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!

Celebrate the beauty and Winners

I hope you are enjoying beautiful fall weather in your corner of the world. It's been cold, windy and wet here in Croatia and I'm really starting to miss the sun. I do enjoy crafting even more when the weather is like this.We heard that this year's is going to be the coldest winter here in 100 years. I guess I'll get a lot of crafting done :-).

Today's card features Lovely Labels 2 and Melanie's Festive Frame sets (sentiment). The top paper is from Vintage Basics digi paper pack. The rest are from Cosmo Cricket's Winter Mittens. The ribbon is my hand-dyed seam binding. The green flower is Webster's Pages' bloomers, which I received awhile back but didn't know how to use it (sad, I know :-). The red flower is a Dollar Store find. Lace is by Wright's.
And now the WINNERS, all picked by Random.org, you've been waiting for from my Birthday Blog Giveaway:

Lovely Labels 2 stamp set ----->>> #59 Emmy
Upcoming GinaK stamp set ----->>> #112 Dani
Some shabby chic embellishments --->>> #47 Savannah O'Gwynn

Congratulations, ladies! Please email me (contact tab above) your address, so I can send the goodies out to you. Thank you all for your joining in my birthday celebrations.

Just a Note

Thank you all who left sweet birthday greetings for me and my girls and participating in my blog giveaway. You are all the best. If you haven't yet, make sure you leave a comment on THAT POST for a chance to win Lovely Labels 2, an upcoming GinaK set and some shabby embellishments. You have until Monday night!

Today's card uses Melanie's latest set, Buds and Vases and Lovely Labels 2. I had so much fun coloring these flowers. The card base is GKD Sweet Mango. Patterned papers are Oct Afternoon and my Vintage Basics digi paper pack.

Enjoy your day!

The Shabbiest ...

...card I've ever created is probably this one. If you saw the first cards I made, you wouldn't think they were made by the same person. :-) I am enjoying making this style and often my stamp designs reflect my love for the vintage and the shabby.

Today's card uses Lovely Labels 2 and Vintage Basics digipapers. I stamped the frame with Vivid Tuscan Tan then die cut with Spellbinders Labels 15. The papers are Oct Afternoon and the flower is by Prima. The cardbase is GinaK Kraft and ribbon is also GKD.

Here's a close up:
On another note, I read this poem years ago and stumbled upon it again the other day. I love it and want to share it with you all. I esp love the last stanza:

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

~Amy Wilson Carmichael

Happy WCMD!

I just love this holiday that Paper Crafts Magazine came up with. Like we, paper crafters, need another reason to create? :-). It is good to dedicate one day maybe to get started on your holiday cards. I know I will do that today.

Here are my cards for today. This one uses my latest Lovely Labels 2 set (frame, flourish and sentiment). The butterfly is from Picture It! set. The vintage paper is from the Vintage Basics digital paper pack. That yummy ribbon is something I made myself and I'm giving away a sampler on yesterday's post. The card base is GKD Ocean Mist and the other papers are by Oct Afternoon.
My second card uses my most used Layers of Color stamp set, Flutterescent. The sentiment is from my Fanciful Tags set. The card base is GKD Innocent Pink.

Speaking of GKD and LOC, my dear friend, Jennie, who has been beautifully creating with my GKD stamps is now a DT member for Layers of Color. I love her work and I know she will be a great asset to the LOC team. Congratulations, Jennie! Read the announcement on the LOC blog.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway that includes some hand-dyed seam binding, fine European lace and a copy of my Vintage Basics digital paper pack. Leave a comment on YESTERDAY'S POST. I'll announce the winner on Thursday!

P.S. For more WCMD inspiration today, check out the World Cardmaking Day Blog Tour list. (click on the Mr. Linky link on the bottom of that page to see the list).

Winter Wings GKD Previews

Today's cards feature Asela's newest set, Winter Wings. I've always loved realistic bird images. The bird and sentiment are from Winter Wings. I used GKD Red Hot as card base. The ledger paper is part of the Vintage Basics digital paper pack. I distressed the edges and stitched them. The frame is from my Lovely Labels 2 set.

Here is another set with Winter Wings and Lovely Labels 2. The birds were colored with Copics to look like they're water colored.
For more samples with tonight's new stamp sets, please visit these participating designer's blog links:

• GinaK *Illustrator of Labeled with Love*
• Asela *Illustrator of Winter Wings*
• Jessica
• Theresa
  
• Tami
  
• Melanie
  
• Nina <<--you are here!
• Cathy
• Lee
• Lynn
• Tera *our CenterStage Spotlight Designer*

The entire team would like to cordially invite each of you to our release party tomorrow night (Thursday September 30.) We'll have contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots of samples with the new stamp sets to share during the party. Please make plans to join us from 7-10 central on StampTV!

Tea Time and Funny Farm GKD Previews

Today, the Gina K Designs' crew is featuring Rupa's Tea Time and the new Card Kit, Funny Farm. On my first card, I used one of the Vintage Basics digital paper (also available for purchase on Thursday night) and Lovely Labels 2 to highlight the tea pot from Tea Time. The flower is by Prima, which is a perfect match to GKD Turquoise Sea.

Here's a close up. Click on the photos to see a larger view.

Here's another Tea Time card using Oct Afternoon Thrift Shop papers. The sentiment is from Rupa's older set, 100% Sweet. The circle and lace circle are by Spellbinders. The border punch is by Fiskars.

Finally, I had fun paper piecing the animals on this card using Funny Farm.
For more samples with tonight's new stamp sets, please visit these participating designers' blog links:

• GinaK
• Jessica
• Theresa
  
• Tami
  
• Melanie
  
• Nina <<-- you are here!
• Cathy
• Lee
• Lynn
• Asela
• Bev
• Colleen
• Sankari
• Suzanne
• Valerie
• Tera *our CenterStage Spotlight Designer*

The entire team would like to cordially invite each of you to our release party this Thursday night, September 30. We'll have contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots of samples with the new stamp sets to share during the party. Please make plans to join us from 7-10 central on StampTV!

Lovely Labels 2 and Buds & Vases GKD Previews

Welcome to the GinaK Designs' previews of the stamps that will be available for purchase on Thursday night (Sep 30). There are lots of new things going on and we can't wait to share them all with you. Today, we're featuring my latest, Lovely Labels 2, and Melanie's Buds and Vases set.

Lovely Labels 2 coordinates with 3 of the new Spellbinder dies (Labels 14, 15 and 16). This set comes with 7 labels, 6 sentiments and 2 elements. My first card uses one with the music background, which was stamped with Memento Sprout. The little piece of vintage ad paper is from my latest digital paper pack, Vintage Basics. You will see more of this paper pack in the next few days.

The plaid and flower papers are by October Afternoon, card base is Creme de Menthe cardstock. The flourish and sentiment are also from Lovely Labels 2. The ribbon is seam binding that I heated for a few seconds with a heat gun and made into a double bow.

Here's a close up. You can click on any of the photos to see a larger view.
You can see the Vintage Basic paper better here, distressed and stitched. The card base is GKD Kraft. The flower is Prima.
And close up:
Not only are they great for cards, but for gift tags as you can see from Latisha's project HERE.

My final card today uses Buds and Vases set by Melanie. This set coordinates with the other beautiful flower stamp sets she's illustrated. Here I colored the images with Copics, but made them look like they were watercolored. I forgot how much I liked that look. Again, the papers are Kraft and October Afternoon.

And the close up:
Finally, check out this gorgeous pile of perfectly pre-cut rubber stamps. GinaK Designs will now release the new sets precut! Isn't that fantastic? Check out Gina's blog for all the details about this exciting new machine and what it will mean for you!

For more samples with tonight's new stamp sets, please visit these participating designers' blog links:

• GinaK
• Nina *Illustrator of Lovely Labels 2* <<-- you are here!
• Melanie *Illustrator of Buds and Vases*
  
• Jessica
• Theresa
• Tami
• Cathy
• Lee
• Lynn
• Kurtis