You're Invited: Gina K Designs Release Party Tonight!

Good morning, I'm so excited you are here! The Gina K. Design Team is honored to invite you to another fabulous Release Party tonight!! The party starts at 7:00 pm Central Time in the Stamp TV Release Party Forum. Please join us for Challenges, Contest Questions, Design Team Samples, Full Stamp Set Reveals and, of course, party chit chat!!! Everything will go "live" at 7:00 pm Central in Gina's Store, so there won't be any long wait to start shopping! Hope to see you there!

If you came from Sharon Harnist's blog, then you're right where you should be. If not, please go to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating. Here's a sneak peek of one of the cards I will be sharing with you at the party tonight, using my new "Stately Flowers 3" set:

Do you know what this flower is? :)

Now please visit our newest Gina K Designs team member Lori McAree's blog to continue the hop, and we'll see you tonight at the party!

Blog Candy Winner

Oh, sigh, this Blogger thing has just given me fits this week! I am so sad to hear that all of you who follow me through a reader (thank you!) don't have any new posts showing up for the past two weeks, UGH! What to do??

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and draw a winner from my blog candy last week, wish we'd had more entries, but it's time to move on because we have a new Gina K Designs release tomorrow and Inspiration hops starting up! The whole team will have link lists and I WILL be posting the next four days so please be sure to check it whether your dashboard shows I have a new post or not, I appreciate it! There will be more candy offerings coming up so please stop by and enter!

The winner of the "What's the Dirt?" stamp set is:
alex said...

Hi I have not received any blog mail lately wish I could help fix the problem, as for the card it is stunning and that set is on my wish list along with three other sets that are all yours, Basket Blessings, Spring Baskets and Pressed Flowers, but have to save up some pennies before I can get any of them, fingers crossed some more of my extra classes run, so I can spend some of it over at Gina's :-)

January 23, 2012 4:34 AM

Congrats, Alex, please send me your snail addy and I will send you the set!

See you all tomorrow, I'll be sharing a peek of the first card I designed with my new set this month "Stately Flowers 3". So excited! Any guess what flower it might have on it?

See you tomorrow!

Week 4 with Patti

Thanks for stopping by today, are you ready for more beautiful stately projects from Patti Gilliam? On this sample, Patti chose to use just the single blossom from the hawthorn in "Stately Flowers 2" to create a pretty border along the top, popping each one up so they stand out like embellishment, isn't that sweet?
(By the way, I hope you like these single elements in the flower sets as much as I do! I love the versatility they add for stamping coordinating backgrounds or how much easier it makes to pop up single flowers where you want them over a cluster of hawthorn, rather than having to stamp the whole image out several times!) I think adding a scored background with the tiny black dots is just a brilliant way to coordinate with the little black stamens in the flowers' middles! It appears she also used the Copic she used on the flowers to add some custom color to the bakers twine to match (I could be wrong, though, you'll have to ask Patti to be sure!) :)

Last I want to point out how nice the pink decorative border inside is, not only for the design but for staging purposes! It looks so beautiful the way the pink at the bottom inside balances the pink on top in this photo.

She has another project on her blog along with step by step tutorial pics, so please check it out and leave her some love. Thank you again, Patti, for being my guest designer this month! You rock!

Missing you (ALL of you!)

Well, it seems things are starting to sort themselves out with commenting and feeds for my posts, please bear with me, I'm at the mercy of "the blog"! (and sounds like many of you are too) I'm going to leave the candy from the weekend open just a few more days to give more people a chance to view it since some still aren't receiving updates. I sure hate not knowing who's here and who isn't and miss hearing from so many of you, too! You can enter on this post.

I am busy stamping away for our next Gina K Designs release on Tuesday, so I don't have anything new I can share today, but fortunately, Carla created another beautiful card to inspire us, using both the "Stately Flowers 2" and "Make a Statement" set. Carla called it a "simple" card, perhaps, but it looks like anything but, I love it! This is exactly the way I imagined effectively using these two sets together: just the outline of the US embellished with a single flower and something to identify the location. Aren't those heart pearls just adorable?! Just great with the "missing you" theme. Please visit Carla's blog for full card details and leave her some love! Thanks, Carla for all your fabulous creations the past few weeks, they surely inspire! :)

Tomorrow, our last "Stately Flowers 2" guest spot with Patti Gilliam, haven't you enjoyed her this month, as well? Be sure to stop by, she has TWO gorgeous projects to share! :0)

Finally, what do you think I might have in new set next week? Any guesses? ;) ( I just *might* list them somewhere on this blog if you care to start stalking for your state, hee hee!)

Thanks for visiting!

Featured on CardMaker

A fun announcement today for those who haven't received their issue yet (and I am among those who haven't, hee hee, come on USPS!): I am the Featured Designer this month at CardMaker! (how exciting!) :) Brooke posted a simple card I made for the issue's feature article on the CardMaker Editor's blog using the "A Year of Flowers" stamp set, thanks CardMaker for featuring me in the March 2012 issue and today! :)

This issue is really special to me, because in addition to sharing several of my designs and a step by step paper flower tutorial I made, Brooke did a fantastic job interviewing me about my illustrating and how I came up with the idea for the "A Year of Flowers" book. (By the way, I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard me scream when I saw the ad for the book on the first page in the digital issue!) :D

Here is another card I made for the issue, using "Branching Out" set from Gina K Designs (you got your wish Mary Anne, here you go!) ;) For a full list of materials and instructions, check out the issue! (p. 57). As always, their photograph and staging of it looks so much better than my own! :0)

I have been so blessed to have so many opportunities to design for CardMaker the last three years! Everyone over there is a joy to work with and I just wake up every day grateful they like my style and ideas! :) It's so important in life to find that! If I'd never bit the bullet and submitted to their magazine, I might still be unpublished and certainly would not have this book! I hope this encourages those of you who haven't submitted before, or have but are still trying to get that first acceptance. Not everyone's going to love your work, but the ones that do, that is a gift from above and ALL you need to shine! :)

More design spots on their blog will be coming up over the next several weeks, I hope you'll become a subscriber!

PS One last bit of trivia, I have a card on their cover this month, that's the first time that has ever happened, I was just tickled pink! Do you know which one?

PPS Gotta give a shout out to all my Gina K peeps (Jennie, Carolina, Michelle, did I miss anyone?!) who are rocking cards in this issue (woot!) as well as few a cards I can't help mentioning that use my stamps (yippee!): Tonya Dirk made an adorable one using "Candles on your Cake" on p.50, and Giovana did the cutest baby card with "Basket Blessings" on p. 72. Thanks so much ladies!!

Free Kindle Offering

Hi all,
I believe I will keep the blog candy below open a few days beyond Monday, because it is clear from emails and info I have that people are not seeing my new posts right now. :( Please email me if you know if there is some setting I need to change on my blog to correct the problem, because we have a Gina K Designs release and blog hops coming up, yikes! I need to make sure my blog is in peak functioning form! Thanks in advance!

I wanted to go ahead and share a link today to book I just saw that is offered FREE for a limited time on Kindle: "The Decaf Diet: Is Caffeine Making You Fat?" Now, I have not read this book, but I did give up caffeine about 6 months ago (and noticed SO many positive changes in my health as a result: not overeating, not craving sweets, not getting headaches or having trouble sleeping, feeling more alert and even tempered, etc) but judging by the positive reviews on Amazon, I would encourage you to read this book and learn more about the harmful effects of caffeine. I was not a coffee drinker before, but I did drink a lot of diet sodas, and now I drink just plain old water and a variety of delicious decaf herbal teas*, don't need or miss the caffeine at all. It sounds like the author includes several decaf plans: cold turkey, decreasing your intake over time, and optimal caffeine use for those who'd like to continue with caffeine in moderation. Any of these changes would be really beneficial!

Please pass that info along to someone you think might benefit from it! Anyone else have a positive "I kicked caffeine" story to share? I'm all ears!

Happy Sunday!

* DID YOU KNOW: herbal teas aren't really "tea" at all, but tisanes, or herbal infusions. I learned that at a tea shop a couple years ago. ( I still say "tea", though, lol!)

Weekend Candy

This blog candy is now closed now, see this post for the winner.


Hello, hope your weekend is off to a good start! Jonathan is sick so it's going to be a pretty low -key weekend for us, think I am going to go work out to get out of the house for a bit. How about a little candy until I have some more posts ready for you? Gina sent me a copy of "What's the Dirt?" recently by mistake, and since I already have it, I'd like to give it away to one of you. You may remember this card I made with the set for our inspiration hop...

Today is actually pretty chilly, but this past week the weather has been pretty spring-like! Fun to know there are more springy stamp sets on the way... :)

Leave me a comment telling me...what set you'd like me to stamp with and post next! I'll announce a winner Monday.

Thanks for visiting! (By the way, have you been bale to view my blog the last few days or get updates when I've posted if you are a follower or subscribe in a reader? I got some email telling me that with Blogger being wonky recently it wasn't showing up. Just wondering, although if it hasn't, I don't know what to do about it!)

Stamping with Friends

Tonight I will be stamping with Marita and other ladies at my church as we kick off our card ministry: a way to fellowship with one another, reach out to others, and cover our church and other causes with cards. (Please pray it goes well, I haven't done anything like a home workshop in over 4 years lol!) We plan to meet monthly and instead of reinventing the wheel and stressing over what to show and help people make (like I used to when I was a demonstrator!) my plan is to follow my "A Year of Flowers"book each month! We will be doing a few variations of cards from my January and February sections as time allows, and I plan to bring a lot of different colors than what were in the samples for different looks and so they can be used in other seasons so the church will have a stash. I spent so much time making sure there was a variety of techniques, color styles and layouts already, I might as well "go by the book"!

Gotta go cut some card stock now and make banana bread, I'll try to take photos so I can show you us busy stamping next week! :) We will be meeting monthly so if you live in the Austin area it would be a pleasure to meet you, let ! I do expect over time our group will outgrow Marita's accommodations and we'll be meeting in a larger area. Let me know fi that is something you'd be interested in.

This would be a great way for you too to plan a girls night or stamping group who intends to meet regularly: there are three layouts, designs and color combos per month, plus techniques that you can build on so those in your group gain more knowledge, experience and confident throughout the year. It's also perfect since the months designs are arranged by holiday, we'll be creating exactly what we need at that time. Just a suggestion! That it only uses one the set of images too is bonus so you aren't needing a lot of different supplies.

Have a terrific weekend!

I promise we weren't stamping together...

Well, imagine my utter delight and surprise when I opened a card Patti made for this week's Stately Flowers 2 guest post and saw one that was so strikingly similar to a layered camellia card I made ! :) Hey, it happens, were we on the same wavelength or what? There are many differences about this card, though, that I'd like to point out and think work really well.

• The sketch is flipped.

• Instead of an embossed frame, she drew her own with a pen. Even with the realistic flower and very classic fonts, the hand drawn border works great, not just for whimsical images and fonts!

• The use of Kraft instead of black. I tell yo can use Kraft with anything, love it here with the pink and white.

• Pearls in the corners. This really dresses that sketch frame up!

• The black bordered ribbon really makes all the other black details and lettering pop.

Gorgeous card, Patti! Please sure to leave her some love today, aren't you enjoying her guest spots this month?

More Goldenrod Goodness

Hello! Today I have another lovely "Stately Flowers 2" card to share from Carla Suto.

I love the embossed frame she added (which I'd never seen before and just think it's fabulous!) around the stamped flower and the layers of yellow and apple green beneath. Isn't this combo with white so fresh and uplifting? Notice how her design makes your eye travel in a "Z" from top to bottom, the butterfly (from the coordinating "Make a Statement", looks like it is just stamped on that same yellow cardstock, easy peasy!), to the flower, down to the embossed flourish and bow and finally the greeting. Just a terrific layout and choice of the details! Sentiment is from my "Arranged with Love" set. We've seen three different samples this past week using the goldenrod from this set from me, Patti, and Carla, and the background and the image is SO different for each: sponging, overbook print, and now just some gorgeous white space, love it! There are so many fun ways to show off your focal point by adding to make it pop or going more minimal to let it take center stage. :) Gosh, don't ya just love stamping? (sigh!)

Be sure to leave Carla some love today! Thanks Carla for another stately beauty!

So excited, the books arrived at Gina's store, you can now purchase my "A Year of Flowers" book on the Gina K Designs site, I know a lot of you were waiting for that! Remember shipping in the US is free when you place an order of $50 or more!

BTW, amid all this Spellbinders Frenzy and new product goodness, did you see they are selling some great Spellbinders die sets on Blitsy today?? I just checked a few off my wishlist with these deals! :) (Now I've made a little room for all the news ones I want that are coming out!) ;)

Why Digital?

Good morning! Wanted to give everyone a heads up that a digital copy of the "A Year of Flowers" book is now available for purchase on the Annie's Attic website. This means no shipping costs (woo hoo!) and you can start enjoying it immediately. When I first learned this would be available in a digital version, I knew it would be a great alternative for people who prefer paperless and enjoy doing their reading on the computer. However, one advantage I had not considered came last week from a reader Glenda on my blog, and I just had to share it with you:

"I have lost most of my vision since I started stamping over 20 years ago and having the book on my computer and being able to enlarge the words and pictures is just a BLESSING! Have all this stuff, can't let it go to waste - LOL! A Year Of Flowers was one of the first sets I ever bought from Gina K Designs and I got the frame and Christmas frame (Festive Frame). I was so happy to see you included your terrific tole technique on the roses in case anyone missed it on your blog. That was the BEST ever tip! I offered to make a wedding card for a couple my husband worked with and I knew all the people from work invited to the wedding by name only. I never had to move from my chair! Everyone came and found me, introduced themselves and thanked me for making such a gorgeous card. I even used vellum. I told them I had a great teacher on this one! Thanks so much and congratulations on your book."

Well, I was so happy to hear that! I'm sure if I stamped with someone who had vision loss it would have occurred to me how helpful being able to zoom in on words, cards, and the step by step photos would be! I thought it was worth passing on for you to recommend digital downloads to those you know who don't craft or perhaps have stopped crafting or pass up instructional books because it is just too difficult to read print copies. When I reviewed the first draft of the book for corrections several months ago, it was by pdf from my editor, and I have to say that was terrific being able to look at it on my large computer screen as a two page spread spread! Of course I didn't need to use it to make any cards at that point (hee hee!) but it would have been so handy to refer to that way, flat and right in front of me, but OFF my workspace as I worked. Thanks again, Glenda, for your terrific feedback; I learned something and I am so happy to know you are successfully recreating designs from the book and getting lots of compliments on your work!

I love hearing from you all if you have questions, comments or a stamping story to tell. :) My email is on my sidebar. I do write back! I am so enjoying the messages I have been receiving from you each day and getting to share in your excitement whether it's that you placed an order, your nook arrived (eek!), or that you are loving the samples and getting started! it is alsways wonderful to see your cards using my images in online galleries, but I know a lot of you don't post so I am just so delighted to read that people are using the stamps and tips and benefiting from the work I've put in to my tutorials. THANKS!

Fun book blog hop coming soon with our Gina K Designs team and Gina's video! (getting to see her going through it with her own to hands will just be such a joy for me, like we are getting to look through it together.) :) I will be giving away some of the original samples I created for the book, and am working on some additional resources for those of you who buy the book that I think you'll really enjoy) so stay tuned!