Video: Out of the Box Omission Technique: Tips & Tricks

Hello! Today I'll show you how to do the omission technique with the box image in my Beyond Baskets 2 set to create custom frames for showcasing all your stamp images in a beautiful and interesting way! 

 

I also demonstrate coloring this clover from my Stately Flowers 7 set, and some tips for how to use your scraps for creating different layouts and other card samples with the box and other Gina K. images.  Please enjoy!

Stamp sets not demonstrated but shown in samples at end of video are Triple Play Holiday and Handmade Botanicals. 

I love omitting part of the box and adding a greeting to the side like I did here.  You could do a single, shorter word on the bottom edge instead if you like.

 You can turn this design either way. :)

Supplies:

Gina K. Designs Beyond Baskets 2 and Stately Flowers 7 stamp sets

Gina K. Pure Luxury Red Hot (4 ¼” x 11”, scored at 5 ½”), Black Onyx (2 1/8” x 4 7/8”)and White (2 3/8” x 4 5/8”) cardstock

Gina K. Watercolor Garden patterned paper scrap

Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad

Spectrum Noir alcohol markers: PP3, DR3, CG2, DG3, GG2 , and Spectrum Aqua Black marker

 Beyond Baskets 2

Stately Flowers 7 

New Incentive Set: Handmade Botanicals

Good morning! The Cast and Crew for Gina K Designs welcomes you to another fabulous blog hop celebrating a new incentive stamp set by Gina K called “Handmade Botanicals”. We hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projects as you hop along to each of the designer’s blogs!

Please enjoy the gorgeous inspiration samples from the team and then comment on each blog for your chance to win an awesome $20 gift card to Gina K. Designs!!!  To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop.

The set makes perfect scenes for your sponged skies (sentiment from Scripty Sayings).  Images are stamped and stamped off in GKD Fresh Asparagus and sky is sponged in GKD Ocean Mist and Sweet Corn.

...but it is also wonderful addition to pair with your floral stamps (flowers from A Year of Flowers 3)  I used GKD Grass Green to stamp the bud silhouettes and sponge the masked corner, and Memento Tuxedo Black and Spectrum Noir markers to color my daisies.  I also tapped the marker to add some speckles and texture. Base is GKD Kraft.

Ready for more awesome creations?! Just click on the links below for more from the Illustrators and Design Team!!

Gina K

Allie Gower

Beth Silaika

Cathy Tidwell

Karen Hightower

Kendra Wietstock

Laurie Schmidlin

Melanie Muenchinger

Sean Fetterman

Silke Ledlow

Susie Moore

Theresa Momber

Don’t forget to pop over to the Gina K Designs Store and check out all of the new products available this month in the “What’s New” section at http://www.ginakdesigns.com.

Thank you for stopping by!

Video: Clean Modern Background with Lots of Letters

Hello! Today I will show you how to use the border or rounded squares in my Lots of Letters set to make beautiful backgrounds for quick cards with gorgeous pops of color. Not just for spelling words,this set contains one of my favorite borders! All one color or a gorgeous gradient like I created here, it’s a very versatile backdrop for any design, including masculine cards. Although the border has such a bold and graphic feel, you can pair this with pretty, classic images. Sentiment and branch are from Theresa Momber’s Elegant Florals set. 

Supplies: 
Gina K. Designs Lots of Letters, Elegant Florals stamps sets
Gina K. Kraft, Sweet Corn, Sweet Mango, Tomato Soup, Dark Chocolate ink pads
Gina K. Pure Luxury Sweet Mango (5 ½” X 8 1/2”, scored at 4 ¼”) and White (3 7/8” x 5 ½” and 1” x 5 ½” scrap) cardstock
Scissors, foam squares, adhesive, acrylic blocks

If this card seems familiar to you, you've been following my blog a long time!  I posted this design when Lots of Letters was first released, but realized last week I hadn't done any videos with this set!  And I really like a lot of things about this design, simple to do but has a lot of punch!  hope you like it and wil try it yourself.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Video: How to Contemporize a Classic Design with A Year of Flowers 2

Good morning!  Posting another video a little early before Spring Break starts! Today I'll show you how to adapt a card design you love with realistic flowers to a more stylized, contemporary look with my A Year of Flowers 2 set.  I shared the purple card I based today's new design on with A Year of Flowers 3 at our release party.) This all-occasion and seasons assortment of elemental flowers and stems has such a whimsical feel and couldn’t be any simpler to color!

  I also show how to simplify this design if you choose for a cleaner look, or how to step it up and create a gorgeous coordinating background with stamping and sponging. Lots of stamping, coloring and embellishment tip, here, too! Sentiment is from Scripty Sayings, free for a limited time with qualifying purchase. Please enjoy!  

I think I like 'em both equally, don't make me pick!

Supplies:

Gina K. Designs A Year of Flowers 2 (or substitute A Year of Flowers or A Year of Flowers 3), Scripty Sayings stamp sets

Gina K. Pure Luxury Edible Eggplant (4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2", and 3" x 4 1/4") Lovely Lavender (4" x 5 1/4"), White (2 3/4" x 3 1/2") cardstock

Gina K. Edible Eggplant, Wild Lilac, and Grass Green ink pads

Spectrum Noir markers: HB1, HB2, HB3, LV1, CG2, CG3, GG2

Scissors, sticky notes for scratch paper for masks, adhesive, foam squares, adhesive pearls, sponge daubers

Video: Framing Long Sentiments with Small Stamps

Hello! Today I will show how to frame a long sentiment like the one from my Holiday Basket set beautifully with small images from my A Year of Flowers 3 set. Elemental stamps like flowers, leaves and baby’s breath can be added in any combination to create beautiful corners, borders, flourishes and more.  This quick card can be made with minimal materials and adapted to any occasion swapping out the colors and blooms.  I also take you on a walk-through of the new flower set showing which flowers go with which leaves (although you are free to change that up, of course!) and which coordinating images they go with in my original A Year of Flowers.  Please enjoy!

Supplies:
Gina K. Designs Holiday Basket, A Year of Flowers 3 stamp sets
Gina K Pure luxury Kraft (or White) 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" , scored at 4 1/4") and 3 7/8' x 5 1/8") , Cherry Red ( Red Hot),  3 7/8' x 5 1/8"
Memento Tuxedo Black and Gina K. Grass Green ink pads
Spectrum Noir DR3, DR6, BG3, CG4
White gel pen, adhesive, adhesive pearls

Holiday Basket

A Year of Flowers 3

A Year of Flowers

Thanks for visiting!

Video: Masking Tricks & Coloring Tips for A Year of Flowers 3

Hello! Today I will show you masking tricks and coloring tips to create gorgeous stamped arrangements like this beautiful tub of flowers with my new A Year of Flowers 3 .  This elemental set has all the flowers, stems, leaves and fillers you'll need to keep you equipped and busy all year! Tub image is from my Beyond Baskets set, but you could also use the containers from my Holiday Basket, Stately Flowers 9 or other coordinating sets.  

 If you saw this design in my post the other day, you can compare the coloring on the two cards and see the difference between the GKD Black Onyx in the previous and the memento ink in these photos today.  Moving forward, GKD Black Onyx is perfect for solid bold images or when you want more overage, and Memento for finer details and no bleeding when using alcohol markers.  Gina carries both pads. :)

 A Year of Flowers 3

Beyond Baskets

Supplies:
Gina K. Designs  A Year of Flowers 3, Beyond Baskets, Scripty Sayings stamp sets
Gina K. Pure Luxury Powder Blue (4 ¼” c 8 ½” , scored at 4 ¼”) and White (4 1/8” x 4 1/8”)
Gina K.  Grass Green, Fresh Asparagus, Memento Tuxedo black ink pads
Spectrum Noir markers-GG2, BGR4, CT3, CT4, TB3, TB4, IB3, CR2, CR5, DR1, DR6, DG3
Scissors and copy paper for masking, adhesive, acrylic blocks

Gina K. Inspiration Hop, Day 2: Genevieve Giraffe and Scripty Sayings

The Cast and Crew for Gina K Designs welcomes you to another fabulous blog hop celebrating the new stamps from the February Release Party. We hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projects as you hop along to each of the designer’s blogs!

Today, we are featuring the new stamp set Genevieve Giraffe by Beth Silaika and the incentive set “Scripty Sayings” by Gina K. Enjoy the gorgeous inspiration samples from the team and then comment on each blog for your chance to win an awesome grab bag of GKD goodies!!!  To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop.

 First up, Genevieve Giraffe!   Here I stamped the large heart balloon over and over and add strings.  Next, add tiny hearts to surround the balloons, and then after coloring, have fun adding dots around the balloons, for more color and atmosphere, like a big confetti party! I made this card with GKD Pure Luxury Lipstick base and Black Onyx mat, and pardon the balloon pun, but it just "pops"!!  A birthday greeting would have been an obvious and good choice, but I also thought, "What's up?" fit this one nicely. Yep, more puns! (I didn't write down the Spectrum Noir markers I used on this before putting them away, sorry!) Lots of the brights in each shade, though, you know?

Love a simple stamped and colored animal on a white single layer background colored with Spectrum Noir markers. Shadow is BG3.

Gotta love beautiful sentiments on a clean white card!  Sentiment is stamped in GKD Red Hot, Sweet Mango, Sweet Corn, Grass green, Fresh Asparagus, Turquoise Sea, Blue Raspberry, Navy, Wild Lilac, Wild Wisteria, and finally Black Onyx!!

Here is another I made using the sentiment as a stem with A Year of Flowers 3. 

Scripty Sayings is free for a limited time with your purchase of $75 or more!)

Ready for more awesome creations? Just click on the links below for more from the Illustrators and Design Team!

Gina K – Illustrator for Scripty Sayings

Beth Silaika – Illustrator for Genevieve Giraffe

Allie Gower

Cathy Tidwell

Karen Hightower

Kendra Wietstock

Laurie Schmidlin

Melanie Muenchinger (you are here!)

Sean Fetterman

Silke Ledlow

Susie Moore

Theresa Momber

Don’t forget to pop over to the Gina K Designs Store and check out all of the new products available this month in the “What’s New” section at http://www.ginakdesigns.com.

Thanks for visiting!

Gina K. Designs Inspiration Hop: A Year of Flowers 3 and Birds & Blossoms 2

Good morning! The Cast and Crew for Gina K Designs welcomes you to another fabulous blog hop celebrating the new stamps from the February Release Party. We hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projects as you hop along to each of the designer’s blogs!

Today, we are featuring the new stamp set A Year of Flowers 3 (by moi!) and the Birds & Blossoms 2 set by Theresa Momber. Please enjoy the gorgeous inspiration samples from the team and then comment on each blog for your chance to win an awesome grab bag of GKD goodies!!!  To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop.

First up, A Year of Flowers 3! I am so excited to give you this new set to follow up and complement the most popular set of stamps I've ever released!  While I believe A Year of Flowers will always remain a timeless set for your collection, this new set gives you the same flowers, but in different orientations than front facing, to flesh out even more realistic looking arrangements as well as showing the original seasonal flowers in different stages, form bud to more full-blown.  I love the opportunities for creating more variety in your layouts and representing the life cycle of a flower in this way. If you don't have the first set, like that original offering, these images will work for an entire year 's worth of occasions and all four seasons.  Truly a must have! Mix and match or use it on its own.  In addition to the flowers, you are also going to love the new elements, like more complicated stems, and fillers like baby's breath and ferns. And, it's in CLEAR, woo hoo!!

Here is an arrangement I masked and stamped with A Year of Flowers 3 . I used my galvanized tub from Beyond Baskets. Great containers in that set for these flowers! The baby's breath and ferns are stamped in GKD Fresh Asparagus and Grass Green. I just love these fillers so much!   It's so delicate and much faster than stamping and coloring leaves. I may go through my basket of cards and just add baby's breath to all my previous stamped floral arrangements!  It gives such an airy, fresh-cut feel. Tip: Use two shades of green for your greenery, whether that's two pads or stamped and stamped off, to create more variety and depth. I'll be doing a masking video this week to show you how to mask an arrangement into any kind of container stamp! Cardstock is GKD Pure Luxury White and Powder Blue. Greeting is from Scripty Sayings.

I showed this card at the end of last week's video, but not a close up photo. Base is the gorgeous new GKD Pure Luxury Lipstick and the tulip is colored with Spectrum Noir FL1 and CR11.  Leaves are CG3 and CG4. By the way, how do you like these new long leaves? They are just *perfect* for tulips in both sets!

This card I showed at the party, but wanted to list the colors. I actually stamped the focal point and greeting in Edible Eggplant to match the card base. A nice alternative to black ink for line art images when you are using purple shades!  Spectrum Noir HB1, LV1 for the petals and GB8, CG2 and CG4 for the eaves and centers. The lotus is collage stamped all over the Lovely Lavender layer in Wild Lilac, and then sponged with Wild Lilac and Edible Eggplant. I love this smoky look! I can demonstrate a card like this but with different flowers and colors in a video if you like.  This is one of my favorite types of coordinated backgrounds to make.

A Year of Flowers 3

Lots more videos and samples with this set in the coming weeks! Be sure to scroll down to the previous posts if you have not see the other samples I'e shared so far with this set. 

Next we have Birds &Blossoms 2 from Theresa Momber. So many different looks you can get with this set!

I stamped the cherry blossom branch on this 4 1/4" square Pure Luxury White card in GKD Charcoal Brown and colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  I stamped the large flower, colored, then cut out, cutting in between the petals towards the center so I could mold them with my fingers for extra dimension and popped up on a foam square.  Last I added some stamped and stamped off leaves with GKD Grass Green, like a soft breeze blowing through, before adding the sentiment. I love having stamped sentiments in one of my besties own handwriting! :)

 I shard this at the party. Cardstock is Pure Luxury Powder Blue, Fresh Asparagus and White. All stamped images and sponging were done with GKD Fresh Asparagus.  I cut out a second flower to layer over the first at an angle to give a fuller look, with more petals.

Finally, I love this sentiment! I stamped the solid leafy branch over and over with GKD Fresh Asparagus, full strength and stamped off, to create the tree top, then added the birds in Black Onyx. Honestly, I didn't mean to add so many flying birds, but I dropped the stamp and had to cover up a smudge (rather than start over!) The simple colors and layout remind me of a sweet children's storybook. Cardstock is GKD Pure Luxury White.

Birds & Blossoms 2

Fabulous set, Theresa, welcome back!


While shopping, don't forget Scripty Sayings (free with $75 order or more, for a limited time only!)

Ready for more awesome creations?! Just click on the links below for more from the Illustrators and Design Team!!

Gina K

Melanie Muenchinger – Illustrator for A Year of Flowers 3

Theresa Momber – Illustrator for Birds & Blossoms 2

Allie Gower

Beth Silaika

Cathy Tidwell

Karen Hightower

Kendra Wietstock

Laurie Schmidlin

Sean Fetterman

Silke Ledlow

Susie Moore

Don’t forget to pop over to the Gina K Designs Store and check out all of the new products available this month in the “What’s New” section at http://www.ginakdesigns.com.

Thank you for stopping by!

New Gina K. Products Available for Purchase!

Thanks for attending out release party last night! (Sorry I couldn't stay till the very end!) Here is my favorite card I shared, with my new new set A Year of Flowers 3. I used the pitcher image from Stately Flowers 9 (still a few in stock!), these flowers will mix with those as well. :) I will share another sample showing how I like to do the masking of all these images like this in my video next week, but with a different container from one of my *other* coordinating sets (which one do you think it will be?)

Which of the new flowers is your favorite, or which pieces are you most excited to use??  More inspiration for this set and all our other new stamps in our hops next Monday and Tuesday, please come back! 

Have a fabulous weekend! Tip sheet and more samples coming up!

Video Sneak Peek: A Year of Flowers 3!

Good morning! Today I will give you a sneak peek of my newest set (coming out in 2 days!) A Year of Flowers 3. A follow up to my bestselling A Year of Flowers, this clear photopolymer set of new stems, blossoms and fillers is the perfect companion or stand alone set for creating beautiful floral cards for any occasion or season!I think you're seriously going to flip out when you see the whole set! :) In addition to a simple coloring tutorial, you will also see this set paired in a fun way with our new Incentive Set, Scripty Sayings, free for a limited time with your order of $75 or more. These versatile sets are both must haves for your collection! (and perfect with all my container stamps! Just sayin'!)  A Year of Flowers 3 is available for purchase Thursday, February 25th at 7 PM Central at ginakdesigns.com. Please enjoy and thank you for watching! 

Supplies:
Gina K. Designs A Year of Flowers 3, Scripty Sayings stamp sets
Gina K. Black Onyx ink pad
Gina K. Pure Luxury Black Onyx  (2 5/8” x 4 ¼”), White 2 3/8” x 4”) , and Passionate Pink ( 4 ¼” x 11”, scored at 5 ½”) cardstock
Spectrum Noir markers-PL3, PP6, BP7, CG3, CG4, BG2
Adhesive, adhesive rhinestones



Squeal!!!  See you Thursday for our StampTV release party!

Measure Once, Cut Once

Hello! Yeah, I know that's not how the saying goes, but that's how I usually practice it. Or, more likely, don't measure at all, just cut...cut, cut a little more... cut a little more!

Ever wondered how big the two focal rectangles in the

 Inspiration Mosaic frame are? 1 1/2" x 2" and 1 3/8" x 2 

3/8" Handy to know if you want to mass produce mosaic

cards and accent pieces for it! Thank you Joan Nixon for

your question this morning! 

smile emoticon Inspiration Mosaic will be back in stock soon*, thank you

 everyone for your patience! I used it here for a simple single

layer card along with Coffee Therapy, free for just another

 week or 2 with an order of $75 or more. Can you all tell how

 much I've been enjoying this little incentive set? Love how

 the mosaic and mugs looks like display cubbies in a coffee

 shop.




Thanks for all your great feedback on my Stamper's Favorites cards and videos this past week! We still have a few more in stock, but limited.

Have a fabulous weekend!

*I saw an update they were back but in limited quantity and got all excited to post this, but it sold out before I could finish posting it! Dohh! There really ARE more on the way!!

Video: Create a Sketchbook Look with Stamps and Pencils

Good morning! Today I will show you how to use your stamps, paper and pencils to create glorious sketchbook-like illustrations for your cards and projects!  This is a wonderful way to personalize a stamped image, and the black and white tones on gray paper is so striking and unexpected. In this video, I offer some tips about different drawing media and demonstrate a few simple shading techniques to try your hand at before making these cards with the realistic hand-drawn images in Stamper’s Favorites. Start your own practice page like I did and then get busy playing, letting go of perfectionism! The process is like sketching in a garden, and the result will have you feeling like a very accomplished artist. As you should!  

 Love how this light and airy scribble came out behind the butterfly!  The white is faint in the shadows but provides such beautiful texture!

 I think this is the first card I've made where my hummingbird was not in a sky scene, but low to the ground (pad). I love it!  Want to put my finger out for him to perch on.

 I want to keep this "gift" set for myself!!  (I'm still looking for that feather stamp! Where..??!!)

 Don't forget to the curl the edge! Like a gentle breeze ripping through, truly a moment in time! What an easy (free!) detail!

Supplies:
Gina K. Designs Stamper’s Favorites* stamp set
Gina K. Pure Luxury White  cardstock, 4 ¼” x 11”, scored at 5 ½”
Toned gray sketch paper, trimmed 4” x 5 ¼” (or Kraft of Moonlit Fog cardstock substitute)
Gina K. Black Onyx ink pad
Spectrum Noir Professional Colored Pencils- Essentials tin (you can also try graphite pencils of varying hardness for different shades)
acrylic block, adhesive

Thank you for visiting me today!

* Still in stock as of today, woo hoo! :)

Make a Mug Mask! (say it 3 times fast)

Good morning! Here is a simple card I made with the sentiment from Coffee Therapy, inspired by one of the chunky little mug images in this set.  It is easy to cut out your own mask to sponge in some color and stamp designs over it to make a big custom mug to showcase this sentiment. 

Stab your scissors into the middle of a piece of copy paper and cut out what is basically a rectangle but with curved, tapered sides.  (Or a rectangle if you want a more simple, masculine mug.) You can sketch it first if that helps but I just started cutting, you know me! Then cut a half circle on the side for the handle. Yes, it's going to fall out, you can't make that middle part stay since it's a hole, so cut a smaller half circle in a sticky note along the top edge where it's sticky. Then stick that into the open space (yellow piece in the photo).  There's your handle!

Sponge GKD Sweet Corn ink all over the mask until you have the desired look. remove mask.  I added dotted border to the top and bottom with the row of circles from Inspiration Mosaic and then used the straight edge of the paper and the piece that fell out of my cut out to mask some GKD Warm Cocoa ink below to make the table. That's it! Love the bold, but simple statement. it's really fun to make your own mask like this. I hope you try it! Sorry for the grainy step outs in this posts, it was such a last minute card, but it occurred to me as I was making it would be good to show the process, simple as it is.  

Coffee Therapy is free for a limited time with your order of $75 for more.

Thanks for visiting today!  I just love coffee cards (and miss my Mugs & Kisses set! sniff! If you by chance have that retired set, you can stamp out two different mugs for your masks!) :)