Happy Birthday full of Sparkle

I've always loved playing challenges. They inspire me and give that extra little "push" to be creative in so many different ways. Plus...we all love to win prizes...so that was even more reason to enter...right? ha. Gotta love gettin' that free happy mail! So how about you? Are you a challenge player?

Over at Spectrum Noir, we have a new challenge every month. That gives you plenty of time to create.  You still have time to play our March Challenge - Show Us You Sparkle. Click HERE to get all the details.

Also, over at Fresh Brewed Designs, we have a new challenge every week. This week our theme is Happy Birthday. Click HERE to get all the details.

I combined both challenges to come up with my card design. I mean...come on! Birthdays and Sparkle belong together! LOL

Isn't that soooo fun?!!! A birthday card that is FULL of the most wonderful sparkly things! The digi stamp is from Fresh Brewed Designs new release. It's called Lil Sweetie Make A Wish. ADORABLE!

I colored it with Spectrum Noir Markers:

• Frosting - LG1, LG3, LG5
• Cupcake - DG1, CG1, CG3, CG4
• Arms/Legs - LG1, LG3, LG4
• Candle - CT1, CT3, CT4
• Shading - GG1, GG2, GG3

Then I colored with some Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens:

• Frosting & Green Candle Stripes - Soft Jade
• Cupcake Wrapper, White Candle Stripes & Under Feet of Cupcake - Clear

For even MORE sparkle, I added yellow glitter on the candle flame, and crystal glitter on the cake and frosting!

AND...for even MORE sparkly birthday fun, a shaker window overflowing with shinny sequins and seed beads. The stitched dies are from My Favorite Things and Lawn Fawn. All the fun sequins is from Pretty Pink Posh. LOVE that stuff! I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.

I hope you can play along with the challenges. They truly are a great way to get your creativity flowing.

Enter the March Spectrum Noir Sparkle Challenge HERE
Enter the Fresh Brewed Happy Birthday Challenge HERE

Supplies:
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens
Spectrum Noir Markers
Fresh Brewed Designs Digi Image
Simon Says Stamp Birthday Messages Stamp Set
Crystal and Yellow Glitter
Pretty Pink Posh Sequins
My Favorite Things Blueprints 18 Die Set
Lawn Fawn Small Stitcked Rectangle Die Set
Crafter's Companion Clear Acetate
Clear Embossing Powder
VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
Spectrum Noir White Cardstock
My Favorite Things Fresh Dots and Stripes 6x6 Paper Pack
A Muse Studio Margarita Cardstock 
Die-cutting Machine
Heat Embossing Tool
Liquid Adhesive
White Gel Pen
Dimensional Foam Adhesive
Computer and printer

Lil Sweetie Happy Birthday

It's time once again for a Fresh Brewed Designs Challenge.

The theme is: Anything Goes!

I used one of the brand new digi images: Lil Sweetie Happy Birthday. Isn't it so fun!

I colored with Spectrum Noir Markers: BT2, BT4, BT6, GB1, GB6

To make the fun balloons, I just printed a couple more, cut out and hand drew the strings. Load of glitter made it really happy. Which...by the way...qualifies for this months challenge over at Spectrum Noir - Show Us Your Sparkle! Another great challenge to get your craftin'

Hope you're havin' a happy day :)

Supplies:
Fresh Brewed Designs Digi Image
Spectrum Noir Markers
Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
Misc colored cardstocks
My Favorite Things Pierced Rectangle STAX Die
Crafter's Companion Petite Dots Embossing Folder
Hero Arts Crystal Glitter
Black Micron Pen
Diecutting/Embossing Machine
Bakers Twine
Dimensional Foam Adhesive
Glue Pen
Chisel Glue Pen

Sweet Release

WOOHOO! Today is the day for NEW Digi Images from Fresh Brewed Designs! Get ready for some Sweetie Goodies! Here's one of the brand new images called Lil Sweetie Latte.

Coffee and a cupcake...YUMMY! That certainly is a sweet treat. I printed the new image along with one of the sentiments in a great Digi Sentiment set called Love Sentiments.

I printed the image 2 times so I could color the frosting top and cut out to pop up on foam adhesive. The 2 coffee beans, the cake and the eyes on the face are colored over with a clear Glaze Pen.

Some medium grind crystal glitter really gives the frosting some nice sparkle. These new images are ALL so cute and fun to color. Head on over to the Fresh Brewed Designs Blog to see all the other samples from our design team.

Thanks for stopping in,

Supplies:
Digi Images from Fresh Brewed Designs
Lawn Fawn - 6x6 inch petite paper pack - Let's Polka, Mon Amie
Marvy Uchida - Circle Punch
Crafter's Companion - Scalloped Circle Die
The Rubber Cafe - Cotton Candy Jellie Dots
May Arts - Brown Twine
Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Bazzill Brown Cardstock
Medium Crystal Glitter
Clear Glaze Gel Pen
Spectrum Noir Markers
Dots Embossing Folder
Foam Adhesive

NEW Single Cupcake Box

I LOVE the Crafter's Companion NEW Single Cupcake Presentation Box Template and Construction Cardstock. This box is SO EASY to make!
 

 
I made the project using 12" x 16" Construction Cardstock and 8" x 8" Shimmering Rose Cardstock.  The Construction Cardstock makes the most sturdy boxes. AND...it's easy to cut!. I also used it for for the Lace Flower Diecut which cut and embossed wonderfully. The cupcake wrapper and box top rosette are made from the Scalloped Cupcake Wrapper Die. ***STAY TUNED on the Crafter's Companion Blog for my tutorial on how to make the rosette!**

 

The template comes with 2 pieces. 1 template for the box and 1 template for the cupcake insert tray for the inside.  I also used the Cupcake Insert Die to cut out the circle on the tray -- but with the template you can cut it out by hand. Super easy!

I recommend getting the 16" x 16" Construction Cardstock - because you can get both the box and insert templates on 1 sheet. The 12" x 16" sheets won't fit both templates. That's ok if you're making more than one box...since you will be using multiple sheets anyhow. If you're not sure what size package to get...they have a Black Friday Deal going on RIGHT NOW that you get 1 each of the 3 size packages of for 19.98 (reg. 29.95). That should cover ya for a while :)

I took a couple pics of the template to show what the box template looks like.

Template on a sheet of the Construction Cardstock.

Box all cut out and then scored using The Boxer Board.

The adhesive I used to put the box together is Crafter's Companion Extra Strong Permanent Tape Runner. That stuff is da'BOMB! Which reminds me...I gotta buy more. Another GREAT Black Friday Sale Deal is 3 Tape Runners for $6.98!

Stop on back tomorrow for another project using these templates and dies. So FUN!

Have a creative Saturday...and HAPPY SHOPPING!

Sugar and Spice for Black Friday

Hello friends! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day yesterday. I had a great day spending time with some of my family...and of course yummy food.

Today we have more NEW sweet goodies being featured at Crafter's Companion USA. I've been hard at work thinking of ideas on how to use the NEW Scalloped Cupcake Wrapper. I don't know about you...but I love finding ways to use things for more than they were intended.  Here's something really simple that I came up...but I gotta share a little story about how it came to be...

So I jumped in my car and headed to a local cupcake shop -- which I had never been to.  I wanted to buy a few yummy cupcakes to use when taking pics of my projects. I had visions of beautiful cupcakes wrapped in my paper crafting and packaged in the most perfect little cupcake boxes. It was gonna be AWESOME! I get to the place...walk in...and I was hit with an instant "SERIOUSLY?!" UUUGH! These cupcakes were BIG. Not the standard size we make at home. I almost walked empty handed....but I though maybe I would try to cut them down and make 'em smaller. (That would have been a sight! LOL)  OK...so I get home and start designing my projects. Sure enough...those suckers didn't fit. I sat there thinking....thinking....thinking....THEN...it HIT ME! Put 2 wrappers together!

It worked PERFECT! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! (yes...that's lemon cake ;)

Here's how:

Die-cut and emboss 2 wrappers.

Fold at creases like this...then attach the ends together.

Here's a yummy coconut cupcake.  How could I resist ;) Totally makes the cupcake looks extra extra special!

I used the new Rose Pearl Shimmering 8" x 8" Cardstock to make these wrappers. The little flag comes in the NEW Cupcake Insert Flag die set. It's die-cut and embossed from a scrap piece of the new Construction Cardtsock. The sentiment is from Crafter's Companion Vintage Floral Collection Sentimentals and stamped with StazOn Midi Emerald City.   I have several other fun projects to share in the coming days. These new dies and templates will be getting a LOT of use in my house :)

DON'T FORGET to check out all the GREAT Black Friday Deals we have going on at Crafter's Companion USA!

Have a safe and fun Black Friday