Inspiration Hop, Day 1: Wild Flowers and Masculine Tags

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

First up today, we have my new "Wild Flowers" set, a bold two step stamping set that coordinates with the popular previously released "Wild at Heart" frame set. I am so excited to have these additions, with new greetings and some matching butterflies. Stylized bold flowers are so great for a multitude of stamping techniques and making quick cards with beautiful bursts of color!

Perfect for the rock and roll technique Gina shared recently on StampTV using your ink pads, today I'm getting out my water-based Memento markers for some direct to stamp coloring! TIP: Scribble on your lightest color first, and then add your darker colors so as not to dirty up the tip of a light colored marker. Once you have all the colors where you want them and image fully inked, huff on it to moisten the ink and stamp. You will love building simple or fuller arrangements with all the different leaves and buds!Several people commented yesterday they liked how I "double-stamped" the flowers on the panels, but actually, I just stamped these on a flat panel of white CS, then die cut with my Spellbinders Labels 24 to give the greeting more impact and add more interest to the layout! TIP: I offset it just the tiniest bit so you'd have a little more of the black peeking through, rather than just the added dimension of the pop dots. Card base is Pure Luxury Innocent Pink.

Next, I want to show you fast you can build a field of flowers! Here are five different images from the set placed on the long rectangle block , inked up and ready to go, this block is a must have!
Stamp just once!Bam!
Now add your leaves and stems! I'll be back with the finished embellished sample later! :)


Finally, my last sample shows another quick card pairing this set with "Wild at Heart". First I stamped the frame in Old Paper Distressing Ink on White CS (if you see hints of pink red, sorry, I guess I didn't clean my stamp very well from the previous use, oops! This ink is not pink at all!)

Next I inked up my flowers one by one with Memento Sweet Plum and Grape Jelly on the petals and Rich Cocoa in the centers. I didn't bother with a stamp positioner, the die cut images make it so easy to eyeball and if they are slightly offset you get a tiny white reveal that gives it a more whimsical look.

Finish with the other flowers and stamp a sentiment in the lower corner. Originally, I intended for this to be a single layer card on Pure Luxury (which is why you see that large white border) but after using the purple shades I decided to kick it up by including one of the new Pure Luxury Parisian Garden patterned papers around the border, these patterns all look so terrific with my new flowers!

The finished card is just three layers (and only one color cardstock-white!), but the two step stamping and border around the frame make it look like so much more! Lots of fun tutorials coming up with this set, so please check back! Hope you love the new set as much as I do and enjoy using it with "Wild at Heart"!

And now for something completely different! I started to make a tag for a card with Tami Mayberry's new "Masculine Tags" set when I noticed how cool one of thee labels would be...
on a frosty beverage!! Father's Day is not too far off, plus birthdays of a couple men in my life!

I stamped the labels onto Gina K's waterproof labels and then cut them out with the Labels 22 and Grand Calibur.

Soak the labels off the bottles you'll be using before adhering your custom labels.

Full disclosure, I WILL say soaking the labels off a beer bottle was much more difficult than soaking off a wine label, gotta scrub scrub scrub (different glue, I guess) just sayin'! It IS worth doing for one bottle, but for a whole six pack or more, I would probably create a paper wrap/sleeve to go around each covering the original label and then adhere my new one on top, that would look great too and be much easier! Label is colored with Copics.

This is an* adult beverage* but would be super cute on soda bottles for a birthday or slumber party! Wouldn't these be so fun on a big wash tub tub full of root beers or colored in PINK for girls night?! (hmm, my birthday is coming up...!) As you can see, these two particular greetings are gender neutral, for the "rock star" in all of us! Hope this project inspires, so many picnic and outdoor events to look forward to with spring and summer on the way!

Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

• Gina K

• Melanie Muenchinger-thanks for visiting!
  
• Tami Mayberry
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jennie Harper
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Michelle Woerner
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Have a great weekend! Fun stuff coming up this weekend and inspiration hops resume on Monday! See you soon!

"Wild" about CardMaker

Here are a couple samples in the new CardMaker May issue using my "Wild at Heart" set. These cards use two of my very favorite techniques for bold stamps and I love how well they work with this wild flower frame!

This second card uses also the "Pressed Flowers" set.

I hope you'll check out this latest issue of CardMaker, quite a few Gina K designers in there this month representing, woot! :) I'll be back to share a few more samples from it soon!

Hope you have a terrific weekend, thanks for visiting!

Spring into Spring with Crafts 'n' Things!

The Spring issue of Crafts N Things is here, and the magazine has gotten a fresh new makeover, you will love the look! Lots of changes have been made to the features and layouts, clean and bright, easy to read, be sure to check it out and see all the new things inside!

I have two cards in this issue: a Mother's day card I made using Gina's "Notes to Mom" and "Picture It" & "Organize It" sets...

and one I made with my "Wild at Heart" set.

Gotta shout out too for Gina K peeps Michelle Woerner, AJ Otto, and Carolyn King who all have fabulous projects in this issue! Congrats ladies! :)

Week 4 with Kary Lim

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! More about the holidays later, got another guest spot with Kary and then we start our new release sneak peeks!

I have only "played" with the new border from "A Year of Borders" that matches "Wild at Heart" once so far, so when I opened Kary's latest creation I squealed with delight to see how gorgeous the tiny border flowers snipped apart look popped up over the larger "Wild at Heart" frame, I love the mix of sizes together! Don't these little blossoms creeping out of the corner just make it come to life? And the tiny pearl in the center of each is such a sweet touch!
Here are Kary's instructions:

I stamped Wild At Heart frame stamp onto white cardstock with pink ink (Versamagic Pixie Dust) then embossed with clear embossing powder. Then stamped the flower border using a darker pink (Versamagic Pink Petunia) and clear emboss it. Cut out the flowers, and added pearls on the centres. The large flower piece was added onto card base with foam squares. Then I used a metallic silver pen and drew a frame on the card base. Then adhered the cut-out flowers onto the card w foam adhesive as well as the sentiment. I sponged the sentiment with the pink ink and added some pink faux stitches around it (using Memento Angel Pink).

Let's go see another beautiful "A Year of Borders" creation from Kary!

Week 4 with Mary Anne

So here is Mary Anne's last official post with "Wild at Heart" this month, it has really flown by as Sunday we will be peeking my new set (so excited for that!) and kicking off our week of Gina K Designs previews! Mary Anne surprised me with two samples today and will have another on her own blog, so be sure to go to the end of this post to see! This first one is so dramatic in the black and used this beautiful striping technique and cropped the frame into a corner to change it up! Her recipe for the card follows:
Stamps were inked with Marvy Signature Series Blending blox in Shades of Green. It was also used for the sponging. My card stocks are Pure Luxury White and Black Onyx. My triangle that was made using the background stamp, had the flowers covered in TH Distress Stickles. The label for the sentiment was created using the MS Optic Dot corner punch and a Spellbinders die called Labels 11. Gems and a celery green, satin bow were used for embellishments.

This next sample is one of my favorites from Mary Anne this whole month, you know I'm a red and black girl! I always love tight croppings of large images on cards, like giving tiny magnified peeks into hidden worlds. The beautiful swirls and cut areas in the punches works so beautifully with the details in the stamped images.

My base is Pure Luxury Black Onyx which has been embossed with a swirl EF from Tim Holtz. I used the MS Optic Dot corner punch to create a doily layer, and then added some red textured card stock. I inked the large Wild At Heart background stamp with a coordinating red chalk ink. Punched circles to capture the flowers and layered them on black. I added black micro beads to the flower centers for texture. My sentiment is popped on two layers of oval Nestabilities.

Well, I won't say "Final Week" because I know Mary Anne and I will stay in touch and she will continue to do great things with all her stamps! :) What a blessing my guest designers are to me, they really work their magic with my sets and provide me and everyone else with such wonderful inspiration (as well as give me a teensy and sometimes necessary break from blogging!) Would you like to be a guest designer for one of my sets in the future? I am always lurking in the online galleries looking for talent, fresh perspective and a passion for all things GKD! :)

Now without, further adieu, let's see what else Mary Anne has!

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." Go and have a GREAT day!

Quick (and I mean "QUICK!") Card!!

Here is a card I submitted for Card Capers*, a 10 minute or less card feature in CardMaker (did not get accepted, but that's okay, I am only out 10 minutes!) Yes, the results came back and they did pick up a few of my faves, woohoo! Did you submit anything for this call? here's the place to shout it out if so, please let us know!! A few I sent they passed on so I will be sharing them here soon. You never know what they will take, if I were to bet in advance I would be wrong most of the time, so I hope all of you who are interested in getting published will keep at it as well as submitting lots of different things just to see! Be sure to try different pubs too, as one may just really like your style, there are some pubs I have had NO luck with! I submitted 8 cards for this call and they took 4, so I am super excited about that! (One I am particularly glad they took but will share why in another post!) :)

Anyway, about this card!! I had these ginormous The Paper Studio flowers I bought for half off a couple months ago at Hobby Lobby. Well, their size was what enticed me, but ironically enough they are really almost too big for cards LOL!! I thought I'd try a quick design and adhere this hot pink one off center just for fun. I die cut a big scalloped circle from white CS for the center, sponged it with Wild Honey and added this greeting from "Wild at Heart". It is layered onto Pure Luxury White and Black Onyx CS. Obviously this will NOT fit in an A2 envelope LOL! Just fun card to hand deliver or stick onto the front of a plain gift bag...

*I like submitting for this category when I remember to, because they are looking for simple designs, so I just kind of go with my gut and throw something fun and easy together, instead of some of the others I submit where I spend waayyyy too long questioning and fretting over the details of a more intricate design! Ther is so much talent out there, i really pray youeill not get discoruaged if you are still trying to crack thorugh that ceiling of getting your first card pubbed! I got so many rehjects at first, and I know it is easy to think, "well, this is my best work, if they don't like this then what chance to do I have!?" because I've been there, girlfriend! But keep at it, it's worth it!!

Popped up Petals

Okay, I think this really is my last card I didn't submit before I run out of samples LOL! I made it before the release and am just not getting around to showing it. Here I stamped "Wild at Heart" in yellow on white CS, then traced over the stems and leaves with a light green Copic. Next I inked up the petals in red and centers in orange with Memento markers, stamped, and cut out to pop up over the frame. You can add a lot of dimension by curling the petals under with your fingers. (Theresa made a similar card for the release but she stamped the flowers in black and then filled in the white partw with red... )

I added more of the lace for yesterday's card, stamped the sentiment directly onto the frame in Vivid Brick and adhere it to a Pure Luxury Lipstick Red base.

Well, it was day o' stamping over here, while my kids were at school I stamped through TWO whole documentaries on Netflix and got oodles done for our next release, peeks start Sunday! How are you enjoying them snippets so far?? ;)

Have a good night!!

The Month in Review

Haven't updated my slideshow in my sidebar in forever!! I was trying to add some new ones today and realized it was actually creating a new show, oops! These hows are easy to make and a great way to show your readers at a glance what's on your blog. Here are all the samples I have uploaded so far this month using "Wild at Heart". It has been such a joy to work with and I have actually held back sharing some of my favorites I've created with it so far (using a couple reeeeally cool techniques I have not shown here) because I have submitted them for publication, but I will find out soon if they are accepted! I'll be glad to have a few new ones for the blog because I am going to busy playing with my *NEW* set all week, it should be arriving any minute!! It coordinates with a past set (well actually more than one!) so I am just SO itchy to put them together, can't wait can't wait!!

Have a great weekend!! :)

GKD Designer Challenge Hop

Welcome to our September Design Team Challenge and hop! Gina asked us to use our latest sets to create projects inspired by some of our favorite fall memories. I created two samples, using an Autumn spectrum pad to brayer over the "Wild at Heart" frame, stamping onto white and then die cutting a rectangle out of the center to create a frame for one card and a focal point for the other. Though they are not cards made for weddings, I was inspired by TWO fall weddings from the past, a favorite time of year to get married in Texas because it's not too hot!! The first was inspired by my best friend from college's wedding, which was held at The Ladybird Johnson Wild Flower Center outside of town ten years ago. The ceremony took place in the evening and the limestone building were covered with flowering vines and had beautiful vistas overlooking the Texas sunset.

I matted the window onto a larger Grass Green mat and then sponged yellow and orange inks directly onto the middle of my white folded card base to create a little sunset behind it. I added some large white flowers with button centers to give the card some dimension and added some of my favorite flourish punches to weave in and out through the opening like vines climbing a wall.
This next card was inspired by my own wedding which took place in late September, our 11th anniversary is next week. Our colors were not quite this earthy (we did have fall flowers in our decor and my bouquet, though) but this card is for my husband so I want to man it up a bit! I used the cut out from the frame above then matted it onto a Pumpkin Spice layer I'd stamped tone on tone, lining up the images, then doing the same things on the Chocolate Brown layer, here you can see the thin border all the way around. Card base is Kraft. I added some neutral buttons and twine to the centers to give it some natural textures. I also decorated my envelope by stamping the frame again with Antique Linen.

I stamped "Friend" instead of "husband" or "happy anniversary" because I want him to know how important our friendship is to me...

For all the information about how to enter your card into this month's challenge, please visit GinaK's blog, then check out these participating designer's blogs for more inspiration using the newly released stamp sets available through GinaK Designs:

• Jessica Fick


• Theresa Momber


• Nina Brackett


• Melanie Muenchinger


• Tami Mayberry


• Carolyn King


• Cathy Tidwell


• Lee Murphy


• Kurtis Amundson


• Miesje Flach - our CenterStage Spotlight designer!

PS do you like this bigger type?? (I was rereading one of my posts the other day and noticed the font looked really tiny, don't need to cause anyone out there eye strain! ) Let me know!

Mary Anne Returns!

Good evening! I love what Mary Anne is sharing with us today, breaking away from the rectangle frame and showing how lovely just a small die cut section of the larger image can be incorporated into any layout, you choose the sahpe and size! Match the colors you are using with some beautiful coordinating patterned paper and you have a fabulous design!


Her are her easy to follow instrcutions:

The card is a White Pure Luxury base
DP is from Me and My Big Ideas
Spellbinders Die is Blossom
Inks are SU! Bermuda Bay, and Kiwi Kiss sponging

I outlined the whole image with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen for sparkle.
Embellishments are lace, olive pearls, Prima flowers, and MS branch punches

Let's go see another "Wild at Heart" project from Mary Anne...

Black Pearls

Good morning! Today I have a "Wild at Heart" sample using Pearlex powder, which is a crushed mica pigment. There are a lot of great things about Pearlex, it gives your cardstock a beautiful sheen and texture, and requires no heat setting (which I also love not having to worry about getting good coverage or removing all my stray flakes ahead of time the way you do with embossing.) The result is a pearly solid finish and cardstock that looks like a piece of stamped silk! I have another Pearlex sample I will be sharing with you soon along with a pic of how easy it is to apply, that one is on white cardstock, but today's shows one of my favorite things about it, how beautiful light powders show up over dark cardstock. Here on black this silver powder seems to create a "negative" of the negative frame.

Simply stamp the image in Versamark and brush on the powder. It sticks to the Versamark the same way chalk does when you are doing poppin' pastels. I stamped this onto Black Onyx and attached it to Silver Lining Pure Luxury Cardstock, and added a few tiny adhesive rhinestones over the little dotted buds. The die cut is Labels Nine. You can rub around the edges of the die like a stencil with more Versamark and add more Pearlex, but here I just used a little silver rub on paste.
Here is another view of the card and this time I added some larger rhinestones to the flower centers I found at my LSS. This bling is so big they are almost like mirrors LOL!

Have a great day!

PS Not counting the matted dies, this is a TWO layer card! (4 if you count them) I love how the border in the frame image makes it look like I matted silver on black on silver on black on silver (which would be five layers), when really it's just stamped on a large black mat and attached to a silver card!!! :)

Black, White and Glossy

Hello! Did everybody take advantage of that amazing coupon over the weekend?? :)

Here is a quick card with "Wild at Heart". I stamp it in black onto glossy white, the glossy paper makes it hard to photograph without catching the glare, but in real life this print looks super sharp and crisp and on the ultra smooth specialty paper, which also intensifies the contrast of the black and white. put them together with some gingham and Wild Dandelion Pure Luxury, and you just have a happy happy combo!
I added a little green copic to the stems and yellow to the flower centers, can't color it much more quickly than that1 I left the petals white because white daisies and gingham are my favorite "country" look. I sponged a little yellow ink around the deckled edge die to make it pop. I haven't used these dies much yet, but I think they go very well with the feel of this set. The simple layout allows you to add a ribbon and have your greeting or another stamped image in a strategic spot that is pleasing design wise, but also doesn't hide the flowers in the background. This sweet little sentiment I found when creating the set is just perfect for someone celebrating a birthday and looking to the possibilities of the year ahead...

Hope you are having a great start to your week! :)

More from Mary Anne...

Today Mary Anne sent me this simple, single layer card with "Wild at Heart", stamped in chalk ink straight onto the white card base. If you've never seen these chalk inks in person, they have this gorgeous soft opacity. On white here with the yellow centers, it gives off this wonderfully casual "blue jeans and daisies" feel! Stamp the frame again and cut out each of the flowers and pop them up to add lots of dimension and interest without adding lots of mats. Keeping with the simplicity of the rest, a plain white round tag is perfect for the greeting.

Now let's go see what else Mary Anne has for us! I haven't seen it yet, either, hee!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Round in Circles...

Hello! Okay, one more kissing post and then I'll stop kissing for awhile, hee!!! I had to do something a little wild to go with this "wild and wonderful birthday" greeting, so I mixed flowers with polka dots in some bright, bold colors! I really like this card because it shows both that this frame stamp isn't always for "elegant" cards, and how pretty it looks in a larger, square format (5.25")

Start out inking the "Wild at Heart" frame in light pink. Then take the small bold circle from "Inspiration Mosaic" and the large bold circle from "Hip to Be Square" and stamp them in bright pink and then in Brick Red over your pink, inked stamp. Be sure to go off the edges to create a continuous pattern and don't be afraid to overlap them. Now stamp onto white cardstock! Don't you love that flowers showing through and all these bold circles bubbling up?? I repeated the circle element with the ginormous Gina K buttons, embossed circle tag, and embossed the Chocolate Brown layer with Seeing Spots folder. Base is Innocent Pink.

Have a wild day! Go mix flowers with polka dots! :)

Crackling Kisses...

Hello! Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend!! Today's "Wild at Heart" sample uses one of my favorite "tool stamps" in the Gina K Designs collection: the crackle image from the "Bold Flowers" set. It adds the most beautiful natural texture to your cards.
First I inked up the frame in Vivid Tuscan Tan. Then I inked the crackling image in olive and stamped (kissed!) it all over the frame, reinking each time. Once I covered the entire frame, I huffed on the frame and pressed it onto Pure Luxury White. Love that beautiful marbling effect, it almost looks like stone!

I layered it onto Fresh Asparagus and Soft Sand. (looove these colors together!) The middle strip I just placed a piece of Fresh Asparagus over the middle of the olive inked frame, and then lined it up with the mat behind it, isn't that pretty, looks embossed to match! I cut out the greeting with a Nestability, which I lightly sponged on just the bottom, for a subtle airy effect. I'm really digging this layout with this set! Button and ribbon are also Pure Luxury. I also stamped my white envelope with the frame in tan for a coordinating ensemble.

Looking forward to chatting with you more this week, have lots to share, pics and personal stuff!

Hugs, thanks for visiting me!

Gettin' Wild with Mary Anne...

Today Mary Anne Kelemen has created this beautiful, shabby chic sample with "Wild at Heart". She's used the emboss resist technique of embossing the frame on white, then sponging Walnut Stain and Worn Lipstick Distressing inks over the image, filling in the flowers and stems. I love how the brown fades to rose then back to brown again. Aren't these color amazing?Two kinds of lace and delicately patterned paper peep out the sides of the frame on this large square card, and pearls adorn the flower centers. A tiny bow finishes it perfectly.

Now let's go see what else Mary Anne has for us today!

Still Kissing!

Hello! Today's "Wild at Heart" sample uses the kissing technique again, but this time, I did not ink up the entire frame before kissing on another color. The stamp starts out clean and dry, and then I just kissed the inked up (Vivid Coffee Bean) herringbone strip from "Vintage Backgrounds" across, starting at the bottom working my way up, reinking the stamp each time. Near the top I started stamping off just a bit so the top would be slightly lighter, just to add more interest. Once the whole frame was covered, I stamped it onto White. Isn't that cool how much of the pattern it picked up and how textured it looks? The herringbone is well suited for this because the pattern is so fine and dense. You could also use a larger scaled patterned stamp with more spaces in between, but you will lose more of the flower details that way if you have n't inked the frame first, make sense? Even the border looks like it is stitched all the way around, love it! The result reminds me of some earthy, woven piece of fabric with a subtle, nature print...

Here is my finished card. I layered it onto Cranberry Tart and Soft Sand CS and added a greeting and label from "Versatile Verses". I kept it simple and finished it with some Chocolate Mix buttons and silk ribbon to add shine. I think I could maybe even get away with giving this to a man, guys don't notice much, those faded flowers might go right over his head LOL!

Have a great day, thank you very much for visiting me!

My Little Men

Just had to post a couple pics of my boys first day at school from last week now that we are done with all our new release peeks! We were blessed to get some great teachers and the boys are really enjoying it so far. Jonathan, above, normally hides when I get out the camera but thrilled me by striking a very GQ pose! William , below, has adjusted beautifully and made lots of friends already, as I knew he would, I have his wonderful preschool teachers to thank for getting him ready for this big change! (My mom thought he didn't look happy to be there, but actually I think he's just trying to play it a little cool like his brother, and is probably tired of me taking pictures!)

He is eager to be independent and walk into class himself but I am happy to report he's still my snuggly sweetheart in the evenings when he's home. I even brought some fish up there today for their tank during class time as a surprise and he gave me a huge hug and kiss in front of everyone, I loved that!

Be sure to look for my write up of how I am adjusting to the change to them being at school all day, my time management plans, goals and general observations in a post titled "Seven! Whole!! Hours!!" ;)

BTW, I can't leave you without some cardmaking inspiration for the day, so CHECK OUT this gorgeous "Wild at Heart" sample by the lovely and talented Sharon Harnist! It had me scrambling to go order that Scalloped Frame die set from Gina K Designs, heck I didn't even know that was in the store! Doesn't that look so cool framing that stamp? (and how perfect, it has some little flower dies, too!) I am eager to try it out with some of my other frame stamp sets like Arranged with Love and Festive Frame, too cool! :)

Week 1 with Mary Ann Kelemen

Today I am sharing a little more about someone you probably know a bit already from StampTV, Mary Anne Kelemen (ma54k.) She posts such lovely samples, is very active in challenges, and always encourages others!! She will be sharing several of her designs with us this month using my new "Wild at Heart" set, the first few you can see here. Above is my favorite sample she created for the release party. Please take a few moments to read more about this beautiful lady:

Tell us about yourself! Family, pets, where you live, work, etc
My husband, Jim and I have been married since 1977, we have 2 grown children and a black lab named Jessie. I have lived in the same area of Pennsylvania for my whole life. I am currently an on-call supervisor for Goodwill Industries after doing the same for 14 years at 30+ hrs. a week. This allows more time for stamping!

Describe your style/what you think you do best:
Wow, this one is hard. I do like to create scenes, or combine stamp sets to get the most out of them. I am not a clean and simple stamper.

FAVORITE TECHNIQUE:
I enjoy sponging and distressing to give a vintage feel to my work.

COLORS/COLOR COMBO:
I tend to gravitate towards earth tones, but many of the new papers are using reds, oranges, blues, and I am trying to go with the trends.

FAVORITE EMBELLISHMENTS:
Some of my favorite yummies are flowers, dewdrops, paper & cotton lace, and ribbon.

FAVORITE GINA K SET BY MELANIE:
It has to be A Year of Flowers, by the look of my poor tattered package. That would be followed by A Year of Leaves.

FAVORITE GINA K SETS (FROM ANY ILLUSTRATOR)
There are so many! Yipes! If you look at my STV gallery right now, it would be Friends Are Forever, by Gina. It fits my lifestyle right now.

CRAFT SUPPLIES I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT:
Supplies I can't live without are, Stickles, Glue Dots, Pop Dots, and Pure Luxury card stock.

I’VE BEEN STAMPING FOR (HOW LONG):
I went to my first stamp convention in 1995 and I was hooked.

I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM:
I live on a lake and much of my love of outdoors and nature, show up in my work.

Tell us about your FIRST stamping experience!!
It was a disaster, I did not know what heck I was doing. Things were just images on paper. There was no dimension, no texture, no life in what I did!

Tell us about your most MEMORABLE stamping experience!!
It was the day I joined Stamp TV and someone commented on my work. It felt sooooo good!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT STAMPING/CARDMAKING ARE:
Don't be afraid to try new techniques. You are not going to like all of them. As a matter of fact, there are some I truly detest. However, The ones you enjoy, will stay with you and you will be able to pull them out of your learning library as needed.

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING GOALS ARE:
My goals are to use some of the many stamps I have acquired, that have not seen ink yet. I am rather shy about trying to get published but I am truly blessed by being chosen as guest designer.

ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS:
Try to avoid impulse buys. Pick stamps/sets that will have many uses. Don't be afraid to experiment with techniques, and just have fun.

FAVORITE THING TO MAKE THAT AREN’T CARDS:
I love making paper flowers, mini albums, tags, and decorating flea market finds.

SOME OF MY STAMPING/CRAFTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
I have learned how to properly use colored pencil for coloring and blending, and have recently been trying my hand at Copic Markers. Also, I am coming up on my 1 yr. anniversary of keeping a blog. It is uplifting to have people who care enough to follow you on a daily basis.

CHALLENGES I LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN:
Of course, I do most of the daily STV challenges! I also like Joan's Gardens, Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge, Moxie Fab World, Card Positioning Systems, etc... I will give them all a try!

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT MIGHT SURPRISE US!
On July 4th, I celebrated 10 years of being the mother of a child who beat the odds of a spinal cord injury. Sharing this process, has made me a better person.

WHAT I DO WHEN I’M NOT STAMPING:
Well, right now I am up to my eyeballs in planning a wedding! My daughter will marry in October of 2011. I never had a large wedding, so I had no idea how complicated this was! I also love to cook and bake.

A FAVORITE QUOTE:
Good Or Bad, Everything Happens For A Reason.

Thank you Mary Anne, for sharing with us, I know you will be a brilliant guest designer! You can see her first cards she made with the set here, and watch for more projects from Mary Anne later this week!

Wild Kissed!

Hello! Today I wanted to show also how useful these bold chunky images like the leafy branch above from the new StampTV kit Autumn Splendor are for different stamping techniques, today I am going to kiss in onto Wild at Heart frame, another set that's all about techniques! Here I inked up my "Wild at Heart" background in aqua, and then kissed the branch on in three places to balance the desgin, going off the edges and around the flowers, inked up in Coffee Bean. I also took a brown makerer and swiped it around the border to make it pop from the rest of the background.

Huff on the image and stamp! The stems just pop out from the brown leaves, like an emboss or white crayon resist. Isn't that beautiful with the brown pattern added? You cna achieve soem really cool multilayered look this way. Another great set that would be perfect for kissing onto this wildflower frame is my "Pressed Flowers".

Here is my finished card, with the mat cropped to give it a 1/8" border all around, layered onto Chocolate Brown and Ocean Mist. I sponged aqua ink over my rectangle die to make the white edge pop out on my sentiment tag.

Very simple card, but really makes a statement!

I want to make sure you don't miss these beautiful samples from Rose Ann Reynolds, she has already posted some beauties to her blog with this set here , here and here. (wild, wilder, wildest, hee hee!) And, I am very excited to see the STV gallery already blooming with samples using this set, I will certainly enjoy watching it grow! ;) Be sure to add your own creations when you sets start arriving next week! :)