Guest Designer: Linda Payne

If you thought you couldn't use a LOT of black on a Christmas card..think again!
This stunning card was created by Linda Payne using Gina K Pure Luxury Black Onyx, White and Good as Gold Cardstock and the Festive Frame set, with the frame embossed in gold detail powder. She cut out the middle to leave a white opening for her greeting and layered cut white poinsettias over the images. The it needs gold, gold and more gold to make it super festive! Gold Glimmer Mist for sparkle, Copic Y28 Lionet Gold over the veins in the petals and gold adhesive dots to the flower centers. Ooh aah!! Magnificent design, Linda!!

Here is a little more about this feisty and talented crafter... :)

FAVORITE TECHNIQUE: hard to pick - but would chose any type of coloring and paper piecing...but love learning new techniques

COLORS/COLOR COMBO: love blues and browns, but use a lot of black with everything! actually, I love all colors but I think matting with black just makes them pop!

FAVORITE GINA K SET BY MELANIE: this is easy...Inspiration Mosaic...mine has its own block it stays on. There isn't a stamp that won't work with it!! All my stamps I work with, end up being stamped at some point with the IM stamp! Can't imagine that by now everyone doesn't own it!!!

FAVORITE GINA K SETS (FROM ANY ILLUSTRATOR: now this is tough....hmmmmmm, outside of the IM stamp, would say ....Gina K's Tree Silhouettes, Take Flight, Thanks a Million and Tropical Flowers, Theresa's A Very Merry Christmas.....actually, I could keep going!

CRAFT SUPPLIES I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: my ATG, scor-pal mini tape, Cuttlebug, Nesties, Stickles, decorative scissors...I'm thinking I need it all.. LOL

I’VE BEEN STAMPING FOR (HOW LONG): about 8 years, played at first and then started spending serious money...started selling cards on Ebay and was a SU demo. Started blogging in January and then seriously in June.


I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM: absolutely everything! nature, clothing, weather, music ...and I love blog surfing!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT STAMPING/CARDMAKING ARE: to enjoy it, don't take yourself seriously, and the joy is in the giving!

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING GOALS ARE: become a DT member for GinaK !!! well, realistically...teach card making at a LSS (when you teach, you learn) and have an income through my cardmaking so I can keep it up when I retire.

FAVORITE THING TO MAKE THAT AREN’T CARDS: post-it note holders and stamping candles!

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I am very blessed through my blog with the friends made there and at StampTV (that's been the best), being chosen for Center Stage at GinaK and a DT member for Creative Vision and Melanie's guest designer!!!


Please go see more festive and fabulous projects from Linda here. Have a great weekend!

Festive Frame Candle Tutorial

"Festive Frame" is now available for purchase at Gina K Designs! :)

Gina K's stamped candle video on StampTV inspired me to try out the new frame on a 6" pillar, and the results passed my wildest expectations! Look how pretty!!
I used a piece of white tissue paper 5 1/2" tall x 9" wide. I was able to stamp the frame on it twice in Memento Tuxedo Black, leaving about 3/4"-1" in between the frames and a little room on the ends so there would be space in between both frames when you viewed it from the side. Using a grid line block, it was easy to get the borders to line up going across. Then I stamped two greetings from the set in the center, a different one for each side. You could also use a holiday image.

Copics on tissue need a lighter touch that on cardstock so I worked quickly in soft strokes without blending(the great news is you don't really need to blend it like you do on paper the color comes out really evenly!), otherwise it will want to bleed into the paper outside the lines.

I wasn't really sure what would happen (to the ink and coloring) when I started to heat it up, but the images and coloring stayed crisp and looked absolutely luminous, woo hoo! I wrapped the piece around my candle holding the ends at the back to keep it tight and started heating with my embossing gun in the middle. This picture shows it after heating, see how smooth? (and how nice those borders look with a space in between even from the side)?

And here is the back side of the candle! I've done tissue candles before but always with bold images, I'm really excited about the coloring possibilities now that I've tried this as well as how perfectly the proportions of all my Gina K frame stamps fit a standard pillar (3 inch diameter). It would be gorgeous to go back and add some stickles to the flowers and needles to make it even more festive, etc! :)

I'm anxious to go buy more candles (these range from $1-$4 apiece) so I can make some stained glass ones using "Inspiration Mosaic" and seasonal ones for Autumn and Spring gifts using "Arranged with Love", to decorate my home and to give friends and family!

Hope this project inspires, and be sure to check out Gina's video to see this technique in action! :) A special treat, please go check out more Festive Frame projects from the lovely and talented Joan Ervin!

Then Friday night, check back for a featured spot with my guest designer this month for Festive Frame: Linda Payne!

Sneak Peek: Free with Three "Signed with Love" and "Winter Friends"

Thanks for joining me for our last day of previews before the party! :)

It's really important to have something to leave your mark on creations you've labored over with such care: Gina's new "Signed with Love" fills the bill! ( as well as making adorable gift tags, etc) Here are four cards from this release I've stamped the back of with just a few of the options in the set. Aren't these elegant? (and so professional-looking?!) I'm sharing these specific ones today because I used all four of these stamps on ... ... a scrapbook page!! (from me, are you surprised??) When I first saw the new set, I saw enormous scrapbook potential in the words and borders she chose as little tags and titles. This is an 8x8 page (In the Navy base) featuring my son William's preschool pic, also using buttons and cardstock from the Gina K Pure Luxury Collection. The red buttons are fun because of the little buttons on his shirt and the ribbing on the Rocket Red CS is a nice match, too. Two tags and the triangles at the corners are the new Caramel Leather CS, which looks a lot like the tags on little boys' jeans. :)

In a closeup below, you can see this "Created by God" tag. I inked up just one of the round borders and stamped (refer to the top pic to see each of these images in their entirety), so I could make my own custom center, first inking up the "Created by" from the set and then adding "God" from my "The Best Things in Life" set. You could also write in your own names, dates inside these etc...

Next I used this beautiful oval "original" stamp, one of my favorites in the set, omitting the "handmade" and Gina K copyright (sorry Gina, LOL!) for a title tag, and finally inked up the just box border and lines for my white name tag (omitting the "created with love "and copyright) and wrote in his name and date ("date" was already there for me, that part was perfect!) :) I jut love being able to use the parts of my stamps for other things I need this way!

The journalling lines you see stamped on the new Pure Luxury Kraft are from the "Special Delivery Addition" set by Tami Mayberry.

This next card uses Rupa's new "Winter Friends", this set is too sweet for words! I used two little penguin images, the candy cane pole that one is holding is so fun for stamping some of the included greetings on the sign. Pure Luxury White card base is 4.25" square, with a 4 inch mat of the new Pure Luxury Silver Lining Cardstock! Isn't that beautiful? You will love dry embossing this paper, here I used the Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and die cut a circle out of the middle to frame one of the penguins. Images are colored with Copics, I used BV31 Pale Lavender instead of gray to add shade this to match the purple tone of my Vibrant Violet scalloped frame. Last I adhered the skating penguin with some pop dots and punched oval like a little patch of ice and some Rocket Red punched corners above and below. So fun for a child's holiday card!

We have a couple of our Center Stage Spotlight Designers joining in the previews tonight. Here are their blog links:

Karen Knegten

Sue VanDeVusse

Then, stop by these GinaK Designers' blog for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupksy
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

Asela Hopkins

Our Release party will be held tomorrow night (Thursday!) over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

Sneak Peek: First Christmas and Vintage Borders

First preview today uses Asela's "First Christmas" and I just think her holiday images in this set were made to go with "Festive Frame" , I have already made cards using every image in the set and I can't wait to share them all! I think this teddy all by itself is so sweet, so I popped him up in the center of the oval (don't even need a greeting, what else is there to say but, "Awwwww!") To give the frame a more homespun feel and go along with the stuffed toy theme, I attached buttons from the Gina K Autumn Assortment with glue dots to the corners and drew some faux stitches over the holes with the Inkssentials White Opaque pen. Base is Pure Luxury Good as Gold.

I also love Nina's newest set, "Vintage Borders"! It will see a lot of use on my stamping table all year, I know. One great way is to take favorite ribbons (here Pure luxury white gold line organdy ) from "Wow!" to "WOWZERS!" by stamping these borders on one or both sides for a really pumped up effect! I stamped this same border inside my card and then stamped a different one to the envelope flap. (Don't forget to decorate that envelope when you have the time, it's like the gift wrap for your card!) ;)

I stamped the Bible verse in the set on the Labels Nine die, then I added another border above and below it, isn't that pretty how it fills out the space? I went a little crazy with the adhesive pearls LOL! but I couldn't help blinging up the centers of the scallops (there is a circle in the middle of each to guide your positioning of them) and on the flourishes around the verse. Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Kraft, All Spruced Up and punched flourishes are Good as Gold.

I also wanted to share a more whimsical card created with the same set using different borders, these little ornaments (stamped three times across to span the card) are adorable. Although they are tiny, it didn't take long to color them a with a few bright, holiday colors. I adhered a ribbon border above it for them to "hang" from, and then punched out the word "peace" from the set with a 1 3/4"circle from Pure Luxury Vibrant Violet CS. I popped this up and doodled the topper and dashed line to match the border (you can do this!) Since this card is 4.25", it will still fit in an A2 sized envelope with this big bow at the top (attached with a glue dot)

Tip: although the details are very small on the ornaments, you can can color them solid and go back and add dots to them with a White Inkssentials ink pen, this was the inspiration for adding the dotted ribbon!

For even more inspiration, please visit the Illustrators of the stamp sets featured tonight:

Asela Hopkins: First Christmas
Nina Brackett: Vintage Borders

Tonight, we have several of our Center Stage Spotlight Designers joining in the previews. Here are their blog links:

Deb Felts
Sharri Seffens
Melissa Cash

Finally, stop by these GinaK Designers' blog for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupksy
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber

Donna Baker

Our Release party will be held Thursday night over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

Sneak Peek: Festive Frame

It has been as hard waiting to reveal my holiday set to you as it is to wait for someone to unwrap a gift you think is just perfect for them! I've only been stamping with "Festive Frame" for about a week now, and it is already one of my favorite sets! You will love being able to create elegant layouts for all your holiday projects in no time with this double bordered stamp and its many coordinating sentiments. The oval window was designed for framing your favorite photos, images, and greetings. Here is my first project, I love sending out photos to family and friends at Christmas but I want to make a handmade card, too. This uses a favorite of me and my oldest son from five Christmases ago as the focal point: all the flowers, greenery, and borders you see surrounding it is ONE stamp! :)
I stamped the frame in Memento Tuxedo Black onto Pure Luxury White and colored with Copics. Recognize that poinsettia? It matches the one in "A Year of Flowers" and looks gorgeous popped up over this frame!) My very favorite color combo for these uses Copics Strong Red and Cardinal, shown here. After I finished coloring the images, I colored in the oval and rectangle borders with Pale Olive to match the Fresh Asparagus card base. Don't you love how many layers it looks like that adds?! I cut out the window (or to save time cutting around the edges of the overlapping piece you could just a cut photo over it) and adhered my pic (3x5 is perfect!) behind it. I punched out the little "Joy" greeting from White and Good as Gold Pure Luxury CS and popped it up in the bottom corner, then finished it off with some adhesive nail heads and a large flourish punch.

But how about putting it in a real frame instead of on a card? This is a 5x7 frame I bought for $2 from Wal-mart, I cut the Fresh Asparagus CS to fit and adhere the stamped frame and photo to the middle (removed the glass so you wouldn't see a glare in this pic) Not only is this beautiful for decorating the house, but makes a lovely, personal holiday gift, that's doesn't cost a lot but your recipient is sure to treasure!

My next card shows how wonderfully the new frame works with so many of our other Gina K sets, here I've popped up some pine cones the corners from Gina's "Winter Foliage", and stamped a simple scene inside the window using the mountain image from Theresa's "Happy Camper". This time I colored the two borders with Cardinal to match the Cranberry Tart base, and the poinsettias are left white with a bit of Mignonette and Yellow Green Copics at the centers.

The mountain is stamped in Antique Linen Distressing Ink, which I also sponged into the oval space to really contrast the snow white of the mat around it. I made a mask of the frame on scratch paper first , cut out the oval center, placed it over my stamped frame and sponged the ink around the edges before pulling the mask away. The trick to making it look even more dimensional is to trace around the underside of the petals, greenery and oval border with a pale marker (here I used W-1 Warm Grey) Isn't that a cool effect?! Not counting the cut out pine cones, this is also a two layer card, but shading, sponging and coloring the two borders, it looks like you have six! This took me SO much less time not having to do all that cutting, layering, extra adhesive and I don't have a bulky card to mail, I love it!

This is one of several greetings in the set. When you keep your stamped images very muted like this, stamping your sentiment over them in a contrasting color will allow the scene to show through but still keep the greeting easy to read.

Last, I wanted to share how you can cover the poinsettias and make it a more year-round nature themed or masculine project, here I used an image from "A Year of Leaves", colored with Copics and cut out to make a card perfect for autumn. You can see how complete the oval window looks with nothing but a sentiment inside it: "Celebrate the beauty of the season" is included in the new set and fits in window whether you position it horizontally or vertically, you will love the versatility the oval layout gives you with your wider or taller sentiments! This sentiment will take you well past the fall and winter, and would be beautiful by itself on your springtime cards.

I stamped the frame in Vivid Coffee Bean on this new Pure Luxury Caramel Leather cardstock, I wish my photo captured the texture of this gorgeous paper, you have to see it to believe it! With the frame in brown ink, it looks like tooled leather. (The back side has a smooth texture so you can get another look from this paper if you desire.) I colored the borders orange and yellow and cut out the middle of the window so I could sponge my inks inside over the greeting. These beautiful amber colored drops are part of the new Gina K Neutral button assortment, these particular buttons have no holes and are flat on the back so I attached them with glue dots. Not couting the leaves and flourishes, this is also two layers. I like how this sample also shows you don't have to do a lot of coloring with this set to get great results! :)
And here is the inside. Swap out the greetings inside and out, and this design would make a fabulous birthday or Father's Day card. :)

For even more inspiration tonight, check in on our CenterStage Spotlight Designer, Diana Queen who has prepared a project for us,
and then our GinaK Designer's joining in on the Preview blog hop:
Gina Krupsky
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Nina Brackett
Theresa Momber

Thank you for stopping by!

Christmas Quilt

Today I have a Christmas quilt I made using "Inspiration Mosaic" and Basic Grey Wassail DP. I stamped it onto four different prints, the "triangle" print is a solid rectangle and my bottom layer, I add a couple rectangles from the other three red, white and green prints on top of this. TIP: When piecing or coloring the grid, I usually start at one corner and work my way around, alternating colors so I don't have three of the same touching at the end. It also looks pleasing to have a color "bounce" from one side of the card to the next, it draws your eye all around the card.

I put two Scalloped Long Rectangle Nestabilities together to frame the mat. Card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand. I love a neutral like this light tan with white and red or cranberry for the holidays, gives it such a folk art feel, perfect with the quilt theme! I added a few white sateen flowers and colored the adhesive nail heads with a Cardinal Copic for the Centers. Greeting from "Say it with Flowers" (yes, there's a holiday greeting in that set!) is stamped in Memento Rhubarb.

Have a beautiful day, sneak peeks tomorrow night!

Pink Christmas

Here is a pink card I made with Cammie's Warm Winter Wishes and Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly DP. Since the swirly paper was pink, I colored the snowman with pink Copics, too. I trimmed one of the layers in front of him , following the curve of the print, and then punched this striped piece from the pack with the threading water punch to look like a brightly painted picket fence and you're driving by the yard. (Remember this post when I told you a little about some of my neighbors? LOL!) Last I trimmed out some of the mittens from another Jolly by Golly piece like I did on this cookie card and put them on his twiggy hands, hugging that adorable heart. Base, stamped image and mats use Pure Luxury White and Rocket Red. Simple, sweet and so SO festive!! (who needs christmas lights with colors like this, hee hee!

Almost time for peeks, can't wait, can't wait!!

Homemade with Love

This was such a fun card to make! I stamped the "Hip to Be Square" frame in black onto this fun Cosmo Cricket DP from Jolly by Golly, (the mittens look like little oven mitts so it was perfect for this baking themed card!) and colored the border red and trimmed, leaving about 1/8" on each side.

Then I cut out and colored my gingerbread men from my "Have a Cookie" set and popped them up on some plates I made by stamping the circle outline, also from the "Hip to Be Square" set, punching them with 1 1/4" circle punch and coloring the edges. Then I stamped the round greetings from the Holiday Cheer Stamp TV kit and colored and punched them out for the other two corners. From a scrap of the same DP after cutting, I trimmed out two of the little "mitts" and popped them up over the heart inside each circle image. Last I added a Cuttlebugged Swiss Dot piece of white CS and tied some stitched ribbon around the Rocket Red base (these CS and ribbon are included in the kit).

If I'd had it in me to do some baking the day I created this little square mat, I would put in on a handmade square paper pizza box like in this post and put a big cookie inside! (I'll do that some other time!) BUT, I do love this A2 layout for the little square grid! This card will be perfect to send with a little tin of cookies once the holidays get a little closer! :)

Hope this card inspires you to "get your bake on", or at least virtual baking through stamping some baked goodies! ;) Have a yummy day!

Hip Earring Tutorial (Dancing Snowpeople!)

I am SO excited: a project I made for CardMaker last year is on the cover of the November issue , using the "What's in Your Tin?" sets, it's a gift card tin and card to match. Seeing that this week inspired me to pull out the set today to make a new tin sample for you, and I had to find a fun way to incorporate "Hip to Be Square"! Here is the tin set label border stamped on Basic Grey "Eskimo Kisses" DP with a punched snowman and adhered to a hinged tin...
Now I'm going to show you some cute earrings to go inside as a gift! You need: the stamps, Polyshrink, a 1 1/4" punch, heat gun, Staz On pads, french hooks and jump rings, and a Cropodile.

Stamp the circle onto Polyshrink and punch them out. Stamp faces and buttons to the top and middle sections. Punch holes with the large side on the Cropdile to the top and bottom of the head and midsection for adding jump rings later. The bottom only needs one hole since you won't be hanging anything below it.

Now it's time to shrink the pieces! I used the small end of an embossing stylus(the large end would be stuck in there after the plastic shrinks!) to help keep my piece in place while heating by putting it in the middle of the hole. Once you turn the gun on, it wants to blow around! I like to use an acrylic block underneath while heating.

See what I mean (pic below)?? This is when you always want to panic: "oh no, it's not shrinking right!" but KEEP the heat ON and let it shrink completely! (if you stop it before it's done, it can get really distorted)

The shape will finally correct itself and flatten out, you can see it's now a perfect circle. If an edge persists in curling up just a tad, press another acrylic block on top while it is still hot, then gently remove the stylus.

Now open the jump rings and thread them through the holes, linking them together. Use two jump rings above the head so the snowman will face out properly and link the top one to a French hook.

Here they are! I stamped the tin label border a second time on some more DP to make a little card for the inside, you can pierce holes in the top to push the earrings through.And here you see it with the little scarf wrap from the outside, it just slides off when you are ready to open the tin. I hope you enjoyed this project! they are so cute wiggling and swaying! Be sure to stamp the nose in two reverse positions to have them facing out or in! The earrings measure about 2 inches long, for shorter earrings you could dojust the face OR, the face and top hat from the set linked together, that would be SOOOO cute!!

Now please go check out some cards using "Hip to Be Square" from my Guest Designer this month Karen Knegten!

Have a great day, it's almost the weekend! (and almost time for sneak peeks!)

Blog Hop: Warm Winter Wishes

This little gingerbread house from the "Holiday Cheer" StampTV kit is the perfect backdrop for Carolyn's little snowman from "Warm Winter Wishes", you will have so much fun putting them in scenes together! I used a piece of Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly DP behind for a swirling blizzard and scalloped oval die cut for my greeting like it was puffing out of the little chimney. I had a blast coloring both of these little cuties!! :)



I used a rotary cutter to make some banks of snow from Pure Luxury White and popped them up to add a lot of depth to the scene. All images are colored with Copics. Mat is Rocket Red.

For even more inspiration visit Carolyn King - the Illustrator of Warm Winter Wishes and the Idea Center gallery HERE.

Then, check in with Carolyn's special guest designers:

Charlene Merrick

Tina Gilliland

Deb Anton

And, finally stop by these GinaK Designer's blog participating in the hop tonight:

Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber

and our CenterStage Spotlight Team:
Joy Hadden
Kay Simmons
Linda Payne
Lori McAree

GinaK will be giving away a copy of "Warm Winter Wishes" on her blog tonight - so pop over there to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win the set for free! (If you've already purchased the stamp set, we can swap it out for another GinaK stamp set valued at $19.95 or less.)

I Heard the Bells...

Here is a sample with "A Very Merry Christmas". I wish you all could see this card in real life! The Pure Luxury White and All Spruced Up look so gorgeous together! I embossed a long rectangle behind the Label Nine mat(my first time to use this one!), but it's a little hard to see in the photo. I put some curved corner punches at the top and bottom and added a little adhesive pearl I colored with a grey Copic to look like the bells.

Here is a closeup. I colored the bells with Copics (C-3, C-5, C-7 and the blender) and cut it out with an oval Nestabilitie. the little "hallelujah!" is on Pure Luxury Fresh Asparagus. After assembling the entire card, I added a coat of Crystal Lacquer. Be sure to give it plenty of drying time before you touch those bells! ;)

Are you all ready for a blog hop tonight? Whose set do we have left? :)

RAK Request

Did you know that October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month?? Well, maybe you didn't, but now you do! Giovana Smith, one of our talented CenterStage Spotlight designers this month asked me if I would help spread the word about a RAK request she is doing for her friend's daughter Rebekah who has Spina Bifida. What a beautiful little girl!

Here is a little about Rebekah and about Spina Bifida from her mom Nicole:
"October is Spina Bifida Awareness month.
Rebekah is a bouncy, talkative, happy little girl who has never let anything stop her. What's so different about Bekah? She has Spina Bifida.

Spina Bifida is a neural tube defect that happens in the first month of pregnancy when the spinal column doesn't close completely.

The effects of Spina Bifida are different for every person. Up to 90 percent of children with the worst form of Spina Bifida have hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) and must have surgery to insert a “shunt” that helps drain the fluid. The shunt stays in place for the lifetime of the person. Other conditions include full or partial paralysis, bladder and bowel control difficulties, learning disabilities, depression, latex allergy, and social issues.

Thanks to new medical treatments and technology, most people born with Spina Bifida can expect to live a normal life. People with Spina Bifida have many special challenges because of their birth defect, but their condition does not define who they are. People with Spina Bifida have careers, get married, and have children just like people who do not have Spina Bifida.

As a parent of a child with Spina Bifida I cannot put into words how blessed I feel that the Lord brought her into our lives. That He would feel me worthy to be the mother of one of his special children is humbling and I thank Him daily for the blessing he has bestowed me."

How could I say no? Can you help shower her with a card? And hey, about a card for this wonderful mom, Nicole too?? (and maybe also one for Giovana for organizing?? LOL! whatever you can do! this story just touched my heart today!) :)

Please send the cards to:

Giovana Smith
"Cards for Bekah"
181 Perry Way
Yakima, WA 98901


Thanks so much for your help!! God bless! (I have a really sweet little project to share, pictures uplaoded soon!) :)

Special Delivery Hop!

Welcome! I wanted to do something a little different than postage tonight for our postage themed hop, so I thought it'd be wheely fun (sorry, I couldn't resist!) to try to replicate the stroller image in the "Special Delivery" set by punching out the "welcome" postmark like wheels to make my own carriage!

Simply die cut a large circle and emboss with your favorite background (here I used the "Bird and Swirls") then cut the circle in half; use one half for the bed and cut the other half in half for the bonnet on top. Add a brad. I stamped my little baby face from "Hip to Be Square" and punched with a 1" circle punch to peep out and matted it onto a petite scalloped Nestabilities circle. DP is Cosmo Cricket Earth Love, mounted onto a scalloped white square and Pure Luxury Sweet Corn 4.25" square base (embossed with a large scalloped Nestabilities square to frame the white mat). All buttons, which I put on the corners and postmark wheels, are from the Basic Grey Cupcake Assortment and are attached with glue dots. Images are stamped in Memento London Fog instead of black to be a little more subtle and blend with the pastel color scheme.

I lined the inside with a 4" white mat stamped with the "Special Delivery" greeting and strollers, and colored them with Copic Y21 Buttercup Yellow. Finally, I popped up another face on the inside, bigger this time and backed with a scallop punch. You could turn this design into a birth announcement by adding the baby's info (lbs, oz, etc) using he stamps from the"Wee Tees" set)

Tami Mayberry, the Illustrator of these two stamp sets has invited a couple of her friends to join in on the blog hop tonight, so click on their blog links to see the projects they've created for us tonight:

Keri Sereika

Jeanne Streiff

Then, check in on these GinaK Designer's participating in the Blog Hop tonight:

Tami Mayberry (Illustrator)
Carolyn King
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick

Lee Murphy

Kurtis Amundson

Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber
Kay Simmons

Cathy Tidwell

After you're done hopping to all the Designer's blogs stop by GinaK's Idea Center here: Special Delivery & Special Delivery Addition for lots more ideas on how to use Tami's stamp sets. And, don't forget to check in on GinaK's blog so you can leave your comment to be entered as a chance to win these two stamp sets too!

Mosaic Monday: The Butterfly Inside

Today I have a card I submitted for publication, they were looking for sympathy or encouragement cards that did not have a greeting on the front. It wasn't accepted, but that's cool, now I can share it with you! :) I was really pleased with how it turned out. This is just one more variation on the caterpillar and butterfly themed cards I've done, but this may be my favorite: layering the caterpillar over the body with the butterfly behind it.Because the body of the butterfly and caterpillar (from "A Year of Leaves") are approximately the same size and shape this works a bit like a spotlighting technique even though they are too different images, but what it represents to me is that the butterfly is already contained inside the caterpillar, as our potential for what we can become is already planted inside of each of us, right now.

"Inspiration Mosaic" is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Pure Luxury White and trimmed exactly on the border. I colored a few boxes and the border in a pale blue Copics to match the iridescent facets of the butterfly wings. Butterfly is accented with Stardust Stickles. Cardbase is Soft Sand.

Here is the inside of the card. The quote from "A Year of Leaves" is stamped in black over the versmarked butterfly from "Take Flight" to match the front.

I remember a wonderful story I read while researching Michelangelo for a report in junior high. Though I cannot find the exact quote now, the story went like this: when asked one time how he created such amazing sculptures, he replied that sculpting was the art of "taking away"and said something to the effect of: "God already put the sculpture in the marble. It is just my job to remove the rock around it."

(Sounds to me like a grand approach for life in revealing our true selves...)

I hope this inspires! Have a blessed week! :)

Another Hip Quilt

"You've got the cutest little baby face...!"
Here is another simple quilt design using the "Hip to Be Square" set using Basic Grey Lemonade DP. I stamped the frame in Vivid Coffee Bean on this delicate calico striped print, colored the border green, and cut it out along the lines. Normally I crop it a little larger, but this gave me more room to mount it on top of a white scalloped square cut from a Nestabilitie and then onto a 4.25" square plum card base. On the leftover DP I had from the 6x6 sheet, I stamped the square outline from the set 4 times and punched with a 1 1/4" square. Instead of placing these punches inside the panes, I turned them at an angle and mounted them over the crosshairs in the frame, with the points touching the middle, adhering each so that the plum stripe was facing out to make a consistent pattern. Isn't this new quilt block pretty? Last, I put the little baby face in the center (pink cheeks created from the "Inspiration Mosaic" circle, but you could also ink up a pencil eraser for the same effect) and make a bib with the word "baby" and bonnet from scalloped ovals and a circle.

Sweet and simple! Have a great day! Coming up next, Mosaic Monday and another hop the following night, can't wait to share! :)

Lord of the Season Blog HOP

Are you all ready to (blog) hop?? Originally I had a "nice" card using three of Nina's "Lord of the Season" topiaries for today, but I wasn't hopping up and down over what I created (and I don't think you would have been either), needed something a little more "wow!" for the hop, and hopping made me take a second look at the spring topiary...and I realized I could make a fluffy little bunny! The omission technique of inking up just parts of the image you want to use with a marker or ink pad and adding a few small details with a pen will get you there...
Ink up just the butterflies and topiary ball outlines, skipping over the parts in the centers, and stamp. Then doodle some ears, a face, paws and feet, and a little grass underneath to ground it. The space in between the topiary balls is covered by a little tied ribbon.
I colored it with Copics and matted it onto two Cosmo Cricket Earth Love DPs and Pure Luxury White and Sweet Corn CS. The stitching around the edges is created by stamping the zigzag image from "Hip to Be Square" inked up with Memento London Fog. "Hoppy birthday!" greeting mounted on the fancy tag is from "Just So Hoppy". Last I added a little paper flower and a button from the Autumn Button Assortment.

For even more ideas with Nina Brackett's Lord of the Season stamp set, visit her blog link below as well as the GinaK Idea Center here: Lord of the Season
GinaK is giving away the set on her blog today, too, so be sure to stop there as well as the other designers joining in on the hop tonight:

Nina Brackett
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber
Donna Baker

September's Center Stage Spotlight Team:

Janice Melton
Joy Hadden
Kay Simmons
Lori McAree

Guest Designer Karen Knegten

Today I have a project for you from Karen Knegten, my guest designer for "Hip to Be Square" this month. Hopefully you caught all Karen's inspiration( from the "pretty" to "pretty hilarious!!":) in our hop this past week, today she is sharing a sample using "Hip..." and the "Cuddles and Hugs" animals on a "Z card", named because of the fold if you look at this side view. The square grid collage is perfect for this little "flip" open card. And this is how it opens...

This set and frame is perfect to use with a set of images that go together, just stamp the different images into the boxes and add the greeting of your choice to the 4th pane for a perfecly coordinated layout!

Here is a little more about Karen:

FAVORITE TECHNIQUE: Wow- I wish I could say I have a favorite, but I really like learning and trying new ones. I love watching video tutorials.

COLORS/COLOR COMBO: I'd have to say earth tones.

FAVORITE GINA K SET BY MELANIE: Hmm, let's see- love Wee Tees, Inspiration Mosaic, and now Hip to Be Square too.

FAVORITE GINA K SETS (FROM ANY ILLUSTRATOR) Theresa's Autumn Beauty- since I love Fall.

CRAFT SUPPLIES I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Stamps, of course. Inks,daubers, and Cuttlebug embossing folders and Nesties.

I’VE BEEN STAMPING FOR (HOW LONG): I have only been stamping for about 1 1/2 years, and started making cards 3 years ago.

I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM: So many talented people on Stamp TV.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT STAMPING/CARDMAKING ARE: It is the only hobby I haven't tired of. I tried many over the years, but got bored with all the others.

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING GOALS ARE: Not quite sure what is all involved for being a Design Team member. but I'd like to find out.

FAVORITE THING TO MAKE THAT AREN’T CARDS: Small gift boxes

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Being asked by Theresa to be her Guest Designer last month and for Melanie this month.

Now let's go see another project of Karen's! :)

A Very Merry Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to "A Very Merry Christmas" Hop!

Don't you love this tall Christmas tree? I left it uncolored to look like a flocked one with colored decorations would really pop, these are colored with Copics. A Copic marker I'd like to recommend to you (while we're on this card!) is Y28 Lionet Gold, which I used on the urn. While it's not a metallic marker, there's just something about this shade that perfectly captures the look of real gold! I placed my die over the mat for a stencil and rubbed gold rub on paste all around the tree to coordinate with the Good as Gold mat underneath. See how the paste and cardstock shimmer?

This image is perfect for piling on the bling, I added self adhesive rhinestones and nail heads to decorate the tree. Embossing on the Pure Luxury White is the Argyle Cuttlebug folder, base is Rocket Red. I also wanted to have a big red bow to match the ones on the tree, this is one of my favorite new ribbons, available from Gina K Designs.

For even more ideas with Theresa Momber's A Very Merry Christmas stamp set, visit her blog link below as well as the GinaK Idea Center here: A Very Merry Christmas. Theresa's tip sheet has been added to the Idea Center as a PDF so you can print out her tips and suggestions for a handy reference tool. We've also included her Copic coloring links too.
Here's all the Designer's Blog Links to check out tonight:

Theresa Momber
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Nina Bracket
Melanie Muenchinger

September's Center Stage Spotlight Team:

Giovana Smith
Janice Melton
Kay Simmons
Linda Payne
Lori McAree

and finally, Theresa's Guest Designers for A Very Merry Christmas:

Selma Stevenson
Sharri Seffens

and a couple more talented ladies Theresa knows! ;)
Geri Utterback
Brenda Turner