Sneak Peek #4: "Cuddles and Hugs"

It is with great joy I give you a little peek of my seventh set with Gina K Designs, "Cuddles and Hugs", available for purchase tonight at 10 PM CST!

The window and embossed oval frame for the koalas (which I cut out and popped up with dimensionals) were made using a Nestabilities Classic Oval. The Sahara Sand base (a terrific color with the koalas!) was stamped with the SU! "Sanded" background in Encore Silver ink (looks like a luxurious handmade, shimmery threaded paper) I also made a simple scored border around the edge with my Scor-Pal. The leaves are stamped in Always Artichoke, which I blended the color a little with my Aquapainter, and then shadowed with my warm gray 20% Prismacolor marker. SU! Silver Hodge Podge frames the sentiment "wild thing", accented with the Gina K Zoo Brads (don't these green ones look terrific with the leaves?) I continued the sentiment from the front to the inside:

I can't wait for you to see the rest of my cuddly "pairs", and hope you fall in love with them like I have, it's a very personal set!* I just get a warm, fuzzy feeling every time I look at these two snugglys! Don't they make you want to give someone a HUG? you can tell me "yes" or "no" in the comments! ;)

You can use the images to represent ANYONE who hugs (or needs a hug!), brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, friends etc! I kind of think of this set as more "straightforward" than my previous ones, although you can, of course, stick on a party hat or balloon etc, these animals already "accessorize" each other LOL, so I don't feel like I need to do much more stamping other than the main image and then color it! (if you like your stamping "fast", and not having to make many "choices" about your layout, you'll find his set very easy to work with!) :) And, as I hope you've come to expect with all my sets, you'll have a TON of greetings to mix and match, that will also coordinate with my other animal sets and all the "relations" stamps (mom, dad, etc) from "Hip Hop Accessories" to help you define your couples! The eucalyptus leaves you see here is one of two images I've included to help you easily create the perfect little jungle backdrops for all your "wild things"!

Now, here's how I made them even "fuzzier": Koh-i noor pencils, NO blending or OMS this time (SO many ways to use the wonderful pencils!)

Since koalas have that downy fur with the gray and white peeping through, I decided to stamp them on my Sahara Sand CS first instead of white CS. I chose my gray and white pencils and starting with the white, made a kind of cross hatching "furry" stroke all over the koalas, then did the same with my gray. What is interesting it that the white kind of resisted the gray(just like when you use white with ink), it wasn't covered up by it, very cool! It was just the effect I'd hoped for, turned out looking really furry! So I can tell I'm going to really enjoy using the pencils, on all different CS colors, with or without OMS!

Release party tonight 7 PM CST! (Last chance, you have until 1 PM CST TODAY (Friday, June 20th) to get your name thrown in the hat for a chance to win this set!) Gina is also giving one away on her blog, go leave a comment there! and be sure to check out other designers (Emily, Barb, and Faith, hope I didn't miss anybody!) peeks AND leave some love over on Jessie my guest designer's, blog, woo hoo!

*The drawings in this set celebrating friendship and love were inspired by my family and friends, and was originally suggested by my friend Donna Baker several months ago. Donna is a "champion hugger" BTW! Just the right grip and pressure, not too hard, not too soft! She also makes her daily rounds leaving "cyberhugs" on her favorite blogs. She's just a spreader of love, so it came as no surprise to me when she mentioned a terrific idea for a stamp: animals hugging, and the greeting "Never be the first to let go of a hug". Well, I LOVED that idea, so I quickly got to work. The rest of the greetings and all the animals I chose to draw were my own, but I just have to share her response to my first drawing I made for the set, these two koalas (the gentlest, cuddliest of animals, and ones that apparently a LOT of you were wanting based on all the requests I've read lately! :) :
"That's PERFECT!! It's me & my mom. She LOVED Koala bears and of course I do too...I am just like her. (her mother passed away 12 years ago) You had no idea this would be JUST THE RIGHT ANIMAL but I believe God spoke to your spirit via mine. Isn't He awesome like that??" It really gave my goosebumps! (So whenever I use the koalas now, no matter who it's for, I will also think of Donna & her Momma... )