A Backward Challenge??

You know what today is.... SKETCH CHALLENGE day!!!!  I decided to take the reverse road today and did my sketch a bit different.  Here is the sketch Gina put to us today....

I admit, normally, I would have put my "image" in the oval above with my sentiment below.  Well... I decided NOT to do that this time.

I used Gina K's "Versatile Versus" as my main image.  My card base is Pure Luxury Sweet Mango.  I layered it with  some Sweet Corn and a coordinating DP.  My sentiment is stamped on Pure Luxury Layering Weight white and I paper pieced the DP on the top and bottom.  I then sponged on some Memento Cantaloupe to the sentiment.  I added my twine across the top and the flowers to the bottom.

I hope you try out the challenge and who knows... maybe you too can reverse the sketch.  Hee Hee  Be sure to load your creation to the Stamp TV gallery and add the tag above to it for a chance to win a free stamp set from Gina K Designs of your choice!!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!  *smile*

Brave Girls Club Soul Restoration Class

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I am involved in the Brave Girls Club Soul Restoration Class.  I am REALLY enjoying everything about this class and we are only in our third week!!!  This is a six week online course that women from all around the world are taking and sharing together online.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I am learning about myself... but also about those things that have happened in my life and how they have made me who and what I am today.  Just to give you a general idea about the course, I am sharing an excerpt from The Brave Girls Club Blog which answers exactly what it's all about.

Soul Restoration – Basic FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (the basics)

Q. What is the purpose or the intended outcome of this workshop?

A: If you know anything about Brave Girl Camp, you know that the workshops developed and artfully taught by Melody Ross are truly life changing. Her heart-penetrating curriculum is unlike anything you have seen before, and she presents it in true ‘Melody’ style….fun, enjoyable, meaningful, and extremely relatable. She combines her own stories and life experiences with ‘soul crafting’ (creative art projects, collage, journaling, etc.) to teach women from all over the world how to get unstuck, back on track, and restored to their best self.

Soul Restoration is this curriculum and more…. What we intend to provide in this workshop is an effective and enjoyable process of getting every woman to really really think and hear her own soul again…to help her remember what brings her the most joy, to know of & remember all of the things that she is good at and that make her heart sing…to get back on track and to unleash the courage and motivation to stay on track….to reunite with her soul.

This workshop is a method of helping each woman become reacquainted with her deepest self through remembering and reuniting her with her inner ‘Truth-Teller’. She will be helped to discern truth from lies that hold her back and make her feel less than who she is…to remember her dreams, her potential, her gifts and talents, all the possibilities and unique answers for her life (because it is different for each of us). This curriculum is intended to enable each woman to find and then keep the bravery it needs to stay joyfully true to her own path.

Because it will take bravery to guide her life by the truths that she has found and remembered, and to put aside voices that are confusing, judgmental, and opinionated, this curriculum is intended to continue beyond the 6 weeks that we are together, giving each woman a set of skills and beautiful tools that will carry her throughout her life.

The bag above is something I created today to keep my "Truth Cards" in for storage.  I used Melody Ross' Chip Art tools to make the label and bird.  I love playing with the chip art and keep trying to think of new things to add it to! 

I sprayed my bag with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and added on some bright colored Prima Flowers.  After all, my "Truths" are positive and cheery and what better way to store them?!  I can't wait to see what else Melody has in store for us in the next three months. 

Interested in learning more about the beautiful woman you are and can be???, check out the Brave Girls Club Blog and sign up for the next course starting in April!!  You can't go wrong! 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!  *smile*

I Got a Purple Heart?!

Happy Saturday everyone!!!  It was such a LONG LONG week, I thought Saturday probably passed me by and I didn't even realize it!  But... today I am happy stamping and creating in My Studio and working on some of my Brave Girls Club, Soul Restoration projects!  My heaven!

Today I'd like to share a card with you I made a while back but never had a chance to share on my blog yet.  I used Tami Mayberry's, "Hopeful Hearts" set from Gina K Designs for my image.  My card base is Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight white and I used a border Cuttlebug embossing folder along the bottom.  I stamped my image in Vivid Purple ink onto some layering weight card stock.  I layered it up with some of the Pure Luxury Vibrant Violet card stock.  I also stamped the tiny heart and popped it up with Pop Dots for a bit more dimension.

Can't believe it took me so long to stamp a purple heart!!  I love this set and I know it will gets a tons of use during the upcoming Valentine holiday.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!  *smile*

Friday Colors!!

It's Friday!!! Yaayyy... My favorite day of the week!  Are you in for a treat today!  Gina K has given us some of my favorite colors to use on a card for this week's Color Challenge.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to use these colors on because I KNOW I can just about create any kind of card with them.  Here are Gina's colors for this week....

I used the Pure Luxury Black Onyx for my base and layered it up with the layering weight white.  I added some red polka dot DP I found in my paper packs.  I cut out the butterfly from "Hope is Faith" and mounted it with some glue just at the body so that I could bend up the wings and have them pop out from the card.  My corner flower image is from "Picture It" set. 

Isn't it great that you have two chances every week to try for a FREE stamp set from Gina K Designs??? Just upload your photo to the Stamp TV Gallery and make sure you add the code above under the colors to your tags. 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  *smile*

Who's Cuckoo???!!

I am!! Cuckoo for the Stamp TV Kit, "Sent With Love".  So many adorable images in this set and they can fit just about any type of sentiment or occasion. 

Today after I colored my clock with my Copic markers I looked at it and thought it reminded me of my younger days when my mom had a cuckoo clock and this awful printed couch!  LOL Well... I couldn't match her couch but I did find some paper that I liked that reminded me of older days. 

I used Gina K's Pure Luxury card stock in Sweet Corn and layered it up with some Kraft.  I used my Martha Stewart border punch to add to the bottom and added some lace and a piece of the Pure Luxury Organdy Ribbon. 

I decided not to add a sentiment to my card because I felt it would be a nice "just a note" card to write a small message in when I'm ready to send it. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! *smile*

Wedding Wishes....

Don't you just love a pretty wedding??? I do AND... I cry EVERY time!!!  Can't help it.  Something about knowing what a special day it is for the lovely bride.  It just gets to me. One thing I DO not cry over is the gorgeous cards I have seen for weddings.  Today I made my card using Melanie Muenchinger's, "Where Your Heart Is" from Gina K Designs latest release. 

I began my card using Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight white card stock.  I layered another piece of layering weight white on top after running it through my Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder. 

My image was also stamped on the layering weight white and I used my Copic markers to color.  I attached a a small piece of black and white card stock to the end of the image to portray a tuxedo sleeve and shirt.  Adding a small pearl as the cuff link.  On the bride's side, I used a piece of white card stock and colored it to match the hand and added two layers of a lace I had to mimic her wedding dress.  It's hard to see but she also has a strand of pearls bracelet under that sleeve. 

I can't wait for the next wedding... there are always LOTS in my huge family.  I'm sure this card will get used before I know it!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by and have a great day!! *smile*

A Sisterly Card

Good morning everyone!  Are you covered in snow?? Are you tired of the cold??  Me too!!! Today I am sharing a card I made a while back for my Secret Sister over on Stamp TV.  I had so much fun sending little "gifts" and cards to her and I too enjoyed getting my packages from my Secret Sister.  Happy mail never goes out of style!!  :-)

My card uses Gina K Designs, "You Are Not Alone" stamp set.  I started my card base with Gina K's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Creme de Menthe.  I used a layer of Green Apple card stock and a layer of Bubble Gum Pink and embossed it with my Cuttlebug Paisley folder. 

I used the Labels 4 Nestabilitie and just embossed the outline on my layering weight white card stock after stamping my image and sentiment. 

I cannot wait to see pretty flowers coming up again and I know I'll be making more "warm weather" cards to keep me anticipating the season.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! *smile*

Try a Sketch...

Hi everyone!!! Today is sketch time!!  You really must play along... seriously... there is a FREE stamp set up for grabs!!  And if that's not enough... YOU get to pick out which one!!  Today Gina's sketch was a fun one for me.  Here's the sketch she presented us with.

I used Nina Brackett's, "Gleefully Yours" set from the most recent Gina K Stamps release.  I decided to use this Victrola image because it so reminds me of a vintage look which I based my card on.

I began with some vintage DP which I had recently found in my stash.  Shhhh... it was a WHOLE pad of it and I (whispering) forgot... I bought it. Hee Hee

I added a piece of lace to follow the sketch and stamped my image on a layer of Pure Luxury Layering Weight white card stock.  I added some Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink to the edges in keeping with the vintage look.

My sentiment was layered on top of a Nestabilitie Fancy Tag of which I cut the right end off.  LOVE this tag!  Again, I used the Distress Ink to add a more vintage look.

Now it's your turn.  Be sure to post your creation to the Stamp TV Gallery and use the tag listed in the sketch above.  Good luck and have fun!!   *smile*

Bloomin Bench

Are you just loving the new Stamp TV Kit, "Sent with Love"?? I am!!  Today I am sharing a card I created for the January release party for Gina K Designs that I never had a chance to put on my blog.  This card just speaks "peace" to me.

I began using my Pure Luxury Ocean Mist card stock for the base.  AND... do you have a Scor Buddy??? OMGosh... I LOVE it!!!  The gate fold card is sooo easy to make with the Scor Buddy.  There are indicators on the board so you know exactly where to score the card stock!  No measuring... no guessing! Love that!

I layered up my base with Black Onyx and a layer of DP.  My image was stamped on white and layered with black as well.  I colored the heart with my Copic markers.  I used a couple Pop Dots on the left side to give it a little dimension. In the lower corner I added some gorgeous Prima Flowers.

On the inside I used another image from the set and stamped it in my Vivid Aqua ink.  It was just the right color to not overtake my sentiment but show up nicely on the Ocean Mist.

I hope you are keeping warm wherever you are.. it's soooo cold here and I can't wait for Spring.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  *smile*

Scrappy Dino

Hee Hee... what is cuter than a RED dinosaur?? Theresa Momber's newest set, "Dino-Mite" is sooo much fun!! I created this little scrapbook to use for cute memories of my son when he was just a little guy.  I thought he'd really like the dinosaur... I was right! 

I stamped my image on Gina K's Pure Luxury Layering Weight white card stock.  I used my Copics to color it in.  My DP is from Basic Grey's "Oliver" paper pack. Awesome pack for the male cards and projects. 

My book was created using my Bind-it-All and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  I think this will be a fun book to go through and create lots of memories for my son and hopefully some day his kids.  :-)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  *smile*

Color Challenge Time!

Did you win the color challenge last week over on Stamp TV??? Well, if not... here's another chance!!  Gina's colors this week are....

My card uses Gina K Designs, "Eclectic Summer", for my seahorse image.  My seashell comes from Melanie Muenchinger's set, "Gifts from the Sea".

My card base uses Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight white card stock.  I used  the Turquoise Sea and ran it through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder.  I stamped my seahorse on white layering weight card stock and mounted it on top of the Chocolate Brown card stock.

I used my oval scallop Nestabilitie and cut a piece of Chocolate Brown and layered the white.  I popped up the seashell with a couple Pop Dots and put my sentiment below it.

I hope you play along and give yourself a chance to win a FREE Gina K Designs stamp set valued at $24.95 of your choice!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! *smile*

Let's Rock!!

I'm going to celebrate today with Nina Brackett's newest set, "Gleefully Yours" from Gina K Designs.  Today is my favorite day of the week.... the beginning (after 3:30 PM anyway) of a fun filled weekend!!!  As you may know, I am doing the Melody Ross', Brave Girls Club, Soul Restoration online class this next few weeks.  I am loving spending time in My Studio doing all the projects she has for us.  So... if I COULD have a juke box like Nina's, I'd definitely have it rolling full blast the whole time I created... full of happy, fun songs!

My card began with Pure Luxury Red Hot card stock.  I stamped the musical score along the edges of the card sort of letting it wander off the edges a bit.  I stamped my image and used my Copics to color it in... and... some GLITTER to bring the rockin juke box to life!  I layered the image on some Wild Dandelion and Black Onyx card stock.

A few years back when my sister and I were out on our yearly Christmas shopping for mom day with my dad, he decided to buy her a REAL juke box!!  I tried to remember the colors of it but one thing that sticks out in my mind is all the lights around it!!  Not only fun but soooo cool!!!  This image will definitely be one I use to create a special card for mom soon.  I'm sure she will love it as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!! *smile*

Manly Valentine

I spy a little Valentine surprise coming!!  Hee Hee  Today I made a card I wanted to send a fellow tenant in the building where I have My Studio.  Grady is a private investigator and one of the nicest people I know in my building.  He is, as he puts it, "Needing to find him some love." and I thought I'd send him a little Valentine card this year since he, apparently, wasn't thinking he'd get one.  Grady comes in every now and then and peruses through my cards and always has the sweetest comments.  He told me the other day he thought coming by and looking around was very therapeutic for him.  :-)  Wonder if he knows how frustrating it can be when they don't come together like I want. LOL 

My card today was made with Tami Mayberry's "Hopeful Hearts" set from Gina K Designs.  My card base is Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Grass Green layered with Wild Dandelion.  I used my Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder and popped up my image using Pop Dots.  I stamped the yellow heart and offset it a bit from the framed heart.  This is one of my favorite images from Tami's set as so many things can be put in or with the heart frame.  My bling in the corner are brads I received a while back from my Secret Sister over on Stamp TV!  Love them!

I hope you have a great day!  *smile*

Melanie's Stamps Debuted on TV!!!!

If you come to my blog often, you KNOW how much I love Gina K Design Stamps.... and.... surely you know how much I also ADORE Melanie Muenchinger's sets!  I am sooooo happy to share with you Melanie's joy at having her "Arranged With Love" and "A Year of Flowers" sets debuted on PBS during a "Scrapbook Memories" episode! 

You can check the "Scrapbook Memories" site's program guide to find out when the full episodes will air again on PBS, OR you can watch the clip with just my stamps, RIGHT NOW (there is also one with "A Year of Flowers"!) from YouTube! Here they are below, enjoy learning how to watercolor with glitter pens and how to make clear embellishments with transparencies, courtesy of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer!

Here she uses the "Arranged with Love" set....




Here she uses "A Year of Flowers"




Congratulations, Melanie!!! It is no surprise that your fabulous work eventually finds its way to the TV world!!!  How exciting!  Here's to many many more wonderful opportunities for you!

I hope you enjoy the videos and send Mel a little "congrats" on her blog.  Have a great day! *smile*

Sweet Friend

Have you seen the new Stamp TV Kit, "Sent with Love"??? So many adorable images and perfect for Valentine!!

My card was created as another thank you to a NEW friend who was I recently saw at a wedding reception.  It was the second time I had met him and he is just a very sweet young man.

My card base is Gina K's Pure Luxury Vibrant Violet and did some layering of three panels with Turquoise Sea and the Swing Into Spring digital paper.  My images were cut out and colored with Copic markers.  My little heart machine and my sentiment are layered on top of Lovely Lavender. 

I bet when you look at this you see Conversation Hearts.  When I look at it I see those yummy heart shaped Sweet Tarts!  Mmmmm I love those things!! LOL  Good thing I'm in a gym challenge or I'd try to find a machine full of these! Ha!

Have a great day and stay warm... it's sooooo cold here in Des Moines!  *smile*

Fossils

 Ohhh how I LOVE this new sketch Gina has for us this week on Stamp TV!!  Are you playing along?? You know you can win a FREE stamp set of your choice valued at $24.95, right??  You can't miss that chance!!  :-)

Here is Gina's sketch I followed:

I used Theresa Momber's newest set, "Dino-mite".  These dinosaurs are sooo adorable!!  I have a friend who recently gave me one of the nicest, sweetest compliments I have been given in forever!!!, and I decided to make this card for him.  No granted, it sounds a bit harsh as a "thank you" card... but... in the course of our conversations he had mentioned that he was sooo old... HA!  Not nearly as old as me, granted.. LOL  But I did have to make this even though the inside is a nice "thank you" from me.  :-)

I started out with Gina K's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Kraft card stock then used my Tiny Mosaic Cuttlebug embossing folder on it.  I lightly sanded across it to add a bit of  "dusty look" to it.  Next I used the Chocolate Brown card stock to create my triangle and layered it with a piece of Nina Brackett's "Vintage Basics" digital paper.  My dino was colored with Copic markers and cut out using my circle Nestabilities.  Once I colored him I used a bumpy paper towel to add some Copic Blender Solution to the finished image adding a bit of texture to him.  :-)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  *smile*

Melanie's Flipped!!!

My card today was done with Melanie Muenchinger's, "Where Your Heart Is".  Not only did I love this set when I saw it but my 9 year old thought it was just awesome!!!  How fun to use it as an example to show love.  :-)

My card today was done as a "twist/flip" card.  As you can see from my bottom image, I added a few layers of different card stock to make the base a bit sturdier.  I added the stop with a brad so that you could 'twist' it up to see the sentiment.

My base began with Gina K's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Lovely Lavender.  I attached a layer of DP to the bottom and added my sentiment.

The top is double DP and attached with a brad to allow it to "twist" upward.

I stamped Melanie's image and colored with my Copic markers. Last I added with pop dots to the top half. 

I really like this design and hope to try it again some time in the future.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  *smile*

True Devotion....

Good morning everyone!!!  Today I'd like to share a card I made using 1)  My new Slice Machine.. and 2) a stamp that I found while going through CardMaker Magazine.  I LOVE LOVE LOVED this Labrador Retriever stamp so much I found from Impression Obsession thanks to Jeanne Streiff (who created the card in the magazine).  My son has a yellow lab and I HAD to write to the gal who did the card and ask where she got the image.  It was just a fabulous card!

I didn't color my image NEARLY as well as she did, but then again... I was going from memory of what "tones" my son's lab was.  I really should have went with more tan.  Oh well... I KNOW I'll use this again because I just love labs and my father also had a black lab... will be interesting to see how I end up coloring it. LOL

My card base is Gina K's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight sweet corn card stock.  I layered it with some chocolate brown and little boy blue as well.  My image was stamped in Memento ink on the Layering Weight card stock.  I used my Koh-i-Noor pencils to color the image in and used one of my pink Copics on the nose.

Now the fun part.... I got the word "Devotion" from my Pink card that came with my Slice machine.  LOVE it!! A button and a bit of bakers twine and done.  A perfect card from my son's yellow lab, Biscuit, to him. Hee Hee

He loved it, by the way!! :-)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  *smile*

Lacey Smiles

Guess what today is??? Yep... you guessed it... another Color Challenge over on Stamp TV!!!  Today Gina is challenging us to use these colors.....

 

My card uses Tami Mayberry's, "Hopeful Hearts" which was in the latest release from Gina K Designs!  I love this heart surrounded by the lovely flourish/flowers.   

I layered my colors (please note... I didn't get my order in to Gina K in time to use the Fresh Asparagus, but I wanted to give you an idea of how those colors would look together.  I just found this green in my stash and used it so don't compare your colors to MY card by any means.) and stamped my image using my Vintage Green Vivid ink onto the Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Sweet Corn card stock.  I used my Scor-Tape to the underside and ruffled my ribbon around it.

My Red Hot card stock is embossed using my Cuttlebug Script folder.  I lightly brushed over it with Colorbox Chiffon White ink.  

Go play along for a chance to win a set of your choice from Gina K Designs valued at $24.95. Remember to use the tag above when you post to Stamp TV.  

Have a great day!! *smile*

Sign of Love

Good morning!! Are you having snow like we are... finally??? Seems we got through December without much at all and it looks like we have a couple days of it this week with a day or so off and then more.  Starting to actually LOOK like winter around here.  NOT that I'm complaining... last winter was awful so I am so enjoying the milder one we are having so far.

Today I am sharing another card I created using Melanie Muenchinger's newest set at Gina K Designs, "Home Is Where Your Heart Is".  I sooooo love this set!!!  I began with a base of Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight Red Hot card stock.  I ran it through an embossing folder I had from SU and then stamped my image on the Layering Weight white card stock.  I paper pieced the red gingham and then cut the area out inside the hands.  I did the same with the black card stock layer under the image.  I mounted my image using pop dots and added the tiny heart from Tami Mayberry's newest set, "Hopeful Hearts".

I did not put my black ribbon completely across the middle or you would have seen it through the cut out hands.  I attached a piece to each side of the image and wrapped it around both sides. 

My sentiment is simply stamped on another piece of layering weight card stock and adhered to the bottom.  I really really like how this one came out.  I was just looking at this card today and thought... isn't it awesome how our hands can tell so much?  Peace, love, sign language, marriage... just amazing how much we can do and use our hands for.  Melanie is always just right on with her sets!!!

In fact... Melanie has been featured on the Operation Write Home web site and they are showcasing many of the cards made using her set.  You can check out their web site HERE. 

And... Melanie is asking if you purchase her set, if you'd be willing to send one of your creations using it to OWH.  Melanie is personally attempting to send a card every time one of her sets is sold.  If you'd like to help.. (because if she sells a MILLION.. she may need help!  ;-) ), you can send as many cards as you'd like.  Personally, I am sending as many as I can!!  And.. they don't have to be just using Melanie's set so if you have extras lying around you need to clear out... what better way to use them!

I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!  *smile*

I Got a Grand Calibur!!!

Today I want to share a project I created using the Spellbinder's Grand Calibur!!  I got this awesome machine as a gift and was sooooooooo happy to get some time to play with it!!  I have a couple projects I want to use it on but today I am showing you a project I made using Tami Mayberry's newest stamp set, "Hopeful Hearts". 

I began using my Grand Calibur to use my Grand Labels 4 to create three layers of card stock and make this wonderful plaque!!  I attached my first emboss resist layer on a piece of chipboard which I cut the exact size to give my plaque a good rigid base.  I then used the Grand Calibur to make the next two layers a bit smaller. 

I stamped one of my favorite sentiments from Tami's set in the middle using white heat embossing.  The heart was also done using white embossing. I cut out the heart and added it using a few pop dots to give it a bit more dimension.  I added a few Prima flowers to the corners and some of Gina K's Pure Luxury Gold Lined ribbon to hang the plaque.

Here's a close up of the sentiment... love it!

I can't wait to make a few more things I have in mind using the Grand Calibur.  Not to mention cutting multiple regular sized Nestabilities at once!!!  I KNOW this can only speed up my time having extra Nesties cut and available when I need them! 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!  *smile*