Gina K. Preview Release Day!

The day is finally here! It’s our last day of previews so that means our release party is almost here! I hope you’ll join us! My first card showcases Carolyn’s new charity set, Warm Winter Wishes—100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of her grandmother who died a year ago. I’m sure she would be so proud…I know we all are on the GK design team! This set is so cute---I love snowmen! It is a mini set, but you get so many fun elements in it, such as a coffee mug, snowflake and fun sentiments! I was inspired to make a frame for my snowman and had so much fun making this card – I wish you could see it IRL—the dimension on it because of the inset frame and paper-toled snowman is great. I colored him with copics and put red stickles on the heart. The snowflake background is emboss resist (snowflakes from the stamptv kit).

Next up is the One Free with 3 set, Holiday Hospitality which is a great set with a large ornament and several greetings for you to make cards, scrapbook pages, gift tags (like I made here) and the list goes on! The sentiment I used on my Hip to be square card the other day is in this set. I used Vintage Holly digital papers made by Emily Giovanni on the card & wrapper around the pumpkin spice bread I made.

Here is a close up of the tag I made for the bread, paper-piecing the ornament and using foam tape for dimension, it was real fun - I love the look of it. I used ribbon from the stampTV kit, white organdy with sliver of gold, it’s just beautiful.

Head over to GinaK's blog to add your comment to her blog entry for a chance to win the stamp sets being previewed tonight our blogs! Then, check in on Carolyn King's blog - the Illustrator of Warm Winter Wishes.



Here are the rest of the links to the Design Team Members participating in the hop tonight:
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Nina Brackett
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber

CenterStage Spotlight Designers:
Joy Hadden
Lori McAree

We'd love to have you join us at our Release party Thursday, October 1 over on SCS starting at 7pm CST. There will be lots of chatter, samples, contest questions, and challenges - you won't want to miss it! Check out Theresa's discussion if you're new to our Release parties for some helpful information to get you started.

Gina K. Preview Day 3: StampTV kit!!

It’s time to feel the magic of the season! This next stamptv kit called Holiday Cheer includes Holiday Mix, a fun Christmas set chock-full of whimsical solid images and Holiday Greetings, a wonderful sentiment set for the outsides and insides of your cards! I used them both on my snowflake card. The snowflakes were stamped with versamark ink on glossy cardstock and embossed with clear powder. Then, I sponged several shades of blue ink for Emboss Resist. This is the first card I attempted to stitch with the cool zig zag stitch, but it was prior to watching the Janome Sew Mini videos Gina has on StampTV so I didn’t have the tension right. BUT, considering how much time I spent on the main panel, I wasn’t about to scrap it (I kind of like the look of the jagged stitches – it’s growing on me!) The card base is In the Navy. The sentiment was punched with 1 1/4” circle punch and the inside with 1/2” which was popped up with foam tape.

My next card is one I made using a wreath so I made a door for it to hang on. It was real simple. I scored the rectangle panels on pure luxury white heavy base weight cardstock. Then I layered same size rectangles on top for dimension. I used the soon to be released cardstock Good as Gold for my card base (which is just gorgeous & the perfect weight for cardbases and layering (10 sheets for $6.50). This card will fit in a standard envelope (I believe the measurements are 3 1/2” x 5.25”) I added a gold brad from the kit for the door knob and ribbon from the kit on the wreath.

Here is the open view of the card (I’m not sure why I had the door open to the left, I suppose it’s because most houses I’ve lived in had door knobs on the left—but I know that some have them on the right. Oh well). I used a sentiment from Wreath of Wishes for the inside, as well as a simple flourish! I would love to hand out cards like this at our next housewarming party, which could possibly be around this time next year! We have begun the process of building our dream home on 2.5 acres we purchased almost 2 years ago. It is exciting (and going to be quite a bit of work too since we have chosen to be our own general contractor to save a lot of $). I want to have the kind of home I grew up in; we would have visitors often, someone that was just driving by to someone we hadn’t seen in years-it was a safe haven and a place where great memories were made…I want a home like that again. I look forward to it.

Be sure to check out the wonderful previews by the design team using the StampTV kit!

Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber

And then head over to GinaK's blog to add your comment to her blog entry for a chance to win the new StampTV! Lastly, on StampTV there will be a new video technique showing shimmering background paper with an image from the new StampTV kit!

Gina K. Preview Day 2

Today I have a cute new set illustrated by Melanie to share, called Hip to be square – but I didn’t used the focal stamp for my card!  I’m sure other designers will, though.  I wanted to share with you that you can use the ‘extra’ images in the set and there are SO many, to make SO many different cards!  If you know Melanie, you know she made yet ANOTHER super-versatile set for our stamping enjoyment!  I used elements to make a snowman head!  The sentiment I used though is in another sneak peek set you will learn more about tomorrow *wink*.  It’s so easy to make extra cards when it comes to holiday card making.  I am showing you both cards to see how simple it can be.  I used the snowflake cuttlebug folder for the white panel and put the snowman head on it with foam tape.  I also added a few buttons from the holiday button assortment.  The green cardstock layer is from the holiday cardstock assortment, called All Spruced Up, a pine green color that is 100lb card stock, which is lighter than our heavy base weight but heavy enough for a card base. It will punch and die cut easily and has a companion Ink, Vivid Vintage Green. 

My next card uses the new beautiful set, Lord of the Season illustrated by Nina Brackett.  I used the Fall topiary for my card as well as elements from the new Autumn Assortment set: Fresh Asparagus, Sweet Corn and Chocolate Kiss, in addition to the pretty striped ribbon & buttons.  I love these colors!!!  I also added a few leaves from A Year of Leaves on the Fresh Asparagus layer with versamark ink.  The Topiary is colored with Peerless Watercolors.  I absolutely love the Scripture from Ecclesiastes for this set, which I used on my card. 

The following designers have creations to share with you:
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

CenterStage Spotlight Designers:
Giovana Smith
Janice Melton

And lastly, be sure to check out GinaK's blog to add your comment to her blog entry for a chance to win the new stamp sets being previewed tonight!

Mark Your Calendars for Thursday, October 1st 7-10:00 p.m. CST for our release party at SCS member company forum. 

Gina K. Preview Day 1

It’s hard to believe it’s barely October and I am sharing Christmas cards and Valentine’s cards with you today.  Such is the wonderful life of a designer (working ahead of time).  Theresa has illustrated a gorgeous set for Christmas called A Very Merry Christmas.  I used the beautiful mistletoe image on my card to share with you.  Recently I picked up a coveted Janome Sew Mini and have had a hard time preventing myself from stitching on ALL the cards I’ve been making.  You will see this is one of my earlier cards, because I had not yet mastered the art of the corners!  I used my textile cuttlebug folder and made a frame for the mistletoe.  Rocket Red & Pure Luxury white cardstock was used for my card.

Here is my Valentine’s card-how’s that for working ahead?  This fun all-year ‘round, all-occasion set was designed by new illustrator, Tami Mayberry!  It inspired me to make a Valentine’s card because of the fun open & solid hearts in the set. I have always adored the postage you could print up, but having a stamp set to be able to create the same look is so much better!  The sets I used on my card are Special Delivery & Special Delivery Add-on.  In order to create a sponged look around my postage sections, I cut a mask with windows in some acetate and then I laid it on top of the stamped image & sponged (brick red by Ranger).  I also sponged on my rocket red base to add more interest.  I loved stitching with black thread!!  The button I used in the center of the I LOVE YOU is one of the new embellishments in the holiday assortment, which will be available for only $2.95 in a reusable clear pillow box!  You get a TON in there! 

Be sure to check out all the wonderful creations by everyone sharing today so you don’t miss a thing! 

Theresa Momber, Tami Mayberry, Carolyn King, Cindy Lawrence, Cathy Tidwell, Emily Giovanni, Erika Martin, Jessica Fick , Kurtis Amundson, Lee Murphy, Lynn Mercurio, Melanie Muenchinger

CenterStage Designers: Kay Simmons, Linda Payne

and Gina K.  See ya tomorrow!!

Spooky Treats

Since Halloween is right around the corner and as a designer I’m about to embark on sharing Christmas with you, I wanted to share a few Halloween treats I made using new TE stamps, Spooky Expressions and Trick or Sweet!  The first project is made using a clear A2 size box that I filled with some yummy special m&m’s that were the perfect addition to the Basic Grey Eerie paper that comes in the Halloween Key Ingredients.  I covered the front with a little spooky scene I made with adding the witch from Trick or Sweet with new Spooky Expressions tree & cauldron.  I love the spooky font of the what’s brewing sentiment!

Here’s a view of the back  of the treat container: the one package of purple metallic candies was not quite enough for filling the package, so I threw in a few metallic pink ones.  They are both quite delicious!! 

 

 
This other treat is a simple candy slider I made for a small individual package of Twizzlers (rainbow colors).  I used all supplies from the Halloween Key Ingredients as well as sentiment from Spooky Expressions – I love it, Boo Bites!!  Don’t you just love the font used on that too?? 

Hope you are having a great weekend so far! 

TESC84: Hey Sailor

Happy Friday! It’s time for another Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge (84). Today I have a cuppie sailor card to share with you, combining 2 sets by TE, Beach Bum (sailboat) and the cuppe sailor in the new Trick or Sweet II set. I love that this set can be used for more than just Halloween! I used the August 20th key ingredients kit for my car, which I adore! I thought they went well with my theme. You may notice I omitted the mini cuppie in the sailboat and popped it up for dimension and added some stardust stickles to it. This card was fun to make, because it started with a great sketch and a fun idea to combine these sets. On the inside, I used a sentiment from Faith & Hope that says, “I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship”

Here is Taylor’s sketch for you to try; be sure to leave a comment on Taylor’s blog with the direct link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so we can check it out! You're always welcome to play with any of these sketches at any time.
COMING SOON: There is still no no featured sampler for this week as Taylor is gearing up for introducing some new and exciting changes to the sketch challenge.

Be sure to check out the fabulous creations the sketch crew has to share with us today:

Taylor Van Bruggen
Jami Sibley
Lynn Mercurio
Monika Davis
Sherrie Siemens

Before you go, please stop by the SASI blog to see our Friday Friend Jen Tapler! Have a wonderful day & fabulous weekend!!

Welcoming Fall…Only in Austin…

Well, happy Fall, Y’all!  Could you tell the season changed?!  I’m sure in a lot of areas you do, like the East Coast where the colors really change on the leaves, or in the mountains where it snowed yesterday (*Lucky Lee*), but in Central TX we hardly ever can tell a change.  But, this year we did although I hear a rumor it won’t last for long!  We got a cold front over the weekend and it started to RAIN earlier this week, a good solid rain---yea!!  The temperatures actually dropped to 66 degrees during the day.  I heard it will be back in the mid-t0-upper 90’s by today.  It’s usually VERY HOT still in Sept/Oct here so I always welcome the cold weather.  In fact, last night I couldn’t pass up a super soft blanket while shopping at Costco – I just want to snuggle in it with a good movie & my favorite bowl of popcorn (that’s pot popped with greek seasoning, garlic salt & melted real butter). 

Ok onto my cards I have to share!!  The first one is made with the Signs of Autumn stamptv kit!  I used the Mojo 95 sketch from July for this card and for my panels, I stamped, colored & sponged around the images.  The solid digital paper (Timeless Solids) is a freebie at stamptv by Emily Giovanni and the other paper is in the kit. 

This next card is one I made using last month’s Are we there yet? set by Rupa.  I made it to look like a fall road, but made the scooter off-roading because of the poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, to make your own path.  I combined this set with tree silhouettes. 

Speaking of making your own path – some people just seem to march to the beat of their own drum, especially in a city as eclectic as Austin!   A few months ago, while out driving, we saw a PIG MOBILE – someone actually pays homage to their love of all things PIG and it drove by so fast, I missed being able to get a picture.  that is, until the other day when I was shopping at Hobby Lobby, I had the privilege of being able to park right next to it so I could grab a few pics to PROVE what is not all that uncommon in Austin.  HA!  Isn’t this hilarious!!  So what is the most hilarious thing you’ve seen lately??    For closer views of the pictures, you can click on view full album. 

View Full Album

P.S. – did you see Gina K.’s exciting announcement yesterday?  We are welcoming a new illustrator to the group – Tami Mayberry.  You will adore her first 2 sets – so fun!!!   And TODAY she announced a new product Pure Luxury Companions which include a great assortment of cardstock, ribbons & buttons! 

P.S.S. – for those of you who remember I posted about my first Algebra test last week ago, I finally got the results and I was pleased to say I got a B!!  I was really hoping I had aced it, though!  I would have too, if I hadn’t made some really stupid mistakes – lessons learned!! 

Cinema Saturday with Gina K. Designs

I can hardly believe there is a challenge blog out there I’ve known about for quite a few months and have never participated in.  In addition to that, it’s all about being inspired by movies to create a card or project and I LOVE watching movies!!  And, it is run by one of my favorite fellow design team members, Sankari Wegman who I just adore. Lastly, it’s been almost a YEAR her & her friend Brooke have been bringing blogland the challenges because this week it’s the 50th challenge!  Well, Gina K. Designs is sponsoring the giveaway and I thought it was a great time to take the plunge & play along!  The movie this week is Pretty Woman, which I really loved and cannot recall how many times I watched it (I know it was at least 3).  

I chose (just like  lot of others) to use Retro Boutique illustrated by Rupa for Gina K. Designs.  I find it fascinating how clothes can really change someone’s attitude.  I love all the fun she had while shopping in the snooty boutique after he set the snooty women straight.  Well, as much as I loved the story, the happy ending and such – the movie just left me wanting more and was sadly disappointed there was no sequel to the movie.  So my card was inspired by what I would have liked to see happen – I wanted to see them get married so I created a beautiful, sparkly white gown.  One of the requirements for this challenge is to paper-piece and I did that but it’s hard to tell.  I paper-pieced her dress but with white cardstock so it can be more sturdy after I put stardust stickles on it.  It’s o.k. though, as part of GKD design team, I’m not eligible to win the prize – I’m just playing for fun!  I also combined this challenge with a few Clean and Simple challenges, which I am behind on: CAS32 (wedding card) and CAS33 (sketch).  I added some real stitching since I got a new Janome Sew Mini last week (fun!).  The pattern paper is Basic Grey Sultry and the embellishments are bling & dazzle sateen flowers with flower rhinestone centers. 

I hope you will have time to play along – Gina is giving away a prize package worth over $60!   Have fun!!

Before you leave, in case you missed the BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS on Gina K.’s Blog yesterday – we welcomed the new CSS design team & a new member to the Sr. Design Team!!

Spooky Sweet Treat

I have a simple spooky sweet treat & matching card to share with you using the newly released Spooky Expressions set by Taylored Expressions.  Did you know Taylored Expressions offers die cut favor boxes in quantities of 10?  There are 25 different styles and they come in a LOT of prism colors, flat for shipping and very easy to decorate & assemble – some for as low as 20 cents each!  These are a fun way to make treats for your kids, or something for them to pass out at school or church or maybe you want to make some treats for your co-workers.  This cuts out a ton of work for you!

I used the Window Boxes for my upside down sucker treat.  I just used a glue dot to hang them from the inside of the treat.  I also made a matching 3-inch card & my decorating was real easy with just a small strip of designer paper Basic Grey Eerie from the Halloween Key Ingredients in addition to the little bit of stamping I did.  I stamped the spider web with stazon black ink on the acetate window on the treat bag.  I finished off my treat & card with some of my favorite double edge polka dot ribbon from the TE store. 

Thanks for visiting today! 

TE September 20th Key Ingredients Subscription

It’s the 20th of the month so it’s time for another Taylored Expressions Key Ingredient Subscription reveal!  

I squealed with delight when I got this one – it’s hard to imagine, but these elements keep getting BETTER & BETTER!!  I adore the patterns in this Kitchen Spice by Bo Bunny, so Taylor asked us to be inspired by the name of the paper for our challenge.  We also are incorporating the distressing techniques like Laurie shared in her TEBB challenge last week. For a larger view of the project, click on the picture. 

I decided to make a message center for our kitchen.  My MIL is always writing sweet notes & it’s how we communicate a lot since we all have different schedules.  Usually it’s just a post-it note next to the microwave so I thought it would be fun to make a standing message center to put on the counter.  I used one of my metal frames from Target a few years back – so glad I bought more than I could possibly need at the time since they have come in handy for different uses.  I covered a few magnetic clips (in the above picture) that I got from the dollar store and I also covered some of the different sized chipboard flowers with the paper & stuck some magnets on the back.  I used the cute coordinating buttons for the centers with some cotton thread.  The title was made using the JustRite Brayton Font *(on sale in the TE store!)   I even tucked a mini gel pen in back of the magnets (you can see it peeking out of the end). 

The board I made on the right was inspired by something I actually have in my kitchen (sorry I didn’t get a picture) but it’s a tile trivet with the quote, “Smiles around the table are the best compliment” it always speaks to me because one of my gifts is hospitality, which I learned from my mom growing up.  Our home was always open to our friends after school, dinner always enough for an unexpected guest and it was always the one everyone came to for celebrations throughout the year, in addition to all the holidays.  I love to entertain and want my home to always be like the one I grew up in.  I made this card to give a very special person but I won’t say who because I want it to be a surprise.  But let’s just say it is someone who is near & dear to my heart and continues to have her home be just like the one I grew up in.   The font I used for this quote is the lowercase Times New Roman by JustRite.  I used Fresh Flowers to make a shorter vase for the flowers in the ‘center of the table’. 

Here is a close up of one of the clear buttons in the key ingredients that I punched a circle of designer paper to dress it up, along with some yellow cotton thread.

Don’t forget, we're now offering this as a monthly charge program. So instead of paying for all 3 or 6 months upfront, your credit card will be charged on the 15th of each month of their subscription. The 6 month subscription breaks down to just $14.95 a month plus shipping! What a savings since one month purchased separately is $16.95!

For all of you who get the key ingredients, we want to issue you a challenge to get it out & use it!  You can participate in the challenge that was set forth for us & link your projects on Taylor’s post so we can check it out!  Can’t wait to see what YOU make!!

Last but certainly not least, these artistic stampers on the design team have samples to share with you today, I can hardly wait to see what they made!  Taylor, who will have full color photos of all the elements in the key ingredients, Charmaine, Jodi, Karen G., Laura and Sharon

TESC83: Piggies & Candles

Happy Friday y’all!  It’s time for the weekly Taylored Expressions  Sketch Challenge!  I have to admit I struggled with coming up with a good idea for this sketch at first.  I know I wanted to use my new Trick or Sweet II set – the little piggie since he hadn’t been inked up yet, and I first thought of how the 9 squares in Taylor’s sketch reminded me of one of my favorite t.v. shows from growing up in the 70’s – you know the one – The Brady Bunch?  Then, I thought of one of my mom’s favorite game shows she used to watch – Hollywood Squares with all the stars in them.  So I put Piggie in different frames – I’m still not sure about this card but I decided to show it anyway! 

I had a good idea for pattern paper with 3 sentiments from the sketch you can hardly see because the piggies take up a lot of room on the front of the card, so I decided to decorate the inside with it, so you can see better.  It’s ‘Whoa, Sugar Rush’, ‘Super Sweet’ and ‘We’re all little piggies on Halloween’ – but at first glance this could be a non-Halloween card, right? 

So here is the card I finally was happy with that I came up with later.  I used For the Love of Cupcakes (it was the first time I used the number candles) and paired it with The Places You’ll Go key ingredients for a fun kid’s card-I imagine I would circle the age they are turning before I send it but I left it blank because I don’t have a recipient in mind just yet.  Isn’t this card better than the first?  Oh, I forgot to mention, I used Smooch on the numbers (pumpkin & green apple) – the Baker’s Dozen had a product spotlight on that on Wednesday!  It was great.

Here is Taylor’s sketch for you to try; be sure to leave a comment on Taylor’s blog with the direct link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so we can check it out! You're always welcome to play with any of these sketches at any time.
COMING SOON: There will be no featured sampler for the next couple weeks as Taylor introduces some new and exciting changes to the sketch challenge.

Be sure to check out the fabulous eye candy the sketch crew has to share with us today:

Taylor Van Bruggen
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Lynn Mercurio
Monika Davis
Sherrie Siemens

Hope you have a sweet day & marvelous weekend!!

School, Sports, Spirit! Hop with Gina K. Designs

 
It’s time for a Gina K. Designs blog hop using Melanie’s new School, Sports, Spirit! set so in the spirit of our great nation, I have 2 cards in the Red, White & Blue theme to share!  My first card I made to look like a bulletin board and locker of the MVP of the school football team (shoot, I forgot the MVP sentiment, oh well).  The bulletin board (cork) is something I found clearing out the garage a few weeks ago and I figured I would use it on a card.  This card was fun to make – I combine a few images from Sporty Accessories too (football, pennant, shoes, lockers). 

For my next card, I made it a U.S. Olympic skater card and combined  the set with Little Tees & Tee Talk as well as Stars & Stripes digital papers (Freebie at STV), in which I mimicked a U.S. flag (definitely NOT to scale-ha) but I think the concept is a fun one and not one I had originally planned – it just worked out that way. 

There are a ton of designers participating in this hop, so be sure to check them all out!  Especially Melanie’s since she is giving away one of her sets in a random drawing!

First check out Melissa Shultz, Melanie’s guest designer this month who has really been ROCKIN’ this set!   She has also asked a few STV friends to join us: Sharri & Mary Anne

The following design team members have cards to share:

Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber

and last, but certainly not least since these ladies have stepped up to the plate with their wonderful creations this month, our CenterStage Spotlight members Geri Utterback & Tina Gilliland! 

TE Center of Attention Product Spotlight – Smooch!

Taylor & the Baker’s Dozen Design Team are bringing you a Center of Attention Product Spotlight each month on the 16th & today’s focus is Smooch!

Be sure to check out all the sweet creations made just for YOU to introduce you to this FUN product!   I will have a sample using SMOOCH on Friday with my TESC! 

Taylor Van Bruggen
Denise Marzec
Jackie Pedro
Dawn Easton
Sankari Wegman
Laurie Schmidlin
Karen Motz

SMOOCH SALE: In honor of our Center of Attention, the I Want it All New Smoochitem is 15% off through Thursday, September 17th! That's 8 new colors for just $30.60. Or if you'd rather purchase individual bottles, you can find all 16 of the Smooch colors HERE.

Witches Brew Treat

I have a fun Halloween project on the SASI blog today!   Go check it out & let me know what you think! 

Have a great day! 

Elegant Verses Blog Hop with Gina K. Designs

I’m so glad you’ve stopped by my blog today because it’s time to share some inspiration with you using Nina Brackett’s new set Elegant Verses {companion sentiment set to Elegant Post}. On my card, I used pretty new papers Earth Love by Cosmo Cricket, a new 6-inch paper pad. The light is stamped on vellum cardstock with white stazon ink and embossed on the back side with an embossing tool on a mat, being careful to not push too hard & rip the paper. I colored in the back lightly with a few markers. Then I put a few jump rings from the sentiment to the top of the light. Sorry about the crooked brown satin ribbon I added (lol). Do you like the Labels 7 from Spellbinders I stamped the sentiment on? I love that it looks like an open book. I was imagining this as an open Bible, which is so fitting for this sentiment. I also used a sketch from a new blog called Crazy for Challenges; there’s a great group of ladies on that team!

Your first stop should be the illustrator herself, Nina Brackett, who I’m sure will have some wonderful creations! Nina has asked her very talented friend Silke Ledlow to join us in the hop too.

And the following GKD ladies will have something to share with you too:
Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by! Say a prayer or wish me luck (whichever you prefer; I have my first Algebra test Tuesday afternoon!

PTI, Whipper Snapper, CC Designs, Artful Inkables sets for sale

I’m in the process of clearing out my stamp area and have some stamp sets for sale if anyone is interested that I have not used in over a year and would love to pass on to someone who would use them. View the PTI website if you want to take a look at the sets and idea gallery.

All in good condition, some stamps hardly if not ever used. U.S. Shipping is $5 for up to 4 sets (in a priority envelope) or you can choose First Class (about $2 for one set). Only accept paypal payment.

Papertrey Ink

$10 sets (RETAIL IS $15)

Believe $10
Little Lady $10
Papertray Sentiments $10
Ambassador Alphabet $10

$16 sets (RETAIL IS $24)

Borders & Corners (Rectangle) $16
Butterfly Kisses $16
Holiday Treats $16

Whipper Snapper
Posies for You (signed by artist 4/100) only a few stamps used. Retail is $19.99
$14, includes first class shipping

C.C. Designs
Monkey Love
You My Little Monkey (bonus stamp, can't find on-line)
I'm Bananas For You (bonus stamp, can't find on-line)
$9, includes first class shipping

Artful Inkables
Enchanted Fairies Retail $13 - sell for $6
Darling Dragons Retail $9.75 - sell for $5

You can contact me on the right side of my blog (contact me) under my profile picture.

Autumn Beauty – Give Thanks

Were you able to check out the great Autumn Beauty blog hop by Gina K. Designs team & centerstage spotlight team on Friday?  This beautiful set, illustrated by the incredibly talented Theresa Momber was the highlight of the evening.  Check out her post, and you will be directed to all everyone participating so you don’t miss out on any wonderful projects.  She is even giving away a free stamp set and you can enter until midnight PST. 

This is a card I shared at the release party a few weeks ago that I haven’t shared on my blog yet.  I used her corner vine image and stamped it in all four corners, I was happy with how beautifully it fit on the 4.25” square card.  I used Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Kiss & Ivory pure luxury cardstock.  I finished off the card with some sponging and striped ribbon from the StampTV Signs of Autumn kit and a small sunflower embellishment. Tomorrow evening we’ll be participating in an Elegant Verses blog hop. 

Kissed a lot of frogs…

Here is a card I made that I had in my head since Trick or Sweet II came out but I’m not completely satisfied with the execution of it.  I think the lace trim & background paper are too distracting from the images/sentiment.  I spent quite a but of time on this card paper-piecing and coloring so I didn’t want to not share it.  It’s just proof that sometimes we all have off days.  I think the lesson learned is that I should use my mono multi glue as temporary adhesive just in case something doesn’t turn out exactly how I like it I can easily take it apart and try again.  What I am happy with (that cracked me up) is that fact that Princess Cuppie has lips (courtesy of Love is Sweet) and she planted a big one on frog cuppie.  HA! 

Hope you’re having a great weekend!  I’ve had a good one so far but I haven’t quite accomplished all that I’ve set out to do (but did a few other things, including a new craft—will show you what soon) and I still have studying to do for my math test on Tuesday!)

TESC82: Dear Santa, I’ve Been {GOOD}

ALL YEAR! HA! We all know you have to be good ALL year in order to ensure Santa brings you a gift, right? I’m sure all of you with children make sure your kids know that because it gives you leverage when they are acting up! One of my favorite things to do is mix & match sets, so I went I set out to make a card for this week’s sketch, I wanted to bring out my favorite Whimsical Wishes set, Beary Special!! However, I wanted to do something ‘different’ with it but also make a holiday card.

So I grabbed my A Year of Sweets 3 set with the cuppie in front of the fireplace with letter & cookies for Santa – then the lightbulb went off. I can pair the angel bear with a list for Santa & personalize it with JustRite stamps! Below is a picture of the letter I stamped (with marker on stamp) and omitted the cuppie & plate. Then, I used a marker and filled in the right side of the letter & cut it out. I used papers from Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly which is so fun!! The prism colors I used are Rose Medium & Sunflowers Medium, I got from the TE Store. The JustRite product I used is the 15 pt font and 2” stamper, punched out with 1 1/4” circle.

Here is a close up of the sparkle from Stardust Stickles on the wings & hand drawn halo for the bear. You can see how perfectly the scroll fits in the bears paws – it was meant to be! I just used my craft knife for precision cutting and slipped the letter underneath.

And because I was so happy with this card, and was still on my quest of making a more Laurie Schmidlinesque card, I grabbed a few softer colors from my Jolly by Golly and added some distressing with sponging some caramel ink on the layers. As always, you can see a picture closer up by clicking it.

Here is the close up of this card. On both cards, the center focal die is the new Labels 7 by Spellbinders which, when horizontal, it looks like a book, but I thought it looked great vertical for my sketch & with the cute bear!

Here is Taylor’s sketch for you to try; be sure to leave a comment on Taylor’s blog with the direct link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so we can check it out! You're always welcome to play with any of these sketches at any time. COMING SOON! There will be no featured sampler for the next couple weeks as Taylor introduces some new and exciting changes to the sketch challenge.

Be sure to check out the fabulous eye candy the sketch crew has to share with us today:

Taylor Van Bruggen
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Lynn Mercurio
Monika Davis
Sherrie Siemens
Stephanie Hargis

Before you go - check out the SASI blog to see ALL the winners of the Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash! I hope you had fun & congratulations to ALL the winners!

Hope y’all make time to play with the sketch this week and have a great weekend! ‘See’ ya soon!

Hopping around with A Year of Leaves

Today Gina K. Designs is sharing samples made with Melanie’s new set A Year of Leaves.  I have stamped one sheet of cardstock that I turned into 6 cards for some Fall card giving.   Here is the photo of all of them.  In addition to the one sheet, I only used 2 sheets of Green Apple cardstock, 1 sheet of pumpkin spice and some scraps of pumpkin spice and chocolate kiss.  Embellishments are 14 copper brads & 6 bling & dazzle ivory sateen flowers from the Signs of Autumn stamp tv kit to complete the cards. 

Here is the sheet of Ivory layering weight cardstock I stamped randomly with all the leaves in the set in 4 different fall colors.  I also used my color spritzer & marker for splatter and sponged on the edges of my main image once I cut all the sheets. 

Here is design #1 and #2 I cut my main stamped panel to 3 3/4” by 4'”, chocolate layer 1 1/4” by 4 and pumpkin layer 1/2” by 4”.  I added my sentiments with memento rich cocoa ink. 

 

 

 

On design #2 I flipped the layout but kept the same elements. 

 

 

 

On design #3 I used the remaining stamped layer and trimmed it slightly to 2 1/4” by 4 1/4” an the chocolate layer 2 1/2” x 4 1/4” – one of my ‘go to’ layouts.  I left my sentiments off so I can make this any occasion I need.  If you have not tried this type of stamping, I encourage you to.  You will be amazed at how quickly you can stamp 6 cards to have on hand!

Lastly, I have a few bookmarks I made also using the set.  I wanted to send one to Cat along with a book for her to read while she recuperates from being in the hospital during our last release.  I couldn’t resist making myself one too!  I love the addition of the white accents from a prismacolor pencil.  They are just scored & folded pumpkin spice cardstock pieces with basic grey magnetic snaps on the inside to fold over your place in the book.

For even more inspiration, please visit our Illustrator of A Year of Leaves stamp set, Melanie Muenchinger's blog. You'll want to leave a comment on her blog because she is hosting a drawing for her gorgeous stamp set there tonight!
Melanie has asked her two guest designers to join in on her blog hop too:
Selma Stevenson
Karen Knegten

Also showcasing Year of Leaves stamp set samples tonight are these Gina K Designers:
Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber
as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Designers:
Geri Utterback
Shelly Wilson
Tina Gilliland

Feel the Magic with Gina K. Designs

Can you feel the magic in the air? The smell of sweet candy, apple cider simmering on the stove, the crisp & cool night air & children giggling as they roam from house to house donned in their best costumes to say ‘Trick or Treat’ in the hopes of getting the BEST candy to fill their bellies??

Well, Alicia, Gina K.’s daughter is helping you if you don’t quite feel the magic yet with a sweet little witch, pumpkin, fun accessories and perfect sentiments in a new set called Feel the Magic! This set has a great introductory price of $16.95 through Sept. 27! I made my card using the cute witch holding her broom and her cute pumpkin by her side. The pattern paper I used is Basic Grey Eerie (the best Halloween paper I’ve ever seen!)

Here is a close up of the sparkle from my glitter pen. I colored in the images with my copics. I also drew in lines on her legs to mimic fish net stockings with my copic multi-liner pen.

I decided to make a matching treat at the last minute using a cut clear box that Gina’s pure luxury envelopes come in. I cut it to 3.5 inches high. Then slipped in pieces of pattern paper on the insides. I added some Signs of Autumn purple ribbon for the handle, attached with some Mega Dazzle & Bling rhinestones (looks like those are out of stock, but the minis are in stock). For the lid, I die cut a piece of Black Onyx cardstock with the largest of the small deckled mega rectangle nestabilities and adhered the back with scor-tape. The front flap is staying closed with basic grey magnetic snaps.

Here is a view from the top. The front embellishment I really like, I cut some Bling & Dazzle white sateen flowers so it could sit on top of the sentiment and also put a rhinestone in the center. Who says Halloween can’t be cute & classy like this purse?? It is actually really fun! I’m wracking my brain trying to think of who to give it to?!

I bet y’all are wondering what’s inside, huh? I couldn’t resist putting some fun packages of Halloween treats in it! I left the back without pattern paper so the recipient could see the goodies inside without having to open it. I wanted to take a pic of the card & treat together, but can’t find the card now! I’m sure it’s around my mess somewhere! Hope you enjoyed.

Now onto the rest of the hop with Gina K. and these designers: Gina Krupsky,
Asela Hopkins
Carolyn King
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber

See ya tomorrow – we will have a blog hop using A Year of Leaves!!!