Gotta Scoot!

I set out to make this primary colored card with the van or RV from "Are We There Yet?" to make my own color blocked Partridge Family inspired vehicle, but in the end just decided it would be easier to use the scooter LOL! I used a red, yellow and blue Copic for my "Inspiration Mosaic" grid, being sure to leave some white space to make the colors pop. The mulitcolored scooter is cut out and popped up. I added a greeting from the set to the grid, as well as a row of silver embossed dots from the "Inspiration Mosaic" set to go with the wheel theme and added a little silver to the handles and rims. I offset two blue mats at the top left and bottom right corners of the Rocket Red card base to give it even more of a funky, pop feel.

Blog hop tonight!!

Stop to Smell the Roses

Forwarded to me by my stepfather tonight, worth sharing:

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk....
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.


The questions raised:
in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

Life is a gift, enjoy every day...

New Release: Calendar Bits & Pieces and Calendar Grid

Thanks for coming out to this special mid month release: Tami Mayberry's " Calendar Bit & Pieces" and "Calendar Grid" sets! The calendar grid is just that: an open grid with the days across the top for you to fill in as you please, the larger set includes all the months, numbers occasions, and little images to go with. I started out making an extra big CARD, measures 5 1/2" x 7 1/2", because I think it makes a fun background not just for calendars. :) The little "I love you" and "24 - 7" are all separate stamps included in the set , I just pieced them together on my block and then stamped the heart in Vivid Brick on every day of the month. A fun and easy Valentine! Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Black Onyx, and the new Kraft, very excited about this new neutral! Last I added some adhesive nail heads to jazz it up as well as to go with the calendar theme, like it's a page waiting to be torn off to reveal the next.

Next I made a calendar for the month of December. I don't have any binding system, but with 8 1/2" X 11" sheets of Cardstock, here Silver Lining, I can put one month on either side and do a total of 6 sheets. Later you could put these into a scrapbook and add some journalling. I stamped Festive Frame above it to add a photo, this is a black and white print out of the one I shared before. I like the proportions of these two large stamps together and it's perfect to have a place to add a picture above to go with the month! I stamped the frame over my photo this time and cut out the pic and layered it on top this time instead of cutting the window out. White mat measures 6 1/2"x8 3/4" , with the black mat being 1/8" larger on all sides. Something fun to hang this up: I punched a hole with my Cropodile in the top and added an adhesive rhinestone to the head of my clear pushpin, I'm going to start doing this to all my pins! :)

Gina will be showing an easy way to stamp the numbers into the spaces you need for the particular month, here I actually left all mine together, 1-31, as one stamp (no cutting) and just inked up everything to the right and below "1" and stamped into place, then cleaned my stamp and inked up the remaining rows to put on Sunday and Monday. Pretty simple!

The Menorah and Christmas tree are also part of the set, it's fun to stamp these and the other holiday images over the proper days. The month "December" fits in the small oval punch, and I layered it with a large one colored with C-3 Copic, which I also used to color the borders on my frame.

Last I made a perpetual calendar with all the numbers, plus some images, stamped on white and punched with a 1/2" circle then adhered to flat marbles with some Crystal Lacquer. I added a little strip of adhesive magnet tape to the back of each, now they are ready for the fridge, but not quite so strong that they want to stick through CS. the solution I came up with was to stamp the calendar in StazOn onto a clear envelope I had and cutting of the adhesive strip on the end. Now I have a clear pouch that I can slide a piece of patterned paper into corresponding with the month or season. Kids (and this big kid!) love perpetual calendars, it's always fun to be the one to get to set up the new month and change the days, adding in birthdays and holidays. My older son came in while I was making this so he set to work stamping out all the other images I hadn't already done, he's a little "magnet crazy" now!

And here we have February as another example. As you can see the size of the marbles are a little bigger than the squares of the grid, however, you don't really notice this gap when they are all applied, you just see the days going in order and what is important is that they match up with the size of the days going across, which they do! yay! (whew!) ;)


For some helpful tips on how to use the Calendar Bits & Pieces and Calendar Grid stamp sets, please be sure to check out Gina's blog and StampTV for a helpful video on just how quick and easy it can be to use! Both of these sets as well as the PDF version of the Calendar Grid image will be available for purchase tonight over on our online store.

After that, stop by our Illustrator's blog - Tami Mayberry for some projects with her timely stamp sets.

Here are the Gina K Designer Member's links who are joining us in the preview tonight:

Carolyn, Cathy, Donna, Erika, Jessica, Lee, Lynn, Melanie, Nina and Theresa

You'll also want to check in on these CenterStage Spotlight Designer's blogs for more ideas:

Melissa, Sharri, and Sue

"Festive Frame" Blog Hop!

Welcome to our "Festive Frame" hop! Today I am sharing a card and gifts using the frame. What you see below I am unofficially calling the "Grandparents Card": it is worth the extra time to make a card with extra panels for these special people, they are sure to appreciate it and have it on display probably all year long! :)
You'll need one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of Pure Luxury White CS,( stamping the frame into all four corners and cutting), and 1 and a half sheets of Pure Luxury Fresh Asparagus CS, cut and score to make 3 side-folded A2 sized cards. The third card is what's adhered to the back right and left sides of the other two cards to create the accordion. I'm showing a second view of the same card so you can see how it can be "mountain" folded, like an "M" in the card above, or "valley" folded like a "W" below. You could also bring both ends around in a kind of semicircle to frame up a little candle or something in the middle. :)
I chose to photograph it on our coffee table not only because it's extra long (but still folds up to A2 size!) , but it would be beautiful displayed on a bookshelf or here as a centerpiece, if you had a little more time you could also decorate the backside with four more frames showing Christmas memories. TIP: to cut down the time of this project, stamp the frame in color on white or emboss on colored CS and skip the coloring! This accordion is something I would be happy to make for myself for our family to enjoy every year, like a mini scrapbook so to speak. These are my two sons' school pics, along with greetings from the set, but with your printer or alphabet set you could add names, dates, stamped holiday images, or two more photos in the panels in between. I added some Cranberry Tart Large Punched Flourishes and adhesive nail heads to the corners and flower centers.

You can see in the closeup the sparkle on the images, I used the Sakura Galaxy Glitter Pens. I've long been a fan of their Stardust Pen, but just got these colored ones, and I am so pleased with the results! While they may not always be an exact match for your colors or cardstock, when you apply then tone on tone, like the golden pen over the Mignonette Copic in the flowers and lime pen over the Verdigris Copic above, or the rose pen on the Cardinal Copic below, they blend beautifully but the glitter still really pops!

I did not use any additional papers to mat the frames, all the different "borders" you see are just the images colored with markers!

My next projects use the waterproof labels Gina K sells. These HUGE 3 1/3"x4" labels are a steal at only 43 cents a project (you get 30 labels for 12.95!) You don't need special inks, all your stamping and coloring are preserved, even if it gets wet! If your packaging already has a label on it, you can soak it off in a few minutes with some water and then dry before applying your new one. On both of these I stamped the frame in Memento Tuxedo Black onto the labels (before applying them to the bottles LOL!) and colored them with Copics. Now I have beautiful, handstamped labels to dress up these gifts and don't need any additional papers, adhesives or embellishments (except maybe some ribbon, I'll get to that in a minute!).

Here is a closeup of the wine label, I rubbed the Antique Linen Distressing Pad all over it to give it this beautiful yellowed patina, and then stamped the crackle image from Bold Flowers all over it in Tuscan Tan, perfect for an elegant and aged-looking wine label, isn't that gorgeous?? TIP: I stuck with just greetings from the "Festive Frame" set today, but try personalize the oval window by adding the date ("2009, a very good year!"), a monogram, your family's name, etc! As you can see, the label is slightly smaller than the stamp image, but you do get the window in its entirety and corners clusters, the only thing that's missing is the outside frame...still looks like it was made for it!

A bottle of wine makes such a wonderful housewarming or hostess gift (or "emergency gift" for someone who drops by with something when you forgot them on the Christmas list! (not that I've ever done that...!)), and with this festive label, after the wine has been enjoyed the bottle can stay out on a counter dressing up the kitchen or dining area, or made into a candle holder or oil lamp and serve as a happy memory of holidays past...

I found this large vanilla jar candle at HEB, they had an assortment of holiday scents for only $3.98 each, but you can find similar ones just about anywhere. After stamping and coloring the image, I colored the oval with Lionet Gold Copic and stamped the music score from Nina's Vintage Borders in Antique Linen Distressing Ink over the whole label. I also rubbed a little of the gold Metallic Rub On Paste over the corners. This time I mounted the label horizontally to fit the jar. The gold lined organdy white ribbon is from Gina K Designs, and I made both of the bows you see in this post with the Bow Easy.

Jar candles like these make perfect gifts for friends or teachers, with their extra long burn time they can enjoyed over and over and the label outside will look just as pretty once the candle is gone. BONUS gift: The remaining wax inside can be popped out and the clean jar repurposed for holding candy etc! I hope these labels inspire you to explore the many gift giving possibilities for these Festive Frame labels, they would be just as perfect on a tin of cocoa, jar of bath salts, or store bought or homemade preserves, and as I mentioned before, with an alphabet set you could add "Mom's Jelly", "Snowman Soup" etc to the frame!

Today I'm giving away a Bow Easy and assortment of handpicked holiday ribbons ! I will draw a winner randomly from one of the blogs in our hop tonight, so be generous with your comments if you'd like one, you'll be ready to start making festive bows for projects like these right away! :)

I've invited a couple of friends to join in on the blog hop tonight, so please click on their blog links to see the projects they've created for us:

Joan Ervin

Linda Payne

Wendy Price

Then, check in on these GinaK Designer's participating in the Blog Hop tonight:

Carolyn King
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber

And our fabulous Center Stage Spotlight Team:

Deb Felts
Diana S. Queen
Melissa Cash
Sharri Seffens
After you're done hopping to all the Designer's blogs stop by GinaK's Idea Center here: Festive Frame for lots more ideas on how to use the Festive Frame stamp set. And, don't forget to check in on GinaK's blog so you can leave your comment to be entered as a chance to win this stamp set, too!

Copics Holder!

Been meaning to share a very special (and functional!!) gift I got from Tina Gilliland: a beautiful six sided box on a turntable with a little frame on each side, she filled them with stamped images from "Sporty Accessories", the month after she guest designed for me with this set! She found the box at Hobby Lobby and it came with a top so you could fill it with all sort of knickknacks, but I was thrilled to find it would hold 142* of my 144 Copics (4 whole boxes of Ciaos) so I have them all at arm 's reach and can carry them around together, woo hoo!!

It is so special to dress up a nice piece of art or organizational item with stamping and papers.
Thank you Tina, I use this every day and think about how blessed I am to have friends like you supporting my art and creativity! (and getting me organized, slob that I am!)

Blog hop tonight at 10 PM CST!!

*I keep the Colorless Blender and Black out on my desk, so it's all good. ;)

Thank You!!!!

I received this gorgeous thank you card from Brenda Turner last week, and had to share it here! She masked a TON of different images from "A Year of Flowers" to make this beautiful bouquet, and created a window using the "Hip to Be Square" grid stamped on plastic over it, like looking through a real window. This over sized square card measures 5 1/2". Circle tag is from the Stamp TV Kit "Holiday Cheer", and I just love it, Brenda, thanks!! (I'll need to send her a thank you card, hee!)

And hey, BTW thanks very much to everyone who's been leaving all the super sweet comments lately on my posts, as well as some really encouraging emails and messages about how much you're enjoying the latest sets, they just make my day! :) You rock!!

Tropical Simplicity

How about an "Island Christmas"? LOL! Wouldn't this be a cool holiday card?! Card base is Pure Luxury Green Apple with the Mosaic stamped on White in Memento Tuxedo Black. "Tropical Window" image is colored on directly with waterbased markers, and boxes are colored with Pale Olive and Strong Red Copics. I cut it out and then popped it up over the grid! This was super simple to make! :)

Festive Blog hop and candy coming up!!!! :)

Alphabet Trees

On today's card I tried substituting two of the trees from on of the images inthe StampTV kit Holiday Cheer for the "M" in "Merry Christmas" (from the "Seasonal Greetings" set). Do you see it or is it to over the top?? I am still undecided!) Anyway, I think it's fun to try to make letters out of images when you can... :)

I stamped everything in Vivid Vintage Green and outlined the trees and greetings with the Inkssentials white pen, piling it on just the tops and left side of the letters to look like snow accumulating. Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, Soft Sand, and All Spruced Up. I love this new Cuttlebug Herringbone folder I used on the mat, such detail and texture and great to go with the pine tree theme. A little piercing to the corners completes the card.

Lord of the Season Trio

Let someone know you're thinking of them all year long with a card using Nina's new "Lord of the Season" . Inside reads "To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven" which is included in the set. I stamped these three topiaries from the set onto Pure Luxury White and cut them into separate panels, then colored them with Copics and adhered to a Pure Luxury All Spruced Up base. Stitched ribbon is from the StampTV Holiday Cheer Kit.

Beside taking some time on the coloring, this was a very simple card to make! Or, separate them onto three cards with some coordinating DPs for quick and easy cards...

have a great day!

Week 2: Linda Payne (and a RAK request)

Another new "Festive Frame" new creation from Linda Payne this week, do you even recognize that wintery frame here? She has done almost NO coloring, just a but of shadowing with green around the outlines for shadows and on the oval rim, some yellow to the centers of the flowers, but the majority of what you see are these beautiful swirling pastels on this lovely Basic Grey print! Looks like something out of a fairy tale, utterly magical, and completely unlike poinsettias LOL! she layered more flowers and leaves from "A Year of Flowers" stamped on the same DP to the empty corners of the frame and added some Stickles for pollen (fairy dust??) ;) and a butterfly from "Take Flight". Card base is Pure Luxury All Spruced Up. Thank you, Linda for giving us an early peek at springtime! :)

Now let's go see what else Linda has dreamed up on her blog!

PS My mother just forwarded this request for Christmas cards for 5 year old Noah. He is in the last stages of a 2 1/2 year battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer. He is not expected to survive to Christmas. The family is celebrating Christmas next week and when asked what he wanted for Christmas Noah's request is to get lots of Christmas cards.

Lets get him some, please send cards to:
Noah Biorkman 1141 Fountain View Circle, South Lyon, MI 48178.

Here is a video link of Noah, I know a lot of you have gotten a jump on your holiday cards too, and I know where my snowglobe from the other night will be going! Thanks in advance!

CSS Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to our first Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Blog Hop! (Grab a drink and a snack, we have lots to share tonight!)

Jessica Fick, the Design Team Coordinator for GinaK Designs has issued a challenge to all of the past and present team CSS team members to make a Christmas card with one of these sketches:



We know you're going to LOVE what everyone has designed for us tonight!

This sketch just had me thinking of a snow globe, so it was the perfect time to ink up this shy little snowman from Rupa's Winter Friends! It would have been fun to make a shaker but I am completely out of crafting plastic (more is on the way, whew!!) so I made do by die cutting a circle from Pure Luxury White that I'd stamped and colored, sponging around the edges with blue, and then adding a little pile of Star Dust Stickles to the bottom and gluing some clear microbeads and findings Donna gave me long ago swirling around him like he was just shook up! No shaking required! DP is Basic Grey June Bug (plaid) and Emily's Vintage Holly Quarters, I love this snowflake pattern she created. Base is Rocket Red. I came this close to trying to "free cut" my own little base for the globe, when I noticed how much better one of the Fancy Tags in Good as Gold would look!

A little candy tonight too! Nina Brackett is giving away one of my "Hip to Be Square" sets (thank you, Nina!) to one randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on ONE of these blogs in the hop, (only Nina knows which is the lucky blog!), so be generous with your comments if you want to win! Thank you in advance for taking the time to comment, it means so much to all the designers who work really hard on creating things for your inspiration! :)

Now, here are the links for GinaK's Current CSS Team Members:

Deb Felts
Diana S. Queen
Karen Knegten
Melissa Cash
Sharri Seffens
Sue VanDeVusse

and the links for all of the past CSS Design Team members participating:

Brenda Turner,
Carla Suto,
Carolina Buchting,
Charlene Merrick,
Dawn Lusk,
DeeMarie Kelemen,
Geri Utterback ,
Giovanna Smith,
Janice Melton,
JenMarie Taylor,
Jennie Harper,
Joy Hadden,
Kay Simmons,
Linda Payne,
Lori McAree,
Melisa Waldorf,
Pam Imholz,
Selma Stevenson,
Shannon Bracken,
Shelly Wilson,
Sue Walsh,
Tina Gilliland

Finally, some of GinaK's Senior Design Team Members and Illustrators wanted to get in on the fun tonight too:
Gina Krupsky
Asela Hopkins
Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger (you're here!)

along with Nina Brackett's Guest Designer: Lisa Hjulberg

All of these gorgeous cards from the entire team will be added to the StampTV gallery throughout the next few days with the tag cssjf1 (which stands for center stage spotlight jessica fick 1)

These sketches are also our sketch challenge for this week, so be sure to check out all the information in the discussion in our Challenge group over on StampTV Thursday morning. We'd love to see your cards with the sketch too!

Enjoy hopping! Thanks for dropping in! :)

Warm and Cozy Boy

Today's card is stamped on Pure Luxury Ivory in Memento Black Ink and colored with Copics (TIP: Warm Grays are beautiful on the Ivory for shadows). I used "Festive Frame" and this sweet little boy is from "Warm and Cozy Christmas"( I haven't found a holiday image I don't like in this frame window yet!) and this image reminds me of all the Christmases we've taken my sons to choose and cut our tree :)

I kept all the markers for coloring the boy and tree the same palette as the frame: 2 reds, 2 greens and 2 browns. I trimmed the frame with some postage scissors and popped it up onto a Tan Leather base. Last I stamped "Joy" on an oval punched tag (larger rim is All Spruced Up) and added a little button from the Gina K Holiday Assortment.

Have a great day, thank you for visiting! blog hop coming up!!

Tall and Skinny!

Here's a tall and skinny card (just changing it up, would be good to tuck some cash inside!) I made using Theresa's "A Very Merry Christmas" . Cardstock is Pure Luxury White, All Spruced Up and Fresh Asparagus. I Cuttlebugged some dotted strip borders along the top and bottom and rubbed white ink over it to make them pop out a little more. This new plaid ribbon Gina K sells is so festive!

After coloring the holly with Copics, I covered the entire image with Crystal Lacquer.

Are you ready for a Christmas blog hop?? Coming soon!!

I got yesterday's post up late, so if you missed it please scroll down to see a very special card and card request.

Potluck Challenge on STV

One of our CenterStage Spotlight Designers Deb Felts is hosting the current Potluck Friday at Stamp TV: to make something soft and feminine. On today's card, I used the "Festive Frame" set, stamping it on white, and coloring in the borders, then colored and cut out flowers and leaves from "A Year of Flowers" to pop up over the poinsettias and pine at the corners. If you color the poinsettia and greenery underneath green and color the berries the same color as the popped up flowers, they will really blend seamlessly with your new arrangement, without needing to worry about covering up the entire image. Hope this sample helps you find more ways to use the beautiful borders in the new frame set, I know many of you have "A Year of Flowers" (or plan on ordering it for the matching poinsettia), and these sets work so well together. I used some adhesive pearls and Silver Lining Cardstock to make it even "girlier".

The purple theme and ribbon is part of Deb's dual challenge: to create cards for the family of Somer Thompson, the little girl who was kidnapped and murdered recently in Jacksonville, Florida, where Deb lives. I used the sentiments from Gina's "Not Forgotten" for the inside and out. This child and family has been on my mind so much in the past couple weeks and I am holding my own children tighter as I pray for this family and community's healing, and that the killer will be found. If you can find time to send a card to them, it would be so appreciated, as would be your spreading the word about the card request.
Please include a purple ribbon. Your card can be mailed here:

c/o Deb Felts
General Delivery
Fleming Island, FL 32003

If you play along in the Potluck Challenge, please upload your card to STV before this Friday, with the tag stvpf37.

Thank you for reading today, I pray you have a wonderful week!

Festive Frame Tip Sheet

Time ofr the "Festive Frame" tip sheet! This set is sure to become a favorite in your collection you'll reach for year after year for all your holiday projects and family photos! We will be adding this tip sheet as a word document to the StampTV Idea Center for you to print out and keep as a reference with your set. :)
Today's sample is embossed in gold and colored with Copics, the popped up balls in the corners are from Asela's new "First Christmas". Cardbase is Vibrant Violet.

This set coordinates perfectly with "Winter Foliage" and "A Year of Flowers". You will love popping up the pine cones and poinsettias from these sets into the oval window or onto the corners, or stamping them inside your card for a custom finish!

Stamp the poinsettias again and cut out just a few individual leaves from it to pop up over the ones in the frame.

Add metallic dots, pearls, nail heads or large buttons to the middle of the poinsettias to dress them up.

Stamp the frame in brown and use distressing inks to create a vintage look.

Create beautiful one or two layer cards without coloring in a flash by embossing the frame and greeting onto neutral or colored CS. A metallic powder on white or ivory cardstock will be "soft sophistication", and metallic, white or black on jewel tones colors cardstocks like red, green, navy or cranberry are fabulously festive! Color in your embossing for a real "WOW"!

Try tone on tone embossing with silver and gold powders and metallic cardstocks like Silver Lining and Good as Gold.

Try mixing glitter into your EP when embossing the frame for extra sparkle!

Add Stickles over your coloring, or trace the outlines of the petals, pine needles and cones with a Stardust pen.

Add flocking or Flower Soft to the centers of your poinsettias or on your pine cones. Create a dusting of snow on your pine cones with Liquid Applique.

Other Gina K Designs sets with images and verses in a style well suited for the corners or the oval window in the middle:


Christmas Blessings


A Very Merry Christmas


Lord of the Season


StampTV Kit Holiday Cheer


Warm & Cozy Christmas


Holiday Hospitality



First Christmas

Seasonal Sayings

Layering cut leaves from "A Year of Leaves" over the poinsettias and its greetings to the center will make amazing cards for autumn!

Two elegant flourishes have been provided to stamp above or below your sentiment or at the corners of a mat when you stamp a greeting (one from this set or try it with any other classic and elegant greetings in your stamp collection!), to make it a bit more formal or when you need to fill in a bit more space on the mat or die cut for a balanced look.

Cut out the oval in the center for more dimension like a real window. Use Oval Nestabilties to cut out the middle quickly or use scissors to snip around the flowers. You can also layer these scalloped and classic oval mats directly over the widow, overlapping the flowers.



Oval Nestabilities in sizes smaller than the window look beautiful popped up and centered inside the oval border.

Other Nestabilities shapes Gina K sells to try in the middle of the oval window to change the look are the many labels dies, some you probably have in your collection! Whether you leave some of the oval from the image showing or cover it completely with your die cut, the poinsettia bunches will be set off to spectacular effect, enjoy mixing and matching!

The frame can be used 4 ways, vertically or horizontally to perfectly frame up your images or greetings and give you more variety in your layouts. The flowers and foliage extend into the oval frame a bit differently in each corner, one side more so than the other, so depending on how your image or greeting is arranged, you can choose which best suits your layout (top or bottom "heavy" to insure you are not covering up an important part of the picture or words.)

The greetings have been intentionally formatted to work well whether you are using the frame vertically or horizontally.

The greetings used alone on a mat over some DP makes a quick and beautiful card!

Stamp the frame inside your card in Versamark or contrasting color to you CS to add your greeting or handwritten message for a really professional, coordinated look for the inside of your card.



Stamp the frame on your envelope and add your recipient's name and address inside.



Add a family photo inside the oval cut out for easy holiday cards. 3x5 is a perfect size. Mat onto an A2 base with photo underneath or stamp directly onto the base and cut out the window with a larger photo adhered inside your card. Add other holiday stamp or images in the oval window or to the corners, layering over the poinsettia or on the opposite corners for a fuller frame.



Place a layer of vellum over your photo to soften the look. Stamp a greeting on the vellum for a floating effect.



Stamp the frame directly onto vellum, trim and layer over a rectangular photo without cutting out the window: this allows you to see the entire rectangle of the picture but spotlights the middle of your photo in the oval.


To make a more masculine looking card, layer pine cones over the poinsettia or even masculine images for year round birthday or greeting cards (ex: tent from Happy Camper".


Stamp with and onto neutral colors to make a more the frame "masculine- looking" or to give it more of "nature" than a "holiday" feel, this will allow year round use.

After stamping the frame, go over the cardstock with one of the many Cuttlebug embossing folders to add texture and dimension.

Mix the greetings from all our latest holiday sets with the frame or try Gina K's "Seasonal Greetings", another great option!



Greetings in the set like "Celebrate the beauty of the season" and "from all of us" will take you well past December for New Years and other holidays.


Add a photo to the middle window and stamp one of the greetings over it in white ink (or embossed white) like an overlay.


Put one greeting on the outside and another on the inside to continue the message. Ex: "We wish you a Merry Christmas!" and inside "and a Happy New Year!"


Ink up just one cluster from the frame or cut around them to make a beautiful corner to add to your cards and scrapbook pages.


Stamp frame over a very delicate, pale patterned paper and color the flowers, pine cones, and border to make the images pop. Adds color without having to paper piece!


Create a reverse mask of just the oval cut out and another mask removing just the blank corners to stamp textures into these spaces or sponge on color without going over the images.


Color the double border around the edge and the oval window with a marker or colored pencil; this will instantly add layers without all the cutting, CS, adhesive, without adding bulk AND saving you time and money!


To add simple detail to the blank corners, try:

• piercing the corners or a row of dots to mimic the border


• add a little tag or stamp a smaller greeting


• add buttons, pearls, rhinestones, brads etc


• add a corner punch or flourish.


• add a small or big, beautiful bow!

Projects:

Use as a mat for a picture frame, as a gift or to bring out to decorate at the holidays with a photo or scripture or quote from the set.


Stamp frame and greeting onto a plain gift bag for lightning fast gift wrap! Or attach a card with the frame on it to a 4x6 or larger gift bag.



More fast packaging: adhere the stamped frame to the center of a plain white gift box with an image or the "to: and from: info" in the center.

Make gorgeous gift tags with the many greetings in the set on punches or die cuts.

Adhere frame to a magnetic sheet and cut out oval portion. Now you have a frame for the fridge or office to place over your favorite holiday photo of the moment, year after year!



Stamped candles: stamp frame onto tissue paper, color, wrap around a pillar candle and heat! Beautiful and inexpensive gifts, see this post.



Add the frame to decorate your homemade family calendars.



Create a special invitation to a holiday dinner or open house, printing the party info inside or in the oval window.

Create a menu card to match, listing the courses inside the window for an elegant table setting!



Slip the stamped and colored frame into an acrylic frame to gift or decorate your kitchen for the holiday months for a little wipe off kitchen menu or memo board. (Writing out the family meal makes it extra special...) :)


More tips to come!