Sparkle, Shimmer and Shine....

....and that's pretty much the whole theme I had in mind when I decided to create some new backgrounds yesterday.   I had been wanting to try out combining a variety of mediums, along with water and shimmer products to make some papers that would really sparkle and shine. 

     I ended up coloring up 8 different sheets of new watercolor papers and each one is a bit different.  It was really cool mixing the colors and fun to see how different they changed depending on what layer you added. Now that I know how easy it is, I'm sure it's something I'll do more often and will continue to experiment with different colors.   I was inspired to try a new technique for a challenge over at Crafting by Designs and this is the card that I ended up making that features some of my new background/accent papers. 

    The top and bottom sections were were both from the very first sheet I created and I love how much shimmer this one has.   I used a combination of Twinkling H20's, Shimmerz, Blingz and a bit of Perfect Pearls Mist.  It was really fun and also a great use to use products I bought ages ago, they were sitting around untouched!!    


    My next card was one that I also created using some of my new backgrounds and this card was inspired by today's new Sketch over at the Stars and Stamps Blog (OWH).   Here is a copy of this week's sketch, in case you want to play along.

   And this is a close up photo of the same card where you can see the colors a bit more.  These both were created with Twinkling H2O's, Distress Stains and a variety of Shimmer Mists.   I then cut them down to the size I needed for my card and ran them through my Cuttlebug for more texture and dimension. 

   It's amazing to see how the papers look wet and the difference you see when they are dry.  I could has used a heat gun, but since I had plenty of time, I simply let them all dry overnight.   Even the little heart on this card was punched from one of the new papers and it's full of shimmer.  I only wish it showed up better in the pictures!

   And my final card today was made for a new challenge today at The Outlawz group.  It's a very very simple card that was created for their new CAS Challenge.  The challenge is called Bling it Up (but keep it Clean and Simply).   I started by Punching out the little hearts from more of my newly created background paper and then added 3 tiny lavender gems.  I then picked out a Hero Hues Pink card base and cut it down to notecard size (4" x 4") and stamped on the Sentiment,  (from Technique Tuesday), which I then heat Embossed in White.   I used foam tape to pop up the little hearts and then tied on a simple sheer pink ribbon to finish my card!  

  It's been really fun working with these new color mediums and I'm really looking forward to my long awaiting Memory Box class which is now only a week away.   I've been following Dave's blog as he traveled across the country teaching this workshop all along the way.  You can see some pics of the classes on the blog HERE and I'm sure many more will follow!  I have always loved Memory Box stamps and papers and now especially LOVE the wonderful new dies, which I am slowly collecting.  I still have two on my WISH List for the Holidays and hope to buy them while at the store next week.    I know he also works with Watercolor Pencils to create gorgeous backgrounds for his cards.   One week from today and I'll be in class!   YIPPEE!