I HEART Gina K!

Oh, that lady is full of surprises!! I need to just plan on having all my posts at the ready for all her surprise announcements, you never know when they're going to come out! Today she revealed I am now a permanent addition to The Design Team, and so is the amazing and lovely Carolyn King! Can I get a Hip, Hip Hooray???!!!

I am thrilled, thrilled, THRILLED to not only be designing cards made with MY stamps, but getting to play with ALL the sets she and the rest of our talented team creates! They are all so unique and wonderful in their own ways, and I can't wait to create a few out of the box ideas for you with these sets! I hope to do all the illustrators proud and figure out a few ways to surprise them, too LOL! ;) It's going to be a REALLY fun release next week! I didn't think I could possibly be more excited about this one than I was my first, but I AM!!! Keep checking back for more surprises and details here!


Contest Update: Well, I am VERY pleased to report that at least FOUR more of you ARE ALIVE! ;) * Thanks for the new Hippy entries, I hope they keep coming in each day! I want to let everyone know that there WILL be more contests coming up, I apologize for the late notice on the contest if anyone was not able to get their stamps in time to participate. My next set was not originially scheduled to come out so soon (if the contest seems rushed!) but we are just SO darned excited about it, and want to give YOU more time to work with the new set because of all the opportunities it holds for fun spring cards and occasions (but you can BET we made SURE to include lots of images and greetings that you will keep it handy year round), so I definitely think it was a wise decision of Gina's to move it up and you will be very hoppy to get your hands on it sooner, too! :) Thanks, Gina, hugs!!!

NOW I NEED YOUR HELP spreading the word! I don't have a customer list, but I know there are a lot of other stampers out there who own the Hippy set (but may not be posting cards or don't have blogs for me to leave a mesage on), and don't know about my blog or this contest! If you happen to know somebody who has the stamps, can you help a sister** out and let her know about this opportunity for fREE STAMPS?? I'd really appreciate it! And thanks for eveyone who has been posting projects with my stams and giving me heads up on new sightings! You're the BEST!

I would encourage any of you who have it in the stamp budget to buy my next release as soon as you are able if you want to enter the next contest!! ;) More details will follow, I won't be able to announce the contest END date immediately because the EXACT release date for the next set(follwoing the one next week!) is yet to be determined, but you can be sure to have plenty of time to work, and yet not too long to wait(the best of both worlds)! ;)

So about the card above! Here's my latest and last version of a swinging monkey (at least, until I come with another one!) Super easy, draw a narrow rectangle below his bottom, and draw the diagonal line up through his hand using your straight edge as described in my previous post. I used is the now famous TARGET dollar spot DP and Rain Dots from Gina K's store(can't wait to start making some stuff this week using those fabulous pinks and green hearts!). Love putting the hippy greetings under them, a perfect fit! I used my real red marker to make a dotted border around my mat and the hearts to match the DP, this was a really way to bring out that adorable pattern on the paper. TIP: Especially for an image that is supposed to be moving(even if you haven't made a way for it to move liek the swing card with the brad) it works really well to have your image outside the border as if it's escaping the frame, but even if it's a static image, it walwasy adds interest to your layout. To do this, stamp, and color your image as ususal, then lay the image on your paper cut with the cutting track below where you want the mat to end. Slide the blade down to the top of where the image will extand out, remove the blade, and then put it back in on the other side of the image. Your'll ned your papersnips to finish the cutting. Very simple but looks really cool, and takes less time than having to cut out the entire imge and mounting it outside a plain sqaure, ya know? I'll post a pic of this another time for you visuals, I've got Sunday stuff to get on to!

Love and Blessings,
Melanie

*That's a joke, I know you're all well and kicking if you're here reading, the previous post will let you in on it!

**ME and HER!