January New Release Blog Hop- Day 1

Hello, everyone! Welcome to our first day of hops with the design team for our January release stamp sets! Today we are featuring sets from me and Beth Silaika!  Be sure to comment on each of the blogs as you hop because we will be going away THREE $25 gift certificates to Gina K. Designs, one gift certificate each day!  Comment for more chances to win! Check StampTV Big News Forum a few days after the hops conclude where the winners will be announced. Here we go!

First up we have my Stately Flowers 12 set! (We are almost to the end of the series!)  It has been such an awesome journey, and I love the elements I've been able to add in addition to the flowers that will work with all the previous sets as well as being really versatile for other projects, like the mini calendar this month! It's sized with A2 cards in mind, and fits so many different orientations, die cuts and frame stamp images.

This is the first card I made when my set arrived!  (Shout if you love purple!)  These violets are so fun to color.  After stamping and coloring them with Spectrum Noir markers on Gina K. Pure Luxury White cardstock, I used two die from the set, popping up the center on my card. I offset it just the tiniest bit to let more of the Lovely Lavender mat show through like a drop shadow, it looks so gorgeous in real life! I stamped the calendar underneath in Black Onyx, then stamped the violet again in Wild Lilac along the sides to create fancy borders, and then tapped my darkest purple marker several times to create the speckles you see on the die cuts and mat.

Also sharing a sample with the lilac image (I used the lilac in last week's video).  No calendar here, but I thought using the days of the week as a border, as a decorative element or to define masked off areas that you stamp, would be really cool with the different "every day" greetings in this set. I stamped the lilacs several times, colored, and instead of sponging, used two different green Spectrum Noir markers to color the background. (Maybe a little fussier in some regards than sponging, but not as fussy as masking all those lilacs, imho!) You can blend the center area where the two greens meet with tip to tip coloring. :)  Card base is GKD Black Onyx.

I also wanted to show a few samples uncolored! I love the detail in all these flowers and how elegant they look stamped monochromatically or embossed.  Here I used GKD Pure Luxury and stamped the violet twice in GKD Moonlit Fog. Butterfly is stamped, cut out and popped up and coordinating strip under popped up mat is GKD Black Onyx. This thank you design could work just as easily be a sympathy card (Praying for you...) or birthday or wedding card (There is something to celebrate...) or anniversary (I think of you...) Yep, I'll be putting this layout in heavy rotation for when I need a quick CAS card!

Here I stamped the mayflower in Sweet Corn, Innocent Pink, Grass Green, and Turquoise Sea. Don't these classic images look so fresh and modern in bright colors paired with a graphic black and white chevron print? (GKD Bold and Blooming. I cut two thin strips for top and bottom so I wasn't wasting that gorgeous pattern under my stamped mat!)  Sentiment and hearts (both stamped in GKD Black Onyx) are from the new incentive set You Get Me", which is free for a limited time with every purchase of $75 or more. (You need this set, we'll be showing more inspiration for it in our hops the next few days and featuring it Wednesday!) Card base is the coordinating GKD Pure Luxury Turquoise Sea.  

This card makes me so happy (and ready for Spring!)

Stately Flowers 12
So many ideas and videos to come for this set! And I know our team will dazzle with it, too!

Next up, we have the adorable Emmy and Riley Flamingos by Beth Silaika. Love these feathered friends!  Here are two samples I made  one balancing and the other snuggling! So nice for Valentines, kids cards, sports themed, and just fun and friendship.

I used the tiny heart outline to create a border on the GKD Red Velvet card base.  Gina's Crystalline Drops make the hearts look like puffy stickers! Aren't these two darling?

This one I showed at the party. I covered their bills and hearts with Gina's new Crystalline Drops again for shine and dimension, great detail on these birds!  Chevron patterned paper from Gina's "Bold and Blooming" pack again, because I always love black and white with pink!  (When editing my photo I questioned whether it would have been better to point the chevron *up* to emphasize the spirit and visual of "stand tall", but the reason I turned it downward while creating was to use the "v" to make a little heart embellishment. Sticking with it!) Since the patterned paper is 6 inches square, I had a trimmed piece I was able to color a little heart over the striping with a pink alcohol marker, and then cut it out to line up  and pop up over the patterned strip with foam.  I love it!

Emmy and Riley Flamingos

Now please enjoy more inspiration from our creative team for both these sets!

Melanie Muenchinger- Illustrator of Stately Flowers 12 - you are here!
Beth Silaika- Illustrator of Emmy and Riley Flamingos
Cathy Tidwell
Donna Idlet
Gina K.
Karen Hightower
Laurie Schmidlin
Lisa Hetrick
Rema Deleeuw
Sheri Gilson
Susie Moore
Theresa Momber
Guest Designer Sean Fetterman

Thanks for stopping by!  Check back tomorrow as we hop with new sets from Theresa, Claire and Lisa!