Inspiration Hop, Day 3: "By the Sea" and Free with Three!

Hello! I hope you have been enjoying our inspiration hop so far! Today we have two AWESOME sets to share, the first is Theresa Momber's "By the Sea", this is going to be one of my favorites from her, as I love the beach! Great for men and women alike, sail away on a virtual vacation with these gorgeous stamps! The sample below uses the new Pure Luxury Just Peachy with Chocolate Brown and Ocean Mist, I love this combo!

I stamped the bird and sentiment and then trimmed around the birdy's tail so I could die cut it with a Long Rectangle Nestabilities to look like he is wading into the scene. This sandpiper is one of favorite images in the set. Sponge on a little coral colored sunset and blue water, remove your die, color him with Copics and you have such a realistic scene you can almost feel the waves lapping over your toes! :) I placed my focal point low and then extended the sky into the peach layer, to really emphasize the vastness of it, adding some large and small seagulls from the set in Versamark to the peach layer above and more sponging to really emphasize the big expanse of sky. A little hemp tied in a sailor's knot (I found an easy tutorial for it online) finishes it simply.

Hope it inspires, this is my favorite card I've made for this release! I also can't wait to use it with my "Gifts from the Sea" set, too, the style and selection of images complement each other perfectly! Gorgeous images from her set for the background and shells for the foreground from mine and you can really make some sweet scenes! Congrats on an awesome set, Theresa, and thank you!

Next up, we have Gina's new Free with Three set "Elegant Elements". This set is a long time coming and I am amazed that this versatile set is FREE with the purchase of only three sets, (have you given Gina a virtual hug lately for her generosity? I mean honestly, anything free rocks and this set for me is at the tippy top of the heap of all her "Free with Three" offerings! Here are four patterned papers I was able to quickly crank out with just a few of the different elements on solid Pure Luxury colors: Key Lime, Kraft, Smoky Slate, and Ocean Mist ( from left to right using black , brown and cranberry, gray, and finally brown ink) The possibilities are really endless and creating patterns with stamping is one of my favorite things to do as a stamper.
This sample shows the Key Lime mat I made, layered onto White and Black Onyx. This round medallion is probably my favorite, all the little details inside but then the clean round border of the circle really lend it to both fussy and "frou frou" designs as well as clean and classic, you know? I used the "Border Bling" that fits the Labels One die, and I think the white embossing on black turned out really sharp! I thought using the sentiment about a "pearl" was perfect for white on black and then accented the medallion centers with adhesive pearls. I love how nicely these borders in "Border Bling" really tie in and bring out all the little dots in the "Elegant Elements", these two sets are great for making a really detailed looking card in flash!

I used the "Border Bling" that fits the Labels One die, and I think the white embossing on black turned out really sharp! I thought using the sentiment about a "pearl" was perfect for white on black and then accented the medallion centers with pearls. I love how nicely these borders in "Border Bling" really tie in and bring out all the little dots in the "Elegant Elements", these two sets are great for making a really detailed looking card in flash!

Thanks for visiting today and please come back tomorrow for the final day of our hop! Please enjoy all the projects the team has created for you!

Gina K

Melanie Muenchinger (you are here!)

Michelle Woerner

Sharon Harnist

Suzanne Dean

Theresa Momber

Tina Gilliland

Vicki Dutcher

AJ Otto

Carolina Buchting

Cathy Tidwell

Colleen Schaan

Deb Felts

Donna Baker

Giovana Smith

Janice Whiting

Jennie Harper

Jimmi Mayo

Lee Murphy