GINA K PREVIEW BLOG HOP

Welcome to Gina K's Preview Blog Hop. It has been quite an honor to be a part of September's Center Stage Spotlight Team. Here are my cards for the Preview:


This one uses the stamp set Holiday Hospitality by Gina K and the digital papers that you can download (after the Release Party on Oct 1)called Deck the Halls. You will use this over and over for so many of your Christmas projects.

I sewed a little pocket onto Gina K's rocket red cardstock, and trimmed it with red tinsel to hold two Christmas ornaments. I stamped 3 ornament images on the dp and one on Gina K white cardstock. For one ornament I put 2 of the stamped images together and sandwiched a red wire in the middle. For the second I put 1 dp stamped image and white cardstock with the party info on the back, then slipped them into the pocket. The brads from the Stamp TV Kit matches the paper perfectly!




The second card also uses the digital paper but this is from the set called Vintage Holly - oh boy you will really like this set. All the images have an elegant vintage look. I used Gina K Chocolate Kiss cardstock and some of the new ribbon with gold accents. The ribbon in the Stamp TV Kit ties so well and holds its shape. I colored the flowers with copic markers, added gold brads from the new Stamp TV kit and a button from the kit topped off with a sprig of gold. All of the card elements (except the sprig of gold & the 2 flowers) came from the Stamp TV Kit. The kit has everything to make lots and lots of projects!

Here is one more card for tonight. The stamp set is called Winter Wishes by Carolyn King. This set is not just for Christmas -- I've already planned some Valentine cards around it. The stamp I chose for this card is the snowman image. I used some copic markers and strung some beads on wire and inserted the wired between pieces of Gina K's "in the navy" cardstock that I embossed with snowflakes. I cut that sweet little snowman out and put one on the outside and one on the inside. This is a special set because 100% of Carolyn's proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association in her grandmother's memory.





Head over to GinaK's blog to add your comment to her blog entry for a chance to win the stamp sets being previewed tonight our blogs! Then, check in on Carolyn King's blog - the Illustrator of Warm Winter Wishes.

Here are the rest of the links to the Design Team Members participating in the hop tonight:

Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Tami Mayberry
Nina Brackett
Theresa Momber

CenterStage Spotlight Designers:

Joy Hadden
Lori McAree

We'd love to have you join us at our Release party tomorrow night over on SCS starting at 7pm CST. There will be lots of chatter, samples, contest questions, and challenges - you won't want to miss it! Check out Theresa's discussion if you're new to our Release parties for some helpful information to get you started.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

For the first time in my whole life - Christmas cards will be sent out in time and I'll even have some cute little gifts for people like the lady who does my nails, my next door neighbor and the lady in the nursery at church.

Gink K Designs have these little clear boxes in several different sizes and can make the neatest gifts! Gina K has a tutorial on how to make these into a cool coffee bean gift box.

The first one is a "emergency office pack" that can be put into a briefcase or computer bag. It has everything you are going to need: paperclips, stapler w/refills, stickey pad, pen, hand sanitizer, business card case and a couple of other small necessities.

I wanted this is say "PINK" so I stamped a GKD stamp called "Comfort and Peace" onto some dp, stamped a sentiment from the new Holiday Cheer StampTV kit, punched it out and tied it up with some ribbon
The second is a little kit I sent with my grandson on the airlines. Hopefully, it will keep him busy for a little while. I got a little carried away and began filling these wonderful clear boxes with all kinds of things! This one used one of the New Release Stamps from the Holiday Cheer Stamp Kit. I made several of these.

Color Challenge for Stamp TV - THINK PINK

Oh, I was so honored to be asked to be on the Center Stage Spotlight DT for September! One of the first things I get to do is issue a color challenge. This one starts Monday morning at 9:00 The colors are Pink, Navy and ivory or white! Since pink is one of my favorite colors I can't wait to see what everyone does!


I used GKD stamp by Rupa Shevde called The Magic of Christmas with Gina K's "in the navy" cardstock and the flowers are from Elegant Flowers Stamp Kit I've cut the flowers out and popped them up high and added some glitter with a sukura glitter pen. The ribbon is navy velvet.

Have a really super good day!

GINA K BLOG HOP

Well, the preview has started! The stamp sets are marvelous, the DP outstanding (lots of vintage! YAHOO) and gorgeous ribbon. Start at Gina K's blog and do the list! You will be amazed, inspired -- like I have been -- and you will have all your Christmas cards done in no time -- that is if you can decide which stamp sets you want.

I get to show my preview cards on Wednesday night so come back and do the hop!

Not Christmas cards but here are two cards

This one uses Gina K's ivory, chocolate kiss and pumpkin spice cardstock and the signs of autumn dp with Rupa Shevde's "my cuppa joe". I've enjoyed this stamp set - so versatile!



This card uses Gina K's chocolate kiss, pumpkin spice, ivory and the stamp from the elegant flowers stamp kit. Gina K has a technique called "Bleach as a Coloring Tool" that I used to highlight the flower.

EEEEE - I'M SO BLESSED!

I've not posted anything for the last couple of days because I've been trying to grasp what has just happened to me. I've been asked to be a member of the Center Stage Spotlight Team for STAMP TV. It came as a real surprise to me because I just love making cards and had no idea this was even a remote possibility! There will be some blog hops, some challenges with some prizes and the revelation of a new line of stamps! Oh, please come and see what will be going on with some special designers and get some great ideas - for Christmas! The blog hops start on September 27th. Check back for more information.

A Great Saturday

This was "the quiet before the storm" day. I got time to make a few cards and just have a real relaxing day. Next Thursday I will have 2 of my grandsons (3 and 1) for 10 days while their mom works in the office at Round Top. Round Top is one of the biggest antique happenings of the country. It encompasses about 4 small towns between Austin and College Station. It is an amazing event.

So here are my projects:

The first is a scrapbook page I did of my dad. I'm working on an 8x8 scrapbook of my memories of both Mom and Dad. I love remembering the fun times we had. The last nine years they had were lived here in Tyler and I am so grateful that they made the very hard decision of uprooting their lives and moving to Tyler. I grew so very close to them.


The card below is the 2nd half of a challenge Gina K at Stamp TV issued. We were to make a scrapbook page and a card using the same stamp set. I used Rupa Shevde's "my cuppa joe"stamp set with GKD chocolate kiss and ivory cardstock and Stampin Up "make your own brads" for the little coffee brads. The blue dp was found in my stash. Gina K called the challenge double duty -- and for me it was great to make a page and card without having to get out separate stamp sets, card stock and ink colors. This would be a good way to complete my Mom and Dad's memory book and meet card challenges at the same time.


The card below was another challenge card. It was fun. It is the Cracked Glass challenge. I used GKD rocket red and green apple card stock. The stamp is from GKD's Tropical Windows and the sentiment is from Rupa Shevde's "the Magic of Christmas". Gina K has a great video on how to do this technique. It is amazing and fun! I will use some antiquing on the next one I make. The second photo is a close up of the cracked glass.

Cards, Cards & More Cards

My grandsons were here for a few days and we had a wonderful time. They are so precious and grow so fast!

Here are a few cards. This first one uses some scraps from my ever growing pile.

Next are two designs for a baby shower. I decided to use a post card size and really glue the pieces down so they would take post office handling. I first ran the who, what,when and where details on my computer, then stamped and pieced the fronts. The stamp is from Dawn McVeys Scattered Showers. On the first one the dp paper are miscellaneous Stampin Up.

On the second invitation the white umbrellas were embossed with Stampin Up superfine white powder.

Party Favor

Several ladies have asked me to share these party favors - I made them for my grandson's birthday party. I bought little round paper mache boxes (1.99) and styrofoam balls, cut the balls in half, coat each half with a white glue - I used Martha Stewart's, then coated with sparkle glitter, let dry and attached with glue to the lid. I wrapped Stampin Up dp around the lid with ball attached and separately around the bottom of the box, wrapped a ribbon around and put a little candle on top. The little "candy decorations" are brads I pushed down into the styrofoam. I put a few pieces of candy and a little toy car for boys and a little necklace for the girls.


This card was made with Stamp TV's Signs of Autumn Stamp Kit. I used Gina K Designs, Pumpkin Spice and Green Apple card stock. The flower stamp is from GKD Bold flowers Stamp Set. The vintage buttons were found at Brimfield's.

The smoke alarm!!!

Here is one of the neatest techniques for card making. Gina K on Stamp TV had a tutorial on this and I tried it. It was fun - but I did set off the smoke alarm. The alarm company called and wanted to know if they should send out the fire department. I said "No, unless they want to make cards with me." I tried to explain and the young man with the alarm company could not understand what I was doing. This is a fun technique and you should try it. Stamp TV's gallery is full of great ideas using this technique! I used Gina K's Designs Rocket Red cardstock and some ribbon. The snowflake is from The Magic of Christmas by Rupa Shevde. It has 5 different sizes of snowflakes plus 7 other Christmas images and 5 sentiments -- Great details!

New Cards

Here are two new cards I made. These were for challenges at Stamp TV. These challenges keeps me thinking and trying new techniques. These were made before I left for Brimfield.
This card reminds me of my sister. When we go to Maine, one of the things we like to do is sit and watch the ocean. It can be such a relaxing place to go. It can be a place to do MANY, things also

Brimfield Day 1

Well, we started out early this am and now back in our room and VERY tired. Tara had some luck finding her stuff and I found one of my favorite vendors that sells vintage ribbon and buttons. Vintage ribbon is a weakness of mine and this vendor has the goods! He has a website and here it is. www.accessoriesofold.com You will not be disappointed in the quality. We found some good bargains. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain so we may have a short day.

9 11

PLEASE DON'T FORGET WHAT TOMORROW IS ALL ABOUT AND PLEASE REMEMBER THOSE FAMILIES WHO STILL HURT


BRIMFIELD HERE WE COME!!
Tara and I decided to go ahead and get ourselves to Brimfield. If you've never been, IT SHOULD BE PUT ON YOUR BUCKET LIST! An incredible antique market like no other! Tara and I look for jewelry and other stuff. I will be looking for one of my favorite vendors who sells vintage ribbon. I flew into Buffalo, Tara picked me up and we headed out. Tara gets to leave her boys with their other grandmother and they have a great time. Our first stop was a little town called Geneva at the base of one of the finger lakes. This monument was at a pier and the sailboats were from a sailboat school. We got to our hotel for a nights rest and off. More pictures tomorrow.

Challenges

Wow, my sister and I stayed up until 4:00 am cutting and sticking and making trick or treats! I sure do enjoy my time with her. I'll post pictures later of what we did. In the meantime here are some pics of the challengs I did this week.

This card uses some of my scraps. OMG I've got so much!! I could scap till the cows come home and still have TOOOOOOO much. It is always a challenge to see what I can do to use some of it up.

This card uses some cardstock from daughter Stori's wedding. I also used some SU cardstock with black emobssing. That black is hard to use -- it gets on EVERYTHING.

I love this picture. Harrison is so cute and Tara is so "mommy". I'd like to do a scrapbook page of his Halloween costumes only. This dragon suit is just soooo cute.