Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Sparkle N Sprinkle Monochromatic Blog Hop



Happy Valentine’s Day and welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Monochromatic Blog Hop.  If you came here by Jackie Smith’s wonderful blog you are in the right place.  If you just came by to visit, you might want to start back at the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog to get all the details.  By visiting each designer’s blog and leaving loving comments, you have the chance to win one of 5 different prizes.



The hop runs through Friday, February 15 so if you have a special Valentine date, you will still have time to finish the hop.  Winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 16th.  Here is the line up in case you get lost:

Marie Berquist (You are here)  
I have several cards to share with you, starting with the sweet Fiona the Little Irish Lass, designed by Michelle Perkett.  She is now available in rubber as part of the new Irish Shamrocks set.


I colored this image with markers and a dove blender and cut it out with a Spellbinder label die.  After adding Shamrock glitter with a glue pen, I popped it up on the front of the card with dimensionals.  To get more details on this card, visit the SNS gallery here.



My next card uses the beautiful bird house image from the new Shabby Chic Birdhouse set, from designer Beccy Muir.  I stamped this image in Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and colored it with the same ink and a dove blender.  I distressed the edges and sponged ink on all the layers.  


The lovely floral flourishes on both sides of the image are die cut from "Tear-ificTape" on white cardstock and covered with Priceless Peacock glitter.  I used more of the Peacock Feather ink to color the floral ribbon along the bottom.  This card can be found herein the gallery. 

It is time to head over to Dawn Bennett’s beautiful blog.  I know you will love what she has to share.  Don’t forget to leave a comment so you have the chance to win.

 
A reminder that through the end of the month St. Patricks, Valentine’s/Romance & Easter/Spring categories are on special – 15% off.  You can find all the specials here. 

Thank you so much for hopping by and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!! 








These cards are entered in the following challenges:

Fiona
Basic Grey Challenge #87 – Your Favorites (Spellbinder Dies are my favorite – used Basic Grey Sun Rays cardstock from the Lauderdale Collection)

Beautiful
Clearly Inspired Challenge #68 (CIC68) – Let's Get Inky / creative ways for using ink
Anything Goes Challenge 86 - Vintage/Shabby Chic

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Save The Date



Welcome to one of my favorite times of the year – chocolate and roses!!  As long as I get those this week, my husband will stay on my good side!!  I am surprising him with red velvet cupcakes so I know he is going to forgive me for missing Valentine’s evening to start a fun long weekend with my stamping buddies.  We always go out for our Valentine’s date when the resturants are little less crowded so he wasn’t all that upset.

 This week is all about love so I have an extra fun card to share.  I guess I have wedding on the brain since my daughter is in the midst of planning hers.  I used the Sparkle N Sprinkle's Today's Wedding set to create this wiper card. 

I used layers of pink and dark green, along with some striped and floral coordinating decorative cardstock.  The wedding dress was heat embossed with Opaline EP and lightly colored with alcohol markers.  I cut it out and layered it on the front. 

When opened, this card reveals a wedding cake, heat embossed with Silver Pearl EP on pink cardstock, with a hint of coloring (alcohol markers) and pearls.  The sparkly writing of the date was created with a glue pen and Cyclamen glitter.  And the best surprise is the pop up little heart with the Save The Date sentiment.

For a full tutorial on making a Wiper Card, head on over to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog for my Sunday Sharing.  For details on this Save the Date Card, head here in the SNS gallery.

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!






 


This card is entered in the following challenges:
Penny Black And More at Allsorts February Challenge – Pink, Pearly and Swirly
Simon Says Stamps Challenge – Have a Heart
Sweet Stamps.com Challenge 103 - Think Pink
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge 95 – Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Catch The Bug February Theme Challenge – Affairs of the Heart!
Crafts and Me Challenge #119 – Favorite Color Combo (Pink and Green)
Corrosive Challenge #167 – Hearts and Flowers
Crafty Catz Challenge #169 - Love is in the Air (feature a Heart)
Cute Card Thursday Challenge 255 – Love Struck
The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge – Love Is In The Air
Everybody Art Challenge #222 – Heart
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge – Love Is In The Air
One Stop Crafts Challenge 215 – Love Is In The Air
Ooh La La Challenge #123 – Love Story
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Love and Marriage!
Sweet Stampin’ Challenge - Pearls & Swirls (see the cake)

Sunday, February 3, 2013

A Great Day With Great Friends



What a fun weekend!!  My friend, Cheryl, came to visit from Charlotte, NC and we joined a group of our friends for a delicious supper at the new Monterey Mexican Restaurant.  Cheryl and I shared a Fajita for Two.  Yum!  After this we headed to Beverly’s house where we all sat with our computers, watching TV, and visiting.  Needless to say, I fell asleep in the chair, and woke up there the next morning all covered up.  My friends take such good care of me.

Saturday we were off to Georgia for the stamp convention.  It wasn’t a large show but still a lot to see.  I picked up a few new embossing folders (someday I will have to count how many of these I have – or not), two new stamps, and more cardstock.  I also found some lovely paper at Marco’s that I think will be perfect for those wedding items I am working on for my daughter.

The delight of the convention was getting to meet my fellow Sparkle N Sprinkle designers, AnneTemple and Brigita (Gita) Skopas.  We had lunch together and I really enjoyed visiting with them.  I think I talked their heads off.  I sure hope we can spend more time together in the future. 

After the show we headed to Archiver’s.  On the way there we spotted a Hallmark Outlet and decided to peek in.  How disappointing to find out that it had nothing to do with cards and ornaments.  It was like a junky outlet store, though I did get a great deal on a K-cup holder.  Then on to Archiver’s, where I found a great holder for my Spectrum Noir markers.

We did some additional shopping and, of course, had a great dinner together before we headed home.  Here’s to a great end to a fantastic day with the best friends a woman could ever have!!

Just a reminder - I posted the promised tutorial for my frog card on the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog today, as promised.  Check it out.

Thanks for stopping by.

E. Marie

Friday, February 1, 2013

Sparkle N Sprinkle February Challenge



Can you believe it is February already?  January just flew by.  Today my class will celebrate the 100th day of school.  We have lots of fun activities planned.  Then I will rush home to meet up with my friend, Cheryl, who is coming to visit and attend a stamp convention with me and several others.  Fun, Fun, Fun!!

Speaking of fun – how about a fun challenge for February at the Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenges Blog.  This month we have a color challenge for you inspired by the following photo.


I decided to use an new SNS set on my card called Shabby Chic Birdhouse.   


The images are stamped and heat embossed with Silver Pearl Embossing Powder on glossy cardstock and sponged with the blue color.  This is added to a wreath, die cut from sticker paper, covered with Velvet Sparkle Embossing Powder, and heat set.  This is added to layers of designer paper and "Tear-ific Tape" covered with Jasper Blue Velvet Glitter.  Find the detail of this card in the gallery here.

Make sure you check out the challenge rules at the Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenges Blog since there have been some recent changes.  Add your creation to the link there for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice.  For those of you that use a Sparkle N Sprinkle image, you will receive a free digital image!! 

Head over to the challenge blog now for some inspiration from the Sparkle Team and the revealing of the winner for the January sketch challenge,

Looking forward to seeing your creations!!

E. Marie

This card is entered in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamps Challenge – Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge 94 - Lavishly Luscious Layers
Anything Goes Challenge 85 – Monochrome
CI Paint Inspired By~ Anything Goes
Everybody Art Challenge #221  - Monochrome Blue
Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge JG0124 -   Create a Vintage Card
MAWTT Challenge 172 – Punch It Out
Totally Gorjuss Challenge 168 – Flowers
Crafty Calendar Challenge – What’s New (New Stamps, New Die)
TheSweet Stop Challenge SSS195 – Sketch