Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Inspiration Hop Day 1: "The Vine" and "All Occasion Tags"

Welcome to Day 1 of our Inspiration Hop with the Gina K Designs team! The first set we are showcasing is my new set "The Vine", which coordinates with my "Branching Out" set, (as well as many of our other floral sets) in the sample below I've added some of the flowers over the large Branching Out frame and shown how the new sentiments from The Vine" fit into the smaller frames in that set. You my notice the large new line art flowers and branches match the tinier silhouettes in "Branching Out", which make them complement each other perfectly when you are creating backgrounds, decorating your envelopes and the insides of cards, etc. You will love stamping these new vines on your cards, gifts and home decor and adding the flowers of your choice.
I've included a straight vine for making borders as well as a corner vine for creating frames, let me show how versatile this corner stamp is! You can stamp it into the corner or a mat for an A2 sized or square card...
then turn it and stamp the top corner to make a square or rectangle, perfect for placing a sentiment, image, photograph, or die cut inside.

Here I've colored it with G12, and then added G24 to create quick and simple shadows.And here is the finished card, with some colored popped up flowers and leaves.

Now because that corner vine is cling and flexible, you can also pull it and position it on the block to go across the card diagonally, I just love being able to change it that way! Just like a creeping vine, you can adjust it to climb across your mats and around your favorite shaped dies as needed! Here it is stretched across a 4" x 5 1/4" mat.
I stamped it in purple onto sponged Lovely Lavender cardstock to show they don't always have to be green and you don't always have to color them! :) The separate leaf images can be added to corners to fill in areas as desired.

I inked up the flowers with Memento Grape Jelly marker and stamped them onto the same lavender cardstock, swiping a little BV00 Copic on the centers just to add some shadows. Here is the finished card. Sentiment and flowers are stamped on a Fancy Tags Three die. Card also uses Pure Luxury White and Wild Lilac CS.

I've really been looking forward to telling you how this set came about. A few months ago, I had several stamps sets completed but none that I felt should be released right away, and I had a deadline to submit something in a few days. That morning, I prayed "Lord, I need a stamp set TODAY, show me what YOU would have me do!" And then I went about my errands. While driving, it suddenly came to me to illustrate a vine, along with flowers you could add to it, with the verse "I am the vine, you are the branches, those who remain in me and I in them, will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing". Praise the Lord, that was it!! I came home and finished the set in a few hours, everything just fell into place (and I found later that one of the flowers in the set I drew is actually an angel's trumpet, how sweet!) That evening, I finally got around to opening my emails that came earlier, one being a daily devotional I receive and usually read in the morning which focuses on a different woman of the Bible each time; turns out that day was Apphia, which is Greek for "fruitful". This made me smile, He really wanted to make sure I didn't miss it, don't you think? ;)

Next up we have "All Occasion Tags" by Tami Mayberry. It includes greetings and labels to fit the Grommet Tags dies. I made this card for my niece Anna, who just graduated high school. I started out with the dotted label and black and white paper from the STV "Vintage Chic" pack as my inspiration, but had to throw in some Passionate Pink to make it more fabulous! I cut the bottom of the DP mat by overlapping a Labels Four die on the end and accented the corners and the popped up tag with black brads. It still needed the perfect embellishment and I had this sassy layered flower Cammie gave me, the pink matching perfectly but the off-white corduroy button wasn't working, so I sponged the B&W DP and the white tag a little with Antique Linen Distressing Ink, ta da, we have a match, shabby chic! Last I colored in the rim with Pear Tart Memento marker and added the skinny dotted ribbon, also from the STV kit. I hope she likes this card, we love you Anna! (I also need to make a birthday card and a get well card for my two nephews (her brothers) and fortunately this set has both greetings and some shaped tag labels that will do the trick, just need to find some boyish DP! A trio of samples would have been great today, but I just couldn't make it happen! Soon! :)

106 comments:

  1. Using the vine stamp like that is so clever!

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  2. Gorgeous cards as usual- definitely think it was divine intervention! So glad you were open to 'hearing' from God!

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  3. these cards are just beautiful! I loved hearing your story of how the vine and flowers set came about. My church is called True Vine and the Vine and The Branches is our special verse, so I was drawn to this set right away! Thank you for sharing your story! Blessings :)

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  4. Gorgeous cards, Melanie! I love how He gives us so many ways to see what He wants us to see! Love this set, and I appreciate how much work it takes to make things coordinate so well!

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  5. Beautiful Vine set and cards. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  6. Love the versatility of the vine stamp and the gorgeous cards you made with them.

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  7. Melanie, you rock! I hate that yours is the set that I missed!!! :( It was one of my favorites from the entire release, too!!! Love all your cards!

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  8. Your cards are just wonderful. I must say, I'm loving your new stamps sets.

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  9. The Vine is a lovely set and your card is gorgeous!

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  10. Can I just say how proud I am to be the RECIPIENT of that gorgeous purple card?!!

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  11. Love the story... and the cards!

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  12. Your new set looks wonderful! Those vines are wonderful and I wondered what those flowers were called. How perfect that they are angel's trumpets.

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  13. beautifully done...really like the inventive way you used the stamps!

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  14. Such wonderful samples for all of us and a truly inspirational story also.

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  15. Beautiful technique for such gorgeous cards. Thank you

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  16. Beautiful set and beautiful story of how it came to be. Thanks so much for sharing that!!

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  17. Great cards and I like hearing how you came up with this set.

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  18. Another great set, beautiful samples and a wonderful tutorial. Thanks Melanie!

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  19. Melanie, that is one clever way to use the stamps's versatility! I'm always the one who needs to color the image but today, you have shown me that I don't need to! Thanks!

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  20. Love the popped up flowers and leafs! Looks so good!!

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  21. Gorgeous cards Melanie!

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  22. So awesome Mel! Love that frame you created with the stamp and loving how its so versatile! You so rock!

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  23. Beautiful cards! I really like your vine set that you designed, as it is so versatile and I love that you showed so many ways that it can be used. Thank you for sharing how you were inspired to create this set. I've always believed that we were created in HIS image, when God spoke He created..........how powerful our words are and how powerful our lives can become when we let Him direct out paths. Thanks for listening to Him!!
    Blessings~
    Catherine
    catherinesangels@yahoo.com

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  24. Love the new flowers to go with the branching out set. Thank you for showing how the stamp set can change shapes to accommodate the other stamps.

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  25. Melanie,

    This is such a beautiful set, as are all of the cards created with it. They are so inspirational!

    Barb O.

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  26. Melanie, you are an amazing artist and a fabulous card maker! Thank you for showing us some ways to use your new stamp set and for the beautiful example cards! I enjoyed your telling how God showed you what to do. I love stories like that! God bless!

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  27. I love the versatility of the vine stamp. The purple (my favorite color!) is so beautiful. And the pink one is so bright and vibrant! Great job, as always!

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  28. Beautiful card with the vine. Thanks for the bending tip also.

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  29. I always love your stamp sets but it's really exciting to see how you use them, these cards are really beautiful!

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  30. um... how do we show up with our StampTV id's and pictures like on the StampTV site?

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  31. Oooh, I love that vine. Your cards are all so lovely and you make it look so easy. I also love those tags and sentiment stamps. They are clean and crisp with a beautiful font. Thanks for sharing.

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  32. I really like your stamps. Thank you for the tutorial using your pretty little vine.

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  33. Melanie -- you have created another beautiful stamp set. I really enjoyed reading about how the set came to be. The Lord works in mysterious ways his many wonders to perform!
    Your cards are gorgeous and I'm sure your niece will appreciate the one you've made for her.

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  34. Mel, this is a fabulous set and I recall another set that you prayed about and an answer came - I ordered my vine set today....woohoo! I can't wait to get it. Hugs.

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  35. All gorgeous cards! Love the vine
    and the many ways it can be used.
    Your story about how the stamp
    came to be is beautiful.

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  36. I love the vine set stamps. The cards are lovely.

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  37. Great cards!! Love the new stamps!!

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  38. Beautiful projects, thanks for the tutorial

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  39. A really versatile stamp set. Lory

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  40. Such beautiful sets and wonderful artwork you did using the images. I love them!

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  41. very pretty, versatile sets. I especially love the tag set!

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  42. Melanie, thank you for showing us different ways to use the stamp sets and also for the wonderful stamp sets you create. Your cards are beautiful

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  43. I love your "The Vine" set and ordered it

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  44. Beautiful new stamp set Melanie!! Love your cards and cute design with Tami's newest set as well. You have such a wonderful eye for detail and LOVE the sets you create :)

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  45. Very inspiring designs! The stamps truly speak in a spiritual way!

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  46. The cards are beautiful, the stamp set is beautiful, the story behind it is inspirational. Thanks for surrendering to God's will and using your talents so we may all benefit.

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  47. Thanks for the tips, Melanie. Your non-traditional purple vine is really pretty. Great job with getting the flower to work on the other.

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  48. Beautiful cards, and the stamps are so versitile and pretty. Love being to change the vine a little without using a different stamp, very unique. Thanks for sharing.

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  49. Your stamp sets are always amazing! Cards are gorgeous, and the set you created is just amazing!

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  50. Just beautiful, so full of talent.

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  51. I love leaves of any kind and these are really pretty.

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  52. I love leaves and this vine stamp is really a nice one.

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  53. Awesome cards!!....love the vine stamp set!!

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  54. Very cool stamps and examples!

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  55. Beautiful projects, thanks for the inspiration!

    Carol B
    ciaoitalia2007(at)gmail(dot)com

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  56. This stamp set is so versatile. Love the cards.

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  57. I love your designs and ideas. The cards are beautiful! You are truly talented.

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  58. Gorgeous cards and another winning stamp set, Melanie

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  59. I am really liking the vie stamp. the cards are beautifully done.

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  60. Such a wealth of great ideas! TFS!!
    Hugs,
    Deb T.

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  61. Well, I love love LOVE your cards. Great job as usual.

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  62. Love the versatility and how it works with your other sets. The grommet set will be great with all sorts of cards!

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  63. Very pretty cards. Thanks for the inspiration!
    southernMrs
    at verizon dot net

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  64. I just ordered the vine set and can't wait to get it! Your cards are gorgeous as always. I love the green background it really makes the card pop!

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  65. Thanks so much for showing us tips on using your beautiful vine stamp set! Congrats to you on what I think will be a really successful set! Also, I LOVE your cards....STUNNING, to say the least!!!

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  66. Your vine border is lovely with so many possibilities!

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  67. Fabulous set The Vine. Would go nicely with my cards.

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  68. Absolutely love this new vine stamp and the cards you have created with it.

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  69. I really like the cards you made. The colours are some of my faves

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  70. God works in mysterious ways, huh? How wonderful....love those vines = and the Tags also!

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  71. Wow, love the lavender card especially and thanks for sharing how you came to design this set!

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  72. Love your examples and thanks so much for your story on how the vines set came to be. A good thing you listened! So good of you to point out how flexible the stamps can be....very useful.

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  73. Love this vine set! Beautiful cards!

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  74. Ooh! This is a very versatile stamp set. I love it. I especially like your first card, (but then green is one of my favourite colours at the moment) and love how you have used the stamps. Thanks for the inspiration. Love Sheila x

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  75. Ohhh another FABULOUS stamp set Mel with the most gorgeous results!!! You are just amazing dahhhling!!

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  76. Gorgeous cards. Such a beautiful stamp set you've made. I love how you can make a "frame" with the big vine. :)

    Debbie Meijer

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  77. The Vine and Branches has so many beautiful uses and you sure have showed them off so well. Great cards.

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  78. Beautiful cards.....and wonderful new sets....loved your post!!

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  79. All are great cards! Thanks for showing us how you lined up the vines to stamp on the card. You make it all come together so easily! I LOVE your new stamp release. Great job!

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  80. beautiful Cards melanie, absolutely loved them...hugs Kath...

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  81. All so lovely you are a true artist, I cant wait to receive my order with your lovely vine set.

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  82. Hi Melanie! This is a gorgeous set, and I really LOVE your sharing about how you were led to create this set. Awesome!! Your samples are beautiful, and thank you for sharing them. Hugs, Kary

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  83. What a great new set - also, loved your cards and layout!

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  84. What lovely cards, love the use of the flowers and the vine. Thanks for always sharing a "how to".

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  85. Beautiful! The story behind this stamp set makes me love it even more (if that is possible)! Absolutely perfect cards with perfect stamps!

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  86. Gosh such talent and divine inspiration! Beautiful, beautiful cards!

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  87. Thanks for showing all the wonderful ways your vine stamp can be used.Beautiful cards.

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  88. Gorgeous cards, Mel! I'm in love with this set. Stunning and so many possibilities!

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  89. All your cards are wonderful - I like the first one and the purple ones best :)

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  90. I love the new stamps. Great great job on the card, and I learned something im going to have to try. Thanks!

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  91. LOVE the purple card but you probably could have figured that out! LOL Can't wait to play with this set more! Tami's set looks awesome with the colors you used. I would have thought it was her design if I hadn't known I was on your site! Great designs!

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  92. I love the vine borders. Great work.

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  93. Wow, these are absolutely stunning!

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  94. What a great stamp set and absolutely love the cards you made!

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  95. Wonderful job, love that lavender color!! And can't wait to get this stamp set, it is on its way!!!
    You all are doing such a great job!!

    Thanks
    Donna Prz..

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  96. Love your new set, Mel, and all the very creative ways you've shown to use it! I like that you included the tiny leaves that match Branching Out. Beautiful cards!

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  97. WOW, all your cards are fantastic!!

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  98. Great cards! I am a lil partial to the black, pink & white color combo. : )

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  99. Stunning cards with your new set and thanks for the tips...love how you always share those with us! Love the card you did with the All Occasions tags - that flower is the perfect touch!!!

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