Thursday, February 28, 2013

Gina K Release Tonight!

Have you seen all the sneak peeks of the newest Gina K Designs sets that will be released tonight???
If you want to see some inspiring ideas using the newest release----head on over to Gina's blog to see what the illustrators have come up with!

I cannot wait to share my cards with you on Monday :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Thank You Very Much!

Hello!  WOW..this week flew by!  I cannot believe it is Saturday already.  Sorry for my lack of posts.  I actually took over a week off from my stamp room to get a bunch of things done and I am just about caught up.  Along with all the kids' activities this week---I also got hooked on Downton Abbey (finally!) and have been working furiously to catch up on all the seasons :)  (Life is hard!)

Today I have a card to share using some SRM stickers :)  I love how the Thank You sentiment just melted into the fabric on this and I was sure to use some of my favorite black sticker stitches too:

I hope your week was great!  I am working on some cards---hoping to be a little bit better about posting this week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Smile

Hello! Happy Monday---My kiddos have the day off today so I am looking forward to an extra "weekend" day!  Right now I am getting the new stamps from Gina K inky and I cannot wait to share the new release with you--It is amazing!

In the meantime--here is a card using Stamp It Big (Gina K Designs) and some fun Black Sticker Stitches from SRM Stickers.  Love how they look together!

Hope you have a wonderful day today! Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine's Inspiration

Hello! Happy Valentine's Day!
Since today IS Valentine's Day----I figured it would be a good day to share some Valentine-y projects--- :)

First up--A set of Valentine's cards using SRM Stickers:





Next--A Beary Cute project --tutorial is in this week's Crafts 'n Things Weekly:
There are a lots inspiring projects in every issue!  Be sure to sign up  for Crafts 'n Things Weekly to have all the creative ideas delivered to your inbox every week!

Thanks for stopping by! xo

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

So honored.....

...to be MOXIE FAB!
Just had to share cause it is NOT everyday that someone tells you that you are "Moxie Fab!"
Thanks Cath!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Stamp it BIG! Winner and a Mason Jar

Hello! Happy Monday!  Oopsie----I forgot to post the winner of my Stamp it Big stamp set yesterday.  Here is the winner as selected by Random.Cara....#3.  Congrats to Cheryl Hutcherson who said...
"LOVE the new stamp set! Your cards are fabulous...as usual!!  Congrats on the debut! Thanks for the chance to win!!"
February 6, 2013 at 9:33 AM
Congrats Cheryl!  Please email me your address so I can get that set in the mail!

I also wanted to share this little project with you today---It is a mason jar all dressed up with some SRM Labels by the Dozen- Made By and some Charcoal baker's twine from The Twinery:
Here is a view of the top of the jar that says "Made with Love" :
Thanks for stopping by today!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Happy Birthday Gina!!

Today, the Gina K Design team is hopping to celebrate a very special lady!   Here is my birthday card for Gina--

I used Stamp it Big and Sweet Tweets on this:
...and filled it with LOTS of LOVE!   

I have worked with Gina for lots and lots of years now and I am such a fan of hers.  She is such an AMAZING person--in both the way she handles her business and the way she puts her family first.  I am so grateful to have her in my life. 

xo Happy Birthday Dear Friend xo

Here is the list of the rest of the team who are birthday hopping today:
AJ - http://thewillowgarden.blogspot.com/
Becky - http://hemidemisemiquaverdesignblog.com/
Beth - http://silaika.blogspot.com/
Carolina - http://creativepad.typepad.com/
Carolyn - http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/
Cat - http://catdidit.blogspot.com/
Debbie - http://doodledesignsonline.com/
Latisha - http://www.crafteebee.blogspot.com/
Laurie - http://www.justgivemestamps.typepad.com/
Lee - http://luvleestamper.blogspot.com/
Melanie - http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/
Michelle - http://stopandstamptheroses.blogspot.com/
Sean - http://www.cardcraftyclub.blogspot.com/
Sharon - http://paperfections.typepad.com/
Tami - http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/
Theresa - http://craftingtheweb.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://valeriestangle.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Twinery "Be Our Valentine" Series: Day 7

Hello! Have you seen the "Be Our Valentine" Series going on over at The Twinery blog yet?   If not, you don't want to miss a day---it is full of inspiring projects, home decor ideas, free printables and some fantastic giveaways!  Today is Day 7 in the series.

Today's feature is Party Favors!  Since the theme of the series is "Be Our Valentine" I decided to create a Valentine party favor:


I dressed up a clear pillow box (SRM Stickers) using an adorable Silhouette cut file by Samantha Walker called Hug and a Heart and some baker's twine- Charcoal, Pink Sorbet and created this little treat holder  for a sweet valentine cutie:
I love using baker's twine to "dress up" fun designs.  In this case, I tied some Pink Sorbet sassy bows for the little cutie's hair and I created a small heart banner for the little girl to hold using the Charcoal baker's twine.  I tied some extra Pink Sorbet twine around the base of the pillow box and tied it on the lower right side near the sentiment.

I know one little girl who will be jazzed to get this on Valentine's Day!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out The Twinery blog for lots of inspiring ideas and a fun giveaway!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Stamp It BIG on Stamp TV...and a Giveaway!

Today, my new Gina K Designs stamp set---Stamp it BIG! makes its television debut on StampTV.  You can check out Gina's video HERE!

I am so excited to see what Gina came up with.  I was inspired to grab my set and create a few new cards as well---->

For my first card, I wanted to do a Subway Art inspired card.  Here is what I came up with:

To create the main design, I used a piece of pure luxury white cardstock and then lightly added some lines across to help me keep the design straight. (Even though they are clear stamps, when you are stamping lots of different sentiments and images you can mess up the design if one is even just a little off kilter.) NOTE: the Wish sentiment is part of the "Wishes" stamp in the set, I just inked the front part of the word for this card.

To help keep the sentiments perfectly straight, I lie down the sentiment on scrap paper as I want it to stamp and then...
I place my clear block right on top of the stamp.  This puts it on the block perfectly straight.  If you place larger sentiments on the block by hand, they can move a little and you will notice the image being a little off when you stamp. (Disregard the unclean block and stamp :)

Next, I used the Stamp it Big cut file for the large speech bubble and small hearts.  I embossed the thanks sentiment on the speech bubble and popped it up on the card.  I stamped the little dog from You Say Goodbye and I Say Ello! (by Becky Oehlers) on the bottom :
 And, finally...another thanks card:
For this card, I stamped the black lines along the bottom using the striped block from the Stamp it BIG set.  I added a strip of washi tape (that I received for Christmas from a dear friend--Thanks Michelle!) on top of it.  I stamped the thanks sentiment in  Memento tuxedo black ink and then underneath, I stamped the large flower from the set.  Using another piece of white cardstock, I stamped the polka-dotted block stamp from the set twice and the small flower once.  I used a small circle punch to punch the circles from the stamped designs and covered them with old brad covers I had from Stampin' Up!  They look really shiny  IRL!

Here is a close up of the brads:

That is all for today!  I hope you liked the projects today and the video Gina shared.  I so appreciate all the sweet comments you all have posted the past few weeks.  So, I would love to gift a Stamp it BIG set to one of you today. So...just leave me a comment below by Sunday, February 10 at 8 a.m. EST time Random.Cara will pick a winner (and if you already purchased the set---you will be able to pick a different set from Gina K Designs!)  The winner will have three days to contact me after I post before I select a new winner.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sorry....

...I've been MIA.  I have been taking some time to clear my head.
So...where to begin?
I guess I will begin at the beginning.  After thinking about things for awhile, I have decided to go with my gut and cut back on my design team obligations.

I am so very grateful for these companies for everything and I will still be using their products a lot on my blog:
SRM Stickers
Samantha Walker
The Twinery

After doing this for lots and lots of years, it was a tough decision to walk away from some of my beloved design teams and was even tougher to email them and let them know. 

But kids are getting older..and I am painfully aware how fast time is going. I have one leaving for college in another year and a half.  My youngest two are in grade school but my son is a super athletic and he is on a million different sports teams.  So, after considering my life and how I spend my time I have decided to only do freelance work or paid design work (not just product compensation).  This may sound harsh but I had to draw the line somewhere and after years of meeting deadlines, assignments and producing tons of projects for many companies that I love----I have more product than I ever could possibly use in a lifetime and I have a calendar that is interfering with other things I want to do.

I will continue to produce projects for my blog (on my time and when I want to) that will include a lot of the teams I had to say goodbye to because I LOVE their products!  I am just moving in another direction but putting more value on my time.   I am going to take my best shot of making a part-time job out of this.  I have a few ideas brewing...

So...that is it in a nutshell. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Hugs!