Exquisite Embellishments Blog Hop

Welcome to the Exquisite Embellishments Blog Hop, hosted by the lovely Keri Lee Sereika, who authored the beautiful book, Exquisite Embellishments for Paper Crafts.

I couldn't believe that she asked me to contribute, esp after finding out all the talented ladies whose work grace the pages of the book. Thank you, Keri, for this awesome privilege! I am so excited and honored to be part of this hop. I hope you will check out this new publication, which is available for purchase now. To entice you, the ladies who collaborated on the book are doing this hop to give you a glimpse of the kind of inspiration the book offers.

My card today shows off one of my favorite embellishments, the DOUBLE BOW, that you see often on my cards. I used twill tape on this one. The card uses some retired Layers of Colors, stamps Renaissance Hearts and Artful Endearments. I used K&Co papers. The lacy border is cut using Spellbinders Parisian Accents dies.

Here is the order of the hop. Be sure to leave a comment for each and every designer as we will be drawing not one, not two but THREE winners at random. Each winner will receive his/her very own copy of the book absolutely free! The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win. The winners will be announced on Tuesday!

Keri Lee - www.pinklemonade.typepad.com
Linda - lovelylindascraftcentral.blogspot.com.au/
Sherry - www.sherrywright.typepad.com
Lori - www.loricraig.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com
Heidi - embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/
Kandis - www.mycreativetreasury.blogspot.com

***Nina - http://ninabdesigns.blogspot.com/ <<--YOU ARE HERE***

Sharon - smrdesigns.blogspot.com
Melissa - lilybeanpaperie.typepad.com
Jessica - iembellish.blogspot.com/
Tami - tamimayberry.blogspot.com/ 
Teresa - paperieblooms.blogspot.com/
Jing Jing - thislittleartofmine.blogspot.com/

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:

 

Butterfly Sympathy

Hi, friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. My family and I spent it playing, cleaning the house, tending to our yard and flower boxes and hosting friends for dinner. It was wonderful to take a break from the computer and work with my hands. And it always feels good when I have a clean home and a house full of wonderful friends, enjoying our home-cooked meal. It makes me happy :-).

My card today was published in Cardmaker Magazine in May 2011. It uses Layers of Color's Flutterescent set. The sentiment is from GinaK's Fanciful Tags, which was die cut with Spellbinders Fancy Tags dies.

And here's our dinner party, which pretty much consists of the same friends every Sunday. Our dining room is not big enough, so we set up a table on our driveway when the weather permits. My oldest was invited to dinner by her friend's family, so she wasn't there. My two youngest invited their BFFs over. These men are my husbands' Bible students. The two older gentlemen are friends from church. Thanks for letting me share a little bit about our life in Croatia with you. :-)

Thanks Sew Much

I always forget that I'm allowed to share my published cards on my blog. Since I didn't get to make anything this weekend that I can share yet, here is a card that was published in the Paper Crafts' May/June 2011 issue.

The stamps are GinaK's Many Happy Returns (sewing machine) and Nana's Needlework Sentiments. These stamps along with other paper crafting goodies are being given away by Paper Crafts Magazine's The World of Seamstress Sweepstakes. I also used my well-loved Spellbinder dies: lacey circle and classic circle.

And don't forget my Spellbinder dies giveaway. More info in my previous post. And FYI, you don't need a blog to enter the giveaway. Just sign in as Anonymous and leave your basic info, so I have a name when picking the winner.

One of my favorite published cards

ETA: I've had many inquiries in the past about Gina K Designs shipping overseas. YES, they do. You will need to email them (info@ginakdesigns.com) your order and they will work everything out with you via email, not through the web store. So, my international readers, shop away! :-)

Have you seen the new Paper Crafts Sept/Oct issue? It's loaded with project ideas. I have 4 cards in this issue, two of which are in the Online Bonus Projects section that you can see HERE. Here is one of them:

I used my Nana's Needlework Sentiments stamp set for this. To find more detailed info, including instructions, go to this PC Mag site. The teddy bear card is mine, too.

CHA Chicago - bound!

I'm on my way to Chicago as this goes live. It's my first ever as a CHA Trade Show participant. I will be working in the SRM Stickers booth and another company that I can't wait to share with you all. Hubby and I are traveling sans kids, which we don't do very often. We're taking advantage of my kind parents who are watching them for 5 days while we enjoy the sights and sounds of Chicago! I hope to post pics here of the beautiful paper crafting goodies I'll find at CHA.

Today's card is about two weeks late. It was highlighted in the Paper Crafts Connection blog to kickoff their Card Styles magazine publication. I have 5 other cards in this magazine. The butterfly is from Hope is Faith by GinaK. The frame is from my Lovely Labels set die cut with Spellbinders Labels 4. The subtle music background is from Vintage Borders. The beautiful flourish is from Nature Walk by Layers of Color. Yes, I meticulously fuzzy cut the flourish and it's so worth it :-).


Have a good week!

Go To Sketch Card

I know this is late news, but have you seen the new Go To Sketch magazine by Paper Crafts? It's chock full of inspiration. I have three cards in it and I'm sharing one of them here. This uses one of my early sets, Lord of the Season.

And here's a card created by one of my Designing Friends this month, Justine. I just love her sense of humor. She's so clever to use the distressed ribbon stamp and created the tread marks. You can find out more info about this card HERE. And while you're there, check this beauty out too.

This is the inside.

Stamp It! Card

I'm so excited to share a card with you today that has just been recently published in Stamp It! Cards Magazine 2010. I'm not exactly sure what page it's on, since I don't have my copy of the magazine yet. But, I've been told it's there :-). This card is truly special because it's my very first published card using one of my stamp designs. The birdcage, bird and sentiment are from Elegant Post.

I also have a Christmas card in this issue and they featured my Elegant Verses stamp set, along with stamps from other companies. What an honor! Have a good Wednesday!

My First Ever Published Card

Since the November/December issue of PaperCrafts magazine is out, I can finally show you the very first card I have ever published (it's on page 23). It was the only one I submitted for this particular issue and I was so thrilled when I received the acceptance email.

I made this card using gifts from my generous friends and finds from my travels. The patterned paper was sent by my friend, Doris (Thanks, Doris). The crocheted flower was a gift form Lisa (Thanks, my dear friend). The smaller pearls were from my mom (I can't thank you enough, Mom). I found the pearls in Israel last year, the button I bought here in Croatia, and the lace is from my home country, the Philippines.



Stamps: Trendy Trees Ink: Ruby Red Papers: Bailey Collection from K&Co., Old Olive, Ruby Red Others: lace, pearls, buttons, crocheted flower, CB Swiss Dots

On another note, have you read Gina's blog today? She just announced her newest illustrator. It's the lovely Tami Mayberry of the CPS sketch blog fame. I can't tell you how honored I am to be designing alongside her. And she's starting with a bang with her first release next week. You can see a snippet at Gina's blog.

Oh, and make sure you participate at the Color Throwdown's challenge this week. GinaK Designs is the sponsor and there are 2 prizes up for grabs. One of them is the Signs of Autumn StampTV kit. The other prize is Asela's Christmas Blessings set. How fun!