"You Must have been a Beautiful Ba-BY..."

Every month, the Paper Craft Planet Super Nova Design Team pull together a huge album full of inspiration based on a theme. Last month, the album was "Spring into Spring". This month, to get ready for Mother's Day, our theme is "Mother & Child". What better way to kick off a new month than with a contest? No foolin', we're having a Guess the Baby contest! Are you ready? Match the baby with the Super Nova! Not just that... but you'll also have to guess who is missing! Yikes. Hard, I know. If you get them all right, you're entered to win stamps AND a $100 Amazon gift certificate to buy whatever other goodies you want! Check out the pics in the PCP forum today and list of desingers to choose from to start guessing and read more details on the contest!

More later! I have family in town this week, miss you!!

A Charmed Wreath

Quick post, I'm leaving town, back shortly! Here is a card I made using Gina's Wreath of Wishes," this month's Free with Three set , notice anything different? I stamped my little grape cluster charm from my "A Charmed Life" set in various spots to make it look like they were hanging off the vine, and I didn't even have to mask! This is such a fun way to make the wreath bushier or change it to make it more seasonal... Depending on the colors you choose they could even look like different berries or even like trailing flowers bunchesflowers, think wisteria etc. I have some more charming wreaths to share, I'm so excited about the possibilities these charms hold with the wreath set, the size of the charm images is the perfect scale! coming up , can't wait!

Hope you all had a great weekend! :) (I'll show the finished card pic later, unfortunately I didn't save it to my computer and my camera battery needs to be charged, oops! glad I had the closeup!)

Guest Designer: Cathy Edgar

Cathy Edgar has long been devoted to "all things Gina K" and has been creating beautiful projects with my sets for many months now, I knew she would do beautiful things with a "A Charmed Life" this month! Here is a collage she created using the wine glass, different toasts and the rose from "A Year of Flowers". I just love all the bits and pieces she added, the sheet music is such a nice touch. Wouldn't this be a lovely way to decorate a cozy corner in a formal living area or piano room? She is currently giving away this beautiful framed piece of art, just visit her blog and leave a comment for a chance to win!

Here's more about Cathy:

Cathy’s favorite:
Technique: My favorite technique is the copic gradiant color blending technique

Colors/color combo: I tend to like muted earthy colors in browns, greens and mauve

Type of project to make that’s not a card? I really enjoy creating Name/Theme frames and altered journals

Gina K set by Melanie: This is a no brainer, A Year of Flowers will probably always be my favorite set from any designer, but there are many close seconds like Just so Sporty and Jumping for Joy

Gina K sets (from any illustrator): Take Flight just took over first spot from Botanical Dreams, sorry Asela J
Craft supplies I can’t live without: My copic markers and copic airbrush system

I've been stamping for (how long) about 2 ½ years

I got started stamping… I attended a SU party at my daughter’s, made a card, and the rest is history!?! I think that the ink I got on my fingers permeated my brain.

I get my inspiration from: I get my inspiration from everywhere, but mostly I pick up bits and pieces from all the different blogs that I visit of the stampers that I truly admire. I then figure out how it works for me.

The most important things I’ve learned about stamping/cardmaking/scrapbooking are : There are thousands of very talented creative people who are willing to share what they do for the love of sharing. I have also learned that I NEED to color or create something daily (when mama’s happy everybody’s happy!)

Some of my stamping/crafting goals are : I set 3 goals for myself this year.
1. Was achieved when Melanie picked me as her guest designer this month, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
2. To be published: this would require submitting—still working up to that one
3. One more Guest Design invite that has been my dream for over a year. If you know me, you know which one it is--

Some of my stamping/crafting accomplishments are: DT member for Dog Gone Stamps, Guest Design Team Member for Artistic Outpost, and I think my biggest accomplishment is Guest Designer for Melanie because it was not one I applied for, she asked me!

When I’m not stamping, I’m probably: working or with my kids(four grown kids) and grandkids(11.5) and husband of 38 years.

I really enjoyed getting to know more about Cathy, be sure to visit her often for more inspiration and check back for more "A Charmed Life" projects she's designed in the weeks ahead!

Potluck Friday Challenge

I'm hosting Potluck Friday over at Stamp TV this week, and I enjoyed Sharri's challenge last week of incorporating something from the kitchen on the card so much, it got me thinking this week we should incorporate stamping with something that's not a stamp! (it need not be from the kitchen, although mine is) What do I mean? Find something with a cool texture or shape that you can ink...then stamp it on your paper! :) Some example are leaves, a rubber eraser, cork, sole of a shoe, etc and then see how these shapes and textures will compliment your Gina K Designs or other favorite rubber stamp images...
Here I tried to recreate those cool "cup splatter" stamps I've seen before which look so great on collage style cards or similar, using a real wine glass to compliment the wine glass image! I rolled the bottom of wine glass base onto my Cranberry Crisp ink pad, then spritzed it with a little water to blur it and stamped it onto some natural antique parchment paper from Paper Temptress. I love how it looks like a used placemat now, LOL! I painted in the wine with ink from the pad and my Niji waterbrush. I added a teensy bit of shading with a warm grey Copic and painted on a little white from my craft pad to the glass.

I hadn't had a chance to ink up this quote yet from "A Charmed Life", it really reminds of the days BK (Before Kids) when I would show up at my neighbor friend's place after work to moan about "my 8-5" over a glass of vino, there's just something about "whining" to your BFF over some wine! To go along with my little 'tude (that's "attitude" for short! snort!), I used "DIVA" and my tiara stamps (don't forget the rhinestone bling!), both from my "Little Tees" for my charm, LOVE how well these go with the quote LOL! Think thi would be a really fun "having one of those days??" kind of card! :) I ran my black marker along the edge of the mat and adhered it to my Gina K Pure Luxury White Base.

Hope you'll try this challenge, upload your creations to Stamp TV with the tag STVPF5, can't wait to see what you dig up! (Who knows, it just might become your favorite new stamp!) ;) For ore details on the Potluck Friday Challenge, click here!

Spotlight on Hands

I had the idea to make this tender image of a child holding a parent's hand (from my "Hand in Hand" set) peeping through this wreath from Gina K's "Wreath of Wishes", this month's Free with Three set, the couple or friends hand will work too for friendship or romantic cards, but today I was thinking about spring which made me think of Mother's Day! I stamped the wreath, trimmed outside and in the center, then stamped the hands and loosely cut them out so the outer edge would be hidden under the wreath. After coloring everything with Copics, I popped the wreath up on TWO layers of dimensionals for a more shadowbox look. The Gina K Pure Luxury White Base was stamped with this greeting from "Greetings For Her" before I Cuttlebugged it with the Stylized Flowers folder to match the wreath. I tied a piece of SU! rose 5/8" grosgrain over a die cut scalloped Nestablities circle and then added my wreath over that. This design would work for your own mother, or to honor a friend you want to recognize on Mother's Day for all she does for her little ones! This floral frame just adds such sweetness to the card, I'm so happy with how it turned out!

Have a wonderful day, thanks for visiting me! :)

When Life Gives You Wine... Make Lemonade!

or limeade in this case LOL! I decided to incorporate a couple of my tip suggestions from my "A Charmed Life" tip sheet into one card so you have a visual, but I didn't realize at the time I wrote about making a little lime wedge garnish how easily you could actually make one from the wine glass stamp in the set!! (hey, notice the little sunglasses charm? It's from "Little Tees"!)

For this card I inked up just the liquid part of the glass and stamped onto yellow and green DP from the Black Market "Letters from Paradise" pack Gina K sells!

Then I made some scribble lines with a black pen starting at the center and radiating out to make the textured sections in the citrus half.

I went back in scratching in some white with my Inkssentials pen and tracing the circle around the top, this adds a bit of rind and pulp! Cut out and mount on the card with dimensionals. Isn't that cool how the distressed pattern on the paper gives instant shadowing and the texture of the paper is a bit like a peel? (adds "appeal?" snort!)

The little umbrella I made by accordion-folding part of the pack's cover (approx 3x 1.5') so I could get all three prints on it and pressing a piece of 1/4" Scor-Tape along the top edge across the back and front, squishing it together and then adhering to my toothpick! Isn't that fun? (I still enjoy an occasional umbrella in my drink, a la Steve Martin in "The Jerk") ;)

And see the top pic for finished card! I pieced the drink concoction in the glass with a swirly part of the Black Market pattern I liked, just makes it more whimsical. I used more papers from this pack for my mats, too: yellow for the top since it had such a sunny afternoon feel, and the fuchsia pattern pattern (and again, that gorgeous texture!), gives it the look of patterned oilcloth on a patio table at some seaside cafe. I ran a black marker alogn the edge of each mat to give it the finest balck border. Don't forget some Stardust Stickles on the glass rim for some "sugah"!

PS I didn't even realize as I was making it, but it does fit the Stamp TV Potluck Friday Challenge this week, hosted by Sharri, to use something from your kitchen! The toothpick, score!! This is such a great challenge Sharri threw down, get ready to be inspired when you see how crafty our members have gotten so far with their kitchen supplies, please play along, too, you could win some stamps!

I am SO ready to hit the beach!!! Hope your day is sunny!

Sketch Challenge: Clean and Simple (CAS)

Here's what I made for Kurtis's sketch challenge this week on Stamp TV. The three hearts were cut using a Classic Heart Nestabilitie. Greeting from "A Charmed Life"(I just love this font) is stamped in Memento Black, CS is Gina K Pure Luxury White, and DP is Emily's Rich and Shabby" Digital. I used a black pen and piercing template to extend the dot dot dot to either sie to match the sketch better and add more detail. Originally I was going to make this a single layer card with the cuts through the front and DP inside so it would show through (much more CAS!), but I forgot to take one of my CS shims out of my Cuttlebug sandwich when I went to emboss a square on the front to frame it up and it cut through. So here is "Plan B"! The white layer is popped up over the DP and a half back pearl is attached to the center of each heart with a glue dot.

I hope you'll play along in the sketch challenge, you have until 8 AM CST on Thursday 3/26 to upload a card for a chance at a free set of stamps!

Cheers! Clean and Simple...

Here's a very basic card with "A Charmed Life" but it's one of my favorites because the simplicity of the layout and that golden shimmery mat, this stardream Gold (text weight is nice for layering) from Paper Temptress, is like liquid gold catching the sunlight, isn't that paper to die for?! Really sets off the white wine in the glass. I added two white sateen flowers. especially love using these shimmery flowers with a shimmery paper, and adhesive pearls to the centers and to the wine charm ring. A simple "cheers!" is stamped on the tag. All my stamping here was with Memento Black, but I stamped it off first so it would be a dark grey, for a more subtle look. This could be for most any occasion, I just think it says "celebrate! You're fabulous!" Base is Gina K Pure Luxury White, silver is SU! I colored the glass and added shadows with my C-1 and C-3 Copics (love how these pick up the silver), adding just that light gray all over the glass makes it seem separate from the background and gives it dimension. and colored the white wine with Lionet Gold and Buttercup Yellow Copics. For shading the liquid, make the "u" around the underside edge of the glass the darkest, here the liquid is the deepest, and lightest in the center.

Have a great day!

What's for Dinner?

This is a little 5x7 acrylic frame I picked up at Hobby lobby for 1.99. I cut some Gina K Pure Luxury Black Onyx CS slightly smaller than the farame to fit and a piece of Natural Parchment from Paper Temptress to layer on top of that to make it look like a formal printed menu. The glass from "A Charmed Life" is stamped in Memento Tuxedo black at the bottom corner and colored with peerless watercolor Royal Crimson and a Niji waterbrush. I stamped one of the 25 pt Times Roman letters from my Just Rite set (M for Muenchinger) onto the little tag on white CS and cut it out (nbut now that I have the 5/8" circle punch, IN will be punching them from here on out!!) :) "On the Menu" I arranged in the 50 and 95 pt font sets on the Just Rite rectangle stamper. After adhering 3 fancy corners punches, I slipped this into the frame and now I have a dry erase board I can change up (4 packs of black dry erase markers at Hobby Lobby, too, cheap!) it is really fun to write out your dinner menu, even when it's not a fancy meal, just to make it feel like you're eating out, or to simply let everyone know, since everyone will ask, "What's for dinner?" Guests love to read it as they come in to kitchen and get extra hungry! ;) This is a fast project you can match to your kitchen or dining decor and makes a GREAT gift, for the person who has everything! be sure to add their own monogram initial for their family.

Click on the pic for a closeup and you'll see I made a little Polyshrink wine charm of the glass to match. they sell the wine charm rings, beads, everything you need for this at Hobby lobby or your LSS. Stamp in Stazon, I colored mine with a Copic before shrinking. Don't forget to stamp your charm of choice ifirst, it's gonna be really tiny (and look so cute!) after shrinking

One of a Kind

This card uses Asela's new "Zoo Animals"! I stamped them in a little pyramind, just eyeballing it, and draw a rough rectangle around the long sentiment. I popped this up to partially cover their faces make the cards "extra kooky", love the one little eye peeping around the side! I drew in a little straight lineto his hand for the stick. Because of the "one of a kind" sentiment, I wanted them all to different, so each meerkat is colored witha different brown Copic, and the one with the sign is paperpieced with Basic Grey Granola striped paper, DP mat is from the Granola pack also., love these earthy colors and prints! I roughed up the edges a little bit to add interest and mounted it on a Gina K Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss base (available next month for purchase in packs, OR you can get a few sheets of it now in the Floral Frenzy kit! Shadow was drawn in with the C-3 copic, makign the shadow really angled this way gives a lot of dimension to the stack!

Have a one of a kind weekend! do soemthing new! (even if that just means takign a risk stamping!) ;)

Margaritaville

Margaritas are really, REALLY popular in Austin, TX. Make the "A Charmed Life" glass truly authentic-looking by stamping it on vellum , then paper piecing just the liquid with this awesome Astrobright Green Textured CS from Paper Temptress, has kind of a bubbly, hammered look to the paper which perfectly mimics a slushy frozen concoction! Putting it behind the velum would have more realistic I suppose, but you see less of that cool texture that way, this way also you don't have to worry about hiding your adhesive when you just glue it on top! (Isn't that cool how the colored layers behind show through the glass?) I used this again in the mats plus the other two textured shades, yellow and red. Card base is Paper Temptress Blu Raspberry, and black mat (that's just one big black sqaure by the way behind there, isn't it kind of cool thow that black outline snakes around...?) is Gina K Black Onyx . I painted on a little white from my SU! white craft pad for shine, outlined the rim with Stardust Stickles, and stuck some adhesive metal dots onto the charm ring. Balck ribbon is from the Floral Frenzy kit. I love how this layout turned out: after moving my panels back and forth for longer than I will admit to, I finally decided offsetting them to the edges made a really funky fresh look i was kind of going for a "beach towel"/'club" vibe, how'd I do?

It got up to 82 here today, and it's still officially winter! Who's in need a cold drink...? have a good one! Cheers!

Bravo!

Today's card was inspired by Paula Laird, many of you might know by her by mrslaird her SCS name, I had the pleasure of meeting her a few weeks ago. While we were discussing stamps (of course!) she mentioned the lack of "theater stamps" available, as she has many people who perform she would like to make cards for, and mentioned roses (among other things) being suitable images for an opening night. Living in the artsy town I do and a lover of the arts myself, I wanted to make a card that would work for this occasion also, my very talented friend Ken Bradley regularly appears in numerous plays around Austin and I would love to give him a special card next time I turn out for a performance! So here's my tribute "to the theater", a single red rose (from "A Year of Flowers")and drink (from "A Charmed Life"), with black and white accents, that gorgeous DP is Black Market Ebony and Alabaster that Gina K sells, and the halfback pearl accents configured this way add elegance (but are also a nod to the stage lights or a lit marquis!) Don't forget to add them to the charm ring!

I wanted to share this card today especially because I used just two red Copics for flower and wine, the same ones I used in this tutorial Gina has featured on StampTV right now, Cardinal and Lipstick Red, R59 and R29. For the "in between" shades, I did some tip to tip coloring by picking up ink from my darker Cardinal Copic with my lighter strong red Copic and coloring. I made that large BRAVO with my Just Rite 95 pt Times Roman alpha and rectangle stamper, it adds such drama, and I love how the large wine glass and rose image can support a huge greeting like this one. After stamping my word and rose, I stamped off both onto the bottom of the glass before cutting out and mounting it over each image to make the glass look translucent, to see "step by steps" of this same technique, see Theresa'a tutorial. Card also uses Gina K Pure Luxury White and Black Onyx.

Have a great day, thank you for visiting!

Daily Devotional

Here is a very simple altered journal I made with "Easter Blessings" from Rupa Shevde. Hobby Lobby has a beautiful selection of lined blank books with a variety of covers this week for only 1.99! (I'll be sharing a few more of these journals I added some stamping to). This one with the printed scriptures was perfect for a daily devotional! I stamped the cross from the set in Rich Cocoa Memento ink on Natural Antique Parchment paper from Paper Temptress and matted it with Chocolate Kiss CS from the Floral Frenzy Kit. I put a little copper brad from the kit in each corner and adhered it with Scor-tape onto the cover.

On the first page inside it had this blank space framed up in the flourishes so I chose too stamp one of the verses from the set. To create a matching bookmark, I stamped the cross again on some clear Polyshrink in Stazon Timber Brown, punched a large hold with my Cropodile through the vine after cutting and heated, makes a little one inch charm. These silver bookmarks are only 2.99 at Hobby Lobby, come with different colored crystals all you have to do is add a jump ring, isn't that hook style marker elegant? If you can't find a marker like this one, you could easily tie a length of matching ribbon around the coil binding to put the charm on the end, which would be just as lovely. I stamped a few of the pages inside with images and verses from the set in Antique Linen distressing ink, on this paper it looks like a beautiful, subtle watermark...Hope this project inspires you to take pretty books you find and make them even prettier with images that stir your soul!

Although I see myself making more of these as gifts, this fisrst journal is for me. Although I can't count how many hours I've spent typing daily the past year to maintain the blog, it has been far too long since I've sat to write down thoughts in my own hand. It is such a special, sacred time, worth making time for!

Have a wonderful day!

"A Charmed Life" Tip Sheet

Had to share a sample with my "A Charmed Life" tip sheet to get the inspiration going, this one is pink and fizzy! I covered the whole liquid part of the image with Crystal Lacquer and poured on some peachy pink beads I had, plus added a few dots above it randomly to make it look effervescent. I added two more on the wine charm ring. Isn't that fun with the dotted Basic Grey Two Scoops print? I used the little cupcake charm, with these colors and sprinkle filled glass, I think this makes a very festive looking birthday card that shouts "party!" but doesn't necessarily say "wine", you know? :) The ribbon is SU! pink taffeta, back and white papers are Gina K Pure Luxury, and card base is Mountain Rose Glimmer CS from Paper Temptress to match the beads and ribbon. Now read on for all my tips I've assembled so far, you'll find samples of all these on my blog in the coming weeks!


With 1 beautiful glass, 21 whimsical charms, and 36 greetings, this set has endless options and is sure to be a year-round favorite! I've drawn it in this sketched style that lends itself towards "still life" designs, works with your antiqued/distressed/vintage print papers and colors for a old world, cozy "cafe" feel, or when paired with with trendy urban ones gives a cool cosmopolitan look! You'll be making the most fun and elegant cards and gifts in no time!

While there are many wine related quotes in this set, it is not exclusively "a wine set". Think about drinks the glass could hold other wine, party beverages as well as non-alcoholic beverages (because everything is more fun/tasty when served in a pretty glass !) Make the liquid orange for some brunch mimosas, lemon-lime for chilled margaritas, pale yellow or pink for a summer picnic, or clear for water! etc

Colors to use for wines: deep red, burgundies for your red wines (Cardinal Copic is nice!)

Pale yellows golds for whites

Pinks for white Zinfandel or Rose

I am pleased to report that I have tried just about every coloring medium I own with the glass and all give fabulous results! I will share samples with each, along with coloring tips for each, you can be sure!


The Gina K rub-on paste is stunning and an easy way to color you wine and highlight the glass. The red, silver and gold are all in the Holiday Rub on Paste Collection, a very economical (less than 5 bucks!) and festive way to color this set, the shimmer says "celebrate!"


Paper-piece the liquid with shimmery papers to make a sparkling, effervescent-looking drink (like champagne!)


Stamp a flower from "A Year of Flowers" into the wine glass, makes for a beautiful still life arrangement, like you just clipped a rose from your garden and placed it in a water-filled goblet!


Omit the stem and base and it will look like a little water-filled clear vase!


Put some Stickles or Chunky Glitter around the glass edge for a sugar or salted rim, very sparkly and festive!


Stamp the glass onto Acetate or vellum and cut out, it will look like a real glass!


Stamp the charms directly onto the wine charm ring on the glass image to customize it for occasion. The tiny toasts fit perfectly on the tag. Emboss it to give it a metal edge.

Don't see your favorite charm in this set? Have fun stamping other small images you own on to the charm ring! Ex: the ladybug from "AYear of Flowers" or the shamrock from "Just So hoppy"

OR use Polyshrink for stamping your favorite large images, then shrink them down to create a 3D , proportionally sized charm for the glass, looks really cool!


Trace your wine charm ring with a metallic pen or Stardust glitter pen. Don't forget to glue on clear, colored or metal beads or crystals to bling up the ring! My favorite are these self adhesive rhinestones, easy to put on, come in different sizes and can be colored with Copics to match your cards!


Omit the jump ring on each charm, inking up only the charm and use these as a tiny image on your cards, or stamp it onto the wine tag!


Punch out the tag with a circle punch on pop up onto the wine ring for a 3D effect, do the same with the charms. The 5/8" Marvy circle standard punch Gina sells is perfect, will leave a perfect tiny rim!


The individual charms look ADORABLE when stamped onto the end of your greetings, like they're hanging from the end loop! Have fun hanging these up on the many greetings from this set or others in your collection!

Stamp them out in a row under a piece of metallic cord like they're dangling from a chain. Makes a sweet charm bracelet card for "a young lady".


Punch your cardstock edge with scallops. Then stamp the little charms into each cut out hole in the scallops for a blinged up border!


Cover the goblet with Crystal Lacquer.


When you stamp the glass onto white cardstock, add very pale grays or blues to give the glass dimension. Stamp into onto a pale cardstock or neutral (Kraft for example), and add white reflecting highlights with a white pencil, craft pad or pen.


Omit the line of the liquid in the glass and then redraw your own to make the glass look more full or empty!


Omit the liquid completely and color to look like a silver goblet (think weddings anniversaries, or stamp it onto metallic paper, no coloring needed!

Omit the stem and base and draw a tiny vertical line in the "liquid" with a pen to create a wick and you have a beautiful little votive candle!

Make reverse mask of your glass by stamping the glass, cutting out and saving the outside piece. Place this over your stamped glass, lining it up, then stamp the crackle background from Elegant Flowers in the Floral Frenzy kit all over it in Versamark and emboss with clear EP or a glittery one like Iridescent Ice. it will look like one of the those beautiful crackled glasses!
To add color to your layouts or to match a favorite patterned paper, think about beautiful colored tinted glasses you've seen (like deep red or cobalt blue) or ones with hand painted stems!
Stamp, doodle or emboss beautiful flourishes, flowers onto the bowl and base of the glass!


Emboss your charms in silver or gold EP and then shade them with a gray silver or gold pencil, will look very life-like.


The glass is a very tall stamp, approx 3.5" but you can put it on smaller or square cards and extend the glass of the top for a really cool design! The 4.25" large round acrylic block is perfect for accomodating this unmounted stamp.


Stamp two together for clinking glasses with your favorite toast greeting for a very celebratory card!



Tie a bow around the stem to dress it up: white or ivory organza or taffeta for weddings, bright red for Christmas, the appropriate color for an anniversary, etc. see sample above



Stamp two glasses for "his and hers" goblets "for a very charming couple" (wedding or anniversary) To make them truly his and hers ( for example a white and red wine if they have a different preferences and a charm that symbolizes that person.


Stamp or draw in a simple wedge of citrus or party umbrella!!


Give your beverage a really funky look by paper piecing the liquid with a hip "swirly" or even flowery print for girls night or a party! (or a masculine print like paisley, stripes, etc for a man's birthday)


The different toasts provided are some popular ways to say the traditional English "Cheers!" or "Bottoms Up!" On my one and only tour of Europe , we didn't speak the same language as the locals, but you were always to welcome to pull up a chair and enjoy a nice


Prost: German
Sante: French (means literally "health", to your health!)
Salud: (Spanish) said in Mexico and Spain
L'Chaim (Hebrew): used when making a toast , or at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah; or is a Jewish naming ceremony, like a christening
Mazel Tov (Hebrew): means "good fortune", said for any happy occasions or accomplishment or recognizing difficult times/trials are over


Use "To a very charming" with Lady, Friend, Couple, Man

You have a little book charm for book club! or your bookworm friends... :)



The diamond ring and bridal couple is perfect for an engagement, anniversary, or wedding.


The shoe and lips are great for girls night or an afternoon of shopping or evening of cocktails!


Dice and images for each of the card suits (heart, spade, club, diamond) are provided for your board games, Bunco, poker, Texas Hold 'em, etc game nights! Make some special invites or create a special thank you for someone who had you over for an entertaining evening of fun.


Great charms to use for "the charming man" in your life: leaf, treble clef, die, playing card symbols, grapes, or the round tag with a little sentiment


You have a little candle topped cupcake and wrapped present charms for happy birthdays!


The leaf charm is beautiful for fall, Thanksgiving, and the present and snowflake are very festive for all your winter holidays.


The Star of David charm can be used with the "L'Chaim" and "Mazel Tov!" to cover almost all of the Jewish holidays and celebrations!


Projects:
Place Cards
Dinner Menus
Stamped tile coasters, cardboard coasters or a stamped cheese board
An invite to happy hour or to celebrate a promotion , achievement etc ("can I buy you a drink?")
Memo Chalk Board for kitchen done in White Staz on
Book Club invites
Book plates with the old book quote
Game night
Stamped napkins for your book club, dinner party, wine tasting, or game night with the glass and different taosts or wine quotes for some easy and inexpensive matching tableware.
Polyshrink wine charms of course! Polyshrink the glasses for a charm bracelet or earrings, too, these make a great gift for a wine lover
Stamped box,velvet bag, for presenting some wine
Stamp a Kraft handled bag to bring wine and crackers, cheese for a housewarming gift
Create a special wine label with the Gina K waterproof labels
Thank yous for dinner or lunch dates
Wine journal or calendar for a wine lover
create a placemat for "wine tasting flight"
Girls Night Out
thank you card for your sweetie for a night out!

This is just the beginning! I'll have more tips and ideas for you, I am having SO much fun creating with this set!


My PSA: I do not endorse under age drinking! Please be advised: the little graduation cap is intended for college grads only! Please drink responsibly! :)

If the shoe fits!

So I was totally inspired by Colleen today, with her ostrich dress up card, I hadn't pulled out my girl "Olivia" from "Jumping for Joy" in a long time! if you have this image, you've probably blinged her up before, I've made some little shoes and accessories for her too, but Colleen's card made me think, "you know, I wonder..." so I pulled out my "A Charmed Life" set...and this was not planned AT ALL but the shoes are a perfect fit LOL!!! Those spike heels make her legs look GOOD, no? Instead of trying to mask I just trimmed them out, cutting off the little jump ring part of the image, and I did NOT cut the space ins between the shoe and the heel out, if you stamp it on white and your background is white, no one will notice that part is not cut, the heel is just too delicate, don't want it falling off while she's on the run, do we? hee hee! The heart charm I stamped first and then drew in the little loop for a necklace, in that order you don't have to worry about stamping it exactly onto the chain.



This uses Donna's sketch for the week over at Stamp TV, have you been playing these?? The DP is from Emily's "Rich and Shabby" Digi pack, CS is Gina K Pure Luxury White and Black Onyx. I used my last two flowers from the "Floral Frenzy Kit" , stamped with the crackle pattern from the Bold Flowers which is also in the kit in Antique Linen distressing ink (used that to sponge around the ostrich mat as well) Sentiment is from "A Charmed Life", too. Image is colored with Copics.



I hope this card inspires you to look at the images you already have and see how the charms in this set can bring new life" and options to some of your favorite stamps!



Have a great day!

My Design Notes

Here is a sample I shared at the release party using "A Charmed Life" and "A Year of Flowers", but I wanted to give you a few tips for recreating it. This is colored with the peerless watercolors and the Niji waterbrush, just one shade of pink and one shade of green! I used a light gray Copic to add shadows below the flowers and to the glass. Adding the flower laying on its side makes for a nice design instead of just flowers in the vase: instead of just an up and down composition, the second flower creates a triangle for your eyes to travel in.

Something simple that adds a lot realism: I masked the glass with my stamped and cut out image before stamping the stem of rose over the glass's stem so you wouldn't have the black lines going through, but then when I colored it, I painted the very lightest green line behind the stem of the glass lining it up with the stamped rose stem to create the illusion of the translucence of the glass. This is similar to the tutorial where Theresa made the flower show through the glass in this post, just a different way to do it!

Last I popped up the rose in the glass but cutting one out and mounting it on dimensionals. I almost always try to pop up at least one thing on my cards, it makes so much difference in the end!

Notice how the layers here go to the edge of the card, just something different that makes it look "fresh" compared to consistent 1/8" borders which is what I usually do. It's good to change things up! Try this sketch if you want, link it if you do, I'd love to see! (Like playing sketches? Allison is looking for a Guest Designer for April for So Sketchy, details here!)

The digi paper is Emily's "Rich and Shabby", (I will be back to show you a couple "filters" I have on my computer program, I'm sure you have something similar, that really changes the look of this beautiful, leafy print) and the charms are covered with Crystal Lacquer, the little heart hanging from the greeting is a tiny detail that I really like here. And did you see the little music note? Not many stamps out there for music lovers that I've seen, so I hope this included charm is a nice option for many of you! :)

Hope this is helpful to when creating! Have a blessed Sunday!

Hospitality

Today's sample uses Gina K's "Wreath of Wishes", this month's "Free with Three" set. This card just makes me think of bed and breakfasts: crisp white linens, quilted bed spreads, a vase of wild flowers on the nightstand! I love the simple white card base, you get this beautiful scored pattern so easily with your Scor-Pal: score your card from corner to corner, and every inch on either side of it, then turn you card and score from the other corner to corner and make parallel scores again at one inch intervals and you have this fabulous "tufted-looking" card. Wreath and greeting were stamped in Memento black, colored with Copics, and cut and matted with Classic round and scalloped Nestabilities. That beautiful orange layer is Tangy Orange Pop Tone CS from Paper Temptress, I love this with the soft celery green of the 5/8" in SU! grosgrain. the wide ribbon and double ties add a lot of luxury!

Have a beautiful weekend, any special Spring Break plans I should know about?? ;)

tip sheet coming up!


PS I got a question from scrappintlc about how to adhere the acetate on the candle in yesterday's post: good question! I covered the entire piece of vanilla "candle" with a thin layer of Crystal Lacquer, and then pressed my stamped wine glass top on the acetate over that lining it up, smoothing out the bubbles. It worked like a charm! (no pun intended!! You don't see the adhesive because it covers all of the pieced paper, would have if I'd just done a few dots. It is not attached at all at the top, but that sucker is not coming off LOL! At first there were a couple bubbles I was having a hard time getting out, but I was kind of tickled when I realized even if they hadn't , that would have just looked like the tiny bubble you sometimes get in glass! :) Hope this helps! Crystal Lacquer just has sooo many uses!

This Little Light of Mine!

Wow, what a party last night!! I was so busy getting ready for it I didn't have a nice long draft of a post today, although I've got about a billion samples made up with all our new sets LOL! Here's a quickie post with my "A Charmed Life" set and a tulip from my "A Year of Flowers" , omit the wine glass stem from the new set or mask it off , draw in a quick wick and you have a little candle! Greeting is from Gina's "Heartfelt Hits". The "wax" is paper pieced with GK Pure Luxury Ivory CS(vanilla candles are my favorite!) and I added a layer of a acetate over it to make it look like a glass votive. Sponging gives the card a nice "glow"

I'll be back with more later, I am SO excited about this month's set and this month's tip sheet, be sure to check out the full "A Charmed Life" set reveal, it has so many options I didn't even begin to discuss or make samples for yet! Have a great weekend, I'm off to spend some quality time with my little boy today, he's been very patient while Mama's been stamping this week! Thank you everyone on our fabulous Gina K Designs design team and THANK YOU all the fans who turned out to the party!!

Hugs! cheers!!

Sneak Peek Day 3: "A Charmed Life" and "Wreath of Wishes"

I feel one of the simplest pleasures is sharing a nice meal with friends and family and raising glasses to each other, celebrating the many joys and blessings life offers. On vacation last summer I was toying with a tiny charm on my glass at dinner and got the idea for a stamp set with stemware, charms and words you could pick and choose from...and it completely charmed me LOL! (pun intended, sorry, I could resist!) I am thrilled to preview my newest set from Gina K Designs with you today: "A Charmed Life". Including stamps that are both elegant and whimsical, this set has endless options (including toasts in other languages, and occasions you've probably wished you had stamps for but could never find), and is sure to be a year-round favorite! I've drawn it in a sketched style that lends itself towards "still life" designs, works with your antiqued, distressed, and vintage print papers and colors for a old world, cozy "cafe" feel, or when paired with trendy urban ones gives you a cool, cosmopolitan look!
Here is simple shaker card I made to celebrate an anniversary. I stamped my glass twice in Memento Black ink, cut out the bowl on the glass, and added a layer of acetate behind it. I pieced some Autumn Hay Glimmer CS from Paper Temptress for the liquid (which I also used for my card base), the shimmery golden color is perfect for champagne or sparkling cider, no coloring needed there! I added some clear beads before sealing it up and just love how festive and sparkling that looks, the way the beads rise and fall like bubbles is almost like the real thing, pop POP!! I chose the ring charm this time, and added self adhesive rhinestones to bling it and the wine ring up and traced with the Stardust gel pen, this pen is perfect for outlining the little wire ring around the stem and adding sparkle to your charms!) Black and white papers here are Gina K Pure Luxury white and the new Pure Luxury Black Onyx! Punch is Large Flourish. I added just a few shadows to the glass with gray Copics.

One more peek for today with this set (because I suspect you will be seeing several glasses in our blog hop!), here is a simple "charm bracelet" I created with several of the charms , stamped around a loop of metallic cord ("beads" are stick on metal dots), colored with Copics and covered with Crystal Lacquer for dimension. The bracelet design and this greeting could be just as appropriate for a 6 year old as a 60 year old (I always loved being called a "lady" as a young girl!), just add the charms that suits her best!

Now about that "vase" in this post,.. I think many of you figured out I was up to something... and I DID draw it ... right before Gina plated and vulcanized it! So yes, you can have this vase for all your flowers, too, when you ink up or cut out just the top of the glass from the "A Charmed Life" set! :) Please turn out for our release party tonight as the rest of team and I will be sharing more out of the box ideas for this glass and charms, as well as elegant and easy gifts with it that I think will make you say "WOW!" (can't wait!!)

More peeks of "A Charmed Life" from our design team here:

Asela Hopkins

Carolyn King

Donna Baker

Jessica Fick

Theresa Momber

Gina K

our "In the Spotlight Designer" Sharri Seffens,

PLUS My Guest Designer this month... Cathy Edgar! hip hip hurray! :)

This next little card, using "Wreath of Wishes" by Gina K, was fun to make! I scored a 6 x 5 1/2" piece of Gina K Pure Luxury White base weight CS at 3" with my Scor-Pal, so that the finished card is 3 inches across, a nice "door proportion", and still fits in a regular A2 sized envelope. I took one of my smallest dies from the Nestabilities Long Rectangle set and embossed it 4 times, one in each corner, to make the different panels. Then I stamped the wreath in Memento Black, colored it with Copics, stamped a greeting inside and carefully trimmed around the flowers. I put a gold brad through the top like a nail and popped it up on dimensionals. For the "knob", I took a large white brad I had, dipped it in Versamark and gold EP, then embossed to match my other brad. I snipped the prongs off the back with my Tim Holz Scissors (not just for trimming rubber!) and attached it with a dimensional (rather than poking it through, I didn't want the ends to show through my single layer card.)

As you can see, there is no latch or closure, as it stands it already looks ajar, on the inside you find a greeting from the same set, "My door is always open"... Isn't that sweet? This "open door design" is perfect for a friend, family member or to welcome a new neighbor. Did I mention this is the new "Free with Three" set? Do you have a list of three Gina K Designs sets you can buy to earn it yet? ;)

More samples of "Wreath of Wishes" from our team here:

Asela Hopkins
Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Kurtis Amundson
Theresa Momber

Gina K and our In the Spotlight Designer Sharri Seffens

The release is just HOURS away! EEK!!! Party is here (probably already started, but you'll be fine if you join us at 7 CST) :)

Sneak Day 2: Zoo Animals

Today I have a peek for you from Asela's new set "Zoo Animals". This is probably one of the most "limited supply" cards I have ever done, but with a panda, I like just the black and white, you know?

I couldn't get a good sideview of this card for you, but the panda was stamped three times, so I could pop out the belly(where I stamped the word "cute", and then popped out the head again to make three layers (this is the paper tole technique), nice and pudgy, comin' at ya! (after last year, I don't think I can ever look at a panda again and not think, "I LOVE Kung Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!") The white mat is popped up as well. I did faux stitching on the punched black squares with my Inkssentials white pen. Image and tracks are all stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, card is 4.25" square. Paper is Gina K Pure Luxury layering and base weight white and the new Pure Luxury Black Onyx (available for purchase this Thursday)!

More zoo peeks from our team here:

Asela Hopkins
Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Kurtis Amundson
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

Gina K and our In the Spotlight Designer Sharri Seffens!

Coming at midnight, a new peek (hmm, whose set do we have left??) :)

Sneak Peek Day 1: Easter Blessings

Today's peek uses Rupa's newest set from Gina K Designs, "Easter Blessings". This card uses one of my favorite images from it.

I colored the cross and vine with Copics. The white layers you see are White Diamond CS from Paper Temptress, the shimmer is amazing! I used my Scor-Pal to score a "cross" behind the cross image and then scored diagonals out to the corners and edges that appear to be radiating out from the cross's center, this little detail really adds to the beauty and symbolism of the card (click the pic to see the closeup). The rich, purple patterned paper you see is from Emily's new "Rich and Shabby" Digital paper pack, available for purchase this Thursday. To recreate the flowering vine, I wound the SU! 1/4" celery grosgrain over and around the mats, tacking it down in a few spots with glue dots and then adhered a few white sateen flowers I accented with a little yellow Copic and some tiny adhesive halfback pearls to the centers. Wish you could see it in real life, it just looks alive!

You can find more peeks of the set from the rest of our design team here:

Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Gina Krupsky
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Theresa Momber

and from this month's "In the Spotlight" Designer, Sherrie Seffens!

Another preview here at midnight!:)

Colored Lilies and a little peek!

I'm baaaack, did you miss me? (Did you even notice I was gone? LOL!) I had to take a couple days off from blogging to stamp for our new release this Thursday, sneak peeks start tomorrow! But this DP is an EARLY peek of a new digital paper Gina K Designs is releasing this week, this time from... Emily Giovanni!! You are going to die when you see some of the other papers in this pack, they are awesome! (and have even more digital potential, can't wait to show you how I've been playing with them !!) I figured it was okay to share since Carolyn already revealed it in this week's Stamp TV Color Challenge !! ( so I'm playing the color challenge with it, too hee hee!) Oh, hey look at that, it also works for this past week's Technique Challenge from Gina: OMS and Pencils, (be sure to watch this video, I learned about turnign the the stump aa file to get a good point, love that tip!!) I used the Koh-i-Noors* on my lilies from "A Year of Flowers" to make thm look like Stargazers. The deep and light shades of pink and red in them are perfect with this striped paper, I just love the texture this paterned paper has, like cloth.

I had to do a little masking to get the flowers and leaves arranged this way, and then cut around the flowers so they'd hang off the mat's edge partly to give it interest but also to make the mat smaller so you could see more of that beautiful patterned paper. Base and ribbon is SU! regal Rose. (The little vase I drew myself, you like? )

I am SO excited about this release, is it Tuesday yet?? Check back tonight at midnight for the first sneak peek! (and mark you calendars for our Gina K release party this Thursday night, March 12th, 7 PM CST, in our Splitcoast forum!)

*I am very excited to report (although feel a little silly doing so) the Koh-i-Noors DO contain a RED pencil LOL! If you've looked at the product pic or have the pencils, it looks like there are three shades of pink but no red! And being the "red person" that I am, although I still love the pencils, always wondered about that glaring color omission! ;) Well, what do you know, when I sat down to color these, found one of those pinks IS red, the barrel of the pencil is just much pinker that the pencil's true color (If you already knew this, pat yourself on the back) :) I think I've had them for 9 months now and I just figured it out, so be sure to try ALL your supplies, you never know what you'll learn! :)