanced the white parts with my Posca pen.

I assembled and filled the shaker with the Citrus Tornado Sparkle Blend. I added to the edges some Ripe Persimmon Distress Markers to help make the sun be even more vibrant. (I should have colored the card frame a vibrate yellow so the sun would be yellow under the Blend.)

I stamped a sentiment in the same Ripe Persimmon Distress Marker ink and added a few more Citrus Tornado Sparkle Blend sequins to finish the card.

What non-holiday Sparkle Blend would you use to create a Christmas Card? Let me know in the comments below. Until then Happy Crafting.

Nice List

Hey Everyone! I am popping in with a really quick holiday shaker card to brighten up your season. I just love how you can easily make a really special card simply by turning it into a shaker (something that is a whole lot easier that you would think.)

To really make this card super festive, I pulled out Doodle's Paper Playgrounds Holly Berry Sparkle Blend. This is just the perfect blend of Christmas!

Make sure you check out Doodle's Paper Playgrounds whole line of holiday Sparkle Blends. Until then, happy crafting!

Oh, and if you want to save 10% on your order feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10. 

Unicorn Chill

Hey Friends! It's EK and I am back today with two cards for the price of one featuring the beautiful Sparkle Blend mix Unicorn Chill from Doodles Paper Playground.

To create my first card I blended distress oxides around a piece of watercolor paper. Then I die cut the paper to create the effect I wanted. I stamped this really fun sentiment (which I think could not be more relevant right now).

I added the Unicorn Chill sequin mix inside the shaker card and adhered with liquid adhesive a few of the hearts onto the sentiment.

I think this is the perfect anytime card for the woman in your life who is sort of her own version of super woman!

The second card was created simply because I had the extra bit of scrap from the ink blend water color paper.

I trimmed up a piece of Lawn Fawn printed paper and used the watercolor paper as a frame.

I created a background with splatters of Nuvo Mica Mist and Distress Oxide Spray. I adhered the printed paper and frame onto the background, and then added Unicorn Chill sequins around the frame.

I love the subtle holiday flair to this card without being an obvious Christmas card.

Thanks for peeking in today and checking out my two for one cards. Let me know in the comments below which of the two are your favorite. Until then, happy crafting.

Oh, and if you want to save 10% on your order feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10. 

Spooky Skylines

Hey Divas, it's EK back for another Guest Designer Post. Did you see that Doodle's Paper Playground has a brand new MoodBoard Challenge? And to launch this fun new challenge is a great collection of spooky skylines to inspire you to create a fun Halloween card to go along with DPP's new halloween/fall Sparkle Blend Release!

I am playing along today creating an eerie sky line, and a shaker moon using the new You Make Me Batty Sparkle Blend Mix.

I started by stamping out the scene in black waterproof ink, and coloring in the characters and ground with my Zig Clean Brush markers. Then using my distress oxides, I blended ink around the edges of the card to create the sky. I hand drew in a 'circle' for the moon around the bat, and cut it out using my xacto knife.

I filled the moon with the You Make Me Batty Sparkle Blend Mix, and backed the shaker with a piece of orange card stock.

Interested in joining in on this the first DPP MoodBoard, all the details can be found here!

How are you going to play with this fun new MoodBoard? Which Sparkle Blends mix would you us for this month's board? Let us know in the comments below.

And make sure you pop over to the DPP store and check out the full new release! And if you want to save 10% on your order feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10.  Until then, Happy Crafting.

Keep it Weird

Hey Friends! I am back with another guest designer post for Doodle's Paper Playground. Today I am trying to keep it weird while I play withe recently released Sparkles Blend mix, Grown Up Grape Juice.

To create this card, I stamped out an image from a Dylusions stamp set, coloring it in with my copics. Then I hand cut a shaker window and filled it with the Grown Up Grape Juice mix. Finally, using a little Wilted Violet Distress Oxides, I blended ink around the edges of the card and added a sticker sentiment from Tim Holtz.

Do you ever try to keep things weird when you craft? Let me know in the comments below. Until then, happy crafting.

Pizza Bling

Hey Everyone! It's EK and today I am popping in with a really fun guest designing project featuring Doodles Paper Playground's new Sparkle Blends. I love playing with these really fun sequin blends in non shaker card ways sometimes, and the new Pizza Party blend.

For this project, I stamped up a card frame with images and sentiments from an Impression Obsession stamp set and colored it in with my colored pencils.

Then using the new code Pizza Party Sparkle Blend, I added the sequins in a really fun way. I added pepperoni colored sequins to, well, the pepperoni. I added metallic sequins to the pizza cutters. Basically, I just used some of the blend to bling up the focal images, and other sequins to just bling up the projects!

Yes, my project is super simple, but I think it is also really fun!

Make sure you pop over to the DPP store and check out the full new release! And if you want to save 10% on your order feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10. 

Ice Cream Bright

Hey Divas. It's EK Gorman popping in for another Guest Designer post. I know, I know, I know...Doodles Paper Playground just released a massive new collection of Sparkle Blends and here I am posting about an old already seen blend...ugh..

Well I just wanted to remind you that while you are shopping all the great newly released blends, don't forget to look at some of the old ones, simply, because when a blend is gone...it is gone forever. That's right. When a blend is gone, it is gone forever.

Each Sparkle Blend mix is hand mixed before packaging. So literally there is only one batch each time a new blend is created. So I can't stress enough, don't miss out on your favorite blends. When they are gone, they are gone.

Today I am want to being your attention back to a blend released two months ago. I am playing around with the I Love the 80s Sparkle Blend, and I just don't think many people noticed how versatile this blend really is. Not only do the colors have a great throw back to a decade not long forgotten, but it also looks like a child's ice cream fantasy.

So that is exactly what I decided to do with the blend today. I decided to pile it onto a giant bowl of ice cream. I pulled out a Concord & 9th stamp set, and stamped it onto an A2 card frame. Then using my colored pencils (which is why I could stamp and color straight onto the card frame), I colored in the image, making it look like the best sundae combination ever, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

I then pulled out a bunch of 'sprinkles' and sequins to adhere onto the card frame. This collection of sequins form the blend were going to be my inspiration for coloring the bowl. I colored the bowl with my colored pencils and added the blend to the whole card.

I just love how bright and bold the colors of this blend are! I adore how with the right stamp the I Love the 80s blend can used with any kind of celebration stamp set!

Don't forget to check out the entire new release as you go shopping for oldies but goodies. There are several blends that only have one or two left before they are gone forever! Pop over today and check things out. Until then, Happy Crafting!

If you want to save a little while shopping feel free to use the code EKGORMAN10 to save 10%.