Saturday, August 30, 2014

Summer's End

Hi Everyone!

It is hard to believe the kids are back in school already; before you know it, the nights will be chilly and the sweaters will come out of the drawers. 
Fall is one of my favorite times to go to the Botanical Garden; we have a fabulous one here in St. Louis.  I love those last few flowers that are hanging on into late fall, which are often cone flowers.  This Flower Block 3 image reminds me of those late fall flowers and was perfect to color up as we head into a new season.


I was wanting to do some sort of 'technique' on this card and I found a wonderful tutorial on a faux watercolor technique.
I started by heat embossing the image with white embossing powder on mixed media paper.  I made 3 separate images. On one image I used a blue Distress Ink Pad and sponged some ink onto the sky.  Then I spritzed it with water so the color would move around.
Next, I rubbed a yellow Distress Ink Pad directly onto a second image, followed by a bit of orange ink.  Again, this was spritzed generously with water followed by pearlized spray to give it a wonderful pearl sheen.  
The third image was colored the same way the second one was.  All were allowed to dry.  Once dry, One of the yellow/orange flowers was fussy cut out.  This image was then adhered to  the sky panel colored in blue.  The second orange/yellow image was fussy cut out, not including the cone of the flower.  Some petals were eliminated as well.  Once layered on top of the main panel with dimensionals, you get great depth with the two fussy cut layers of petals.
This technique is super easy- there is no time consuming coloring and is perfect for all of the Flower Block images. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a relaxing Labor Day Weekend!

Hugs!

Lee Ann  :)

Friday, August 29, 2014

Exciting Announcement: Sweet Perks "Club"!!

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy friends!
We have an exciting announcement to share with you today, but first we want to thank all of our participants from last week's Friday Feature Challenge.

The random winner from our "Border Background Challenge" and winner of the $10 Gift Code is #1

Here is her beautiful Border Background card featuring some retired Sweet 'n Sassy stamps:
Kathy, please send an email to jacquie@sweetnsassystamps.com to claim your Gift Code!

Nowthe Exciting News!

We've been working on a FUN surprise for you and after receiving a lot of really great feedback from our email survey this week we are ready to share it with you!

We have tried to design a "club" that has MANY of the benefits you shared with us but NONE of the drawbacks!  We hope you will join us in our excitement as we bring you the Sweet Perks Club (SPC)!
How does SPC work?

On the last Friday of the month (today) we will share the next month's SPC bundle(s) (yes, there may be more than one to choose from!). The bundle(s) will consist of one stamp set and one coordinating die set---the quality you have come to know and love from us. The NEW product bundles will be available to at a 20% discount with FREE SHIPPING for only 2 weeks!  When the two weeks are up, the products in the bundle(s) will be made available for purchase on our website for the FULL retail price with the rest of that month's NEW release

While saving 20% on brand new product is a pretty sweet deal, that isn't all!  After all, it's called the Sweet PERKS club!!  When you purchase one (or more) of our SPC bundles you will ALSO receive 10% off ANY additional purchases you make that month!! SWEET! 

For those of you who aren't comfortable with committing to a typical club, YOU get to pick and choose when to participate.  When you do, you get that month's perks, when you don't, you don't.   Pretty simple, huh?

Of course, the savings are GREAT, but we're also throwing in some freebies to reward your continued club participation. 

Check out these SWEET PERKS!
  • When you purchase 2 or more SPC bundles in one month you will receive a surprise gift in that month's SPC shipment.  Who doesn't love fun little surprises? :) SWEET!
  • Once your total of SPC bundle purchases reaches 6 (within a 6 month time frame) you will receive a FREE 4x6 stamp set of your choice.  WHAT?  Yes!  YOU get to pick your FREE gift for fulfilling a typical 6 month club term.  EVEN SWEETER!
  • Once your total of SPC bundle purchases reaches 12 (within a 12 month time frame) you will receive a FREE SPC BUNDLE of your choice valued between $25 and $30!  THE SWEETEST!
We may even add more perks for "club members" as time goes on.  We are also hoping to be able to offer some tutorials featuring the products offered in the "club".

*Please keep in mind, because this is new to all of us, we will be doing this on a trial basis to feel things out and make sure it works well for everyone.  If necessary, the program could be tweaked or discontinued at any time. 


You can check out our FOUR awesome 
September SPC Bundles available NOW by clicking HERE.

But how about a little Sweet Perks Club eye candy before you go...
 
This GORGEOUS creation was made by the talented Cathy McCauley.  She is an ARTIST and really know how to put things together.  You will LOVE the bundle she used to created this delightful fall scene!


This simple yet striking card was created by myself (Korin Sutherland).  Lately I LOVE simple and I know many of our customers do, too.  The bundle I used for this card can used for simple and complex cards alike!

Diane Zechman, one of our fabulous illustrators, created this gorgeous box with another of our bundles for this month.  Wouldn't this make the sweetest little gift box?

And to conclude your little taste of this month's SPC goodies, I created this simple design with our 4th bundle and some lovely designer paper.  If you love cone flowers, you'll definitely want to snatch up this bundle.  The price is amazing!!


Thursday, August 28, 2014

birthday fishes

Have you checked out the new Sweet 'n Sassy die sets yet?  They make creating with their companion stamp sets fun and easy!  Here's a card using the Happy Ocean Friends stamp set and dies.  I also used the Tall Grass die.


 
The fish and bubbles also have some sparkle from a clear Wink of Stella brush.
 


You can see how nicely the dies cut these little fishies out.
 
These images aren't just for summer...you can "fish" someone a happy birthday all year 'round.  And now that the kids are starting to hit the books again, how about making a card to wish them a great "school" year?  I bet the teachers would appreciate one too.  ;)
 
Have a fabulous day!
♥ Diane
 

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Ocean Paradise

I just love spending time on the beach by the water.  The sound of the waves and the salt air is so relaxing.  I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my family in Ocean City, MD this past week "relaxing and soaking up the sun".

My card that I am sharing with you today reminds me of my time at the beach:


I used the Ocean Paradise set for my card.  I colored the image with copics, paper pieced the umbrella, and used stickles to accent the water.  The papers are from My Minds Eye.

Thanks for stopping by today- have a great day!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Happy Ocean Friends


Hi there and thanks for stopping by It's Ceal sharing a fun card with you today. I
love this cute little set Happy Ocean Friends and now there are coordinating dies. 
To make my card I started with a white piece of card stock and sponged the background using a stencil, next I spritzed it with some color shine to get this playful background. I colored my images with Copic markers and then used the Happy Ocean Friends Dies to cut them out. I also added the Tall Grass die for the fish t swim through 


Thanks for looking!


Monday, August 25, 2014

Beauty by the Sea


Good morning!

Jessica here with a card to share with you this morning using the lovely Beauty by the Sea stamp set with its coordinating dies.  This is such an elegant stamp set and perfect for lots of techniques!  I chose to watercolor the shells with Peerless Watercolors.  I embossed the images on watercolor paper with white embossing powder and after the images were painted and dried, I used their coordinating dies to cut out the images.


Have a lovely rest of your day!
Jessica

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Congrats!

Hello friends! Giovana here sharing with you one of my favorite cards recently made! I shared this card during our latest release, and just in case you haven't seen it yet, here it's for you.

For this card I used Beauty by the Sea Stamps and Beauty by the Sea Dies. 
Here are the details:

  • Create a card base from White Cardstock. A2 size.
  • Cut a panel from light gray cardstock (3.75" x 5"). Stamp images in Versamark ink, add Bridal embossing powder and heat set. Ink all edges with a light blue ink color.
  • Stamp shells on White cardstock (I used textured) in Versamrak ink, then add white embossing powder and heat set. Color shells with markers. Die-cut them using coordinated dies.
  • Create a wreath (kind of) with jute twine and hot glue it to card panel. Add shells, cheese cloth, pearls.
  • Die-cut a label and stamp sentiment in Jet Black Archival ink.
  • Add panel to card base with foam adhesive.



Hope you like it.
Have a fantastic day!

Giovana

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Nothing is Impossible...


....with God! 
It's Bridget here, with a watercolor creation to share with you today.
I've been praying for a loved one for years and after a long time of praying and waiting, 
a feeling that the situation is impossible begins to creep in.  These words of the 
angel to Mary, the mother of Jesus, from Luke 1:37, are incredibly encouraging to me!   
This one sentence - this one truth - is enough to keep me on track praying!
It's one of the many encouraging phrases in the appropriately named set Be Encouraged .
The silhouette is from the beautiful Nature Silhouettes 2.
I hand cut a tag from watercolor paper and added water with a brush to the whole area
before brushing in some color with Ranger Distress Barn Door ink.
If the ink doesn't "move" and disperse enough,, it works well to spray over it lightly
with water which will do the trick, but don't start with a big blast - just spray 
lightly at first, you can always go for another pass!  Too much spray
will cause the water and ink to just puddle at the lowest place on the
paper.  After thoroughly drying, I stamped the sentiment and silhouette in Color Box
Black Licorice ink - this ink gives a good strong black image.
The background is created by stenciling with the same ink,
using a polka dot stencil and large weave magic mesh.
Thanks for stopping by today - whatever your plans for this weekend, 
I hope it's a good one for you!

Friday, August 22, 2014

Friday Feature & Challenge: Border Background

Hello again Sweet 'n Sassy friends and welcome to this week's 
Friday Feature & Challenge!  

Players will be entered to win a $10 Gift Certificate to the 
Sweet 'n Sassy Store so grab your stamps and inks and play along with us this week as we build a background with borders!

First, we want to thank all of our friends who participated in last Friday's Release Day Activities!  You've made us wish summer would last just a little bit longer! 

Our comment winner from Mary's Blog is Kris B. who said, 
"Love the re purposed drink carrier! and I just threw one out the other day, I'm going to keep it next time! What a unique and beautiful project! Cute card too, love the colorful 'waves'!"

The random winner from our "Summery Die Cut" Blog Hop Challenge 
 is #12: Kathy
Here is her beautiful poppy card:


Finally, the random winner from our Release Day Challenges on the SNSS Member Forum at Splitcoaststampers is Graciellie!
Here is her gorgeous Nostalgic Bird Cage which included 
three or more textures:

Kris, Kathy, and Graciellie, please send an email to jacquie@sweetnsassystamps.com 
to claim your Gift Codes!

Now onto this week's Friday Feature!
This week we're featuring:
 You'll love using these beautiful borders to create backgrounds or as an accent on your cards and projects!

You can get it today through Thursday, August 28th for just $12.
That's a 20% savings!
No Coupon Needed!

Our challenge this week is Border Backgrounds
Use border stamps or dies to create a background for your card.

Here are some gorgeous samples made by the design team 
using our featured set:








Just a few guidelines to remember as you play:
            
- You don't have to use a Sweet 'n Sassy image to enter (although we sure love when you do!)
 - You'll have until Thursday, August 28th at midnight EST to enter
- We'll draw 1 winner from this week's challenge to receive a $10 credit to Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!
- Please use code SNSFFC22 when uploading to Splitcoaststampers or other galleries 

To enter simply share a link to your creation below.

Thanks for joining us today!  Be sure to come back again on Friday, August 28th to see if you won!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Sea Shells.........

Hello Friends! How are you this HAPPY Thursday?! Jacquie here to share another simple, sequined creation. I used our NEW August Release dies! I LOVE how easy they make things! Check it out!




Have you seen our August Release?!  


http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/new/


I used the SNSS Beauty By The Sea Clear Stamp Set, the SNSS Beauty By The Sea Dies, and the SNSS Birthday Word Art Clear Stamp Set! I love how these sea shells can be used for ANY type of occasion!  Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful day!



Don't forget to play along with our CHALLENGE this week! Be sure to check it out at the link below!  

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.blogspot.com/2014/08/august-2014-release-blog-hop-challenge.html 

 

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Swimming By with A Birthday Wish ~

Good morning SNSS fans and friends! Mary here sharing another card from the Happy Ocean Friends and matching dies. Aren't they just teeming with Joy and sweet greetings? I chose the happy paper from MME and coloured the little oceanic friends with coloured pencils and gamsol. The sentiment is stamped in a curve, punched and layered using various punches.

If you didn't yet, be sure to leave a comment on our recent bloghop and release challenge for a few chances to win some SNSS prizes. Try one of the challenges and be sure to upload them to the linky tool at the bottom of the bloghop post. Have fun!!!

Materials Used:
Stamps: Happy Ocean Friends, Beauty by the sea
Inks: Archival Ink black, SU Bermuda Bay
Paper: MME, SU
Accessories: SNSS Happy Ocean Friends dies, SNSS Beauty by the Sea dies, Gamsol, coloured pencils, rhinestones, SU punches

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Relax!

Hello! Good day! It is Gloria with you today. I have a beach-themed card to share. I had some fun with the NEW Beauty By the Sea stamps and August Release die cuts


I created a standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch card (top fold) with a soft color palette and some wonderful starfish images!


I stamped the starfish images onto printed cardstock and colored them with alcohol markers. I used the Beauty By the Sea die set to cut the starfish. Don't they look amazing?! I used a photo slide frame to hold my little beachy cluster. 


For this cluster, I used a punched postage image and some twine to "anchor" my die cut starfish. I stamped the sentiment from the Beauty By the Sea set and cut it out in a banner shape.


Here is a peek at the inside of the card. I stamped the Scripture sentiment from the Beauty By the Sea set in brown ink. I also added another die cut starfish.

Thanks for looking!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Fishing you a happy birthday!

Hello! It's Monika here today, bringing you a fun and playful card using one of the brand new die sets from our August release: Happy Ocean Friends Die set... along with the coordinating Happy Ocean Friends clear stamp set.



I started with splashing blue watercolor on the background. Then I attached a piece of torn gold glitter strip, and grass that I die-cut with the Tall Grass Die... I also added a sign with the greeting that's glued to a tooth pick:


Next, I stamped, colored, and die-cut some of the sweet images from the stamp set, and adhered them to the background piece... I also added a small piece of cheese cloths: 



Then, I die-cut a circle out of a light blue square and framed my scene:



Finally, I added some gold half pearls and done!



This sweet card is perfect for all three of our August Release Party Challenges on SplitCoast Stampers. Challenge #1: use at least 3 bright colors (orange, blue, green); Challenge #2: use water in some way (ocean scene and water color in the background); and Challenge #3: use 3 different textures (cheese cloths, tooth pick, glitter paper). There is still time to play along with us and WIN! 

I hope I have inspired you to make something today...

Thanks for stopping by,
Monika





Sunday, August 17, 2014

Birthday Seashells

Hello Everyone! 

Today's card uses a gorgeous stamp set and brand new matching dies, Beauty By the Sea


It is hard to believe it is back to school time already; before you know it we will be stamping pumpkins, fall leaves and Christmas Trees!  I just had to use this set one more time while  I was still in the summer mood!
Have you ever sat down to make a card and been inspired by so many different things that you did not know where to start??  That was me with this card!  I tried so many different things and just kept combining what I tried 'til I liked what I came up with!  True confessions right here! 
I was initially inspired by the gold on vellum trend and stamped and die cut the smaller shell images on vellum.  Not sure how I got around to turning each of them into little charms, but I die cut the same shells from coral paper, then stamped the shell images in Versamark on these die cut shells, matched the cs shell to the vellum shell, punched a small hole near the top and fastened them with a small loop of craft wire.

 
I was also inspired by a recent purchase I made when I was visiting Design Team member and friend, Ceal- I finally found a craft iron after looking for about two years!  I really wanted to try the iron-off embossing technique and used an image from the Leafy Flourish Background and More  set to try it out.  I stamped the image in Versamark, clear embossed it, colored it with Pan Pastels, and then ironed off the embossing. 
I threaded my shell charms on some Hemptique Cord and added some ribbon and linen bows in between charms. 
The sentiment is also from the Beauty By the Sea Stamp Set and is stamped on a piece of Studio Calico dp.  A couple of vintage faceted buttons finish off the card! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a Blessed week! 

Lee Ann  :)

Saturday, August 16, 2014

birthday by the sea

Hello!  Did you see the new dies that were released yesterday?  They match 3 of the summer sets already available in the SNSS store.  Here I paired a stamp set called The Sea with seashells from Beauty By The Sea and their (just released) matching dies.



The shells were heat embossed on vellum and colored from behind with various markers.  A circle was punched in the light blue layer and then I lightly traced the opening before gluing the layer down so I knew where to stamp the boat image.

Seashells are great to use on a card because they can convey happiness or a sense of calmness and peace.  I think this design would work well for many occasions, including sympathy.  Just make several the same and switch up the sentiment.

Have a great Saturday!
♥ Diane

Friday, August 15, 2014

August 2014 Release Blog Hop & Challenge

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/new/

Hello, Sweet 'n Sassy  friends!  Welcome to the August 2014 Release!  Dies seem to be the trend in card making right now and Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has some fabulous new dies to release this month that coordinate with several of our summer stamp sets already available in the store!  The bonus is that even though these stamps and dies were designed to be summer sets, they can be used all year long!

Before we get started, we want to let you know how much we enjoyed seeing all of the beach scenes in our Friday Feature Challenge last week. 
The random winner for the "Beach Challenge" is #4

Donna Witten
Here is her beautiful beach card…I'd love to be sitting in that adirondack chair right now:
Donna, please send an email to jacquie@sweetnsassystamps.com to claim your $10 gift code!

 Now, for the Release!
First up…Beauty By the Sea Dies 
which coordinate with the Beauty By the Sea stamp set:
  • Die set includes 6 dies
  • Price is $15.25
  • Coordinates with Beauty by the Sea stamp set below which sells for $15
    Next is Happy Ocean Friends Dies
    which coordinate with the Happy Ocean Friends stamp set:
    • Die set includes 7 dies
    • Price is $16.75
    • Coordinates with Happy Ocean Friends stamp set below which sells for $15

      And FinallyFlourish Seashells Dies
      which coordinate with the Flourish Seashells stamp set:
      • Die set includes 5 dies
      • Price is $11.75
      • Coordinates with Flourish Seashells stamp set below which sells for $9

        Want it all?  Then this bundle is for you!!



        Now that you've seen our new spectacular dies, you'll want to join us for our release day blog hop featuring our talented DT creations.  They are going to knock your socks off as always! :)

        The DT blog links can be found in the Linky Tool at the end of this blog post.

        One random commenter from one of the DT blogs will be selected to win a $10 Gift Code to be used at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store.  You have until Thursday, August 21st at midnight EST to leave your comments.  The winner will be posted on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog on Friday, August 22nd!

         One more thing before we let you go...

        We can't forget our fun Release Day Challenge!
        "Create a Summery Card & include a Die Cut"   

        Just a few guidelines to remember as you play:
                    
        - You don't have to use a Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps image to enter (although we sure love when you do!)
        - Please create a NEW card (no back linking)
        - We ask that you enter your card in no more than 3 challenges
         - You'll have until Thursday, August 21st at midnight EST to enter

        - We'll draw 1 winner from this week's challenge to receive a $10 credit to the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store!  
        If there are 25 participants, (not including the DT), we'll draw 2 winners!
        - Please use code SNSAUG2014RC when uploading to Splitcoaststampers or other galleries 

        To enter simply share a link to your creation below, but don't forget to visit the DT blogs to see their beautiful release creations!

         Here are just a couple to whet your appetite.




        Thanks for joining us today!  Be sure to join us again on Friday, August 22nd to see if you've won and to check out the next Friday Feature & Challenge!