Blast from the Past Day 1

This week the Gina K Designs team is pulling out some of our favorite sets of the past from every illustrator, which promises to be a week long celebration of "greatest hits"! First up, I chose to use my "A Year of Leaves" set. Although I use these leaves and sentiments year round on masculine and sympathy cards, this set really works overtime when Fall comes, there's nothing I like to stamp and embellish my cards with in late Summer and Autumn than beautifully colored leaves!
Here I just used one leaf image from the set and the simple greeting "Thanks", in one of my favorite fonts of all time! These small greetings are perfect for making tags, and I love how this one turned out, using a Labels Eight die on Pure Luxury Ivory, then punching a border punch on all four sides and stamping the word in the middle! I scored the background in a diamond pattern for more interest and texture and added some stitched ribbon and brads. Base is Wild Dandelion. Popped up, these leaves look like they are gently drifting to the ground...

I also like using them with favorite floral sets, here the same leaves and another greeting take the set "A Beautiful Life" from Spring to Fall...
Drawn in the same style and scale as "A Year for Flowers", these sets are just perfect for mixing and matching!

And just to revisit a few of my faves I've made with the set (which are now coming back around, so to speak!), here is a card and matching acorn and leaf earrings I created that are currently featured in the "Stamping Savvy" section of the newest issue of CardMaker Magazine (p.28-29) These are definitely some of my favorite images for Polyshrink!
"A Year of Leaves" was also featured in the recently released book "Interactive Cards". This is probably one of my favorite projects ever! The little caterpillar image from the set morphs into a pop up butterfly (this butterfly is from "Take Flight", a favorite Gina K set from the past!).

I've also had several designing friends offer to share new samples they've created with some of their past favorite sets of mine, thank you SO much ladies for sharing your talent again with us today!

Brenda Turner

Carla Suto

Carolina Buchting

Geri Utterback

Karen Knegten

Libby Hickson

Linda Payne

Melissa Shultz

Selma Stevenson

Sharri Seffens

Sue Van DeVusse

Tina Gilliland

Next, we have one of my favorites from Nina from last year: "Lord of the Season". I stamped this fall topiary in Vivid Coffee Bean and colored it with with earthy Copic colors inspired by this beautiful Basic Grey Indian Summer print. Those little spots are color are perfect with the tiny details of the fruits, flowers and leaves in the wreath. TIP: when coloring a wreath, select several colors but just use one at a time, putting that color in several different places to balance it out and draw your eye around, so you won't have lots of clumping in just one area, before moving to the next.
Cardstock is Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Brown and White, which is sponged around the edges with Wild Honey Distressing Ink. I used a Nestabilities border die and some Pure Luxury ribbon for the bottom. I would have liked to match it to the pink I colored the ribbon in the image but didn't have anything like I thought! good thing there were lots of other colors to choose from LOL! I just love breaking out all these fall colors! It's been a long, hot summer!


And finally more 'Blast from the Past' Gina K Designs stamp sets, check out these participating designer's blogs:

• GinaK


• Jessica

• Nina


• Theresa


• Cathy


• Lee


• Lynn


• Donna


• Emily


• Erika

The entire GinaK Designs team would like to invite you to the virtual Release party we'll be having this Thursday, August 5th on StampTV. It will be a bit different than our usual release party, but we'll still have challenges, contest questions, and designer samples that you won't want to miss out on! More information on that event will be shared by GinaK soon, so stay tuned to her blog for all the details this week!

Bleached Green Apple

Here is another bleached card I made with "A Year of Leaves". I embossed the leaves in gold onto Pure Luxury Green Apple, the addition of bleach to the center turned the paper a beautiful sunflower yellow. I cut the paper into sections and matted them onto Ivory and a Good as Gold 4 1/4" square base. TIP: Dividing up a patterned paper into panels is a great way to add interest to your layout without covering up the print or makigna more ccomplicated layout than you have to! :) The greeting uses a large and small oval punch, popped up, and accented with adhesive nailheads. Ribbon is ivory gold lined organdy.


Have a terrific day, we have so much to be thankful for!

Like Dew on a Leaf...

This square card using "A Year of Leaves" is made of Pure Luxury Ivory, embossed with the largest Labels One Die. I layered two Pure Luxury Green Apple Labels Four die cuts over that, (isn't that staggered pattern pretty?) finished with a third Labels Four in Ivory again for my quote. I am still just so excited how beautifully these labels Four die frame all the sentiments in this set and how the curved and points mimic the leaves. The leaf is colored with Copics (Olive, Pale Olive and New Leaf) and popped up, finished off with a couple "dew"drops of Crystal Lacquer, you just gotta have that with this quote, your recipient will have to touch it to see if they're real! :) Punched sprigs between they are layers are the Martha Stewart Fern punch (thank you, Tina, for this wonderful gift!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Final Week with Geri Utterback

Look what Geri made for us today!!!!

I just can't get over how amazing thes images from "A Year of Leaves" look with these tiny faux stitches! What a "wow"!

Geri's Design Notes:

"I wanted to make my card a quilt card, I saw a quilt done with maple leaves and it was so beautiful that decided to try it. I stamped the image and cut them out, then I sponged them leaving the middle. After I glued them down I ran it through the cuttle bug with the Paisley folder. I then made the stitches with a black pen. On the inside of my card "The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living" I just love that!!"

Supplies:
Ribbon-Gina K.
Gina Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice and Green Apple
SU So Saffron and Garden Green

Thank you, Geri, for sharing your gifts with us this month! It has been such a pleasure!! Here is another project from Geri, click to open!

Week 3 with Geri Utterback

Week 3 with Geri and this is my favorite project of hers with this set YET! I'd thought a wreath of leaves would be cool, but look how sweet it is with ACORNS! Love how they are still this new, pale green with the little highlights, and the ribbon treatment she did is just to die for! The layout is so clean and classy, I could seriously look at it all day! (I'm so CASEing this later in its every detail!)
The "Fall Acorns" supplies are:
Gina K. Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss, Green Apple and Vanilla
Basic Grey button
Craft store ribbon
MS Fern punch
Copics
Nestabilities
" AYear of Leaves"

Design Notes from Geri:
"With a 2 inch circle from Nestabilities, I stamped friend and arranged my already colored and cut out acorns around the circle. This was a lot of fun to make, I made two different ones and I was thinking a Christmas wreath theme would look good, also makes a great ornament. "

Geri has another fall project today with "A Year of Leaves", let's go see! :)

BTW, you can find the winner of the "School, Sports, Spirit!" set from yesterday's hop HERE.

Leaves to Butterflies

I love the caterpillar and its matching quote in"A Year of Leaves", so I wanted to share a simple way you can create a butterfly using just the images in that set! I stamped two of the oak leaves for top wings and two of the rounded leaves for the bottom ones, colored with Koh-i-Noor pencils, then cut out. Then I popped up the little caterpillar in the center where the body would be as if he's just walking across a little pile of leaves. I love the illusion this hidden picture creates, leaves to butterfly and back again. Jute and Pumpkin Spice CS are from the StampTV kit Signs of Autumn, card base is Pure Luxury White and DP is from the Basic Grey Offbeat pack. typically I pair brownas and oranges with ivory to empahsize the earthy yellow under tone, but paired with white like this gives it a very fresh, modern feel.

"School, Sports, Spirit!" blog hop coming up tomorrow night! :)

Winner from the Gina K Blog Hop!

The winner from Wednesday's night hop is:

Juls said...
this is gorgeous I especially love the torn edge
September 10, 2009 11:24 AM

Congrat Juls! please email em your snail mail addy so i can send your "A Year of Leaves" stamp set!

If you have not yet seen the hop and challenge from PCP, be sure to scroll down!

And, another hop from the Gina K team, coming up tonight at 10 PM!!

A Year of Leaves Blog Hop!

This blog candy is now closed. Find the winner here.

Thank you for joining the Gina K team and our guests for this special " A Year of Leaves" hop today!
Today I have a sample that's Pure Luxury: Chocolate Kiss, Soft Sand, and Ivory, that is! They are just the perfect neutrals alone or together, so rich! I embossed the oak leaf from this set in gold EP onto the Chocolate Kiss CS, and colored them in with a Q-tip and bleach! I think this just might be my favorite way to color the leaves now, you can see below how realistic looking the fading light to dark and variety of colors are! Stamp on any earth tone paper and watch the new colors appear as the bleach does its magic! And virtually no "technique" to it either, just dip and rub!

I rubbed a little gold metallic paste around the edges of the mat and a little on the punched chocolate oval frame, doesn't the chocolate paper look so beautifully burnished? I added some ribbon and a few of the adhesive nail heads to embellish it. I tore the edge to make a little more distressed and "leafy", then you have a beautiful peek of the inside.

I lined the inside with the Ivory and stamped "Thanks" and the little caterpillar, both from the set at the corner. Stamping the oak leaf repeatedly on the envelope flap makes easy coordination.

For even more inspiration, please visit our Illustrator of the Year of Leaves stamp set, Melanie Muenchinger's blog. You'll want to leave a comment on her blog because she is hosting a drawing for her gorgeous stamp set there tonight!
Melanie has asked her two guest designers to join in on her blog hop too:
Selma Stevenson
Karen Knegten

Also showcasing Year of Leaves stamp set samples tonight are these GinaK Designers:
Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber
as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Designers:
Geri Utterback
Shelly Wilson
Tina Gilliland

Would you like to win "A Year Of Leaves"? I will post the winner here tomorrow night!

"A Year of Leaves" Tip Sheet

The images and sentiments in "A Year of Leaves" will take you through an entire year of masculine and feminine cards, for simple and elegant thank yous or birthday, as well as covering occasions celebrating beauty, change, growth and recognizing loss or difficult times.

Makes quick masculine cards, perfect for any guy in your life!

Change your colors with the changing seasons.

Leave are easily shaded with just a few greens in the spring but no rules apply in the fall, anything goes. Drops bits of different colors onto the same leaf, make them patchy or streaky or look at photos for examples.

Use gorgeous yellows and greens with your leaves for beautiful spring cards and use them with the related Spring and Easter/spiritual quotes in the set.

Collage stamp them in different colors to make beautiful background papers.

Cut out the leaves and pop them up for dimension.

Paper piece them with patterned paper for a whimsical look!

Add drops of Crystal Lacquer for dew, this will work perfectly with the "dew on the tip of a leaf" quote!

Added a pierced or dotted trail for the leaf to fall from. Or, stamp a leaf at the bottom of your mat and then stamp off going up tilting the image back and forth to imply the falling motion (this is also called generation stamping)

Sketch a simple branch to attach the leaves too. For fun, glue a real twig to your card, just add stamped leaves! or use a stem image from "A Year of Flowers".

The caterpillar represents growth, change, new beginnings. Paired with the caterpillar sentiment, it is appropriate for a sympathy card, or to give anyone who is on the verge of great change or needing to make big choices. Or it can just represent a caterpillar LOL!

Place the little caterpillar on or around the edge of the leaf. Stamp him along edges of mats and borders or even along the top of a sentiment, exploring your card!

Use the caterpillar with a butterfly from Gina's "Take Flight" set, perfect with the new sentiment. Put them both on the front or save the butterfly as a surprise for the inside.

Mix them with other nature sets, one or two large leaves from this set will be the perfect addition to the corner of a card made with these Gina K sets:

Happy Camper

Tree Silhouettes

Winter Foliage

Home Tweet Home

The Journey

Autumn Beauty

Kindred Kids and Dads

and many more!

Mix and mask leaves with the flowers from "A Year of Flowers" to make very full and festive looking arrangements, simply stunning with the sunflowers, see examples here of some gorgeous fall bouquets!

After cutting the leaves, curl the edges with their fingers to give them interesting shape.

Stamp them on brown paper and crumple for crunchy fall ones!

Stamp on colored paper and sponge the edges, easy coloring!

Stamp on Polyshrink or into Sculpy Clay to make beautiful charms for book marks, wine rings, jewelry, etc!

Created stamped framable art or coaster with the leaves and on e of the inspirational quote for a friend.

Make a gift box of note cards with the different leaves and a greeting on each.

Create a calendar or planner coloring the leaves to represent the changing seasons.

Mask or cut them to make a beautiful seasonal wreath.

Mask or cut them in a pile like raked leaves for a "Happy Fall" card.



Techniques with leaves:


bleaching, embossing, water coloring, cracked glass, Emboss resist, wax crayon technique, Joseph's coat, Versamark resist (ghosting) etc!



More projects:
home decor: stamped place mats, napkins and napkin rings, coasters
place cards for a dinner or thanksgiving Feast
candle ring
gift wrap
scrapbooking accents and frames (back to school, raking leaves, and other Fall themed pages)
easy background papers

Potluck Friday Challenge

Here is a sample for this week's Potluck Friday Challenge this week on StampTV, which involves adding one of more elements outside the perimeter of your card base. (Hope you'll play along with us, you could win free stamps!) I used the sentiments and caterpillar from "A Year of Leaves" and the butterfly from Gina's "Take Flight". DP is Basic Grey Ambrosia and cardstock is all Pure Luxury: Moonlit Fog, Black Onyx, and Ivory.

I will tell you I hemmed and hawed for awhile before finally deciding on this layout, I wanted it to feel really transcendent so originally I was going to have the butterfly coming off the top of the card somehow with the quote below it, more like a tent topper. In the end I moved the greeting mat off the card to the right and I'm really pleased with how it turned out! It's unexpected and really goes so nicely with the butterfly theme, like the butterfly and quote might both just take off! :)

I also like how the the thin black mats are the same size and keep your traveling around and around the card to follow the line. The black flourish punch adds a bit of drama and brings attention to the quote, but is also a whimsical representation of antennae. I adhered it just below the vertical of the of the black mat on the card base so it almost looks as if they are continuous and the straight line is morphing into a curved one! Shadow below the caterpillar is a C-3 Copic, my C-1 marker dried out recently, but I'm really digging the darker shadow, makes that ivory panel look super bright and illuminated! it is also a great match for the Moonlit Fog CS...

For the inside of your card, you can add another little mat behind the black box that is off to the side to stamp another sentiment, I will take photos of that to share later this week so you can see how to pull something else intersecting to your design with this when it's open.

Have a blessed a Sunday! Hope you have something fun lined up for the holiday tomorrow! Be safe!

Guest Designer Geri Utterback

Today's be-YOO-ti-ful project was designed by Geri Utterback (lovely and talented MOM of the lovely and talented Theresa Momber!) She found a 3x4 inch tall pillar candle at Rite Aid (flameless, as you can see in the bottom pic) and made this breathtaking candle ring from 4 of the images from "A Year of Leaves"! oooh ahhh!!!!

Geri says she stamped and embossed the leaves using Tim Holz distressing inks (gives them a nice shine to mimic a leaf's waxy cuticle) and then colored them with Copics. Click the pic for a closeup to see how beautifully those different colors blend together, orange yellow and green all on one leaf!

After cutting them out and shaping them with her fingers to give them more dimesnion, she adhered them to a circle she cut from Gina K Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss CS and added a bit of matching ribbon. I'm guessing this candle was pretty inexpesnive, but Geri sure made it a whole lot of "WOW!" with this gorgeous treatment! With a flameless candle especially you don't have to worry about the wax gunking up your beautiful leaf ring and you can save it to use again and again!!! I'll be CASEing this for my fall tablescape for sure!! Wouldn't these make awesome gifts?!!

Here is a little more about Geri:

A FAVORITE TECHNIQUE: I love to color, so any form of coloring is good for me. I mostly use Copics and Koh-i-noor with OMS. I also like to cut out images.


COLORS/COLOR COMBO: Amazingly the fall colors are the colors I like best,green, browns, orange and reds.


FAVORITE GINA K SET BY MELANIE: I love "A Year of Flowers" and "A Year of Leaves"

FAVORITE GINA K SETS (FROM ANY ILLUSTRATOR This is hard. I love so many. I think my favorite is Theresa's "Happy Camper" and " Melanie's "A Year of Flowers".


CRAFT SUPPLIES I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: The list is long but the first three that came to mind is: Copics, Nestabilities and Cuttlebug.


I’VE BEEN STAMPING FOR (HOW LONG): It's been just about two years. Before that when we all got together like at my daughter Brenda's house (Brenda who had been making cards for awhile), would get out all of her supplies and we would do projects like tags or ornaments and it was a lot of fun.It was a lot cheaper back then!!


I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM: I can't say just one thing, My daughters are my biggest inspiration they are the ones that got me into this and nature I'm always inspired by the colors in it. Like flowers, leaves, tree and the sky.


THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT STAMPING/CARDMAKING ARE: Friends that I have made here Is the most important thing and to be able to share our creativity with each other. Like Tina said the other day we are like a large family and it is so true.


SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING GOALS ARE:Well this is really something I enjoy as a hobby but I would like to get a card published in a card making magazine. That would be pretty cool.


FAVORITE THING TO MAKE THAT AREN’T CARDS: Scrapbooking is one that I would like to do more of and I like making tags.


SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS:Being Designer for you Melanie was huge for me as well as being featured on StampTV, Centerstage and Centerstage Spotlight also at StampTV.

Thanks Geri for this fabulous 3-D project, I'm heading over to your blog see what else you made with "A Year of Leaves" right now, let's go see!

"A Year Of Leaves"

"A Year of Leaves" is now available for purchase from Gina K Designs! (How 'bout that party last night, weren't the design team and CSS gals on fire??) This is a year round set including an assortment of leaves and nature images with coordinating quotes and greetings to suit any occasion, and I have to say, is one of my favorite releases already!

Here is a super simple one, using a piece of sky paper from a DP slab I had, but you could easily create clouds with a bit of sponging. I wanted this card to evoke the feeling you get when are blue or missing someone then get that little "nudge" from God, or a loved one, from a leaf falling in your path, as if an angel's watching over you... :) One leaf is popped up in front of this sympathy quote on the Labels Four die, I chose this die because it frames the sentiment so nicely and the shape echoes both leaves and clouds... Card base is Pure Luxury Green Apple.

I made this card for our release party last night, I'd like to go back and add some more details but I was in a hurry! All week I'd been meaning to mask some of my new leaves under the blooms from "A Year of Flowers", (I used just the sunflower from that set here) as fall bouquets are some my very favorite! These two sets compliment each other perfectly!
This uses the SCS color challenge CC233 for the week: red, chocolate and Kraft, I used all Gina K Pure Luxury CS for my card.

I am so excited about the response this set has gotten and can't wait for your sets to start arriving so I can see your leafy creations! You can see more samples today using "A Year of Leaves" from the lovely and talented Sharon Johnson, Laurie Schmidlin, and Geri Utterback! Thank you SO much ladies for stamping with my designs and sharing your artwork and talent with us today! :) look for more samples, a tip sheet and mid month blog hop with the set coming soon!

Have a terrific weekend! (Next up, the new "School Sports, and Spirit!" You can see a fabulous project using this set NOW at Melissa's blog, my guest designer for the "School Sports, Spirit!" set this month! Check it out!) :)

A couple winners, then it's time to Party!

The winners of my two new sets from our sneak peeks this week are :

"A Year of Leaves" goes to:
joy said...
I would like to work with those leaves and some snow flakes - maybe from Gina K's Magic of Christmas, it has a tiny snow flake and white embossing powder. Hummmmmmm... I'm thinking.
August 24, 2009 10:15 PM


"School Sports, Spirit!"
stampqueen said...
My 2 kiddos have tried everythingdance, gymnastics were short lived but we had many good soccer years and at the same time they wwere doing karate - a couple years of softball/baseball and then last year it was swim team. This year looks like swim team again for my son and art club for my daughter.This new set of yours will fit right in on my shelf :)....
August 26, 2009 7:55 AM

Congrats ladies!! Please email me your mailing info so I can put your sets in the mail! Thank you everyone for playing, I so enjoyed reading all your comments and will surely be incorporating many of your ideas into my tip sheets! Stay tuned for those!

Come join us!! at the Gina K Release Party!!

Sneak Peek: A Year of Leaves and Fruitful Harvest

The set giveaway is closed, see the winner HERE!

A year after releasing "A Year of Flowers" for Gina K Designs, I am thrilled to bring you "A Year of Leaves", a nature set filled with greetings and images that will take you through the entire year, year after year, no matter the occasion! The changing seasons will allow you to color this festival of leaves in Spring and Fall combinations you will love. (Try adding them to your "A Year of Flowers" images, for stunning greenery or spectacular seasonal bouquets!)

The card above uses the new Gina K Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice and Green Apple Cardstocks. The greeting is stamped on Summer Sun and the leaves are colored with Copics.


Leaves symbolize beauty, life, growth, change, and ultimately, death. We all have times we need to celebrate or recognize each of these themes with a card to a loved one, and you'll be able to do them all, (even masculine cards!) with this ONE set.



Now, I didn't think a a set of leaves would be complete without a hungry little caterpillar! I have always been fascinated with them, even before I was old enough to truly appreciate the miracle I held in my hand: the humblest of creatures transforms into one of the most magnificent in all creation. Here is a leaf scape made from one leaf image, masked and colored with Copics and the popped up caterpillar. I masked some diagonals and sponged to create some sunlight pouring down on this scene and added the first half of this wonderful Richard Bach quote (included in the set):

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world....

to reveal "... the Master calls a butterfly." (It gets me weepy every time I read it!)

I made the inside a pop up card using Gina K's "Take Flight" butterfly to hover over the sentiment and another pattern along the bottom (butterflies!) from the same Basic Grey Ambrosia pack I used on the card front. Card base is the new Gina K Pure Luxury Moonlit Fog CS, a fabulous, elegant neutral. This story of the caterpillar and this sentiment of change is such wonderful reassurance when a door is closing, be it a job, relationship, opportunity, losing a loved one; it's a gentle reminder that the story is not over and God is calling us to become butterflies...

Would you like to win "A Year of Leaves"? Please leave (ha! get it? "leave"?!) a comment below telling me your ideas for the leaf set, I will randomly select a winner and announce it here on Thursday before the big party! :)

Before you leave (there I go again!) one more peek! This next sample uses Asela's new "Fruitful Harvest", my favorite image from it being these grapes. (Do you know, I came this close to adding some grapes to my "A Charmed Life" set I released in March, but opted to give you more quotes and charms at the time... well, now we have some grapes to go with my glass!! Hip hip hurray!) Don't they create a beautiful focal point here? A match made in rubber heaven!

Images (and quote, also from "A Charmed Life") are stamped onto Gina K Pure Luxury White (edges sponged with Antique Linen Distressing ink), I distressed the edges and matted onto Pure Luxury Black Onyx and Soft Sand, added some ribbon and a real charm, which was fun to bring attention to the stamped leaf charm I added to the stem. I really look forward to using both these sets for my fall and holiday cards, very seasonal and festive!

To create dimension and have the grapes show through the glass:

1. Stamp the glass.
2. Stamp the grapes separately.

3.Without re-inking the grapes, stamp them AGAIN over the glass image.

4. Cut out both and color, coloring the grapes paler on the glass.
5. Adhere with pop dots to card, lining up the grapes on the glass with the grapes behind it.

For more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog, as well as Asela Hopkins, the illustrator of Fruitful Harvest.
For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Kurtis, Jessica, Lee, Lynn, and Theresa as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members: Denise Kelemen and Geri Utterback

Our Release Party will be held once again over on SCS starting at 7pm CST on Thursday, August 27th. There will be contests, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too! You won't want to miss it!