Love Frame

Happy Saturday, friends. It's been freezing cold in my neck of the woods. We're expecting a low of -16 deg C this week. And I heard Europe is bracing for another gas crisis. I am so thankful for having a gas stove. And I've been busy spending much time in my "design cave" coming up new artwork for future products!

Somebody left a comment with a question and I didn't realize until now that I can answer directly from the post. It's pretty embarrassing I didn't utilize this feature until now :). Now, I hope she will actually read my response.

Today's project is a fairly clean and simple Valentine card using Layers of Color stamps and Echo Park papers. The frame is Pink Paislee.

Finally, don't forget to enter the giveaway on my PREVIOUS POST HERE. It's open for a few more days.

InLinkz.com

Dear Friend

I have been posting some of my publication rejects cards lately, but always forget to post the ones that actually make it :). Part of the reason is I can't keep track of the magazine's policies regarding sharing photos of published cards. I have been slacking in the submission department lately, just because life gets so busy. But I have to say it's always well worth the effort. I love the challenge of getting cards accepted, and of course the perks of getting paid and/or receiving paper crafting products are a plus. :)

Today's card was published in CARDS Magazine back in October 2010.The sentiment is from Layers of Color's Sent with Love. The paper is American Crafts.

Speaking of publications, I have some published in the recent Paper Crafts Magazine special edition magazines and their first ever book that will be revealed at CHA:

 

Sent with Love Dahlia and Winner!

Thank you all so much for your kind words about my new Layers of Color Stamp Line. It delights me that so many of you are excited about the re-release of my former TAC stamps.

Before I announce the winner, I have another card for you with the new LOC stamps. This one uses the larger dahlia in the Dotted Dahlias set and sentiment from Sent with Love. Like my card earlier this week, I colored with Copics and layered the dahlia to produce this.

The papers are again Melissa Frances. Aren't those papers just lovely? This was my very first purchase of their products and I'm in love! I got mine from Emma's Paperie (link below) and they have a huge selection of Melissa Frances products.

Here you can see more the layers. I curled up the petals slightly.

And now, the winner of my new release giveaway is...

#44 Gini (Beadz)

Please email me, via tab above, with your info so I can forward it to Layers of Color. Thank you all for playing along. I also have a referral contest going on now in my Nina B Designs Facebook page. Refer your friends to like it and I will pick a random winner who, along with his/her referrer, will win one of my LOC Christmas stamps.

God's Blessings to You

I apologize for the blurry photo, but I photographed this card a while ago and have since given it away. Today's card uses The Craft's Meow's Timeless Tags, which coordinate with my Spellbinder Grommet Tag dies. The sentiment is from Sent with Love by Layers of Color. The papers are Bazzill (did you know they make patterned papers, too?).

Have a great weekend!

Celebrating 300K hits with a Giveaway!

Before I share the giveaway, here's today's card using Layers of Color's Embroidered Butterfly and Sent With Love. I heat embossed the butterfly with white on vellum paper and colored it with Copics. I love the transparent look. The card was die cut using Spellbinders Lacey Circle and classic circle dies.

Now, I had to draw another winner for the giveaway I had over a week ago. I never heard from the winner, so I drew again from that week's post. The new winner of the new Parisian Motif dies by Spellbinders is...Vera W. Yates (Ling). Please email me, via tab above, with your address, Vera! Thanks for playing along.

If you didn't win, don't fret. To celebrate my 300K hits, I am giving away two of my stamp sets from Layers of Color and/or The Craft's Meow. You get to pick which two you want of the sets I have released so far from these two companies. And if you already have them all, you can pick from the new sets coming in June from both companies (June is a busy month of releases for me!). And FYI,The Craft's Meow sneak peeks begin soon!

In addition, I have another set of Spellbinders' Fleur de lis Doily Motifs dies to give away.

To be eligible to win:

• just comment from now till Friday's post (May 27). I will pick the winner from one random commenter from one random day.
  
• Feel free to share the info about this giveaway on Facebook, your blog or Twitter. If you do, leave me another comment per day you share it with a link to your post.

Some things to consider:

• You don't need a blog to enter. I've set up my blog so you can comment as "Anonymous." Just make sure you leave me your email or other distinguishing info on your post.
• Leave a comment every day to better your chances. I randomly pick a winner from a random day, not just from today's post.
• I will pick the winner among those who left comments on the posts. So, please don't enter via email or the chat box on the left. I have no way to keep track of them all. Sorry :-(.
• This giveaway is open to everyone in the world! However, you are responsible to pay for taxes incurred.
  

Finally, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your visits. It encourages me to keep going with what I do. I hope you always find inspiration from my work. Blessings to you!

Rejoice!

Resurrection Sunday or Easter is the biggest holiday among Christians. Jesus's resurrection from the dead is the basis of our faith. Because Christ conquered death and sin, we have hope for eternal life. Because He is risen just as He said, He has provided for us a way to know God and opened the door to enjoy Him forever! And that is a BIG reason to REJOICE!

May this holiday bring you to the foot of the cross and see Christ for who He is - Almighty God who took the sin of the world upon Himself to bring salvation to an undeserving world. Be all glory and honor be to Him today and forever!

Here are some cards for the Layers of Color's Faith Art Friday to celebrate this beloved holiday.

Stamps: Layers of Color's Gothic Crosses, Garden Borders and The Love Chapter. The sentiments are by Gina K Designs.

Card Patterns Cards

Thank you all for your kind comments about my freebie giveaway on Friday. They encourage me to keep offering freebies. I am glad I could give something to you that you can use. I so appreciate your visits.

We've had a busy week with some friends visiting from America. Sadly, we have to say goodbye to them today. It was such a wonderful time of catching up, serving our small community here together and just spending time together. One of the best parts of hosting teams is that we get to witness others loving on our girls. That just touches my heart as a mom. And our friends totally doted on our kids. What a blessing! And God is good to bring them to our lives.

Today's cards are for Card Patterns sketch Challenge. Our sponsor for Sketch 110 is SRM Stickers. It's no secret how much I love my stickers. I am so glad to be designing for them. Many of you are probably like I was, never thought of using stickers on my cards and considered them staples ONLY for scrapbookers. I was so wrong...SRM converted me :-).

This card uses the SRM WGYS Plus Cupcake and some Pink Paislee Soiree papers. The ribbon is from the Michael's dollar bin.

The colors on my second card follow the muted version of this week's Play Date Cafe's PDCC76.All products are Stampin' Up! except for the sentiment, which is from Layers of Color's Sent With Love, and the round doily (Spellbinders Floral Doily Accents dies).

Have a great week! I hope you can join us at Card Patterns!

Spring Card Set and a Mini Tutorial

Thank you so much for your kind comments from the announcement I made yesterday about changes with my design work. Your support and encouragement mean so much to me. I will have some new exciting things coming up, so I hope you'll continue to stop by and visit me on my little blog :-).

As soon as I saw Moxie Fab's Card Set challenge, I knew I had to enter. I love making card sets and make them often. They make great gifts, don't you think? The colors on my card set were inspired by the Play Date Cafe's colors of pink, blue and silver - a challenge for me, but I'm glad to have these Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime papers to get me started. The sketch (mini cards) is by Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #41 (my cards are 4.25 x 4.5").

I used some of my favorite Layers of Color's sets: Nature Walk (flower, which was colored with Copic markers), Regal Wings (wings), Sent with Love (card sentiments), Happy Wishes (box sentiment). I die cut the focal image with Spellbinders Labels 10 and adhered it slightly curved.

And here is the box I packaged it in. This set will be a gift for a good friend.

I posted another card set in a box a few days ago and I received many inquiries about how I made that box. Here's a short tutorial on how I made the card box. The only difference is I used the Grand Nestabilities Labels 4 for that one and Labels 1 for today's box. A ScorBuddy will come in handy when mass producing these card sets.

My envelopes were 5" x 5", so I scored the box at 2-5/8" on both sides. You can adjust that, of course, depending on the size of your envelopes. Add about 1/4" to the width of your envelope.

You can also adjust the measurements below, depending on how thick your stack of cards and envelopes are. Keep in mind that when your cards are bulkier, you may need to make the score lines farther apart.

I hope you find that helpful. Have a great day!

Sent With Love Butterfly

Today's card is for Card Patterns' sketch 107. I used some lovelies from Layers of Color art stamps, Embroidered Butterfly and Sent with Love. The papers are Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime.

We are celebrating one of our DT's birthday today. Warm birthday greetings to Vanessa, who is one of the most talented people I know on this side of the Atlantic. I've enjoyed getting to know her ever since I found her blog over a year ago. And she was even kind enough to guest design for me. I hope you have a fabulous day, Vanessa!

I hope you can join us...you wouldn't want to miss the amazing prize this week!

Speaking of prizes, please don't forget to check out my 2nd blog anniversary giveaway. More details HERE.

Vintage Spring

I am so ready for spring and was inspired to create these vintage spring cards. The first is for Card Patterns' Sketch 106. I used my Gina K's Lord of the Season set (topiary), Layers of Color's Sent with Love stamps. I also added some die cuts using some new Spellbinder dies: Fleur de lis Doily Motifs and Eyelet Circles. The papers are Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime.

The second card was for last week's Card Patterns' sketch. All supplies are by Stampin' Up!, except for the die cut border and doily (Spellbinders Floral Doily Accents and Motifs).

Finally don't forget my 2nd blog anniversary giveaway. More details HERE. The winner will be picked from one of the commenters all week. And make sure you check out the Subscriber/Follower only giveaway, too!

Card Patterns 2nd Anniversary Celebration

I hope you've been enjoying the week-long Card Patterns 2nd Anniversary celebration. Thank you for joining us weekly with your beautiful interpretations of our sketches. You all bring so much inspiration to the Card Patterns crew. And it has been a treat being a part of the paper crafting side of your life. Thank you!

Today is my turn to show you my take on this sketch.

But first, here is the prize package I'm giving away today:

• Gina K Designs' Fanciful Tags set
  
• Gina K Designs' Grand Damask set
  
• Layers of Color's Sent with Love set
  

And for my card, I went back to my roots of Clean and Simple style. But of course, I have to include my favorite doilies, which is from my Nana's Needlework set by Gina K Designs. The sentiment is from Layers of Color's Sent with Love set, which is one of the sets I'm giving away today.

The winner of the prize I'm giving away will be picked randomly from one of the commenters on today's post. The giveaway closes on Friday, Feb 25th!

For more info and to link up to your interpretation of sketch 103, please go to the Card Patterns post -->>HERE.

Elegant Wedding Pop up Card

Welcome to Layers of Color's Cake Decorating Party. I'm so glad you can join us as we feature different cake-inspired projects today. Make sure you stop by the Layers of Color blog for more info about a special giveaway.

I decided to make a pop up wedding card for today's hop. This is a very special card because I've spent more time on this than any card I've ever made. And I enjoyed every minute of it. Each of my 3 young daughters is trying to convince me that I should save it for when she gets married :-). I told them I don't think it will last that long.

I used the new Webster's Pages papers to cover both the front and inside of the card. You can see how much I love that vintage heart image from Fleur Heart. The butterfly is from Butterfly Collector. The bottom scallops were die cut using Spellbinders Borderabilities dies.

Here is the inside with the popped up wedding card. I die cut Spellbinders Labels Four in three different sizes, then stamped them with images from the Merci Bouquet set. The cake stand is from Her Majesty's Urns set.

This is the side view so you can see how I popped it. The sentiment is from Sent With Love and die cut with Spellbinder's brand new Fancy Tags Three.

And here's a close up where you can see the glitter on the flowers. The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Thank you so much for hopping along with us. I hope you will find lots of yummy inspiration along the way, starting with the Layers of Color blog then to the following designers' blogs:

Beatriz Jennings
Dawn Burnworth
Diana Queen
Grace Nywening
Gunn Thelin Knutsen
Guro Aarre
Heather Wombacher
Iwona Palamountain
Janice Whiting
Jennie Harper
Jessica Fick
Joan Ervin
Julie Overby
Kazan Clark
Keri Lee Sereika
Linda Lucas
Lynn Stevens
Maxine Diffey
Nina Brackett -- you are here!
Sharri Seffens
Suzanne Czosek

The Layers of Color Boutique has added special bundle sale offers and while there, make sure you check out the FREE Cupcake Card Template! Go to the Layers of Color blog to find out how you could win a yummy Layers of Color art stamp set!

Love Blog Hop Winner

I hope you found much inspiration from the Layers of Color's Love blog hop yesterday. Thank you for making it a success.

My card for today uses the new Sent with Love clear art stamps. The card base is GKD Ocean Mist. The sentiment is framed with the Spellbinders Fancy Tags dies.

And now for the winner of the HAPPY WISHES SET, via random.org, is...#6 SANDRA. Congratulations! Please remember from yesterday's post, it is important that you contact me (via tab above) asap, or I will have to draw another winner tomorrow!

Make sure you visit the LOC blog and other LOC DTs to check if you won there:

Diana, Janice, Jennie, Jessica, Linda, Melisa

For the rest of you who didn't win this time, take advantage of Layers of Color's new release sale. They extended it one more day for you all!