Sneak Peeks Day 1: "The Best Things in Life" and "Perfectly Polished"

This month I am offering you a "greeting" set like no other : "The Best Things in Life"! (When I called Gina a few months ago to tell her about it, the first thing I said was the title and she replied "oooh, I love it already!" LOL!!!) In it you will find 39 coordinating stamps that will help you celebrate all the things YOU love in life: happy, silly, and sentimental, all in one set, suitable for any occasion! Expect a LONG tip sheet with this one that will still only scratch the surface of combinations you can create, too many to number! These large scale words are PERFECT titles for scrapbook layouts of any size(I thought long and hard about scrapbookers' needs when I created this set!), as well as being just what you need when you want the focus of your card to be a sentiment, when you need to make something quick and only have time for a greeting and your favorite designer paper, or to compliment any of your favorite stamp images (and, as you might expect, there are a TON of Gina K ones that go quite nicely!);)
The mixed fonts in this set create a fresh and fun look that will work with any designs you choose! Today I made a simple card using just three of the stamps from the set, "the best things in life" is one you can build on in many ways (you'll see more in our peeks and at our party!) I was able to line up all three at one time on my round acrylic block so I only had to stamp once, coloring directly onto the stamps with my SU! markers (Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose and Rose red ) to give it this colorful look (and give the words you really wan to accentuate that extra POP!) as well as match the beautiful new Basic Grey Bittersweet paper you can purchase Thursday night in Gina K's store with the rest of our release (oh, yeah, I'll be getting a couple more PACKS of this DP, if I can get my order in fast enough!) I found two beautiful cardstocks from Paper Temptress to compliment these Basic Grey prints : the base is Mountain Rose Glimmer (see how shimmery ??) and the yummy brown paper is Pop Tones Hot Fudge! Some heart Nestabilities, a few charms (from Joann's they came in a pack, average about 20 cents a piece!) I hung from silver brads, and SU! 5/8" grosgrain finish it off! Easy EASY! (I had a hard time deciding what to show today as my other sample is completely different, so please be sure to come check it out at the release party Thursday!

Check out more samples of this set from our Gina K Design team (maybe we'll get some insight as to what each of them consider "the best things in life" LOL!!):
Carolyn King, Donna Baker , Emily Giovanni, Erika Martin, Jessica Fick , Kurtis Amundson, Theresa Momber
and Gina K!

This next card uses Rupa's newest "Perfectly Polished" set, super girly, super fun!

The mirror image in the set really inspired me to try a card where the recipient would be looking back at themselves while reading "You're the fairest of them all!" (how's that for a daily affirmation?!) I found a 24 pack of little round mirrors in the exact sizes I needed for $2.49 at Hobby Lobby(which made them 10 cents each!) This card uses the 1" and 1/2" sizes, adhered with Mono Multi, isn't that fun? (now I can make about 10 more cards like these, hee hee!!)

This was definitely the hardest card I've ever tried to photograph (to really capture the cool reflection and not have something like my camera ofr cuttlebug in the pic LOL!!) I used Brushed Silver for my base and mat, and another fun Bittersweet print! I love how the dots play off those round mirrors! Image is stamped in Memento Tuxedo black, colored with Copics, and a little bit of Copic atyou Spica Silver for more shine. To dress it up a bit more, I punched out some large flourishes and accented them with adhesive metal dots to make it look like a fancy swivel easel, similar to the mirror image.

More peeks of "Perfectly Polished" found here:
Cindy Lawrence
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Kurtis Amundson

Erika Martin

Gina K !

and in the Spotlight's Mary Anderson!

and two more new peeks here tomorrow! Like what you see here so far?? Let me know here!! :) (or tell me YOUR "best things in life", betcha I've got you covered, hee hee!) Don't forget you can win this set by donating cards, you have a couple more days, read this!

A Proud Moment!

Last Friday I spoke at my first grade son's career day. A year or two ago I wouldn't have imagined I'd be standing up in front of a classroom telling them about something cool (IMHO) like illustrating (which kept sounding better and better as I listed the benefits (sketching in your jammies, etc! ) LOL! When I began my presentation with asking how many of the kids liked drawing and making things with paper and glue, not surprisingly almost every hand went up. (Almost every person is born with a desire to create, we just stop as we start questioning whether our work is" good enough"; I know, it happened to me!) It was so exciting to share with them about my "jobs": illustrating stamps and designing cards, two opportunities I didn't even realize existed as a child! I really hope I was able to inspire his classmates who have the talent and interest in art to explore the possibilities and their potential (and if not art, then to find a way to get paid someday to do what they love!)



While I never have regrets about what I'm doing, as a mom there are definitely times I question whether the amount of time I spend on it is right for the rest of my family, we are fortunate enough that I don't need to work. I never tire of what I am doing (quite the opposite, it energizes me!) but my kids grow up as fast as any and designing, stamping, and blogging does split my focus, and sometimes means sacrifice. My hope, though, is that as they get older their love affair with art will continue to grow as I am able to share more of my craft with them, as well as seeing that I am doing something I am so passionate about, and that they in turn will makes choices to follow their own dreams and pursue opportunities, art-related or not, which will make them both successful AND happy.



The look on my son's face and his and their applause as I finished my presentation really said it all. (I'm so proud of my Jonathan, and knowing he is proud of me, too, means the world!) :) I want you to know your how greatly your comments and feedback touch me, too! They keep me going, creating and inspired to have soemthing new to share with you every day!

Thought I'd share this personal story today, on the eve of the previewing my first set of 2009, (12 months ago I released my first set ever!) I hope you love the new set! :)

Do what you love, and have a GREAT day! ( The peek will be up at midnight CST!!!!)

One Sheet Wonder Purse Gift Set

Here is a gift set of monogrammed cards in an altered tote I made for *someone* (hmmm, GK, who could it be...?) this past Christmas, I've been meaning to share the pics with you for quite awhile now! (I haven't had a chance to make anymore hand in hand samples like I thought for now because I have been so busy creating things for our release this week with this month's new Gina K stamps. So I hope this tutorial holds you over until the peeks start tomorrow night at midnight!!) :)
The square wooden tote I found at EDITED TO ADD: MICHAEL'S, not hobby Lobby, sorry about that!) for $1.99 (30% off, 2.99 is still a steal!) :). It opens up and has a little gold clasp. I LOVE that funky bamboo handle it came with, allows it to go a little more double-duty as a purse rather than just a box when the person is finished sending out the cards! :) The space inside was perfect for holding some square cards. I rubbed the edges with Gold metallic paste the same way I did this box.

Then I created a One Sheet Wonder with my "A Year of Flowers" by stamping the rose all over a piece of Gina K Pure Luxury 80 lb CS and embossing with Gold EP. Looking pretty fancy already! (well actually I made TWO, one for the four cards, the other for the front and back up the tote)

I went around the edges of my cut up one sheet wonder with my gold paint pen. One sheet yielded four 4" mats for four square cards.

Then I sponged on some of this Antique Linen Distressing Ink all over it, it's such a buttery "shabby" color! I made some areas intentionally darker than others.

Here I attached the mats to the bases. Two sheets of Gina K 120 lb Pure Luxury CS gave me four square 4.25" card bases. I just love this ivory, gold and white combo. I created a white on white double mat, also edged with my gold paint pen, for the GK monogram which I stamped with my Just Rite Times Roman Alpha and embossed with Gold EP. If you scroll back up to the first pic, you will see I used a slightly different layout for each, changing the placement of the monogram, and where I added my 5/8"SU! ivory grosgrain, I love em all, couldn't choose just one (and that allows the recipient to have some variety, too)

I decorated the front and back of the tote to match. You can see here I also decided to add a bit more texture by stamping the retired oldie but goodie SU! "French Script" over the flowers, that always adds a touch of elegance!

I wish I'd remembered to upload the inside of the tote, which was also decorated (hopefully they are still in my camera.) I lined the inside with some beautiful shimmery white-gold paper called "Autumn Hay Glimmer" from Paper Temptress and embossed the sentiment, "A friend is a hand always holding yours, no matter how close or how far apart you may be".

Almost time for a peek, I can only say my newest set celebrates all the best things in life!

PCP Sketch-Come play!

This week we have a sketch from Lori Tecler, you have to go check out her adorable sample for it on the 'planet! This sketch makes a very "quick to assemble" card and will work with probably most of your stamps, so I hope you'll join is! I am going to create a sample (for our release party this Thursday night!) using this sketch and one or two of our new Gina K sets releasing this week! BTW, are you all coming to the party?? It's 7-10 PM CST in the Gina K Designs SCS forum! (and as usual there have been some people hanging out in there for days waiting for it to start LOL! this month we even have a pre-party release thread, hee hee!!) It's a hyuuuuge release this month, you won't want to miss, and, (I hope I can go ahead and say it), a fun NEW product offering from Gina K Designs! (what could it be?)

PS I didn't get many guesses about my new set from you all the other day, so I'm assuming you're just stumped LOL!! But you'll find out very soon!! Want to win it? Make sure to make some cards for the Children's Hospital and let me know by linking a pic in <------that post!!

We have a NEW Winner! (COPICS!)

(I meant to post this earlier, but I almost knocked myself out today hitting my head on a concrete counter top...yee-ouch!!) :{

Well, unfortunately for one, (but fortunately for another) it has been a full week since the winner of my Copic giveaway (MY BIGGEST CANDY EVER!) was announced, even after a prompt to contact me by yesterday's date, I've heard nothing.... :( so I had to draw a new name, and we have a new winner! :)



Erin Smetak said...
Sorry for deleting my earlier post. I guess I was too excited to spell correctly!Anyway, Melanie, your card is SO amazing! I love how you flip the card open and there's another flower! GENIUS!!!!Thanks for a chance to win some Copics! I don't have any yet! What a great giveaway!



Erin, surprise, surprise YOU won the box of Copics! Please contact me by email no later than Tuesday telling me your snail addy and which BOX you prefer: A, B, C, or D.



I hope the first person who was picked did not have some kind of family emergency or something, BUT, when entering blog candies, it's a good idea to come back and check the candy as soon as you possibly can after it ends to see if you've won, for everyone involved: those who entered, the person who needs to ship the candy, and yourself, it really stinks to miss out on candy (especially a big one like this!) I have a LOT more readers now and am in a position to offer more candies, and have more cool sponsors, but I need your help to stay on top of them. (I still haven't heard back from either of my Paper Temptress winners from last week either! I need these ladies to contact me by Monday or I will have to draw two new winners! Irene, I know you know you won from your comment, but I didn't get a mailing address from you, unless you contacted Patricia directly...? so please let me know! ) There is great stuff at stake, and more stuff to come if I can get everyone's help with these small housekeeping details, so thank you in advance for your cooperation! From now on I will post with every candy not only when a blog candy ends but when I need to hear back from the winner in order to send out the candy, so there is NO confusion!

Have a great night, I'm off to go work on more samples for our Gina K Designs release, sneak peeks starting in just about 48 hours!! And guess what? My set is peeked first this time!! Any guesses? (you'll never guess) ;)

Memory in a Tin

Here is a set of memory matching cards and a tin to hold them for my son William, using Asela's "Framed Friends" and my "What's In your Tin? I" label image for the top. What was so perfect about this "Framed Friends" set for this, the smaller images were perfect for making a "mini version" to decorate the top and show what the tin holds: their larger versions inside! Having that custom fit Altoid border to match the cards just pulls the whole thing together.

I used my Just-Rite Rectangle stamper and Times Roman Alphabet I got from Donna to spell William's name. (Thanks, Donna!) I filled the the border in with one of my Copics, and then trimmed and adhered to the tin (click here to purchase these tins, everyone always asks me after a tin project post where to get them LOL!!) with DotnRoller, great adhesive for projects like this!

The cards are all done on Gina K Pure Luxury 120 lb CS. This is necessary to keep your colors from bleeding through. If you click on the pic, you will see I kept the colors very bright and solid, with limited shading, although there is a touch here and there. This look is really nice for vivid kids projects. (but quite honestly all these pairs took quite awhile to color without adding lots of other shades LOL!) The border on these images are filled in with the same green as on the top. All Copics are from BOX A. As you can see the drawn borders of the stamp images are slightly wonky, so I deliberated about free hand cutting them to match their drawn borders but in the end, I decided it was best to do straight cuts and a corner rounder punch for the corners since they were all slightly different shapes, this way you get a nice even deck.

And here you can see how I decorated the backs of the cards with the one flower image from the set in the center of each. See? No bleed through! The thick and smooth finish of the paper makes it seem like a store bought game almost, just like real playing cards!

William is just enchanted with this gift, I thought he might be getting a little old for Memory when I made it (he'll be 4 in a couple weeks), but he plays with it often and never has to be reminded too put it away because he likes packing them up in his personalized tin! (I think even at his age he knows the hand colored images took a lot of time and makes it extra special) :) Try a set yourself, your little one is sure to love it, too! :)

I have a big announcement that I will be putting in a separate post later today to make sure NO ONE misses it!

You're Number #1

Here's a super simple boy card I made last month for a friend of my son's whose grandfather passed away, but I forgot to share it here. I wanted to have some mail for him to return home to after the funeral, but wasn't sure what kind of sympathy card would be appropriate for a 7 year old, having never made one before. In the end I decided to create something that would make think about things he loves and what a special kid he is. He already does triathlons for kids, so I stamped up this jersey from "Just So Sporty" onto some Basic Grey Cupcake DP (the name of the pack sounds so girly but it's got some fun "boy prints also like these numbers, bicycles etc which of course work for girls, too!) and added "Born to Race" from "Tee Talk". I traced the edges of the tee with an olive marker to give it some wrinkles and dimension, then cut it out. I found a number 1 in another sheet of DP in the Cupcake pack (which I also used for the background) so I punched it out using the SU! 3/4 in circle punch and adhered to a Fiskar star punch out (which is popped up on a dimensional.) His parents told me later he really liked the card. :)

I'm going to make some more of these for the 1000 Valentines challenge (please read the details and make some card if you can!), this design would be very simple to mass produce, great for boys of all ages, as well as for a number of occasions: masculine Valentines, birthdays etc. Julie says they really need cards for teenage boys at the hospital, so hope this gives you some ideas! Have a great weekend!

I'm just so proud!!

If you haven't made it over to this month's Dirty Dozen Fan Club gallery on Splitcoast, drop everything and do so! If you're not a fan club member, there has never been a better time to join! :) hip hip hurray for Carolyn!

(applause, ticker tape, merriment, happy dance!)

Copic Hands Tutorial

I think I got about a hundred requests for how to color skin or hands! Here we go, I'm only using three Copics: E00, E21 (these are both in Box A) and W-1 (from Box D)
I start with my lightest color E00 Skin White, working in circles, leaving the top side of the front hand and top inside of the back hand white. As you can see , this is a really light Copic! I'm coloring this image as if the light is coming kind of from above, front and center...

Some areas of this pic look lighter than the first, it was still a little wet when I took the pic, the color lightens, just so you know! :) Then I did a second coat with the same color in areas I want to be darker: the very bottom of both hands, about half way up where the fingers would bend up and be"exposed to the light", and the thumbs, right side of the front wrist and left side of the back arm. I've had people ask me: how to make the arms/hands look like they are two different people when they have the same skin tone? good question! Typically in art things in front are lighter, and darker as you move to the background, so I just add an extra layer of color onto the arm of the hand behind...

now I'm going over the very far right of the front hand and far left of the back hand with a flesh tone in small circles a few shades darker than my first, following the shape of the outline. The shades are similar so you don't need much blending, but if you see a line, just pick up your lighter flesh tone again, here E00, and go over that area in small circles they blend very seamlessly this way.

Last I outlined the underside of the hands just following my outline with W-1. That's it!

Now here's a fun way to frame them up, I mentioned it in my tip sheet, but haven't shown a sample of it yet! I particularly love how the little V between their arms is kind of like the top of a heart, so I folded a piece of scrap CS and cut out a heart , just like we did in school and placed my negative cut out over the hands, lining up the "V"s. The I traced the inside with my black pen.

When I cut it out, the heart will look like it was part of the stamped image, I really like the sweet way this spotlights the hands! Below you see I layered it onto Pretty in Pink CS, trimmed around it with small scalloped scissors and popped it up on dimensionals...The DP is DCWV All Dressed Up. I added some adhesive metal dots to make the bracelet and an inexpensive heart charm I got at Hobby Lobby (attached with a glue dot)

I hope this helps you with coloring the hands (and other images that "show some skin" LOL! ) and shows you don't need a lot of blending or a lot of different colors! I will have another hand tutorial coming up soon using the child holding the adult's finger and different skin tones, I haven't experimented much yet with other flesh tones because I only had these two that came in my Copics Box A for so long, but Box D, which I now have, has several! :) I want to make a Valentine for my son William to give to the one of the women at the nursery at my gym he especially loves, Kiersten, she is African American and has the most gorgeous skin color, just a beautiful lady inside and out! I'll make some other versions of that Valentines for the cards4kids, of course, don't forget to read about the RAK request and contest in this post! (where you can also see the finished sample) :)

Hand-in-Hand Challenge: Month 1!

This contest is closed, Congrats to Lori Tecler, she is the winner of the first "Hand in Hand, Month to Month" Contest, and she will receive my new "The Best Things in Life" set! It's not too late to send cards, though please read below!

Okay, here is the first card I made for my RAK challenge this month, I just love how it turned out, fun your girl friends or tween cards! I will be back with step-by-step pics of how I colored these hands and framed them up, many of you have been asking for some skin tutorials! So are you ready to read all about the challenge?! (the "clue" from the scrapbook page before: "kids"...)


The lovely and talented Julie Koerber helped me out with my blogaversary last week, and she emailed asking if I might be able to contribute some cards for her mother Pat Adam's mission - Cards 4 Kids - where she donates hand made cards to the children at Children's Hospital in Detroit.

Julie says: "It's funny because when I was a kid, I needed surgery when I was about my daughter's age (5) and -- this is the hospital that took care of me! Now, my mom and I use our time and talents to help the children that spend time there now.Well, not too long ago, my mom got a call from the administrator of the hospital asking if she could round up 1,000 valentines for the kiddos there. They need blank ones (basically no signatures from us) so that the kids can pick and then send them to other friends and family. When my mom heard this -- she literally started to panic! " more deets about the "1000 Valentine's" here


Well, I am MORE than happy to make some cards for the children's hospital, and I told her I knew a few of you would, too! ;) (waiting to, actually, LOL! I know a ton of you got "Hand-in-Hand" in the last few weeks and I hope you are ready to get going on this challenge! Several prizes up for grabs here, in addtion to my set! :)




Email Julie's mom Pat at Mrsmiley6@aol.com and offer up a card or two! FYI: If you don't want to contribute Valentines, she needs cards for birthdays and sympathy cards as well! If you email her, she can then give her addy to you. How do you win? Pat is offering up her own candy for this, see her post here. Now Julie is also offering up candy, as is Jennifer Buck! So there's more chances to win some candy from these ladies, just by creating and sending some cards for kids! Click on their names for deets about their individual candys...


Now to win MY candy (my upcoming release set!):


1. Incorporate the "Hand-in-Hand" set into the card you send to Pat (or several cards for more chances!) As Julie said, these don't have to be Valentines, so have fun with the different images and themes in that set! (you may also create as many cards as you like cards that DON'T use "Hand in Hand" for the kids to donate and enter for the other candy offerings, but only the "Hand-in-Hand" ones count for this prize, and of course Hand-in Hand entries will count for the other candy drawings, too, make sense?) I shared the sample above first to reinforce that Children's Hospital serves young adults too, actually all the way up to 21, so they need cards for a variety of ages, not just "kids"!


2. Post it on your blog OR in your gallery with a link to this post so others know about the RAK request and candy, hopefully this will generate more cards!


3. Link your post into the comment section below so I make sure to see your card(s) and get you entered!


You have until the 22nd, ONE WEEK to create and post the card(s) for my candy, I will draw a winner and make the announcement on my blog the day of our new Gina K Designs release, January 22nd!


You will have more time to get them in the mail to Pat, though, she needs all the cards in hand by February 7th. Julie's candy offering is ending the 20th. (A few additional prizes have been added since her post, and I don't want to leave anyone out, so you may just want to scroll through all her updates!)


I will be sharing more cards here over the next week I am sending in for the challenge! NEXT month's "Hand in Hand" RAK request you will have LOTS more time to make your cards, I have already selected an organization and just need to get all the details together, so that will be announced shortly after this contest ends! Can't wait to share!

On your mark, get set, GO!!!!

Week 4 with Allison Cope

While I didn't know exactly what it would look like, when I chose Ally for my "Hand-in-Hand" Guest Designer, I just KNEW she would create an amazing page like THIS!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I just love everything about it! Just the one image from "Hand-in-Hand" and the coordinating sentiment (plus the little "Friends" on the tab!) are all the stamping needed here to complement these beautiful papers, black & white photos, embellishments and layout for a timeless page to remember! This, of course, uses one of Ally's page sketches from her So Sketchy blog. You have GOT to check her blog out: with inspiration like this, and sketches like hers, you will be scrapping like a pro in no time! :)

Supplies: stamps, Gina K. Designs (Hand-in-Hand), Inkadinkado (dove); inks, Ranger, Staz-On, ColorBox; cardstock, Bazzill, Prism; patterned paper, letter stickers, epoxy stickers, Crate Paper; flowers, Hero Arts, Bazzill; brads, Heidi Swapp, Imaginisce; button, BasicGrey; pens, Sharpie, Signo; tools: tab punch by McGill, scalloped scissors by Fiskars; other, thread.



So who's ready for my first "Hand in Hand, Month after Month" challenge?? I am piggybacking onto another RAK request to help double up on the cards they'll be receiving and give you MORE chances to win, not only MY newest set Gina K Designs is releasing next week, but several other prizes up for grabs! :) (Anybody know what it is? there might be a little (unintentional) clue in the sample above) The details are coming up in a separate post (TODAY I promise!) so all the info doesn't get lost in this long one (notice how all the paragraphs at the end get all smushed together? Even when I try adding lots of space between, I hate that!)

and quickly, because I know 150 or so of you are waiting to find out(LOL!), here are the winners of the Paper Temptress prize packs:

Irene Lenihan said... I'd love to see and try the Glimmer paper. I think I would like to see you make something with the Suede or Velvet papers. They sound elegant.

sandyh said... i spent a lot of time looking at all the wonderful papers offered. there are several that i would like to see in person, especially the velvet touch and the plastic papers!

Irene and Sandy, please email me with your snail addy in the next 48 hours and I will send your info to Patricia ! (the faster I get it the faster you get that wonderful Velvet paper! :) Thanks everyone for playing! You can bet there will be more opportunities to get your hands on paper from Patricia! ;)

Want this blinky for your blog??

I created this blinky several months ago when I first came out with "Little Tees" to post on my blog and for others who were fans of my stamps to add to their own. Thank you every one who has added it, (wavin' atchya!) it is so fun to go visit a blog and see it there! (I incorrectly, however, called it a "button", so I've had lots of inquiries from people requesting I mail them one (like a pin!) Sorry, my bad!)



I have so many new readers now, so I thought I'd go ahead and write a post about it, just letting you know if you would like to add this blinky, email me and I will send you the code(or leave contact info here in this post where I should send it), then just copy and paste the html into your sidebar! (If you add it, when you click on the tee the widget takes you right to my blog, so it's fun way to keep me in your sidebar if you ever want to come see what I'm up to! ) ;) Also, would you be interested in me starting a group on PaperCraft Planet: "I Heart Melanie's Stamps"? It would be in addition to the Gina K group (which I am, of course, a member of LOL!) but you could post questions there for me, chat as a group, and best of all I can send a message to everyone in the group if there is an important announcement!* Let me know and I will set it up! thanks!

My Hand-in-Hand contest is coming up! Also the winners of the Paper Temptress packs announced tomorrow AM, so don't forget to leave a comment (see this post) and be part of the virtual "paper focus group"! :)!

* I tried to send one through Feedblitz a little while ago...did it work? LOL!!

"And then I said...

...I'd rather be eating chocolate!" (That always makes ME feel better!) Here is my newest creation with BCDzyns "And Then I Said" and two of my own stamp sets: "Say it with Flowers" and "Little Tees" (you can swap out "Just So Sporty" or "Tee Talk" for her jammies top here though with the word you like best!)
For awhile I'd been thinking this image leaning forward kind of looked like she needed to be lounging in some fabulous bed, so after coloring and cutting her out, I placed her on a piece of this Black Market Lucky 'n Love DP to create my sheet and pillow, and sketched a very simple silhouette as if she's half laying on her side, propped up ( nice and "hippy"! LOL!) and a few lines to the left to look like a pillow. Once you're happy with the shape, adhere to the DP and cut this out. (If you look up at the finished card, I trimmed a little more off than I originally drew under her arm, just keep playing with the shape til you get it the way you want. ) I placed another piece of paper from this pack below her to look like the fitted sheet on the mattress and adhered all that to my Pure Luxury 80 lb CS. Another Black Market print, Taken with Teal Base and sateen flower colored with an aqua Copic and rhinestone brad complete the card! (You'll also the in the finished card I added some shadows with a gray copic to the DP under her body and arm, and a nice little "dent" from her head in the pillow) :)

Thought this would make a perfect "get well" or "cheer up" card, or even a (ahem!) "come hither" card for Valentine's day! I'll be back with that one later, (but don't worry, this blog will still be rated "G") ;) I may take some step by step pics of it to show how I color her with the Copics :) Hope you enjoyed this, have a great day!

TIP: If using a pen, err on the side of "bigger" than you want the first time when sketching your shape, you can always come back in smaller with your line. If using a pencil, once you are pleased with the outline, go back over it in a black pen, so you have an outline to match the stamp.

PS ONE more day to enter the Paper Temptress give away! Don't forget to scroll down and check it ut if you have not yet already!

A Virtual Garden, You will LOVE this!

Click on this link!

Maximize the window. Edited to add: It will be black and BLANK!!

Now put your mouse over the screen and CLICK some flowers to your hearts content! a lot, or hold the mouse button down to make never edning stream of f-l-o-w-e-r-s!

Get ready for Spring!

Leave it up to enjoy! :)

Pass it on! :) (Now you can tell everyone I sent you flowers! LOL!)

(thanks, Mom!)

Monkeyin' Around with Copics

Before today's coloring tutorial, here is another Pop Tone paper I will be using for my base, Orange Fizz. (I'm not going to try to match my coloring to it today, though, as I have a lot of earthy tones going on in my DP that i can pull from, a fun print from the Black Market Imported Rhythm pack.) :)


Orange is a really nice color when you find the right shades! (SU! Only Orange doesn't get a whole lot of play in my rotation LOL!, but I really like SU! Pumpkin Pie on my fall cards) Paper Temptress Orange Fizz is a bit softer and less "spicy Autumn", makes for happy spring and summer fun-in-the-sun cards.

So we're starting with the "Just So Hippy" monkey ( I've missed you, little guy!) he is stamped on Gina K Pure Luxury 80lb (the lighter weight today since I'll be mounting it on a mat, I don't have to worry about bleeding through here, save your 120 lb paper for card bases!) I filled in his skin areas with Copic E21. Often I leave just a hint of the top right side uncolored, like a white highlight.

Next I went in with a darker flesh tone E11 (not sure why this has a smaller number since they usually increase as they get darker, it looks darker to me LOL!) to the bottom of each of the areas. For the face, think of an imaginary line going from his forehead to his chin, and color the left half, this way that right side of his face is picking up the light. (okay, it's his right side, but it's confusing to say it that way LOL!)

Next I made a nice solid coat working in small circles with my E33. I left his tummy white for now because I want his little belly to be lighter.

Okay, I added a lot in this "step", sorry, I forgot to take a couple pics LOL! I added a brown that was just a bit lighter to the his back and undersides of his arms and legs and blended the flesh tone in for his tummy. (I could ahve done that earlier when I had one of my skin Copics out, nbut I thought I'd be using a different color at the time) I outlined a little shadow under him with the W-1 and used my colorless blender to take some ink away from his cheeks and added in this little pink for a becoming blush!

Now here he is on a gate fold card (score your 4 1/4"x 8 1/2"CS at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8", conveniently there's a little dot on these marks on the Scor-Pal!) ;) which uses three different sides of that Black Market DP. Notice anything different about him here?? Yup, I forgot when I stamped earlier to add his little tattoo! (and I am sorry to say I can't find my little flower stamp ANYWHERE! wahhh! fingers crossed is turns up) So I used the heart instead. :) I stamped it over the brown and blended out the color with my Colorless blender and filled in with pink the same way I did the cheeks. The Colorless Blender has so many uses besides blending and covering boo boos. If you start collecting Copics or only get a few this is one you "need"!

I got this fun little EK Success Flower punch at Hobby Lobby the other day, so I punched out a flower from the patterned paper for him to hold. This could have been "Valentine's Day", even with the orange, but I decided to birthday instead.

What animal should we do next? or, hands?? Actually, I have a get well card coming up too, that you're going to LOVE! and the Hand-in-Hand contest, eek! AND the next Gina K Designs release is only 9 days way did you see? I will be super busy making samples for this next week!! can't wait, can't wait!! any guesses about my set??

Last, don't forget to scroll down and read the post with the latest candy! That's for all now, gotta go, LOTS TO DO ! TTYS!