Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Blast from the Past - Day 5

One of my absolute favorite sets from GinaK is the Love you to Pieces set, which is the first set that Gina created for the Stamps for a Cause collection. $8.00 (yes, you read that right!) from every set goes directly to Autism Speaks. It's an amazing stamp set with an amazing donation to an amazing cause! My 11 year old son is autistic and I was so thrilled when I pitched this idea to Gina way back in January of 2007 and that she jumped on board with it. That's one of the many things that I love about Gina. She has such a big heart!

I used the emboss resist technique for this card. I stamped the puzzle cluster image all over a piece of ivory cardstock with dark pink ink. I then stamped the large heart image three times across the cardstock with Versamark ink and dusted it with clear embossing powder. After I heated the powder and let it cool, I sponged over it with a burgandy ink. Doing this allows the embossed finish to resist the ink and shows the images beneath. It's eye popping....I LOVE this technique.

For even more samples of some of our favorite 'Blast from the Past' GinaK Designs stamp sets, check out these participating designer's blogs:

• GinaK
• Jessica
• Melanie
• Theresa
• Tami
• Nina
• Cathy
• Lee
• Lynn
• Kurtis
• Bev
• Emily
• Erika

The entire GinaK Designs team would like to invite you to the virtual Release party we'll be having tonight (Thursday, August 5th) on StampTV.  It will be a bit different than our usual release party, but we'll still have challenges, contest questions, and designer samples that you won't want to miss out on!  See you there for all the fun!

The Year I was Born - scrapbook page (GinaK)

 I haven't scrapbooked many of my baby photos but I'm starting to take them out of the albums that they've been in for years. Those horrid albums with the sticky back pages and the plastic covers that are made out of all sorts of things that can ruin your photos and eat them away. 

I've been trying to come up with creative ways to scrapbook my photos and right now, there's an "About Me" challenge going on over at Soul Scrappers and it's all about scrapbooking about the year you were born and including some baby pictures of yourself. We'd love for you to come over and give it a try!

I used Kraft cardstock for my base page. I added some photo corners punch out of Innocent pink cardstock for some extra color and balance. 

 I mounted 3 of my baby photos onto Innocent pink cardstock and added some digi paper (from a past StampTV kit) and some borders on top and bottom of the photos with some of the stamps from the In Stitches set with dark rose ink. I added some self-adhesive rhinestones in each of the scalloped images under the photos. I added some sateen flowers, buttons and ribbons (all from GinaK) and some stamped flowers from the Aloha set. 

The title was done by stamping the oval from the Versatile Verses set along with the "Happy Birthday" image (also from the Versatile Verses set) and writing in the year I was born with a black glaze pen.

I looked up the year 1976 on wikipedia.org and used some of the famous happenings from my birth year as my journaling. I included my birth information into the important happenings. 

So, what happened in your birth year? Do you have some pictures hanging around that desperately need scrapbooking but you were just waiting for some inspiration? Come check out my scrapbooking community, Soul Scrappers, and join the fun and the challenges! We welcome all kind of scrapbookers!

Florida Scrapbook page with Aloha set

  What could be better for a scrapbook page with beach pictures than a stamp set that is full of great tropical beach images? The Aloha stamp set fit my pictures perfectly. 

These pictures were taken when we went to Florida in the fall of 2007 and they're in dire need of scrapbooking. We took a day trip to the Canaveral National Seashore and had the beach pretty much to ourselves. It was a fantastic day and one of the highlights of our trip. We loved it so much that we went back for a second day near the end of the week. 

 I used a pretty simple design to fit my photos on my page. Since they're 4x6 photos and I was using a 12x12 page, there was no need to crop my photos. A quick mat of some blue cardstock behind the photos and they were all the perfect size to fit 3 photos right in line going down my page. I added a strip of Chocolate Brown cardstock with some ribbon on top (from one of the past StampTV kits) and topped it with some brown buttons from the Neutrals Button assortment.

I stamped the images around the page with dark brown ink and then gave them some light color with Koh-i-noor pencils.

The greeting that was stamped on the blue cardstock and then matted on Chocolate brown cardstock is also from the Aloha set. I really like using sentiments from stamp sets on my pages either as quotes, titles, part of the journaling, etc. They're not just for the outside and inside of cards....you can definitely use them in your scrapbooking, too!

My journaling was done with my trusty Black glaze pen. I love that thing!!

GinaK Technique Challenge Blog Hop - Drop shadow

Want to learn a bunch of techniques? This blog hop is a great opportunity to check out a bunch of different techniques, watch videos on how to create them and see some amazing art from different designers. 

For my technique, I chose the "Drop Shadow" technique. You can see GinaK do this technique in her video here----> Creating a Drop Shadow

This is an incredibly easy technique to do but it gives such a fantastic effect. I chose to do mine with two colors of pink, but it's also stunning with a light blue in back and black on top like GinaK shows in her video.

I used the new Hugs & Prayers set to do the Drop Shadow on my card. This technique works best with bold and silhouette type of images. I started with a piece of white cardstock and stamped the base image with a light pink ink. I then stamped slightly to the right with the same image with a darker pink-purple ink. (I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure my images were lined up correctly.) I mounted this on top of a piece of Creme de Menthe cardstock. I added some small ribbon flags and some pink buttons and popped everything up on a piece of digi paper (all from GinaK Designs) and then on top of a base of Bubblegum pink cardstock

The greeting image is also from the Hugs & Prayers set and was stamped with the dark purple-pink ink.

For more projects from the other designers participating in the hop tonight, please check out these links:

• GinaK
• Jessica
• Theresa
• Melanie
• Nina
• Tami
• Cathy
• Lee
• Donna
• Kurtis
• Emily
• Erika <--- you are here!

GinaK Sneak Peek - Day 4 - Versatile Verses

Today is the last day of the GinaK previews before the release party takes place Thursday night (check out the info at the bottom of this post to learn how to join the fun at the release party).

I used the new Versatile Verses set alongside the Aloha set to create this tropical birthday card. I'm not a big pink fan, but flamingos just don't work without pink and this combination of pinks is perfect for flamingos.

I used Passionate Pink cardstock for my base and then layered a piece of striking  Black Onyx cardstock. I stamped a scene on Innocent pink cardstock using the sand and palm tree images. I colored the palm trees with Koh-i-noor pencils. I also used the sand image with blue ink to create the clouds. I love that one image can be used for both clouds AND sand. The seagulls were drawn with a Black glaze pen and the sun was hand drawn with the Koh-i-noor pencils.  The flamingo was stamped with black ink on white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. 

I stamped the oval and greetings from the Versatile Verses set with black ink on Passionate Pink ink, trimmed out and mounted on my card.

For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designer's links:

• Gina Krupsky *illustrator of Blessed is the Season and Versatile Verses
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Nina Brackett
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Carolyn King
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Asela Hopkins

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party tomorrow night starting at 7 pm central on StampTV. There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month.  See you then for all the fun!

GinaK Sneak Peek - Day 3 - Hugs and Prayers (scrapbook page)

The new Hugs and Prayers set, created by Nina Brackett, was designed with sentiments that make for beautiful and touching sympathy cards. While this set was created for that purpose, the images can also be used for other projects outside of sympathy cards.

I created a scrapbook pages using these beautiful images and a photo of my daughter (photo courtesy of Family Room Studio). One of the things that I really love about this set is that many of the images have lined and solid mirror images of each other. An example is the lined image of the flowers that I embossed on the rose colored cardstock and the solid image I embossed on the Sweet Corn cardstock. You can use the images separately or you can stamp the lined image in a darker color over the solid image for a 2-step effect.

For my page, I embossed all of my images with white embossing powder as I love the contrast it gives. I used a rose cardstock for my base and added Sweet Corn cardstock for my mat and Vibrant Violet for my embellishments and journaling mat. The white swirls in the upper corner are from the bottom of one of the images. I just made sure to stamp only the bottom of the image along my corners to get the swirly flourished look.

I added a length of royal purple ribbon with white brads along the bottom of my page. My journaling was done with a Black glaze pen, which is my favorite for journaling.

For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designer's links:

• Gina Krupsky *illustrator of Seeds of Kindness
• Jessica Fick *creator of Seeds of Kindness Card Kit
• Nina Brackett *illustrator of Hugs and Prayers
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Carolyn King
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Valerie Stangle
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Asela Hopkins
  
• Janice Whiting *Seeds of Kindness Guest Designer
• Sankari Wegman

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party this Thursday, July 1st starting at 7 pm central on StampTV! There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month!  We'd love to have you join in on the fun!

GinaK Sneak Peek - Day 2 - Pretty as a Peacock

When I see peacocks, I think turquoise, emerald green and royal purple. They go together beautifully. When Asela Hopkins came out with her Pretty as a Peacock set, the first thought that came to my mind was Pearl Ex powders. Pairing up peacocks and shiny, shimmery Pearl Ex powders seemed like a perfect partnering.

I used Turquoise Sea cardstock for my base and layered together Black Onyx and Grass Green cardstocks.

I embossed the large peacock image on Black Onyx cardstock with white embossing powder and then used a small detail paint brush with a little bit of water and Pearl Ex powders to color in the image.

The greeting is from the Pretty as a Peacock set and was embossed with white powder on Turquoise Sea and matted on top of Grass Green cardstock. 

I added a length of turquoise and green ribbons (from one of the StampTV Kits), which I stamped with one of the images from the In Stitches set that was sneak-peeked yesterday. The white brads were from a previous StampTV kit, as well. 

When you turn the card in the light, the shimmer from the Pearl Ex powders really makes the peacock come to life.

For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designer's links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Nina Brackett
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Asela Hopkins *illustrator of Pretty as a Peacock

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party this Thursday, July 1st starting at 7 pm central on StampTV! There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month!  We'd love to have you join in on the fun!

GinaK Sneak Peek - Day 1 (Aloha and In Stitches)

 

I've had the pictures from our 2005 cruise to the Western Caribbean sitting in photo boxes for 5 years, just waiting to be put on pages. I can't believe I've let them sit there this long. It was definitely good timing for scrapping these pictures with the new GinaK release sets being debuted this week! 

I used both the Aloha and In Stitches sets for my scrapbook page and now I can say that I've officially started on those vacation pictures!

I created a beach scene with the palm tree and sand images from the Aloha set along the bottom of my page using Rich Cocoa ink. The sand image gives a really cool textured look, especially on Kraft cardstock. I used Koh-i-noor pencils to add color and detail to my scene.

I stamped a couple of the large flowers from the Aloha set on Kraft cardstock and used the Koh-i-noor pencils on those, as well, and trimmed them out with precision scissors.

The flower border from the In Stitches set has the perfect tropical feel to it to make a great pairing with the Aloha set. I stamped the border with Rich Cocoa ink on top, bottom and in between my two pictures. I really like the separation it gave between the pictures and it didn't take much at all.

My title and journaling were done with a Black glaze pen.

For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designer's links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Theresa Momber *illustrator of Aloha
• Melanie Muenchinger *illustrator of Fun Year Round
• Tami Mayberry *illustrator of Stitches
• Jessica Fick
• Nina Brackett
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Lynn Mercurio
• Carolyn King
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Asela Hopkins

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party this Thursday, July 1st starting at 7 pm central on StampTV! There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month!  We'd love to have you join in on the fun!

Design Team Challenge Blog Hop

The GinaK Design Team had a challenge put forth to them. To create a card using one of the new release sets for June using the inspiration of our favorite summer memory.
I chose to work with the Friends are Forever stamp set. This is also the One-Free-With-Three stamp set for June.

My favorite summer memory is the summer that my husband and I fell in love. I even remember the exact moment. We were standing on a little island in Lake Champlain, just the two of us. We had paddled over in a raft and stood, leaning against each other back to back, saying absolutely nothing but not even needing to. A warm breeze was floating around us and the wildflowers were up to our calves. It was the moment that I realized I was in love with him. That is definitely my favorite summer memory.

The card that I made for this hop reminds me of all the wild flowers growing on that little island. And today is our 13th wedding anniversary so this is the perfect card to give him tonight for our special day.

I used Vibrant Violet cardstock as my card base and stamped one of the flower images across the bottom with Versamark ink and embossed the images with clear powder. I also did the same with one of the sentiments from the Friends are Forever set on a small piece of Vibrant Violet cardstock. I then painted with bleach over the images with a small paintbrush.

I added a length of white organdy ribbon around the card and placed the sentiment, which I layered on Lovely Lavender cardstock, on top with pop-dots. I added a couple silver mini brads on either side for embellishment.

For all the specific details on how to enter your card in Gina's Design Team challenge, please visit GinaK's blog.

Then, stop by these participating GinaK Design Team member's blogs for their projects for tonight's hop:

• Jessica Fick
• Nina Brackett
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Tami Mayberry
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Carolyn King
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kay Simmons
  

Botanicals Technique Blog Hop! - bleaching technique

The Design Team at GinaK is having a Botanicals Blog Hop today and we're showcasing different techniques to use with this set!

The bleaching technique is usually reserved for line art stamps, but I like to use it for background effects and as a resist technique, too.

For my card, I stamped all of my images with Versamark ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder so that you could still see the original color of the cardstock underneath.

For the script image (which was stamped on Grass Green cardstock), I used a flat brush to swipe over it with bleach. I left some areas untouched by the bleach for a washed out look.

The flowers were stamped on Grass Green and Turquoise Sea cardstock. I went over both of the images completely with bleach to pop out the image underneath. I like the effect of the resist from the embossed images when the bleach is put on top. Something else I also like about bleaching is that you always get a different look with different colored cardstocks.

I trimmed out my flower images and mounted them on Black Onyx cardstock for some sharp contrast, then popped them up on my card with pop-dots. The rest of my card is layered with Grass Green, Black Onyx and Turquoise Sea cardstock. I used some green ribbon from the new Enjoy the Sunshine StampTV Kit. The greeting image is also from the Botanicals set and was stamped with black ink.

Tonight we are featuring the new Botanicals stamp set with a special technique themed blog hop event!  Please visit these designer's blogs for their project using a variety of techniques all made with the Botanicals stamp set:

• Jessica Fick
• Suzanne Dean
• Colleen Schaan
• Bev Gerard
• Jennie Harper
• Sharri Seffens
• Donna Baker
• Lee Murphy
• Nina Brackett
• Erika Martin
• Brenda Turner
• Giovana Smith
• Tina Gilliland
• Carla Suto
• Linda Payne

Kay Simmons

Vicki Dutcher

Karen Knegten

Then, for even more samples with the Botanicals stamp set, visit the StampTV gallery here: botanicals.  To view more information about the free card kit that is included with the purchase of the Botanicals stamp set, click here.