Giving Back

With so many of your friends and family members serving, and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, I wanted to let you all know about a great deal on Living Social that is available nationally for the next week: $25 for a $50 care package for the US troops! It makes me so proud of our country's support when I seen I see that almost 25,000 of these have been purchased in the last few days!!

Pay just $25 and the USO will provide deployment care packages valued at $50 -- or put your donation toward other efforts -- for our men and women of the armed forces, AND they will send YOU a T-shirt to show their appreciation. Filled with items like snacks, toiletries, and phone cards, each care package not only provides troops with a reminder of home, but helps those serving a world away reconnect with their loved ones.

Please consider this terrific gift, not only will you be blessing people who are so in need, you'll have a shirt to show your pride in our soldiers and country or give to someone you love! Please help spread the word!

Coming tomorrow, a special family post! God bless!!

New Stamps Available Now!

Hello! So fun chatting with you all yesterday at the release party! Thanks for all your terrific feedback and support of the new Pretty Patterns set (clear, get the clear!!) All the new stamps are now available for purchase at Gina K Designs! Our hops won't be until after the 4th of July holiday, but if you came to the party, you know I've already cranked out a lot of samples with this set! What can I say, it's fun and they are so easy and FAST! So I'll be sharing them again here in the meantime with you, along with tips for how I designed and stamped each. Right now, you can see a few of them in the StampTV gallery.
Here is a monochromatic design i shared at the part, using just one color ink! Memento Danube Blue stamped and then stamped off for the lighter shade. Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Calypso Purple and Carinval Blue. Trimming around the stamped chevron on the blue layer in a zigzag to match the chevron adds interest. Greeting is from Versatile Verses.
Now truthfully, I hadn't thought for a second about scoring these images when I designed, but look how fun that is!! Skinny scores for the chevron just living up the V over the tracks in your Scor-Buddy, or intersecting scores around the plus pattern to create a tile look! LOVE!!

Back in a bit, just have to ask, which is YOUR favorite pattern in this set so far or one you can't wait to get inky?? (and if you wish, tell me your favortie sample with it so far) Let me know below! :)

You're Invited! Gina K Designs Party Tomorrow!

The Gina K. Design Team is excited to invite you to another fabulous Release Party!!! The party is tomorrow, Thursday, June 28 at 11:00 am Central Time in the Stamp TV Release Party Forum. Join us for Challenges, Contest Questions, Design Team Samples, Full Stamp Set Reveals and, of course, party chit chat!!! Everything will go "live" at 11:00 am Central in Gina's Store, so there won't be any long wait to start shopping!

To kick things off, here are some sneak peeks using my new set "Pretty Patterns" Gina shared a peel of this week. I know it may be hard to visualize what you'd do with those seeing those peeks in just black and white, but they are a burst of color ink and rubber! :)

And here are all the sneak peeks so far! You will be able to see the full stamp set reveals in just one more day!

Hope to see you at the party, here are all the details again:

• When: Tomorrow, Thursday, June 28, 2012
• Where: StampTV Release Party Forum
• Time: 11 AM to 1 PM (CST)

See you tomorrow!

Sneak Peek and More Matches...

Our Gina K designs new release is a just a couple days away, can't wait! Today Gina peeked just a few elements from my new set coming out on Thursday! I'm so excited to show you what all it can do, not just borders but trendy shapes and fillers that will have you stamping up a patterned storm! :)
I also wanted to go ahead and share a few more matches with the Memento pads and Gina K Pure Luxury cardstock. Glad to know these posts are so helpful to you! Here is the new Sandy Beach, it is a very nice match for the new Memento Toffee Crunch, the match is even closer in real life that it appears in this photo. Two great neutrals!
These aren't new colors, but Grass Green cardstock looks great with Memento Bamboo Leaves.
The new Memento Tangelo is a lovely match for Sweet Mango.
And finally, Memento Cantaloupe is a beautiful match for Sweet Corn.

These stamped images may appear a bit blotchy, I had *just* opened the pads so they were all super juicy, I'll apply with a lighter hand next time!)

That's all for today! I need to go work on my cards for the party! Patterned mats all by themselves do not an entire card make! :) See you tomorrow with another peek!

Memento Pure Luxury Matches!

Hi! Hope you had a terrific weekend! My pads I ordered from Blitsy last week arrived yesterday* so I have been stamping and looking for great matches for our Gina K Pure Luxury paper so my future designs can be all matchy matchy! There are still a few of the new and older Memento pads left on the Blitsy site until stock runs out (or Wednesday whichever comes first!), specifically these *perfect* matches for the some colors from the new Gina K Pure Luxury Calypso and Carnival collections:

From left to right: Memento Love Letter matches Pure Luxury Carnival Red, Memento Morocco matches Calypso Orange, Memento Teal Zeal matches Calypso Blue, and Memento Paris Dusk matches the Calypso Purple.

Shows how on trend these hot new colors are, for ink and paper! Love 'em! Grab the ones that you like best, you'll use them so much more in your projects if you have the matching ink for your paper and vice versa! The other looks beautiful, too, but these look positively made to order, eek! (and were ink colors I was really needing to be able to blend with these new cardstocks I am dyin' to use!!)

And these are the four pads that blend best with the four colors in each collection, "Calypso" stack on the left, and stack that is a good match or blend for the Carnival colors is on the right. Aren't these so yummy and summery?!

And the happy news is, ALL the Memento colors are now available on Gina's site if you missed any or have some on your wishlist now! And I'll be ordering too, as, yes, there were a couple I failed to throw in the cart last week (Gray Flannel), oops! As always, Gina has free shipping on orders over $50 and the Free with Three stamp set which more than qualifies as a great discount!:)

Hope this helps you in planning purchases! Oh, and don't forget the matching ribbons!;)

*and I will say all the pads were nice and juicy and shipped quickly! yay!

Wild Flowers Inspiration!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing you with a gorgeous card set using "Wild Flowers" from the talented Lynn Brookside! I love the different patterned papers and colors she chose: large florals, simple stripes, even graphic geometric prints, and they all work terrifically with these bold wildflower images! This layout is so elegant with the three flowers and the two step stamping to add color with the leaves and centers is easy but effective! Love the dimension and sweetness of the one popped up butterfly, too! Cards like these are perfect to have on hand, no greeting necessary, use for any occasion. Gorgeous work, Lynn! :)
If you post in the STV gallery, it's likely you've received comments from Lynn on your cards, she is not only a terrific stamper but an amazing friend and encourager. You can tell she is as happy enjoying other people's work and complimenting them as she does cardmaking!

One of the verses in the set "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" reminds me of Lynn, because she lives with chronic pain, but you'd never know by what she sends out into the world, she just lifts people up with her positivity. I'm not only inspired by her love for the craft, but her love of people and I'm blessed that she takes the time to be a light for me and so many others, with her designs and joyful spirit! I look forward to sharing more about Lynn with you very soon! Please leave Lynn a comment below or on her STV page. Her gallery is a wonderful browse and I love how she also takes the time to share who the cards are for.

So much to share! Kid stuff, family portraits (the first we've ever had taken as a family!!), new ink pads came, tutorials, etc etc bear with me while I catch up!!

xoxo,
Melanie

New Memento Colors on Blitsy Today!

Guess? I just scooped up all the new coveted and hard to find new Memento pads on Blitsy today, check 'em out! Only 3.49, ALL are still in stock but WON'T be for long!! Get them while you can! UPDATE: Some colors ARE sold out now, but they are mostly the older ones, don' miss the ones on your wishlist! Which color interests you most, or is your fave if you've already gotten these? Do tell! Love all the yummy new names (Toffee Crunch, Peanut Brittle, Espresso Truffle (sold out), etc!)

I'll be sure to let you know and share swipes and samples when they arrive in a couple days!

Joining Blitsy is free, and be sure to tell your friends, because you can earn referral credit which means free stuff for you, I had $20 to spend today on the pads myself! :) Save it up until you see some supplies on sale you've really been wanting an treat yourself! Enjoy!

Stuff!

10 days since I posted, what?? Sorry!!! We are deep into summer activities and swim team now that school's out, which means we are at the pool every day, sometimes twice a day! Jonathan got 1st place in all three of his events at both meets so far and achieved new personal bests on him times. We are getting so excited about the city meet in a few weeks and praying he qualifies for State again! We are also very proud of William, who is participating in swim team for the first time, and got his first two meets out of the way, despite some jitters (yes, I bribed him the first time with a candy bar). He took almost three seconds off his time on Saturday from the previous meet (no candy bar necessary) He is working so hard and really hopes to place by the end of the season! pics of them both soon!

Anyway, here is a card I forgot to show from the release, but I'd peeked the tag and also showed the watermarked and clear embossed butterflies in our hop. The tag started as a piece of White Pure Luxury. I swiped the Peeled Paint and Wild Honey pads onto a large acrylic block, misted with water, and pressed my tag onto it. After drying, I stamped on the butterflies and rhododendron in black and sponged some Fired Brick around the tag edges. I went over the butterfly centers with just a touch of R59 Copic and added some white dots to the wings with an Inkssentials pen.

It's really fun to layer these different distressing inks onto the Kraft base until you have the look you want! Here I used Vintage Photo (dragged pad directly on the CS), and sponged on little more Fired Brick and some Tumbled Glass. let me know if you would like step by step pics of how to make these distressed tags!
I really need to post my coloring tutorials for you but I am just so busy with a BIG project that needs my immediate attention, and finishing is really tough with the boys at home with all day, I am just having a hard time getting into the groove!! If you could lift up a prayer I can focus and get what I need to get done when I do have time to squeeze it in! Thank so much, and I look forward to sharing!

Also, I've been working with a new clear set I have coming out next month, and eek! I am so excited! Something very different from me and anything else we currently have in the Gina K Designs catalog, and PERFECT for clear stamps! (This is a bit easier to find time to work with since I can stamp a few images in just a couple minutes, in between making popsicles and breaking up a fight!) ;)

Hope YOUR summer is off to a terrific start!! I have managed to squeeze in a few really fun and different activities, so will be sharing some pics of those soon! Hugs!

New Cardstock Colors in da House!!

Hello! The order I placed for new Pure Luxury cardstock last week just arrived, so I had to get out all my existing cardstock and see how all they compare! I'm really excited about all these new colors, yay!!

First, is the new Sandy Beach, I have been wanting to color like this for a long time! Yellower and lighter than Soft Sand, here it is with our other Pure Luxury neutrals. It's a lovely wheat with natural flecks and specks similar to a Kraft will and some gorgeous warmth and texture to your projects!
Next up, some beautiful layering weight bright collections, Calypso and Carnival, just in time for summer! Love how intense these colors are, and so popular right now! From top left to right, Calypso Orange, Pink, Teal, and Purple, and Carnival Red, Yellow, Green and Blue.
Here is the Calypso Pink next to our current pinks! It almost makes the Passionate Pink look like magenta, this is like no other color we had. Really fun!
And here is the Carnival red (oops, I forgot to put Red Hot next to it, but it is softer and slightly pinker and than Red Hot.) and Calypso Orange. Love this new fiery orange color, more saturated than Sweet Mango, much different than any current orange.
Carnival Green is lighter and brighter but not as "neon" a Key Lime. Gina no longer carries the Creme de Menthe but for those of you who still have it, I thought I'd throw it in the lineup to show how much yellower and brighter the Carnival Green is.
Finally the "blues". These three are really different as well! I'd say the Calypso Purple is the most different from what we currently carry, it is like a true primary or royal blue, but as you can see next to our other blues and green it does have a purplish undertone. We really needed this color! I'm so excited to have this Calypso Teal as well, much deeper and greener than Turquoise Sea! Last, the Carnival Blue is a smooth clear sky blue, and with turquoise and aquas being some of my favorite shades to use on cards, this is 2-3 shades lighter than my beloved Blue Raspberry!
I did not add a photo of the Carnival Yellow with the other yellows because in a photo it is almost identical to our Wild Dandelion (but you can see it above in the Carnival collection). If you love Wild Dandelion, and I do, you will love having this new layering weight version of this gorgeous, sunshine yellow!

I'll just end by saying, getting 2 packs of each of these new collections won't last me long! Good thing I realized I need to get some more binder boxes, so I will be placing another order very soon!

Hope this was helpful to you! Please leave me a comment below letting me know your new favorite(s) colors from these collections!

Have a TERRIFIC weekend! Hugs!

A Question, and an Observation

Hi!! Okay, so I have lots of things I need to post but not quite ready, but I still want to do a little talking though in the meantime and get your feedback, then give you some of MY feedback! ;) So let's go!!

First, the question: which Stately Flowers set so far is your favorite? See sets below to remind yourself what's in each, and please let me know in the comment section! I also started a pin board of my cards using all these Stately flowers sets in the series on Pinterest if that helps you decide! :) Either way, a great place to look for ideas and inspiration and ideas when using any of these sets!

Stately Flowers 1

Stately Flowers 2

Stately Flowers 3

Stately Flowers 4

Next, my first Clearly Gina K set just arrived (Stately Flowers 4), yay!!! (I had the rubber version for making samples pre-release before the photopolymer version shipped)

And while there are LOTS of things I am going to love about these many of which you've probably already been told about or know from experience, one thing I observed, now that I actually have them in hand and I'm super excited about is this:

The clear stamps on the sheet are a mere 1/8" thick. The rubber sets, with the added cling foam, are just over a 1/4" thick. The binder boxes Gina carries fit four regular size rubber sets, either front and back on two pages or front only on four storage boards. However, the binders will hold about EIGHT sets of clear stamps, woo hoo! SO I can fit *twice* as many stamps for the price of *one* binder, and in *half* the amount of shelf space, a mere 1 1/4" inches of binder versus 2 1/2"! This makes a huge difference over time! Just had to come share, one more great advantage I think of purchasing clear stamps!!

Have a terrific day! I am trying to get all my tutorials ready for you (plus just finished cranking out some new stamps sets for the coming month! Eeek!! Some of my faves to date!)

I look forward to hearing from you, thanks for visiting and taking them time to comment today!

Inspiration Hop Day: StampTV Kit, Hello Sunshine, Birthday Greetings, and Life's a Beach

Welcome to our final day of Inspiration Hops with the Gina K Designs team! As you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops.

First up we have the new StampTV Kit Hello Sunshine! (available in clear or rubber) I am in love with this kit! The bold images are great for so many fun techniques!
Memento pads Bamboo Leaves, Bahama Blue and Tangelo, with a little bit of Ladybug marker are thumped onto the dahlia stamp and centers of the tiny flowers on the focal point. Aren't these just the freshest, most fun florals for creating backgrounds?
Love the distressed greetings in the kit, too! I used Copics to color some rhinestones orange and turquoise to match and add a bit of sparkle. Card base is Pure Luxury Blue Raspberry.
Next up we have this super useful set Birthday Greetings (available in clear or rubber), with sentiments perfect for every birthday card you make, inside and out!
I started with glossy paper sponged with Memento Lilac Posies, Tangelo and Pear Tart. Next, I stamped the greetings all over in Memento Tuxedo Black, and then a few again in Lilac Posies just to add some more interest to the background. I inked up almost every greeting in this set, for the most belated birthday wishi-est card evah!! Think they'll get the point? LOL!
Tear the edge to reveal a pop of white and mount onto Black Onyx Cardstock. That's it! (No excuse really for a card this fast to be late!) ;)Finally, we have the super cute new Free with Three set, Life's a Beach (available in clear or rubber)!
I loved this little pinwheel stamp so it inspired me to make a couple of my own with Gina K Posies DP, it is so easy!
Cut some small squares of DP. Snip into the center from each corner without cutting all the way to the middle. Punch a hole into each corner with a 1/16 hold punch and then pierce a hole into the center.

With the pattern facing up, Pull each corner hole toward you and thread brad into, until you have all four corners together...

...then push brad through center hole, turn over, and press back prongs. Easy peasy!

Since these pinwheels won't be fitting in an envelope I didn't bother to try to make them fit within the boundaries of my A2 card! The stamped pinwheel is paper pieced with the polka dotted Gina K Poppy Prints paper. This is all one piece of paper, I didn't snip apart the individual pieces, star in the middle is holding together. Add glue to stamped mat and then place cut DP on top.
Card base is Pure Luxury Ocean Mist. I didn't show any of these samples at the party, so please let me know in the comments below which you like best!

Thanks again for hopping us today! Please enjoy more inspiration for these three sets from the rest of our Design Team!

• Gina K
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger (you are here!)
  
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Have a terrific day!