Sent with Love

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to participate in the usual challenges. But, when I saw Card Patterns' sketch this week, I just couldn't resist. I love this sketch and just have to play :-). This is a quick card that uses all American Crafts papers, even the flower. The sentiment used is Happy Mail by TSG. The button is PTI and the ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbons.

TSG June Challenge

There She Goes has a color challenge for their June release tomorrow. The colors are black, red and another color (monochromatic allowed). Of course, I have to play as this is my favorite color combo. :)

I used the Flowers of Happiness and Cupcake Mix 'n Match stamp sets by TSG and Polka Dot Punches by SU. For the first card, I used Basic Black Cameo Coral CS by SU and Berry Sorbet ribbon by PTI. I hand cut the bottom of the panel.

I used Rose Romance, Real Read, andBasic Black colors for the second card. The ribbon is recycled from a Lands End purchase.

Introducing my new baby and another Freebie Friday

My new baby is here...introducing my new stamp set, Special Fathers, by GinaK Designs. It's perfect for those sometimes difficult masculine cards for any occasion (Father's day is just around the corner). You can also make elegant notecards for both men and women and I can see using this set on scrapbooks, too. It's very versatile.

I designed matching digital papers for this set, in red and orange color schemes. You can view samples I made using these papers here and here.

Did you also see the new StampTV kit? Wow, it's amazing and for less than $50, you get 2 stamp sets, lots of GinaK's Pure Luxury Papers (which come now in blue and textured red, my two favorite colors) and tons of ribbons and other embellishments. Watch this video to see what you get in this kit. Gina will show video tutorials on StampTV in the next several weeks using this kit.

And now for the freebies, I am offering my first free digital papers here on my blog. I call them Paper Romance because they just scream romance to me :-). I think these papers will match the Blossom for Mom and Hydrangea free digistamps I offered previously. Click on the picture below to direct you to the download site. Make sure you read the Terms of Use on the first page before using. To see a sample using these papers, look here.

The papers are 8.5" x 11" size, but you can print them in any size. That's the beauty of digital. The file is in PDF form. To print several papers in one page:

1. Open file.
2. Go to the File menu, then to Print.
3. Under Page Handling, on the third box down, click on the arrow for the Page Scaling drop-down menu. Choose multiple sheets per page.
4. Under Pages per Sheet, indicate the number of pages you want printed in one sheet. If you choose 2, then the papers will be printed as half page, 4 will give you 1/4 size paper. Please note also that they will print in a smaller scale.
5. Click OK.

Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Any Winged Thing Card for SOA

I'm on a roll today. This is my card submission for the Paper Makeup challenge at Stampin' Out Alzheimer's forum. The challenge is to make winged things. I used scraps for this card from SU's Just Delightful SS Kit. The butterfly is by Basic Grey. The sentiment is from my stamp set, Cupcake Mix and Match, by There She Goes. The colors used are Cameo Coral and Brilliant Blue and Certainly Celery by SU.

Elegant Father's Day Cards for SOA

Two more cards using my new digital papers from GinaK Designs. The release party is tonight at the SCS forum, from 7-10PM CST, I can't wait. My very first stamps from GinaK will be finally released. Everything will be available for purchase after 10PM CST. I will try to be there, but it starts when it's 2AM here. I'd better make sure there's a pot of coffee brewing :-).

I would have loved to show you samples using my new stamps, Special Fathers, but they're waiting for me in GA. We're headed there exactly two weeks from today and I didn't want them sent to Croatia. They're precious cargo, you know, I didn't want to lose them in the mail :-). Instead, I'm showing you the new digital papers that match the stamps. I made them with two color schemes (if you know why, read here), red and orange.

This first card is for the Mojo Monday Challenge that also benefits the Stampin' Out Alzheimer's cause and Fun-Frilled Challenge to use 4 eyelets.

This next card is also for Stampin' Out Alzeheimer's using the Sweet Sunday Sketch. All papers, except the panel with the diagonal strips, are from my new Special Fathers Orange Paper Pack from GinaK Designs. The stamps used are from Inkadinkadoo and Basic Grey.

Summery Note cards

For Kristina's color challenge this week:

This will be a set of note cards for a friend. The sentiment was printed on the computer. I don't have Pacific Point, so I used Turquoise.

Stamps by TSG and SU, Card base by DCWV, Turquoise and Really Red Inks by SU, Bling by Joanns, Ribbon is recycled from a Land's End gift

Bright birthday card for a good cause

For Dawn's Color Challenge this week:

This is my card, which is also using Taylor's Sketch to benefit the Stamp Out Alzheimer's cause. If you haven't signed up, make sure you go there now. For a minimum of $5 donation, you can have access to tons of freebies, challenges and giveaways everyday.


DP is Urban Prairie, Sentiment from Wishing You (PTI), Papers used are Pink Passion, Ripe Avocado. Inks used are Pink Passion and Old Olive by SU.

Exciting news, Part 2

I didn't have time to make these cards before I shared my exciting news from the previous post, so I decided to call this part 2. I was just too excited.

All the papers used on my cards below are from my new digital paper packs from GinaK Designs. There are 4 patterned papers in a set in two color schemes. I actually had my dad and father-in-law as the inspirations for these papers. First, my dad is just a laid back kind of guy, who likes to hunt. I love this color combo of burnt orange, brown and baja breeze. He loves grandfather clocks, which is why I drew my Special Fathers stamp set in the first place. You can see the previews of my stamps in Gina's blog. Here are the papers.

I designed the second paper pack with my father-in-law in mind. He's a true Georgia fan and it wouldn't be good to give him a card with anything orange in it :-) (Georgia's main rivals are Tennessee and Florida, both have orange in their school colors). So, this paper pack with its red and black colors is for Papa Brackett and all the Georgia fans out there. :-)


These are cards made especially for father's day coming up. The first one is for my dear old dad and the second for my sweet father-in-law. I printed a quarter page of each paper. I cut 4" x 1.25" strips. and lined them up on my card base. No stamping was done here. I used my Cuttlebug, Olivia alphabet to die cut the letters.

This one uses 4 eyelets, which I haven't used in awhile. Thanks to the Fun-Frilled challenge blog, I have been inspired to use them again. They're just the perfect embellishments for this card.


Make sure you visit Gina's blog to get a chance to win my new stamp set. And tomorrow, the preview for the new StampTV kit begins. I can't wait.

MOST EXCITING NEWS!!!!

This has been months in the making, and it's been very difficult not to shout it out for some time, but the day is finally here. I am so excited right now, I have trouble sitting down while I type this...So are you ready for my news?

I'm the newest illustrator for GINAK DESIGNS! My new set is called Special Fathers set and it has wonderful images and all sentiments that cover all the wonderful fathers in your life - husbands, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, etc. Oh, and I designed coordinating digital papers to go with them, too.

Gina and the rest of the GinaK DT are previewing my set today, along with Rupa's new wedding set, which is so beautiful. I wish I have some samples to show you, but my stamps are in GA right now! I can't wait to ink them up. As soon as I get to the US, I will be offering my first blog candy that will include my new stamp set. I can't wait to share it with you.

Here are the links to their gorgeous cards:

Gina - she's giving away my set, so make sure you comment.
Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni - who also designed a new beautiful digi paper pack
Jessica Fick
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber
Melissa Shultz- in the spotlight

And tomorrow, Gina's previewing the new StampTV kit. You wouldn't want to miss that.

I just want to publicly thank Gina K for her support and encouragement these last few months. I am grateful to her for taking a chance on a novice and making my dreams happen. I have been her admirer for years and never in a million years, expected that God would somehow cross our paths together in this new venture. You can imagine how honored I am to be her newest illustrator, to be in her team. She truly is sweet and classy and just altogether kind person and I have been blessed for having known her. I hope that I will get to thank her in person someday.

Cards for Heroes Blog Hop

I'm so excited to be a part of a worthy cause. I just heard about a great organization, Cards for Heroes, that sends blank cards to soldiers that they can then send back to their friends and families. I'm so honored to be doing this for the men and women who sacrifice so much for our freedom, which we often take for granted.

I wasn't able to sign up in time, so I'm not technically part of the hop. If you want to participate in the hop and win prizes along the way, you need to start by clicking on the image below.

As missionaries, we are often told how much we sacrifice. Though there is some element to that in many missionaries' lives, I don't think we live sacrificially as much as the brave soldiers and their families who give up so much for people who don't always appreciate them. They are truly my heroes. I am so glad that I can be of service to them in some little way by sending them these cards. Thanks, Cards for Heroes, for giving us the opportunity to give back to our brave soldiers.


The birds were digitally drawn by me and printed on the computer. The sentiments are from Stampin' Up and There She Goes.

Have a great day!

My first exciting news this week

I am so thrilled to be the Guest DT for Card Patterns this week. I won this spot with this card. I've never been a guest DT before, so this is really exciting. Here's the sketch for this week.


I was so excited I made two cards. I used a beautiful floral digital image from The DigiShack store. For the first one, I colored the image with reinkers and use it as background paper. The curvy edge was sketched by me on the computer, then hand cut.

For the second one, I changed the color of the image to red using Microsoft Publisher, printed it on So Saffron cardstock and used it as a BG paper. I also printed out two stanzas of one of my favorite songs, a modern hymn called How Deep The Father's Love For Us (read the story behind the song here) by Stuart Townend. The words are just awesome.


I made this card to be doubled as a wall hanging by sliding a ribbon inside, as sampled here. I make this type of cards frequently and love receiving them too.


Supplies for Butterfly Card
Stamps: Garden Delights by Inkinkadoo
Inks: Old Olive, Summer Sun, Mint Melody
Paper: Old Olive, Summer Sun
Others: Olive ribbon, silver pearls, paper piercer

Supplies for How Deep Card
Papers: So Saffron, Bailey Collection by KI & Co
Others: Prima flower, Melon Berry buttons by PTI

Psalm 19:14 OCCC Card

I love this week's Our Creative Corner Challenge - to make the sentiment the focal point of the card. I will have to participate more than once. Here's my first card.

The verse was printed on the computer. I have to credit Silke, one of OCCC's DTs, for inspiring me with her beautiful creations using the Martha Stewart butterfly punch. I had not heard Martha Stewart was making punches, emailed Silke for the info (which she graciously shared) and had my mom pick it up from the store and send it to Croatia.

I just love butterflies and use it a lot on my projects (and blog too :-)). I've been a Silke follower ever since. Then, it just so happened that she's in the DT for There She Goes, the company that made my first two stamp sets. Imagine how honored I was when she posted cards with my illustrations on them. It was a real treat for me. I'm not trying to score points here (heehee :-)), but I just love Silke's artwork.

The papers are from a Rob and Bob paper stack. Ribbon is by Joanns.

Monogram note cards

I just recently discovered The Pink Elephant challenge blog. I love their challenge this week to make monogram cards, so I played along. Here is my card:


When I first saw this stamp set by SU, I fell in love with it. But now that I have it, I don't know how to use it, except as background. I still love the images, just need inspiration to ink it up more. I printed the monograms, hoping it would match the Baja Breeze papers. It's not exact, but it's close.

Red, White and Blue Birds

I just found this new challenge blog called Fun-Frilled. I like that they are not specific to layouts or color combos. For this week, their challenge is to make a red, white and blue card, in honor of Memorial Day Weekend.

For my CAS card, I used a digital image I'm offering as a freebie tomorrow. It's printed on the computer. The sentiment is from Happy Mail by There She Goes.

On another note, Janet, one of Christian Papercrafts Magazine DT members, is offering some yummy blog candies. Go check it out here to get a chance at winning some cute stamps and other paper goodies.

Busy, busy and some exciting news!

Sorry, no card to share with you today. I've been busy filling orders for cards that I want to finish before we leave for the US in less than three weeks. I'm having fun, but it cuts down on my card challenge participation :-).

I have some exciting news coming up. First, I just noticed last night that my counter has hit 10K just after two months of blogging. Thank you for your kind comments and for visiting my humble blog. I have enjoyed getting to know so many of you.

And come back tomorrow as I have a new digital image to share with you. It's not a flower this time, and I hope you like it. I had fun drawing it and I hope to make cards to show you by tomorrow. I will also highlight some projects that my wonderful readers have made using my digital stamps. You don't want to miss that. I have one exciting news this Saturday and a BIG ONE next week, so stay tuned. Any guesses? I can't wait to share them all with you.

Freehand Thank you Card

I've been loving all the birds and branches stamps I see everywhere, but haven't invested in some. I really wanted to make a card using My Cute Card's You're Tweet set, but I will have to wait three more weeks until I get to the US to order some of their really adorable stamps. In the meantime, I decided to freehand draw the branch and my version of the bird for this card. The color inspiration is from Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #6:




I first drew my sketch of the branch and bird on the other side, then cut. This card used a lot of scraps, StampTV's Friday Potluck challenge this week. I paper pierced the bottom just for added flair.

Stamps: Curly Label punch set and Trendy Trees by SU
Ink: Basic Brown
Papers: Cameo Coral, Basic Brown, Friends and Flowers SSK by SU, Urban Prairie by Basic Grey
Flowers by Making Memories

A different kind of card

My style is usually clean and simple. I challenged myself to try something different. I still can't get the collage look work for me. But, I did try something a little different with my submission to Kristina's Color Challenge #52, StampTV Friday Potluck Challenge using scraps, and I loosely interpreted CardPattern's sketch this week. Here are Kristina's colors:


Card Patterns' Sketch:

This was a quick card using scraps from the Friends and Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit by SU. As I was making this, my girls kept commenting how crooked everything was :-). Well, not quite. Notice how the letters and the background DSP are still straight. It was fun and I will have to try this "funky" look again.