Sparkle & Shine

Good morning! I have a fabulous post today featuring stamps and sequins from The Ton! My project includes layered stamping from Round Diamonds. I would love for you to visit their blog to see this post, share with friends, and spread some love! Feel free to use the social media icons at the bottom of this entry to share/repost! ♡ ♡ ♡

For my first card, I tried some masking with the gem outline stamps and did some watercoloring with Distress Ink markers in Pickled Raspberry, Mustard Seed, and Evergreen Bough on watercolor cardstock. I added a top layer using some Gansai Tambi watercolors. I added a bunch of splatters using the same Distress Ink colors from ink pads and stamped "you are a rock" in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink since it is waterproof. Of course, I added matching color sequins. I finished it off with some Wink of Stella in clear!

Can you see the shine?

For my second card, I decided to tone it down and use neutral colors. I created a multiple circles shaker card filled with Shotgun Gray and black sequins. The gems were stamped using Hero Arts Mid-Tone Shadow Ink in Charcoal and Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I separated the "sparkle more & shine bright" sentiments and stamped them on opposite sides.

I finished it off with Glass Slippers sequins in different sizes and more Wink of Stella. It works so well with these gems since gems sparkle, right?! :)

You can find all the sequins here! There are so many different colors and sizes.

The Ton is available on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Please SUBSCRIBE for details! As I mentioned before, we have some great news to share a few weeks so stay tuned!

I can't believe I've had over 10,000 views on my blog. That's so exciting! Currently there's a giveaway on my Instagram. I wish I could do it more often but shipping adds up for an unemployed student :) Happy crafting, my friends!

Linking this to the following challenge: 

Addicted to CAS Challenge #57 

Simon Says Stamp Monday: No Rules

MarkerPop Challenge #63: Bright Colors 

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 8: Blue Ombre

Papertrey Ink's Day 8 Challenge asked us to create a blue ombre look however we wanted it to be, whether in a sentiment, background, in images, etc. I decided to go with a sky background using different blue distress inks. Colors included Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, and Chipped Sapphire.

I think it came out gorgeous! I love creating these. I used their Zappy Birthday stamps and dies and Mama Elephant's Tiny Heroes. The beautiful blue sequins around the card can be found at The Ton.

Ohh, would love for you to check out The Ton's first video! Please leave her some love. We are planning a few great things for you in the coming weeks! Thanks so much for all your comments and love. 

Linking this to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Great and Small

7KidsCollegeFund Challenge: Anything Goes

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 7: Heavy Metal

For day 6, there was no card challenge. Papertrey Ink's Day 7 Challenge asked us to incorporate metal into our creation. That made me think of Ranger's Liquid Platinum embossing powder! If you don't already know, I LOVE this Big Hugs set. The sentiments with it are so sweet. I heat embossed a large square on white card stock and use the Big Hugs die to cut out the word. I used sequins from The Ton.

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 5: Spring into Action

Papertrey Ink's Day 5 Challenge asks us to spring into action - use a new set!

Here's one of my tags from the previous batch, using a set I just started inking, Movers & Shakers Sentiments. Don't you love this?? I want to give something like this to all my friends! The sequins are stamped using WPlus9's Little Bits:

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 4: Build a Bouquet

Papertrey Ink's Day 4 Challenge consists of building a bouquet.

Here's my card, using Mini Blooms:

The beautiful purple sequins around the card can be found at The Ton.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 3: Gift Tags

Papertrey Ink's Day 3 Challenge asked us to create matching tags with gift bags. I don't have any gift bag but I took a plain gift box with a birthday present inside and added some colorful twine to it. Here's one of the tags I came up with:

And, of course, since inspiration comes and goes, I decided to make a bunch of tags and bookmarks while I was at it. :) I LOVE this bookmark die and the basic bookmark 3 die. They can still be used as tags, right?! I'll be giving these to friends with gifts. :) I played around with so many different stamp sets: Big Hugs, The Sweet Life, Mehndi Medallions Mini, Wet Paint, Wet Paint III, and Movers & Shakers Sentiments. I bought the tassels from this Etsy shop. 

The sentiments below are from Neat & Tangled Everyday Labels and Technique Tuesday Labels by Ali Edwards.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 2: Maile Balles

Papertrey Ink's second challenge is inspired by a returning design team member named Maile Balles.

I CASED from this post of hers. :) Very clean and simple cards for me!

Their second challenge can be found here with the rules.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 1: DT Inspiration

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 8th anniversary this year with daily challenges this month leading to their February release countdown until release day, which is the 15th. I am so excited! I did find some time to create a few cards and am showing you the one I made using this sketch and color combo:

Their first challenge, inspired by the fabulous design team members, can be found here. All the rules can be found there. I'll be back with more cards! 

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

Love Songs + Winners

As you may already know, I'm busy with school. I squeezed in the time to make some love-you cards. It's such a great feeling when others like your work enough to want to buy it. A huge thank you to those who understand the value of a handmade card and also get me enough to know that I totally undercharge for my cards ❤

This adorable card has already been given away :-) Sometimes I come back to older stamp sets - they don't go out of style for me. 

It wasn't too hard to make. I just want to add in that eventually I have lots of plans for my blog, which includes a whole new domain and look for the site, more detailed entries with step-by-step instructions on how I created my cards, and a weekly series. It's hard right now with school but I hope you stick around long enough to watch where I take my work :-) 

The winner for my personal giveaway has already been contacted. Using random.org, the winner was Barb Macaskill. Congratulations!

The winner for the Blog Hop, Skip and Jump sponsored by The Ton has been announced on their blog. Thanks so much to everyone who participated and shared with friends. We truly appreciate your support! 

Linking this to the following challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: H is for hearts!
7KidsCollegeFund Challenge: Anything Goes
Virginia's View Challenge #12: Shaker Cards

The Ton Stamps Blog Hop, Skip and Jump

Welcome to the third and final stop for our first Blog Hop, Skip and Jump and Bauble Giveaway sponsored by The Ton. The first stop was at the The Season and the second stop was at Effie's blog.

I am introducing two sets today: Round Diamonds and Vintage Frames.

Round Diamonds was such a fun set to play with! We have a few tips on the site on how to layer the gems so you can get the desired results. In this card, I tried to keep it a little clean and simple. I love using color with black. You can't really see it in the picture but I added clear embossing powder for one of the layers so that it can add some texture to the gems. It looks so cool!

For my second card using the same set, I decided to use the large outline stamp to create this colorful background. I heat embossed different sizes in white and added color using the Gansai Tambi watercolors. These colors are so rich - love how they turned out. I heat embossed the sentiment on vellum.

This next card, I used Vintage Frames and created a background with one of the frames in a soft gray color. I used the heart from the set and heat embossed it in red on the top layer. The shaker card features some beautiful heart confetti. The sentiment is from Shoe Wardrobe Lined.

Here's another simple card I made using Vintage Frames. I heat embossed a frame and sentiment in gold on black cardstock and added some fun layers in the back, including a touch of cotton, gold thread, and sequins! These frames are one of a kind and make for great focal points. With some masking, one can even frame anything inside. :)

I decided to add in one more card, featuring a set I introduced last week: Shoe Wardrobe Filled. This one is quite simple, too.

Check out my design team posts from last week, featuring Shoes Wardrobe, Sketchy Menagerie, and planner set Scheduled! I also have a personal giveaway in celebration of six months of crafting.

All the sequins featured are from The Ton!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE: Remember, for The Ton Stamps Blog Hop, Skip, and Jump, one lucky winner will win a stamp set of their choice, our four exclusive couture mixes of fabulous sequins, and one bauble. For the bauble, we are giving away one fabulous statement necklace!

Here are the details of the Blog Hop, Skip and Jump:

Who:
– Our shop blog, The Season, will be the first stop in the blog hop;
– Next up, skip on over to the founder’s blog, Effie over at Stamper, Esq., and
– Last but not least, jump over to the last stop over to our fabulous design team member, Ruby, at A Rare Ruby (you are here).

What:
To qualify to enter into our giveaway, you must:

– Leave a comment on each blog telling us which stamp set from our first release is your favorite and which card from the blog you’re visiting is your favorite;
– Follow @TheTonStamps on Instagram or Like our page on Facebook and post a comment on our wall.

*Optional: Follow Effie (@happieffie) and Ruby (@rubznaz) on Instagram; Follow @TheTonStamps on Pinterest and Twitter.

– The winner of our giveaway will be chosen randomly and will be announced on Saturday, February 7, 2015.The winner will have 48 hours to contact us.

Thank you for hopping along and please share with friends!

**Please excuse the quality of the pictures. It's gloomy and rainy here, and there's no battery for my lightbox. Stay warm!

Linking to the following challenge: 
Virginia's View Challenge #12: Shaker Cards