Memorial Day and OWH!

Eek, I am so sorry I spaced out on the Memorial Weekend Blog Hop I told you about a couple weeks ago (can't believe it's been two weeks since I posted that!)!! Had some stuff going on this week that the holiday completely snuck up on me, not to mention my kids are in school today(make up for a snow day) so I keep forgetting what day it is now! Did any of you get a chance to participate? Here is the link for the Operation Write Home blog hop if you didn't get a chance to check it out over the weekend!

Here is a quickie card I put together ( yes, two days late but I did get it up on Memorial Day at least!) using "Border Bling" and the "Where Your Heart is" set, these blingy frames are nice for framing images as well as sentiments,and sometimes it is fun to use a smaller image or die cut inside the frame so that bling really acts like a "border" instead of a "label" like I did here. TIP: It would have been SO much better if I'd held off off on adding the pearls and embossed a larger Labels Four die border around my dots to form a nice embossed border outside the bling, oops! There I go, goin' crazy with the pearls again hee hee!

Where Your Heart Is" is featured in "Our Favorite Products" in the Cardmaker July 2011, their Stars and Stripes issue!
They are also featuring Operation Write Home in their "Readers Reach Out" section this month, I hope you can donate some cards, please check out this issue for more details on sending cards or go to the Operation Write Home website! Thanks CardMaker for supporting this terrific organization!


Our Gina K Designs Inspiration Blog Hops continue tomorrow, stay tuned!

1 Million Cards, You MUSTSee This!

WOW, please watch this short video Sandy Allnock from Operation Write Home sent me this morning, celebrating 1,000,000 cards sent to troops! (You might even spot one of YOUR own cards in the video!) ;)

And here is the link on youtube if you want to "like it"! Was that cool seeing all the ways they showed "1,000,000 cards"?! And then Check out this post to see WHICH card was the 1,000,000th, someone you might know,i do! :)
I'm just thrilled and honored to have been a teensy tiny part of that. :) Something special is coming up, too, with the "Where Your Heart Is" set and OWH, I look forward to sharing with you! Huge thanks and congrats to all those volunteers and all of you who are sending cards on a regular basis to OWH that make such a difference in the lives of all the troops and their families!

There is also a big Operation Write Home blog hop coming up for Memorial Day, check out the details here, would love to get as MANY peeps as possible participating! (how about a MILLION??) LOL! now that would be SOME hop!! Please plan to join in if you are able!

Hope you are having a great weekend! Things are good over here, just lots going on, i hope to post some new cards for you shortly! Thanks for visiting!

I love you..I'm sorry

Good morning! Today's project I have been meaning to make for a couple months now, inspired by a project my third grader did in Sunday school. Climbing into the car, Jonathan threw two little red scraps of paper into the cup holder. I asked what they were. "Just little cards you can give someone." I picked them up and read in his handwriting "I'm sorry", and the other said "I forgive you". Well! I just loved this idea, two "get out of jail" cards, so to speak! Here is my stampy more permanent version using "Where Your Heart Is"... And the back, I don't love my writing, so I just had to find time to print them out with my computer!

Anyway, my intent to is to keep these in a common area like the kitchen or living room of our home. Sometimes when we are getting so frustrated with each other, the kids are fighting, one is mad at you that it's time to clean up, you are angry that they won't obey, sometimes the best thing to do is just stop the argument or the tension in the air with a hug and say "I am sorry" or "I forgive you". Amazing what wonders three little words can do to change BOTH hearts. These are nice little reminders about what love can do and how we are supposed to treat one another regardless of circumstances. How much easier to hand over this little card to make peace...

The really important part is the "I FORGIVE YOU". You really ARE still in jail if you don't forgive, letting seeds of bitterness grow. And how wise it is to extend forgiveness first if you can, rather than waiting for an apology; when you do that, you choose peace.

Two really great books I've read relating to forgiveness, the first is "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey. All people should read this book (IMHO) it is one of my favorites. You WILL be blessed by it. I read it about five years ago and have bought many copies for others. It is a great one to reread from time to time even if we understand the message and examine if we've nevertheless allowed any areas of our hearts to harden. I was reminded I needed to just sit down and finish this project and post when I saw Gina share this quote from it recently "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you." ~Philip Yancey. And that is one of the most key messages in this book, forgiveness doesn't erase the offense or make it right, but it's a CHOICE not to allow it to hurt YOU ANYMORE. (They are off our hook, but they aren't off God's. And that is from my Bible study this past year, but that is a whole other post!!)

The second I finished a couple weeks ago, "Gray Matter" * by David Levy, a neurosurgeon who took a leap of faith and began praying openly for all his patients before surgery and later with his colleagues as well. It was a huge risk for him to be open about his Christian faith in this kind of setting and admit that he didn't have all the answers as a top physician and needed help to be successful in surgery. The operation descriptions were fascinating (did you know now they most often enter the brain though your THIGH and use springs and GLUE to fix aneurysms?) and the numerous accounts of how not only surgeries were successful but how those prayers transformed people's lives (the patient, their families, and hospital workers) are uplifting and a testimony to the power of prayer. He also discusses many patients who would not have benefited from surgery yet had chronic or life long health troubles to whom he gently suggested perhaps there were people in their pasts or present who needed to be forgiven, citing how many health issues and pain are related to the kind of stress that is the result of a broken heart. One line that stood out to me was this: "Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will die." Whoa! (he says this to the reader, not the patient) Through prayer he was able to help these patients forgive as well as seek forgiveness for their own sins and receive Christ as their savior. Miraculous changes occurred immediately in both their attitudes and health through these simple acts of unloading those burdens, like removing great weight both physically and spiritually. Many parts moved me to tears, and, not surprisingly all these experiences completely transformed and blessed Dr. Levy's life and work as well.

I pray this message touches your spirit today and puts someone on your heart you can forgive or may need a little help forgiving you or someone else! God bless!

*I downloaded this for free at the time on my Kindle, it is now 9.68 for the Kindle version which I've linked, but you could get a hard copy or find at your local library as well. There are so many FREE terrific Christian reads offered on Kindle all the time, I highly recommend purchasing one! :)

Operation Write Home

I want to give a special shout out to every one of YOU who purchased the "Where your Heart Is" set, it was a very successful release and resulted in me donating a ton of cards to match the number of sets we sold!
I couldn't get them all in the pic, so here are just some closeups, it was like a paper quilt of love that covered the floor of an entire room! It took me a whole day to sort through my stash to find appropriate themes and make sure all the cards I intended to send met their criteria, no glitter, etc. What a stroll down memory lane, recalling hundreds of hours I put into these different cards over the past three years, all using sets from Gina K Designs (remember some of these from past challenges and sneak previews??) and each one unique!

Is is helpful when you send cards to sort them by theme to make it easier on the volunteers, so here are a few birthday...

a few "Love" cards...

some thank yous...

I got the receipt a couple days from Sandy of the "Stars and Stamps" blog that they were received (whew what a relief, LOL!)

It blessed me to think about how many families are going to be receiving these from their beloved soldiers and I pray all the hands that touch them are blessed as well.

Thank you again Operation Write Home from the bottom of my heart for helping me spread the word about the "Where Your Heart Is" set and allowing me to be participate in this amazing cause!

Pray, Love, Peace

Another card from Trena Brannon today, and another one coming up! I love how she used three pairs of hands on this one and colored different skin tones!
The words inside each of the hands are from "Where Your Heart Is" and "Inspiration Mosaic", together these three little words convey such a positive, hopeful message!

The stamped uncolored hands are a perfect way to "bring the outside in", along with this message from "Hope is Faith" (you can also find this sentiment in my "Hand in Hand" set.

Hope this inspires, I know it does me, and I have a LOT of cards I need to make with this set (along with other holiday cards I already have) to send to Operation Write Home, will be sharing on Wednesday how we did, thanks for all of your orders and support of this set, OWH will be getting LOTS of cards for the troops!!!!

A 'Priceless" Design

I have the honor and pleasure of sharing this beautiful design today using "Where Your Heart Is" from Trena Brannon! (Trena is a long time follower of my blog) Sweet and "priceless"!
I love how she cropped down this Kindred Dads "With Daddy's help" biking image and framed the hands around the smiling face to capture a memorable, priceless moment! (greeting is from "The Best Things In Life") What an awesome card with this be for a child's birthday, achievement, or of course, Father's Day love the dad on the inside!

Thanks for sharing your talent and unique spin on this set with us today, Trena! be sure to visit her blog and leave her some love!

Loving Hands Mosaic

Here is a quickie, single layer card made from White Pure Luxury using "Where Your Heart Is" and my beloved "Inspiration Mosaic" (oh, stamp how I've missed playing with you!!) The rectangular framed hands image is a natural to place over this grid. Here I colored and trimmed out the hands and layered them over Red Hot and Black Onyx cardstock (so this also fits this week's STV color challenge) on pop dots (without the pop dots this would make a really good "flat design" for sending cards to the troops!*), then colored just a few panes of the frame with R27 Copic. Stamp the little greetings and border from "Inspiration Mosaic" into the corner and you're done!

Thanks for visiting! NEXT will be the guest designer card I mentioned, don't have my post written up for that yet, but wanted to get a card up here! Hope this CAS design inspires!

* Wonder where we are at for number of "Where Your Heart Is" sets sold for January?? I'll find out in about week, can't wait to see how many sets all our customers purchased, that's how many cards I'll be sending to OWH! :)

Stamping their HEARTS Out!

Okay, this really has me tickled , Elfrieda and Karen seem to have a little throw down going on over (whether they know it or not! LOL!) at STV for the most creative use of "Where Your Heart Is". Here is Elfreida's latest creation, 'just a little note' (hee!) using the letter image from the set "Picture It"

Elfrieda, I love it!! Drop me a note any time!! (no, seriously, please write to me, I don't know if you are seeing these posts or gotten my messages!! I'm a fan, girl!)

And look at this one, bwahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I seriously spit on my screen (in a good way!) when I saw the hands split and holding this tiny, wee confection, from "Candles on Your Cake"! Be sure to check out Karen's blog for the inspiration pic she used and materials on her card! become a follower while you're there, cause Karen's stuff ROCKS!

Thanks for inspiring me ladies, I bow!

Gotta try to make my own out of the box creation now, I don't want to miss out on this fun! How about you?? Hope this inspires YOU!

Sketch Spotlight #10

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! Time for our 10th Sketch Spotlight Challenge!


(I think Gina made this one for my ""Where Your Heart Is set) ;) I used Innocent Pink for the base and focal point and some fun, contemporary looking Valentine-y DPs by The Paper Studio I found at Hobby Lobby. Mats are Pure Luxury Black Onyx.

TIP: I stamped the hands right onto the Innocent Pink and colored them with Copics E02 and E51. It will look SO dark as you start to lay the color down but it WILL fade. You will not get such a natural looking effect if you try this on blue or green cardstock, just sayin' LOL! But working on pink since it's close to a flesh tone is great for girly, love-y cards, and keeps you from having to color the background. I trimmed it to have about 11/8" inch around the border and ran my Copic R27 around the outside of the line to look like I have an extra red layer.

I also cut one of the hearts out of the DP and popped it up over the heart shape instead of coloring, isn't that a fun look? This is another alternative to coloring in or paper piecing the heart shape, the fit of your punched heart or heart cut out doesn't exactly have to match the space in between the hands!

Last I stamped "i love you" from the "Where Your Heart Is" set onto plain white printer paper instead of cardstock so it has more of a fortune /love note feel. I found these cute little clips at the Target Dollar Spot in different Valentine colors, isn't that sweet? Sometimes the smallest little bling detail is all you need!

Hope you'll join us in playing this week's Sketch Spotlight Challenge on STV, be sure to upload your creations with the tag STVSKSP10. Looking forward to seeing what you make, you might win some free stamps!

Thanks for visiting me today! :)

StampTV Gallery Gazing

In case you were wondering where the usual guest design spots have been this month, never fear, they are on the way! I wasn't able to get sets out to my designers as quickly as usual, but they will have some things to share soon!

Fortunately, I can always rely on finding beautiful , creative samples in the StampTV gallery from our fans and customers any time, so I thought I'd point out two terrific ideas I spotted this weekend using "Where Your Heart Is", both from Elfrieda Everett !! These were FIRST uploads in our STV gallery and I hope she will continue to delight us with ideas like these! Here she used the hands image on card for the current sketch challenge, and I just love the whimsy she created with those bold hearts from "Picture It" stamped again and again bubbling up out of the middle! How perfect for a Valentine or for any time, just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside!
The next sample she got crafty with Gina's "Spring Florals", I love this idea of cutting out the heart shaped hole and tuck in a sweet bouquet! So precious, would make such a fun birthday card for a friend, or change up the colors and it would be a very touching sympathy card!! (She has another beautiful sample in the gallery with this idea but changed the design.) She stamped the "God Bless", also from the "Where Your Heart Is" set onto a stamped flower image for the corner, which is a nice addition to the other flowers! I know there must be a ton of other flower images in our Gina K Designs collection that would be just lovely in these hands and I can't wait to hunt through and try them ALL! :)

Well, I'M inspired*, how about you?! just had to share this talent with all of you, welcome to StampTV, Elfrieda!! I think your designs rock! :)

*For the first time in days I'm inspired, can you pray for me, please, so I can get back to stamping?? I have been having real issues with my neck that is causing a lot of pain to sit at my desk and I'm noticing it's starting to affect my right hand again (had some pinched nerve in my neck last year that caused a lot of pain and numbness in my wrist and thumb), trying to take it really easy and do my stretching! More samples soon to come!

Sketch Spotlight 9

It's Monday!! Time for another Sketch Spotlight Challenge with Gina K on StampTV! Be sure to upload your creations to the STV gallery with the tag STVSKSP9, hope you'll play along for a chance to win a free set!
I used the sketch to make a special Valentine for my son's kindergarten teacher. I found this cute sheet of vintage valentine paper from The Paper Studio at Hobby Lobby, always get so nostalgic for making homemade Valentines and decorating bags to put them in back in elementary school this time of year! Glad my kids give me LOTS of excuses to keep making crafts like those!

I trimmed it so I'd have this little blond boy (who looks like William!) saying, "I've the nicest teacher in the world." (The girl above that looks like his blonde teacher, too, how about that?!) It's REALLY helpful to check out the details in your patterned paper before you start cutting to find the best parts for your particular design. The Black Onyx layer is Cuttlebugged with Numbers Collage and swiped a Cream White ink pad over the embossing to look like black board, isn't than fun? Sponge the Beaded Circle lightly with Antique Linen ink and add your stamped hands from "Where Your Heart is". I colored the hands with E51 and E02 (this color is a little pinker/peachier than the ones I've used on other posts, I wanted to give the little boys hands a slightly ruddier look) I pieced the heart middle with Red Hot to match the little "I love you" sentiment and cardbase, wanted a more opaque look as if you were cutting out little red hearts from construction paper. Pure Luxury White layer under the black mat is sponged with the Antqiue Linen as well to match the DP. I can't wait to make more Valentines with this set! I got some trendy heart paper too so I'll be making some with designs with that as well!

Hope you had a great weekend, ours is still going with the MLK holiday!

Some words in honor of today:

"Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Everyone!! Put your gifts to work! :)

"Where Your Heart Is" Tip Sheet

Here are tips to help you create with "Where Your Heart Is". Use the greetings and image together or separately any time you want to lift some one up by letting them know how much care, whether that's to thank someone for their hard work, time, love and/or commitment or to let someone know you are praying for them.

Sentiments
The phrases below show you how to put the different words together, there may be more sentiments that I show here. Enjoy stacking your sentiments in different ways to fit your different shaped and sized die cuts or tags, or use a stamp positioner to stamp them out in a long line.

God bless You
God bless our family/country/school/community

God bless you/your family for all you do!

God bless you/your family for the example you set!

God bless you/your family for you Service/Sacrifice

Thanks for your sacrifice/service/prayers
Thanks for all you do!
Thanks for the example you set!
Thanks for loving/serving our/your family/community/church/country/school

Your prayers/letters/pictures mean everything to me!

Praying for us
Praying for your/our
safe return/school/country/family/community/school/church

In our time apart,
I do this for you/us/our family etc
I am working for us/you/our family/church etc

Loving/Serving is Serving/Loving your/our family/community/church/country

Your sacrifice is everything to me!

Our family is everything to me!

Omit the"r' in "Your" by inking the remainder of the long sentiment to say "You mean everything to me!"Or use the separate "You" provided and then just ink up "mean everything to me!"

Get creative with these sentiments and different people you can send them to. (Ideas for people and occasions are listed at the bottom) There are probably people in your life you see often, but maybe don't know their birthday or perhaps even their name, these little hands can still reach out and touch someone in way that says, "I notice and appreciate you!" :)

The Image
Color in the heart to make it stand out or paper piece it with patterned papers.
Paper piece the background with patterned papers for sponge or fill in with the color medium of you choice.

Sponging will add a beautiful "glow" to this image. Mask the edges with sticky notes or don't worry about covering them up just trim exactly after sponging! :)

Create sleeves on each side of the wrists to make sleeves. Make them larger by male hands and narrower for female hands.

The classic style of the fonts will go on any card, beautifully with your patterned paper or other images, even without using the hands image.

Pop up the hands for more dimension.

The rectangle was designed to fit the Rectangle Nestabilities. Enjoy cutting after stamping your image and use larger dies when you want a lager border around the edge. These die cuts will them mat beautifully onto the other Rectangle dies: Deckled Edge, Scalloped, Big Scalloped etc.

You can also easily crop the hands into a square by trimming off the rectangle border with a paper trimmer or using a square die or punch.

Stamps the hands in brown, black or gray before coloring, in whichever best suits your projects color scheme or ink up the hands in a tan or peach before coloring for a softer look.

Leave the hands uncolored and just color in the heart to really make the heart pop.

Stamp a heart shaped image into the heart space. try adding little heart shaped embellishments like buttons, rhinestones or stickers to emphasize the message of love.

Accent the image by adding heart shaped punches or die cuts to your project, layering it over the hearts, surrounding it or adding just one of two at the corners.
For a quick single layer cards, stamp image onto Pure Luxury base weight cardstock, and emboss a shaped around it.

Stamp the single words like "Us" "You" or "i love you" phrase inside the heart. You can also cut out the hands and heart space in between them, then pop them up with heart shape window centered over the stamped word.

The cut out hands are also sweet over a photo, centering the open heart over someone's face or two faces.

There is room above and below the pair of hands to stamp your phrases, for example praying for" along the top left with "your family" along the bottom right corner.

You can also stamp the words above below, or going around the corner around the outside of the rectangle.

The hands can fit virtually any shaped die if you ink up the hands only, omitting the rectangle outline, then stamp onto cardstock. Now place your shaped die around, finding a die that fits to the edge of the wrist and die cut. Color as desired.

Create little personal effects to add bling and customize the hands by creating bracelets form adhesive pearls, rhinestones, colored string, wire etc.

Make a beautiful accent for your scrapbook pages.

Color the hands to match your own. Or for a wedding or anniversary, color them to match the recipients, very personal to make one hand in the skin tone of each so that the card shows their two hands coming together to form *love*!

Watermark it onto your card backgrounds or inside your cards to send a sweet and subtle (almost subliminal , hee!) message.

Create small note cards with the image and tuck into your purse to have on hand when you come across someone who might need a little boost, like little random acts of kindness. How fun to pass one off to the sweet librarian or cashier you've been going to for years to let them know "I love you positive attitude each day! Keep up the good work!"

Tuck little cards with this image into you kids lunch boxes, on DH's pillow, inside his briefcase, car etc. You can feel like it's Valentine's Day any day!

Make fun treatholders for Valentines or little any time gifts.

Examples of occasions for this image:

Valentines

Get Well

Thank You

Miss You

Thinking of You

Sympathy

Anniversaries

Birthdays

Encouragement

Congratulations

Friendship

Fun wedding

Secretary's Day

Examples of people to give these to, beyond friends and family:

Childcare workers

volunteers at school, church

teachers/teachers aids

missionaries

hospital patients

clergy

doctors, nurses

boss/coworkers

soldiers/ Operation Write Home (to send home to their families, or for Anyhero mail)

recipients of card drives (charity organization can distribute to people in need)

the elderly

As always this is just to get your creative juices flowing. Sorry for the delay in posting these basics! I will continue to give you tips for the set as well as new samples illustrating the ideas above along with more layouts and design ideas.

Have a great Sunday! (we're off from school tomorrow, how about you?)

Coming up, a sketch challenge (I love how this card turned out!) :)

Color Spotlight

Hello! Time for a Color Spotlight challenge with Gina K and StampTV! Today's "Where Your Heart Is" card has just a few layers and no DP, I really wanted to focus on this fresh color combination. Cardstock is Pure Luxury White for the images, Red Hot mat and Sweet Corn as a base.
I stamped the images out twice, filled in the hearts with Copic R 27, and then made a green background for one with G99 and yellow for the other with Y15. I wanted to have the "i love you"s repeat around the card, isn't it fun stamping the words in the different portions of the box? TIP: You can do this on all sides as well as around the outside of the rectangle or going around a corner. Hands are colored with E51 and E21. The double hearts and multiple greetings say that you mean it "so much!!" :)

Hope you'll have time to play this week, remember to use the tag STVCSP8 when uploading your new creation with this color combo to STV! Good luck, I hope you win some free stamps!

Have a terrific weekend! i love you! ;)

OWH Blog Candy Winner!

I wanted to share a design you can use for soldiers to send back home thrugh Operation Write Home, with the simple "love you" greeting stamped into the heart this could be used any time of year! This camo print DP is from The Paper Studio, found it at Hobby Lobby. Simply cut some wavy rectangles with a straight edge on one end for the sleeve opening to make the fatigues! Then use scissors or a craft blade to crop the far ends on the sides of the card. Cardstock is Gina K Pure Luxury White, Red Hot and In the Navy. Layers are Cuttlebugged with Stars and Heart Blocks and sponged with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distressing Inks.

Thanks so much to everyone who left comments for the "Where Your Heart Is" set, your card making stories and hero experiences were so inspiring, I really appreciate you sharing! The most exciting thing about reading them was how many people crafters found out about the Operation Write Home or the set through those posts and plan to start sending cards for the troops! :) The winner is:

pennyd said...
As I wrote on the OWH blog, I am a disabled veteran and have deployed in the past, leaving my four children behind. It was very important to them to hear from mom and now, making cards for OWH, I can help other military folks keep in touch with their loved ones.

It is a beautiful set, thank you!

January 8, 2011 11:51 PM

Congrats, Penny please send me your snail address within 48 hurs to claim your prize so I can send you your set! Be sure to check out the "Stars and Stamps" blog, too for the other winner! Thank you again Gina for donating the sets!

Do you have questions about Operation Write Home and want to get some cards in the mail to them? Be sure to check out this page on how to get involved, as well as the mailroom page on some info about shipping cards!

Sketch Spotlight Challenge

Happy Monday! Time for another Sketch Spotlight with Gina K! Sketch below! On today's sample I took a few small liberties with the sketch, swapping out this much fancier Label 14 for the oval, (still oblong so I'm going with it!) I already had it cut and embossed from that Grand Calibur post, so it was just waiting for me! :)
I used some scraps of Basic Grey Curio DP I had leftover from yesterday's card I shared to make some simple sleeves for the "Where Your Heart Is" hands (these scraps already had this black border on the edge, hee!). TIP: Use straight rectangles for fuller sleeves that would hang or cut them to taper to make a more fitted sleeve. I made this for one of the mentoring mom's in my small group ("Thank you for your prayers"), she prays for me every week and I know God has been answering so many of those prayers! Kraft mat is Cuttlebugged and sponged with Vintage Photo ink, I also used Pure Luxury White, Black Onyx and Cranberry Tart.

Be sure to use the tag STVSKSP8 when you upload your creation with this sketch to STV, I hope you play and win some free stamps! :)

Winners of the "Where Your Heart Is" blog candy sets tonight! Be sure to check back!

Here's what I'd like to do...

Here is a card I shared at the release party, a fun vintage look complete with an adhesive pearl bracelet (hee!) and some Basic Grey Curio Paper, sponged with Vivid Coffee Bean on the top and right side to match the dark printed border on the other edges. I used the little label and greeting from the Free with Three "Smile" set, I like how the Label Eight shaped image looks on just one side of the Labels One Die cut. I hope this cards give you lots of ideas for different ways the hands can be cropped other than just the rectangle to incorporate into your different layouts!

Well, my heart is just full to overflowing after reading all your comments on this blog and "Stars and Stamps" yesterday! Wow! You can be sure I will create more sets for special causes that are so dear to so many. :)

It makes me want to do more and I've discussed with Sandy, president of Operation Write Home, what OWH needs MOST right now (since they also need money to ship the cards), but she immediately replied their greatest need is CARDS, they estimate they need DOUBLE the amount they did last year to meet their current needs. So I would like to personally send them ONE card for every "Where Your Heart Is" set that sells this month! I think I can do it, I have a ton of cards around here (and as you know, am always making more!) Reading about their great need, and how much it means to these people, I can't think of a better thing to do with them. And if YOU buy the set, I'm wondering, if you might be interested in also sending a card to OWH? (Or maybe a couple to make up for those who can't.) The OWH site has lots of helpful info about how to prepare your cards, and who to send them to, plus a very informative and fun video showign you how they process them, check it out!
http://operationwritehome.org/index.html

(And, umm, if we sell a BAZILLION sets and I really can't meet that all on my own, I may have to come ask YOU for some help!! Are you with me??) :)

Tomorrow we have a sketch spotlight challenge and later in the day we'll be announcing the winners of the blog candy on my blog and "Stars and Stripes", don't forget to leave your comment if you haven't already here:

http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/2011/01/operation-write-home.html

or here! http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/2011/01/inspiration-from-ginak-designs.html

See you soon, thanks for visiting!
(Sorry still can't add my links!)

Operation Write Home

This blog candy is now closed.

I am absolutely thrilled to receive the support of Operation Write Home http://operationwritehome.org/

for my new set from Gina K Designs "Where Your Heart Is", a set of stamps for cards for heroes and from heroes!! This set is going to see a lot of love from me in making cards for my heroes at home and overseas, and I know from our Gina K fans' comments this past week it will from you, too! The set is getting attention in other places as well, more exciting news about that soon!

Thank you Sandy Allnock for sharing the set today on Operation Write Home's "Stars and Stamps" blog,

http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/

be sure to go check out her post, Gina K has donated two "Where Your Heart Is" sets! :)

I will be posting my tip sheet for the set shortly which will be an awesome resource for sentiment combinations, and of course lots of new samples with the set, more designs and tutorials specific to OWH for your inspiration, and more, so please stop back! if you are not currently subscribed or a follower, I would love for you to do so, see the sidebar on the right for options.

TWO WAYS TO WIN THE STAMPS: we are giving away ONE of the sets here and ONE on Sandy's Stars and Stamps" blog. Leave a comment telling us why you make cards for heroes! (You could also tell me in the same comment about a hero you know) We'll draw one winner from each blog announce the winner on Monday and I'll have some new samples to share! :)

Have a terrific weekend, on my to do list is to dig through my stash and find some cards to send! :)

PS I am SO sorry I am having problems adding my links, these web addys are correct, so copy and paste into your browser!! Again the other blog to go to is

http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/

Thank you!!

Color Challenge and New Stamps are now Available!

Good morning! New stamps are available, check them out here! Tip sheet for "Where Your Heart Is" coming soon, today I have short tutorial using the set.



Time for another Color Spotlight Challenge! Be sure to upload you creation to STV with the tag STVCS7 for a chance to win free stamps!

Here is a sample I made for my little boy, he draws pictures for me all the time, so I made him a simple card to show him how special his creations are to me! Of course, this "pictures" sentiment could also be talking about photos, that was intentional, so family members can convey their appreciation for things given or mailed. The way the sentiment is arranged, you can also add "letters" or "prayers" in place of pictures. TIP: Stamp the sentence first, then add the single word on a grid line block, lining up the line under your stamp with the your on your already stamped greeting and then stamp.

The turquoise base is sponged at the bottom with coordinating ink and the Sweet Mango is sponged as well to give them a little glow. I sponged tumbled glass distressing ink below the hands and wild honey ink above, then stamped the hands again so I could color and cut them out to go over the sponging. With the orange ink on top, it looks like the light is coming from above, so here is a simple tutorial to show you how to color the hands when your "light source" in on top. I'm not bothering to stay in the lines today, since I'm cutting them out, keep that in mind! :)

First color, the bottom of the hands, underside of fingers at top and thumbs with the lightest flesh tone you will be using, I used E00, as my hands are pretty pale!! Leave the very top sides white.

Now go in and color the underside of the hands, thumbs with a darker flesh tone, here E21. Also lightly trace, the creases on the insides and undersides of fingers. Stop here for a more dramatic look. Go to the next step for a more blended look.

To blend the darker shadows, go back over these areas with E00 again to soften the edges of the darker marker. That's it! You can do this! :)

I will do more tutorials to show how to give the hands more dimension, how to have the light source coming from different areas and show other colors to use for the hands. I will be making cards for Operation Write Home with this set and they will need hands of all colors. Check back tomorrow for a special post about Operation Write Home! :)

Have a great weekend, thanks for joining us at the party last night if you missed it, the thread is still up you can go check out what you missed!

Sneak Peek: "Where Your Heart Is" and "Ready, Set, Snow!"

Welcome to our first day of Gina K Designs January Sneak Peeks! First up we have my newest set, "Where Your Heart Is", which began with an idea over two years ago and has evolved over time. Stamping has really broadened my horizons in so many ways; beyond crafting, I've met people with common interests but very different life experiences, many who are wives of men serving in the military, like Beate Johns, Emily Giovanni, and Carolyn King. It made the sacrifices that everyone makes in a family where a spouse is away SO real for me, I started thinking about doing a special set to honor people like them and that family members can send to each other.

Then shortly after Gina released her Kindred Spirits Moms, a comment someone left on Gina's blog really spoke to me and took this idea even further: from a woman who was a mom, and a stamper, but it was SHE who was the one away serving in Iraq and missing her kids, saying she wished she was able to be at home with her children like those Kindred Spirits. WOW. I realized the need for something that expressed the love between friends and families who are apart, whether that is months at a time, or just a few days or overnight because they are serving others, in any kind of occupation, was REALLY needed. Nurses. Clergy. The list goes on and on. Factor in all the people around us in our communities who make our lives better, schools better, churches better, through their volunteering, time and servant hearts and the thanks they deserve, I knew the perfect last few sentiments and the perfect image that would make the set complete. The framed hands (which fit the various rectangle Nestabilites sets) forming a heart is so universal that anyone would recognize its meanings, regardless of age or language: My heart goes out to you, I keep you in my heart, I love you, I'm grateful beyond words....

Hands are shaded with E00 and E21 (I will share a tutorial after our peeks are over, very easy to do), I colored the heart in between the hands with R37 and R59 and then sponged Antique Linen Distressing ink around the outside. A very simple way to show your love for someone, even my little boys know what this means! On the card below I used the same focal point but changed up the layout slightly to add a greeting. I could make a card every day with this set for all the people I owe thanks for making my life and the world a better place and those who are in need of prayers, and I still wouldn't be finished, but I'm glad to have sentiments that makes it so easy to express what I'm feeling. And finally one to a friend whose father is very ill. Paper is Pure Luxury Black Onyx, Kraft and Basic Grey Curio, hands are pieced on top with White Pure Luxury and colored with the same Copics listed above.
Perhaps more than any other past set I am so anxious for you to see all the greetings you'll be able to create from the sentiments provided, this set is very near and dear to my heart, but this peek is only a *tiny* peek of what you can say to show your support!

Next up we have Rupa's "Ready, Set, Snow!" It's finally getting chilly in Texas, so it's fun to pull this out now even post Christmas, but, of course still, no snow here!) I asked my kids to pick which image I should use and I knew they would both pick this one! They've only been sledding a few times but those are favorite memories of snow. I cut the white Pure Luxury layers with a rotary blade to make easy curves fro sliding and popped out the colored and cut penguins.

DP is exclusive to Gina K Designs and base is Lipstick Red. TIP: use shades of blue instead of black on the penguin to add some whimsy and make a better, "cooler" match for your snowy background. I used B66 and B37 for the penguins, BG000 for the shadows, Y35 and E07 on the feet and beak, R37 and R59 on the sleds.

The rhinestones flourishes are fun to add both bling and energy to the card!

Thanks for joining us for our first day of peeks! Have fun hopping to the other blogs from our fabulous design team!

See you tomorrow!

• AJ Otto




• Carolina Buchting




• Cathy Tidwell




• Deb Felts

• Donna Baker




• Emily Giovanni




• Gina K




• Giovana Smith




• Janice Whiting




• Jennie Harper




• Lee Murphy




• Melanie Muenchinger (Illustrator of "Where Your Heart is", you are here! thanks for visiting!)




• Theresa Momber




• Tina Gilliland

• Latisha Yoast