I have been feeling so inspired lately that I have been making cards non stop.

  I got really excited for the "Let it Shine" course and immediately my mind went into overdrive.  I really love a good sparkle, as long as my ten year old does not get into glitter.

My first project, which is really quite simple, is a top folding, 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card. I stamped onto "Neenah Solar White" cardstock, using a glue ink pad the image from Altenew's "Watercolor Frames".  This is the very first Altenew stamp I purchased quite a while ago, I was curious as to how old the set actually is.  It says 2017 on the back, OK then!

  After stamping in the glue I sprinkled gilding flakes over the stamped area and pressed them down. To bring up the detail and remove the excess, I used a makeup sponge to gently wipe down and also burnish the flakes further into the glue onto the cardstock.  Once I removed the excess, I was left with an awesome detailed and a metallic mottled image.  To finish it off I chose the sentiment from "Seasonal Blooms" and die cut it from brushed gold cardstock as well as a simple frame to tie it all in.  I really am pleased with how simple, and appealing to my eye, this card is.

My next card is created using the "Nature Blossoms" stamp set.  It is also top folding measuring 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".  I just love Altenew's floral images.

  I started with watercolor paper and using the 36 pan watercolor set, laid down several shades of pink and let them flow into each other.  For the main images I stamped just the outline stamps for both the blossom and the leaves and then heat embossed with fine detail white embossing powder, watercolored and then cut out using the coordinating die set.

  Now, onto the "shine"!  I took all of the cut images and rubbed "Versamark" ink onto them and then coated with a glitter embossing powder.  They now have a grainy texture to them, which I believe, makes the glitter stand out even more.  I cut the swirl out of glitter cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the "Sentiment Strips" stamp set.  Both the top panel and the flower is mounted with foam tape.  Finally, teeny rhinestones were added.

My final card is side folding measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and actually has very little shine to it.  I must say, the colors are quite bold, which I do not typically use and often feel uncomfortable using.  However, it turned out very appealing to me.  Maybe because one can't go wrong with primary colors!

The base is "Neenah Solar White" cardstock.  I die cut, using the "Lattice" cover die in a primary blue cardstock as the first layer.  For the next layer, I die cut the label shape out in "Neenah Solar White".  The stamps used were from Altenew's "Morning Flowers" stamp set using Lawn Fawn ink.  I die cut "thanks" out from the "Seasonal Blooms" set in shiny gold cardstock and adhered tiny rhinestones throughout the card.

Thanks for looking!