FEBRUARY 22 - DAY SIX, WEEK FIVE - WINNERS!

By Designer Eret Pank

Lots of Sparkle N Sprinkle Winners!

But first...

I have a big favor to ask.

Do you have a blog, Flickr, Picture Trail, SCS gallery, etc, on which you share your artwork?

If so, I'd love for you to email me your link so I can follow you privately

(that is, if you enjoy having followers).

It's been great becoming cyber friends with each one of you!

THANKS FOR BEING WONDERFUL throughout the game!

Sneak a Peek at March 1st's  Reveal!

We hope to see you next Saturday at our March 1 Reveal!

Yesterday's questions were "built upon" your knowledge base from previous weeks. Wow! A whopping 3323 correct responses last week!

Yesterday's Answers:
1) True or False - ALL of the semi-transparent embossing powders show up in the "Semi-Transparent" category.
FALSE - we learned that they also appear under Cosmics.

2) True or False - Opaque glitters can be used with Semi-Transparent techniques.
FALSE - Opaque Glitters will not work specifically with semi-transparent techniques. ST products allow us to see through them, to see what is beneath the glitter. Opaque products block it out, so we cannot see what is beneath the glitter.

3) True or False - Dimensional glue does not really make glitters or flocking powder more dimensional.
FALSE - Dimensional glue really DOES make glitters or flocking powder more dimensional.

4) True or False - Memento Inks cannot be used with watercolor techniques.
TRUE - Memento inks will bleed with watercolor techniques.

5) True or False - Tear-ific tapes may be used with embossing powders.
TRUE - apply Tear-ific tape, dredge with embossing powder, heat set.

6) True or False - It is possible to "mask shapes" using Super Adhesive Sheets and Tear-ific Tapes.
TRUE - there are several tutorials showing the use of the "protective layer" of Super Adhesive Sheets, Sticker Paper, and 2.5" Tear-ific Tape to create pretty masked designs.

7) True or False - After coloring an image with colored pencils, you want to add sparkle, so you choose an opaque glitter to do this.
FALSE - an opaque glitter will cover up your coloring. A semi-transparent glitter or EP is needed.

8) True or False - Ornament Glue will dry clear on glass.
True

9) True or False - you want to believe in the glitter fairy.
only one person did not want to believe in the glitter fairy!

10) True or False - projects made with digital images are flat and without layers or dimension.
False - we learned that digital works of art can contain just as many layers and as much dimension as any other type of paper crafting. It's all in the techniques selected. Often, it is difficult to tell if a project was made with a hand-stamped project or a digital stamp.

Thank you for your kind comments about enjoying the game.
It makes it all worth while! If it is possible to do again next year, we will make sure to choose January-February since it helps break up the monotony of winter months for so many.

All previous blog posts have been re-published for your perusal.
Each "blog page" holds 5 posts. To see previous posts click on the link at the bottom which says "older posts" and it will take you to the next oldest posts.

Prizes are shipped at our cost - you will not incur shipping charges.
Attention all winners - please claim your prizes by March 1.
Winners are named in the WINNERS TAB at the top.

This week's winners are:

Pat WeBB aka Pat Wenn
(ducking here so Pat cannot throw anything at me)

Debbie Aboulfath

Helen Markee

Carmen Raddatz

Jan Wood

Kristine Mylett

Frann Rosenblum

Pat Hayrynen

Carol Jones

Karen Beer

Congratulations, everyone!

This week winners choose from the following:

 1. any stamp set of your choice

or

2. any 10 digital images of your choice

or

3. any 3 bottles of Flocking or Sparkle N Soft

or 

4. any 5 bottles of embossing powders and/or glitters (other than velvet glitter)

Please email me with the exact item number(s) and name(s) of the product(s). My email is in the right panel.
We will also need your mailing address.
If you are international, your phone number is required.

Congratulations to our winners!

and now



oh-so-quietly

THIS MORNING

Marva Flynn said,

"I believe I have a bingo"

and

she does!

Congratulations, Marva!

(Marva has been contacted privately about the details)

You all have been fabulous!
Thanks for playing Bingo SNS-style!
Margaret would like to do this again next January and February.

It is our hope that you will continue to enjoy visiting our website, blog, friend us on facebook, follow our YouTube channel and play in our monthly challenges.
I would also love for you to visit my blog regularly if you have time. 
hugs,

de
aka "Creative Smiles"

FEBRUARY 21 - DAY FIVE, WEEK FIVE

Good Morning, Everyone!
Just FYI - at the end of the game, I will republish all the blog posts so you can go back and look at them if you like. :-)

And...
please forgive me
but...
I have received more than 25 requests this morning
(this does not include last night and yesterday)
for help with their lists, and did I already call their questionable certain numbers.

I'd love to help everyone with this, but I feel guilty if I do that.
The rules said that the words would be up for only 72 hours.
Maybe next time we can think about changing the rules.
The first year, we did not have that rule and discovered that
people were only visiting the game site once every few weeks
until bingo came down to the wire.
That sort of defeats the purpose of the game,
and it removes the element of sportsmanship.

So, while I want to help each one of you,
regardless of how much of my non-existent time it woud take LOL,
I feel it is not fair to the other players.

That being said...
if it turns out that no one calls bingo...
We will choose a grand prize winner from the last week's entries using RANDOM.ORG
so don't give up

hope this sounds fair

Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me (weak smile).

Details for Shanna's card here.

I sure hope that the seemingly never-ending onslaught in the North is not causing you too many problems. I have sent much Florida Sunshine your way in hopes that things are soon looking up.

Spunky Valentine with Pocket Full of Papers

Thank you, one and all, for being such great sports throughout this bingo game!
Additionally, thank you for your many suggestions. They have been given to Margaret, and we have given them careful consideration. Wish we could implement all of them, but there are time constraints, and of course, money constraints.

details here

Yesterday I boo-boo'ed. Sorry about that. Number 90 had already been called. It sounded familiar LOL but had not been crossed off my list. I'm blitzed! So there, you have it. (giggle)

Today's words are:

#169 Fairy Dust

#91 Distress Ink

#41 Chipboard

and now there are SIX...

April's card has glittery germs! YIKES! 

How about some brief questions from the very beginning of bingo? They are not identical to the beginning, but the information was from "back then". Still, you can always go back to the website and look around the categories for the answers if you're not sure. Another hint is to use the Tips and Techniques page.

1) True or False - ALL of the semi-transparent embossing powders show up in the "Semi-Transparent" category.

2) True or False - Opaque glitters can be used with Semi-Transparent techniques.

3) True or False - Dimensional glue does not really make glitters or flocking powder more dimensional.

4) True or False - Memento Inks cannot be used with watercolor techniques.

5) True or False - Tear-ific tapes may be used with embossing powders.

6) True or False - It is possible to "mask shapes" using Super Adhesive Sheets and Tear-ific Tapes.

7) True or False - After coloring an image with colored pencils, you want to add sparkle, so you choose an opaque glitter to do this.

8) True or False - Ornament Glue will dry clear on glass.

9) True or False - you want to believe in the glitter fairy.

10) True or False - projects made with digital images are flat and without layers or dimension.

There are a total of 10 opportunities to have your name submitted to Random.org on Saturday. Be sure to send an email to SNS_Bingo@tampabay.rr.com with your name in the Subject Sentence followed by the date of the challenge questions.

Tomorrow is our drawing!
Good Luck, my friends!
hugs,

FEBRUARY 20 - DAY FOUR, WEEK FIVE

Well,

I don't know what to say

Still no bingo grand prize winner!

I have a little concern that possibly...

everyone needs...

the same last word.

Obviously everyone needs some from the last few!

There are only a few words left.

My records show that there are 14 words left to call.

I could have made a mistake, and forgotten to cross one of the words off.

I'm sure someone will let me know if I'm in error LOL

What we are going to do is this:

Regardless of when bingo is called out, Saturday will be our last weekly challenge drawing.

Fewer words will be called each day to prevent a mass number of players from shouting BINGO all at one time LOL

Today will be the last day to have five words.

If necessary, we will continue calling out words all next week.

How does that sound? It's the fairest way I can think to do it.

Your words today are:

#147 Joy

#141 Tear-ific Tape

#45 Red

#86 Asian

#90 Marbled Embossing Powder

Product of the Day: Pocket full of Papers

Artist Rita Kraushaar approached Margaret last year at a convention with the idea that we might be interested in her hand-drawn papers. They really are high quality, designer papers, printed on 80lb cardstock with a smooth finish. They are not text weight like many other designer papers, which is only 20lb. Rita’s splendidly patterned designs have color contrasts and intensities which bring a special vitality to crafting projects. I loved using one of these papers on my recent Spunky Card. Brilliant, fun, and artsy, each paper is a piece of art in itself. Perfect for card making, papier mache, decoupage, and scrapbooking, these 12x12 papers coordinate with one another, and are reasonably priced to enhance your paper collection.

They are so pretty, I found it somewhat difficult to cut into the sheets. (It's that "oh, it's too pretty to cut" attitude). But I decided they were so reasonably priced, that I could cut where I wanted to, and not be upset. Also, I enjoy the fact that an individual created these from her own imagination, without the help of a computer. Because they are 80lb weight, they cut crisply with scissors, punches, and dies.

Imagine a simple card, with one of Rita's papers layered on top. Pop on a ribbon and a sentiment. Or use a Quickie Glue Pen and outline some of the design, then adding embossing powder or glitter to create really spectacular cards. Pretty papers don't need a lot of "help" to make a pretty card.

Rita is constantly creating new designs. Margaret changes which papers we carry on a regular basis so that there is always something new, always some old, and always something fabulous (gotcha on that one!)

Personally, I wanted to reorder a few which are not showing up right now. But I found some others I had not previously seen, so I'll get those instead (smile)

Sparkle N Sprinkle also sells other types of cardstock here.

There are a total of 25 opportunities to have your name submitted to Random.org on Saturday. Be sure to send an email to SNS_Bingo@tampabay.rr.com with your name in the Subject Sentence followed by the date of the challenge questions.

1) (1 entry) How many papers are currently in Pocket Full of Papers?

2) (2 entries) How many papers contain shades of purple?

3) (5 entries) Without thinking about how you would use it, which of your papers is your favorite and why?

4) (1 entry) true or false - these are light weight papers similar to text paper weight.

5) (1 entry) if money were not an object, would you enjoy playing with one of these papers? Honesty counts LOL

6) (1 entry) do you enjoy papers that match our glitters and embossing powders?

7) (10 entries) what other types of cardstocks does SNS sell?

8) (4 entries) have you ever purchased Cardstock from SNS?
      if yes, why?
      if no, why?

Sending Florida Sunshiny Hugs to you,

FEBRUARY 19 - DAY THREE, WEEK FIVE

Happy Wednesday! Today is a bit of a review -
guess you could call it a "mish-mash".

Cinderella slipper by Anne Temple

If you were unable to create a bingo “card” prior to the deadline, you may still play and become eligible for one of the weekly prizes. Click here for how to play without a card (see No Bingo Card? And Weekly)

Wooo hooo! We are getting closer and closer to the end!

I surely hope that not everyone needs the same last word! That would not be good at all!

When a player does have Bingo, please be sure to email me immediately using the e-mail address on the right panel of the Sparkle Adventure Blog.

Today's words are:

137 Sparkle

109 Cayenne Star

174 Love

50 Flocking

72 Gallery

Cinderella Shoe by April Williams

A little recap about Flocking:

• Using strips of Tear-ific Tape, or 2.5" Tear-ific Tape, or Super Adhesive Sheets, or Sticker paper, you can achieve similar results on your cards as you do with glitter. Striped or framed designs on your cards, burnished with Flocking or Sparkle N Soft will produce incredibly unique textures, and works with most styles from cutesy to artsy.

• To dry emboss a prepared flocking background, it is not necessary to ink one side of the embossing folder - a fabulous and elegant look is achieved when it is all one color. The debossed portion of your flocked panel will have "shadows" to help achieve dimension.

A little recap about yesterday's preliminary thoughts for digital images:

• Each printer is different, so it is important to experiment and see if your coloring medium will work with the ink in your Printer. I have a Canon MG8200 series, and copics work very well without smearing the ink at all. I can lightly watercolor with this ink, too, as long as the ink has set overnight and dried completely.

• Some of the el cheapo printers and older printers work great with digitals - so it has nothing to do with the "age" of the technology or the cost of the printer itself.

• You do not need Microsoft Word in order to play with digitals. Any word processor will work. 

• While digital images may be printed directly from the download, they are usually "too large" to do that. Resize them in any word processor. If the actual digital image is resized and saved, then printed directly from it, the image is permanently that size, and you may not be able to enlarge it in the future. Any word processor may be used.

• It does not matter if you are using a PC or Mac, both accept digitals.

• Usually, I save my word processor document when placing digitals in it. I click on "SAVE" and choose a name identical to the digital image. That way, the computer files both of them together, making it very easy to locate if I want to print more of that image.

Clarification about "what is a digital"

Several responses yesterday indicated that they preferred having layers, using lots of glitter, and that is why they do not care for digitals.

My confession is that my hands are increasingly unable to grasp stamps and press with them. I drop them and make lots of mistakes and it is quite painful. So I use digitals with LOTS of layers.

Mermaid Kisses with digital image, embossing powders and glitter.

I feel sheepish to admit this is actually a digital colored with Copics. It has lots of texture, layers, embellishments and embossing powder on it. All of the glittery parts are embossing powder, and all the embossing powder (on the mermaid, in the distressed areas of the die cuts, and in the background layers) is adhered with either VersaMark or VersaMarker. No one would know that this was not stamped with Memento Ink and colored with Copics.

So fear not! Our inks, glitters and embossing powders will not go unused when "stamping with" digi images!

How To Better View YouTube videos:

VIEWING VIDEOS: At this time SNS only has one tutorial in their Tips and Techniques section for digitals. It is a video. I find viewing the video there too small. There are two other options. In the bottom right of the Video square there is the word "YouTube" and also an icon of four corners. All YouTube videos have this on their "windows". You can click on the word "YouTube" and it will take you to the actual YouTube page where a slightly larger viewing is automatically available. Or we can click on the "4 corners" icon. This will increase the size of the video to our monitor/screen size. It may be blurry if it has enlarged too much. Click on one of the corners (often the right bottom corner of your screen), and pull/drag inward, to decrease the size until it is clear, without the blurriness.

A "General" Search Technique Tip for You:

Amber asked a very good question about "searching" the Tips and Techniques Page to make finding techniques by name a little easier. Such an outstanding idea, but unfortunately, too costly for a small business like SNS to invest in at this time.

HOWEVER - May I please share a time-saving tip I use ALL THE TIME?
When viewing a document (word, pdf, etc) or visiting a web page their is a time-saving way of wading through all those words without having to read them.

For PCs - use CONTROL F
For Macs - us COMMAND F (if an old keyboard, use the "apple key" and F).

The keys need to be depressed at the same time.

For example, when visiting the SNS Tips and Techniques page, let's say you want to find out how to make a SPINNER CARD. Go to the T&T page, do the COMMAND F and a little box will pop up (in Chrome it is in the top right - in Firefox it is the bottom left - in Safari it is top right). It is small and just big enough for you to type in a word or two. I find usually one word or a partial word is best. So do your CONTROL F (F for find), and type in Spinner. Some of the browsers will tell you how many times the word appears on a page. Others just provide "arrows" for you to click on to scroll to the words.

The actual word must appear on the page for the CONTROL F to work. So if you are trying to find "digital images" it might be best to type in "digi" and the words that contain that will be highlighted for you.

I hope this helps. As I mentioned, I use it all the time, and have discovered very few people know about this time-saving tool.

Tips and Techniques:

Sparkle N Sprinkle also has a section for "other techniques" which are popular with papercrafters. We tried to make these techniques user friendly for SNS customers who enjoy using our products but want to use other popular products as well. So you may discover that there are some ideas in the "Other Techniques" section that work well with the techniques listed under glitters, flockings and embossing powders. These are techniques that we feel you can also use embossing powders with, or embellish with glitters.

Today's Challenge Questions:

There are a total of 15 opportunities to have your name submitted to Random.org on Saturday. Be sure to send an email to SNS_Bingo@tampabay.rr.com with your name in the Subject Sentence followed by the date of the challenge questions.

1) (1 entry) True or False - you must have "Microsoft Word" on your computer in order to use digital images.

2) (1 entry) True or False - you cannot use digitals if you have a Mac. They can only be used on PC.

3) (3 entries) What will CONTROL F for PC (or COMMAND F for Mac) allow you to do?

4) (1 entry) True or False - digital works of art means that there are no layers or dimensional products used.

5) (1 entry) True or False - There is only one size of video to view with YouTube videos.

6) (1 entry) True or False - only new technology printers can be used with digital stamps

7) (1 entry) True or False - To dry emboss flocking or Sparkle N Soft, one side of the embossing folder must be prepared with ink.

8) (1 entry) Is it wise to occasionally "save" the digital images on your computer to a back-up CD, DVD, or thumb drive?

9) (5 entries) What are the two ways of searching for items in the SNS on-line store?

Good Luck, everyone!
hugs,
de

FEBRUARY 18 - DAY TWO, WEEK FIVE

If you were unable to create a bingo “card” prior to the deadline, you may still play and become eligible for one of the weekly prizes. Click here for how to play without a card (see No Bingo Card? And Weekly)

Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird by Rosiland Solomon.

Today's Words:

171 Paste BONUS WORD
21 Digital Stamps BONUS WORD
95 Search BONUS WORD
129 Fun BONUS WORD
149 Chocolate BONUS WORD
166 Valentine
175 Water BONUS WORD
178 Coffee Filter
90 Marbled Embossing Powder BONUS WORD
98 Poinssettia

BONUS WORD TIME! 

• If you have all of the bonus words, receive an extra FIFTY entries for the drawing this Saturday! 
• If you have ALL TEN words, receive 150 extra entries for Saturday's drawing + you can choose how you want the 150 divided up - a little each day or all in one day.  
• Be sure to send an email to SNS_Bingo@tampabay.rr.com with your name in the Subject Sentence followed by the date of the challenge questions.

Rusty with Flowers

Let's discuss something which is not always "understood" in Rubber Stamp circles. The horror of it is so disturbing to some rubber enthusiasts, that they consider it "taboo" and prefer not to even think about it. Many close their eyes and shout "NOOOOO! IT CANNOT BE!"

Gulp! DARE we broach the subject? 

We will just whisper it...

Digital Images 
                        -aka- 
                                 Digital Stamping 
                                                             -aka-
                                                                      Digital Creations

Many stampers "poo-poo" digital stamps, yet they have never tried them.

sigh.

why would anyone do that?

we know why... (giggle)

Grape Bunch by Rosiland Solomon in a creation by Roberta of Created With Love Challenges.

So let's look at the Positives... (don't be afraid, we'll hold your hand)...

Hope you don't mind. Today's post is written with the informal "you", instead of more professionally, because after all, this is a touchy subject and we ARE hand-holding (giggle).

1. While I'm lucky that I don't have to hide my purchases from my husband, many of my stamping buddies DO hide their purchases. Digital images are conveniently located on your harddrive. They are sent directly to your computer. They can be stored there, or copied onto DVDs to become portable and be used any computer. You can copy them to a thumb drive, SD drive, or even another external harddrive. OR all of the above. So storage is not a problem. NEITHER is hiding them. (smile)
2. Digitals can be organized into folders on your computer. Because they don't really take that much disk space, you can create a folder by manufacturer, and another folder by theme, another folder by style, and so forth. It does not matter how many times you duplicate an image on your harddrive when it is for your own use. You'll be able to find it anywhere on your harddrive in whatever way you choose to name it.
3. To take up even LESS space on your hard disk, you can create as many folders as you like and create ALIASes of your image. Each ALIAS can have its own name, and be filed into whatever folders you like.
4. Digi's (as they have been fondly dubbed) can be resized to nearly any dimension you need. Ever found a stamp and wish it could be smaller or larger? Digi's allow you that leeway.
5. Depending on the software your computer already has, some digitals can be colored right on the computer, although that is still frowned up in some circles.
6. No ink pad is needed.
7. No clean up after "stamping".
8. No warping or damage to the rubber.
9. Spending fewer dollars on the stamps so that you can spend more money on other fun goodies.

Vivian Hat Lady as created by Rachel of Created With Love Challenges.

There are Negatives...

1. The biggest negative is the Fear of the Unknown.
2. Not being able to heat-emboss images.
3. Difficulty (if even possible) to mask and over stamp.
4. Computer Crash (but that is why back-ups are made on DVDs, SDs, thumb drives, or a secondary harddrive. Or better yet... THE CLOUD).
5. Having a printer available at your location.
6. Having a printer which allows for both watercolor and Copic-style mediums.
7. Many images do not allow you to place them closely together to create a scene.
8. Having way too many wonderful images to choose from.

Ok, that's enough horror for one day.

There are a total of 9 opportunities to have your name submitted to Random.org on Saturday. Be sure to send an email to SNS_Bingo@tampabay.rr.com with your name in the Subject Sentence followed by the date of the challenge questions.

1. Of all the "positives" listed, is there even ONE which would be helpful to you?

2. Which of the positives is most attractive to you - or do you have another positive to share?

3. What is the biggest negative about digitals for you?

4. (up to 3 entries) Have you ever used a digi image before?
     4a. If yes, did it meet the needs of your paper crafting?
     4b. If no, what is the primary reason have you not used a digital image so far?

5. (up to 2 entries) Can you mention 2 reasons why the BINGO WORD "PASTE" is relevant to digital images?

6. Why is Chocolate on the bingo word list?

Hope you are enjoying a happy stamping day!
hugs,