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.

Sketch Time for STV

Happy Monday! Today's card is for Stamp TV's Sketch Spotlight #10. I used Gleefully Yours with some yummy Webster's Pages papers again. The cardstocks are GinaK Wine with Everything and Green Apple and inks are Memento Sweet Plum mixed with Rhubarb Stalk.

My blog posts will be sparse in the next several days as I get busy with traveling and CHA. It's going to be fun, but am not so excited about leaving my family. This will be my first trip solo since I got married. I miss them already and I haven't left yet. I know God can take care of them better than I can. It's a relief that even in this area, I can trust Him and be confident He is always good. This verse from Isaiah 26:3, 4 has been a blessing to me lately:

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. [Another version of the last phrase says, "For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock."]

Stamp TV Color Spotlight

TGIF, even though my work doesn't really change as a stay at home mom :-). This weekend, however, is a little busier than usual for me. I'm leaving for CHA on Wednesday and I have a long to-do list until then! This is my first solo trip in a long time, so I'm a little sad. But, I look forward to seeing my parents and so many of my blogging friends in the paper crafting community there. If you will be at CHA, please stop by the Spellbinders booth, where I will be working. I'd love to meet you!

Today's card is for StampTV's Color Spotlight Challenge. I used my Gleefully Yours set with Webster's Pages pages. And my new favorite embellishment, the artisan frames by Pink Paislee. I inked it with Vivid Aqua to show the details. The cardstocks are Turquoise Sea and Chocolate Brown.

On another note, one of my cards is being featured in the Moxie Fab blog today. Thanks, Cath! If you want more info about the card, you can go to THIS SPECIAL POST. Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Vintage Gramophone

Thank you all for your anniversary wishes yesterday and for sharing your joy with me as my hubby and I celebrate God's gift of marriage.

My kids saw a cassette tape yesterday and I had to explain that it's the old "CD." My youngest watched an old Veggie Tales movie on VHS (remember those?) the other day and when I was rewinding it, my iTunes fan 5-yr-old asked if it was downloading. It's crazy how the common items we used are so foreign to my kids and I don't think I'm that old :-).

Technology is changing too fast in our generation. And once in awhile, it's good to remember the good old days before the computer and internet dominated our lives. I think this is why I love vintage things. They remind me of simpler and often happier times. When I was illustrating my Gleefully Yours set, I knew I had to include a gramophone. It just looks prettier than my iPod. :-)

This card is for Stamp TV's Color Spotlight this week. The papers are Webster's Pages and the flower is Prima.

Finally, 3 more of my new Spellbinder dies designs are being previewed by their DT today. It's so neat to see them used in projects by these talented ladies.

Just the Way You Are

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I hope you are having a great week so far. My girls' transition to school has gone smoothly. Even my youngest didn't complain about going to kindergarten and she usually much prefers to stay home, esp when it's cold outside.

Speaking of my girls, I just heard this song, Just the Way You Are, yesterday for the first time and immediately loved it. I know it's a love song between a man and a woman, but the words are perfect to sing to my girls (Except for one word that I would replace with "silly" instead of "sexy" for them. LOL). And my middle child cried when I played it for them. She's so tender-hearted and it just melts my heart.

Today's card uses my latest GinaK stamps, Gleefully Yours. The papers are Pink Paislee.

And this is one BIG reason I have a "rockin' good time" with life and for which I thank God everyday (Photo courtesy of my friend, Laura Campbell, owner of Layers of Color):

And the talented Bekka Freeken is previewing today two sets of dies that I designed for Spellbinders. She does amazing work with die cuts.

A Sketch Card and Two Exciting News!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a relaxing weekend and was able to squeeze in some crafting time. Today's a sad day for me as my girls return to school. We had a great break, though, and are now counting the weeks till Easter break in a few months.

Today's card is for Stamp TV's sketch challenge. The cardstocks are GinaK Rocket Red; papers are Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly (music sheet) and Early Bird. The circle and scallop circle are die cut using Spellbinders dies. And of course, I had to use my latest stamp set, Gleefully Yours. I hope you can join us for this week's sketch challenge.

And now for my exciting news... First, SRM Stickers just announced their new DT members on their post here. Not only was it fun to see some good friends, esp my co-crafter in Croatia, Jane Beljo, make that list, but I have been asked to stay on as Emeritus DT for SRM Stickers. What a blast this past year has been designing for them and I'm so glad I get to continue doing that this year. I love my stickers :-).

And my second exciting news...Layers of Color will have a New Release Blog Hop on January 17. Not only am I participating in this, but the LOC team will also feature something I've been working on for several months now. I am now designing stamps for LOC! I will have 3 new clear art stamp sets, along with Laura's 2 new cling art stamps, releasing on Jan 17 and I can't wait to share them all with you. The badge below has a sneak peek of what's coming! There will be lots of inspiration and giveaways a week prior to the hop. I hope you can join us. Read all about my exciting news on the LOC blog:

I have more exciting news to share, but they will have to wait till the end of the week! I'm just telling you, they're to DIE for :-).

Introducing Gleefully Yours

I'm so excited to share this Gleefully Yours set with you all, which was inspired by my girls' love for music paired with my affinity for anything vintage.

Here is a card made using this set. The colors are inspired by StampTV's Color Spotlight #7. The sentiment is from GinaK's Love Notes set. The background paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness collection. I also used my Spellbinders Lacey Circles die. The cardstocks are GinaK Turquoise Sea, Sweet Mango and Rocket Red.

I'm Filled with Glee

...as I preview my first 2011 GinaK Designs stamp set, Gleefully Yours, today. This one was several months in the making. It was inspired by my girls' love of singing (you can see my post of them at their school's Supertalent show HERE), but I just had to add elements from one of the most popular TV shows in the US right now (can you guess which one? There's a hint on the first card's sentiment). We don't have it in Croatia (that I know of), but I am aware enough that many of my Facebook and paper crafting friends love it. I hope they will love these stamps, too. :-)

Both my cards use the Pink Paislee Cupid Collection. The first one has the vintage jukebox from Gleefully Yours that was colored with Copics and framed with a GinaK Grass Green die cut (Spellbinders' Labels 17) and a SU's Cameo Coral flourish tag (Spellbinder's Fancy Tags). Some buttons, glitter and ricrac finished the card.

This next card has the antique piano image, which goes well with my "Just a Note" sentiment from Lovely Labels 2 set. This set will also work well with the music background from my Vintage Backgrounds set.

Are you ready for more inspiration? Make sure you check out the GKD DT's blogs and be prepared to be impressed. The team is also previewing the new Free with Three set, Smile. Start with Gina's blog, for more info about the free stamps up for grabs during today's hop.

• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Colleen Schaan
• Deb Felts
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Nina Brackett <<-- you're here
  
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• Latisha Yoast - Guest Designer

Finally, make sure you check out my NEW YEAR BLOG CANDY. It includes many of my favorite things.