Friday, June 20, 2008

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... )

41 comments:

  1. OMG! This is super cute... I started singing the song when I saw it and as I scrolled down there were the rest of the words.... you make my heart sing! I think I love this set!

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  2. awww - that is just the sweetest story ever!! And Donna is one of the sweetest people, she's so nice!!

    Your card is beautiful and now I need that silly sanded background stamp...darn you!! ;)

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  3. Oh my gosh, this is too much! I adore your precious card, Melanie! I love how you created the sweet koala's furry-ness (so smart!) I'm so moved by your inspiration for this set-I had no idea that the wonderful Donna was behind it! OH thank you, Donna!! Now these will become even more special to me too. This set could also have be called *Warm and Fuzzies* cuz that's how I feel inside right now! :)

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  4. I can't wait to get my hands on these rubber hugs! The koalas are so cute, and I love the sentiments. Congrats, Melanie, you've done it again!

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  5. I love those Koala bears!!! So excited to see the rest of the set!!

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  6. Melanie! This is so wonderful! I've loved all the images I've seen so far and I can't wait to get ahold of these cuties! Great job. The Lion and Lioness are me and DH! LOL! That was my first thought when I saw them on Gina's blog.

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  7. OMG!! LOVE it!! Love your card, the score lines, the leaves how they are placed...and this image is just so awesome! TGIF!! LOL!

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  8. This is adorable! Another must have set. Our family gives hugs all the time so it would be used alot. Thanks for a chance.

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  9. I love your card, Melanie! Thank You for the Cyber Hug (and real ones too) there are tears streaming down my face reading your post-it means so much to me and I can't wait to share this with my sisters!! Thank You for running with my idea; I'm honored to have been your inspiration for this set!!! Of course every time I use the Koalas, I will not only think of my mom, I will think of you and Thank God you chose to honor that special relationship between a child (me) and its momma and the value of a hug via deeply-etched rubber and will thank God for your special giftings!

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  10. Gina hit the motherlode when she added you to her design team. This set is precious.
    Cheryl Sims

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  11. So adorable! I was coloring in these cute little guys last night...love them!

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  12. Love the koalas....can't wait to see the rest of the set - guess I'll be ordering again from Gina K!

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  13. Yes, they do make you want to give someone a HUG! Ohh, I just LOVE bears, and these little cuties are definitely on my WISH LIST now! So sweet. I thought the lions were cute from Gina's blog, but then I came here to see what you had created. WOW! These are even cuter. Great job, Melanie! I can't wait to see the rest of the set. :) Kel

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  14. Your card is awesome Melanie!! I love this set, and I love the story about Donna, I can totally see that!!

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  15. This is so sweet!!! Your koalas are just adorable!!! Very excited to see all the other cuties in this set. Of course that song will be stuck in my head all day.....

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  16. Oh, My, Koalas! Do you know how many little kids just love koalas! GReat set that I would love to have.

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  17. This is beyond adorable! LOVE it! TFS...looking forward to all of the new stuff! Have a wonderful day! :)

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  18. You have done it again, Melanie!! The koalas are adorable as well as the lions I saw on Gina's site! As an animal lover I have so enjoyed each and every one of your stamp sets. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!!!

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  19. Very cute! Love the card style & scoring, you have such wonderful ideas! I was going to say 'cool' ideas but I don't know if it's cool to say cool...my teenage Daughter wouldn't think so!
    Laurie

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  20. You've done it! Those flamingo's are as good as mine!

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  21. Very very cool! I love the Koalas and the Lions that Gina shared - awesome!

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  22. Yes, I started this morning sharing hugs with my DH and DS. It may be awhile before DD wakes up and gets a hug. lol

    Thank you for showing how you made the koala look fuzzy.
    You designed another great set that will be very popular.

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  23. Hi Mel!
    This is just the the sweetest set yet! Thank you for sharing your inspirational story with us. It's amazing how we are all connected in ways we don't often realize!

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  24. Your Koalas are so cute and cuddly. I am in awe of how you colored them...they look so life-like!

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  25. This card is just adorable! It is so unique! Love the koalas and can't wait to see the rest of the set!
    ~Laurie

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  26. These are just so cute Melanie. Your talent just shines through these images. I can't waait to see the entire set. Congratulations on your achievement.

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  27. *Happy dance*

    My koalas are here, my koalas are here, my koalas are here.... :-D
    (now I'm only missing the pandas... ;-))

    And your coloring is perfect. I think I will have to get some fun flock for those two!!♥

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  28. what darling little koalas!! I LOVE them!! WTG Donna for the suggestion - I'm so glad you put that idea into motion! Can't wait to see the rest :)

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  29. Oh, how cute...koalas!!! I popped over from Donna's site and had to leave a comment because I thought your post was so very sweet! She IS a wonderful person, so nice!

    Your card is fabulous Melanie - now that I have your blog, I can come over everyday and check things out - LOL! *STAMPIN HUGS* Alex

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  30. This is a fantastic set. I love the samples that Gina and Jessie did. I can't wait to see the rest of the animals. Your card is adorable, and I love the use of the sanded background with silver ink. Very clever.

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  31. OMG!!!!!!!!!! So stinkin' CUTE!!!!!!! I want those stamps for sure!!!

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  32. I love, love, love this card!! The images are just darling. Your fur coloring is awesome and using silver to stamp Sanded is a stroke of genius! Going to check the others now.

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  33. oh I love it, love it! This is so sweet! You have me hooked!

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  34. Yes it does make me want to give someone a hug! I think I'm going to go give my son a hug! LOL This is adorable and another Melanie must-have for me! :)

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  35. Awwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How sweeeeeeet!!!! You KNOW these will be on my order at midnight!!!!!! :)

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  36. OHH Melanie.. You've done it once again!!! This is AWESOME!!! The huggin is toooo stinkin' cute!! I just adore your animals!!

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  37. YES!!

    At first I thought you had used flocking on those adorable "huggables"! thanks for the explanation! As usual, Melanie, your sets blow me away!! Great!!

    Kim Marie

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  38. this is so cute, i love that you stamped them on craft cardstock, it looks awesome

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