Gina K June Previews Continue: Many Wishes and The Journey

I've been so excited for today to show you this amazing new set from Gina K Designs, it is this month's One Free with Three set titled "Many Wishes."  I totally adore these dandion blooms (at least the stamped ones... I don't so much enjoy them in my yard!) 

I've been on a kick lately creating little stamped pieces to use as decorations in various rooms in my house.  It is such an affordable way to add a little handmade touch.  

I picked up a small black frame at AC Moore this weekend.  I believe it was a $7 frame and then was 40% off.  It was just a plain black frame.  I took the glass out and then using some Making Memories scrapbook paint that I have in my stash added a coat of paint and set it aside to dry. 

While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I stamped the blooms with white pigment ink and added the stems with Kiwi Kiss ink.  The sentiment "happiness" was added with the Desert Sand Memento ink that Gina carries.  I found all these papers in my scrap bin and added a button and ribbon bow from my jar of buttons.

I gave the matting a quick zip zap through my Janome - I think it adds such a nice touch to the project, and has the added benefit of holding all my layers on tightly.  

To give the painted frame a rustic feel, I took a white sanding block and smoothed all the edges.  Where I rubbed really hard, you can see the black peeking back through. I love the vintage feel you get - and its so funny, you'd pay a lot more in the store for a piece that had already been painted and then abused. Giggle!   Of late, I've been leaving the glass off my framed pieces, it allows me to give my projects lots of extra dimension.  And I figure in a few months, I'll just switch out the piece with something fresh in this 5x5 space!

Usually I'm very very literal with the colors I use for my projects, but I really wanted to give these little blooms a pop right off the page, so I stamped them with Soft Sky ink to my Gina K Pure Luxury Cardstock for my second project.  

Using Gina's sponging technique from last week's Stamp TV episode, I added a bit of Soft Sky ink to the center of my nestie with the large sponge dauber that Gina carries.

My final project for today is with the other stamp set that is previewing today.  It is illustrated by Asela Hopkins and is titled "The Journey." 

Asela buids so much detail into her images and it makes it easy to shade your finished images.  This set  one is perfect for you coloring addicts!  For my first project, I stamped with Stazon ink to watercolor paper and grabbed a handful of reinkers and my Niji waterbrush.

You'll see that I added lots of stitching on this project as well.  I seriously find it hard *not* to sew on a project so long as I've got thread in the bobbin.  

I'll admit, I loathe winding the bobbin and rethreading the machine, but let me say Gina's newest video tutorial makes it SO easy to follow along. Have you seen it yet?  Be sure to stop by Stamp TV to see the latest!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope that you'll pop on around t visit everyone else that has previews for you today!  I'm grabbing a cup of coffee and will blurf around while I'm eating my breakfast! Can't wait to see what everyone has done!

You'll find previews today from: 

Gina,   Asela, Cathy,   Cindy  Donna,  Emily,  Erika, Jessica Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, Melanie and Theresa.

Our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members Selma Stevenson and

Pam Imholz are joining us this morning with previews as well!

And you won't want to miss the Release Party Thursday night from 7-10pm CST on the Gina K Designs Member Company Forum.  In fact, there are lots of previews already posted to this thread! 

A secret craving....

I know that I'm often yammering on over here about our organic shopping, and my boys food allergies, but I have a secret craving... and admittedly, its not a healthy one.  Not "a great choice" is the phrase I use with my boys.  

Secretly, I love Dunkin Donuts - specifically, a chocolate frosted one.  There is also an old fashioned shop on Nantucket that we love, called the Downey Flake.  Now, my boys can't have these tasty little morsels due to their food allergies.  And my husband would give me the "hairy eyeball" if he caught me sneaking one... One of my very best friends has a saying about donuts that I just can't even repeat... but really, "Mmmmmm. Forbidden Donut" to quote Mr Homer Simpson.  

Today I have a little donut-alicsious preview for you with the soon to be released "100% sweet" from Gina K Designs.  I stamped those little babies on a piece of Gina K Designs Pure Luxury White cardstock and colored with Copic Markers.  Then I added white sprinkles with my white gel pen, lastly I added a coat of diamond glaze for a real sugary sweet frosting.  Instead of thinking that they're 100% heart attack for me, I'm just thinking 100% sweet! 

Grab a cup of coffee (and your favorite breakfast treat - don't worry your secret is safe with me!) because you'll find lots of previews from the team by hopping around to visit 

Gina,  Carolyn,  Cathy,  Cindy,  Donna, Emily, Erika, Jessica ,  Joanne,  Kurtis,  Lee,  Lynn, Melanie and Theresa 

We are also thrilled to have a couple of our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team join us in our previews this morning: Carolina Buchting  and Jennie Harper

Celebrate Summer - Patchwork Style!

Last week, I woke up with one of those a-ha moments. I'd been working on a project the night before and had lots of spare pieces of the Gina K Stars and Stripes Digital Paper download still on my desktop.  This paper is available as a free download on Stamp TV and can be found HERE! 

I was able to quickly piece together the patterns to fit a 5 1/4 square card.  

I've used both of the new Pure Luxury Cardstocks - Rocket Red and In The Navy.  I sewed each patchwork square with my favorite zig zag stitch.  Then finished the panel by using my tonic edge distresser all around the edges.

The stars and the sentiment are stamped from the new one free with three stamp set titled "The Lazy Days of Summer." This adorable gingham ribbon is part of the latest Stamp TV Kit

If you haven't been over to Stamp TV - you'll want to be sure that you head on over to see the next project with the new Eclectic Summer Kit! While you're there, please be sure to give a warm welcome to the latest members of the Senior Design Team - Lee Murphy, Cathy Tidwell and Lynn Mercurio.  

How could I forget, even more big news!  Gina also announced our Center Stage Spotlight Design Team - these six papercrafters will be part of our design team blog hop in June and they will each receive one of our not-yet-released stamp sets to feature during the blog hop. The ladies who do not have blogs will participate using their StampTV "My page." You can read all about it, and meet our talented guests here on Gina's blog!

Gina K Designs: Spots, Stars and Stripes!

This is a preview of "Lazy Days of Summer" which is the new "One Free with Three" set which will be available this evening from Gina K Designs!  

You might notice that between my red white and blue balloon yesterday and then these Nautical Notecards today, that I'm loving the red white and blue color scheme provided in this month's Stamp TV Kit and coordinating digital paper!

Its such a summery and fresh feeling color scheme and I took the opportunity to embrace the white space on this little Nautical Note set. Is it me, or does this paper remind you of a pool cabana?

I did add some fun little details to these cards - I added a strip of the Rocket Red cardstock to both cards which I distressed the edges, then sewed in place.  Then I added strips of the digital paper to the top of each card, and sewed that in place too.  

I printed my digi papers out with Photoshop Elements.  I was able to scale down the patterns to make a mini star paper - I love that having the digital files give me the flexibility to print the patterns out at different sizes depending on the scale I need for my project!  

I used the remnants of each piece to add a little detail to the inside of my cards as well! 

The images are stamped with Memento Ink, then I colored with my Copic Markers, and then added a further POP of color using my Koh-i-noor pencils.  

Remember, if you combine marker and pencil to marker first, then pencil, or else you risk damaging the nib of your marker with the wax from the pencil.  

Also available this evening is a fun set titled "Ribbon Stripes." 

Since I already had a clean little notecard set going on, I thought it would be fun to illustrate how you can use Ribbon Stripes to add a quick bit of detail on cards.  

I'm often have to mass produce cards, and its hard to track down enough of the same piece of designer paper for multiples - I don't always want to use up my ribbon stash.  

And sometimes, admittedly, I need a card in a hurry, (you know, without spending over an hour to design it!!)

I reached for a piece of that luscious Pure Luxury cardstock in Chocolate Kiss.  I also grabbed a 1/4 sheet of my Kraft Cardstock and one of my all time favorite sets "My Cuppa Joe."  

By the way....if you don't have an acrylic block large enough for these long ribbon stripes, then you can use your Cuttlebug embossing plates! I like to line my stamps up on top of my Scor Pal Mat so that I can be sure to have nice straight placement!

With my Scor Pal, I added some embossed lines - one just above the white polka dots, and two much closer together up top. I'm fully kicking myself that I haven't yet picked up a Scor Bug, because that would have been super fun to work with here.  (Note to self, grab one today before everyone buys them tonight with their orders!)

Be sure to join us on the Gina K Designs Splitcoast Member Company Forum from 7-10pm CST on Thursday, May 28th.  Gina has contest questions, challenges, sneak peeks and of course lots of chatter! You're all invited, and we hope you can make it!

To see more previews of both of these new sets, be sure to visit: Gina, Theresa, Donna, Carolyn, Jessica, Erika, Cindy, Melanie, and Melissa

Watercolored Memories

Whenever I sit down with a new floral set to color, I like to search around to find interesting colors to work with for inspiration.  However, I already had the perfect inspiration for this gorgeous Calla Lilly illustration from the Friendships Garden by Asela for Gina K Designs.  

My sister had a truly beautiful fall wedding, seriously beautiful, get this, it was published by The Knot! We carried the most luscious flowers, with deep red roses, and gorgeous calla lillies.  They were truly magnificent. 

Actually, truth be told every single detail of her wedding was truly magnificent!  In any case, I knew right away that I'd use her bouquets for my inspiration.  

Then I picked up my new favorite, Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Cardstock in Chocolate Kiss.  Yum.  I'm always happy to use that....mmmm chocolate.  Tasty, even as paper! Giggle.

With a piece of patterned paper from My Minds Eye I was on my way. My last (eeks!) piece of watercolor paper was stamped with Stazon Ink.  I grabbed my So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Riding Hood Red inkpads for the flower, and Mellow Moss, Old Olive, River Rock and Close to Cocoa for the petals, stones inside the pot and the pot itself.  

I began by applying the So Saffron to the entire blossom and set it aside to dry.  Then I layered Pumpkin Pie around the edge and finally gave it a rich ruby color on the edges and outside (just like in the actual photo I was following as a guide.)  Once that was dry, I added just the littlest bit of Copper Shimmerz for a little bit of luster.  Once I had finished the full image I added a shadow with Soft Sky around.  

I kept the design of the card simple as I wanted the watercoloring to be the focal point.  Also because I'm giving this to my mom to use and I don't want her to have to fiddle around stuffing one of my signature giant bows into an envelope!  I added a flat length of stitched grosgrain ribbon and of course lots and lots of edge distressing.  

I finished the inside of the card with matching cardstock and a Pure Luxury Ivory Liner. Its always a nice touch to a finished card, but truly necessary when its a dark base.  

Just a reminder that the latest Episode has been posted over on Stamp TV!  I always love finding a quiet moment and a cup of tea to go see what Gina's been up to each week!

A happy little basket

Good morning! Somehow I've hurt my arm yesterday and actually even typing is hurting today.  Ouch! So this is going to be a short little post.

I recently ran across this adorable Penny Lane paper from My Minds Eye and I just could not wait to pair it up with this sweet and cheery little flower pot from Baskets of Happiness from Gina K Designs.

The petals are colored with Copic markers and I added a white gel pen dot to the center of each flower.  My very favorite gel pen I've ever used is from Inksentials and its is amazing. 

I reached for a tool that I hardly ever use on this one... my corner rounder.  Its so funny when I first started I used that thing on all my creations, I was a rounded-corner-aholic, and I thought it would compliment the round circles on the patterned paper.  

By tucking the top panel in behind the patterned paper layer, you get a nice clean even edge, and went with my whole "no right angles thing" that's going on here!

I'm such a tease, can I just say that I have my design team kit for Gina K for next week's launch already!  (runs and hides..)  Previews for this amazingly HUGE launch will begin on Monday and new sets will be previewed from Gina and various DT members each day till Thursday!!  

Till then, be sure to hop in on all the challenges over on Stamp TV I know I've mentioned it before, but there is a prize given away every day Monday through Thursday!  If you're uploading over there, be sure to add GKD as a tag on any Gina K creations, we're always on the hunt for amazing work, and you might just find yourself on our "Center Stage" for the month of May.  

So much for a short post. OUCH says my arm.....

My Cuppa Joe - Paper Piecing Tutorial

Hooray for Friday the day I'm most likely to be able to squeeze in a trip to Starbucks! I've had this adorable set "My Cuppa Joe" from Gina K Designs on my mind lately and finally had some time to play around a little.

I know that for many of you, you're already experienced paper-piecers.  

But, I asked for advice around my blogaversary, tutorials were certainly on the list of things you all wanted to see, and paper piecing was one of them. So, if you know how to do it, you can scroll down to the finished card and ignore the n

ext few minutes of yadda-yadda going on over here.

First I selected the papers that I wanted to use for my project, grabbed my trusty scissors, Memento ink, my Quickie Glue Pen and the stamp set I had in mind.

Then I stamped the coffee cup twice to the Base Weight Gina K Luxury Cardstock in white and then twice to the patterned paper I had selected (in this instance, Collage Press)

I then carefully trimmed out the first cup from the white cardstock.  Some people might only just adhere patterned paper to the cup, and then leave the lid alone.  

But, I'll admit, I'm sort of nuts about paper piecing.  I like the order of the layers to be correct.  So, in this instance, the lid needs to be 

on TOP of the cup to actually seal it shut, right? 

 

For me, the extra few seconds to stamp a second lid and apply it is worth the effort to get the layers done correctly.

Next I take the coffee cup I had stamped to the patterned paper, I trimmed all along the sides, and then across the bottom.  If you look closely, you'll see that I left a small lip of paper with the lid pattern on it. I like to make sure that my lower layer has a bit of overhang.  I don't like it when the edges of two pieces don't meet up correctly and you can see a seam.  I will be adhering a coffee lid directly over it to hide that seam, and it will leave a nice even edge. 

On the second white cup, I trimmed off the lid and applied that over the edge of the patterned paper to seal up my cup properly!  See, wasn't that easy, while you can't see it here, in the finished piece, its much more nicely finished.  

Then I colored in the tiny coffee cup image on that second white cardstock coffee cup. Remember to always color first, then cut or else the tiny pieces will frustrate you!  Then I very carefully trimmed out the inner circle. Note:  If I had a circle punch small enough, I would have used that, but I didn't.

Using the teeniest of my circle punches, I punched our the slightly larger circle on the coffee cup using the orange patterned coffee cup that I had stamped.   Then I assembled those two circles together and applied them to my finished coffee cup.

Since this card is going to a very good 

friend, and fellow Starbucks addict, I had to be sure to give the card lots of finished details.  

All the panels were stitched together using my Janome - I even gave the main nestie panel a whirl through - the circular stitching was fun, I just had to sew much slower than usual to get it to work correctly.  

Then I airbrushed the tag with my Copic Aircan to get a nice rich look to the sentiment.  Lately, I've been bending one of those sides of the slider over and adhering to the back.  Then lastly, added a nice big loopy bow.

Now, I'm off to get a coffee!!