Wednesday, June 27, 2012

You're invited!

The Gina K. Design Team is excited to invite you to another fabulous Release Party!!! The party is tomorrow, Thursday, June 28 at 11:00 am Central Time in the Stamp TV Release Party Forum. Join us for Challenges, Contest Questions, Design Team Samples, Full Stamp Set Reveals and, of course, party chit chat!!! Everything will go "live" at 11:00 am Central in Gina's Store, so there won't be any long wait to start shopping!

To kick things off, here again are the sneak peeks Gina shared this week. You will be able to see the full stamp set reveal in less than 24 hours!


Hope to see you at the party, here are all the details again:

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Silver Linings


It's my turn today to post on the GRS blog...here's the card I came up with, inspired completely by Florida's current deluge from Debby and the news that nearby Black Creek is overflowing its banks and its residents are voluntarily evacuating!  My heart aches for them. Sometimes, you just have to laugh to keep from crying!

My brother who lives near the Calcasieu river in Louisiana knows all too well what this is like!  I'm so grateful that he is building a new house on higher ground!  My prayers are certainly with the people of north Florida and south Georgia dealing with the aftermath of Debby right now.  I hope it won't be as awful as forecasters say that it could be!

Notes:
Merry Marine
Memento inks Snowcone assortment
Crate Paper Story Teller designer paper
Copic markers
7gypsies ruler
Martha Stewart "raindrops"
May Arts ribbon  

Stars and Stripes Forever!


This week's CPS sketch, sponsored by Sizzix, really lent itself to a simple patriotic card featuring stars4you from The {Stamps} of Life.

Notes:
stars4you
Pebbles "Let Freedom Ring" designer paper
Sizzix circle framelits and star dies
Memento, Ranger and SU inks
Kaiser Craft pearl

Monday, June 25, 2012

GRS Design Team Challenge


This month's GRS design team challenge is to use a stamp in a way other than the obvious way it was intended.  Here, I used the bowling ball and pin from our new Kingpin appetizer set to construct a flower, paired with a sentiment from Bloom and Grow.  The leaves are cut with Spellbinder's dies.  

Notes:
Kingpin
Bloom and Grow
My Mind's Eye Happier designer paper
Memento ink Gumdrop assortment
Spellbinders label, leaves dies
Kaiser Craft rhinestones
satin ribbon

Visit the GRS blog, and the blogs of my design team mates to see their challenge creations.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Flower Soft Stamps


This Mabel Lucie Atwell cutie from Flower Soft makes me giggle every time I see her!  This image has the nostalgia of "Morton's Salt" vintage artwork, don't you think?!  So darling, and just plain ole happy!

Our Flower Soft team is featuring projects with Mabel Lucie Atwell stamps, and/or the Oriental Blossoms kit, so be sure to visit The Flower Soft Blog and my team mates' blogs to see what they've created!
Notes:
Let's Dance Mabel Lucie Atwell stamp set
My Mind's Eye "Happier" designer paper
Memento ink
Copic markers
buttons
twine
dimensional adhesive

Chevrons2stamp and Diecut!


This week's CPS sketch is sponsored by Sizzix...my card uses a brand new stamp from The {Stamps} of Life, and a matching die to cut the shapes.  LOVE that!

Notes:
chevrons2stamp
chevron dies
hexagons2love
dictionary4me
Crate Paper Story Teller designer paper
Clearsnap ink

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

i {heart} papers design team challenge!


It's i {heart} papers' design team challenge day, and this month we're playing with Studio Calico journal kits.  I must admit that at first, I was intimidated by this little 4 x 8 journal and its embossed cover, but once I got started I had a blast with it, and it is gonna be one of those projects that just keeps evolving and turns out to be hard to put down!


First, I painted the cover with acrylic paint, then went over it with Memento Peanut Brittle ink and Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink to emphasize the embossing.  Next, I tore the pages apart and divided them into "weeks" with a rainbow of card stock pages.  The entire journal was punched and bound with the Bind-it-All, and then the ring was covered with kraft corrugated card stock.


I used an assortment of papers and stamps to embellish the divider pages, and included quotes or images on most of the opposing journal pages.  The images were stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers or paper-pieced...to keep the ink vibrant and also to prevent bleed-through on the journaling pages, they were colored on Copic card stock, cut out and glued to the thinner paper.  Most are encouraging messages that serve as a reminder to treat each day as something special, and that the things worth having are worth waiting for and working hard to obtain.  Life has been a circus lately, so the sentiment on first page is definitely appropriate!


For now, I've not included any embellishments.  Their bulk would make journaling a challenge, so as I finish a section, I'll go back and add some pretties to the pages along with ribbon or ric rac to cover the seams between papers. 





This was a really fun project, and once the pages are filled with Real Life it will be a real treasure!  Be sure to visit our design team to see what great ideas they've come up with for theirs!
Stamps:
Technique Tuesday Simple Joy
GRS Abracadabra
GRS Bloom and Grow
GRS Happiness
GRS Kite and Kite Sentiment
GRS Life and Crayons


Papers:
Copic blending card stock
Simple Stories Fabulous
Simple Stories Summer Fresh
Echo Park Sweet Day
Crate Paper Story Teller
Basic Grey Indie Bloom
Kraft coin pocket


Supplies:
Studio Calico journal kit
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Memento Peanut Brittle ink
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
Copic markers
i {stick} papers tape
dimensional adhesive

Friday, June 15, 2012

New GRS Appetizers!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps is debuting two brand new appetizer sets today!  Here they are!


 Kingpin 






Be sure to visit my design team mates' blogs to see their amazing samples with these brand new sets (saying a prayer that mine arrive today...they have gotten lost or stalled somewhere on their long trek across country from West Coast to East!)


Jeni also has a great sketch for you on the GRS blog!  Check it out and play along!  For my card, I let the chevron paper follow the sketch for me!

Notes:
Gourmet Rubber Stamps Diners set, Bloom and Grow
Simple Stories Summer Fresh designer paper
Memento ink
Tim Holtz distress ink
Copic markers
jute thread
buttons from the stash

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

You ROCK!


This week's CPS sketch lent itself nicely to a CAS yet exceptionally blingy card!  Rock stars normally wear lots of sparkle and bling, so that's what this card is covered with too!

Notes:
Stamps:  guitars2play from The {Stamps} of Life
Ink:  Stephanie Barnard Colorbox for Clearsnap, Memento
Markers:  Copic
Bling:  Kaiser Craft
Sparkly card stock:  Stampin' Up

Monday, June 11, 2012

New from TSOL!


Three new sets came out for TSOL club members on the 7th, and today they're available to everyone.  Check out what our design team has done with them!

Saturday, June 9, 2012

A Turtle 2 Love!


Here's a flip-it card for one of my son's friends...a girl friend but not the girlfriend, LOL!  The paper-pieced turtle shell is what first inspired the color scheme although the "rippling water" background paper kinda side-tracked it.  Still, it's a bright, fun card for a teen-aged girl who loves turtles!

Notes:
turtles2love
framelit circle dies
flip-it die

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Something New and Different!


I really LOVE my Copic markers, but usually use them with line art images and Memento ink.  I decided to try them with something a little different for today's Dreamweaver Thursday Tutorial on the Paper Craft Planet blog.  I really love how it turned out!  The colors look so soft and transparent on the subtle texture of the embossing.


My other fun find for this project was a 4-inch square artist's board block from Michael's.  It has a smooth texture that I painted with Tim Holtz distress crackle paint and sponged with distress inks.  I had never seen this product before, but I'll be looking for them again because they are so easy to work with!  

Notes:
Prima "Parfait" designer paper from the Madeline Collection
artist block from Michael's
Tim Holtz worn lipstick crackle paint
May Arts ribbon, twine
EK success swirl punch

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Gina K Inspiration Hop, Day 3


The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!


Here's a simple summer card using our new Stamp TV Kit, Hello Sunshine!  You know how your flip flops show your toe imprints in them after you've had them for a while?!  LOL!  That is how I tried to color them!

Notes:
Hello, Sunshine!  rubber or clear 
Copic markers
flower brads
rhinestones


Here's one with Birthday Greetings.  I just love these colors!  Great prints in this paper pack!

Notes:
Birthday Greetings rubber or clear
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
paper rose
pearls
grosgrain ribbon


And here's my match game again...still working on that box!  I'll share it as soon as it's finished, maybe even later today...

Notes:
Life's a Beach rubber or clear (the one free with three!)
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
GKD Pure Luxury card stock
GKD Poolside designer paper
Nestabilities classic squares, large and small
Copic markers

Check out this great inspiration:

Monday, June 4, 2012

Gina K Inspiration Hop, Day 2!


The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!


I love Theresa's Under the Sea, and as with all of our new GKD stamps, now it's available in rubber or clear!  This set is one that is likely to see lots of ink since it is perfect for those of us living in Florida!

Notes:
Under the Sea rubber or clear
Copic markers
Tim Holtz tea dye and weathered wood distress inks
Flower Soft Ultrafine Sand
bling "bubbles"
twine



My card using Rupa's Enjoy the Journey is also a challenge card for Cat's Let's Be CAS About That Man challenge.  I love these warm colors...the plaid paper is perfect for a guy card!

Notes:
Enjoy the Journey rubber or clear
GKD Pure Luxury card stock
GKD Poppy Prints designer paper
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers
Tim Holtz tea dye and frayed burlap distress inks
dimensional adhesive
paper piercer

Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

Sunday, June 3, 2012

What a weekend!


The weekend is drawing to a close...it was a weekend of highs and lows, of great joy and also much sadness.  

The Enchanted Scrapbook closed its doors Saturday night.  I am so sad to say goodbye!  The card I'm sharing is from the Copic class I taught last Monday night, a fun Stamping Bella image by Mo Manning.  What a great group of students!  I hope and pray that I'll see each of you again soon!  I really love teaching...it gives me a such a rush to see a student master a technique that they've previously struggled with.  It is so fun to share the love we have for this fun hobby!  I am so grateful to Kristi for giving me the opportunity to teach at TES...I will miss shopping at your store and visiting with your girls!      

Our church service this morning was a celebration of the accomplishments of the graduating class of 2012!  The youth band led us in worship, and they were amazing!  We rejoiced with nearly a dozen high school seniors, two college graduates, and their parents.  Our son, Matthew, who has always been homeschooled, was among them.  Many of these students were in 1st or 2nd grade when we first started attending church at FIUMC.  Lots of great memories along the way...I'm so proud of each and every one of these precious kids!  I love when they come and give me hugs and share what is happening in their lives.  I cried when I read what Jeremy, our youth leader, wrote in the gift given to Matthew, a beautiful small leather-bound version of The Message.  Today was such a fantastic, memorable Sunday!

I know this probably sounds silly, but I already miss our tree!  Each time I pull into or out of the driveway, the space it used to occupy seems so naked!  In some ways, the change will be welcome...no more hickory nuts to dent the hood of the truck!  Still, it is such an abrupt change it will take me a while to get used to it!

On a much more serious note, you may have heard about the accident in Nebraska that took the lives of an elderly man and two basketball coaches, and left several young players severely injured.  One of those who lost his life was the cousin of the husband of my OCL DT mate, Debbie Fisher.  And one in the hospital suffering severe head injury requiring major surgery was her own young cousin, Chad.  I hope you will join me in lifting your prayers for them and for their community as they heal from this awful tragedy.  They need some miracles.  

I'm glad that stamping is such great "therapy!"  I'll be back in the morning with more cards!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My Pond or Yours?


Hello and happy Saturday!  Finally, the weekend!  We've had such a hectic week with lots of deadlines and extra things to do.  Some were fun (like a graduation celebration at the church last night) and others not-so-much (like having the fallen tree cut into sections and hauled away, new tires for the truck and a new door panel for the car...$1500 + $780 + $825 = $$$ yuck)!  The storm and big tree ordeal last weekend put me WAY behind in my prep for releases for Gina K, Gourmet Rubber Stamps, and The Stamps of Life, so all week long I have been struggling to catch up.  I am so happy to finally have a chance to sleep in and take a wee breather!  I might even take a nap this afternoon!

Today's card is another version of CPS 267 using turtles2love, brand new from The {Stamps} of Life.  This stamp set is a really fun one because you can use it so many different ways...there's an outline stamp in two different sizes which you can color or paper piece, along with four patterned turtle shells in each size.  I thought this sketch kinda looked like two ponds with a stretch of sand between them.  If you look closely, you can see teeny turtles stamped onto the background.

Notes:
turtles2love
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers
Kaiser Craft Hunt and Gather designer paper
Clearsnap Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx
Sizzix Framelits circles
satin ribbon

Check out the TSOL turtles2love gallery to find lots of great ideas for this set.  We have such an amazingly creative design team...they come up with the best ideas!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Gina K Inspiration Hop!



The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

Today we are sharing samples made with two brand new sets, Melanie's Stately Flowers 4 and Tami's Ticket Trio.  Of course, the BIG news is that all of our new sets are available in both deeply etched rubber and high-quality clear photopolymer...that's SO exciting!  You can see all the new products from this release HERE.


My first project is one I've been rolling around in my mind for a while now, and Melanie's new set gave me some of the tools I needed to execute it.  It's an ukulele with a beautiful hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii.  I really love how it turned out!  Technically, Hawaii's state flower is a pale yellow hibiscus, but this brighter fuchsia-throated one goes so well with our Passionate Pink Pure Luxury card stock, I couldn't resist!

I hand cut the ukulele shape from some white-washed woodgrain paper, cut the sound hole with a Nestabilities circle, then added four Flower Soft wire "strings" through a bridge across the nut and through the headstock, which has four jeweled tuning gears.  Ukuleles have 4 (usually nylon) strings, guitars have 6...so when you can't tell the overall size of the instrument, that's how you can tell which it is!  I wish I would have had a score of Aloha 'Oe to use for the background!  This children's song from an old October Afternoon designer paper pad is what I had on hand, but something Hawaiian would have been much better!

Notes:
Melanie's Stately Flowers 4 (rubber or clear)
Pure Luxury card stock
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Tim Holtz tea dye and frayed burlap distress inks
Copic markers
dimensional adhesive
Nestabilities classic circles large and scrap of dark designer print for sound hole
October Afternoon music paper
Flower Soft wire
ribbon
jewels


While shopping at the closeout sale at The Enchanted Scrapbook, I found this 7Gypsies ticket holder and just HAD to have it for Tami's newest set, Ticket Trio.  I made them all the same color combo, but with different occasions and accompanying sentiments...so fun!  I love them just like this, but they would make great little card starters!

Notes:
Tami's Ticket Trio (rubber or clear)


My final project for today is one I shared at release party using Tami's Ticket Trio.  Since my birthday is close to the 4th of July, it's in patriotic colors!

Notes:
Tami's Ticket Trio (rubber or clear)
Copic markers
Zva jewels

Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

GRS Diners Set and Sketch!


It's Diners' set release day for Gourmet Rubber Stamps, and also time for a new sketch challenge, which I have the pleasure of hosting!

Our new set is called Bloom and Grow!  I love its assortment of images!  For my card, I combined some "calico" style designer paper and crocheted lace with an old fashioned "Ball" jar and accompanying sentiment.  My grandmother had shelves and shelves of canned goods in jars like this, filled with vegetables and fruits from her garden.  Brings back warm, wonderful memories!

Notes:
Bloom and Grow
Copic blending paper
Crate Paper designer paper
Copic markers
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
Nestabilities classic rectangles 
crocheted lace, crochet thread
green stitched ribbon
button
tiny green jewel

I hope you'll join me for the sketch!  Visit the GRS blog to see more great ideas using stamps from this new Diners' set!