Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello!  Happy-whatever-day-it-is-today :P  I actually had some time this week and when I was looking over challenges for inspiration I came across the Moxie Fab World- Home Sweet Home Tuesday Trigger. Wow....I was instantly inspired by this house ornament:

Really inspired.  So inspired that I HAD to make a little house ornament :)  today.

I came up with my own design and I used some leftover fleece I had from a previous project and some fabric remnants.  I  folded the fleece in half (the fold is at the bottom so I didn't have to sew that part) and then cut out the sides and top in the shape of a house.  I decorated the front with fabric, felt, buttons, etc. and then flipped it inside out to sew the edges and stuff.   Here is what I came up with:

I kept the basic color theme and the fact that it is a house and went from there.  Created a cute little hanging house to display in my stamp room....or somewhere :)

Other supplies:
Sticker sentiments- Life is Good (SRM Stickers)
Dies- Fresh cut grass, Contempo Cage (bird) (My Favorite Things)
Vellum- The Paper Company
Baker's twine- Caribbean (The Twinery)

And....Since I am aware that I didn't follow the rules----I did create a PAPER crafted project that was inspired by the trigger as well:

Again, I was inspired by the colors and the house theme on this one...I definitely wanted to include the wood grain :)  I popped up the hand stitched heart with a Helmar Zapdot!  Love this quote and I thought it fit well with the house theme.

Supplies:

White cardstock- Gina K Designs

Patterned paper- Finally Fall: At the Patch (Bella Blvd), Little Boy: Rock Star; Playground: Red (Echo Park)

Sentiment stamp- Inkadinkado

Ink- markers-Red, black (SU!), Tea dye distress ink (Ranger)

Slit punch (SU!)

Dies- Homespun Dienamics (My Favorite Things)

Stick pin- Maya Road

Baker's twine- Honeydew (The Twinery)

Corrugated cardboard

Helmar Zapdots

That's it!  Hope you are inspired to play along!!! Click HERE to find out about all the challenge details!

Thanks for stopping by!

Seize the Day!

Hello! Hope you are having a great weekend!!
Despite the rocky start---ours is going good. Lauren is slowly recovering from her bout with the stomach bug. Boy, it takes the little ones forever to get over that beast.

Ben has another tournament this weekend. His team won both games yesterday so we are watching the finish today. Fun!! And my oldest, Cara, has her first piano recital later on today! Cannot wait to see her play the piece she prepared. It is amazing to hear how much she has learned in a year. This is the stuff I LOVE!

And.......I have something fun going on here tomorrow so be sure to check back....there *MIGHT* be some blog candy involved.

Here is a HINT
I finally dug into the For the Record Collection from Echo Park and created this card. I added a tiny button to the bottom of the hot air balloon and used a red Copic marker to add some color to it. To finish the card, I added some fun ribbon and some SRM stickers!!

Can you guess what my surprise is??? Check back tomorrow to see if you were right!

In the meantime....have a rockin' Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Gina K Preview Day 3!

Hello! Hope you had a wonderful New Year's weekend!!!
Well, here is the good news----we FINALLY were able to get fly out to Pennsylvania to see my family on Tuesday so we lost two days of our trip but at least we got there! Yipeee!

The bad news is that I had my mail held for so long (since I thought I would be away longer) so I had to WAIT to get my stamps to work with for the new Gina K Release. But...I got them on Monday and couldn't wait to jump on board the preview party.

Today the design team is using the new Stamp TV kit- Sent with Love and it is my absolute favoritist kit EVER! I love all the images and sentiments in it. Here are two cards I made with them:

The little Eiffel tower is so cute and I cannot resist the little heart in the middle. So sweet!

Speaking of sweet---I love the tiny heart shaped gumballs in this machine!
I coated them with some crystal stickles for a touch of glitter:

It was so much fun to stamp again! Now head on over to these fabulous blogs for more Stamp TV kit inspiration. Be sure to comment on all the blogs for your chance to win it for free! Gina is giving away TWO Stamp Tv Kits!! While you are blog hopping today, leave a comment on each blog for lots of chances to win one of these fabulous stamp sets. Gina will announce the winners tomorrow, on her blog entry just before preview day 4. Each blog you comment on will count as an entry so you will have lots of chances if you comment on all of the blogs:

AJ Otto
Asela Hopkins
Carolina Buchting
Carolyn King <--- you are here!

Cathy Tidwell
Colleen Schaan
Deb Felts
Emily Giovanni
Gina K
Giovana Smith
Janice Whiting
Jennie Harper
Lee Murphy
Melanie Muenchinger
Michelle Woerner
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber
Tina Gilliland
Valerie Stangle
Latisha Yoast - Guest Designer

Reminder!! The Gina K Designs Release Party is Thursday, January 6th starting at 7 pm central on StampTV. There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Mother's Day, Friends

To all the moms who read my blog: Happy Mother's Day! I hope you are treated like queens today.

Here is a little card/envelope I created with October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper: I cut out the flower shapes and layered them with a crochet flower. I used some Farm Fresh (OA) shape stickers to accent the flower. The scallops on the bottom are cut from the designer paper and added individually to the card.

Materials used: Cardstock- red, ivory (Gina K Designs); Designer paper- Thrift Shop 8 by 8 pad (October Afternoon); Farm Fresh shape stickers (October Afternoon); red adhesive gemstone (Mark Richards); corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); crochet flower.

Enjoy YOUR day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cosmo Cricket Apron Card

Hello! Hope you had a great week. Ours was super busy and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! This is definitely my favorite time of year in the South.

I just got the Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety kit and couldn't wait to use some of it. The images, stickers and tags are so cute.

So, I created an apron card (fitting, ugh?)

Instead of creating a pocket in the front for a pull out, I designed this so that you just slide the ribbon up and the bottom section folds out to reveal what is inside.

This would be a great design for a recipe card or a cute/romantic card too but I went with "adorable" and used a picture of my youngest from years ago. I always think of her when I hear the word "pea" because she just LOVED them then. (Not so much now though.)

Ain't she cute??

Materials used: Designer paper/stickers-Garden Variety Complete Crafting Kit (Cosmo Cricket); ribbon- Stampin' Up!; buttons (Papertrey Ink); sewing machine.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. We will be spending some time at the ball field as baseball season is officially underway. I love it (especially with this weather!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oh Scrappy Day!

Happy Monday!! Today I wanted to share a scrapbook page I recently created. I started out as a scrapbooker and still complete a few pages here and there but nothing like I did before I started stamping. My New Year's resolution was to start compiling an album of fun memories again.

I have to admit....it was so much fun. The pictures from this page were from when we went to Pennsylvania over Christmas and there was tons of snow. The kids had a blast

All of the paper from this layout is by Jillibean Soup. (You can see the names in the materials list below.)


<-----Here is a detail shot of the title. I punched out the snowflake and then adhered some of the blue polka dotted paper behind the punch. I then used that punched out snowflake on the layout. (Tip: The other two punched snowflakes were punched out from the paper underneath the vertical picture panel so I didn't have to use another sheet of paper!)

This picture also shows the stitching along the blue snowy "hills".



Materials used: Designer paper- Talk Soup: Cup of Yak, Soup Staples: Light Blue Sugar, Alphabet Soup: Vegetable Soup; Lentil Soup: Kosher Salt (Jillibean Soup); Marvy snowflake punch; buttons (Making Memories); twine (Jillibean Soup); sewing machine; letters-White Thickers (American Crafts); Cuttlebug dies-letters (Provocraft).

Thanks for stopping by!

JustRite Week at Stamper's Dream

Happy Friday!!! (At last!) I am so excited because my sister is coming to visit me and the kids this weekend!! Yipeee!

This week it is JustRite week at Stamper's Dream. Today, I am sharing a card created with the new release from JustRite stampers. Stamper's Dream has all of the new releases in stock (and lots of other JustRite favorites too!) Here is my card:

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I used the "Celebrate" (from Just a Note Borders & Centers) star and stamped it on the cardstock to make the topper for the chipboard tree.

I created the fun design underneath the tree panel by taking one of the beautiful 2" Square Decorative Frames and stamping it on cardstock. Then I cut off each side to layer it underneath the image.

Materials used: Stamps-Just a Note Borders & Centers, 2" Square Decorative Frames (JustRite Stampers); cardstock-white (Gina K Designs), red (SU!); ink-red, olive (SU!); Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder (Provocraft); red adhesive dots; chipboard tree (Making Memories); rhinestone star stickers (Recollections); ribbon-Hobby Lobby.

Be sure to check out the awesome creations the "Dream" Team posted this week. Here is the schedule in case you missed any. (They are amazing so you WILL want to check them out!)
Monday - Michelle, Denise , and Laurie
Tuesday - Denise , Amy , Tosh and Michelle
Wednesday - Silke , Denise and Michelle
Thursday - Silke , Laurie , and Michelle
Friday - Tosh , Amy , Michelle and me

Pssttt!......I finally got it together! Blog Candy will be posted this weekend (and it includes JustRite stamps!). Thanks for your patience and thanks for coming along for the ride! It has been an AWESOME two years! HUGS!!

Gina K Preview Day 3

Hello!!! Welcome to Day 3 of the Gina K Designs previews. Tonight the design team is previewing these new sets--Winter Friends (Rupa Shevde) and Signed with Love (the new One Free with Three set).


Here is a slider card I created with Winter Friends:

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The minute I saw this gliding penguin, I wanted to make a slider card with him. The little houses/scenery in the set make the perfect backdrop for this cutie.

Here is a another view---just to show you he made it to the other side ok! A slider card is perfect for this stamp because he can wobble and tilt all the way across your card (just like most of us ice skate!)

I stamped the scene on layers of pure luxury white cardstock. The card base is the new Tan Leather (which has some beautiful texture!) It will be available on Thursday night too. The ribbon on the top of the card is from the Gina K Autumn Ribbon Assortment. I framed the scene with some rocket red cardstock.

I colored all the images with Copic markers and added some frosted lace stickles on the rooftops, trees and hills.

The sliding mechanism was created using a Word Window punch (SU!) to create the path. I used some dimensionals (SU!) to create the sliding penguin. (I used one on the penguin's back and then one on the other side of the punched strip and then added a punched circle so that the tab wouldn't stick to the inside. Note: I never use a penny on my sliders because I don't like the added weight and find that this way works just fine!) The penguin slides and turns easily!

Materials used: Stamps-Winter Friends (Gina K Designs), snowflakes from Holiday Cheer Stamp TV kit (Gina K Designs); ink-Memento black, bordering blue (SU!); cardstock-white, rocket red, tan leather (all Gina K Designs); designer paper-Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket); ribbon (Gina K Designs); corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); Copic markers; stickles-frosted lace (Ranger); red adhesive dots; word window punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!); sewing machine.

We have a couple of our Center Stage Spotlight Designers joining in the previews tonight. Here are their blog links:

Karen Knegten

Sue VanDeVusse

Then, stop by these Gina K Designers' blogs for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupksy

Asela Hopkins
Carolyn King --> You are here!
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

Our Release party will be held tomorrow night (Thursday!) over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Totally Twilight Challenge

A TOTALLY Twilight Challenge: Wanna play along?

Just add your Twilight inspired card to this blog post and Judge.Cara will select her favorite. You have until Sunday, August 23 at 8:00 am central time to add your card to this post. Cara will pick her favorite and you will win a STAMP SET of YOUR CHOICE from Gina K Designs.

**********

A few days ago I blogged about how my daughters and I were working on projects together at the kitchen table. My oldest daughter, Cara, was making this Twilight poster: Someone asked that I post it...and that gave us an idea!

Today Cara and I made "Twilight" inspired cards. The cards we made were inspired by one of the four book covers.

Here is what we came up with:

First, here is Cara's card:

She was so secretive while making this---because she didn't want me copying her idea (This is verbatim from her!). I love what she came up with---the little forever tag and bling flowers are so much fun! And I love the overall design. (Can you tell I am so proud of her!?)


Here is my first card (I made two, cause I am fast!)

I was inspired by the same cover Cara used on this one---my checkerboard pattern just morphed a bit. I chose to make a teacher thank you card--taking inspiration from the apple on the first book.

Materials used: Black cardstock (Gina K Designs); Designer paper-Norm's News (October Afternoon), Everafter (Cosmo Cricket); sewing machine; apple-Rebecca Sower (EK Success); buttons (Papertrey); ribbon (Offray); stapler.

Here is my other card:

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I used Arranged with Love (from Gina K Designs) to create the background. I stamped it once on white cardstock and then another time on black and embossed with white detail powder. I fussycut the black one and layered part over the original.

I layered some cardstock over some sheer red ribbon (taking colors from the covers) and added the friends rub-on. Finally, I added some adhesive rhinestones.

Materials used: Stamps-Arranged with Love (Gina K Designs); cardstock-white, onyx (Gina k Designs), red (SU!); white embossing powder; Versamark; Memento tuxedo black ink; ribbon (unknown); rub on-Make it Personal (One Heart One Mind); Mark Richards Crystals.

Hope you will play along!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you

*Note: I am away on vacation. This is an auto-post!

Here is a simple thank you using Gina K Designs Eclectic Summer Stamp TV kit. I stamped each flower on a piece of colored designer paper and then I cut out a circle so you can see the last flower and sentiment from the inside of the card. Here is a picture of the inside:

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Materials:Stamps-Eclectic Summer, Eclectic Summer Sentiments (Gina K designs);White pure luxury cardstock (Gina K Designs);Designer paper- Water balloons:Celebration (American Crafts); How's It going:Everyday (American Crafts); Morning glory:Alley's Wonderland (SEI); Ribbon-Horizontal stripes (American Crafts); 1 1/2 inch circle punch (Stampin' Up!); memento tuxedo black ink; Certainly celery ink (SU!); Circle cutter (Creative Memories).

Thanks for stopping by!

JustRite Week Continues with Stamper's Dream

Hello! Happy Tuesday and Happy Day Two of JustRite Week with Stamper's Dream.

Today I wanted to focus on one of my favorite things about JustRite: I love circle sentiments and JustRite enables you to use the adorable ones they make OR create your own, making personalization a snap! For this card, I coupled a border from the Friendship set with a Sarah Kay image.

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As you can see, I inked only half of the circle sentiment using markers and then, using my Spellbinders circle dies, cut the sentiment out to perfectly frame it. I clipped the ends with some scissors. This is the PERFECT sentiment for this image!!!

I colored the Best Friends Forever Sarah Kay image with Copic markers and framed her on a piece of designer paper cut with the Labels Four die (Spellbinders). The designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket-Early Bird Collection. I added a strip of the felt ribbon from the Snorkel line to add some texture and then topped it with a crocheted flower (which was made by Chris Kirkpatrick, Just email me if you want the details!)

Materials used: Stamps-Friendship Set (JustRite Stampers), Best Friends Forever (Sarah Kay/Stampavie); ink-Memento tuxedo black; markers-red, black (SU!); Copic markers; designer paper-EarlyBird: Brunch, Farmers Market (Cosmo Cricket), Homegrown: Big Polka (Three Bugs in a Rug); Spellbinders Labels Four dies and circle Nestabilities; Cuttlebug (Provocraft); ribbon-Snorkel (Cosmo Cricket); crochet flower (Chris Kirkpatrick); button; sewing machine.

You can find all the new JustRite release in the Stamper's Dream Store.

To see some more JustRite goodness, check out these Stamper's Dream team blogs:
Charmaine, Tosh, Laurie and Michelle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby on Board

I have had this card idea in my head for awhile---and I finally got to create it!

I combined the ambulance from Nurse Feelgood with the bear from Wee Tees and the sentiment from Little Tees (all from Gina K Designs) to create this new baby card!

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Kind of a funny combination of elements but I like it!

The white and rocket red cardstock is from Gina K Designs and the ribbon is from her Eclectic Summer kit.

And just in case you were wondering----Nope--I still cannot sew. The sewing around the white mat is fake! Maybe....someday!!

Materials used: Stamps-Nurse Feelgood, Wee Tees, Little Tees (Gina K Designs); Memento black ink; Copic markers; cardstock-white, red (Gina K Designs), blue (Prism); ribbon (Gina K-Eclectic Summer Kit); designer paper-Bridgeport (SEI); digital paper-Gina K Designs; SU circle/scalloped circle punches; paper piercing tool; clip; Mark Richards metals stickers; slit punch (SU!); dimensional foam tape.

Heading to Sea World tomorrow with my kids and my sister and nephews who are here visiting!!! Woohoo!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gina K Preview Day # 3, a tutorial and blog candy

Contest closed. Random.Cara selected #96 as the winner. Congrats to " Sharon Harnist said...
Great new set, Cammie -- so versatile!"
Congrats Sharon!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Day 3 of the Gina K Designs Previews. The design team has been previewing all of the new sets that will be available after the release party on Splitcoaststampers from 7 to 10 p.m. Central time on THURSDAY!

Today...it is time to reveal my new set.....NURSE Feelgood! I KNOW a few of you guessed this ....but what you did NOT know is that this set is not JUST for nurses.

About a year ago, I illustrated Doctor Feelgood for Gina K Designs....and it was always my intention to do a counterpart--a nurse. However, I did not want to create an image that could only be used for nurses...so I designed a stamp set that can be a nurse...but also can EASILY be transformed into a doctor, paramedic, dentist, PA, vet, teacher, mother and any thing else you would use a female image for.

Here is my first card featuring the nurse as she was originally drawn. There are lots of sentiments in the set that can be used for many occasions. One of the sentiments is the "I {heart} my...." and you can fill in the blank with some professions included or add your own.

In honor of Nurse Appreciation Week (May 6-12, 2009) I created this:

The sentiments, nurse and ambulance are all part of the set. The images are colored with Copic markers. I repeated the sentiment behind the matted image to create a fun background.


The nurse image is fantastic to thank a nurse for nurse appreciation or for caring for a loved one; or it works well to send a fun card to a significant other (there are sentiments for that in the set too!); and it also is great to create cards to send to nursing friends and relatives.

Here is the ambulance used on its own on a card-
I paired this image with a sentiment from Doctor Feelgood. The ambulance on its own is great for an EMT or for a fun valentine or anniversary card. The sentiment reads "Love is the best medicine." So, for this card, I covered up the ambulance cross with a fun felt heart.

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But, this set can be used for so much more....very easily. Because of the way I drew the image, it is simple to alter it to be used for tons of other cards. I only have a nurse hat on her head to distinguish her as a nurse. I opted to put papers in her arms so that she can be ANYTHING you need her to be. Check out how EASY it is to change her:

1. Simply ink up the stamp. (I used Memento tuxedo black ink.)

2. Then, use a damp Q-tip to rub off the ink on the hat. (Gina K's stamps are deeply etched so it is simple to take off ink on one part of an image and the stamped image is always so crisp!) Then, go over the area once more with a dry Q-tip to ensure you removed all ink.

Here is the stamp with the ink removed off her hat--- so easy!

3. Stamp image on cardstock. Whola! She is no longer a nurse. (Just add the little stethescope in the set and she becomes a doctor. Add an apple in her hands and she is a teacher. Put her in front of some animals and she is a vet. Put a tooth image behind her and she is a dentist. Put a child or flowers or a stuffed animal in her hands and she is a mother. Put a graduation cap on her head or stamped in the background and she is a graduate.....The possibilites are endless.)

You can use the same technique to change her hairstyle...or simply add more length to it.

Here are two cards I created to show you the transformation. Here she is as a teacher:

For this quick card, I wanted to show you this set paired with two others from this release: Wee Tees and the One Free with Three set called Notes to Mom. (One Free with Three set is the set you receive FREE this month when you purchase three other sets!!) It is filled with gorgeous sentiments that you will use over and over again!

You can see more Previews of Nurse Feelgood or Notes to Mom on these blogs today:

Gina Krupsky

Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

Emily Giovanni
Kurtis Amundson

Asela Hopkins

Cindy Lawrence

In the Spotlight Designer for Gina K Designs
Beverly Cole


Blog CANDY! Leave a comment on this post to be entered to WIN a NURSE FEELGOOD set!!! Random.Cara will pick a winner on Thursday night at 8 p.m. Central time! (Subscribers can post twice.) Winner must contact me within three days of winning.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you like the new set!

Let's Twist Again Blog Hop

Hello! This is one stop along the MFT Let's Twist Again blog hop. If you want to start at the beginning, go to Kim's blog HERE.

Today we are showing you the newest TWISTED set from MFT--Twisted 2. Not for the faint of heart, this stamp set is twisted and oh so hilarious! Use it to say JUST the right thing... when the right thing may be SO wrong.

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Twisted 2 is chock full of funtabulous sentiments that will fill a certain "void" in your stamp collection. I used one of the most mild sentiments on this card, cause that is just the kind of girl I am (giggle!)

I paired my twisted sentiment with MFT's Tote-ally Fantastic stamp set.
Twisted 2 is available now at My Favorite Things. Also new---Spring and Summer 6 by 6 paper packs. I used some of the spring collection on the card above.

Materials used: Stamps-Twisted 2, Tote-ally Fantastic (My Favorite Things); Memento black ink; cardstock-white (Pure Luxury Gina K Designs), Designer paper-Spring Collection (My Favorite Things); Copic markers; ribbon (MFT); slit punch (SU!); flourish die (Quic Kutz); adhesive dots (Mark Richards); metal adhesive dot; foam mounting tape.

The next stop on this blog trail is the AWESOME Jody!

Thanks for stopping by!

XoXoXo

Whew! A whirlwind trip---we returned from PA late last night and today we spent most of the day unpacking. Ben (6) and Lauren (3.5) got to spend some time playing with the gifts they received from Santa (before we went on our trip!)

My parents come to visit at the end of the week and bring back my oldest daughter, Cara (12), and then spend a week visiting here!!

This week I will be getting ready for the My Favorite Things release next week as well as taking care of some pub work that I owe!

Here is a card I created before I left using the Gina K Designs set illustrated by Asela Hopkins called Framed Friends:

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I used the little owl to create a fun valentine. I love that this set has coordinating smaller images of the large ones--I used the mini owl to create a fun envelope for the card.

The designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket-Chemistry line.

Materials used: Stamps- Framed Friends (Gina K Designs); cardstock-Pure Luxury (Gina K Designs); Designer paper-Chemistry (Cosmo Cricket); slit punch (SU!); Memento black ink; Copic markers; Cropadile; hemp (Hobby Lobby); paper piercing tool; Marvy scalloped circle punch; rhinestones; eyelets; dimensinals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by!

A Winner, A Tin and A nother Give Away!

Hello everyone! Happy Friday. Random.Cara picked number 220 as the winner of yesterday's blog candy--the Gina K Designs set of your choice. Congratulations to Michelle (mla1111) who said... "Thanks for the opportunity to win!"
Please email me the stamp set of your choice (valued at $19.95 or less) and your address!

Today I wanted to share this little tin I created for the Gina K Release. I uses the fun new set called Funky Christmas. The images in this set are darling and totally make me giggle!

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I chose the adorable reindeer image from the Funky Christmas set and put a hand cut heart in his hands instead of the bow. I lined the bottom of the panel with a scallop created by the Threading Water Punch and then threaded some dark hemp through the holes. All of this made the perfect framing for the fun sentiment from the Seasonal Sayings set!

Wouldn't this be a cute way to present a gift card this holiday season?!

Materials used: Stamps-Funky Christmas (Gina K Designs); ink-Memento tuxedo black; real red and olive SU markers; Copic Markers; cardstock-vanilla, red; tin (Gina K Designs); Designer paper-St Nick Collection (Making Memories); Fiskars Threading Water punch; corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); heart punch (Creative Memories); hemp (Hobby Lobby); dimensionals (SU!).

Speaking of gifts and giving....Did you happen to see this blog post by Jody Morrow? She raves about the new Pure Luxury Cardstock from Gina K Designs. I told ya'll it was awesome---but because there still may be a few doubters---one person will be chosen randomly from the comments on this post to receive 10 (5.5 by 8.5") sheets of the 120 lb. Pure Luxury Cardstock (enough to make 10 single layer cards) AND the Pure Luxury Holiday Assortment of ribbon. Good stuff!!! These are a few of my personal favorites that I wanted to share with one of you!

Leave a comment on this post. Random.Cara will pick a lucky winner tomorrow (Saturday) at 6:00 p.m. CST! Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gina K Preview Day #2- Have a Cookie

....or at least, make your own! This new set from Melanie for Gina K Designs is just so yummy. When I think of the impending holidays, one of the first things that pop into my head are these AMAZING cookies my dad makes every year. They are beautiful and they are so YUMMY!

So, for my preview of the set Have a Cookie, I created a cookie recipe book. This is intended to house special cookie recipes that you pass down from one generation to the next and pull out during the holidays to bake some fun assortments for family and friends.
The book is held together with a big claw binder ring, which allows the cover and pages to be flipped over for easy access to a recipe.

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I covered the chipboard cover with decorative paper. Then I added the word "cookies" that I punched out. The focal point is the little equation- milk + cookies = happiness (love).
(Yes, I am spelling it out because my 12 yo kept saying "milk plus gingerbread equals heart with button? SNORT!)

I stamped each image, colored them and cut them out. I paper pieced the heart and added the button. I sewed around the mat and then added the pieces of the equation and the little red scalloped border (which is just a piece of a scalloped rectangular Nestability shape.)

The plus and equal sign are created simply by using the horizontal punch from SU! I used two punches to create each symbol!

After completing the front, I added a ribbon tie to the corner ring and also attached a cookie cutter to show you a fun gift idea.

The pages were cut to size and punched. I inked the edges with Caramel ink and a sponge. Then, I stamped some images from the set along each page before adding the recipes.


You could even laminate each page before you punch the holes to make them last forever! I think this is a great way to preserve those special recipes.

Materials used: Stamps-Have a Cookie (illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K Designs); Memento tuxedo black ink; Creamy caramel classic stamp pad (SU!); button; Copic markers; hemp (SU!); Cardstock-very vanilla, riding hood red (SU!); Designer paper-St Nick (Making Memories); Creativeworks 26 piece letter punch set; sewing machine; Horizontal punch (SU!); Scalloped rectangle Nestability dies (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Cropadile (We R Memory Keepers); chipboard; ring; ribbon (May Arts); dimensionals (SU!); other- cookie cutter.

Head on over to the other dt members' blogs to see their awesome peeks for today:
Asela
Donna
Emily
Erika
Jessica
Kurtis
Melanie
Courtney (In the Spotlight Designer)
and, of course, Gina K!

Hope to see you all at the release party HERE on Thursday, November 13 from 7 -10 p.m. central time for some contests, challenges, giveaways and more sneak peeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

3 by 3 Gift Set

Melanie Muenchinger's newest set for Gina K Designs, A Year of Flowers, is filled with gorgeous blooms--and although I have no idea what kind of flowers most are (lol!) I do know the sunflowers!

I created this little gift card set---the card measures 3" by 3". It is the perfect size to showcase any of the flowers and small enough to be able to complete the project quickly.
I simply stamped the flower, colored it with Copic markers and used my Scor-Pal to create the border around the image. Aside from providing a nice embossed edge, the border made it super easy to stamp the sentiment and align the little black crystal stickers.

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Here is the little gift bag. I originally purchased the little clear box of small cards at Michael's (in the $1 bin!) I gave all the cards that the box came with to my son (who is always wanting lots of things to add to his "school"!) I kept the clear box and small envelopes. So, all I had to do was create the new gift card and add the hemp braided handle and bow. The hemp handle is attached through holes punched with the Cropadile on the sides of the box.

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So easy!

Materials used: A Year of Flowers (Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K Designs); cardstock-white (Stampin' Up!); clear box and envelopes (Michael's); hemp (SU!); Cropadile (We R Memory Keepers); Scor-Pal; Copic markers; Memento black ink; black crystal stickers (Mark Richards); gingham bow (Hobby Lobby).


Here are a few RAKs I received this week from some stamping friends:

This card is from Amber (the winner of the Heart to Heart blog candy)! She send me this beauty to thank me (how sweet!) for all the fun goodies. She used my set Whimsical Autumn, that benefits the Alzheimer's Association, which totally warmed my heart! I love this card---the colors are fabulous. Thanks so very much, Amber. Glad you are enjoying your new stuff!

Denise sent this gorgeous creation to me just to let me know that she was so proud of me for all the Alzheimer's fundraising and cardraising!!!!! She also used Whimsical Autumn on this--Love it! Thanks so much Denise!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gina K. Designs Preview Day #1....And Some WCMD blog candy!

Today begins the first preview day for Gina K Designs! Gina will be releasing the new sets after the release party HERE on Thursday night from 7-10 p.m. (central time).

The first set I am previewing is one by Rupa Shevde called The Magic of Christmas! This set is gorgeous---filled with so many elegant holiday stamps it will make your head spin. (In fact, I really had a hard time deciding what to use for the preview!)

The two different snowflakes are from the set as well as the gorgeous Dove and the sentiment. (The dove stamp actually has greenery in his mouth but I just cut that part off for my sample!)

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I really wanted to make an elegant card for this preview so I kept the design very simple. I love all the gold accents.

One of my favorite parts of this card is the gorgeous RIBBON!!! Wow--I ADORE it. Gina K is releasing an assortment of beautiful ribbons in her store on Thursday too, along with some other awesome embellishments, clear boxes, cd cases...etc.

Materials used: Stamps-The Magic of Christmas (Rupa Shevde for Gina K Designs); cardstock-white, brushed gold (Stampin' Up!); Designer paper-Blitzen Collection-Polar Blue, ? Snowflake (Basic Grey); ribbon (Gina K Designs); Copic Marker; gold embossing powder, clear embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); Heat tool; Versamark; Spellbinders decorative photo corner Shapeablities die, ribbon tags trio ; Cuttlebug (Provocraft); dimensionals (SU!).

Check out the other design team member's blogs to see what they are previewing today!!!

Jessica Fick

Emily Giovanni

Melanie Muenchinger

Lee Murphy

Kurtis Amundson

Joanne Basile

and of course, Gina Krupsky!

Did You Know that World Cardmaking Day is this Saturday- October 4?

Now in its third year, World Card Making Day is a day to connect with fellow card makers around the globe and to celebrate the creativity and joy of this craft! Visit http://www.worldcardmakingday.com/ for ideas and unique ways to celebrate this holiday. Be prepared to be inspired.



PaperCrafts is sending me an issue of Cards, Gifts & More to give away to one lucky person. If you would like to be entered to win--just leave a comment on this post by Saturday night, October 4 at 11:00 p.m. (Central time)
I will announce the winner sometime on Sunday!


TBA: Gina K Designs is getting in on the World Cardmaking Day fun. Make a difference AND be entered to win hundreds of dollars in prizes just by playing along! Details will be announced on Friday!

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Thank YOU!

I was in tears reading all the emails, comments and stories everyone shared with me and I realized that, yes, almost everyone has been touched by Alzheimer's disease. That just makes me even MORE excited about this project!

My new set, Whimsical Autumn, will be released tomorrow night right after the Gina K Designs release party on Splitcoaststampers from 7-10 p.m. Central time. ALL OF MY PROCEEDS from this set will be donated to the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Always.

Gina allowed me to share another peek of this set tonight....but I can guarantee even more at the party tomorrow night!!!

I know you saw the squirrel, the basket of apples, the single apple, the leaf image, the pumpkin, the pussy willows (the flower that Splitcoaststampers will not allow me to type!)....but there is more...there is another leaf image and two swirl designs....I created the background on this card with one of the swirl images:

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And, of course, I wanted to share again the first image that I drew for this set---the basket of apples. I love this image because it is FUN to color and I know I will be able to use it all year long! I will show the whole card tomorrow and later on my blog---just wanted to give a little peek!

I will edit and include more information about these cards later---for now, I just hope you enjoyed these extra peeks of the set! Hope to see you at the release party--Join us for a night of challenges, games and good times!

And don't forget to head over to Gina's blog at midnight---she (and some members of the design team) will be previewing Mel's newest set--you're gonna love it!

****Be sure to enter check out this POST if you want a chance to win this set!

Thanks so much for stopping by!