Inspiration Hop, Day 1: Pretty Patterns 2 and Bold Blooms

Good morning!  The  Gina K. Designs Team welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!  Today we hope you are inspired with many beautiful ideas, and as you hop through our blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because Gina will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a few days after the hops.

 First up we have my new Pretty Patterns 2!  Oh, the things you can do with this set!

Today I thought I'd first share how Debbie made the background for one of the cards she shared at the party.  I love the illusion of the circles in the negative space.

To begin, make sure your stamp is properly aligned on your block (a 6 or 8 inch block works for these 4 3/4" borders). You'll notice that other than the herringbone and tile pattern border, the remaining 5 border strips all have 6 repeating elements.  This allows them to be centered over one another when you stamp to make all sorts of two step and three step combinations.  You'll want to center the 3rd and 4th elements in the  border on either side of the crosshairs at the center of your grid line block (so, three on each side).  The points of these will be pointing to that spot.

  Stamp the border in the middle of your mat in Gina K. Passionate Pink.  Working outward this way keeps you from having a full pattern on one edge and just a sliver on the other.* You can easily find the center by placing your cardstock on top of a ruled mat like the Scor-Mat.  TIP:  I'm going to make this card portrait style, but I always stamp long images left to right since it is easier to hold, and then just turn the mat after stamping.

Next, ink up the border in Gina K. Sweet Mango and line up below the first stamped border, hovering over the mat until you see circles "appear" between the concave diamonds (so cool!) and then press down. 

 Now stamp the third row above in Gina K. Turquoise Sea in the same manner.  It's okay if you get a little bit off and one row of circle spaces is a bit "taller" or "fatter" than the other.  Note: to get a "perfect" circle, the diamonds borders will *not* be touching, but please don't worry about being perfect!  Just sayin' for you perfectionists! ;)

The open space created with this stamped pattern is perfect for placing a greeting (I used Theresa's By the Sea 2)  stamped in the new Black Onyx ink.  I stamped some tiny circle elements from the set on either side of the sentiment (switch the colors putting the orange and turquoise on opposite sides of their stamped borders for balance) and inside a few of the openings in the new Gina K. Bubblegum ink.  Some tiny rhinestone bling and a Black Onyx Pure Luxury base make this card complete. Easy peasy, under 10 minutes!  Two layers, three stamps!

I hope this helps show that you don't always have to cover the entire mat with pattern, and can use just a few images for dramatic effect and get a bold CAS.  Love these colors!

 Here is another quick sample I stamped up with the new Gina K. inks  (Sweet Mango, Passionate Pink, Grass Green, Turquoise Sea, plus Memento Rich Cocoa) using the smaller elements collage style to make a whimsical background.  You don't always have to make a pattern, this looks so magical and "sparkly" to me, like fairy dust!  Greeting is from Carolyn's Stamp it Big! 2.

 Finally, some cards mixing up the "fancier" patterns from this set to go with the next set we are showcasing today:  Becky Oehlers's new Bold Blooms.   Below is a step by step for the diamond pattern I created on one of the cards I showed at our release party.  I stamped this up before the new Gina K inks arrived, so I used Memento Lulu Lavender, Sweet Plum, and Elderberry (but I hear "the Gina K. purples" are coming soon, yay!)  I knew I wanted to have my greeting at the top, plus some white space to add the flower, so it wouldn't get lost on top of the pattern, so I stamped the tile border avbout 1/3 of the way down my Pure Luxury White card front.

 Next I inked it up again and stamped it below, lining up the points and leaving a space for stamping some of the smaller square elements in between. Repeat one more time, going off the bottom edge.  I know that stamp looks so much darker than lavender (but it just has staining on it from previously being inked with darker colors, no worries!)

Repeat one more time, going off the bottom edge.

Next I inked up the 4 square image in Elderberry and stamped into every other open white space.  Follow up with the smaller open square inked in Sweet Plum in a few of the remaining spaces. 

Last, I inked up the tiny diamond in Sweet Plum and stamped it at most, but not all, of the intersections between the tiles.

 You can keep the pattern completely symmetrical or random.  Keep stamping until you are happy with the look!  If you get a smudge, make a boo boo, or get a little "off with the pattern, you can hide it with your focal point of sentiment tag over it! ;)

That's it!  I love how the different purples in this monochromatic pattern pick up the dark and light shades I added to the petals in Becky's Bold Blooms flower.  The addition of the smallest diamonds adds such a "sparkle" to the pattern and goes nicely with the tiny seeds inside the bloom. These step outs are a re-creation of the pattern from my card from last week, so you will notice below I had more space in between the borders and elderberry stamped squares on the finished card.)

 I colored the flower with Copics, BV00 , BV02,  V17, YG03 and G99.  The purples aren't exact matches for these Memento ink pads, but thy blend nicely, no need to always worry about the matchy matchy.  Cardstock is Pure Luxury White and  Lovely Lavender.  Greeting is from Tami's Simple Flowers.

 Here is one more I made with Pretty Patterns 2 and Bold Blooms, this time using one of my Studio cut files I simply stamped the four rows of the Moroccan pattern in black on the cut mat, and then added the diamond border.  I wouldn't have thought to put these borders together when I was designing the set, but I like it!

 Copic colors are Y19, Y21, Y23, YG03 and G99. I love how the stamped pattern and cut out resembles a trellis.  Greeting is from Tami's Simple Flowers.

I was hoping to have a video complete for today's hop, but no.  Soon!  Be sure to come back for moe inspiration and some pattern making videos!  And definitely a tip sheet for this set with so many possibilities, so stay tuned!

Here are the full sets we are showcasing today.

 

Pretty Patterns 2

Bold Blooms

Now please enjoy continuing the hop with our Gina K. Designs design team!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger - Illustrator of Pretty Patterns 2
• Becky Oehlers - Illustrator of Bold Blooms
• AJ Otto
• Beth Silaika
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Debbie Corbari
• Latisha Yoast
• Lee Murphy
• Michelle Woerner
• Sean Fetterman
• Sharon Harnist
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber 

 * TIP:  An easy reference, however, is 4 of the large borders will stamp on a mat with layers for an A2 card. Refer to card in this post.   If I'm planning to do that, I start at the top or bottom and work my way to the other side since there won't be a "middle" row when you are stamping four.  All the border strips are 4 3/4" inches long with is perfect for centering on a card front.  On a portrait layout, they will go off the edge when you stamp them horizontally.  If you want to extend these borders beyond 4 3/4" they will nest or stamp together easily.  You can also use just one of the individual matching elements to stamp just one or as many as you need on the ends to add to the length.