Gina K. Sparkling Christmas Inspiration Hop

Good morning!  Happy November (where has 2015 gone?) The Cast and Crew for Gina K Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop! This blog hop is for our October Sparkling Christmas StampTV Kit Release, and we hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projections as you hop along in the hop this month.  Please enjoy the gorgeous inspiration samples from the team and then comment on each blog for your chance to win an awesome grab bag of GKD goodies!  To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop.

Two of today's cards I showed at the release party last week, now with creation details. Two are new! Check it! :)

First, I have a very simple chalkboard design.  Just some White Gina K. Pigment ink and Black Onyx cardstock are all you need. I love wordy cards so I thought these stylized, big greetings along with the longer sentiments would fill the space really nicely, and the fancy borders finish it off.  Base is Cherry Red from the kit.

Next, here is clean and simple design with the reindeer. I just love lots of white space, and white space is perfect for a big expanse of freshly fallen snow!  Be bold and add some foot prints and a shadow (Spectrum Noir IG3), it will make this design spring to life. Base is, again, my favorite Cherry Red! Dot the "i" with some rhinestone bling. Done! (You can't see it from this angle in this photo, but I gently swiped my Wink of Stella glitter pen ALL over the white, so tilt it just right and it's all super sparkly!)

Here is a stepped up version with the reindeer, Santa's sleigh is sure to follow! Still just a single layer! Reindeer is stamped and stamped off in Gina K. Dark Chocolate ink. I added shadows to the reindeer (EB3 and EB5), and footprints are BT4.   Have fun adding some stripes or detail to the open scarves and socks for some individuality (JG5 and DR3).  Sponging and masking with Ocean Mist and Turquoise Sea inks to make a few drifts and cloudy sky really make scene.  Last I added a pearl I colored with the DR3 marker for a nose. Brr, I'm getting cold, are you?

Finally, the silhouette trees in this kit are perfect for a cold, silent starry night, with "the" star!  Stamping the trees all the way around the mat rather than just on the horizon easily create the effect of sitting in the snow looking up or standing in the middle of a clearing, gazing towards the heavens.  I sponged on first Gina K. Lovely Lavender to the middle of the Pure Luxury White mat, followed by Powder Blue, then Blue Denim and Navy inks around the edges.  Adding the Edible Eggplant to the corners and just a touch through the middle adds some mystery and that hazy quality of the milky way. You don't need as many blue inks as this, but it saves time not having to layer as much ink. Also, using both blue and purple tones, instead of just blue really makes the sky richer, and "inkier"! 

Next stamp the trees, both the single and the trio at random in the eggplant, stamping off to create distance, and making sure to vary the placement of trees as you go, some higher or lower or it will look more like a pattern of arrows than trees, know what I mean?  Always stamp silhouettes after sponging to keep images crisp, (unless you are going for a hazy look,  and that can work, too!)  Finally dot a sprinkle of stars with white gel pens (Big Pitt (for the big and Ranger for the tiny) .  I added a few small rays to the one in the middle (a small "x " and a big"+"), in the lightest area of the card (planned!) above the greeting to represent the Christmas star.  Base is Pure Luxury Powder Blue.

I love how it turned out!  You can do this!

Sparkling Christmas StampTV kit

And here are the lovely incentives this month!

If you missed my paper pieced owl cards with these knits, see here. :) 

Need any more convincing this is a great kit you need?  (and I didn't even bust out the included snowflake dies on these cards!) Well, alright then, go see what the rest of the design team has now, they will surely cement your decision, in the best way!  :)

Gina K

Allie Gower

Beth Silaika

Cathy Tidwell

Karen Hightower

Kendra Wietstock

Laurie Schmidlin

Melanie Muenchinger (you are here!)

Payel Ray

Sean Fetterman

Tricia Traxler

Hugs, thanks for hopping with us today!