Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bling Flowers

I *think* I may have shared this sample at the release party, but I know I haven't blogged it, so here 'tis! Drawing my inspiration from these beautiful bold dots and colors in the DP (from a StampTV kit) I used "Bring the Bling" to stamp and emboss (with black EP) these four different in the set onto Cranberry Tart cardstock, then embossed the leaves onto Fresh Asparagus and cut out for some big, layered floral embellishments! I adhered them with pop dots for extra dimension and curled the end of the leaves and some of the petals up for more depth. I love how the rich, saturated colors and *ever* so slight texture of the Pure Luxury make these almost look like felt or velvet instead of paper! Greeting is from the new StampTV kit "Springtime Silhouettes" on a die cut circle, the pattern on the printed paper made choosing a layout and shape for my greeting easy. :) Doesn't the black just make the white extra crisp and all the other colors pop? I am lovin' this color combo! Thank you for visiting me today! It's almost the weekend!

The Doodle!!

Okay, anything called a "DOODLE" is a winner in my book! I got this Sweet Deal today and it's another online goody I just had to share with you, my crafty friends! A cute little battery powered speaker you can plug your phone, ipod, whatever into and you are able to customize the face with drawings, photos etc anything /any colors you want (Lee, you could make it piiink, with bleeeng!!!), and it's only 19 bucks! I have really been wanting to get a small speaker so the kids and I can rock out* to the tunes on my Nano together at home or in the car (never liked the one I had that had to play through my radio, too staticky!) and this totally fills the bill! You know I have to find a way to incorporate some "A Year of Flowers" in there!!


Anyway, check it out, there are a limited number available so I don't really know how lonthe deal will last, I pounced! LOL! I really enjoyed watching the youtube videos they had linked of the two founders sharing their different ingenious products! And I'm not really that into new technology, but love this (AND I am also REALLY enjoying my S2H Replay , that reminds me I need to give you an update on "my personal trainer"! also got THAT through Sweet Deals , boy are they bringing me into the 21st century!!) Use coupon code FRIENDS5 to get $5 off your first Mamapedia Sweet Deals purchase! :)



*William is becoming quite the dancer BTW, I may just have to upload some videos of his moves! His favorite song is "Dynamite", you know this one?)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Guest Designer : Melissa Cash

Today Melissa is blowin' my mind with the cuteness and creativity of this new 3-D project she created with "Spring Basket", take a look!
I mean, honestly, is that ADORABLE or what?? Love , LOVE those little ropy handles! :)

Excuse me while I go make one just like it RIGHT! NOW!! (I have just enough Kraft CS to eek one out, time to go order more!!)


Be sure to check out Melissa's directions for this cutie patootie as well another project that uses "Basket Blessings" on her blog! Be sure to leave her some love! :)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I love you..I'm sorry

Good morning! Today's project I have been meaning to make for a couple months now, inspired by a project my third grader did in Sunday school. Climbing into the car, Jonathan threw two little red scraps of paper into the cup holder. I asked what they were. "Just little cards you can give someone." I picked them up and read in his handwriting "I'm sorry", and the other said "I forgive you". Well! I just loved this idea, two "get out of jail" cards, so to speak! Here is my stampy more permanent version using "Where Your Heart Is"... And the back, I don't love my writing, so I just had to find time to print them out with my computer!
Anyway, my intent to is to keep these in a common area like the kitchen or living room of our home. Sometimes when we are getting so frustrated with each other, the kids are fighting, one is mad at you that it's time to clean up, you are angry that they won't obey, sometimes the best thing to do is just stop the argument or the tension in the air with a hug and say "I am sorry" or "I forgive you". Amazing what wonders three little words can do to change BOTH hearts. These are nice little reminders about what love can do and how we are supposed to treat one another regardless of circumstances. How much easier to hand over this little card to make peace...
The really important part is the "I FORGIVE YOU". You really ARE still in jail if you don't forgive, letting seeds of bitterness grow. And how wise it is to extend forgiveness first if you can, rather than waiting for an apology; when you do that, you choose peace.
Two really great books I've read relating to forgiveness, the first is "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey. All people should read this book (IMHO) it is one of my favorites. You WILL be blessed by it. I read it about five years ago and have bought many copies for others. It is a great one to reread from time to time even if we understand the message and examine if we've nevertheless allowed any areas of our hearts to harden. I was reminded I needed to just sit down and finish this project and post when I saw Gina share this quote from it recently "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you." ~Philip Yancey. And that is one of the most key messages in this book, forgiveness doesn't erase the offense or make it right, but it's a CHOICE not to allow it to hurt YOU ANYMORE. (They are off our hook, but they aren't off God's. And that is from my Bible study this past year, but that is a whole other post!!)


The second I finished a couple weeks ago, "Gray Matter" * by David Levy, a neurosurgeon who took a leap of faith and began praying openly for all his patients before surgery and later with his colleagues as well. It was a huge risk for him to be open about his Christian faith in this kind of setting and admit that he didn't have all the answers as a top physician and needed help to be successful in surgery. The operation descriptions were fascinating (did you know now they most often enter the brain though your THIGH and use springs and GLUE to fix aneurysms?) and the numerous accounts of how not only surgeries were successful but how those prayers transformed people's lives (the patient, their families, and hospital workers) are uplifting and a testimony to the power of prayer. He also discusses many patients who would not have benefited from surgery yet had chronic or life long health troubles to whom he gently suggested perhaps there were people in their pasts or present who needed to be forgiven, citing how many health issues and pain are related to the kind of stress that is the result of a broken heart. One line that stood out to me was this: "Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will die." Whoa! (he says this to the reader, not the patient) Through prayer he was able to help these patients forgive as well as seek forgiveness for their own sins and receive Christ as their savior. Miraculous changes occurred immediately in both their attitudes and health through these simple acts of unloading those burdens, like removing great weight both physically and spiritually. Many parts moved me to tears, and, not surprisingly all these experiences completely transformed and blessed Dr. Levy's life and work as well.

I pray this message touches your spirit today and puts someone on your heart you can forgive or may need a little help forgiving you or someone else! God bless!

*I downloaded this for free at the time on my Kindle, it is now 9.68 for the Kindle version which I've linked, but you could get a hard copy or find at your local library as well. There are so many FREE terrific Christian reads offered on Kindle all the time, I highly recommend purchasing one! :)

Monday, March 28, 2011

Spellbinders Blog Hop

Good morning and happy Monday! Today the Gina K Designs team is doing another thank you blog hop for Spellbinders, sharing more samples of cards we've made with our Grand Calibur gifts! If you are following the hop you should be arriving from Lee Murphy's blog, but you may start anywhere along the way and see everything, thank you for stopping here! The card I made for today, which also uses this week's StampTV's sketch challenge, uses 5 different Spellbinders dies and I was able to cut them ALL in one pass on my Grand Calibur, then flip and emboss all five on the second pass, love it! I stamped my daisy bunch from "Spring Basket" in Vivid Coffee Bean on the Long Rectangle panel and then framed it on Long Scalloped Rectangles die cuts from Pure Luxury Creme de Menthe and Chocolate Brown. After coloring my daisies with Copics G21, YG11, RV00, BV31, BV00, and V17, I layered these over a Petite Scalloped Circle from Lovely Lavender mat, both stamped with my "Bring the Bling" flourishes in Versamark, which I then covered with Liquid Pearls. Base and Fancy Tag are made with the new Gina K Pure Luxury Wild Lilac.
Greeting is from the new Free with Three set "Stenciled Spring". I hope you can participate in our sketch challenge this week!! Be sure to upload your card using this sketch to the STV gallery with the tag STVSKSP19, good luck winning a set of free stamps!
Now please continue the hop on Sharon Harnist's blog and check out more stunning samples with Spellbinders along the way from the rest of our talented Gina K Designs team! Enjoy the rest of your day and I hope to see you again tomorrow!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Winners!

Thank you to those who particpated in Friday's blog candy drawing, this contest is now closed!
The winner of SPRING BASKET is:

Maria Levine said...
Beautiful samples!!! LOVE your new sets! OMG, don't know which i like better. I always loved all your floral sets so if I have to pickone I'd go with the Spring Basket. But I can see how awesome the two can go together! EEKK! Thanks for a chance to win.
March 25, 2011 10:12 AM


The winner of BASKET BLESSINGS is:


Scrapacat said...
You know I have to go with Basket Blessings. Those bunnies... CUTE overload! I love both of her cards! As for the stamp set, I would use these images to create scrapbook pages about my two rescued twins. Heavenly goodness, Mel! ♥ky
March 25, 2011 10:13 AM



Congrats ladies! Please send me your snail addys within 48 hours so I can get your stamps out to you. More blog candy coming soon! :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Designing Friend: Melissa Bove (and Blog Candy!)

Happy Friday! I have the pleasure of sharing two beautiful cards with you today from my designing friend, Melissa Bove! Melissa has such a beautiful, shabby style and a love for detial, and I am LOVING these wonderfully feminine samples she's created with Spring Basket" and "Basket Blessings"!
Check out the beautiful prints on this bunny card, they are all so delicate and muted, work perfectly together. The deep pink ink she chose to stamp the basket liner really makes that part pop! She also arranged several of the single tulips around, stamping each in pastel colors and filling with coordinating inks and touch of glitter is such a beautiful look!
This next sample which uses one of the flower borders from "Spring Basket" and a greeting from "Basket Blessings" has a wonderful vintage style, these flowers are a great element to add collage style to vintage papers. Such a romantic feel again, with all the distressing, lace, etc!

I hope you were inspired by Melissa's creations today, I definitely was! Thank you Melissa for sharing your talents and thank YOU everyone who is purchasing these sets, they are HOT sellers right now and I am so glad you're enjoying them as much I'd hoped you would. Please see Melissa's blog for more details about these cards and leave her some love!
Let's have some candy today, shall we?? Please leave me a comment below telling me which of these two sets is your favorite and/or a special idea you have for either set! If you've posted any samples on your blog or an online gallery, you can leave a link to it, we'd love to see! Subscribers and followers can leave a second comment for an extra chance to win! Sign up today if you have not already! Tomorrow I will draw two names to win one of these coordinating sets! Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Inspiration Hop Day 4: StampTV Kit "Springtime Silhouettes"

Good morning and welcome back to our Gina K Designs Inspiration Hop! Today we are focusing on the new "Springtime Silhouettes" Stamp TV Kit. These are such a great value if you have never purchased one before, you can create so many projects with all the beautiful cardstock and supplies included, in addition to getting a HUGE stamp set, this has to be my favorite kit so far, the images are absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, time has gotten away from me this week and I have not yet had a chance to make a newer sample with the kit (one without bling! or at least show you a new way to use it LOL), but here is one I shared at our release party Thursday night. It was simple to make and I do like the way it turned out a lot, it's the very first card I actually made with these sets when my stamps arrived....

I'm not sure if I've ever put these colors together before, but Emily Giovanni's new 's Grunge Damask quarter sheet in this shade of peach really spoke to me, and is so unexpected with the red and black, which is sometimes the best way to create an impact! The grunginess and texture in the patterned flourish I thought would be gorgeous with the "Bring the Bling" flourish (quickly becoming one of my favorite stamps!)and the distressed beauty of the butterfly image. I stamped it in Vivid Brick on Pure Luxury Ivory and then cut it out and bent the wings for dimension. I embossed three little bling dots on each wing to tie in the embossed trail and have the black details bounce around the card.
Here's a close up to show you all the details and script in the butterfly and a bit of the shine on the black embossing. Sentiment is also from the kit and stamped directly onto the DP.

Enjoy hopping around for more inspiration with this new STV Kit, I'm confident you'll agree it is the most beautiful one yet! I know I will be creating LOTS more samples with the other images very soon and I hope you will come back to see what I make!

  • Gina K


  • AJ Otto


  • Carolina Buchting


  • Cathy Tidwell


  • Deb Felts


  • Donna Baker


  • Emily Giovanni


  • Giovana Smith


  • Janice Whiting


  • Jennie Harper


  • Lee Murphy


  • Melanie Muenchinger (you are here, thank you for visiting!)


  • Michelle Woerner


  • Nina Brackett


  • Sharon Harnist



  • Tami Mayberry


  • Theresa Momber


  • Tina Gilliland

  • Valerie Stangle


  • Vicki Dutcher


  • PS Thanks again SO much for all your sweet comments this week and love for the bling! I can't wait to see it start hitting the STV gallery more when your packages arrive. I WILL be taking a few days off from using it I promise, don't want to bling you down! ;) (but then I will be back to using it soon becuase I am addicted! and have another tutorial in mind, coming soon!) :)

      Tuesday, March 22, 2011

      Inspiration Hop Day 3, "Perfect Pennants", Cute as a Bug", and "Lovely Labels 3"

      Welcome to Day 3 of our Gina K Designs Inspiration Hop for our March sets! first set we are sharing today is Nina Brackett's "Lovely Labels 3". I stamped this label and greeting with Vintage Photo Distressing Ink on Pure Luxury Ivory CS. I made the background paper which I think goes very well with these vintage style labels using "Bring the Bling" and distressing inks, let me show you how to create this look with the emboss resist technique!

      First ink up the large flourish in both Antique Linen and then Vintage Photo rolled on the edges and stamp into both corners of your ivory mat. Clean your stamp and ink the flourish up again in Versamark and stamps again in both corners, offset from the first flourishes so they branch out the opposite way, but will still have some overlap. As you can see, I left a teensy bit of the dark ink on my Versamarked flourish. That's okay. Gives it a nice patina! Add clear embossing powder and heat.

      Now take your jumbo sponge dauber and sponge Antique Linen and Vintage Photo over your embossed araeas to distress the and make your embossing pop. Leave some light areas, you can always add more ink but can't take it away! Isn't that two tone effect with the bling gorgeous?

      Here it is matted on another layer of Ivory and Chocolate Brown base with the label popped up over it. I don't have the dies that match this set, so I just free cut with scissors following the edge of the label. I love the shape of this label stamp and the accent details inside it!

      Even with the "bling" it still has a great masculine feel, like tooled leather boots! Still a card a lot of ladies (including me!) would also enjoy receiving! :)


      Next we have Rupa Shevde's "Cute as a Bug". I love bees! This little guy holding the honey dipper and the sentiment are too sweet! I colored and cut out the bee and then popped him up over this flourish from "Bring the Bling" embossed in Black. Embossing the hearts in back on Red Hot CS to pop over over the flourish and next to the hive were the perfect pops of color and finishing touches! The solid color of the cardstock almost looks like little felt accents when embossed!
      I used a glitter pen to highlight the wings and doubled my pop dot stack under the bee to give him some extra lift! Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Turquoise Sea, and Wild Dandelion. (Didn't rub this card with the anti-static pad before embossing either obviously, I'm going to say that's a dusting of pollen trailing behind, yeah, that's the ticket!!)

      Next up we have Tami Mayberry's "Perfect Pennants". I tried to go a little out of the box with it here. Since there are so many things you can make out of triangle shapes, one of the first that came to mind was to make a large scale tiara, fit for a queen (or little princess!) on her special day!

      I began by embossing the scalloped "Bring the Bling" border to give it some structure that I stamped in a curve, checking first that the three large triangles would fit across it by laying out the rubber images on top of each other before I started, perfect fit! After embossing and cutting out the large embossed triangles, I stamped out 5 more tiny harlequin patterned ones and embossed some of the hearts and stars from the set as toppers above them before cutting them out and popping them up.

      I made a little banner for the "It's your day"! greeting by embossing it onto a strip I notched out at both ends, then snipping off either side and mounting the rectangle slightly above them for a layered look. The black bling dots I embossed and Black Onyx layer provides a little punch of contrast. This DP is from Emily Giovanni's new Quarter sheets "Grunge Damask" digi pack, love these patterns and colors! :)



      Please go check out the rest of our teams blogs for more inspiration with these three great sets!

      Gina K



      Nina Brackett


      Monday, March 21, 2011

      Inspiration Hop, Day 2: "Bring the Bling", "Warm with Love", "Make a Splash"!

      Welcome to Day 2 of our Gina K Designs March Inspiration hop, I hope you had a fantastic weekend (and that your new stamps will be arriving any day now LOL!) We have three sets to show today, the first is my "Bring the Bling" set. No need to keep buying more packs of adhesive pearl or rhinestone embellishments and then hoarding your favorites, this set does all that and so much MORE! (You can scroll down to see yesterday's post for my tip sheet on the many ways you can use this bling.) I shared several samples with it at the release party, but wanted to show you a very different look today from what I'd shown previously. I was glad Gina mentioned piercing in her release party video, this card uses piercing, faux stitching AND embossing, the result I think looks like I stitched clear sequins onto my mat! Let me show you what I did.

      First I stamped the one of the large flowers in Versamark on my Innocent Pink mat. This rounder flower is a little more "cutesy" than the pointy petal flower. Then I stamped the smaller version of the flower inside, see how perfectly it nests? Then, I stamped the large bling flourish in the open areas, turning the stamps as I went. You could leave it like this, but I'm still going! :)

      Next, put a mouse pad under it and pierce into the highlight in the center of each dot. It's okay if it's not exact, but having that little circle inside really takes out a LOT of guesswork and makes the piercing go MUCH faster !

      Then take a brown fine tip marker and connect the dots, the tracing when the dots are pre-pierced goes so fast, this is the only stitching I ever intend to do on my cards! ;)
      Then I added clear embossing powder over the whole thing (yes, it WILL still stick to your Versamark even after you've pierced and faux stitched!) and then heat set. Be sure to emboss AFTER drawing on your stitches or the embossing will resist your marker and you won't be able to make the connections. I'm holding it an angle so you can hopefully see the shine and dimension. (I didn't bother to pierce or stitch the tinier areas, these will mostly be covered by buttons and the tag.)

      Last I adhered some buttons in to the flowers centers and on the vine, then added a beaded oval I'd sponged with pink and a greeting from the "Springtime Silhouettes" Stamp TV kit. I created the layer flowers the same way I did my mat above and then cut around the outside and popped up over the oval. Originally I intended for this to be a baby card, the faux stitched mat looked like beautiful girly quilting, but since I don't know anyone due with a girl, I turned it into a thank you! :) An extra step you could take before adding the button embellishments to take the card up another notch would be to emboss it with a flowery or swirly Cuttlebug folder...
      Hope this card makes you see beyond the sparkly bling possibilities for this set! It's quickly becoming one of my favorites I've released!


      The next set we are sharing today is Theresa Momber's "Warm with Love", filled with illustrations and sentiments in Theresa's signature style you know and love! Who can resist a beautiful swan? A picture of grace and serenity.... I know you'll see lots of beautiful stamped and sponged scenes today, so I decided to play with color and the new StampTV kit papers for a more whimsical look. Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Lovely Lavender and Black Onyx, also found in the kit.
      I shaded the swan with BV31 and BV23 to blend with the lavenders in my papers and floral prints and popped it up over the sponged circle. I stamped my small "Bring the Bling" flourish above and below the die cut and then dropped Liquid Pearls over the center of each dot. Allow several minutes for the card to dry FLAT to avoid smearing. Don't they look like real, tiny pearls? I also added some tiny adhesive flowers to finish the project. Love how this project turned out!

      Next up we have the fun "Make a Splash" from Asela Hopkins. Kids will love these silly sea creatures! I stamped the octopus twice onto more paper from the STV kit and carefully cut them out, cutting around the heads and in between tentacles just enough so they wouldn't come apart but allowed me to bend some parts forward and push other back to make the more dimensional. Add shadows to the tentacles and a kissy face and rouge to Ms. Octopus with markers!
      I used a piece of Basic Grey DP for the sea that had a lot of distressing and variation in the turquoise to make the ocean and then stamped two rows of my "Bring the Bling" scallops at the top, one embossed with Seafoam White, the other with Silver. Cut around the top edge to create the scalloped border and reveal a bit more of the Lemon Drop base.
      Here is a closeup. Don't you love the way they are entangled? I embossed some individual bling dots and heart above them in white and the just colored inside the hearts with a pink marker. I didn't bother to rub my paper with the anti-static pad before doing the powder this time, in some cases, like this one, stray flecks can work in your design, now it just looks bit more bubbly. ;)

      Have to share an old joke that is stuck in my head ever since I saw these images:

      What did one octopus say to the other octopus?

      "I wanna hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand."


      hee hee


      Now please go check out more samples from our talented Gina K Designs team!


    • Gina K



    • Lee Murphy



    • Melanie Muenchinger ( you are here, thanks for visiting!)



    • Michelle Woerner


    • Nina Brackett



    • Sharon Harnist



    • Theresa Momber



    • Tina Gilliland



    • Valerie Stangle



    • Vicki Dutcher


    • AJ Otto



    • Asela Hopkins



    • Carolina Buchting


    • Cathy Tidwell


    • Deb Felts


    • Emily Giovanni


    • Giovana Smith


    • Janice Whiting

    • Jennie Harper

    • Thanks for joining us! Hope it inspired! :) More samples and ideas tomorrow, see you again soon!

      Sunday, March 20, 2011

      "Bring the Bling" Tip Sheet

      I love the look of all the gorgeous blingy adhesive rhinestone and pearl flourishes and accents out there but not the price! There is a limit to how many you get on a sheet and once you've used that favorite big flourish, it's gone, you're just left with the teeny pieces to work with. And of course they typically come in one color per pack, so you're buying lots to get different colors. My desire with "Bring the Bling" was to give you a set that will recreate this look so you have a variety of shapes and swirls to use unlimited times, in any color you want, without adding bulk to your cards! The tiny round "highlight" in the center of each, adds detail, enhances the 3-D effect, and works as a piercing and stitch guide.


      So many ways to bling it!! A lot of "busy" bling may not be your style, but a few thoughtfully placed dots on a card are like throwing on a pair of earrings to make you look elegant and pulled together before heading out the door! They complete the look! We will have a BLOG HOP tomorrow with the Gina K Designs team for this set and I can't wait to see all the ways they've used it! :) Until then , I hope this gets your creative juices flowing! I may come back to this post and add pics of the different looks you can achieve using the different techniques for your reference, but until then, here we go!

      Ink up any of these images with Versamark and stamp. Leave "as is" for a subtle watermark or add embossing powder and heat for shiny dimension. Powders are available with shiny, sparkly, matte or distressed finishes, try them all! Metallic powders like silver and gold look like brads or nail heads. Clear or colored powders or tinsels with shimmer in them look like clear or colored rhinestones.

      Have dimensional bling in any coloring inking up the bling stamps with Versamark then inking on a colored pad and stamping. Add clear powder and heat, your colored ink will show through.

      Stamp in Versamark and use the dots as a guide to carefully dot/drop on Crystal Lacquer or Liquid Pearls. The lacquer allows the color of the cardstock to show through, the liquid pearls will be opaque.

      Stamp in colored ink and drop Crystal Lacquer over it for shiny, dimensional colored dots.


      Stamp in white onto vellum for a dry embossed look.


      Stamp in Versamark onto colored paper for a dry embossed look.

      Get a jar of Sticky Stuff powder to use with your Versamark and expand the possibilities! Ink up the image with Versamark, pour on the sticky stuff powder and heat like you would when you emboss, you now have sticky dots that you can add flock, glitter, foil leaf, colored sand, etc.

      Use the three single big, medium, and little dots in the corners of mats, frames and labels like an accent or brad, or line them up in different orders on your block to go around a curves, add to the end of another flourish in the set to change the shape, etc.

      The long die cut swirls, lines and flourishes have a lot of flexibility! Vary the look by curving the image slightly when you put in to on your acrylic block and stamp.

      The straight line is perfect to underline or lead to a sentiment or image. It can also be a flower stem or the string to hand an ornament or punch, get creative!

      The curvy or scalloped bling looks gorgeous on the flap of an envelope or the edge of a mat on your card front of inside. Tim around the outside edge of the dots with your scissors to enhance those curves for an ornate, blinged border or shaped card edge.

      Stack the borders to make more complicated ones, example, the line with scallops below it. Use them to enhance your ribbons: stamp the scallops once and then flip it over and stamp again about a half inch above it. Adhere ribbon in between the scalloped borders.

      Stamp them onto solid ribbons to make patterned ones.

      Stamp the "S" curves end to and to make a new border, vary the size to change up the look, big, small, big small. You can also create new whimsical border s with just the flowers or hearts, mixing the sizes.

      Adding some single bling or tiny flourish at the end of a greeting gives it more flair or can fill out some space around the sentiment within your mat or die cut frame, where you just a need a little "something".

      The large flower is open in the middle to add the bling swirls in the middle in a different color or finish. The smaller flower with the roudn petlas also fits inside. You can also add a button or large brad.

      Change the look of the large or small flourish by inking up only the parts you want with a marker and stamping. This way you can eliminate the curls, leaves on the sides if you desire.


      Use markers to color different dots in the image different colors (direct to stamp) before stamping. Add extra variety by ink up the image in one color and then swiping a slightly darker marker along the very edge or slightly rolling onto a darker pad. This will the outside edges of the bling even more shadowed and dimensional.

      After stamping in a colored ink, you can touch up the bling by going over them with gel, glaze or stardust pen. Just put a tiny dot or crescent opposite the highlight, or draw a quick circle around the highlight. You can do the same with the fine point of a colored marker. Enhance stamped colored bling using a Copic Spica or Sakura glitter pen.

      Stamp the small and large leaves around the edges of the flourishes or straight or scalloped borders in places that enhance and balance out your layout. Pop up the blingy flower images over it, or adhere Primas, stamped cut out flowers, rolled flowers etc.

      The flourishes make a beautiful butterfly, bird, or bug trail and can add whimsy and beauty to any mat or patterned paper. Stamp them onto your mat and layer die cut from over them, with the swirls and flourishes peeking out around the edges.

      Clear emboss the flourishes on cardstock or patterned papers and then sponge distressing inks over them for a vintage,weathered look, your dots will magically appear through the ink in reverse!

      Stamp the images onto acetate or vellum cardstock and then use the the little highlight in the center of each to pierce through, place a mouse pad or craft pad underneath when doing so. Now you have a piercing template you can reuse again and again, and the best part, it's reversible! Now you can pierce a mirror image of every single swirl and flourish by flipping the piece over, too cool!

      You can also stamp onto your paper, piece through and the flip the cardstock over to a pierced look.

      Use the piercing for real stitches with embroidery thread or do faux stitching by quickly tracing over the dots with a pen.

      Stamp the images onto designer paper to add detail and customize for you theme or to coordinate with your stamped focal point.

      Make bold, graphic looking backgrounds by stamping the different images in one to three different colors onto white white or colored cardstock, makes a very fresh, happy background with burst of color in seconds!

      Stamp the smaller images like the flowers, leaves and hearts onto colored cardstock or patterned papers and cut outside the dots to make blingy embellishments.

      See you tomorrow for our hop and more inspiration!

      Saturday, March 19, 2011

      A Tisket, a Tasket...

      ..."A Year of Borders" basket! Kary Lim has another lovely project or us using the "A Year of Borders", this time, she stamped the butterflies border on the diagonal to create a sheet of paper she could make her 3-D project from, isn't it darling? I love the little label accent she made and then check out the sides and top!
      She cut strips of the flower paper she created from her project the other day to make these layered bows! the artistry is in the details and these delicate touches (and the contrast of the pink to the blue and green so the project isn't so mathcy-match, it also ties in thoe yummy raspberry wrappers!) is SO inspired! My tip: If you don't have time to colors all the borders in, just stamp in a colored ink like powder blue and then spend your time coloring a little tag like this for it. No, it won't be *quite* as awesome as this but you'll still have a beautiful little presentation! Don't not attempt something this fun because you think it will take too long! ;)
      Kary's creation details:
      "The basket was made from 8.25x8.25" of paper. I stamped the butterflies all around the sides of the basket and coloured them with copics BG10 and YG03. Added a little Diamond stickles on the butterfly images. The little bows were made from the stamped papers with the flower borders from yesterday. I didn't have any Easter eggs (which I think would be perfect) so I filled them with my fave chocolates."

      Thank you Kary for working your magic again with this set and showing us how you can take a handful of yummy chocolates to another level and create a handmade gift that has people saying "Wow"! How adorable would this little basket be to store other things in when the Ghiradelli is gone? (I know I couldn't throw it away!) Kary made another beautiful project using the butterflies on a card, using the SCRAPS from this project, please check it out here!


      Finally, thank you everyone for all the love for my new "Bring the Bling" set, I hear from Gina it is flying off the shelves, yeah!! :) I am so excited about this concept and eager to start using it on my cards (in subtle and not so subtle ways!) ;) I can't wait to see tons of "well dressed" cards popping up in the STV gallery using these little touches of bling and seeing what creative uses you have for them! Just FYI, most of the new amazing embossing powders Gina added to the store to use with the set have already sold out, but don't worry, she has already ordered more so they should be added back in very soon! I have some of the beautiful black sparkle and red sparkle on its way to me so I look forward to showing how these look on projects! Did you all watch the bling video Gina did? I didn't want it to end, love how many things she packed in there! :)




      My plan is to share my "Bring the Bling" tip sheet with you tomorrow and then Monday we will restart our inspiration hop, three more days of projects for all the new sets and then I will sharing some more guest spots, stay tuned

      Friday, March 18, 2011

      "Stencilled Silhouettes" and "Celebrate in Style"

      Hope you had a GREAT time at the party on STV last night and fun shopping in the store, all new products are AVAILABLE NOW! We're kicking off four more days of hop with the Gina K Designs Team to show you more ideas and inspiration for all our latest Gina K sets! We know the first thing a lot of people want to know is "what's free?!" and this month we have not one but TWO great freebie sets with purchase, in honor of 2 great years of StampTV! We also know have a lot in your cart and on your wish list so we want to show you some rewards you get with your orders and fun ways to use them! :) Without further adieu, let's see these sets!


      The first is "Stencilled Silhouettes", bold images that are beautiful with the Direct to Stamp technique, get out your markers! :) This set is free this month only with the purchase of three stamps sets valued at 19.95 or above! Today I made two very simple CAS cards, these stamps make such crisps pop of color on a clean white sheet of Pure Luxury!

      I also worked in this week's STV Color Spotlight challenge to create these cards: Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion, and Green Grass. I used my Memento Markers to color directly on the rubber, "huffing" with my breath to moisten the ink and then stamping. Ribbon is Pure Luxury. Don't you love that font?? Fun but sophisticated! I also added a row of my "Bring the Bling" to lead your eye to the tulips and underscore the greeting, the bold dots work very well with these chunky stamps...


      The next card I made the row going across my vertical card with the greeting below it. This is such a classic layout! I started by stamping my scalloped row from "Bring the Bling" then stamped each trio of inked up flowers above it TWICE, the flowers fit perfectly at the top of each "v", I was so excited to discover that when Gina previewed the set! You could also stamp the scallops upside down and then stamp the flowers into the "humps".



      Next up is "Celebrate in Style", this mini set is free with ANY $35 purchase this month! You get this adorable frock on dressmaker form (so cute and trendy!) and a greeting that works for almost any occasion! I stamped the dress onto Basic Grey Lemonade DP and then again on vellum so I could add another layer of the skirt underneath. I didn't have any fabric or lace on hand, but in real life the vellum looks very gossamer and girly! :)
      Lemon Drop layer is stamped with my "Bring the Bling" border, I tapped the stamp onto my Versamark pad before inking it up with cranberry ink, and then stamping. This layer of Versamark allows clear EP to stick to the image so after heating you can have glossy, dimensional embossing, just like real bling! (Be sure to do the Versamark FIRST so you don't get colored ink on your pad! ) I used the stamped border as a guide to free cut around it creating a fancy edge.

      I love how these little bling dots look with the berries in the print! I also stamped a little bling flower onto the same DP and then just cut around the edge to make an embellishment. Ivory CS is Cuttlebugged with Victoria and base is Pure Luxury Lipstick Red.

      Both sets here at "What's New?"! Please enjoy more inspiration with these stamps from our talented Gina K Design Team!



    • Gina K



    • Giovana Smith



    • Janice Whiting




    • Jennie Harper




    • Lee Murphy




    • Melanie Muenchinger




    • Michelle Woerner




    • Sharon Harnist




    • Theresa Momber




    • Tina Gilliland




    • Valerie Stangle




    • Vicki Dutcher




    • AJ Otto




    • Carolina Buchting




    • Cathy Tidwell




    • Colleen Schaan




    • Deb Felts



    • Thanks for hopping with us! I'd love to hear from you what you think of all the new sets! :)

      Thursday, March 17, 2011

      Tonight's the Party! Sneaky peeky!

      The party is tonight at StampTV, 7-9 PM CST! Oh how I have missed sharing peeks this week, but you can expect lots of samples starting tonight and continuing through next week! here is a tiny snippet of a card made for tonight, using two new sets!
      So what stamp is mine?? (hint, not the greeting, not the swan!) I am SO excited to share my latest set with you and all it can do, so many techniques, fun products to go with, it will be a "go to" set that stays out on your desk and will have all your cards dressed to impress and stepping out in style!

      Something ELSE new for the party tonight, more videos of Gina and the new stamps in action, (I am pins and needles to see!) so this party we are having for our 2 year Stamp TV anniversary is sure to be a night to remember! It's shorter party but action packed so I really hope you can peek in! Store opens one hour earlier for shopping!

      Who all's coming?? See you there!! :)

      Tuesday, March 15, 2011

      Special Guest Appearance by...

      Kary Lim!!! I KNOW you remember her gorgeous work with "A Year of Borders" at the beginning of wnter and I made sure before her "reign" ended she'd be coming back with some seasonal samples for us throughout the year! Spring is upon us, I am enjoying a fun and busy Spring Break with my boys and SUPER BUSY getting ready for our release party on Thursday!!* So it is a real blessing to have her beautiful work today since I can't share anything I am working on for a few more days, AND I have not gotten to play with "A Year of Borders" in a few months, so this is a treat for me too! Talk about inspiration, this card is like a breath of fresh (Spring!) air!

      Kary's creation details:

      "I wanted to show how pretty the border flowers are, and how one can use it to make your own pattern paper. I cut a strip of white cardstock 3 inch wide, and stamped the flowers diagonally. Then I did some colouring with copics ( I used R81, R83 & R85 for the flowers and YR02 for the flower centre, & YG03 & YG17 for the leaves). The 3 rolled flowers are also made from the stamped piece of paper. "

      I am just bewitched by these beautiful rolled flowers: the stamping inside makes for perfect coordination and just takes the whole project up a notch beyond if they were just solid color, I love! (And did you jot down that marker combo, I'm in heaven!)

      Fantastic design, Kary, thank you again! Be sure to leave Kary some love! I *believe* we may even be getting a bonus project from her tomorrow! :)

      *How are you liking all the snippets? Figured out whose is whose? ;)

      Sunday, March 13, 2011

      Spellbinders Blog Hop

      Good morning! The Gina K Designs team would like to welcome to you a special Spellbinders Thank You Blog Hop!! Recently Spellbinders generously gifted each member of our Design Team with the amazing new Grand Calibur, what a perfect gift for a papercrafter and we are all enjoying this fabulous machine! We have made some special cards and projects to showcase the new Grand Calibur and why we are loving it so much! (You should be coming from Lee Murphy's blog, but if you're starting here, you will find another link at the end of this post which will take you to the end and allow you to circle back around!)
      Here is a card I made with one of the Fancy Tag Dies. These beautiful tags are often the inspiration for the entire card, the elegant flourished and intricate details make it easy choose paper and images to create a gorgeous, coordinated project and really add flair to any sentiment! I embossed a greeting from "Basket Blessings" in gold into the center of the die and then rubbed some metallic paste over the die before removing it, I love using these dies like stencils, just makes the beautiful details in the embossed edges pop even more.

      I embossed my bunch of tulips and lilies from "Spring Basket", stamping one on ivory cardstock then flipping the stamp over to stamp below and create this rounded, wreath effect. Cut out and mounted under the tag die cut, it looks like a beautiful medallion, I love the way the flower bunches frame the sentiment.
      Gina K Pure Luxury Good as Gold and Ivory Cardstock
      Gina K Organdy, adhesive nailheads, Wave Flourish Punch
      As I've said before, the thing I love most about the Grand Calibur is having the ability to cut and emboss so many images at once on the large plate, but I also love how evenly it applies pressure, so that even when you are doing one die like this Fancy Tag, it easily cuts out all those tiny details in just one pass.


      Thank you again, Spellbinders for the Grand Calibur! For someone like me who is a constant collector of Nestabilities, this machine and streamlines the cardmaking process and gets me using all these beautiful dies more often! Love it!
      Time to continue the hop, please check out another project using Spellbinders at Michelle's blog!