August CSS Sketch Challenge Hop

Welcome to another fun blog hop being hosted by members of StampTV's Center Stage Alumni. This time around the hop is based on a Sketch Challenge. If you came from Karen's  fabulous blog, then you're right where you should be. If not, you can also go to StampTV to see a list of all those participating.

Here is the sketch we had to work with.

The sketch was created by the very talented Melissa Cash who is celebrating her birthday today! We decided to surprise her and design birthday cards using her sketch! We wish you a wonderful birthday Melissa and here's the birthday card I made especially for you!

This is a fairly simple card so I decided to add detail to it with the buttons, not only along the bottom edge of the focal image as depicted in the sketch, but to dress up the flowers as well! The card base is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown. The next layer is SU Crumb Cake and the patterned paper is leftover from a Stamp TV kit. I used Nestabilities long rectangles to create the scalloped brown layer and the focal image layer, which is Pure Luxury Ivory. I stamped the flower from the Gina K Designs set, Garden Silhouettes twice. I used markers to color the petals, stems and leaves.The birthday wishes sentiment is from the same set and is stamped with Vivid Coffee Bean.

A simple birthday wish, but I hope you like it Melissa! :-)

Make sure you leave a comment at each blog as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (August 16th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and the lucky winner will get a stamp set of her/his choice valued up to $24.95!

To continue with Melissa's birthday celebration and to see more cards, head on over to Linda's blog to see her amazing card!

CSS Sentiment Hop

Welcome to the second blog hop for June of the Center Stage Spotlight alumni. I hope you arrived here from the fabulous blog of Linda Payne. If you didn't, be sure to hop back over to Stamp TV and start at the beginning of the hop so you don't miss any of the awesome creations of my fellow CSS-ers!

Today our challenge was to Get Wordy! Gina K. Designs is known for including some of the best quotes and sentiments in its sets. For this challenge we were to use a sentiment or quote as the main focal point. So, here is my card for this challenge. The only thing that is stamped on this card is the sentiment; everything else is designer paper.

This was a fun card to make, but it is more challenging than I expected to just use a sentiment as the focal image and not add in something else here or there. I guess that's why I went for the dp to fill in where I'd have done some other stamping. Try making a sentiment focused card sometime -- it will make you look at your stamp sets and other tools in a different way!


Thanks for stopping by. Now hop on over to visit my friend and stamper extraordinaire, Karen Knegten. Be sure to leave a comment at each stop and you just might be the lucky winner of a Gina K stamp set of your choice valued up to $24.95. A random winner will be chosen on Tuesday from all of the comments left along the blog hop.


Card supplies:
Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown; Ivory; SU Tangerine Tango, Sweet Stitches Designer Series Paper
Stamp Set: Gina K Designs Sew Pretty
Ink: Vivid Coffee Bean and Lemon Ice
Buttons: SU and Basic Grey

Stamp TV Center Stage Alumni Inspiration Hop

Wow! It's hard to believe we are cruising through June and it is time for our first Center Stage Alumni blog hop for the month. Today is an inspiration hop and you should have arrived here from the gorgeous blog of  Karen Knegten. If you didn't and you want to make sure you don't miss any of the wonderful creations along the hop, go back to Stamp TV and start your hop from the beginning there.

This inspiration hop is based on this very fun and summery photo.

Don't you just love the reds and yellows and flowers? The whole photo just made me feel like I was going to a summer party in someone's backyard! So here is my inspiration card.

Of course I had to go with red and yellow as my theme on this card since that is what really grabbed me in the inspiration photo. The base is Pure Luxury Red Hot, layered with Pure Luxury Dandelion. The dp is DCWV Citrus. I stamped the sunflowers from the lovely GKD stamp set, A Year of Flowers and colored them with Copics - R24, R27, R29 and Y15 and Y17. The greeting is from GKD set Stenciled Spring. I poked holes on the corners and then went over them with a white gel pen to  make them stand out. Brads are GKD and I used Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Poppy Parade, and Vivid Lemon Ice inks.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed my summer sunflowers. Now continue along to the fabulous Joy Hadden's blog for more inspiration.

Center Stage Alumni Sketch Challenge Hop

Another blog hop from the Stamp TV Center Stage Alumni group! You should have arrived here from the awesome blog of the Linda Payne. If you didn't, jump back over to Stamp TV and start the hop from the beginning so you don't miss any of the gorgeous creations from the Center Stage Alumni team.

This time we are doing a sketch challenge hop using this fun sketch created by the super talented Melissa Cash!

I had a blast making my card for this hop! I rarely make shape cards so this was out of my usual zone and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It made me think a bit more creatively, which is always a good thing!

I started with a scalloped circle made from Pure Luxury White and cut out using my largest scalloped nestie. The dp is Cosmo Cricket DeLovely. The layers are cut from Pure Luxury Passionate Pink and Key Lime (have you gotten this new color yet from Gina K? It is gorgeous and just says 'summer' to me!) and layering weight white. I stamped the flower from the Gina K set Garden Silhouettes using Memento Rose Bud and New Sprout markers. The sentiment is from Gina K Elegant Flowers. The flowers are from a pack from Michael's and the Baker's Twine is from Raisin Boat.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (May 17th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that lucky person will get a stamp set of their choice from Gina K Designs valued up to $24.95!


Next stop on the hop is Karen. I'm sure she has something amazing to share!

Stamp TV Kits Blog Hop

It is time once again for the Center Stage Spotlight team to have another blog hop and this time our hop is focused on the Stamp TV Kits. There have been quite a few kits since Stamp TV started  (17 kits to be exact!), and I used three of them to make my card for this hop! I hope you came here from the blog of the very talented Linda Payne. If you didn't and would like to start the hop from the very beginning, go back to here at Stamp TV.

I made this card to send to my sister-in-law who had emergency surgery last Saturday. She is doing fine now, but if you are so inclined, please offer up a quick prayer for a quick recovery since her daughter will be graduating from high school in a few short weeks.

Sorry for that side bar -- now about the card. I used Pure Luxury Creme de Menthe  as the base and Lemon Drop as the second layer. I embossed the white layer with one of my favorite Cuttlebug folders and added the yellow grosgrain ribbon from Gina K. The scalloped oval is Creme de Menthe again. I used Memento markers to color the flower stamp, which is from the latest Stamp TV Kit, Spring Silhouettes. The 'feel better' sentiment is also from that kit. The two butterflies came from the Spring Mix Kit and were stamped onto yellow patterned paper that came from the Spring Silhouettes Kit. Now I said I used  three of the kits to create my card, and I did. The third set I used was the Elegant Flowers Kit and the greeting is on the inside of the card (sorry - I didn't take a photo of it but it is just the greeting inside so I didn't think it warranted a photo! LOL!)

I hope you enjoyed seeing my card. Now hop along to Karen's blog to see which of the kits she used for her lovely creation.

Inspiration Challenge Blog Hop

Time for another Stamp TV CSS blog hop! I hope you got to my blog from Karen's lovely blog. If you didn't, jump back over to Stamp TV and start the hop from the very beginning so you don't miss out on any of the gorgeous creations the center stage spotlight alums have created.

Today's hop is an inspiration hop and here is what we were to use as our inspiration.

Can you believe those are cookies? Aren't they gorgeous, not to mention delicious looking? Yum!

I could have used any of these as my inspiration, but I chose the blue cookie that is on the far right in the third row down. Here is the card it inspired me to make.

When I saw that cookie I immediately thought of the Pure Luxury Little Boy Blue paper! As you can see, I used it in several different layers on the card. The base is Pure Luxury Kraft along with Pure Luxury White. I used the Gina K Designs latest "One Free with Three" stamp set, "Stenciled Spring" for the flowers and the greeting. I embossed the flowers in white on the squares of blue paper and in SU Brocade Blue on the white strip. The pearls were colored with Copics to match the blue paper.

Time now to continue along the hop by going to Lori's blog to see the beautiful creation she was inspired to make. Before you go, please leave a comment, and be sure to leave one at each blog you visit because on Tuesday morning (April 12th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and the lucky winner will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Stamp TV CSS Sketch Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp TV Center Stage Spotlight Alumni blog hop! If you arrived from the blog of the super talented Karen, then you are on the right hop path. If you didn't hop here from Karen's blog and would like to start the hop from the very beginning, go back to Stamp TV and start from there. That way you won't miss any of the fabulous creations made by the Center Stage Alumni.

Tonight is a sketch challenge hop. Here is the wonderful sketch, created by Melissa Cash, that we used as our inspiration.

This sketch was such fun to play with and here is the card I made using the sketch to inspire me. The card base is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown, layered with Pure Luxury Green Apple. The red layer is Pure Luxury Red Hot with another small strip of Green Apple that was run embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder (called Lattice, I think!). I stamped the images onto Pure Luxury White Layering White paper using Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss and Poppy Parade Ink. The ribbon is also SU Poppy Parade. The images are all from the Gina K Designs set called Lean on Me. I just love the way the flowers turned out stamping them in red! The Thinking of You sentiment is from the Gina K Designs  set, Buds and Vases.

Now it's time to hop along to Lori's blog to see her beautiful creation, but before you go be sure to leave a comment here (and on each blog you visit) because on Tuesday morning, March 29, one comment from all the blogs will be chosen at random and that lucky person will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95 from Gina K Designs!