Children's Book Inspired

This month's guest designer challenge at Gina K Designs was book based, so I couldn't resist participating. The challenge was to create a card based on a favorite children's book. Since I taught kindergarten for a long time, I have an extensive collection of children's books--which actually compete for space with my crafting stuff. I made two cards based on favorite books, one for the guest designer challenge and one for one of this week's StampTV challenges.

The first card I created is based on the book Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou. It wasn't a favorite book from my childhood, but it is a book that was a favorite of mine as a teacher.

It uses a garden metaphor to describe the work done by Mrs. Spitzer over the school year. The book starts with the planting of seeds, then describes how they grow and change as Mrs. Spitzer nurtures them over the course of the school year. It makes a great thank you gift for a special teacher!

My card has a pretty pair of flowers made from images in the Fairy Tales stamp set. I stamped the flowers on white cardstock and colored them with Copic markers. The centers are covered with clear page pebbles for a glossy, raised look. I cut the flowers out and set them on a cloud patterned paper background, cut with SU!'s Top Note die. I made grass using a Martha Stewart border punch. For some dimension, I used two punched strips and layered them, using foam tape to attach the layers. I added a vellum butterfly, colored pink with a Copic marker, fluttering among the pair of flowers.

The rest of the layout is very simple. I attached the scene to a pink card base. A piece of green satin ribbon is knotted around the card. I stamped the set's "you shine" sentiment on the grass in black ink to complete the card.

Materials Used:
Fairy Tales stamp set, Green Apple, Bubblegum Pink, and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); vellum (The Paper Company); Top Note die, butterfly Embosslit (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (October Afternoon); green satin ribbon (Michaels); page pebbles (EK Success); grass border punch (Martha Stewart)

My second card, for this week's blast from the past challenge to use glitter, is also made with the Fairy Tales set and is inspired by a more classic, familiar children's book, Corduroy by Don Freeman. I read this one many times in my kindergarten classroom!

In the story, Corduroy the stuffed bear lives in a department store and wishes for a child to take him home. After quite an adventure, his wish comes true and a little girl named Lisa buys him and brings him home.

I took my inspiration from Corduroy's wish for a home and went from there. I stamped the star wand image three times in black ink on three different shades of pink cardstock. The star portion of the image was filled in with my fine-tip glue pen, then covered with super sparkly glitter. I lined the images up on a shimmery white card base, end to end, then knotted a piece of pink ribbon around the cardfront.

I used a border punch to punch a row of stars along the bottom of a pink panel. The set's "make a wish" sentiment is stamped in deep pink ink on the strip. It's slipped underneath the bottom edge of the ribbon strip to complete the clean and simple card.

Materials Used:
Fairy Tales stamp set, Innocent Pink cardstock (Gina K Designs); Melon Mambo Classic ink, Melon Mambo and Pink Passion, and Shimmery White cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); pink grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); Classic Stars border punch (Martha Stewart)

Polished Peace

It was a quiet afternoon here and while Chloe the cutie puppy slept to recover from our big morning walk (and from the excitement of my dropping a container of pizza sauce, causing it to splatter all over the kitchen floor, in my hair, and in my eyes . . .), I pulled together this card for today's SCS featured stamper challenge. It's based on this pretty card.

I used the same stamps, Many Wishes from Gina K Designs, for my card. Instead of sponging a backdrops for the delicate dandelions, I made an earthy green polished stone background panel. I used a combination of three shades of green reinkers along with Ranger's silver metallic mixative. Two dandelions and the sentiment are stamped on the panel in brown ink.

My image panel is a bit larger than in the original card. Because of that, I reduced the number of layers underneath the panel and used a narrower strip of ribbon around the bottom of the card. I have another polished stone panel I made at the same time, still waiting to be used, so you'll probably see something else along the same lines pretty soon.

Materials Used:

Many Wishes stamp set (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss, and Old Olive reinkers, Old Olive, Basic Black, Kraft, and Glossy White cardstock, Old Olive twill ribbon (Stampin' Up!); silver Metallic Mixative (Ranger)

Fairy Tales Pair

***Don't miss my post for the Paper Craft Planet/Susana's Custom Art & Card Design Blog Hop here.***

Jessica is our host for this week's Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge. While Chloe the cutie puppy napped this afternoon to recover from yesterday's excitement and this morning's bath, I pulled together this card based on the sketch using images from the Fairy Tales stamp set from Gina K Designs.

I stamped the set's magic wand image on a pink die cut using sparkly silver ink. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the "make a wish" sentiment underneath the stamped image. The cardfront is covered with a pair of patterned papers from a K & Company Valentine's Day themed paper pad. I ran a strip of red grosgrain ribbon across the smaller paper piece and added a button-embellished bow to the center of the ribbon, right at the top of the stamped die cut. The wide striped paper that covers most of the cardfront is kind of busy, so I kept with simple accent at the edge of the die cut panel. I found a red glitter covered star in my stash and added that to complete the card.

If you have a chance to play along with this week's sketch challenge, please upload your card to the PCP gallery with the keyword sk040310 so it can be added to the album with the rest of the cards based on this week's sketch for everyone to admire.

Materials Used:

Fairy Tales stamp set, Bubblegum Pink cardstock (Gina K Designs); Riding Hood Red Classic ink, (Stampin' Up!); silver ink (Encore); designer paper (K & Company); Labels 6 die (Nestabilities); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); white button, twine (Papertrey Ink); glitter star (Petaloo)

And, while I had the stamps out--and Chloe was still snoozing--I thought I'd give this week's StampTV sketch challenge a try. It's been a while since I played along in one of these and this week's was a pretty simple one. I figured I could squeeze it in before Chloe woke up--and I did.

I used one of the set's sentiments as the focal image. It's stamped in gray ink on a white circle. The open heart image is stamped over the sentiment in pink. I used pink ink to sponge around the edges of the panel for a softer, coordinating look, then layered the panel on pink and gray mats.

I used the open heart image again to create a heart patterned panel for the left side of the card. My Stamp-a-ma-jig helped to position the images just right. I used some soft pink heart patterned paper to cover the gray card base, then assembled all of the pieces. The final element was a pink satin button-embellished bow at the lower edge of the sentiment panel.

Materials Used:

Fairy Tales stamp set (Gina K Designs); London Fog ink (Memento); Pretty in Pink Classic ink, Pretty in Pink and Basic Gray cardstock (Stampin' Up!); white cardstock (Georgia Pacific); designer paper (DCWV-Madly in Love stack); circle and scalloped circle dies (Nestabilities); pink satin ribbon (?); Sweet Blush button, twine (Papertrey Ink)

Sunflower in the Spotlight

With the long winter hopefully drawing to a close, the Paper Craft Planet Super Novas are looking towards spring. That's the inspiration for our springtime theme for the design team gallery this month. Be sure to check it out for lots of springtime inspiration.

I'm adding this card to the collection later on today. It's inspired by this week's blast from the past challenge on StampTV to use spotlighting. I used the technique on one of the flower images from the Lovely Shelf stamp set from Gina K Designs. And, yes, I know that sunflowers are more a fall thing, but when your yard's been consistently covered in 3+ feet of snow since December in an area where lots of snow is out of the ordinary, any sign of any flower is spring-like to you--LOL! Since I was only coloring a teeny, tiny part of the image, this card came together really quickly. I used Copic markers in warm shades of yellow and orange for the flower with a pop of bright green for the stem. The spotlighted segment of the image is backed with a yellow circle.

I used a strip of striped paper from the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow collection along the left side of the cardfront. It's accented with an aqua scalloped strip that's machine stitched on. I layered the image on a matching aqua mat to bring in a little more of the fresh color. The sentiment fit nicely just under the image panel. Lucky for me the image panel wasn't any larger . . .

Materials Used:

Lovely Shelf stamp set, Ocean Mist, Sweet Corn, and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Butterscotch ink (Vivid); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); designer paper (My Mind's Eye-Bloom & Grow line); oval dies (Nestabilities); circle punches (EK Success); Cool Caribbean Classic ink, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, scallop border punch (Stampin' Up!); foam tape; sewing machine

You've Got Mail and a Monochromatic Mosaic

I played along with two different StampTV challenges using two different sets, both designed by Melanie, and came up with two totally different style cards.

First, here’s my card for this week’s sketch challenge. I love the computer image in the Tech Talk set. Here, I colored it with Copic markers and added a message on the computer screen in red ink. The screen is covered with a piece of acetate for a glassy look.

I paired the computer image with some patterned paper with letters printed on it in a variety of colors. I pulled colors from the paper for the colors on my card. The blue background panel is embossed with a ring pattern to add interest. I added the “hello” sentiment on a circle panel at the lower right corner of the image panel. The image and sentiment are matted with red for a little pop. This would make a fun card to drop in the mail to an online friend . . .

Materials Used:
Tech Talk stamp set, Lipstick Red and White cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Riding Hood Red Classic ink, Brocade Blue cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); designer paper (Karen Foster); circle punches (EK Success); Rings embossing folder (QuicKutz); foam tape; acetate

This one is for this week’s blast from the past challenge to use paper piecing. I’ve been wanting to try the paper piecing technique with the large block image in the Inspiration Mosaic stamp set, so this challenge was just the push I needed to do it.

I decided to go with a black and white color scheme. I pieced the different segments of the block together using pieces of paper from a Making Memories paper pack. It took a while to figure out how to piece it together so that the patterns were spread out across the entire block image. I left two blocks white—one for stamping the sentiment, and one for stamping one of the floral silhouette images from the Elegant Flowers stamp set. I layered the image panel on a gray base to complete the card. I’m not sure how I feel about the finished project—this may be one of those things that looked better in my mind than how it actually turned out, but I think it’s starting to grow on me.

Materials Used:
Inspiration Mosaic and Elegant Flowers stamp sets (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); white cardstock (Georgia Pacific); Basic Gray cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); designer paper (Making Memories)

Love and Basketball

The snow has stopped--at least temporarily--but the stamping hasn't. With the long holiday weekend, I had time to check out what's going on at StampTV and tried out two different challenges.

The Heartily Yours stamp set from Gina K Designs is much more than a Valentine's Day set. Here, I used the set along with this week's StampTV sketch challenge to create a sweet birthday card.

I stamped the set's wishing well image on white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. One of the hearts in the well's base is colored a contrasting red and highlighted with some Stickles. I carefully cut the image out and set it on a softly sponged background with foam tape.

I paired two papers--a striped and a dotted one--from the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow line for the panel on the card front. The papers are divided by an embossed green strip, wrapped with an aqua satin ribbon. The top edge of the birthday sentiment from the coordinating Heartily Yours Additions set is slid underneath the band.

Materials Used:
Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions stamp set, white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Aqua Mist and Spring Moss cardstock, Aqua Mist satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Soft Sky and Certainly Celery Classic inks, sponge (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (My Mind's Eye-Bloom & Grow line); Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Ruby Slippers Glitz Stickles (Ranger); foam tape

When I saw that this week's Blast from the Past challenge was woodgraining, I knew I wanted to give it a try. This is such a fun and easy technique. With the Olympics going on now, I guess I have sports on the brain, so I decided to make my woodgrain piece a basketball court. Yes, I know that basketball's a summer sport in the Olympics, but it's still an Olympic sport--and it's only about a month until March Madness begins.

Anyway, I did my woodgraining on a piece of More Mustard cardstock with a combination of cream, caramel, and mustard inks. The panel is layered on a contrasting red card base. I used images from Melanie's Sporty Accessories stamp set for the image panel. The pennant is paper pieced with a scrap of red cardstock. I stamped the basketball image on a scrap of paper, colored it with Copic markers, then cut it out and added it to the panel with foam tape.

I placed a strip of Gina's Tan Leather cardstock across the cardfront. This paper has a fabulous texture. It's held in place with a row of zig zag stitches and a copper brad. This one's going in this month's Paper Craft Planet DT gallery, too. Our theme for this month is stitching and the gallery's filling up with some fabulous samples. Be sure to stop by and check them out here.

Materials Used:
Sporty Accessories stamp set, white and Tan Leather cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); More Mustard and Creamy Caramel Classic inks, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, and Very Vanilla cardstock (Stampin' Up!); circle dies (Nestabilities); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); copper brad (Making Memories); sewing machine; foam tape

I Found You

With all of the snow, I had plenty of time to be creative over my extended weekend. I made this card for this week's StampTV sketch challenge and for this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. This week's featured movie was Sleepless in Seattle and the required design element to include on your card was a red heart. Mine on this card is just a tiny red heart, but a red heart just the same!

I cut some K & Company designer paper into squares just a bit larger than 1" and arranged them in an alternating pattern on a dark brown mat. The mat is stitched into place on a kraft card base with a zig zag stitch. I was going for a kind of quilted look here.

The sentiment is from the Heartily Yours stamp set from Gina K Designs. I stamped the image in brown ink on a kraft panel, then filled the heart in with a red Copic marker. I traced around the edges with a Lipstick Spica pen for just a tiny bit of sparkle and shimmer. The image and mat were cut with Nestabilities circle dies--I switched out the oval in the sketch for a circle--and a simple ribbon tab was attached to the panels. I set the sentiment on the card with some foam tape to finish the card.

Materials Used:

Heartily Yours stamp set (Gina K Designs); Rich Cocoa ink (Memento); marker, Lipstick Spica pen (Copic); Chocolate Chip and Kraft cardstock, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (K & Company); circle dies (Nestabilities); foam tape; sewing machine

Snowy Saturday Sketch

It’s a super snowy Saturday here—a great day for staying home and stamping, not that I have any other choice with two feet or more of snow on the way! Here’s this week’s Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge to get your weekend started.

The sketch is based on a card I created a while ago. For this one, I flipped the elements to the right side of the card just to switch it up a bit. Feel free to add more layers if you want (like a mat under the image or a panel slightly smaller than the card base underneath all of the other layers).

I used some pretty flower images from the Lovely Shelf stamp set from Gina K Designs for my focal image. The flowers are colored with Copic markers. The vase is lightly coated with Glossy Accents for a glazed, watery look. I paired the flower image with a strip of striped paper from the Bloom & Grow line from My Mind’s Eye. The colors in the paper coordinated nicely with Gina K’s Pumpkin Spice and Sweet Corn cardstock, so I used those colors, along with a soft blue photo corner.

I also incorporated some stitching into my card. That’s our PCP design team gallery theme this month, so be sure to stop by the gallery for lots of projects featuring stitching. I machine-stitched the edge of the sentiment panel and the border between the striped paper and the decorative edge punch, too.

If you have a chance to play along, upload your card to the PCP gallery with the keyword sk020610 so that it can be added to the album with the rest of this week’s creations. I’m looking forward to seeing your take on the sketch!

Materials Used:
Lovely Shelf stamp set, Pumpkin Spice, Sweet Corn, and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Butterscotch ink (Vivid); markers (Copic); Soft Sky cardstock, photo corner punch (Stampin’ Up!); designer paper (My Mind’s Eye); silver brad (Making Memories); Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars); Glossy Accents (Ranger); sewing machine

Monochromatic Peace

Finally, Friday! I'm so ready for the weekend. I'm still tired from my trip and looking forward to spending some time resting and relaxing at home (and catching up on General Hospital, too). We're supposed to get just a bit of snow, so that makes the idea of staying home even better.

I made this monochromatic card for this week's StampTV sketch challenge. The images are from the Many Wishes set from Gina K Designs. I used shades of gray with just a bit of black for a mostly soft look.

I stamped the flowers, stem, and sentiment on a pale gray oval panel, then inked the edges with some darker gray ink, coordinating with the ink I used for the images. It's hard to see in the photo, but I added some clear Stardust glitter pen to the flowers for a subtle shimmer.

I used some retired SU! designer paper to cover most of the cardfront. The pattern has a tone on tone look that was a good match for my monochromatic grays. The only embellishment is a super shiny silver satin ribbon, tied around the long panel extending from the bottom of the oval panel. Simple, but elegant.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow morning to check out my card for this week's Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge. I hope to still be sound asleep when my post goes live!

Materials Used:

Many Wishes stamp set (Gina K Designs); Smokey Shadow ink, Soft Stone cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black and Basic Gray cardstock , Basic Gray Patterns designer series paper (Stampin' Up!); oval and scalloped oval dies (Nestabilities); silver ribbon (Target); clear Stardust pen (Sakura)

Just Zooming By

My best friend has two little boys, so that definitely calls for a non-heart and frilly Valentine. I think that this one, featuring images from the Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions stamp sets from Gina K Designs, fits the bill.

I stamped the hot rod image in black ink and added some details with Copic markers. The hub caps on the wheels are coated with a gray Glaze pen for a sort of shiny look that’s not really captured in my photo. I had just enough room at the top of the image panel to fit the sentiment, with the “hi” omitted.

I paired the car with some orange paper with bold, circular design elements—a nice match for the wheels on the car and not too girly. I added a black strip across the cardfront, broken up with a line of red ribbon accented by a single silver brad. The hot rod panel is attached over the strip using some foam tape.

The inside of this one is decorated so that I could finish off the sentiment. I attached a strip of the patterned paper used on the cardfront, along with some red and black strips as accents. The sentiment is stamped above the patterned paper, still leaving me room to write a personal message.

Materials Used:
Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions stamp sets, white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Real Red Classic ink, Real Red and Basic Black cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Summer Sunrise cardstock (Papertrey Ink); designer paper (K & Company-Lemon Drop line); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); silver brad (Making Memories); gray Glaze pen (Sakura); foam tape

Perk Up!

*****Scroll down to the post below to check out my post for this month's i {heart} papers design team challenge.*****

Here’s my card for this week’s StampTV sketch challenge. I used the cute mug image from the new Heartily Yours stamp set from Gina K Designs to make a fun get well card.

To get the two-toned image, I inked the mug using red ink for the mug and saucer and a gray marker for the steam. Each image was punched out using a 1 ½” circle punch. It cut off just a bit of the saucer, but I think it still looks okay. Each mug image is layered on a Lipstick Red scalloped circle with paper piercing in each scallop to break up the red just a bit.

I love the colors and texture in the DCWV Farmer’s Market papers, so I used one of them for inspiration here. I used a patterned panel on the top of the card that had just a pop of red. I layered the panel on a red mat, extending beyond the bottom of the patterned paper so I’d have room to stamp the sweet get well sentiment on the bottom of the card. Here’s a little paper-saving tip for you—when you’re working with a large panel like this red one that you know will be mostly covered by another layer, punch out shapes from the panel to use either on that card or to be saved for others. The red scalloped circles I used here were all punched out of the layer hidden underneath the designer paper.

The blue color was a nice match for Papertrey Ink’s Ocean Tides cardstock, so I used that as the card base along with a piece of grosgrain ribbon to divide the patterned and solid sections of the card. The sentiment is stamped at the bottom of the card in black ink. I'm not feeling that great myself right now, so I'm hoping that I'll perk up soon, just like this card suggests . . .

Materials Used:
Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions stamp sets, Lipstick Red and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Real Red Classic ink, scallop edge punch (Stampin’ Up!); Tuxedo Black ink, London Fog marker (Memento); designer paper (DCWV-Farmer’s Market Stack); Ocean Tides cardstock, Ocean Tides grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); 1 ½” circle punch (EK Success)

I'm in Lava with You

I couldn't let that cute little lava lamp image from the new Heartily Yours set from Gina K Designs sit uninked any longer! Like I said earlier this week, I've had an almost life-long fascination with these things, so it had to be done.

The lava lamp image is stamped in black ink and colored with Copic markers in shades of pink and red (even though my own prized lava lamp is a pretty blue). To get a glass-like look for the lamp, I stamped the image again on a scrap of acetate using StazOn, then cut it out and attached it to the colored image.

I paired the lamp with Gina K's new Lipstick Red and Innocent Pink cardstocks.The coordinating sentiment is stamped in black and layered on a pink mat. I added a folded pink ribbon underneath the sentiment as a simple accent. A strip of SU!'s retired Riding Hood Red Prints Series designer paper runs across the paper. I attached a paper pierced pink strip on the bottom of the striped paper and did a little more paper piercing around one edge of the image panel. I think I'm in lava . . .

Materials Used:

Heartily Yours stamp set, Lipstick Red, Innocent Pink, and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Jet Black ink (StazOn); Riding Hood Red Prints Series designer series paper, Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, mat pack and paper piercing tool (Stampin' Up!); 1 1/2" circle punch (EK Success); acetate; foam tape

Bee My Valentine

I got some goodies in the mail today from Gina K Designs, including the new Heartily Yours stamp set. When I saw the adorable lava lamp image in the set, I knew I'd have to have it. I must admit that I've had an obsession with lava lamps since I was a little girl. My sister gave me a blue one for my birthday when I was in college (that I still treasure) and I'm thrilled to have one in my stamp collection now, too! Despite my excitement about it, the lava lamp wasn't the first image I used in the set. Instead, I used the cute bee image for this card for today's SCS sketch challenge.

I stamped the bee and the coordinating "bee my Valentine" sentiment on a white oval. The image is colored with Copic markers and the wings are highlighted with a bit of Star Dust Stickles for some iridescent sparkle. The panel is layered on a mat cut from Gina's Sweet Corn cardstock.

I paired the bee with two patterns from October Afternoon's Farm Fresh line. The papers are layered on a card base made from Gina's new Lipstick Red cardstock. The color's a pretty good replacement for SU!'s retired Riding Hood Red, a color I find myself using a lot, so I'm glad there's a good substitute that's easily available for when my stash runs out. I stitched a piece of pleated grosgrain ribbon across the cardfront as the only embellishment. It took up a lot of space, so there really wasn't room for much else.

That's it for tonight. I'm off to watch some Wisconsin basketball--go Badgers!

Materials Used:

Heartily Yours stamp set, Lipstick Red, Sweet Corn, and White cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); designer paper (October Afternoon-Farm Fresh line); Riding Hood Red Classic ink (Stampin' Up); oval dies (Nestabilities); Stardust Stickles (Ranger); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); sewing machine

Elegant Bleached Melon Flowers

Here's a simple card I made for today's SCS featured stamper challenge. It's based on the floral silhouette card found here.

I used the same stamped image from Gina K's Elegant Flowers stamp set, but instead of stamping the image with white ink, I used bleach instead on a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock. It looks so pretty! I've found that when using this technique, it works well for me to fold up a paper towel and set it in an empty plastic clamshell stamp storage case, then pour some bleach over the towel. That way I have a case to keep the bleach (and bleach fumes) safely away from me and my projects.

I added a trio of pearls to the lower left side and some paper piercing to the top corners of the image panel, then layered it on mats that coordinate with the Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper I used to cover most of the cardfront. The look of the bleached image is a nice match with the sort of distressed look of the patterned paper. I used a strip of ribbon as an embellishment across the cardfront. I added a "cheater" bow (small piece of ribbon knotted around the band set across the card) as a simple embellishment.

Materials Used:

Elegant Flowers stamp set (Gina K Designs); Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper, mat pack and paper piercing tool (Stampin' Up!); Raspberry Fizz grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); lavender pearls (Mark Richards); bleach

You've Got Mail

Melanie is marking her second year of designing for Gina K with a celebratory blog hop. Here's my contribution to the hop, using Mel's Tech Talk set and this week's StampTV sketch challenge.

I stamped the laptop image on red cardstock and cut it out. The screen and keyboard are paper pieced. A pair of sentiments from the Tech Talk set are stamped on the screen in red ink. I added an acetate overlay to the computer screen for a more realistic look.

I used a piece of striped Cosmo Cricket designer paper as the backdrop for the computer. A piece of Gina K's Ocean Mist cardstock runs across the panel, serving as a table or counter (haven't decided which it is--LOL!). The computer is attached to the panel with some foam tape.

I layered the image panel on a red mat, then set it on an Ocean Mist card base. I added a trio of rhinestones in graduated sizes to two sides of the panel to complete the design.

You can see the rest of the cards created for this hop by checking out this post.

Materials Used:
Tech Talk stamp set, Ocean Mist and White cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Real Red Classic ink, Real Red cardstock (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (Cosmo Cricket-Lil' Man line); red rhinestones (Kaiser Craft); acetate; foam tape

Just for You

It's been a dreary day here with gray skies all day leading to late afternoon cold rain. While the rain will make a dent in some of the huge (and I mean huge!) piles of snow everywhere, it's made a big, cold mess. So, I went for a spring feeling card when I sat down to craft after I got back from a yummy Mexican food dinner at Chevy's with my friend and her family. We eat at Chevy's pretty much every Friday night and were pleased to find that it was open for business as usual on Christmas Day.

Here's my clean and simple card featuring images from the Lovely Shelf stamp set from Gina K Designs for the December customer blog hop featuring the newest GKD releases. I stamped the floral image on white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers in shades of blues, greens, and yellows. The flower petals are lightly painted with Candle Light Shimmerz for a subtle sparkle and the center of each flower is dotted with a coordinating size pearl. I coated the vase with some Glossy Accents for a liquid-y look.

I paired the floral image with a piece of dotted paper from the Bloom & Grow line from My Mind's Eye. I added a decorative border to the panel, machine stitched for a nice detail. The panels are arranged on a cardfront made from a piece of Gina's new Creme de Menthe cardstock. The sentiment is stamped on a panel to match the decorative border. A piece of celery ribbon is at the end of the panel as a final decorative touch. It hasn't quite fooled me into thinking spring's near, but it's a good start!

Materials Used:

Lovely Shelf stamp set, Creme de Menthe and Ocean Mist cardstock (Gina K Designs); white cardstock (Taylored Expressions); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); designer paper (My Mind's Eye-Bloom & Grow line); Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); self-adhesive pearls (Kaiser Craft); Glossy Accents (Ranger); Candle Light paint (Shimmerz); sewing machine

Sweet Treat

I've had these chocolate covered spoons sitting in a plastic bag on my kitchen table for a while, left over from this project. When I saw today's anything but a card challenge on StampTV and this week's challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges, I thought I'd give their plain packaging a little makeover with a simple bag topper.

I used a red panel, punched with my Apron Lace border punch, for the topper base. I layered a piece of Gina K's Ocean Mist cardstock over that and tied a piece of red satin ribbon around the panel.

I combined some images from Gina K's 100% Sweet ( just the spoon from the sundae image) and Warm Winter Wishes stamp sets for the round image panel. The heart on the mug is coated with Ruby Slippers Glitz Stickles for some sparkle. After coloring the images, I layered the panel on a red mat, then used foam tape to attach it to the topper. I stamped the "warm winter wishes" sentiment in red on the Ocean Mist paper and added a red rhinestone to complete the topper. Wouldn't these be cute packaged in a mug made from the template in my post below this one?

Materials Used:

Warm Winter Wishes and 100% Sweet stamp sets, Ocean Mist and white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Real Red Classic ink, Real Red cardstock, corner rounder (Stampin' Up!); circle dies (Nestabilities); red satin ribbon (Target); Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars); red self-adhesive rhinestone (Darice); Ruby Slippers Glitz Stickles (Ranger); foam tape

Glitter and Cheer

With all of the snow outside, I had plenty of stamping time on Saturday. I made these two cards for current StampTV challenges using images from Gina K Designs.

This card is for this week's blast from the past challenge to use colored glitter. This was the first time I've created a multi-colored glittered image like this (I've used multiple colors of glitter on acetate, but not on cardstock). With my kindergarten teacher background, I'm not a huge glitter fan--I've seen first-hand the damage that just a teeny, tiny bit of glitter can do--LOL! But, the Quickie Glue Pen made it pretty easy and it didn't end up being too, too messy.

I used a cupcake image from the Sweetest Blessings set. The image was colored with markers, then covered with a combination of different brightly colored glitters from Stampendous and Martha Stewart.

I kept the card's layout really simple to keep the focus on the glittery focal image. I layered the cupcake and coordinating sentiment on Summer Sunrise cardstock circles, then arranged the pair on a Berry Sorbet card base. I added a ribbon tab, embellished with a coordinating button, as an accent. I like the layout and may find a way to use it again soon.

Materials Used:

Sweetest Blessings stamp set (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink, pink marker (Memento); Berry Sorbet ink, Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise cardstock, Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon, Berry Sorbet button, twine (Papertrey Ink); markers, 1 3/8" circle punch (Stampin' Up!); 1 1/2" circle punch (EK Success); circle dies (Nestabilities); glitter (Stampendous; Martha Stewart-Garnet); Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura); foam tape

This card is for this week's sketch challenge. I used the cheerleader uniform from Sporty Accessories as the focal image. The image is colored with Copic markers. I added a cut out pom pom to the panel with foam tape, then layered it on a Riding Hood Red panel. A coordinating grosgrain ribbon tab is slipped under the left side of the image panel.

I found some fun paper in my stash with a pattern that kind of reminded me of pom poms. I used that to cover most of the cardfront. The "cheer up!" sentiment is stamped on the set's megaphone image. I used this in place of the sketch's circular panel. I think it still works!

Materials Used:

Sporty Accessories stamp set, white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Riding Hood Red cardstock, Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (K & Company); foam tape

Hand-in-Hand and #1 Fan

I played in two different StampTV challenges, using two different Gina K Designs stamp sets designed by Melanie.

Here's my card for this week's sketch challenge. I used the Hand-in-Hand set for the focal image. The hands were stamped on white paper, colored, then cut out and attached to a cream panel. The cream panel coordinated better with the colors of the elegant DCWV La Creme Matstack papers I used for the cardfront. The " a perfect fit" sentiment fit nicely along the bottom of the panel. It's an open-ended enough sentiment that this card could be used for either a wedding or an anniversary.

I stretched a piece of cream satin ribbon across the cardstock, covering the seam between the two patterns. I added a simple cream Prima flower with a Dew Drop pearl at the center to complete the card.

Materials Used:

Hand-in-Hand stamp set, white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Very Vanilla cardstock (Stampin' Up!); designer paper (DCWV's La Creme matstack); cream satin ribbon (Michaels); flower (Prima); Dew Drop (Robin's Nest); Silver Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

This card is for this week's "blast from the past" challenge, featuring a technique previously featured on a StampTV video. The technique here is partial Cuttlebug embossing. I hadn't tried this technique before--it was pretty easy to do and worked nicely in my Big Shot. I used the Stars embossing folder for my sports themed card. It's embossed on the top portion of the navy panel.

I used a combination of images from Just So Sporty and Sporty Accessories for the image panel. The banner was colored first, then the "#1 fan" was stamped over the banner. I stamped the football on a scrap of paper, colored it, then added it to the panel with some foam tape.

I cut the embossed panel to about 1/2" narrower than the card base on both sides so that more of the cool texture of the tan leather cardstock would be visible. I ran a piece of red grosgrain ribbon across the card where the embossing ended, then layered the image panel on top of that. A single silver brad accents the ribbon.

Materials Used:

Just So Sporty and Sporty Accessories stamp sets, Tan Leather and White cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Creamy Caramel Classic ink, Night of Navy cardstock, sponge (Stampin' Up!); Stars embossing folder (Cuttlebug); oval dies (Nestabilities); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); silver brad (Making Memories); foam tape

Snow Day Stuff

Well, yesterday was in fact a "snow day" here. It snowed pretty much the entire day, leaving a pretty coating on the grass and trees first, then eventually sticking to the sidewalks and roads a bit. The perfect day to spend at home being crafty!

I tried out a few StampTV challenges using stamps from Gina K Designs. The first one I did was to make a treat holder for the 3d challenge. I have been wanting to try to make a cute matchbox style treat holder, so that's the kind I did.

My treat holder is decorated with images from the Hip to Be Square set. I used a few different stamps to build the snowman face. I couldn't find the carrot stamp for the snowman's nose so I ended up cutting one from a scrap of orange cardstock. Fortunately, I found the stamp stuck to the rings of my storage binder--those tiny ones are tricky to keep track of!

For the inside, I kept things simple. The sentiment from the Warm Winter Wishes stamp set is stamped in dark blue ink on a light blue panel, then a chocolate is slipped inside the pocket. Easy and yummy, too!

Materials Used:

Hip to Be Square and Warm Winter Wishes stamp sets (Gina K Designs); Enchanted Evening and Fresh Snow inks, Enchanted Evening cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); silver brads (Making Memories); silver paper (Target)

I also took on this week's sketch challenge. I used the wine glass image from the A Charmed Life set as the focal image on the sketch's large oval panel. The image is colored with Copic markers. Some Dazzling Diamonds and gold metallic paste add just a little sparkle to the liquid in the glass. I added the snowflake charm to the glass using silver ink. It's hard to see in the photo, but I added a tiny rhinestone to the center of the snowflake.

I covered the cardfront with a pretty metallic paper panel that was very difficult to photograph. It kept reflecting my red (go Wisconsin Badgers!) shirt--LOL! After adding the image panel, I had just enough room to fit the "Cheers!" sentiment along the bottom of the card in silver ink. I wanted to add some ribbon to the card and finally settled on placing a silvery bow at the top of the image panel.

Materials Used:

A Charmed Life stamp set, white cardstock, metallic paste (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Basic Black and Basic Gray cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds (Stampin' Up!); silver ink (Encore); designer paper (Stemma); petite oval dies (Nestabilities); silver satin ribbon (Target); silver brads (Making Memories)