Happy Anniversary

Hello Peeps!

It has been a while since I've posted!  I've been trying to stay on top of the December hurricane that is headed my way - Jesus, my husband and my son all decided to show up in December!  Before I get to my card for today, I want to welcome the new follower of my blog!  Very happy to have you and I do hope you enjoy!  I did try to visit you, as I always do, but could not find a link :(  If you post your work on the web, please drop me a line or leave a comment with your link so I can admire your creations too.  I have gotten so much inspiration and so many great ideas by following my followers, so I hate missing the opportunity.

On to my card for today then - I have an anniversary card to share.  I made a tag a while back that is similar to this card, so hopefully I am not boring anyone.  When my husband saw the tag, he mentioned that something similar would be perfect for a 60th wedding anniversary we were invited to.  My husband thinks I never take his suggestions, so I thought I would indulge him this time ;o).  Here is my card:

There is a lot of shimmer spray on this one - here is a photo capturing some of the sparkle:

Supplies:

Stamps - Stampin up Pretty Petals (retired) & En Francais, Hot Off the Press Stamp and Punch set

Cheery Lynn Designs dies - Fanciful Flourish, small Exotic Butterfly, and Italian Flourish doily

Lindy's Stamp Gang  - Starbursts - Silent night silver (for all the 'designer papers') and Frosted Forget me nots (a pale blue - used on the butterflies); Glitz Spritz - Scintillating Silver (used on the bits that are still white - this one just adds a lot of shimmer without really changing the colour much) 

Other - clear and silver embossing powder, silver and white card, rhinestones, circles and scallops cut with cricut

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs - Shaped card

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Fab 'n' Funky - anything goes

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - punches and/or dies

Top Tip Tuesday - Silver, white + a hint of one other colour (the butterflies are pale blue, promise, though it is hard to tell from the photos with all the silver surrounding them)

My tip - For a more even application of your shimmer sprays and to save on waste from the spray going everywhere, try applying them with a paint brush.  Use a larger paint brush to cover large surfaces, such as the background papers I have created, and a small brush or small sponge to cover small surfaces such as the butterflies and flourish.  This way you save all the overspray, it is cleaner and you don't inhale the mist!

That's all from me for now!  Hope you enjoy the rest of your week & weekend.  Thank you for visiting and  also for taking the time to leave a comment!  I love reading them and visiting you back!

Hugs,

Dawn

All that Glitters.... can be photographed!

Hello Peeps!

First off, I want to welcome my blog's new follower!  Very happy to have you - I really appreaciate each and every one of you!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Mine brought snow, but just a light dusting so I don't mind... yet.  It did make me realize how close the holidays are - yikes!  So, I have another Christmas card to share today.  This card was definitely the source of many internal curses, especially when I managed to spill the bottle of shimmer spray and some splashed onto the sentiment.  Actually, that particular curse may have been audible to others too.  I also just realized that I forgot to put glitter at the bear's feet for the snow!  Where is my head today?  I think after all the fuss, I just wanted this one to be done! 

Card recipe:

Sketch - from Sketch Saturday
Stamps - image from Lili of the Valley, sentiment and corners from Close to my Heart Share the Magic and Gift of Love sets, respectively
Ink - black Stazon, Distress inks (pumice stone, black soot, fired brick and weathered wood)
Tools - stars cut with cricut (SCAL 2), Cheery Lynn Designs fanciful flourish die
Paper - SEI Silver Valley, Bazzill card
Other - ribbon and lace from my stash, Star Dust Stickles, Lindy's Stamp Gang Glitz Spritz in scintillating silver and blazing sun and I think that is all!

This card is for the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday 
Lili of the Valley - creature comforts
Papertake Weekly - first Christmas (or just Christmas)
Top Tip Tuesday - anything (Christmas) goes; see below for my tip
Charisma Cardz - cutesy

For my tip, I wanted to share how I photograph shimmer/glitter.  I have visited many blogs where the crafter has made a gorgeous project using shimmer and/or glitter, but you would never know it from looking at the photograph.  And, somewhere in the post there is always mention that the shimmer or glitter looks really nice, but they just could not manage to get a photo of it.  Problem solved!  In my first photo, I have stood the card up to take the photo, with the light source coming from above.  This is how most bloggers take their photos.  This will never allow the shimmer to show up.  To get that sparkle in your card, lay your card down flat directly under a bright white light source.  I have taken a photo of my set up to show how I take my photos.  It is a very simple set up using two sheets of bright white card and my Ott-light lamp (though any bright light will work).

Now adjust your camera angle until you see the shimmer in your screen.  The resulting photo sparkles:



Thanks for stopping by for a visit and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.  I love reading them and it gives me the chance to pop over to see your work too!  Have a fantastic week!

Hugs,

Dawn

Fanciful Flight

Hello peeps!

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!  I have a quick post to share a tag that I made with some of my new Lindy's Stamp Gang sparkly sprays and some amazingly beautiful Cheery Lynn Designs dies.  These products are so gorgeous, the end result is pretty much guaranteed.  I love how this tag turned out:

The beauty of Lindy's Stamp Gang products is their two tone colour and amazing sparkle.  The soft blue butterflies look silver when the light hits them just right.  Here is a shot showing some of the gorgeous shimmer:

Supplies:

Cheery Lynn Designs dies - Fanciful flourish, trimmed a bit to fit the tag and small Exotic Butterflies

Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays - Starbursts in Silent Night Silver for the background and Frosted Forget-Me-Nots for the butterflies.  Glitz Spritz in Scintillating Silver for the flourish.  All were applied with a brush or dauber, not sprayed.  These colours are available as a 'Try me kit' and they are so beautiful together.

Stamp - Stampin' Up - En Francais background stamp, embossed with clear embossing powder to create a resist

Other - tag cut with Sentimentals Cricut cartridge, some pearls on the butterflies, and the ribbon was recycled.  It was part of the packaging from the Lindy's Stamp Gang Try me kit.

This tag was inspired by the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs - Make a tag.  This is their first of a new weekly challenge, with a great prize up for grabs, so be sure to check them out!

Allsorts challenge - anything but square

Cupcake Craft challenge - Textalicious (include text)

One Stop Craft Challenge - 3 is a magic number (It is their third blogiversary - Congratulations!)
and I would also like to link up to Make it Monday, where it is always anything goes.

Thanks for taking a peek - hope you liked my project.  Thank you for taking the time to leave me a few words too - I love reading them and it allows me to take a peek at your crafty creations as well!

Hugs,
Dawn

Blinding Snow Flurries

Hello Bloggers,

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  It appears that this may have been the last snow-free weekend of the year for the folks around my neck of the woods - the fluffy white stuff is on it's way.  So, I have made a holiday card with blinding snow flurries - though not the kind of blinding you get from a white out blizzard.  Here is the easy on the eyes shot first:

Ok, so we are all in agreement about the snow flurries, but what is so blinding about them?  I have recently acquired some goodies from Lindy's Stamp Gang, and their product is amazing!!  The background paper, which appears black in the first photo was created using heat emboss resist, and coloured with (LSG) Screamin' Banshee Black Starburst 'spray.'  It is a spray, but it can also be painted or applied with a sponge like applicator (which is also available from LSG and screws into the bottle to replace the spray pump).  One of the many beauties of their product is that they have a two toned nature.  So, catch the light just right and you see the second colour and tonnes of shimmer.  Now, I know most folks say they can't catch the shimmer with the camera and you just have to take their word for it - but consider yourselves warned (sunglasses...) - I have a natural talent for it:

Can you even believe that is the same card?  The colour is just amazing!  Ok, so enough praise has been sung.  Some other details about my card:

Paper - all plain white card from Stampin' Up

Stamp - Impression Obsession Snow Flakes Cover-a-Card, heat embossed with clear embossing powder

Dies - Spellbinders Create-a-Flake 3 (My tip: I stuck some Sookwang double sided adhesive sheets on the card before running it through the machine and then 'painted' them with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals in Silent Night Silver.  This is a mica powder that is intended to be mixed with water to create watercolour paint, but I just used a brush to apply the powder directly to the adhesive.) Flourish is Fanciful Flourish by Cheery Lynn Designs (I cut off the leaves and cut it into pieces and pieced it together to get the size and shape I wanted).

Other:  Lindy's Stamp Gang Screamin' Banshee Black Stardust Spray, Lindy's Stamp Gang Silent Night Silver Magicals, Rhinestones

This card was inspired by the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - anything goes with optional sparkle and bling

Top Tip Tuesday - make your own background

Winter Wonderland - make your card sparkle

Jingle Belles - it came upon a midnight clear (I used clear embossing powder)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Bright colours and/or Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a few words.  I love reading them and it gives me the chance to visit you too!

Have a great week!  Hugs,

Dawn