Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Kindred Kids......Summer Fun card

If you loved the Kindred Spirits and Kindred Dads lines, then you're going to LOVE the Kindred Kids line that GinaK Designs just came out with!

Gina designed 7 new kids images along with a stamp set that has greetings for all kinds of fun cards to make for kids - the Kindred Greetings for Kids set.

One of my fond memories from childhood was having my dad or mom hook up the sprinkler to the hose on a hot day and letting us spend however long we wanted under it. We always looked forward to it and, growing up as the second oldest of 4 children, there was no shortage of games that we made up while we were playing in the water. We used to have a round sprinkler that worked as a tube. The water would arch out like a fountain. I personally loved to wear the sprinkler on my head like a halo. Fast forward 20 years and my kids have the same kind of sprinkler!

This image reminds me so much of my kids and of my siblings and I so it was only natural that I reached for this image to work with first out of the new Kindred Kids line. This image is called, "Summer Fun." 

I started out with a Soft Sky cardstock base and layered a couple pieces of Apricot Appeal and Pretty in Pink patterned papers from the Prints Pack Designer paper (Stampin' Up).

I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock and then colored with my Copic markers. I added a little bit more length to the hose so that it would reach the edge of the cardstock. This got mounted on a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock.

Before I mounted it to the main card base, I felt like it needed something more. I took out the Dazzling Diamonds glitter and my 2-Way glue pen to finish it off. I applied my 2-way glue to the lines and drops of the water and then sprinkled the glitter over it. I love the watery sparkle it gives the image.

I mounted all of this onto the cardbase with pop-dots so that it popped up from the card.

The little greeting image that I added came from the Kindred Greetings for Kids that coordinates with the images in the Kindred Kids line.
I stamped this with Basic Black ink.

After I finished this card, I realized that this card could easily be given to an adult just as much as it could be given to a child. I'm always needing the reminder to embrace my "inner child." I'm sure others could use the reminder to find time to play and enjoy life.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Retro Boutique....a clean and simple card

Here's a couple of confessions. I am SO not a purse girl....but I have plenty of friends that are. I think they're super cute when they're all dolled up, but I'm not the type to have a million purses in my closet. In fact, I only have one. It goes with me everywhere and it was knitted for me by my sister. It's rainbow striped and full of textures and different kinds of fibers. The lining on the shoulder strap is starting to fall off, it needs a good washing and the cat even peed on it once. I just can't bring myself to part with it, though, because I absolutely love it. I get tons of compliments on it and people ask me all the time if I made it. I proudly tell them that my sister made it (and then hand them a business card for her Etsy shop).

I do like to look at other people's purses, but I'm just not a purse-shopper. In fact, I'm not really a shopper much at all. The only time I go into the mall is to buy a new bra every now and then at Victoria's Secret. Let's face it, when you're hauling around a pair of 38DDs, you DO want the very best. *wink*

The new Retro Boutique set from GinaK Designs (by illustrator Rupa Shevde) is going to work out so well for making cards for all my girly-girl friends. And here's another confession. My daughter is a total Girly-girl when it comes to shopping. She loves it. I'm going to be such a shopping kill-joy when she gets older. But by golly, I'll have lots of stamps to make her cards that coordinate well with her love of shopping. :)

This set has such clean and simple lines so I wanted to create something that went along with that style. The card you see here is what I came up with.

I went with a Real Red cardbase and added a sharp looking Basic Black layer on top. I stamped the image with Basic Black ink on a piece of white cardstock (along with the greeting, which comes in the same set).

I colored the images with the new Koh-i-noor pencils, blending stumps and odorless mineral spirits.....I am SO in love with those pencils and the effect that the blending gives.

I simply ran some color lines around the inside edges of the images and then took my blending stumps dipped with odorless mineral spirits and blending inwards. I love the soft blending and dimension it gives the images.

For a little extra bling and some dimension, I added a tiny self-adhesive rhinestone accent to each of the purses. It gives them the sparkle they so deserve.

I made this card so that it would fit in a regular sized letter envelope.

Enjoy!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Cuddles & Hugs.....awwww....such cute stamped kitties!

If you weren't at the June release party over at GinaK's forum, then you missed out on a ton of fun and a lot of great sneak peeks. But.....you can check out many of the sneak peeks and other great cards done for the two challenges we have up and running at the GinaK Gallery on SCS.

This cute kitty card was one of the sneak peeks that I showed Friday night at the release party and it's also the card that I used for my sketch challenge for the party.

If you'd like to take part in the challenge, there's still time. You have until 7 pm on Tuesday night to take part and you can check out all the details, including a sketch, here ---> June Release Party Sketch Challenge 

I used Wild Wasabi for the card base and adhered a piece of Bashful Blue patterned paper to it. The stamp set that I used for this card is the new set by Melanie Muenchinger. It's called Cuddles & Hugs. This was the first card I made using this set. I couldn't help going for the kitties first. We have always had cats, both of us. We love our kitties and love meeting other people's kitties, too. It almost seemed wrong for me to pick something other than the kitties first.

I wanted the kitties to be sitting ON something, rather than just "floating" on a piece of cardstock. I stamped the grass image (that also comes in the Cuddles & Hugs set) along the edge of a piece of Wild Wasabi patterned paper, varying the heights. I cut the grass out and adhered it to the bottom edge of the blue patterned paper.

I stamped my kitties on white cardstock and then used my new Koh-i-noor pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits and blending stumps to color them in. I'm really loving how awesome these pencils are. I cut the kitties out and popped it up on my card using pop-dots.

Every time I see someone leaning on each other like this, I always envision floating hearts coming up between them. Yes, I really see it in my head. :) So, of course I had to put a floating heart in between the kitties. I used one of the pink Raindot Hearts. Isn't that just SO stinkin' cute??

The greeting came from the same set and I stamped that in Basic Black ink.

I tied some white grosgrain ribbon with a double knot around the card to finish it off.

I wanna hug this card! Seriously!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Sneak Peek release - Botanical Dreams

Today is day two of the new GinaK release. This card uses a new set by a new designer to GinaK Designs, although many of you probably already know her and have seen her amazing work over at her blog. She's the talented Asela Hopkins!

I've always loved Asela's creativity and the images she has created for other companies in the past, though I had never gotten a chance to use them. I can no longer say that anymore because she's GinaK Design's newest illustrator and I finally got my hands on some of her images.

Asela has a very earthy and organic feel to her images. If you've been here long enough and know me well enough, you know that this kind of art is totally right up my alley. I love my browns and greens and anything to do with nature. I am LOVING this set!

This card is made with Asela's first set with GinaK, called "Botanical Dreams." Make sure you hop on over to Gina's blog to see another project made with this set.....along with links to other girls on the design team that have created with this set.

Besides getting my hands on this new set (along with all the other new sets and accessories that are debuting with the release party in Gina's forum on Friday night), I also got my hands on a set of the new  Koh-i-noor Woodless Color pencils that Gina is now carrying in her store. I used them for this card and I can confidently say that I'm absolutely IN LOVE!

Here's a quick view of what these babies can do! The leaves on the left are how the leaves on the right started out before I took the blending stumps and Odorless Mineral Spirits to them. Isn't the effect just stunning?

I couldn't believe how affordable the pencils are! There's 24 pencils in the set but when you combine them like shown here in this picture, then blend them, you can get some very nice effects with them. You don't even HAVE to use blenders and odorless mineral spirits with them.....you can use them just as colored pencils if you want to.

The colors are so vivid and bright! I have a feeling that these pencils are going to be used A LOT! Girly has already eyed them when I opened them from the package, but I've told her that they're off limits. They're for "Mom's work only." Besides, she's been using my Pure Color pencils quite a bit, so it's about time I get to claim a set of pencils for my own again. :)

I stamped the leaf image on the Chocolate Chip cardstock with the same color ink and swiped the edges of the cardstock for a more rustic look. The leaves were stamped on Very Vanilla and then mounted on a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock and again on More Mustard cardstock. I tied a piece of More Mustard grosgrain ribbon around the stamped image and secured it with a double knot and trimmed the ends.

I used my paper piercing template and piercing tool to pierce the upper and lower right corners of the cardstock. It just felt like it needed a little extra something.

The word, "Friend," comes from the same Botanical Dreams set. I stamped this on Old Olive cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink and swiped the Old Olive ink over the cardstock to rough it up a bit. The silver finish frame came from a silver-edge vellum tag that I've hanging around for a while. I had written on the tag a while ago, but never really found anything that I could use it for but didn't want to throw it away. I used my X-acto knife to cut the vellum out and then adhered it over the top of the Old Olive cardstock.

I used my paper piercing template to pierce three holes underneath the frame and secured silver mini brads in them. it gave the card the balance it seemed to be missing. It's amazing what such a small embellishment can do for a card.

Have a great Wednesday! My kids are super excited because it's their last day of school and summer vacation begins. That means camping and time at the beach!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Celebrate card - Fun fireworks!

I've been wanting to try out a gradient sky look on a card for a while now and I think I've almost got it after this card. If you haven't checked out Michelle Zindorf's blog yet, you're missing out on a visual FEAST of color! Michelle also happens to be one of the Guest Designers for a 3 month term with GinaK Designs! Can you believe that before Michelle applied to be on Gina's team, I didn't even know her blog existed? I am stunned by the cards she puts out. Every one of them is like looking at a piece of fine art in an upscale museum.

I sent Michelle and email asking her advice about how she brayers her cardstock and I just need a little more practice. Michelle has the fine art of the brayer down to a science! I can't wait to keep working with this technique because I just ADORE the colors and effects you can get with it.

I created this card with one of Gina's new release sets - the Woo-hoo! set. Gina had some of these images out last year on wood blocks, but reformatted the stamps so that they'd all fit into a set and she added a couple more stamps to complete it. Here's a couple of cards I created with these stamps last year:

• Red, White & Blue Fireworks card
• Firecracker Card

With summer around the corner and the 4th of July holiday right behind it, my thoughts turn to fireworks. I love watching the sky light up with colors!

I used a Basic Black cardstock base for the card in this post and then mounted a piece of Soft Sky cardstock on top.

I brayered Soft Sky ink onto my Whisper White cardstock to start off with. Then I brayered Bordering Blue ink along the top half of the cardstock. I brayered Night of Navy ink along the top of the cardstock. Then I took a sponge and, in a circular motion, sponged Night of Navy ink around the edge of the brayered cardstock and finished it up with a little bit of Basic Black ink around the edge.

I used my embossing gun to dry up the brayered ink since I put quite a bit of ink on the cardstock.

I stamped the fireworks and star bust images on the brayered cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed them with silver embossing powder.

The word, "Celebrate," was stamped with Versamark AFTER I did all the silver embossing. I embossed the word with White embossing powder so that it would stand out a little more from the firework designs. It's hard to tell on the picture because of the lighting....all of the image look like they were embossed with the same powder.

Hope you all have a wonderful night!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

One Design - Multiple Cards

I told you all I'd be better about posting my One Design - Multiple Cards feature. Here's another one! Less than a month since my last one!

I usually make my cards with the typical "quarter fold" size (5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches) but went with a square style card this time. This card is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches.

I used the new Jumping for Joy! set from GinaK (and designed by Melanie Muenchinger) for both of these cards.

At first glance, I assumed that the bear was a polar bear, but then realized that he could be a brown bear or a black bear, too. He didn't HAVE to be a polar bear. Heck, you could even make him tie-dyed if you wanted to (now the wheels are turning in my head and visions of the rainbow bears dancing around are going through my head). One of these days, you just might see a tie-dyed bear on my blog!

I used Bashful Blue for the card base, Certainly Celery for the next base and then used a piece of Bashful Blue patterned paper (from the 6x6 Prints Pack from Stampin' Up). I stamped my image on Whisper White cardstock and then used my Copic markers to give him a little bit of color and the Cool Blue shading around the outside of the bear. It's a little hard to see in this photo, but I colored inside the bear's ear and along his smile with a very pale pink Copic marker.

I cut a small square of Certainly Celery cardstock and cut it in half to put in each of the corners on the right side of the patterned paper.

I tied a piece of black gingham ribbon around the card and tied it off with a double knot and trimmed the edges. Most all of my ribbons are tied off this way because it keeps me from having to worry about getting a perfect bow and having it lay flat.

I punched two scalloped circles out of Certainly Celery cardstock and then cut them in half and adhered them to the back of the Whisper White cardstock. I mounted this over the top of the ribbon.

The little clear dots that I used on the card are clear Rain dots. They seemed to match the polka dotted patterned paper so well, but they don't make the card distracting. The greeting on the card is from the same Jumping for Joy set.

I used the same design for this card, but went with a little bit of a bigger card so that it could accommodate the larger zebra image. This card is 5 x 5 inches.

I love the little heart on the forehead of the zebra, so I brought it out by using a marker around the outside edge with a red Copic marker. I used the same Cool Blue to go around the outside edge of the entire image.

This card uses Real Red patterned paper (the same polka dotted pattern as the Bashful Blue above) and Real Red cardstock as the card base. I used Basic Black as the middle layer and for the scalloped circles and corners.

The greeting on this card also comes from the Jumping for Joy! set.

This set coordinates perfectly with the other sets that Melanie designed:

Just so Hippy

Just so Hoppy

Hip-Hop Accessories

There's a ton of word images in all of these sets and they're all in the same font so you can mix and match from all of the sets! How awesome is that??

Hope you enjoy your Thursday evening!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

You are My Sunshine set....GinaK

I had this thought in my mind to use my slot punch on a card with paper as ribbon. When I took out the new You are My Sunshine set (which is GinaK's new "Free with 3" set....purchase any 3 sets and get this set for free), I planned to somehow use this idea I had in my head on this card. When I started out, I had a completely different vision of the finished card in my head and let me tell you.....the finished version of this card looks NOTHING like the version I had created in my head.

Not that I'm complaining....I quite like how this version turned out. And now I still have that vision in my head of the other card layout that I can use at another time. I love it when things work out like that.

When I think of beach scenes, my thoughts always turn to blues, greens and browns. Those colors always calm my soul and they happen to be my 3 favorite colors (especially when paired together), so the chance to use them with a beach set is perfect for me.

I a big sucker for watercoloring line art sets. And I'm a big sucker for using real watercolor paper. It looks so nice with watercoloring painting. For this card, I used the lids of my inkpads, a little bit of water and a paintbrush. I took the colors from the Summer Picnic Designer Series paper (Stampin' UP) to choose my colors for painting. All of the patterned paper that I used on this card is from the Summer Picnic pack.

I mounted the watercolored image on top of a piece of patterned paper and then used my slot punch to punch a slot at the top and bottom of the image (on the far left side). I threaded a strip of patterned paper through each of the slots and taped it the end under. I put a mini gold brad through each strip, right below the slot. The paper strips look like they're wrapped around the card, but I just trimmed the paper along the edge of the cardstock.

To give the water a bit of sparkle on the waves, I used a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I applied some 2-way glue to the wave lines and then sprinkled the glitter on. It makes the ocean look like there are sparkling white crested waves breaking into shore.

The little dots above the beach image are clear Rain Dots (also from GinaK). They were just enough to balance out the top of the card without overwhelming it.

The only thing this card is missing is me in that picture.....sitting on the beach with a glass of lemonade and dipping my feet in the water. Soon enough.....summer's right around the corner.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Just Me and My Dad.....such a cute stamp image!

I really love the idea of the Kindred Spirits line that GinaK came out with. The images show "real" people doing "real" things. They seem so down to earth. And so applicable for every day cards.

This is another one of the cards that I created for the release party that took place on Tuesday night.

I used the new Just Me and My Dad image to create this card. I honestly don't know which image is my favorite from the Kindred Dads line because they all rock so hard!

My kids love to fly kites and I have quite a few photos of Davy showing them how to work the string and keep the kite in the air. We have a couple kites in the closet that need to come out this weekend....we've had some really great windy days that have been perfect for kite flying.

My kids think that the best thing in the world about kites is the ability to fly heavier objects like boxes and laundry baskets up onto the kite string and into the air. This was a trick that Davy learned when he was a boy. It's all about the wind and letting the string out nice and slow, along with threading the basket or box onto the string right. Oh....and straws. He loves to thread drinking straws onto the string and watch them fly up the string. Sometimes I wonder if I have three kids in my family, instead of just the two little ones. That big kid of mine gets just as much enjoyment out of kites as my little kids do. I'll have to take a picture sometime this summer of them flying the boxes and laundry baskets up on the strings. It has stopped a few cars on the road before.....trying to figure out how in the world a laundry basket is seemingly hovering in the air. It's quite funny!

Two of my favorite colors came into play in this card. Blue and green. And it was so easy because of the sky and the grassy hill the father and son are flying their kites on.

I stamped the image on Confetti white because I love watercoloring on it. It holds up the water really well. I mounted that on Soft Sky cardstock and then on top of the grass patterned paper (which has been hiding on my paper rack for about 6 years now) that I mounted on top of my Wild Wasabi card base.

The greetings from the Kindred Greetings for Him set are so well suited to all the images that Gina created in the Kindred Dads line.

I adore the sentiment that I used on this card. It fits the image so perfectly. This greeting is actually all on one stamp, but I chose to split it up so that some fit on top of the card and some fit on the bottom. I used my Black Stampin' Write marker (the brush tip end) to color the words I wanted and then cleaned it off in between stamping.

I used some little light blue and green brads on either side of the greeting that I got a few years ago at Joann's a few years ago. Way to use up those hoarded supplies! I'm getting better and better at it all the time!

Hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Trying out a new card shape!

GinaK had her release party last night for the fantastic new line of stamps that just came out. Her forum over at SCS was hopping all night long and there were amazing samples shared by the girls on the Design Team. I really look forward to these release parties.....lots of fun chatter, great company, tons of laughs....and of course, all the sneak peeks and  challenges.

Speaking of challenges....one of the other things I love about the release parties is being able to put together a sketch challenge for everyone that visits! I was actually supposed to be somewhere else last night and that ended up being canceled, which meant that I was able to make the party after all! As soon as I knew I could make the release party, I asked Gina if I could take on one of the challenges. These challenges really make me think outside the box. This particular challenge ESPECIALLY made me think outside the box.

My friend, Jen (who also happens to be my muse), has been telling me for a while now that I need to create a shaped card. So....here it is! An oval shaped card.

If you'd like to take part in the challenge....you still have time! You have until tomorrow night, Thursday, the 22nd. The winners will be announced in a winner's thread on Friday morning. You can check out all the details here at this thread ---> Erika's release challenge!

I folded my Real Red cardstock in half like I would with a normal card. Then, I laid my oval cutter template over the top, while hanging the template over the folded edge a little, and cut out the oval shape. I cut a couple smaller ovals (from white and black cardstock) and adhered them along the fold, trimming the edges off to be flush with the fold of the card.

I used the new Many Happy Returns set for this card. Both the typewrite and the greeting come from this set. I stamped the typewriter with Palette Hybrid Noir ink and then colored it in with Copic markers and used my Copic blender. I'm still trying to learn how to use these markers and learn something new every time I use them.
The greeting is actually one long stamp, but I needed to make it all fit in the white space on the oval so I used my Basic Black marker to do one word at a time. A little more work, but it didn't take me long at all.

I used up some ribbon scraps by folding them in half and stapling them to my layers of white and black cardstock before mount it on on the red card.

The little pink heart on the typing paper is one of the little Rain Dots hearts. It adds such a cute touch to the card and I was quite pleased with myself for thinking to use it here. haha!

You can see along the edge of the red card that I added some black stitch lines with my Basic Black Stampin' Write marker. The edge just seemed so bare, but I didn't want to go overboard with it, so the stitch lines were just enough to give it that "something extra" that it needed, but didn't overdo it.

This picture shows a little bit more detail of the stitch lines.

I also added another embellishment along the bottom right side of the card. Just WAIT till you see these!

GinaK just started carrying these amazing Rain Dots Eyelets. Aren't they awesome??? I love the eyelet dots, but I also love the little tiny dots in the package because they fit just about ANYWHERE!

Well, it's off to bed for me. It's an early night for me. I think I've come down with the illness that my daughter had earlier in the week and missed a day of school for. I'd better get a good night's sleep.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Kindred Dads stamp line preview!!!

GinaK has done it again!

Remember the Kindred Spirits line of stamps that Gina came out with last month? Well, she's now added a Kindred Dads line to compliment it!

I was SO excited when I saw this line of stamps because I know I can use every one of them!

Gina has a few of the girls on her design team doing a preview of this special line and you can check out the list of those girls, PLUS Gina's own preview project, over at Gina's Blog.

When Gina asked us girls what stamps we wanted to help preview, I knew I HAD to preview the "Hiking with Dad" image.

My Davy is a born nature lover. He adores being out on the mountains and has hiked most of the high peaks in the Adirondacks (just over the border in New York) and has done all of the big mountains here in Vermont. He's hiked a couple of volcanoes. He hikes in the middle of the winter, with his snowboard on his back and boards back down the mountain. He hiked up Mt. Abraham here in Vermont with Girly strapped to his back and Zach strapped to the front (when they were much younger, of course). He's sat on top of one of the high peaks to eat his lunch in -30 degree weather, only to get half way through his sandwich before it froze in his hands. The man is a hiking powerhouse. I love that about him.

We do a lot of hiking as a family....we always have. But Davy also does a lot by himself, too, since some of the mountains he picks are a bit too much for the kids and myself to handle. The kids have SO many memories already of hiking with us and Zach and Davy even go out on hikes by themselves. I just find that so special. They've learned so much from hiking with their dad. He's taught them about different plants, how to look for tracks, how to read trail signs, etc. These kids love being outdoors just as much as we do.

I know that this stamp is going to come in really handy for the kids making cards for their dad, to use on scrapbook pages of our hiking trips, for mini books and SO much more!

I wanted to create a card that reflected the ruggedness of the outdoors. I went with a faux-wood look on Creamy Caramel cardstock. I really love texture, so I used my distressing tool on the edges of my cardstock layers to rough them up a bit.

All of my cardstock layers were swiped with the same color ink as the cardstock (except for the Kraft cardstock, which was swiped with Creamy Caramel ink).

I adhered a length of green and brown striped ribbon to my Old Olive layer for some extra color.

My image was stamped on Kraft cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed with black embossing powder.

I didn't want to color in my image with colors, as I didn't want to compete with the colors in the ribbon. I wanted the card to stay muted and earthy looking. I used a little bit of bleach gel from a Clorox bleach pen and a paintbrush to paint the gel onto the image. I actually had to do a second coat and use the heat gun on it to bring out the whiteness, but I'm thinking it could be because my bleach pen is a couple years ago and might not be as potent as a new one would be.

I mounted stamped image on top of a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and then mounted that on top of the card with pop-dots for dimension.

The greeting at the bottom of the card comes from Gina's new set, "Kindred Greetings for Him." This is a fantastic companion set to all of the great new Kindred Dads stamps. It'll be released along with all of the other new sets on Tuesday night, the 20th, over at Gina's Forum from 7-10 pm Central Time.

I stamped the greeting on Creamy Caramel cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it with black embossing powder then swiped the cardstock with Creamy Caramel ink. I tore the end of the strip and mounted it onto the card base. I added a mini green brad at the end to carry over the green color scheme from up top.

Here's a picture that I took last fall at the top of Cascade Mountain, which is one of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains over in New York.

Davy, Zach and Girly were enjoying a relaxing moment at the top, while Davy pointed out different things in the landscape below. Those kids hang onto every word he says.

As always, you can click on any of the pictures in my posts for a larger view.

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama