Wild Flowers Inspiration!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing you with a gorgeous card set using "Wild Flowers" from the talented Lynn Brookside! I love the different patterned papers and colors she chose: large florals, simple stripes, even graphic geometric prints, and they all work terrifically with these bold wildflower images! This layout is so elegant with the three flowers and the two step stamping to add color with the leaves and centers is easy but effective! Love the dimension and sweetness of the one popped up butterfly, too! Cards like these are perfect to have on hand, no greeting necessary, use for any occasion. Gorgeous work, Lynn! :)
If you post in the STV gallery, it's likely you've received comments from Lynn on your cards, she is not only a terrific stamper but an amazing friend and encourager. You can tell she is as happy enjoying other people's work and complimenting them as she does cardmaking!

One of the verses in the set "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" reminds me of Lynn, because she lives with chronic pain, but you'd never know by what she sends out into the world, she just lifts people up with her positivity. I'm not only inspired by her love for the craft, but her love of people and I'm blessed that she takes the time to be a light for me and so many others, with her designs and joyful spirit! I look forward to sharing more about Lynn with you very soon! Please leave Lynn a comment below or on her STV page. Her gallery is a wonderful browse and I love how she also takes the time to share who the cards are for.

So much to share! Kid stuff, family portraits (the first we've ever had taken as a family!!), new ink pads came, tutorials, etc etc bear with me while I catch up!!

xoxo,
Melanie

Missing you (ALL of you!)

Well, it seems things are starting to sort themselves out with commenting and feeds for my posts, please bear with me, I'm at the mercy of "the blog"! (and sounds like many of you are too) I'm going to leave the candy from the weekend open just a few more days to give more people a chance to view it since some still aren't receiving updates. I sure hate not knowing who's here and who isn't and miss hearing from so many of you, too! You can enter on this post.

I am busy stamping away for our next Gina K Designs release on Tuesday, so I don't have anything new I can share today, but fortunately, Carla created another beautiful card to inspire us, using both the "Stately Flowers 2" and "Make a Statement" set. Carla called it a "simple" card, perhaps, but it looks like anything but, I love it! This is exactly the way I imagined effectively using these two sets together: just the outline of the US embellished with a single flower and something to identify the location. Aren't those heart pearls just adorable?! Just great with the "missing you" theme. Please visit Carla's blog for full card details and leave her some love! Thanks, Carla for all your fabulous creations the past few weeks, they surely inspire! :)

Tomorrow, our last "Stately Flowers 2" guest spot with Patti Gilliam, haven't you enjoyed her this month, as well? Be sure to stop by, she has TWO gorgeous projects to share! :0)

Finally, what do you think I might have in new set next week? Any guesses? ;) ( I just *might* list them somewhere on this blog if you care to start stalking for your state, hee hee!)

Thanks for visiting!

Window to Nature

Dies are a must have for creating gorgeous windows for your favorite images! There's just something magical about an opening on a card to a beautiful scene inside, like peering into another world! Today Karen kept it very clean and simple on this "Stately Flowers 1" sample with a white base, white is always perfect with blue, feels so fresh and crisp. The fussy cut dimensional flower makes it extra special!
The blue petite scalloped frame around the opening was the perfect choice to go with the little buds of the bluebonnet. This is an excellent design for any of the new flowers in the "Stately Flowers 1" set, as well as a go-to layout for ALL the flowers to come in the "Stately Flowers" series! are you ready for some more flowers! (Our next release is right around the corner! Any guesses what is coming up next?) :)

Thank you Karen for sharing your designs with us this month! (Card details here) What a blessing when I am busier than usual, this time I have been able to spend with family and take a short break from work is so precious! I hope you are all enjoying yourselves and loved ones as we head even closer to the holidays!

Red Poppies

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today we have another "Stately Flowers 1" card from Karen, is this beautiful golden yellow gorgeous with the red or what? Red poppies are my fave!More dies I must have, look what an interesting and eye-catching design layering just two of these on the base created! I also love how the large red polka dots suggest the round flowers in a whimsical subtle way! Makes the very detailed line art makes it feel very fresh and modern!

TIP: If you don't want to use the California as part of your label for the flower, just use a marker to omit the state and only ink up "Poppy".

Thank for another gorgeous creation Karen! Please go check out her blog for a complete list of materials to recreate this project!

Coming soon: some inspiration from another special guest using the "Make a State-ment" set! Can't wait!

Wisconsin Violets

Today I am honored to be able to share some "Stately Flowers" inspiration from my talented friend Karen Knegten! Karen's cards always "Wow!" me in the STV gallery, I can spot her work before I even read her name! Next week she has samples with the other flowers too, but we're starting off with this beautifully colored violet...Did you know Karen lives in Wisconsin?
That label die she stamped the flowers on and lattice rectangle underneath just moved to the top of my wishlist, how about you? ;) Now please go check out her blog for a complete list of materials to make this beautiful card!

Have a terrific weekend!

What could be more perfect than a calendar...

for the new "A Year of Borders" set? :) Sharon Harnist put together this lovely little calendar (it didn't even occur to me those were inchies when she posted this in our party!!), please check out her blog for more views of the project, direction, AND, are you ready for this? Free downloadable little calendars you can print out in this size to make your own! (They are sized to fit the labels One die if you have that!) Too cool, thank you Sharon for the freebie and the inspiration!

I plan to make some of these little calendars using the borders, but also plan on trying them out with a different design and larger format using Tami Mayberry's Calendar sets ! These will be an awesome match as well, great for keeping yourself organized throughout the year or for gift giving!

I will be sharing my tip sheet soon! Have a terrific weekend!

Stamping All Stars: Dawn Lusk

Something I've been wanting to share on my blog for quite awhile now are talented designers who have worked with my sets in the past. While I usually only have one "official" guest designer each month, someone enormously gifted (you might not be familiar with but SHOULD be IMHO!) who I've seen working with my sets and really deserves a spotlight, I also send a set to a few other friends and designers I admire whose style is a perfect match for the set to really rock the house! :)

When "Arranged with Love" came out, I just had to send a set to Dawn Lusk, fellow Dirty Dozen Alumni peep and fantastic stamper, she had been doing such gorgeous things with "A Year of Flowers"! Here is a new creation with the set from Dawn, her watercoloring is always magical!

I love the beautiful contrasts of the colors she chose and covering the sentiment card with the buttefly to add a smaller tag at the lower left.

Here's a little more about Dawn:

FAVORITE TECHNIQUE: so many! But I’d have to say masking is right at the top of the list

COLORS/COLOR COMBO: LOVE Fall colors!

FAVORITE GINA K SET BY MELAINE: just one?! I guess "Arranged with Love" with her new "A Year of Leaves" close behind!

FAVORITE GINA K SETS (FROM ANY ILLUSTRATOR): Autumn Beauty (there are those Fall colors!) by Theresa Momber

CRAFT SUPPLIES I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Copics, Reinkers, Prismacolor pencils, Spellbinders, Cuttlebug…

I’VE BEEN STAMPING FOR (HOW LONG): about 7 yrs

I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM: a lot just from nature

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT STAMPING/CARDMAKING ARE: to have fun! Work with images you truly love and it will show in your work!!

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING GOALS ARE: #1 fine tune my coloring #2 use more patterned paper and stop hoarding it!!! haha

FAVORITE THING TO MAKE THAT AREN’T CARDS: hmmmm, this could apply to the previous answer too..I need to do more things that AREN’T cards! Lol! I’d say, altering items like clocks, picture frames.

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I’ve been published numerous times in Crafts n’Things, had a cover shot on CardMaker and have been in several other magazines as well. I’ve been a designer for Rubbernecker, Cornish Heritage Farms, Artful Inkables, Dirty Dozen on Splitcoast, guest designer for High Hopes, Gina K Designs, Our Daily Bread Designs (currently), freelance for Janlynn (Stamps Happen) and Creative Cuts & More, and am DT coordinator for Mudd Puddles (just getting a team started).

Thanks for sharing, Dawn! You're truly an All Star! Look for more All Stars coming soon! :)