Inspiration Hop: Stately Flowers 4 and Ticket Trio

Good morning! I hope you were able to attend our release party yesterday, and welcome to our first day of Gina K Designs Inspiration Hops with the design 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 latest in my Stately Flowers series, Stately Flowers 4 (available in clear or rubber). This set contains 8 images-5 flowers, 3 butterflies (butterflies!!) and 13 sentiments (9 greetings, including the very versatile "To:" and "From:" for tags!), and 4 state names- Hawaii, Ohio, West Virginia and Washington.) While I *love* the last couple sets I've released, it was hard taking a few months off this Staely Flowers series so I'm glad to be playing in the flowers again! Thanks to ALL of you who wrote to Gina and me asking when it was coming back, hope you love the new set! :)

These blooms are terrific for inchies! I thought these little vignettes, or "moments in time"(which are actually 1 1/4 inchies here, that's my smallest square punch!) were perfect with this new sentiment, Cherish every moment!

Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Key Lime, and Black Onyx. It's hard to see in he photo but I outlined the flowers with coordinating Stardust pens and added Inkssentials White pen to the butterfly wing spots, really makes them pop!

And here is the full card from my sneak peek the other day! Base is Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion, scored on the sides to add interest. love all these colors you can make these flowers! Anyone want me to post a Copic coloring tutorial? TIP: Cut on the lines in between the petals when you are popping these flower images up, this allow you to add more shape and curve to each petal, pulling and pushing them out and in with your fingers for a more dimensional, realistic look.
The next card uses the carnations and a little distressing inks sponged on to add warmth to the white mat. The torn edge and reveal of white goes so well with the jagged carnation petals and adds texture.

I couldn't resist adding this little branch (free file included with machine!) I cut from Pure Luxury Grass Green CS with my Silhouette Cameo that I showed you a few weeks ago, it goes so nicely with all these florals!
The smaller carnation is perfect for popping up over the carnation buds on the larger image to add dimension and variety. There are so many ways to color carnations, and you can use one marker to get a realistic look, don't even need to blend!
It will be hard not to add a butterfly from now on to all the Stately Flowers cards I make! (full card using this embossed background next week)

Hope you love the three in this set, although I read while drawing the series there are NO butterflies in Hawaii? Rosy, can you confirm?? :) I will try to resist the impulse, but with the hibiscus only! ;)

Finally a couple "no color" examples: hibiscus stamped in Memento Tangelo and Pear Tart. Butterflies stamped in Tuxedo Black on Pure Luxury Key Lime and Blue Raspberry cardstock. Love how quickly these large flowers can a make a colorful, no coloring required background, with lots of detail!
Sentiment is stamped on Pure Luxury Turquoise Sea and cropped with a Circle Nestabilities. Base is Sweet Mango.
And last, I had to try making a little distressed Kraft tag with the rhododendron! Tutorial coming soon, plus a distressed embossed card to put it on, grab your distressing inks!
You may have seen these designs at the party, tell me below in the comments which is/was your favorite! :)

Next up, we have Ticket Trio (available in clear or rubber) from Tami Mayberry.

I decided to make a Girls' Night Out card with the pink chevron DP from the Gina K Pure Luxury Sunshiny Day pack. Cardstock is Pure Luxury Passionate Pink, Smoky Slate, and Black Onyx.
I don't currently have dies to cut these stamps, so instead I stamped them out side by side on a strip of cardstock in black, then pierced dots in between to perforate with my Scor-Bug and Scor-buddy, and trimmed the corners with scissors. The gray mat is Cuttlebugged with Seeing Spots and embellished with adhesive rhinestones.
Thanks for visiting and please enjoy the rest of the hop with our team and these two sets!!!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger Illustrator – Stately Flowers 4-you are here!
  
• Tami Mayberry Illustrator – Ticket Trio
• AJ Otto
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Sharon Harnist
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Finally, please subscribe to my blog today! The feed has not been updating properly for the past couple weeks, but I am hoping it will work itself out shortly! Using both the Following option and Feedburner subscription I hope will allow you to get posts without missing something important. Thank you very much!