Thursday, September 24, 2020

Gina K. Inspiration hops, Day 3: Festive Fall Card Kit and Hey Boo

Final day of the hops this week, thank you for coming back!  Today we are showcasing a wonderfully Festive Fall Kit from Gina K. and gorgeous new greetings from Emily Loggans' Hey Boo set!  Let's go!




First, look at these beautiful and different sunflowers! I stamped them in Prickly Pear and Tangerine Twist, then stamped then again Chocolate Truffle on the coordinating cardstock, punched the centers out with a circle punch and lined them up over the opposite color on foam squares.  I colored my bee to match the prickly pear card base and added an orange Rainbow Heart.  The intricate details of these flowers will bee perfect with any of my detailed Beautiful Bees!

Next, you gotta have some nice leaves in your wheelhouse for making cards, these are wonderful, and I hadn't heard this sentiment but it really touched my heart. Obviously, the older we get, the more experienced we are of needing and learning to let go.  My son just left the nest, and I am so happy to so this has been almost all "sweet" and no "bitter" because he (for now) is so happy and thriving...how can I be sad a season is over if that's what in store? Memories of him are all over my home and keep me company, that will never change...

Anyway, back to the card!  I used GKD Prickly Pear and Dark Chocolate cardstock and this beautiful elegant stencil with the Lifechanging Blending Brush and Prickly Pear ink to add soft texture.  The Chocolate Truffle ink gives it more aging and depth, almost like suede, and I popped up this falling leaf. I still had one butterfly from my Beautiful Butterflies set in my stash I colored before but hadn't used yet that was a perfect match and I though it meeting up with this leaf was appropriate: their lives are so short, but noticed, and appreciated for their quiet beauty.  Can you tell I love everything about FALL? The rainy windy weather we are having this week makes me SO. Happy!

Moving on, now that I have kids, I can't do "scary Halloween" anymore, but I love "cute Halloween"! And the Halloween set in this kit is that, fo' sho!  Get the googly eyes ready because these images and greetings were made to google!

I used one of Emily's Hey Boo greetings and the ghost trio from the kit stamped in GKD White pigment ink and a few strategically placed black and white hearts.  Less is moe with these hearts, one or a few add so much! (Eyes from the dollar store.) Connect it all with my favorite Connect Glue!

You probably get tired of me saying, "I wish I could write like Emily." So I'll stop saying it. But just know, I am always thinking it. This..!

I love how different the kit's pumpkins are, so I gave them a modern spin with all the gray that is so popular now, and I love what that adds to the orange, a little contemporary and a little spooky, but all Fall! I added a little more pattern to the sections after coloring with alcohol markers, using a black pen and my white gel pen, for a little extra pop.  I used the Master Layouts 2 dies on both of the above cards, love that stitched edge! Cardstock is Tangerine Twist and Moonlit Fog.

Last, how about one more bee pun? I noticed the "hey boo" kind looked like "hey BEE!" Is it just me? (I don't think so!) So with a little noodling, I made it happen. You could do some masking and write it in, or cover and add with black and a white gel pen. I stamped the Beautiful Bee directly on the single layer card and added a gray shadow with my marker for dimension There's that new kit stencil again, with the GKD Wild Dandelion ink this time.  So purty.

Finally, there is a darling incentive set this month, check it! Free with a qualifying order of $75 or more. (As if you needed another reason to treat yo'self!)



Love these products, find them all here in What's New!  Please tell me in the comments what you liked best today before you LEAVE (leaf)!

Next stop in the hop is Mindy Eggen!

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Gina K. Inspiration Hops, Day 2: Timeless Poppies and Bloomin' Wild

 Welcome back, Friends! ready for some more stamping inspo! We've got two more gorgeous new sets to showcase today, from Lisa with Bloomin' Wild and Arjita with Timeless Poppies!

In addition to beautiful flowers and leaves, Lisa always adds a new large element to every floral set that will be very useful on cards of all kinds, and this ribbon/banner/pennant thingy (yes, I'm sure that's what it's called) does not disappoint!  I had a bunch of ideas for making patterns with it, but I also noticed it was the perfect width to go with the hexagon die in my Beautiful Bees set, to highlight a greeting or make something like a medal or award!  This is a color combo I love, the yellow black and white are so fresh and cheery and the gray gives it elegance!  I added a button from my Gina K. stash to the flower of that big, frilly flower and popped up a bee! I stamped this one on Wild dandelion cardstock and the colored the wings white, love that yellow border all around, really pops!






I adore this greeting! I don't have a sister, but thankfully many who feel like one (I mean, I imagine) Thick and thin, true blue. And of course my sisters in Christ.  So I have a long list of people I would send a card like this to...  That's me and my bee!  I'm the one on the right) ;) Cardstock is Pure Luxury Kraft and White. Even uncolored, these flowers shine...

But, colored, drop the mic! And how gorgeous are fall colors?! I wanted it to look more graphic so I kept the colors more solid rather than blending.  Card base is GKD Pure Luxury Coral Reef and sentiment is stamped on GKD Kraft.

And of course if you wanted, you could replace the word "be"...with a stamped BEE. just sayin!!

Love these sets, great job, illustrators!  Please tell me in the comments your favorite card today!


Here's all the new stuff in What's New!


Next on the hop is the amazingly talented Mindy!


Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Gina K. Designs Inspiration Hops, Day1: Beautiful Bees and Innocent Orchid

Hello! Today we are hopping with the new release sets and kicking it off with my Beautiful Bees stamp set and Hannah Drapinski's Innocent Orchid!  The design team has worked so hard to share fun ideas with these fantastic sets and look forward to reading your comments as you hop through, the more you leave the more chances you have to win a $50 gift certificate to Gina K Designs! Winner announced a few days after hops conclude.

As soon as I finished up drawing the Beautiful Butterflies set a few months ago, I got busy (pun intended) drawing BEES!  Having pretty winged things and coordinating dies to adorn all your cards and stamped floral arrangements made gorgeous cards in no time a breeze, I just had to make a fun follow up! BEE-lieve me when I say these honeybees of various sizes and poses will BEE so versatile year-round!  I also included huge dahlias for them to pollinate and you to color, leafy bits to build out arrangements, punny sayings, and some hexagon elements that allow amazing patterns and take these bee creations to the next level! You'll see from samples to come it is is *such* a playful set, I am having a blast with it!

In the first video, I show how quickly you can color the die cuts and add a bit of sparkle to the wings before popping them up on foam adhesive.  Isn't this hexagon background fun? I stamped off to create 4 shades with 2 ink pads, Wild Dandelion and Sweet Mango (didn't not end up sing the Sweet Corn ink I mentioned in video, no need!).  I used the Master Layouts 2 dies for my mats, the dashed border is perfect with the flying, busy bees, always on the move!  All the small greetings in the set fit inside the solid hexagon image or die, which is perfect of really spotlighting your sentiment or making little bee themed tags.  


I just love how quickly this honeycomb comes together stamping off! And some black and white hearts in the centers for dimension and cuteness.  TIP: The white hearts in the assortment can all be colored with your markers as you go to match your inks and cardstock, perfect coordination, yay! Cardstock is Wild Dandelion, White and Black Onyx.

This video dropping soon! UnBEElievably cute! I love how the wonky layer gives the impression the whole mat is about to lift off!


And one that is simply BEE-autiful!  Look at this dahlia!

BEE sure to buy some Rainbow Hearts! (and attach with GKD Connect Glue) The bees may BEE little, but their hearts are BIG!  This is one of a series of cards I created using the bee image to stamp in for the word "Be", along with different words from my "This Girl Is" set, so many options, you're recipient will BEE so empowered and encouraged! Bee strong! Bee joyful! (I'll show you those in the video) Of course, another video! It's all in the details, I decided to draw this line with a pen and ruler to extend the die's dashed border (Master Layouts 2 dies) as well as it give it a confident straight trajectory, bravely "into the unknown"!  This kind of flight is very un-bee-like, as they are kind of in and out all over the place, but they have their good reasons. I just love how its little heart is leading it, truly knows where its going! #beegoals

So this set sold out last night, but please BEE patient, it will BEE back in stock soon!  Thanks SO much for your support and love for the bees! Be sure to click "notify me" on the dies and stamps' links below if you missed it and you will be the first to get an alert when its back!

Beautiful Bees stamp set

Beautiful Bees die set



Next up, Hannah drew a ginormous orchid corsage!  When I saw this greeting in the set "You don't have to do anything alone", I knew two little bees working together side by side on the flower would give it even more meaning, really bring that message home, don't you love it? Such a beautiful message, love these sentiments

FUN FACT! It takes about 556 worker bees to gather 1 pound of honey from about 2 million flowers. It takes about 55,000 flight miles per gallon of honey!

I inked the orchid in GKD Ocean Mist, Turquoise Sea and finally Blue Raspberry to create the gradient when stamped, and then blended on just a bit more Ocean Mist with a Life Changing Blending Brush.  I layered the White mat onto the coordinating Blue Raspberry cardstock a Heavy Base Weight White card base. Greeting and bees are stamped in GKD Obsidian Amalgam ink.  For this card, I die cut my bees from the Wild Dandelion cardstock for a different look!  Just a bit of yellow to shadow the belly and white gel pen on the wings (and the glitter if you wish), and boom, done!

Innocent Orchid stamp set

Thanks for visiting today!  Please tell me in the comments, which card is your fave? Do you have a favorite bee, or image in this set? Hit me up with a bee pun! It will BEE interesting to read all your opinions!

View all the new products here!

Next stop on the hop is Hannah!  

Get ready for some lovely!

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Exclusive New Stamptember set from Gina K. Designs!

Drumroll, please, it’s Stamptember at SimonSaysStamp! I love Gina’s exclusive new Snowflake Cascade, and you will, too, while supplies last!  





Here are some simple cards I made with these lovely flakes and border, would be easy to mass produce! I embellished them with Gina's gorgeous clear quartz solid sequins!
Which is your favorite?

Last year's set sold out in a flash, so don't delay! I'm so excited for cooler temps and Christmas stamping, aren't you? 

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!