Inspiration Hop, Day 1: Men of Faith and Mandala Maker

Good morning, all! Welcome to the first day of our inspiration hops! Today we are featuring my Men of Faith set and Rina K's debut set, Mandala Maker! We are also giving away a $50 gift certificate each day to the Gina K. Designs store! Each comment you leave on today's hop is a chance to win, and we love hearing from you! Check the StampTV forum where winners will be announced a few days after the hops. Good luck!  

I have several samples to share today for Men of Faith as well as a video! This is a quick one, but you can make 2 cards with it! Measurements and supply list are in the video description! I also incorporated the new Musical Medley stamp as the background...


For these next three cards, among other ideas, I want to show you the different ways to use the new cross and necklace. Here, I chose to omit inking the hands to keep the focus on the profile and stamped the cord and cross in Versamark and embossed in gold to make it hang around his neck.  This sentiment is made for 6 separate words in the set.  I just love how they are separate so you can craft your own very personal messages, but also line them up or stack them to perfectly balance out your design.

I embossed the Son and Godly in gold to really stand out.  Remaining words are also stamped in the Jet Black Amalgam ink. I matted this on Good as Gold cardstock and finally a heavy white Pure Luxury base.  Obviously, this card is for my son!  His Adams apple is not quite that developed yet at 13 (haha!) but I can't ignore that he is changing before my eyes, turning into a man physically and emotionally (sniff, bittersweet)  He wears a gold cross necklace like this every day to school. He asked for one about a year ago, but went through a period he didn't wear it. Middle school is rough for anyone, but it can be especially hard to live out your faith at that age. I am so proud of this bold little guy. He loves Jesus!  And really wants to be a light in the world. 

He was in an accident on Saturday night that involved broken bones and a trip to ER, but I am so thankful it wasn't worse! God is good! If you pray, would you please say one for William, that his shoulder and collar bone would be completely healed? Thank you!

Here you see another layout, with the clasped hands skyward, holding the chain, this time embossed in silver.  I love this picture of surrender and trust.  I used the Moonlit Fog ink to sponge on some very simple clouds. I love the texture of the torn edge at the top and the chaos it suggests. (Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns (one of my favorite bands) is running through my head now...)  Base is Pure Luxury Slate.  I'll be sharing this card in a future video!  (I made this card a few weeks ago, but I need to make another one with the female silhouette and this sentiment, because THIS mama is going to need some encouragement over the next few weeks while he recovers!

Here is stamped the silhouette in GKD Sandy Beach to match my cardstock. I love having the ability to stamp the individual words around it to create custom frames! Stamping the comma is optional, it's a piece of art, so punctuation doesn't have to be exact, just sayin, go with what you think looks good! Play with the spacing and place the image sheet over your stamped silhouette to get a feel of how much space each word will take up, and if you have more space in between than you want or your words or shorter than what you want to fill up he space, get creative by filling it in bling, Nuvo drops, the cross, know what I mean? After embossing the necklace in gold, I matted on Black Onyx and base is Pure Luxury White.

All of the "You are" and "He is" statements you can create are not just referring to the man you might be giving the card too, but can also refer to God or Jesus and his promises! So please enjoy using all of these with the Women of Faith silhouette (or other stamp images) as encouraging reminders of his goodness and love! He keeps his promises! (I made the storm card a few weeks ago, but I need to make another one with the female silhouette and this sentiment for MYSELF, because THIS mama is going to need some encouragement over the next few weeks through doctor's visits and recovery!) This cheerful yellow and orange card I made for Will this morning, orange is his favorite color.  (The other designs look a bit somber in comparison with the dark grays, blues and browns, but that's what most of the guys in our family like!) I used the GKD Square Mandala Stencil with Wild Dandelion and Coral Reef ink and embossed the words in white on Black Onyx cardstock to make the little tape like labels. I hope this card reminds him of happy times and better days ahead...

Finally, I HAD to make one with my set and the new incentive set, Perfect Pair, haha!  Lest you think this set is only serious, I promise there are other possibilities! Nothing like white-knuckling a coffee cup on Monday mornings to make you start feeling alive again, you know?! Stamp silhouette first, then mask the hands to stamp top of coffee cup above and then again below, extended to make it a wee bit longer than the original image to be more to scale. That's it! I love this greeting! Base is Warm Cocoa, stamped with beans in Dark Chocolate. This darling coffee set is free for a limited time with your order of $75 or more, will automatically add to your art!

Men of Faith

Next, we have Rina's first set, Mandala Maker! I love elemental stamping and these have infinite possibilities. Because I wanted to use so many of the different elements, I didn't use the template to stamp this,  just stamped each image in 4 opposite pairs, starting with the largest element on the inside in Jet Black Amalgam, and working outward. Then I added in the small elements stamped in GKD  Dusty Rose.  I added just a little color with 2 alcohol markers to emphasize the small details. I used a GKD stitched circle die cut to pop up this fun greeting. Base is Pure Luxury White.

I also shared this one at the party using her greeting paired with Lisa Hetrick's new set Something Good! (We'll be sharing more samples with that set tomorrow!)

I also shared this one at the party using her greeting paired with Lisa Hetrick's new set Something Good! We'll be sharing more samples with that set tomorrow!  Be sure to come back for more fun ideas!

Mandala Maker

Thanks for visiting today! I am so thankful and humbled for all the wonderful feedback and support I've gotten for this new set. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :) Please let me know below in the comments which card you liked best... Full link list here:

Gina K

Arjita Sepaha Singh

Cathy Tidwell

Debrah Warner-Guest Designer!

Donna Idlet

Emily Loggans

Hannah Schroepfer

Karen Hightower 

Lisa Hetrick

Mindy Eggen

Rema Deleeuw

Sheri Gilson

Susie Moore

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