Gratitude = Joy

It's Unity's anniversary week and it's been a fun celebration. The new Cosmo Cricket kits are on my wish list, for sure.

My first card today is for two of the challenges they have going: Love At First Sight and Triple Take. Gratitude = Joy and Feel the Joy are two of my very first Unity kits. The four patterned papers I used are from Webster's Pages, Green Apple and ivory cardstocks by GinaK, button by Papertrey, pearls by Mark Richards.

Make sure you stop by Unity's blog to see more details of their anniversary celebration and a list of today's Friends With Flair hop.

Card #2 is also for the Triple Take using all Cosmo Cricket papers, Going to the Birds and for the Etsy Inspired challenges using images the Bee Things store. This was my inspiration:

And I followed the color scheme of bright yellow, spring green and black on my card. I used the sentiment from the Aug08 KOTM and the bird from the July09 KOTM. It's a bit hard to see, but the sentiment is on a curved little banner.

My Lovely Friend

I am thrilled to introduce you to another of my Designing Friends today who was one of the first online friends I made when I started this blog a year ago. She's a fellow expat and lives "next door" in beautiful Italy. Please help me in welcoming my lovely friend, Justine! I think she has the most clever blog name, Cardiology, because every card we make is a work from the heart. Isn't that right, my fellow crafters? :-)

Look at what she made with Vintage Backgrounds and an oldie-but-goldie GKD set, You Know You're Old When. That old man's face cracks me up and the houndstooth pattern, which is stamped superbly, just adds to the retro feel of the card. She colored him beautifully, too.

And she decorated the inside, too! I love all the little details.

Here's my interview with Justine:

1. How long have you been paper crafting and how did you get started?
As far back as I can remember, I dabbled in crafts of one form or another. For years my entire card making supplies could fit in a single medium sized rubbermaid. I come from a very artsy/creative family but never felt like I had any talent whatsoever. I did love it when my students would say "Oh Mrs. Frederick, you color so beautiful and you can stay in the lines". Those sentiments always warmed my heart.

2. What are your current favorite:

• Techniques : Coloring with my Copic Markers & Distressing
  
• Tools : My Cuttlebug & My sponge dauber that I use for aging/distressing
  
• Embellishments : Hands down, RIBBON & creating my own out of vintage cloth
  

3. What makes a "WOW" card, in your opinion? Something that is different and has it's very own distinct style. (the cards that I look at and think, "Wow, why didn't I think of that")

4. What inspires you to create? Most of my inspiration comes from cruising around my favorite blogs & I've gotten to where I NEED a CHALLENGE to get my ideas flowing.

Define your crafting style:
This is tough, I could probably describe someone else's but I don't know that I have a particular style. I would love for someone to tell me what they think it is. My style is very much based on how an image "speaks" to me. I believe that I have a tendency to sit somewhere in the middle. Not too simple or clean but not overly embellished where my images get lost.

5. Tell us something about your family?
We are active duty Navy Special Operations, been married for 21+ years, 3 amazing children. We have not lived on the mainland United States since 1993. Where are you from? This is a trick question for a military family..... Both my husband and I were raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma area, however we consider either Honolulu, Hawaii or Sicily, Italy home since that is all our children have ever known and of course where our taxes are paid to. We did just purchase a home in Florida and will be moving in a little over a month. Other interests besides paper crafting: Collecting seaglass and just being on the beach. I would be perfectly happy living in a little grass hut on North Shore Oahu Any random fact about you: I consider myself to be a Motorcycle Mechanic, my husband races one of our Ducatis (Italian sport bike) and my Mechanic Nickname out on the Race Track is "JACK"

6. Do you have a favorite quote/verse that you live by?
I think anyone would tell you my favorite thing to say is "SOOOO, How's that workin' out for ya?",,, which is usually said to call attention to a not so good decision someone has made. Because I am super impulsive, one of my favorite bible verses is 1 Cor 10:13 (temptation).

And don't forget, you only have a few hours to enter you project on my challenge for a chance to win $20 Gift Certificate from Stampin' Up!

Just for You

My next designing friend is one who's been working with my Squigglefly digis for awhile now. She is one exciting, talented, prolific and beautiful person. Let me re-introduce you to...Savannah!

Look at what she made with my Vintage Backgrounds and Lovely Shelf sets? She thinks so out of the box and the results are beautiful. I never thought of going rustic with a teapot image, but she does it well here:

I did a little interview with Savannah when I introduced her as my Designing Friend with my Squigglefly images. Go HERE to read it again :-).

And I have to share this beautiful card made by one of GinaK Designs' finest, Lynn Mercurio, with Vintage Backgrounds. Isn't this stunning? You can find more info HERE.

Only ONE more day left for my challenge. I hope to see you submit your work. One random winner will get a $20 gift certificate from Stampin' Up demo, Lisa.

Happy Anniversary in Pink and Brown

Before I show you today's post, I received several inquiries about Limelight Papercrafts' international shipping policy. They DO ship overseas, but you have to email them your order. You cannot do it from the online store directly. Mandy is so easy to work with. I even ordered some 12 x 12 papers and requested that she cut them small to fit in a flat rate Priority Mail envelope.

Hi, all...thank you for leaving some love for Heather yesterday. I can't wait to highlight more of her work here on my blog. Come back tomorrow as I introduce a new Designing Friend. She's a familiar face and I know you will love her and her work, too.

Today's card is made with Vintage Backgrounds (herringbone and text patterns) and Elegant Post (sentiment). I only used GKD Ivory on this card and Chocolate Brown ribbon and button.

The flower was made by die cutting (using Nesties) some tissue paper that was in a box of plates I bought last year. I saved them and now they make pretty flowers. They have these really cute patterns on them, so perfect for these flowers. I just stitched the center or you can use a brad. Crumpled them a bit, applied ink using sponge daubers, and voila! Quick, easy and cheap embellishment!

Only a few more days left for my challenge. I hope to see you submit your work. One random winner will get a $20 gift certificate from Stampin' Up demo, Lisa.

And LOOK HERE. I hope you visit there to show your support...heehee.

Introducing One of my Designing Friends

I'm so thrilled to introduce you to one of the three friends who are guest designing for me for my latest Gina K Designs set, Vintage Backgrounds.

Today I'm featuring my friends, Heather Jensen, who has a very feminine, shabby vintage style. I love her work and want to make cards like hers when I grow up :-). Just look at this gorgeous card she made with Vintage Backgrounds and Bright and Grungy Dots.

I asked her a few questions and I hope you enjoy reading these about this talented card maker as much I did.

1. How long have you been paper crafting and how did you get started?

I have been a Paper Crafter for about 3 years now.

2. What are your current favorite techniques, tools and embellishments?

My current favorites are anything vintage, Lace, Doilies, Glimmer Mist, Seam Binding, Border Punches,and Spellbinders.

3. What makes a "WOW" card, in your opinion?

A WOW card for me is Vintage, soft, feminine, and pastel. I actually love all kinds of styles. I appreciate that everyone has different perspectives on things. I don't strictly like only my style. That is just what comes naturally for me.

4. What inspires you to create? Define your crafting style.

I have seen many things that inspire me to create. I have been in the bathroom dept at Target before and saw a shower curtain that had colors and a theme that inspired me. Packaging, and pictures inspire me a lot too. I would say my style is "Shabby Vintage" I like the inked edges, soft colors and feminine touches.

5. Tell us something about your family. Where are you from? Other interests besides paper crafting. Or any random fact about you.

I am a Navy Brat. My father was in the Navy for 21 years. We moved a lot! I just moved back to Alabama, which is where I was born. I enjoy working in the yard and watching the birds.

6. Do you have a favorite quote/verse that you live by?

Favorite saying is...Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

And don't forget the challenge I have going on now. A $20 Stampin' Up! Gift Certificate is the prize! You have less than 4 days to submit.

Card Patterns Sketch 61

I hope you are having a great weekend. It's been beautiful and sunny in Croatia and we're enjoying outside more.

Today's card is for Card Patterns' Sketch 61. The sponsor this week is Limelight Papercrafts. It's owned and operated by the husband-and-wife-team of Drew and Mandy. I am almost 100% an online shopper since there are no crafts stores here in Croatia. I've bought from so many companies, but there are only a few I always shop from regularly and Limelight Papercrafts is one of them. I'm not paid to say this, but I love Mandy and her company. She's always willing to accommodate my "demands" and so generous with her sales.

One of the best buys I've ever made was through her store when I was looking for burlap strings likes Papertrey sells. Did you know for the same exact 20 yards of string that PTI sells for $5, you can get at Limelight Papercrafts for 70 cents? I go through those like crazy, so I bought a bunch. Of course, it doesn't come with a spool like PTI does, but who needs that? Limelight offers them in many colors, too.

Here's the sketch:


And here's my card that has my first ribbon flower I've ever made. The sentiment is from my favorite sentiment set by GinaK, Inside and Out. The card base is Cranberry Tart.

And don't forget the challenge I have going on now. A $20 Stampin' Up! Gift Certificate is the prize!

Introducing Vintage Backgrounds

Here is my latest Gina K Designs stamp set, Vintage Backgrounds. It's something I've been wanting to have for a long time and I'm glad I get to share it with you all.

Here are the latest digital paper packs: Bright and Grungy Dots, which were designed to coordinate with GinaK's Green Apple, Little Boy Blue, Red Hot, Sweet Corn and Passionate Pink. Due to the differences in toner ink, printers and other factors, the exact color match to the GKD papers is not guaranteed. They will, however, coordinate very well with them.

And Bright and Grungy Argyle - these papers coordinate with GinaK's Green Apple, Little Boy Blue, Lipstick Red, Sweet Corn and Passionate Pink.

And here's a card I made with Vintage Backgrounds, Lovely Shelf (sentiment) and Asela's Sew Pretty (apron) sets.

And don't forget the challenge I have going on now. A $20 Stampin' Up! Gift Certificate is the prize!

Final Day of GKDPreviews and a Tutorial

Watch out! This is a photo-heavy post :-).

I am so excited to share my latest stamp set today. Vintage Backgrounds is a set I've been wanting to have for a VERY LONG time. It's one of those stamp "staples" that you will use often on your projects for any occasions.

My first card card uses the houndstooth, herringbone and text patterns from Vintage Backgrounds. With this set, you can customize your border or background to your heart's content. The argyle is one of the digi papers in the Bright and Grungy Argyles and the polka dot paper in the smallest flower is from the new Bright and Grungy Dots digi paper pack. The sentiment is from the Spring Has Sprung set.

I've been enjoying making these paper flowers. The flowers use the herringbone and houndstooth patterns from the set. The tutorial is at the end of this post.

Here's another card using the herringbone pattern as the background. The paper flower uses the houndstooth pattern and the vintage lace image is used as a border. The butterflies and leaves have the text pattern, also included in the Vintage Backgrounds set. The flower images are from the Spring Mix Stamp TV kit.

Here's a close up of the flower.

Here's another card that also uses Asela's Sew Pretty set. I used the text as background for the sentiment and I created a brown border from the houndstooth image. I colored the machine with Copics and swiped it several times with the blender pen to get the retro look I was going for.

Designers Participating in Previews tonight:

• Gina Krupsky - Masculine Messages illustrator
  
• Jessica Fick
  
• Cathy Tidwell
  
• Erika Martin
  
• Emily Giovanni
  
• Kurtis Amundson
  
• Lee Murphy
  
• Lynn Mercurio
  
• Melanie Muenchinger
  
• Tami Mayberry
  
• Theresa Momber
  
• Geri Utterback - our Center Stage Spotlight Designer!

The Release Party is tomorrow night on StampTV. We would LOVE to have you join us for the fun! There will be challenges, contest questions, chatter, as well as tons of samples from the Design Team members from 7-10 (central time) all leading to the new products being available in GinaK's online store at 10pm.

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Paper Roses Tutorial - I don't claim that this idea is originally mine, but I remember doing this as a kid and this is how I made the flowers on my projects :-).

Step 1: Cut a square from patterned paper. I cut a 4" square from one of the polka dot papers from the new Bright and Grungy Dots pack.

Step 2: Using a pencil, free hand draw a swirl on the back side.

Step 3: Using the swirl as a guide, cut the paper with decorative scissors (or plain as in my second card sample above).

Step 4: Curl up the scalloped edge.

Step 5: Start rolling the strip from the end. Make it as tight as possible.

Step 6: Unwind as much as you'd like. The looser the roll, the wider the flower will be.

Step 7: Apply glue on the bottom. I found that tacky glue is the best for this technique.Press down and let dry.

Step 8: For the leaf, cut a small rectangle of paper. I used one with text from the Vintage Backgrounds set on it.

Step 9: Fold paper in half. Cut leaf shape. Adhere to bottom of the flower.

The finished product. I like to put pearls in the center.



Since we're in the subject of flowers, these cards are perfect for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge going on now!

Gina K Designs April 2010 Previews, Day 3

Are you enjoying the previews like I am? Today the GinaK Designs team is showing Asela's Sew Pretty and Rupa's Welcome Home sets.

My card today uses Asela's ultra-fabulous retro images on this monochromatic card (in my favorite color!). I paper pieced this lovely lady's apron using the houndstooth pattern from my latest set (more info tomorrow), Vintage Backgrounds. Don't you just love the vintage images and sentiment? The argyle background is included in my latest digital paper pack, Bright and Grungy Argyles, which will also be available on Thursday night. The card base is Lipstick Red.

Designers Participating in Previews tonight:

• Gina Krupsky
  
• Jessica Fick
  
• Cathy Tidwell
  
• Donna Baker
  
• Erika Martin
  
• Emily Giovanni
  
• Kurtis Amundson
  
• Lee Murphy
  
• Lynn Mercurio
  
• Melanie Muenchinger
  
• Tami Mayberry
  
• Theresa Momber
  
• Bev Gerard
  
• Colleen Schaan
  
• Suzanne Dean
  
• Geri Utterback - our Center Stage Spotlight Designer!
• Asela Hopkins - Sew Pretty illustrator

The Release Party is this Thursday, April 22 on StampTV. We would LOVE to have you join us for the fun! There will be challenges, contest questions, chatter, as well as tons of samples from the Design Team members from 7-10 (central time) all leading to the new products being available in GinaK's online store at 10pm.

The monochromatic card is just perfect for the Caardvarks challenge!

Gina K Designs April 2010 Previews, Day 2

Today, the Gina K Designs crew is featuring two sets: Theresa's Gone Fishing and the new card kit, Quite a Catch.

My card uses Theresa's amazing illustrations. This set is perfect for all the fishing fans among your family and friends. I made a background paper using a few images from Gone Fishing and one of the stamps in my new set, Vintage Backgrounds, to be featured on Wednesday by the GKD team. Don't you just love that sentiment? It's just perfect to go with all the images in this set. The card base is Chocolate Brown and the button is from the Neutral Button Assortment.

Designers Participating in tonight's previews:

• Theresa Momber - Gone Fishing illustrator
• Jessica Fick - Quite the Catch card kit designer
• Gina Krupsky
• Cathy Tidwell
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Suzanne Dean
• Sankari Wegman
• Valerie Stangle
• Geri Utterback - our Center Stage Spotlight Designer!

The Release Party is this Thursday, April 22 on StampTV. There will be challenges, contest questions, chatter, as well as tons of samples from the Design Team members from 7-10 (central time) all leading to the new products being available in GinaK's online store at 10pm. We'd love to have you join us for our monthly party!

Gina K Designs April 2010 Previews, Day 1

It's that time of the month again when the Gina K Designs team previews the latest new releases. Today, we're showing Melanie's Gifts from the Sea and Tami Mayberry's Oh Boy sets.

I'm featuring Melanie's Gifts from the Sea today. I just love this set. I grew up in the tropics and shells were a big part of our home decor growing up. My great grandma owned a souvenir shop where she sold shells like the ones in Gifts from the Sea.

I am also showcasing papers from my latest paper packs, "Bright and Grungy Argyles." This pack of 10 digital papers include argyle patterns that coordinate with Gina K Designs Sweet Corn, Little Boy Blue, Green Apple, Passionate Pink and Lipstick Red. I used the Sweet Corn here with Kraft and Black Onyx to match the color of Melanie's lovely shell images, which are colored with Copics.

This next card uses the Little Boy Blue-coordinating Argyle and SU Cameo Coral. Doesn't that ribbon go with the paper well? It's from the Spring Mix Stamp TV kit.

Designers Participating in previewing tonight:

• Melanie Muenchinger - Gifts from the Sea illustrator
  
• Tami Mayberry - Oh Boy! illustrator
  
• Gina Krupsky
  
• Jessica Fick
  
• Carolyn King
  
• Cathy Tidwell
  
• Donna Baker
  
• Emily Giovanni
  
• Erika Martin
  
• Kurtis Amundson
  
• Lee Murphy
  
• Lynn Mercurio
  
• Theresa Momber
  
• Valerie Stangle
  
• Geri Utterback - our Center Stage Spotlight Designer!

The Release Party is this Thursday, April 22 on StampTV. There will be challenges, contest questions, chatter, as well as tons of samples from the Design Team members from 7-10 (central time) all leading to the new products being available in GinaK's online store at 10pm, CST. We'd love to have you join us for our monthly party!

Some Layers of Colors cards

It's no secret I love vintage shabby cards. However, my version is always more on the "clean and organized" side. I think that my cards look messy when I do collages which others seem to do so well. It was a struggle to get my card from yesterday to look right. I'm a little OCD, I guess, when I like the elements on my cards to be straight :-). Anyway, here are my "clean and semi-shabby" cards for today. They were both made using Layers of Colors stamps, except for the sentiments.

This uses LOC Nature Walk and GKD Nana's Needlework Sentiments. The papers are GKD Lemon Drop and Basic Grey Nook & Pantry. This is a very unusual color combo for me: lemon yellow, melon and black.

This next one uses LOC Flutterescent set. The papers are scraps I've had for awhile. The card base is GKD Creme de Menthe. The sentiment is made using SRM Stickers Express Yourself Mother's Day. The butterflies make this card perfect for the Our Creative Corner's current challenge.