Hungry for some dessert?

Mmmmm...cupcakes....



Time once again for another Cupcake Inspiration Challenge...or as some would call it, BREAKFAST! LOL! This weeks over at the Hope Stamps Eternal blog the challenge is in full swing, and look at all the different directions you can go with this inpsiration photo! There is the tiny silver beads, the hot air balloons, the turquoise/blue, yellow, red, the white, the big and fluffy frosted cupcakes, the geometric feeling with the shape of the balloons and the stars...seriously, where do you begin?

I sat down at my scrap mess, yeah, I know I just cleaned it a week ago, but something exploded and left stamps and glitter EVERYWHERE...anyway, I sat down at my mess intending to find a cute hot air balloon image to use for this challenge, one thing led to another and I ended up with this:

Not quite the same is it? LOL. The elements that I focused on where the teal and red shades, the tiny dots (from the balloons and the silver beads), and the contrasting shapes (the curve of the balloons and the points of the stars). I am quite thrilled with how it turned out. I even discovered a new shape on one of my cricut cartridges! (That would be the shape my sentiment is stamped on thank you very much, I found it on the Home Accents cart, it is meant to be just a frame, but I selected the blackout feature and then cut it twice, once on shadow, for a great sentiment block. By the way, the size I chose here was 2 inches. )

Another fun trick I did on this card is with those flowers behind my sentiment. Now I know what you are wondering, just how in the world did I do that?

Well, look at the picture a little bit longer, and then scroll down for instructions.



Okay here we go,

Step 1: Stamp your sentiment in black ink, and emboss it with clear/translucent powder.

Step 2: Stamp your flowers using a watermark ink pad, I chose VersaMark here.

Step 3: Dont let your versamark dry!! Grab a cotton ball and your chalk pastels, rub the cotton onto the chalk and get it covered, then pounce your chalk onto the versamark ink. You can switch colors and make a nice image with this technique.

Step 4: As soon as you are done pouncing the chalk, dust off any chalk particles, or blow them off, whichever. And sprinkle some clear embossing powder over the entire image. I used a Polysparkle powder here, kinda has a pearlescent glint to it when you move it around in the light.

Step 5: Heat everything with your heat tool, so that the final powder is all embossed and let your image cool. This acts as a sealer for your chalk, as well as just making it down right pretty!

If you would like to see a VIDEO I made for this chalking technique then by all means CLICK HERE, its nothing fancy, just a simple demonstration, but sometimes seeing it in action really helps!



Okay, now are you ready for more?? Jump on over to the other HSE Sweeties blogs for MORE FUN!!

Bonnie ~ Carolina ~ Colleen ~ Jessica ~ Michelle ~ Natalie ~ Tammy


Supplies:
Cardstock - The Paper Company
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Lemonade and Basic Grey Porcelain (available through Hope Stamps Eternal)
Ribbon - Making Memories and American Crafts
Stamps - sentiment: Cloud9 Simple Thoughts, flowers: rhonna farrer/autumn leaves
Glittered Brads - Imaginisce (available through Hope Stamps Eternal)
Pearl Bling - Recollections
Inks - versamark, versafine
Embossing Powder - Polysparkle (Ranger), Clear (a la mode)