CSS Sketch Blog Hop

It is CSS blog hop time again and this time it is a sketch hop! I hope you came here from Linda's blog, but if you didn't and would like to see what you missed earlier in the hop just head back over to Stamp TV to find the full list of blog hop participants.

This is the sketch Brenda created and challenged us to use as the inspiration for our cards.

Here's what I was inspired to created from this sketch.

I'm (im)patiently waiting for Spring to arrive here in Wisconsin, so I had to do something that was very spring-like for my first card. These colors just shout warm weather to me as does this "Day at the Park Diva" from the Diva Collection at Gina K Designs.  I used GKD Pure Luxury card stock in Bubblegum Pink, Key Lime, and Wild Dandelion. The patterned paper is from the GKD patterned paper pack "Petals and Wings." I stamped the Diva, her kite and the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black and the clouds in Memento Grey Flannel. Colored areas were done with Copics. The ribbon, buttons and brads are all from my stash. Just a note: the sheer ribbon and bow are actually lime green like the paper, but came out looking yellow in the photo. :(

Here's the second card I made using the new "Spring Parade" Stamp TV Kit. Can I just say that I love, love this kit?? Love the colors, the stamps, the patterned paper . . . well, OK, everything in it is fabulous!

This card is made using the Gina K Pure Luxury card stocks Tomato Soup and Turquoise Sea. The patterned paper is from the Spring Parade pack. The cute birdie, the flowers and cloud are all stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. I don't have a Silhouette so I hand cut the cloud and raindrops and popped them up with pop dots. The sheer ribbon is from the STV kit also. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards. Make sure to leave a comment here and on all the blogs as you go along because we will choose a random comment and that stamper will win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! Look for the announcement of the winner on Tuesday, April 16. Now hop on over to see what Joy has waiting for you. 

CSS Simplicity Sparkles Blog Hop

Today is another Stamp TV CSS Alumni hop. This one features a challenge from Carolina to make CAS cards that sparkle and shine. I'll be the first to admit that CAS cards are always a challenge for me. I find it hard to keep them simple because I always think they need something else, so it will be fun to see what everyone had created for this hop!

If you came here from Karen's blog, you are on the right path. If you didn't and want to start at the beginning of the hop, go back to Stamp TV to find the whole list.

Here is my sparkly CAS card.

I used the "Sweet Tweets" stamp set from Gina K Designs for this card. The card base is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Powder Blue that was embossed with a Sizzix Texturz plate. The orange layer is from the Gina K Designs Calypso card stock collection and the white is GKD Pure Luxury white. I stamped the cupcake with Memento Tuxedo Black and the greeting with Gina K Designs Powder Blue ink. I colored the candle and the blue trim on the cupcake with Copics. Then I used a glue pen to color in the hearts, the dots and trim on the frosting and used orange and white glitter to make them sparkle. I added some tiny rhinestones below the greeting that I colored with the orange and blue Copics. A quick, simple birthday card that has a bit of pizzazz from the sparkly glitter.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to leave a comment at each stop along the blog hop because we will choose a random comment and that person will win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! Look for the announcement on Tuesday, April 2. Now head on over to see what the very talented Linda has created for you today.

CSS Favorite Things Hop

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Do you remember that song from The Sound of Music? I loved that movie as a kid, especially the songs and today our blog hop is featuring some of our favorite things. Of course Gina K Designs stamps are included in that list of favorite things for us stampers, so we are using stamps released by Gina K Designs between August 2012 and January 2013 to show you our "favorite" things (besides stamps, ink and paper!).

I hope you came here via the very talented Karen's blog, but if you didn't and want to " . . . start at the very beginning; a very good place to start . . . (oops! sorry, another Sound of Music song . . .). If you want to start the hop at the beginning, go to Stamp TV for the full list of participants.

I had a hard time deciding which of my favorite things to showcase in my cards, but I finally was able to narrow it down to three!

The first one features this adorable snowman from the stamp set "Snow One Like You." Snowmen are one of my favorite things except when they are made from real snow! I despise snow and cold, so I really don't know why I have such an affection for snowmen, but I do and here is one of them.

Card ingredients: Gina K Designs "Snow One Like You" stamp set; Paper: Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Ocean Mist, Red Hot, and White; Gina K Designs Winter Whimsy patterned paper; Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Gina K Designs Red Hot and Ocean Mist; Miscellaneous: Spellbinders dies and Copic markers

A second favorite thing is roses. Love them in all colors! My DH buys me roses for special occasions and I just love to look at them, smell them and feel them (I know, that probably kills them faster but I love how the petals feel!).

Card Ingredients: Gina K Designs "Stately Flowers 6" stamp set; Paper: Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Kraft and White cardstocks and "Smitten" patterned paper; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Gina K Designs Red Hot; Ribbon: Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Organdy in Red; Miscellaneous: Spellbinders dies

Finally, my third favorite thing is yoga. Yes, believe it or not, I love yoga. I'm just learning, but I feel so good when I do it. So, here is my Balanced Diva!

Card Ingredients: Gina K Designs "Balanced Diva" stamp set; Paper: Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Bubblegum Pink, Key Lime (no longer available but Jelly Bean Green is close) and White card stocks. Gina K Designs "Petals and Wings" patterned paper (background and paper pieced shirt); Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black and Angel Pink; Ribbon: Gina K Designs Calypso ribbon assortment; Miscellaneous: Spellbinders dies and Copic markers.

**All Gina K Designs items -- stamps, cardstock, patterned papers, ink and ribbon as well as the Memento inks can be found by going HERE.

Thanks for joining us as we share our favorite things on this hop! Now head on over to see Lori's favorite things and to see the beautiful creations she made for you.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop with Sean and Regina

WELCOME TO THE DECEMBER “12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS” BLOG HOP!

Hello everyone!  Happy Holidays from everyone at the Blog Hop for Sean & Regina!  Thank you for playing along in our December blog hop!  The Blog Hop with Sean & Regina features Gina K. Designs stamps only for our monthly blog hops!  

This month, we are featuring the “12 Days of Christmas”.  Each blog hop designer will be hosting a day from December 13 – December 24 that will feature Christmas/Holiday cards from a Gina K. Designs stamp set.  A list of blog hop designers are listed in this post with the day they will be hosting.  You are invited to take part in each of the twelve days. Subscribe and comment on the hop designer’s blog hop for the day and at the end, the person who has completed the entire twelve days will win a wonderful GINA K. DESIGNS PRIZE PACK! 

Enjoy yourself as you hop along for the holidays!  

OUR BLOG HOP PRIZE!

A Gina K. Designs Prize Pack including:

• Gina K. Designs stamp set
• Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury card stock
• Gina K. Designs pattern paper
• Brads
• Ribbon
• Embellishments  

I love Christmas and make quite a few different cards, so I thought I'd share three of them with you today. The first one was inspired by this video Gina did on Stamp TV. I changed up the colors but used the same embossing technique. The card base is GKD Pure Luxury Kraft layered with Pure Luxury Cherry. The patterned paper is some old Stampin' Up that I had from a couple of Christmases ago. The stamps are from the Stamp TV kit set called Merry Little Christmas. I stamped the Fa La La with Memento Rhubarb Stalk, clear embossed the trees and went over them with Memento Toffee Crunch. The sentiment is also stamped with Rhubarb Stalk and sponged with Toffee Crunch. A fairly straightforward card but one of my favorites of the bunch I made this year. Note that I try to keep embellishments to a minimum on these cards so they mail more easily.

This card was made using GKD Pure Luxury Pure White base weight layered with patterned paper from the GKD patterned paper pack "Blizzard." Then I layered with another piece of white that had been die cut and embossed with the Edgelits and Textured Impressions "Adorning Accents" from SU. The stamp set is Simple Snowflakes that I stamped using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Festive Berries and Iced Spruce. On either side of the red strip I used 1/8" scor tape that I covered with glitter to add some bling. I love it that by using clear stamps I could curve the text along the embossing line!

Finally, another quick and simple card, this time using the Holiday Tags set. The card base is Pure Luxury Red Hot and the patterned paper is again some old SU I had in my stash. I stamped the little figures in Memento black and did minimal coloring with Copics. The snowflakes and tag were stamped with Vivid ink in Brick and the sentiment with Vivid ink in Taupe. Don't you just love those adorable little figures from this set??

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my holiday cards. Thanks for visiting and now . . .

LET'S GET HOPPING..... 

Now it is your turn to blog hop with all of our friends!   

The rules are simple:

1. Visit each participating blog on the list below from December 13 – December 24.  
2. Leave a comment for the blog host designer.
3. Become a follower of each participating blog.

If you follow rules 1 – 3, you will be eligible to win the grand prize of a Gina K. Designs Prize Pack.

At the end of the hop, a random winner will be chosen for the Blog Hop Grand Prize using comments and followers from each blog. We will be posting the winner a day or so after the holidays!   

The blog hop designer this month and the designated date they are hosting are as follows:

12/13 Regina Hardy http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com 12/14 Nancy Leppek http://scrapperatheart.com 12/15 Patti Gilliam http://www.cherisheachpreciousday.blogspot.com 12/16 Cheryl Wright http://ideasforcardmaking.net 12/17 Lori McAree http://smilingwhilestamping.blogspot.com 12/18 Penny O'Dell http://pennyskrafts.blogspot.com 12/19 Alex Turner http://prettypaperandinkyfingers@blogspot.co.uk 12/20 Suzanne Dean http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com 12/21 Kyra Sanders http://bunnynest.blogspot.com 12/22 Kay Simmons http://livinlifeinthecreativelane.blogspot.com 12/23 Donna Bowman http://thecraftycorgi.blogspot.com 12/24 Sean Fetterman http://cardcraftyclub.blogspot.com

Please leave a comment for the blog hop design and sign up/follow each hop designer to be eligible to win the Gina K. Designs Prize Pack!

Tomorrow, Donna Bowman will be posting the next in the “12 Days of Christmas” blog hop!  Please visit her blog at: http://thecraftycorgi.blogspot.com

Have very Happy Holidays wherever you may be and whatever you may be celebrating! Peace and blessings to you this holiday season and in the new year!

Stamp TV CSS Holiday Inspiration Hop

Happy Holidays! Welcome to the CSS Alumni blog hop for December. This time our hop is a color combo hop, although the challenge Linda gave us was to create holiday cards without using any red or green; in other words, no traditional holiday colors.

If you came here from Joy's lovely blog, you are on the right path. If you didn't come via her blog and want to go through the whole hop, jump back over to Stamp TV where you will find the whole list of people participating.

I had a hard time with this challenge at first since I was in the groove of making my holiday cards and was using traditional colors. Once I got going on it, however, I was inspired and ended up making three cards! Here they are:

This first one is purple, black and silver using Gina K Designs Pure Luxury black onyx and vibrant violet along with silver sparkly paper from Stampin' Up. The stamp set is the Stamp TV kit "City of David" set.

This second one is black, white and silver using Gina K Designs Pure Luxury black onyx, pure white and the silver from Stampin' Up. The stamp set used is from Gina K Designs called "Blessed is the Season." The text is stamped in black and the dove is embossed with clear embossing powered. Then I went over it with Memento Gray Flannel to make the dove pop.

My final card is blue and silver using Gina K Designs Pure Luxury In the Navy and the sparkly silver paper from Stampin' Up. The trees and sentiment are embossed in silver and I added the stars or snowflakes (whichever you prefer them to be! LOL!) were created by making glue dots with a glue pen and the using Stampin' Up "Dazzling Diamonds" glitter. I added gray rhinestones for a bit of extra bling -- although if you look closely in the photo they seem to have picked up a reflection of red from something nearby when I took the picture.

Thanks for joining the hop today! Be sure to comment here and be sure to leave a comment on each blog as you hop along because on Friday morning (December 21), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that person will receive a huge grab bag of fabulous Gina K. Designs Stamps!


Now hop on over to Karen's blog to see what she has made in non-traditional holiday colors!

Christmas/Winter Wishes Hop with Sean and Regina

WELCOME TO THE NOVEMBER “CHRISTMAS/WINTER WISHES” BLOG HOP!

Hi everyone!  Thanks for playing along in our November blog hop!  The Blog Hop with Sean & Regina will now be featuring Gina K. Designs stamps only for our monthly blog hops starting this month!  A lot of us have started to create our holiday cards.  There are some amazing new stamp sets by Gina K. Designs that were released in October and we are sure to be inspired in the upcoming November release as well!  

This month, we are honored that we are joined by Rebecca Oehlers, a Gina K. Designs Illustrator who has created some beautiful stamp sets for Gina K. Designs available in the Stamp TV Store!

The blog hop designers have been busy creating a card or cards that we hope will inspire you to create some beautiful Christmas and winter themed cards for your family and friends.  Enjoy yourself as you hop along for the holidays!  

OUR BLOG HOP SPONSOR!

Becky Oehlers is a member of the Gina K. Designs Illustrator Team! Becky’s style is really fun, crisp and clean.  They are used to make wonderful cards with just the right message or can be used to add some fun to your scrapbooking pages.  In addition, Becky is one of the best card designers and artists in the craft world.  Go to Becky’s blog to look at the great things she has been up to AND view the card samples she has created with her newest stamp set “Mistletoe Memories” that was released yesterday during the Stamp TV October Release Party.  Becky’s blog address is: http://hemidemisemiquaverdesignblog.com/

Here is the card I made for the hop. It is a somewhat different style than I usually make. I tend more toward the 'clean and simple' type cards, but this one just seemed to need more layers and action! I hope you like it!

This card was made using Becky's set, "Mistletoe Memories." I used Gina K Designs Pure Luxury card stock and patterned paper, including White, Warm Cocoa, Cherry Red and Dark Sage along with "Merry Little Christmas" patterned paper. I embossed the base with the Cuttlebug folder called "Mistletoe Kisses." I used the text stamp and the Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays stamps to create the rectangle and square layers. The rest of the pieces are stamps from the Mistletoe Memories set including the 'mistletoe memories' circle, the 'sealed with a kiss' sentiment and the mistletoe and berries. All ink used on the card is Memento.

I had fun making this rather non-traditional holiday card. I hope you enjoyed seeing it. And now . . .

LET'S GET HOPPING..... 

It is your turn to blog hop with all of our friends!   

The rules are simple:

1. Visit each participating blog on the list below.  
2. Leave a comment for the blog host designer.
3. Become a follower of each participating blog.

If you follow rules 1 – 3, you will be eligible to win the grand prize of a Becky Oehlers stamp set for Gina K. Designs.

At the end of the hop, a random winner will be chosen for the Blog Hop Grand Prize using comments and followers from each blog. We have decided to keep the hop open from Friday – Monday.  We do this because some people that want to participate need more time to get through the entire hop. 

The deadline for leaving comments is Monday, November 19 at 8pm CST.  The winner will be chosen and announced on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. 

The blog hop designer this month are as follows:

Sean Fetterman	http://cardcraftyclub.blogspot.com/
Regina Hardy	http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com/
Lee Murphy	http://luvleestamper.blogspot.com
Becky Oehlers	http://hemidemisemiquaverdesignblog.com
Lori McAree	http://smilingwhilestamping.blogspot.com
Kyra Sanders (Ky)	http://bunnynest.blogspot.com
Kay Simmons	http://livinlifeinthecreativelane.blogspot.com
Penny O’Dell	http://pennyskrafts.blogspot.com/
Ina Grehan	http://littlebitsofcraft.blogspot.com
Sherian Dixon	http://meemee48.blogspot.com

Please leave a comment for the blog hop designers and sign up/follow each hop designer to be eligible to win the grand prize stamp set!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Now, go to Penny's blog at:

http://pennyskrafts.blogspot.com/

Show Me The Stamps Holiday Kick Off Blog Hop

Welcome to the Show Me the Stamps holiday kick off.  Several of the Gina K Designs Illustrators have brought together their design teams and guests for a lineup of fun and exciting things to share using their stamps. We also want to help you celebrate the holidays in style with some Gina K Designs stamps!

PRIZE #1: For this hop the Gina K Designs Illustrators will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Gina K Designs store!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on each Illustrator’s blog.

Want an extra entry?

Become a blog follower of any of the illustrators and leave a comment letting them know you did. That’s up to 8 chances to win if you become a follower of each illustrator and leave a comment!!

You can find the complete list of Gina K Design Illustrators participating on Theresa Momber’s blog. Be sure to read below to find out how to win a Prize #2!

Here are the cards I made for the hop. Both were made using Theresa's newest set called "Joyful Holiday". This is such a fun set to play with because there are so many different options for making very different cards. My first card is made using Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Cherry Red as the base. I layered PL Dark Chocolate on that and then used a piece of patterned paper from the newest Gina K Patterned Paper Pack, "Merry Little Christmas." I did a free hand cut around the tree, used some Liquid Pearls to decorate it and then popped it up on the cherry red die cut.

 My second card is a bit more whimsical. I started with a white card base (GKD Pure Luxury White) and layered with GKD Pure Luxury Blue Raspberry and Red Hot. I stamped the ornaments onto the red layer with versamark and embossed with Winter Wonderland EP from Stampendous. Love that EP because it is white with silver mixed in so it is sparkly. I put silver brads through the top of each ornament to hold the silver cord in place and the put the cords up over the top of the red layer. Added some bows and the fun patterned paper layer from the Gina K Designs pack, "Winter Whimsy" to finish it off.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards made with Theresa's fun holiday set. Here is your chance to win another prize.

PRIZE #2: Theresa will personally be sending out a Vogue Vases 2 Clear Stamp Set to someone who comments on our blogs as well. Here is the complete list of Theresa’s designers...

Melissa Shultz

Melissa Cash

Brenda Turner

Kay Simmons (you are here!)

When you get done be sure that you hop on over to Theresa Momber’s Blog to get the complete list of Gina K Designs Illustrators participating and enter for a chance to win that $50 gift certificate!

Deadline to enter for the gift certificate drawing is 5pm Central time on Thursday. November 15, 2012—release party day! AND just in time for someone to do some exciting release party shopping when the new stamps become available at 7pm!