International Highlights Top Ten Winners Blog Hop - August 2019

Hello stamping friends! Earlier this month, I participated in Kylie Bertucci’s International Blog Highlights. The card below is what I made for the event and you can find more details about it by clicking HERE. 

Thank you SO much to everyone who voted for my project!  I am so over-the-moon excited to have been chosen #1 in the Top Ten. As a Top Ten winner, we are invited to participate in a separate blog hop and that is what I am sharing with you today. I am honored to participate in this blog hop with so many amazingly talented Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrators and want to send a big THANK YOU to the amazing Kylie Bertucci for hosting this monthly event. 

The theme of our blog hop is Encouragement and I think I might be taking a few liberties here with a Halloween card, but it IS encouraging the recipient to “Have a wicked good time!” That kind of works, right? 

Honestly, I was just really excited to use the new Wonderfully Wicked Bundle which will be available starting September 4th in the new Stampin’ Up!® Holiday Catalog. If you know me, it is not a surprise that I LOVE all things Fall and Halloween. Nothing TOO spooky though, I still like to keep it fun. 

We also made these cards at my team meeting this month so that everyone had a chance to try out the Pigment Sprinkles. That's what I used to create the mix of colors on the “wicked” die cut. They are really fun to use, if you have never tried them. I have a little step-by-step below with more details. Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, this is a fun technique to use for other occasions with different color combinations. 

Today’s Colors:

Basic Black

Gorgeous Grape

Granny Apple Green

Whisper White

So let’s be honest, the Pigment Sprinkles really are the star of the show here. I did try to add some accents to add to the fun, like those little spiders in Black Foil Paper and the Stylish Scroll embossed background. I made 2 cards with slight differences. The first card uses the Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon which I think really adds a great pop of sparkle.

The second card uses the new Basic Black 3/8” Scalloped Edge ribbon and although it’s a little tough to see in the photo, I spritzed the Gorgeous Grape embossed layer with some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint mixed with rubbing alcohol in a Stampin’ Spritzer. It has more of a subtle sparkle. Which one do you like better? 

To use Pigment Sprinkles, you need just a few things: 

• A Stampin’ Spritzer bottle filled with water 
• A small box or something to protect your work surface  
• Either Shimmery White Cardstock or Watercolor Paper (not regular Whisper White Cardstock)

Pigment Sprinkles can get messy, so try to keep them contained. That’s why I like to use an empty box. I actually line the bottom of my box with some extra paper to help absorb the water. 

Starting with the photo on the top left, here is how I added the color: 

1. Spritz some water onto the Shimmery White Cardstock die cut to dampen it being careful not to saturate the paper
2. Sprinkle some of the green pigment Sprinkles over the die cut image
3. Spritz more water onto the die cut image to spread the color all over the image
4. Add some purple Pigment Sprinkles in a few areas on the image to add the additional color and spritz more water. The purple is VERY concentrated, a little goes a long way! 

A good rule of thumb with Pigment Sprinkles is to always use less water and less sprinkles than you think you need. You can ALWAYS add more to build the color, but it’s a lot more work to try to take color away. Just have some patience with them and give them a chance to dry completely. 

Here is a close up look at both of the die cut sentiments colored with the Pigment Sprinkles. You can really see that you will get a different result every time. I think tat is the most fun part about using them. Once they dry completely, the colors are really vibrant, too. 

Card Measurements: 

• Basic Black Card Base - 5-1/2” x 8-1/2”, scored at 4-1/4” 
• Gorgeous Grape Cardstock - 4” x 5-1/4"
• Basic Black Cardstock - 3” x 4-1/4" 
• Granny Apple Green Cardstock - 2-3/4” x 4” 
• Shimmery White Cardstock - For Die Cut Sentiment
• Whisper White Cardstock (for stamped sentiments) - 1/2” x 1-1/8” and 1/2” x 1-3/8”
• Scraps of Black Foil Paper for die cut spiders
• Whisper White Cardstock (inside card) - 4” x 5-1/4” 

Finally here is a look inside the card using a couple of spooky purple spiders and the Happy Halloween sentiment. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to hop along to see the projects from Kylie’s International Highlights Top Ten Winners. 

From here, you’ll be headed to Mary Ann Rossiter’s blog. I’ve also posted the complete list of blog hoppers below, just in case you lose your way. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! All of the products I used on this card are listed below. You can click on any of the photos to go directly to my Stampin’ Up!® online store. 

This month’s Host Code is: 4HHRVVNB. If you place an order over $50 (before tax and shipping) using this host code, you will also receive a gift from me: a free exclusive project tutorial bundle. (see the sneak peek below)

If your order is over $150 (before tax and shipping), do NOT use the host code. You will earn host rewards from Stampin’ Up! AND you'll also receive the gift from me. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Have a HAPPY day today! 
-Anne Marie

Here are the products I used to create my cards today. The following products will not be available to order until September 4th: 

• Wonderfully Wicked Bundle
• Wonderfully Wicked Cling Stamp
• Wicked Dies
• Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder
• Basic Black 3/8” Scalloped Edge Ribbon

Product List

Wonderfully Wicked Bundle [153041]	Wonderfully Wicked Cling Stamp Set [150547]	Wicked Dies [150725]	Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder [150665]	Black Foil Sheets [147898]
Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101910]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045]	Gorgeous Grape 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146987]	Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146990]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]
Black 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Glittered Organdy Ribbon [147897]	Basic Black 3/8" (1 Cm) Scalloped Edge Ribbon [150449]	Rhinestone Basic Jewels [144220]	Pigment Sprinkles [149663]	Stampin' Spritzer [126185]
Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint [147044]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Pad [147099]	Snail Adhesive [104332]	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108]	Mini Glue Dots [103683]

Springtime Impressions for FF0038

Hello there stamping friends! It’s time for a new challenge over at Festive Friday! We are celebrating Parent’s Day and/or Watercoloring. Never played along with our challenge before? It’s easy! You can create a project celebrating the holiday, the technique or BOTH. It’s up to you! 

For my project, I decided to take a turn at creating a card with the new Stampin’ Up!® Pigment Sprinkles. Pigment Sprinkles are watercolor pigment crystals in exclusive Stampin' Up! colors. You can mix them with water to make watercolor backgrounds and washes, and use them for other watercoloring techniques. The results are pretty awesome! 

Today’s Colors: 

Granny Apple Green

Daffodil Delight

Whisper White

To get started, you will need:

• Pigment Sprinkles in Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green
• Stampin' Spritzer filled with water
• Shimmery White Cardstock (4-1/4” x 5-1/2”)

You can use Watercolor Paper in place of the Shimmery White Cardstock but keep in mind that regular Whisper White Cardstock will NOT work well for this as it will absorb entirely too much water. 

Make sure you protect your work surface well with some scrap paper (more on that below) and turn OFF your ceiling fan before starting to use the Pigment Sprinkles. Don’t ask me how I learned this little nugget of information. Just trust me. Any kind of "breezy-situation” will NOT bode well with Pigment Sprinkles.

I like to place my Shimmery White Cardstock inside a little box to keep the pigment a bit more contained. In this case, I recycled the packaging from my Birchbox monthly subscription box, but pretty much any shipping or shoebox would work. It helps contain the potential mess and then you can just recycle it when you are finished. Easy peasy! 

Place the Shimmery White Cardstock in the box and then spritz a little bit of water (2 sprays is plenty) to get the cardstock a little damp. Then sprinkle on some color. My biggest tip for you when working with Pigment Sprinkles is to ALWAYS use less water and less sprinkles than you think you will need. You can always add more if you need to. 

This next step requires patience…something I’m not really great at. Ha! Gradually spritz a little water on the cardstock and watch the magic start to happen. The key here is NOT to over saturate your cardstock with water. If you get pools of water in the box, you can blot them up with a little piece of a paper towel. Just spritz a little, let it dry a little and then spritz a little more. Just keep up that process until you like the results. You can see in the photos above how the colors evolved from BOLD to subtle the more I spritzed more water on the cardstock over time. I wanted to have my image mostly Daffodil Delight with little “pops” of Granny Apple Green. Although, in retrospect, I do LOVE those bright colors as well. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that these colors look SUPER bright while wet, but ended up drying a little softer. That is the fun thing with Pigment Sprinkles, you will never get the same exact result twice. It’s really fun to play with them to see the variations in colors and patterns. 

Above I mentioned protecting your workspace. Here is what my desk looked like during the process. I have a lot of scrap paper under the box to collect any “sprinkle stragglers”. If you look closely in the photo above, you can see the sprinkles on the scrap paper. Looking for a way to use all of that junk mail that gets delivered to your mailbox every week? Taking this extra step will make clean-up a snap. When you are finished, just pop that scrap paper in your recycle bin! 

After letting the cardstock dry completely (again with that patience), I used the Springtime Impressions Die to cut out the detailed focal image. I adhered it to my card using Mini-Stampin’ Dimesionals that I cut in half. I guess that makes them Mini-MINI Dimensionals. But you could just as easily add a little glue to adhere the die-cut to the layered card base. 

Card Measurements: 

• Granny Apple Green Card Base - 4-1/4” x 11”, scored at 5-1/2”
• Daffodil Delight Cardstock - 4-7/8” x 5-1/8” 
• Whisper White Cardstock (embossed with Subtle 3D Embossing Folder) - 4” x 5-1/4” 
• Shimmery White Cardstock (colored with Pigment Sprinkles) - 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” 
• Scraps of Shimmer White and Granny Apple Green Cardstock (for sentiment, die cut with Frosted Bouquet Dies)

The sentiment is from the Seaside Notions stamp set and I used the die-cut frame from the Frosted Bouquet Dies to dress it up a bit. Finally, some pretty pearl detail along with some ribbon trim. I kept the inside of the card blank to write a handwritten message. 

So, what do you say? Head on over to the Festive Friday blog to check out the challenge and join us! We’d love to see your projects celebrating Parent’s Day or showcasing a Watercoloring technique…or a combination of both. It’s up to you! You can link up your project through Monday, July 22nd at 8:00 pm CST. We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Stop by and say hello to the Festive Friday Design Team to see what they created for this challenge! We also have a Facebook Page, you check it out HERE.  

Nicole Watt

Ann  Schach 

Beth McCullough

Anne Marie Hile (that’s me!) 

Patricia Chalas

Miranda Webber 

Sharon Burkert

Thanks so much for stopping by today! All of the products I used on this card are listed below. You can click on any of the photos to go directly to my Stampin’ Up!® online store. 

This month’s Host Code is: KGJCCPJR. If you place an order over $50 (before tax and shipping) using this host code between now and June 30th, you will receive a gift from me: a free exclusive project tutorial bundle. (see the sneak peek below)

If your order is over $150 (before tax and shipping), do NOT use the host code. You will earn host rewards from Stampin’ Up! AND you'll also receive the gift from me. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Have a HAPPY day today! 

-Anne Marie

Product List

Seaside Notions Cling Stamp Set [149278]	Springtime Impressions Dies [146326]	Frosted Bouquet Dies [147895]	Butterfly Duet Punch [148523]	Subtle 3D Embossing Folder [151775]
Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146990]	Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119683]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101910]	Pigment Sprinkles [149663]
Stampin' Spritzer [126185]	Pearl Basic Jewels [144219]	Granny Apple Green 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Textured Weave Ribbon [146920]	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095]	Snail Adhesive [104332]
Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108]