Thursday, January 7, 2010

Introducing "Square Pegs"


Wow, what a party!!! I am still adding to my tip sheet for this new set, but will share it very soon; in the meantime here is a quick, very self-explanatory sample with it so I can go get some posts done for you for the weekend! :)
The new XOXO image from "Square Pegs" fits beautifully inside the "Tech Talk" computer screen, just mask the edges before stamping to send someone cyberkisses!! The XOs and heart are stamped in Vivid Brick and cut out and popped up on top, and I stamped the new little greeting onto one of the tab label images from Gina's new Organize it! STV Kit! Cardstock is the new Pure Luxury Lipstick Red, along with White and Black Onyx. Background is embossed with Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder , and the dotted ribbon is also from the new kit! I'm so excited how these clean graphic images from "Square Pegs" for all seasons will be working with my computer set (among many others!) all year long!
Okay, more in a bit! Hugs!!!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Sneak Peek: Heartily Yours and a new Perfect Pattern!

Nina Brackett has two totally fun and funky sets this month: "Heartily Yours" and "Heartily Yours Additions", the first a set of both trendy (lava lamp, groovy baby!!!) to timeless classics ( like this VW bug, hee hee!) and a set of extra greetings for even more options! I stamped the Bug in black and colored the open space she has for flames with some red and yellow Copics, cut it out and popped up, adding some adhesive nail heads to the wheels. isn't that cute how she did the sentiment , it's perfect with the little car! I cut some hearts with my Cuttlebug Dies in Rocket Red and mounted it on White, Black Onyx and Rocket Red base. I used the Scor-bug to make a little dotted road. Is that a fun card, or what??
Below is my original design for the card, I just changed it to the one above because I couldn't get it photographed as well as I would have liked but thought I'd go ahead and share the best pic becuase I still like the concept! This is a side-fold card, with the front scored in the middle and folded back, so it looks like a backward "Z" when you stand it up and view from the top.


The bug is attached on the left side so when it's pressed flat the car is right in the middle with the little swirly sentiment coming out of the tail pipe, but then when you open it up fully it looks like the bug has sped away down the street, so to speak! It's hard to see in the pic, but I cuttlebugged a little trim underneath the car to ground it. Congrats Nina on another great set! (That lava lamp is calling me!! LOL!)

Now here's another peek at my new oven I previewed last week, our first Perfect Pattern Pop Up from Gina K Designs! I know from surfing around tons of your are enjoying the free download of the pop up desk(and makign the cuuutest little ards with it!), so you know how easy these pop up templates are to install! :) This works much the same way but has all the details to create a kitchen in your card in no time! This template will be available for purchase tomorrow night for only $1.95, and you can print it out to use as many times as you like! It coordinates perfectly with my "Have a Cookie" set, but today I wanted to also show how you can sneak in a few images from Nina's "Lovely Shelf" to make you little baking spot even more lovely! After stamping her shelf on the wall above, I added my cookie jars and rolling pin, then "hung" my little measuring spoons from the scroll bracket! If you cut down the vase a little shorter, it fits perfectly under the shelf. I made the tile floor by stamping the the solid square from my "Hip to be Square" set in black on Pure Luxury White, the base is the new Lipstick Red. I embossed a scrap of it with the Victoria Cuttlebug folder and cut a little trapezoid for a kitchen towel. I could do some serious cooking in baking in a kitchen like this, couldn't you? ;)

For even more inspiration with our new stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these GinaK Designers' links:


Nina Brackett {Illustrator of Heartily Yours}

Gina Krupsky {Illustrator of Love Notes}

















Jen Charboneau {CSS Designer}
Finally, winners for my blog candy can be found in this post, thanks for your patience! See you at the party on Splitcoast Thursday 7PM CST, can't wait!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sneak Peek: StampTV Kit

You are going to love GinaK's newest StampTV Kit "Organize it!" Oh my word, when I first saw the stamps included, I was just floored how useful all the images and words are, for making lists, tabs, planners in a pretty way, but also how beautiful and versatile the images and fonts she selected are, they go way beyond getting organized! The plans I have for the organizers will take a little more time to complete, and I suspect you'll see some awesome ones in our hop today, so I'll share some simple ones! The first stamp I had to ink up was the "little black book"! That Gina, she is feisty!
The label was stamped in Memento Black on Pure Luxury White and punched with a 1 -3/4" circle. I stamped the heart from the set in cranberry ink and adhered it over the black one in the middle.

And here's my LBB (little black book)!
It's just paper, and A2 sized. Cut a 5 1/2"x 81/2" piece of Black Onyx cardstock and round the four corners with the small corner rounder punch. Now place one end in the Mosaic Cuttlebug folder, centered into the pattern so it leaves a space on the sides. Repeat on the other side. You will have about a 1/4" in between each embossed side with no pattern, this will be the spine, and you'll see how easy it will just fold at these edges without scoring! Emboss another scrap of black with the same print, and cut a strip 5/8" x 4" and round these corners also. Adhere the end with Scor-Tape to the back of the book in the middle. The closure tab is cut with a Cuttlebug Tiny Tag die, place a 5mm adhesive nail head over each hole on the ends, bend, then adhere to the front middle of the book, leaving a "hump" instead of adhering it flat for the strip to to easily pass through. That's it!

You can put a Valentine message inside (with JUST your sweetheart's name and number! hee! (and maybe a rating! 10 of course!) ;) and present it as a card, OR attach a large post-it note pad inside , the long strip gives plenty of room for the book to expand. Adhere some pockets inside if desired. This thing totally looks like the real deal, I am just so excited about how it turned out!


Oh, a quick update I was able to do with the set, I added some tabs from Pure Luxury White to my Tech Talk addy book I shared a couple weeks ago, using the same circle punch to go around the tabs. The space inside the semicircle is left blank to add the many tiny words included in the set. Too cool!
As always, the kit is packed with an amazing assortment of crafting goodies: 2 stamp sets, 24 sheets of heavy base cardstock, an assortment of brads, ivory sateen flowers and 12 yards of a variety of beautiful coordinating ribbons in 5/8" and 3/8" widths.
To see more projects made with the new StampTV kit, check out these designer's links:





Then, tune in to the newest StampTV video available tomorrow morning at StampTV as Gina will be sharing a special project she made with the new kit too!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sneak Peek: Square Pegs and Purrr-fectly Delightful

My newest set "Square Pegs" gets its name from coordinating with one of my most popular sets from Gina K Designs: "Hip to Be Square". You can stamp a card appropriate for any occasion once you have these two sets (see samples with "Hip to Be Square" here), and all the new images and greetings are tailor made to fit the squares in the frame (get it? pegs??) :) It will be a great starter set for a beginning stamper, as well as a staple for the seasoned stamper, I promise you will love the versatility and value of this set! With a mix of both bold and line art images, you can color then in or stamp up quick cards with eye-popping color, and there won't be a technique you can't do! They'll make the perfect focal points or tags.

It was hard to know what to show you first (this set has over 40 stamps and I've already inked them ALL! even the Christmas tree!!) so I'll just start with the next few holidays coming up: first a sweet love card using just the frame from the Hip set, and all new stamps from "Square Pegs", perfect for Valentine's Day or any time you want to send some hugs and kisses!
The XO block stamp is so fun to punch, layer behind an image, make borders or kiss onto the many bold images included! There is one bold heart in the set, and it is a perfect fit for the Extra Jumbo Marvy Scalloped Heart Punch (yellow) which I've used here. It looks beautiful stamped in a solid color or kissed with one of the decorative borders in the set, see the sweet little flowers and dots? And I love how the little missing sliver on the left gives you instant "shine"! ;) "Lots of love" is one of many lovey greetings included that can work for multiple occasions. Cardstock is Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss and Ivory, frame is stamped onto Basic Grey and border is colored with Coral Copic, ink is Vivid Coffee Bean and Brick.

Next I have one without the frame, little Easter card using just "Square Pegs"this time, this is an example of how you can also use the new images as elements to create a scene. I've given you both a solid and an outline oval, that you can use to create colored eggs (along with the three borders you see above to decorate them, I had a blast two-step stamping these!), but the ovals can also be faces , bodies etc, it's a really great shape to have in your collection! (Substitute the circle from "Hip to Be Square" if you like fatter bunnies!) The ears, face and whiskers can be stamped together at once or trimmed apart to change the positioning to have them look at each other, make their ears perky, floppy or a mix! Their little paws were created by cutting out just the tips of the stamped floppy ears. DP is October Afternoon Report Card, cardstock is Pure Luxury Ivory and Sweet Corn. I punched a scalloped top for my border and scored it to make a picket fence.
I would have loved to share 10 more projects with this set today, they are all so different, but I'll end with these little treat boxes, Nina created templates for several new boxes and the patterns will be added to the GinaK store Thursday. This just shows how easily you can stamp up some quick gift packaging or party favors with this new go-to set! The top flaps on this particular flower box fold into a flower that matches an image in the set! :) The shamrock I stamped once in green and then in red and trimmed out one of the leaves (hearts!) from the red one to put on top of the green, now it doesn't necessarily have to be for St Patrick's Day.

Here is how I stamped out the red pattern on the flower power box. Easy peasy! Below you can see how adorable it looks with the Extra Jumbo Marvy Flower punch (yellow), I like having the options of turning it to fit (right) or in between the scallops (left) to make different layers. The larger red punch if you want to mat it like I did above is the Super Jumbo Flower (blue).

The other images in this set are perfect for your square and circle punches you already have, and the teeny greetings will fit just about any punch or die! I hope you love this set as much as I do! I can't wait to see what the design team made! More samples at the party Thursday and the tip sheet Friday morning! :)


The next sample uses my favorite image from Theresa Momber's new set "Purrr-fectly Delightful"! Siamese are some of my favorite cats, so I used my Warm Greys and two aqua Copics to create the traditional markings, and cool greys to shade the white teacup. GinaK is releasing this gorgeous new Pure Luxury color: Passionate Pink, so I colored my flowers this way so I could sneak this in for a mat and a base! I took two pink Copics to color a white paper flower to match and Mimosa Yellow on the new white buttons Gina is carrying for the center. The pale Pure Luxury Ocean Mist mat adds eye-popping contrast to the hot pink and really brings out those beautiful blue eyes. :) DP is Basic Grey. Last I pierced a double trial with the Scor-bug on the left side ,we can pretend that's just a detail or kitty cat scratches... ;)

I have a REALLY funny one I made with this set AFTER I'd already written this up, but I'm very excited to unveil it at Thursday's party!!! Hee! MEOW!!!!


For even more inspiration with our new stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these GinaK Designers' links:

Theresa Momber {Illustrator of Purrr-fectly Delightful}




















Joan Ervin {CSS Designer}


Betty Neville {CSS Designer}

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Sneak Peek: Wishes and Dreams

Tonight I have fairy card for you, using the new set "Wishes and Dreams" by AliciaK, did you know I looooooove fairies?? Yes, I do! I colored and cut out this little pixie and then stamped and masked a little garden below for her to light upon using "A Year of Flowers", don't these sets look GREAT together? Everything is colored with Copics and all the little details are traced with the Sakura glitter pens to add sparkle and "magic fairy dust".
Now for a little extra birthday surprise, I added another fairy, this is my first time to try a wiper card! This image that could fly up and hover over the scene was too perfect for me to put off trying one any longer! ;) (and it really wasn't that hard...) I stamped the little fairy trail and stars below her from the set, this is a nice transition so you don't notice the pink flap sticking out of the card below her as much, and another greeting to decorate the last panel.
Last here is a top view to show the scoring and dimension to better understand how the card pulls open if you've never seen one of these in action. No, your eyes don't deceive you, I got a smudge on the front of the card after taking the pics above, so I stamped the little stars under "Hope your birthday is magical" to cover it up! (Looks better now, though, right?)

This wiper card folds flat and fits in an A2 envelope. Card base is the new and long anticipated Pure Luxury Innocent Pink, available this Thursday at Gina K Designs!
Something else fun about this new set: For this month only, when the "Wishes and Dreams" stamp set is purchased, the card kit will be included. Instructions for the card as well as enough materials to make 3 cards will automatically be sent along with the stamp set. Sweet deal!!
For even more inspiration with our new stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out our other GinaK Designers' links:

Tami Mayberry {Illustrator of Happy Hearts}







Melanie Muenchinger (you are here!)






















Saturday, January 2, 2010

Baby Boy Quilt: No Sew!

I loved reading so many comments from the past two days that for many of you "Hand in Hand" is your favorite of all my sets! It certainly has a very special place in my heart, the images all remind me of people who have touched my life. I believe I shared this card at a release party months ago for "Inspiration Mosaic", but I don't believe I shared it here. I colored the image (see my tips for coloring skin and the shades I used in this tutorial) with Copics and sponged Antique Linen Distressing Ink before removing the die. The panel is popped up over the mosaic. The colors and stitched ribbon and brown button give it a definite "boyish" feel. And look how easy it was to create the background...

Stamp the mosaic grid onto a piece of patterned paper (in brown on Basic Grey shown here) and color over select panes with markers to look like a pieced quilt with coordinating patterns of different colors! Did I ever show you the sample I made using the pink piece above and "Wee Tees"? (I'll have to go back and look!)
There will be a RAK request posted soon, along with another Mr.Linky, look forward to more of these this year, I love having you play and stamp along. TWO more days to get your project in for the candy! I really enjoyed going around and looking at all the projects tonight, woweee!! Did you know you can enter more than one project? ;)
Sneak peeks start in less than 24 hours! My first peek for our previews had me trying out a technique that was new to me: a wiper card! can't wait to share, stay tuned! :)

Faux Silver frame

I love the drama of these luxurious colors together: Cranberry Tart, Silver Lining, and Smoky Slate, aren't that beautiful with the black and white tinted photo? I haven't shared much of this new gorgeous gray but it is such a fabulous alternative to black and looks so elegant next to Silver. Stamping the "Festive Frame" onto the Silver CS looks like an engraved silver frame, I cut out the oval and then added my pic behind it. TIP: The image looks very subtle because I forgot to use Stazon when I stamped it, this dries better on metallic cardstock, so i just blotted it before it had a chance to smear and it really does look like the pattern is etched., happy accident! :)

Time to work on getting those Christmas photos scrapped! :)

Are you ready for sneak peeks??? Still time to leave a comment below for the candy, and keep those stamped contest entries coming! *

Have you signed up to follow my blog or subscribe through Feedblitz or a reader? Do so NOW for an extra chance to win!! Already following or subscribing? You can leave another comment, too, let me know on this post! :)

*(PLEASE do NOT add your name to the Mr. Linky unless you have created a project! Thank you!)

Friday, January 1, 2010

We're Celebrating Two Years and 25 Sets Blog Hop!

This blog candy is now closed. Winners were chosen randomly. Congrats to:

Sharri Seffens who won my new Square Pegs set!

Marsha Drain, who won a set of Nestabilities (please email me with your set choice ASAP!) :)

-A Charmed Life set goes to Donna Rinkel

-Sporty Accessories goes to Juli Smith,

and finally the signed CardMaker issue goes to Donna Polley!

Thank you again everyone for your comments and adding your gorgeous samples, I will be back to share some of my faves this weekend along with some comments from and thoughts from me on the hop! Winners, please email me your snail addys ASAP so I can put your prizes in the mail! Thank you!

It's hard for me to believe that since I started illustrating and blogging two years ago I have already released 25 stamp sets with GinaK Designs (and written over 700 GinaK posts!!)On this first day of the new year, I am celebrating this huge milestone with the help of 25 designers, showcasing ALL my sets, starting with my very first set, "Just So Hippy", going in order all the way up to my most recent "Tech Talk"! I have been SO excited about this, a retrospective not only of my designs but so many ladies who guest designed or won contests with them, it will be such a wonderful stroll down "memory lane"! I have offered many different styles over the the past two years so it's gong to be really fun seeing them all together (There is candy plus a chance to join in our hop at the end of this post!)


I'm eager to get hopping but I had to share something so here is a quick peek of a new pop up template I have coming out next week, I created this little oven to go with one of my favorite sets from 2008, "Have a Cookie"! All the baking images you see here are from that stamp set!
DP is October Afternoon Report Card. I'll be back next week with the full card sample and instructions for assembling the oven, it's very similar to process for putting together my desk template, you are going to love using this template with that the cookie set to make your own little pop up kitchens! :)

Now, off we go!
Just So Hippy-Charmaine
Just So Hoppy-Donna
What’s in Your Tin 1 & 2-Donna
Hip Hop Accessories-Bee
Jumping for Joy-Barb
Cuddles and Hugs-Jessie
Little Tees-Cat
Just So Sporty-Pam
A Year of Flowers-Theresa
Say it with Flowers-Selma
Have a Cookie-Carolina
Tee Talk-Gabby
Hand in Hand-Ally
The Best Things in Life-Shannon, Sankari
A Charmed Life-Cathy
Wee Tees-Libby, Laura Jean
Arranged with Love-Selma
Sporty Accessories-Tina
Inspiration Mosaic-Jennie
School Sports Spirit-Melissa
A Year of Leaves-Geri
Hip to Be Square-Karen
Festive Frame-Linda
Tech Talk- Lee


Finally, Nina and Jessica from the GinaK Senior Design Team have joined in, too! You can also get in on this hop yourself and increase your chances of winning a prize by creating your own project with any one of my sets and linking it in the Mr. Linky below. Hope you can join the fun! Enjoy your first hop of the year! :)


Thank you ALL : designers, readers, customers and friends, from the bottom of my heart for taking this journey with me, I know SO many of you are faithful readers of my blog and have amassed quite a collection (in some cases every single one!) of my sets! Here's to a wonderful year of stamping and creating for each and every one of us in 2010!

Now it wouldn't be a party without candy! I have several prizes up for grabs, so I will be drawing several winners, one for each:

-a signed copy of my new set releasing next Thursday January 7th, trust me you'll want this one, you can stamp with it the whole year!!


-a signed copy of "Sporty Accessories" stamp set


-a signed copy of "A Charmed Life" stamp set


-one set of Nestabilities dies that GinaK carries, your choice!


-a signed issue of the latest issue of CardMaker (January 2010), which features 3 of my designs in its pages (and one from the lovely and talented Carolyn King!) :)




Just leave a comment below telling me either your favorite set of mine, favorite project from this blog the past two years, or favorite project from today's hop to enter. Get an extra chance at winning the newest set and the Nestabilities dies by joining in our hop and creating your own new sample with any of my sets and adding your name and link to the Mr. Linky below. Then, on your blog entry, refer people back here to my blog so they can hop to the next name on the list.

You can continue to add links until next Monday night, 1/4, at 10:00 PM CST. On Tuesday morning, I will post the winners of all prizes and some of my favorite samples from the customer hop! :)

So start your year off right and enjoy a little time stamping over the weekend and add your project here! And don't forget to visit each of the links posted and leave them a comment too! I hope you'll find some new fun bloggers and Gina K fans and friends, and get lots of inspiration along the way!

(I reserve the right to remove any inappropriate links or links that do not link to a project using one of my sets. Please use direct post links to the this blog hop challenge only.) Thanks again, can't wait to see your creations!








Thursday, December 31, 2009

The BIG hop is just a few hours away!!!*

I will be posting the big hop and candy tonight at 12 CST, just a heads up! There will be prizes you can win just by leaving a comment , but there will be extra chances at winning, if you make your project using any of my stamp sets and add it to the Mr. Linky. Just wanted to let you know in case you are staying in this evening and feel like getting a heads start on your stamping! ;)

See you in a few!

* oh yeah, and New Years, too!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Earth Love Baby


Here's a card I made with Hip to Be Square for my neighbor down the street who just had a baby, I stamped the frame directly onto the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love paper. Cardstock base is Pure Luxury Sweet Corn and White. I added a white paper flower behind the baby face like a bonnet and used more paper flowers and buttons from Gina K to put in each of the squares. Last I rounded the corners with a punch and Cuttlebugged the button trim along the bottom and top.

Thanks for looking, the BIG HOP is almost here!!!