Saturday, April 28, 2012

Paper Smooches Winner Announced!

Good morning! I'm here to announce my winner from the April Paper Smooches Release Blog Hop on Thursday and that lucky lady is:

Congratulations, Isha! Please email me with your mailing address so we can get Hubby and Wifey sent out to you right away.

Thank you all for hopping along with the Paper Smooches design team for this release! See you on the Paper Smooches Blog for inspiration all month long. Have an amazing weekend!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

April Paper Smooches DT Blog Hop!

This is my second post of the day. If you're looking for my Tiddly Inks Special Guest post, please scroll down.


It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches May stamp release with you! The three NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase on May 1st. You will find them HERE. Follow the Paper Smooches blog for more sneak peeks.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new May stamp sets! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify) You have until midnight MT on Friday, April 27th to leave a comment. Please check all five blogs on Saturday, April 28th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.
To increase your chances of winning:
1. Leave a comment on this blog post
2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)


My card features three small flowers and a sentiment from Hubby and Wifey. This romantic set is perfect set for engagements, weddings, anniversaries and more!

To create the insert for the frame, I traced the inside and stamped the flowers using the pencil line as a guide. After stamping the sentiment, I trimmed the insert just outside the lines, erased the lines and adhered it to the back of the frame. I cut a piece of vintage seam binding, laid it flat across the back of the frame and looped it through the holes on the sides of the frame twice. On one side, I pulled the binding through the top and on the other, I pulled it through the bottom. Then I trimmed off the excess. Both the frame and the card base were embossed at the start of the project.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Remember to check back here on Saturday to see if you are the lucky winner of Hubby and Wifey!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury black & white cardstock; Paper Smooches Hubby and Wifey (available May 1st); Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Hero Arts Soft Yellow, Soft Pink & Soft Blossom shadow inks; Prima grey chipboard frame; Ribbon Carousel eggshell vintage seam binding; Papertrey Ink woodgrain & linen and canvas impression plates

Need Some Hugs?

Last month, Christy Croll and Melissa Forquer asked me if I would like to celebrate Tiddly Ink's second birthday with them! I was delighted to be invited as a special guest so of course I said yes. With so many cute digis to choose from, it took me a while but I settled on Good Friends as the digi to work with. I just adore this little dog and cat snuggling up against each other. Aren't they the sweetest? Heehee.

I kept this card simple and made a shaped one-layer with some masking and sponging to highlight the image. Since I don't own a printer and hadn't planned ahead of time, I used a lightbox to trace the digi on to masking tape before stamping the background and sponging the edges. Both the background and sentiment are from Hero Arts.

Thanks so much to Christy and Melissa for having me as their special guest and to all of you for stopping by today! You can find more cute and quirky art from Tiddly Inks HERE. They have a fantastic blog and an inspiring challenge blog, too!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Tiddly Inks Best Friends; Hero Arts Envelope Pattern & XO; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Frayed Burlap distress ink; Copic markers; Judikins Eclipse masking tape; Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Paper Smooches Sponsors Simon Says Stamp Challenge

I'm a Guest Designer this week on the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog! It's a special week because Paper Smooches is sponsoring the Simon Says Stamp Challenge so there will be two prizes. One winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Simon Says Stamp store and a second winner will receive two Paper Smooches stamp sets of their choice! This week's theme is "Anything Goes".

Yup, the professor is back! To make this card, I stamped the gingham from Debonair as the anchor. Then I coloured and fussy cut the professor and the globe (without the stand) from Smarty Pants. Since he's twirling that globe on his pointer, I thought it would be fun to use the dust devil sentiment from Eco Friendly.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you will play along in this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge for a chance to win one of two fabulous prizes. If you have Paper Smooches stamps, why not ink 'em up? :)

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Smarty Pants, Eco Friendly & Debonair; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Pool Party ink; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Antique Linen distress ink; Copic markers; foam tape

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Go To Your Happy Place

Awesome furniture, cute luggage, books and shoes? Yes, please! Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today. I took the stack of suitcases and a sentiment from Get Outta Town to create this fun card for a girlfriend who loves shoes! That could be one of many, right? ;) I started by stamping and fussy cutting the suitcases, along with tables and shelves from Vogue Abode and books from Smarty Pants. I stamped a lot of the images twice to get the contrast where there are drawers and snaps. Yes, it was very time-consuming but fun! After I adhered everything sky high, I stamped one of the shoes from Pretty Momma. Lastly, I chose a giant speech bubble from He Said, She Said and stamped the sentiment inside. I didn't have an ink colour that matched the dark brown from the largest book so I stamped once in a dark brown and once in a dark orange ink to get the perfect shade. I've learned that there are two things you should never skimp on: good bed sheets and good shoes! I love that the shoe is saying it's your happy place. LOL
Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; My Mind's Eye Be Amazing paper pad; Paper Smooches Get Outta Town, Pretty Momma, Vogue Abode, Smarty Pants & He Said, She Said; Memento Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa inks; SU Crumb Cake & Pumpkin Pie inks

Sunday, April 22, 2012

You're Sew Nice

Today, the following members of the Avocado Arts Pit Crew are inspiring you with more projects made with the April stamp set, Sew Nice:

---> Emily Leiphart <---

This card is very simple and came together quickly. I simply cut out the kraft and black mats, stamped the spool and sentiment, assembled them and attached the panel to the card base with foam tape. This set provides so many design possibilities, both fancy and simple! You can grab this set for yourself HERE.

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft & black cardstock; Avocado Arts Sew Nice; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; foam tape

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Let's Shop

Who's a shopper? Me, me, me! I love shopping. I thought this would be a fun card for a girlfriend. I used a couple of Paper Smooches stamp sets for this one. The sneaker is from Hope and the sentiment is from Promenade. The design was inspired by J.Crew's January 2012 catalog cover. Have a lovely weekend!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white & black cardstock; Paper Smooches Hope & Promenade; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Copic markers

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Be the Change

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments yesterday for my Hero Hostess announcement! I read all the comments on the Hero Arts Blog, too. This may sound a little corny but if I had a quilt with all of your congratulatory sentiments on it, I would want to keep it wrapped around myself for a very long time. Really, you've made me feel so special. I am all smiles!

For this card, I used sketch #3 from the Hero Arts April Contest. I used a couple of new dies I just got, the paper dolls and wonky scallop border, along with new Hero Arts stamps. I finally got my hands on the Graph Background and I used another one of the Hero Arts/Studio Calico releases, Wonderful World. I used the rock 'n' roll stamping technique for the earth and die cut the ring for the sentiment using Spellbinders circle dies.

Sources: SU Crumb Cake, Old Olive & Island Indigo cardstock; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Basic Grey Out of Print paper pad; Hero Arts Graph Background & Wonderful World; SU Crumb Cake, Old Olive & Island Indigo inks; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; My Favorite Things Die-namics paper doll border & wonky scallop border; Spellbinders Nestabilities standard circles large; SU 1-3/8" circle punch; foam tape

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Exciting News!!

Here's a little peek at what you'll see on the Hero Arts Blog today! In fact, there's another little surprise waiting, too. :)

Thank you, Hero Arts! I'm extremely thrilled and truly honoured to be a Hero Hostess! It really is a dream come true. I'm not often rendered speechless but I guess that says a lot about how much this means to me. Somebody pinch me!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Love, Admire, Respect You

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today. It features the silhouette and a sentiment from Pretty Momma. The hibiscus flowers are from Get Outta Town, the leaves are from Zoo Crew and the banner is from Hang Ups. All the coloured cardstock is from the Beverly Collection. I adhered the fussy cut silhouette on a die cut oval and sponged around the edges. Then I stamped and fussy cut the flowers, leaves and banner, all from different cardstock colours from the Beverly Collection. The only colour I didn't use was the blue which is why I added blue gems to the banner. This card would work for Mom, a fabulous girlfriend or any female figure you love, admire and respect!

Sources: SU Natural White cardstock; Paper Smooches Beverly Collection; Paper Smooches Pretty Momma, Get Outta Town, Zoo Crew & Hang Ups; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Dusty Concord distress ink; Spellbinders Nestabiligies Classic Scalloped Ovals Large; Uniball Signo broad white gel pen; Forever in Time blue gemstone stickers; foam tape

Monday, April 16, 2012

Always Thinking of You

Here's another card for the Hero Arts April Contest, this time a shaped one! I used my new Roma stamp again with the butterfly from Bold Pop Designs and a sentiment from Good Friends. I sponged around the map and I used the rock 'n' roll technique on the butterfly. Then I used a brush to paint Lavender Stickles on the darker areas. To finish, I stamped the sentiment and added three pearls which were coloured with Copic markers. I didn't have the exact shade of purple needed so I coloured and recoloured with three different purples.

I hope you all have a fabulous start to your week! See you tomorrow. :)

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; SU Crumb Cake cardstock; Hero Arts Roma, Bold Pop Designs & Good Friends; Tim Holtz for Ranger Pumice Stone, Milled Lavender & Dusty Concord distress inks; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large & Classic Scalloped Circles Large; Ranger Lavender Stickles; SU Basic Pearls; Copic markers; foam tape

Sunday, April 15, 2012

A Wonderful Day

Today, the entire Avocado Arts Pit Crew has loads of inspiration to share with you! We've all made cards featuring the April release Sew Nice with sneak peeks of the upcoming May release Thoughts and Smiles. Please visit these amazing blogs for more inspiration:

This card uses the zig zag stitches from Sew Nice along with a sentiment from Wishes and Kind Thoughts. I stamped the stitches three times to create a chevron border. My sneaks from Thoughts and Smiles are the flowers and leaves. The flowers were stamped four times, watercoloured with distress inks, fussy cut, layered and adhered to the card base at different heights. The May set is filled with lovely images! It's one of my favourite sets to play with and I think you'll fall in love with it as soon as it's revealed.

If you haven't already voted for your favourite Stamping Royalty Honorable Mention, you have one more day. Voting ends tonight! Thanks so much for stopping by today. :)

Sources: SU Crumb Cake cardstock; Hero Arts white watercolor paper; Avocado Arts Wishes and Kind Thoughts, Sew Nice & Thoughts and Smiles; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Shabby Shutters & Peeled Paint distress inks; brush; foam tape; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thank You!

Thank you for all of your amazing responses to my last post about being one of Stamping Royalty's Honorable Mentions! I'm so touched by your sweet comments and choice to vote for me. I honestly can't say thank you enough. I made this card with all of you in mind. :) It uses Hero Arts stamps and a sketch from the Hero Arts April Contest as well as colours from the colourQ challenge #132.

I broke out one of my newest Hero Arts stamps that arrived yesterday, Roma, and used it to stamp on a strip of green cardstock. Then I die cut the notebook border and attached it to the green strip with a small sliver of white cardstock between them. I die cut the star in two colours, adhered the red outline directly to the card base and popped the orange section with foam tape. The sentiment is from Year Round Sentiments and I used markers to stamp the words in a different arrangement. I added rhinestones and rounded a corner to balance the card.

Thank you once again for supporting me in my stamping adventures! It is all of you that make this fun and rewarding.

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; SU Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie & Lucky Limeade cardstock; AC textured black cardstock; Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments & Roma; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie & Real Red inks; Papertrey Ink Seeing Stars die collection; MFT Die-namics Notebook Edge; SU Basic Rhinestones; foam tape

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Stamping Royalty Honorable Mention

I was surprised, but delightfully so, to see that one of the cards I had submitted to Paper Crafts magazine's 2012 Stamping Royalty Contest has been chosen as an Honorable Mention in the Hello/Thinking of You category. This card features stamps from the Avocado Arts set Springtime Celebrations. I created a runway for the chick by cutting and sponging the edges of the mat. I assembled the runway and adhered it to the grey mat at the same time. I stamped the chick on the base first so I wouldn't have to worry about fussy cutting her hair and legs. I stamped her again on a separate piece of cardstock, coloured her with Copic markers, fussy cut her body and adhered her to the card with foam tape. The sentiment was stamped last.

If you like my card, I'd love your vote!! Click HERE. :)

I will be happy even if I don't win. Just to be named an Honorable Mention is an honour in itself! Thank you so much for your constant support and friendship!

Sources: SU Pool Party & Basic Gray cardstock; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Avocado Arts Springtime Celebrations; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Pumice Stone distress ink; Copic markers; foam tape

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Happy Everything

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today. It features a sentiment from Simply Said surrounded by four small images from Get Outta Town. I broke out my new postage stamp nesties for the first time to make the indigo base for this card. The white panel is a separate layer tilted off the base. Then I sponged the ocean and stamped the waves by turning the bird stamp upside down. The sunset or sunrise as a post mark ties into the shape and scene of this card. I added the airplane to add movement and the sentiment was stamped last. I love this big sentiment because it makes the card and also because it means I could give this card to a friend for any reason!

Isn't the April release amazing? I hope you're having loads of fun with your new Paper Smooches stamps. :) I just wanted to remind you that there are two exciting things happening at Paper Smooches right now that you might want to check out: (1) May Guest Designer Search and (2) Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge Design Team Call. Best of luck to all who apply!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; SU Island Indigo cardstock; Paper Smooches Simply Said & Get Outta Town; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Tumbled Glass & Broken China distress inks; Spellbinders Nestabilities Postage Stamps

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Warm & Sweet Just Like You

I hope you're all having a fabulous Easter weekend! I have a Lil' Inker Designs project to share with you today. This one uses last month's release Coffee Cozy with Of the Heart from the previous month. I made this card for a friend I love to shop with. Whenever we go to the mall, she gets a coffee and I end up with a bubble tea. The bubble tea place tucks in a long spoon/stirrer into the sleeve which is really cute. I decorated my friend's cup with a die cut heart and my cup with the arrow as a spoon/stirrer. I'm sure my friend will get a good laugh out of this! I used a ruler to draw faux stitching around the edges of the patterned paper using a marker that coordinates with the ink I used to stamp with.

This set is so much fun and it's not just for coffee lovers, as previously shown with the telephones! With the option of turning the cup into a mug with a handle, you can use this set for tea, cocoa, juice and more. There are so many themes covered in the sentiments and with all the outlines and decorative cozies to choose from, every card you make will be different! You can find Coffee Cozy at the LID Store.

Sources: SU Crumb Cake, Natural White, Melon Mambo, So Saffron & Certainly Celery cardstock; Echo Park Dots & Stripes Candy Shoppe paper pad; Lil' Inker Designs Coffee Cozy & Of the Heart; Lil' Inker Designs Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad & marker; foam tape

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Friendship is Made With Love

Today, the following members of the Avocado Arts Pit Crew are inspiring you with more projects made with the April stamp set, Sew Nice:

---> Emily Leiphart <---

I stamped the large bloom from Sew Nice three times on sticky-back canvas and cut out all the layers. I applied multi-medium gloss to all the layers, lifted the petals and allowed them to dry before assembling the flower. I used the whimsical stitches as a stem, added a flag from Avocado Type and stamped a sentiment from Sew Nice. Chomping a corner and adding a rhinestone was all that was needed to finish this card!

I love the friendship theme of this set. The fun flower, buttons, spool, clipboard and stitches provides so many design possibilities! You can grab this set for yourself HERE.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend! It's a long weekend here in Canada. My sister and her family are here from the U.S. so we are spending time with her and our parents.

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Avocado Arts Sew Nice & Avocado Type; SU Real Red, Old Olive & Island Indigo inks; Claudine Helmuth white sticky-back canvas; Claudine Helmuth Studio multi-medium gloss; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper; SU Basic Rhinestones

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

It's Happy Hour Somewhere

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today. I giggled the whole time I was making this card. As I've said many times before, there are two stamps that are necessities when it comes to my Paper Smooches stamp collection - the squirrel from Hang Ups and the professor from Smarty Pants. If you have these two, you can make any scene! LOL In our backyard, we are constantly entertained by the squirrel antics. I think I have a fondness for squirrels because they are the worker bee type, always scurrying about getting things done.

The sentiment and island drinks being hogged by the squirrel are from the new release Get Outta Town. I stamped the squirrel from Hang Ups three times so I could create new tail and arm positions for this scene. The juke box is from Perpetual Bliss and the shadow is from Vogue Abode. Thanks for stopping by today!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Get Outta Town, Hang Ups, Perpetual Bliss & Vogue Abode; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Pumice Stone distress ink; Copic markers; foam tape

Pink Cat Studio ~ Apr 3rd Digi Release!


Welcome to Pink Cat Studio's April 3rd Digi Release! Melissa asked me and Mariska van der Veer, another Pink Cat Studio alumna, to join her design team for this release. Of course, I had to say yes! Pink Cat Studio was my very first design team and remains very near and dear to my heart. I have to apologize for the delay in posting though. My son was in the emergency room for several hours last night but all is well now and hopefully it will be tomorrow and beyond!

I didn't realize how much I missed colouring these cuties 'til I got my hands on these new digis. They are adorable! I am featuring Flower & Ladybugs Party which I printed on white cardstock, die cut and coloured with Copic markers. To finish, I added a strip of die cut grass and a banner which has a Lil' Inker Designs sentiment. The banner was sponged with distress inks and adhered to the card with foam tape.

Thank you so much for joining me for this release! 12 new digis are available for purchase today but if you make any purchase today, April 3rd only, you will receive the Star Fairy free. Head on over to the Pink Cat Studio Digi Store now and grab some of these cuties for yourself!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Pink Cat Studio Flower & Ladybugs Party; Lil' Inker Designs Flags & Tags sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Wild Honey & Rusty Hinge distress inks; Copic markers; Spellbinders Nestabilities Reverse Wonky Rectangles & Ribbon Banners; My Favorite Things Die-namics Fresh Cut Grass; foam tape