A Very Special Post

Today is a very special post that I am so honored to write. And that is because today is the 50th wedding anniversary of two very dear people, my in-laws! Happy 50th anniversary, Mom and Dad! Wow, they were beautiful then, even more beautiful now as their marriage and life together have been a testimony of God's grace and love. 

I have personally been blessed greatly from this union and lavished with God's goodness by their love, example and producing my Kris :). Here's an anniversary card that doesn't seem to be enough to show how we feel about Mom and Dad.

This next card is totally appropriate for the occasion. Because of their marriage, I have known happiness beyond my expectation and definitely beyond what I deserve by their raising a wonderful son. And they are the best in-laws any girl could ever ask for. I have seen firsthand their love and care for each other (you still see them hold hands...so sweet), their faith and trust in Christ, and their never-ending sacrifice and service to their family. I am truly thankful that God has brought them to my life. I still remember the first time I met them, way back when Kris and I were still dating. They flew from GA to CA to meet me and in an instant they made me feel part of their family.

We love you, Mom and Dad, and wish we could be there to honor and celebrate two of our most favorite people in the world! Here are a couple of my favorite photos with them. They were taken when we made a surprise visit to GA in 2010. I love the expressions on their face. You can see my original post here.

2nd Blog Anniversary Giveaways Week 2

EDIT: The winners for this week's giveaways are posted HERE.

Before I announce the winners from last week's giveaway, here's a card that I made just because. Don't you just love doing that? I used my GinaK Hugs and Prayers (poppies), Christ is Risen (main verse) sets and Layers of Color's The Love Chapter (script text background). I also used the brand new Spellbinders Labels 18. I did the emboss resist technique on this card. It was inspired by two challenges:

• Etsy-Inspired - the photo inspiration is here.
• Stampin' Sisters in Christ - my treasure is God's Word (the background text is I Cor 13 and of course, the main text), but in card-speak that would be the bling which I hoard like crazy. LOL!
  

And now the winners from last week's prizes. The commenter winner is:

VALERIE

The winner of the subscribers/followers only giveaway is:

#39 LEANNE

Please email me (via tab above) to claim your prizes. Thank you for joining in the fun! Are you ready for more giveaways?

Here are this week's prizes. For a random commenter from today's post until Monday (March 21, 11:59pm PST), I will give this away: Gina K's Lawn and Garden, Seeds of Kindness, which go well with the SEI paper pack (please note this not brand new, but only a few sheets are missing). Remember you get to comment twice a day if you share this post on Facebook or your blog.
For my faithful subscribers and followers (via Google readers, Facebook, blogger, etc.), this is what's up for grabs:

• GinaK's Fun Year Round stamp set
• Some of my favorite SRM Stickers
• 3 colors of twine from The Twinery (15 yards each)
• Maya Road felt cupcakes
  

Remember, you have to enter your name via the Inlinkz below to be included in the drawing. Leaving a comment stating you're a follower will NOT be enough as I have no way to keep track of them easily. If you entered last week, no need to enter again. One entry per person, please. Duplicate entries will not be included in the drawing. If you don't have a blog, just enter mine, but make sure you enter your email address. Thank you for your regular visits!

Red and Black

I am back from the trip to the US and still feeling the CHA buzz. The highlight for sure is meeting so many of my blogging friends. It was an experience I will not soon forget. It was so good, however, to finally see my family at the airport. My girls made me a very colorful welcome banner that came with their wonderful hugs and kisses.

I am slowly recovering from jetlag and trying to get back on schedule. I haven't been creative , but here are some cards I made before I left. They use one of my favorite color combos of red, black and white.

This card uses my Hugs and Prayers and Fanciful Tags sets.

This one uses my latest Gleefully Yours set.

A new color combo for me...

Today's card is for the StampTV's Color Spotlight Challenge. I would never have picked combining the colors this week: white, Vibrant Violet and Fresh Asparagus; but that's what's fun about challenges. They inspire you to try new things.

I used my Hugs and Prayers and Lovely Labels 2 sets for my card. The papers are Pink Paislee Old School and my Vintage Basics digital papers. The ribbon is my hand-dyed seam binding. Speaking of bindings, my girls and I had fun yesterday coloring more of them. You should have seen my rainbow hands. Oh, but the results are so pretty. I may have to share some with you. Stay tuned for a Christmas giveaway soon on my blog!

I just couldn't resist...

...I had to use the Emboss Technique for my card today. I just love this technique. My latest set by GinaK Designs, Hugs and Prayers, is just perfect for it. The text background is from one of my mostly used sets, Vintage Backgrounds. I stamped it with Vivid Straw ink. I then white embossed the poppies from Hugs and Prayers and sponged the panel with Vivid Brick Red. The card base is Sweet Corn CS. The beautiful red stitched ribbon is also from Gina K.

If you want to know how to do the emboss resist technique, see the video below. (If you're reading this from a RSS feed, you may not be able to view it until you go to this actual blog post).

For more projects from the other designers participating in the hop tonight, please check out these links:

• GinaK
• Jessica
• Theresa
• Melanie
• Nina <<-- you are here!
  
• Tami
• Cathy
• Lee
• Donna
• Kurtis
• Emily
• Erika

Card patterns Sketch #73

I am now back in CA after a 12-day trip to WA and GA. We're here just for a couple of days before hit the road again. The last leg of our trip is Chicago for the CHA Trade Show. I can't wait. I got my badge info, so it's official...If you're going to be there, let me know. I would love to meet you. I'll be at the SRM Stickers booth for part of the time, and for another company, which I can't share yet!

Anyway, here is this week's Card Patterns sketch. There are some great Unity stamps up for grabs, so make sure you try out this easy sketch:

And here is my card using my latest stamp set, Hugs and Prayers. I layered the petals for added effect.

And some random photos from our trip to GA. My daughter is learning how to cross-stitch from Nana.

All sweaty from the GA humidity, but having a great time.

Finally, Katy was scared of my BIL's dog, Bella Mocha, because it liked to jump on her and lick her. She finally warmed up to Bella on our very last day there. That was a big step for her.

I'm still here...

We are having a great time in the US, but it's been very busy. We're slowly adjusting to the time, and enjoying lots of family time. My girls are getting spoiled by my parents, and so am I :-). It was a treat to spend 4th of July in the US, too, with BBQ and lots of fireworks. We leave again on Thursday to visit several friends in many states until the end of July. Our last stop is Chicago for the CHA Show. I am so excited. I hope to meet many of you there.

Thank you for stopping by my blog even when I have no new posts :-). I have a new one today using my latest Hugs and Prayers. I layered the butterfly using the tole technique. The label is from my Lovely Labels set that coordinates with the Spellbinders Labels 4, which I used here. The papers are October Afternoon,

I hope you are enjoying a nice summer. I appreciate your visits!

Introducing Hugs and Prayers

Here is my latest set by Gina K Designs, Hugs and Prayers.
And the my digital paper pack, Sizzlin' Summer.

As I write, I'm still getting over jetlag. But, it's good to be back in SoCal to be with my parents, friends and family. We are excited to see them again. I can't wait to hit some craft stores too while here :-).

Hugs and Prayers

I am excited to share with you my latest set, Hugs and Prayers. I designed this as a sympathy set, but as you will see below, it is perfect for any occasion as well.

Sympathy cards are some of the difficult one to make, in my opinion, and so I designed this set to hopefully help with that. Hugs and Prayers includes coordinating silhouette for straight stamping and line drawings for coloring. You can use the coordinating images together for 2-step stamping as well. It also includes sentiments and Bible verses that are perfect to communicate your love and concern to the recipient of the card.

My first card uses shows how you can use the images from Hugs and Prayers for Copic coloring (the flowers) and 2-step stamping (the hummingbird)

I used the line art poppies, colored with Copics, for this card.
And, finally, to show you that Hugs and Prayers is also good for any occasions cards, I created theses card sets. The first set has the silhouette poppies images and different sentiments. As you can see with this set, it's easy to mass produce elegant Clean and Simple cards for gift giving.
This second set of cards uses the poppies line art. The rows of poppies backgrounds are included in my latest digital paper pack, Sizzlin' Summer, which coordinate with many GinaK CS, including Turquoise Sea, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion, Grass Green and Red Hot. The card base is Chocolate Kiss. I'll be making tons of these sets to give away as gifts as we visit many friends this summer. Click on the photo for a larger view.
For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designers' links:

• Gina Krupsky *illustrator of Seeds of Kindness
• Jessica Fick *creator of Seeds of Kindness Card Kit
• Nina Brackett *illustrator of Hugs and Prayers << -- you're here!
  
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Carolyn King
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Valerie Stangle
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Janice Whiting *Seeds of Kindness Guest Designer
• Sankari Wegman
• Asela Hopkins
  

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party this Thursday, July 1st 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! We'd love to have you join in on the fun!