Mixing Creativity with Crystal Lacquer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sakura Hobby Craft Blog Hop - Mixing Creativity with Crystal Lacquer. You should have arrived here from Susan Brown's blog - if not, be sure to head back to the Sakura Hobby Craft blog to start at the beginning.

There will be a great prize of three of the Terri Sproul Mixers for one lucky hopper - and one of the artists today will win a prize as well. To be eligible to win, you must leave a comment on the Sakura Blog, telling which project was your favorite (I'm hoping you will vote for mine - lol!)

This will be my last post as a member of the Sakura DT - and I must say I've had so much fun serving on this team. I'm sure the new team will have many fun and amazing projects to share with you! Today I created a page in my art journal. Let me just tell you, this page has some layers!

I painted the background with Creative Inspirations Paints in Evergreen, Aqua Marine, Royal Blue and Tanzanite. I stamped vintage typography with the Unity stamp - SheArt Print Texture. Next, I randomly brushed on some Sakura Crystal Lacquer and sprinkled Terri Sproul Gold Dust Mixer over it. This is so shiny it looks like real gold!

I stamped an embossed a heart from the January SMAK kit using Suzy West's Bay Area Blue embossing powder from Wow. I spritzed the entire page with Ranger Mists and then went back to stamping. I used the numbers background from the December SMAK kit. You can barely see these, but I love how they just add a little more depth to the page. I painted more of the Creative Inspirations Paints onto the Painted Punchinella stamp and randomly stamped that in open areas. I added a sentiment from the Donna + Unity = FABric Creations set. I let some Crystal Lacquer drip down my page, and I added more of the Gold Dust mixer. I then spritzed it again to help blend the whole page together.



The chipboard piece is from Dusty Attic. Again, I used the Gold Dust Mixer and Sakura Crystal Lacquer - but this time, I mixed them thoroughly together and painted it on. I rubbed the edges with the Creative Inspirations paints.

I hope you are enjoying the hop! Don't forget...if you want to have a chance to win the prize, you need to leave a comment on the Sakura Blog, telling which project is your favorite. Now it's time to hop on to Barbara Moore's blog.

Sakura Hobby Craft
Terri Sproul
Amanda Marks
Leslie Rahye
Susan Brown
Gini Cagle (you are here)
Barbara Moore
Gloria
Lyneen Jesse

Challenges:
Unity: Hearts (not red or pink)

Love Cast in Clay Blog Hop with Creative Paperclay and Amazing Mold Putty

Welcome to the Love Cast in Clay blog hop with Creative Paperclay® and Amazing Mold Putty! You should have arrived here from Barbara Moore's blog, if not, you may want to start back at the beginning with the Creative Paperclay® blog so you don't miss anything! We have great inspiration for you as well as awesome prizes! A winner will be choosen from both Amazing Mold Putty blog and Creative Paperclay® Blog to receive a 16oz package of Creative Paperclay® and package of Amazing Mold Putty. In order to win you must leave a comment on all blogs as well as become a follower of each blog.




I love making embellishments for my cards and layouts, and when I noticed a pea-pod ornament on my Christmas tree, I set it aside to make a mold that I could use year round.


Amazing Mold Putty is so easy to use! It is a two-part putty, that you mix equal parts together and press your object to be molded into it. You can then use the mold over and over again.


Since this embellishment was kind of large, I didn't want it to weight my layout down too much, so I used the Delight ™ Air Dry Modeling Compound, which is lighter in weight than the Paperclay. I just pressed the Delight into the mold, and let it dry.

After my pea-pod was dry, I painted it with a base of Creative Inspirations Paint. Next, I used the new Terri Sproul Mixers and Sakura Crystal Lacquer to make my pod look almost like porcelain.

Now that I've shared my project with you, it's time to hop on to Brenda's blog!

Full Hop List

Paperclay

Terri Sproul

Amanda Mark:
Lori Williams

Barbara Moore

Gini Cagle (you are here)

Brenda

Jennifer Ingle

Lyneen Jesse

Aimee Fleck

Robyn

Dee Dee Catron

Debbie Buckland

Carole Lassak

Jan Hennings

Tamara Dozier

Niki Meiners

Edie cournoyer

Leslie Rahye

Sandra strait

Peg Round

Susan Brown

Amazing Mold Putty

Challenges:
Helmar: Sketch

Friends With Flair Friday Hop

There is so much excitement going on right now over CHA - and I really wish I were going to be there! At least my work will be there in several booths -including the Sakura Hobby Craft Booth. Sakura will be introducing the new Terri Sproul Mixers - a fantastic way to add color into the Sakura Crystal Lacquer. I've used some of these on my card today - the Red Satin and Gold Dust. I was able to paint this onto my paper and stamp right over it. It gives a really cool, almost metallic look. I know you are going to love it!


Speaking of love...did you notice the stamp set that I used? Kokeshi Cuties from Unity? This is such a fun set, and I loved combining the set with these gorgeous origami papers.

Have a great weekend!

Challenges:
Unity: Friends With Flair
Simon Says: Anything Goes

Butterfly Blue Thank You

It's time for me to share another project with you, using some of the fabulous things you can get from Scrap-Mart. And you know, Scrap-Mart always tends to get their new Spellbinders before any one else, so, if you've been making your wish list during the big Spellbinders reveal, then head to Scrap-Mart and you can place a pre-order.


For this card, I combined several JustRite Stamp sets along with several Spellbinders die sets. I love how these two lines coordinate with an infinite number of combinations. It makes them sets that you just keep coming back to, time and time again.

JustRite Musical Notes Labels Twenty
JustRite Botanical Butterflies
JustRite Vintage Floral Labels
JustRite You Inspire Me
Spellbinders Ironwork Motifs
Spellbinders Labels Twenty
Spellbinders Circles
Patterned Papers - The ScrapCake
Wow! Embossing Powders, Suzy West Collection, Earthtone Pepper
Distress Ink: Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Tea Dye
Viva Decor Pearl Pen
Mermaid Glitz Stickles
Sakura Crystal Lacquer
Copic Sketch Markers
Want2Scrap Pearls

Challenges:
CardPatterns: sketch
JustRite: Photo Inspiration
Berry71Blue: Shabby

Birdcage Card

You can never have enough thank-you cards, so I thought that this lovely Birdcage die from CottageCutz would make a very elegant and feminine card for a friend of mine. I fussy cut the papers from the ScrapCake and nestled an Eyelet Edger diecut behind the flower. The ticket is from the Ticket Booth set and the sentiment was a rub-on from Kaisercraft. Finally, one of the Vintage Keys seemed like a sweet way to finish this card off.

Prickley Pear Blog Hop

Welcome to Prickley Pear's new release of Valentines and Steampunk themed Red
Rubber Stamps!

To celebrate this new release we are having a three day long Blog Party with
loads of inspirations by the Design Team and a give away! One happy participant
will win a $ 15 gift certificate to the web shop. All you have to do is leave a
comment on each of the participating blogs and tell us what you think about the
new release. Last day to enter is Sunday 15th midnight EST. The winner will be
drawn randomly at one of the particpating blogs, one of the days and will be
presented on the Prickley Pear Blog on Monday.

I made a canvas (although I may turn it into the cover of a mini-book later), using the Steampunk Locomotive stamp. I embossed the image with Wow Earthtone Pepper powder and fussy cut the image. The gears were cut with a Spellbinders die from Grunge paper, and colored using Sakura Crystal Lacquer and the new Terri Sproul Mixer Jewel Effects - Gold Dust, Glitter Red and Bronze Satin. I also stamped parts of the wheel elements, glazed them with the Sakura Crystal Lacquer and used them for the centers of the gears. It's always fun to find new ways to use stamps!





Here's the rest of the list to visit today. Remember, there will be more blogs to visit tomorrow. Have fun!

Prickley Pear Blog
Lori
Amy
Gini (you are here)

Challenges:
Stamp and Show: Red Letter Day
Simon Says: Stripes

Oh Christmas Tree!

Well, I guess the Christmas Season is officially here! Were any of you camping out last night to do your Black Friday shopping? Not me! To help promote the Christmas Spirit, I have a card to share with you today. I stamped/embossed a Kanban Crafts tree from Vintage Christmas onto their Mirror Reflective Gold paper. I added green over the gold with Copic markers, and then used my colored Sakura Crystal Lacquer to add my trimmings. The lacquer looks great over metallic papers - almost the effect of a foil-backed rhinestone. I hope you will try this technique!

Winter Wishes

During November, the DT for Sakura Hobby Craft has had the opportunity to play with stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps! There are tons of stamps to choose from, but when I saw Lady with a Snowglobe, I knew this image would be the perfect companion for my Sakura goodies!

Any time a stamp has something that is supposed to be glass on it - I want to cover it in Crystal Lacquer! So the snow globe really caught my attention. I sprinkled some fine, transparent glitter around the edges, while it was still wet to make it look like the glittery snow inside. The other cool embellishment that I added were some of the Gem Particles to the confetti background. Weren't they perfect there?



I hope you will take a look at the tons of stamps that Viva Las VegaStamps has to offer, and remember how cool they are with you Sakura Hobby Craft products!

Blessings

I have a rather clean and simple card to share with you today - My results of late night crafting!
The stamps are by NinaB for Gina K Designs - and the papers are some of the lovely Free Bird 6 x 6 papers from Authentique. They are just gorgeous papers!

Challenges:
Lilypad: Sketch
Simon Says Stamp and Show: One color
Simon Says: Anything Goes
Authentique: Color challenge

A Little Bubbly!

Shaped cards are really fun to make, and can have a big impact. This wine glass and bottle is from Flower Soft, but I decided to jazz it up a little using Sakura Crystal Lacquer. When, I noticed the wine in the glass, it was a given for me that I would like to add a layer of Crystal Lacquer over it, to make it look like liquid. To further embellish things, I made a medallion/greeting for the bottle. I stamped my image onto cardstock. Then I used the Copper Lacquer to trace over the lines of the stamp. The metallic lacquers are thicker than the clear and colored ones, so it really added some height. I let this dry completely, then I covered over the area with congratulations using the Cerise Lacquer. Again, I let this dry, and then covered the entire thing with a coat of Crystal Lacquer. It almost looks like Cloisonne when it's dry.





Challenges:
Simon Says: Anything Goes

More Chocolate Please

I absolutely fell in love with Basic Grey's new Picadilly line, and new the rich, warm colors would be perfect for my fall projects. You know, something happens when you give a five year old chocolate (as you can tell from my pictures!)

Details:
Stamps, Creative Scraps: Crafty Secrets
Epoxies, Round Studio Tool 25, Round Studio Tool 14, Felt Flower: Epiphany Crafts
Papers: Basic Grey Picadilly
Dies: Cottage Cutz
Dew Drops: Robin's Nest
Crystal Lacquer: Sakura
Twine: The Twinery

Playing with Sakura

I love experimenting with Sakura's Crystal Lacquer! And I've come up with a technique, that I hope you will enjoy.


1. Choose some interesting dies, and cut wax paper shapes. Cover the shape with the Crystal Lacquer. Let Dry



2. I'll admit, I thought the dried lacquer would pull right off the waxed paper...but it didn't. But don't you worry! I've got the answer. Heat the waxed paper side for a few seconds with your heat gun. You can then peel it off revealing a die-cut shape of the Crystal Lacquer.

3. Choose embossing folders, and run the shape through your Cuttlebug machine.

4. You may either leave your piece alone, as it is - or add colors. I rubbed on Viva Decor Gold, and then buffed areas off. I also rubbed Stickles over the shape too. Finally, I inked the edges with Distress Inks.

I had been going to do just one card, but decided to make a trio of ATC's. You can see the different textures that were created - and there's so many variations left to try!





For this last ATC, I die-cut my spellbinders, and inked the embossed area. Then I just highlighted those areas with the Crystal Lacquer. I also covered the little squares completely, to make them more like charms.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Challenges:
Stamp and Show: ATC
Simon Says: Dies to Die For

Unity Stamp Company and Scor-Pal Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the Unity Stamp Company and Scor-Pal Blog Hop!
Our teams have come together to show you ALL of the amazing things you can do with Unity Stamp Company stamps and Scor-Pal products!

Along the blog hop you will find cards and projects that are sure to INSPIRE you!
Oh and we have prizes, too, so BE SURE to leave a comment on ALL of the blogs on today’s Blog Hop!
There will be 2 winners!

1 will get a Scor-Pal and 1 will get 10 Unity Itty Bitty stamps of their choice!
Winners will be picked from ALL of the comments so the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to WIN!

The winners will be announced on Thursday, September 15^th on the Unity Stamp Company blog and the Scor-Pal blog!

I've been itching to try a Napkin-fold card, and knew that it would look perfect with the Butterfly Garden set designed by Samantha Walker. I have to tell you, I love, love, love all of the Samantha Walker stamps, and have almost all of them! This is such a versatile set, and I know I will use it over and over again.

Here is my card closed. It is a little time consuming, but using the Scor-pal, it's really not hard!

After you remove the belly band that holds the card closed, this is what it looks like.

Finally, when you fully open the card - here is the spectacular view! Plus a little area to write a message to the recipient. I hope you enjoy the hop, and find lots of inspiration! Your next stop on the blog hop is: Natalie Dever

HOP ORDER:

Unity Stamp Company

Angie Blom

Diane Zechman

Jimmi Mayo

Gini Cagle

Natalie Dever

Julie Koerber

Maren Benedict

Katie Tate

Stephanie Muzzulin

Robyn Weatherspoon

Steph Ackerman

Christi Snow

Tami Mayberry

Lisa Henke

Brooke Lien

Virginia Nebel

Wendy Chang

Lisa Andrews

http://scor-pal.blogspot.com/

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp: Multi-folds
Mark's Finest Papers: Use a punch
Southern Girls: Lots of Layers
Creative Inspirations: Ribbon

Robin's Nest Inspiration

Sometimes you look at a piece of paper, and know it's just too cool to cover over. That's how I felt about this Glitter Black and White Animal Print. I decided I would make a tag that would allow lots of the DP to show. I die cut some Grunge Board, and covered the bottom layer with Red on Red Rope . I used Viva Decor Gold to color the Grunge, and embellished the crown with Fairy Dust Dew Drops. I filled in my cut-outs with Sakura Crystal Lacquer. I love how you can the the red sparkle of the paper through the glaze. Finally, I altered my Gold Glitter Letters by coloring over them with a red Copic marker, so they would match my heart.

Thanks for looking!

Robin's Nest Inspiration plus Coupon Code!

I have a fun card to share with you today, using some Robin's Nest Papers. I really love the print on Sea Floral - beautiful sea anemone type images. I cut one of the centers and covered it with Sakura Crystal Lacquer. It turned into a lovely abstract card.

Robin's Nest Products:Sea Floral
Distressed Honeycomb
Velvet Ribbon
Fleur Blue
Light Grey Watercolor Hammered
Sunflower Dew Drops

There is a special sale going on now through the weekend for 25% off of your Robin's Nest Order!!! See the details below!

We're pleased to offer you a Store Coupon. 25% off all orders, exluding
shipping, from August 17 thru 21.

You can redeem this coupon during checkout. Just enter the code in the box
provided, and click on the redeem button.

The coupon code is summer

The coupon is valid between 08/17/2011 and 08/21/2012

Fun with Sakura Hobby Craft

I know I have shown you this project, but today, I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I made it! First, I stamped and cut my Layers of Color Art stamps, and colored it with Copics. Then I cut and colored and shaped a 2nd image of the bee and flowers, and highlighted them with Sakura Crystal 3-D Lacquer. I used the blue pearl Lacquer to pipe my border - It really is like icing a cake! I used a large Martha Stewart punch, and of course, had to add some Seam Binding ribbon. For the "button" embellishments, I took two caps from an I-top brad maker, and turned the brad topper upside down, and filled it with some pink pearlescent lacquer, and topped it off with the Crystal Clear- to give it depth.





Thanks for stopping by!