Sparkle & Shine Technique Blog Hop

If you've arrive from Darlys' blog, you're in the right place! If you've become dazed by all the shiny things, Melissa has a list of all the participants this month.

The calendar may say August but crafters know it really the beginning of the holiday season! Last month my card class theme was Christmas and CTMH gave us a Christmas in July Flash Sale.

But, just like embossing, why do we save the Sparkle and Shine for only once a year?? 

My friends and I often show each other our latest creation and ask, "What does this need?" Sometimes there is a missing element but other times, just changing an element can make a big difference.  Adding a little bling can take your artwork up a notch. Let Me Show You How...

This is a perfectly lovely card. There is nothing wrong with it. 

The Gold Embellishing Thread already adds a little something.

Here is the same card design. I added a little more Shine with the Gold Sequins. I also embossed the sentiment and hearts.

 Then I went for all Sparkle. I replace the cardstock with Sugarplum Glitter paper. On the sentiment and hearts I highlighted them with Shimmer Brushes.







Shimmer Brushes are a great way to add a little more to your project. They are available in a variety of colors, not expensive, and easy to use.

On this sticker from True Love Complements, I accented the diamond with Clear Shimmer Brush.















For the rings on the cut-apart sheet from the paper pack, I also used the Gold Shimmer Brush on the rings.

















The Mint Shimmer Brush was perfect to embellishing the glasses of champagne!


















For the flowers, I completely covered the pink one with Sugarplum, but only accented the grey shading on the white daisy with the Clear Shimmer.

What is your favorite use for the Shimmer Brush?

Which version of my card do you prefer?

You can post your answer below before following the glitter trail to see what Rebecca has to share.

Colors featured: Sugarplum, Sapphire, Ballerina. Other products used:

I've been busy this week!

I finished my day job early this week so I had time to play. My niece just turned 16 and my uncle will be 80 so I made them both cards (thanks to Pinterest of course). The cake card uses an old SOTM Celebrate with Cake. The balloon card featured the recently retired True Love, last year's Operation Smile set.

Here is an actual original, second one this year! I'll say it came from Divine Intervention because the saying was on a church bulletin board. I used the August stamp of the month "School Year" S1708. I wanted to show how it could be used for less school-type items. I also used some of our new Basics colors. The frame is Toffee. The stamping was done in Heather and everything was edged in Espresso. The Ruby plaid is from the Jack paper pack and the bear inside is from the Jack cardmaking and Thin Cuts set. The inside sentiment comes from one of the sets included with the Flower Market Cricut Collection.

Here are some layouts that feature the Enchantment Fundamentals and All-Star Complements. It's a good thing I am not caught up on my scrapbooking...I was able to find pictures that fit fairly well. They weren't even what I was originally thinking I would use! (This concludes my thinking out of the box for 2017.) The last picture shows the flip flaps I added to "Teamwork."