StampTV Lean On Me Card Kit Blog Hop

Welcome to another StampTV Card Kit Blog Hop. The stamp set for the card kit this month is Lean on Me. Such a fabulous stamp set, with beautiful flowers and some great sentiments to use for a card you want to send to someone that may need a pick me up. My favorite sentiment in the set is "Praying for You". I know I will be using it a lot to make cards to send out. A little reminder that I care and will say a prayer on their behalf.

I made two cards for the hop. This first card was a wow card to me when I was finished. Every once in a while I create something that surprises me. When I was done with this one I squealed with delight because it turned out the way I wanted it to and it did not take hours to make. LOL! I made the card using the Inspiration Challenge over at SplitCoastStampers. What a cool, inspirational site Stephanie had for the challenge this week.  Here is a link to the tapestry that caught my eye and inspired me to make this card.

Stamps: Lean on Me

Paper: Pure Luxury Rocket Red, Kraft, Chocolate Brown and White

Ink: Dark Brown Chalk Ink & Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink and Fired Brick Distress Ink

Other: Spellbinders Fancy Tags and Labels Trio, red gingham ribbon, small red button, bakers twine

For my second card I used the sketch from Mercy Karin's blog. I used some brighter colors and some embossing on this one. I like the small sprig silhouette that comes from the set. It looks great all on its own  stamped in a bunch. Here is a link to the sketch.

Stamps: Lean on Me

Paper: Pure Luxury Rocket Red, Sweet Mango, Turquoise Sea and White

Ink: Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and Fired Brick Distress Ink, Memento Dandelion, Vivid Aqua

Other: Spellbinders Circles, Fancy Tags and Labels Trio, small adhesive pearls, Swiss Dot & Stylized Flowers Embossing Folders

For even more inspiration with the Lean on Me stamp set, please visit these links below:

Jessica Fick

Colleen Schaan

Suzanne Dean

Lee Murphy

Donna Baker

Miesje  Flach

Sharri Seffens

Melissa Shultz

Melissa Cash

Karen Knegten

Stamp TV Blog Hop - Featuring Melanie Muenchinger

StampTV.com is having a week long blog hop; featuring different illustrators. Tonight the fabulous Melanie Muenchinger is being featured and she asked some of her past guest designers to share projects made with stamp sets she illustrated. I originally was going to use Tee Talk or Tech Talk, but decided to go in a different direction and pulled out one of her newer sets from this summer called Gifts from the Sea. I also chose to keep my card simple. Since the stamp set is about the ocean, I chose to use Soft Sand and Turquoise Sea for the colors and white as my neutral. I've had the little shell accents in my stash forever and knew it would be perfect to use one with this set.

Stamps: Gifts from the Sea

Paper: Pure Luxury Soft Sand, Turquoise Sea, White

Other: Ribbon

Tonight Melanie Muenchinger has several designing friends sharing samples they created using some of their favorite sets from Melanie, take a look!

Brenda Turner
Carla Suto
Carolina Buchting
Geri Utterback
Karen Knegten
Libby Hickson
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Selma Stevenson
Sharri Seffens
Sue Van DeVusse
Tina Gilliland

Seeds of Kindness Blog Hop

Thank you for stopping by my blog to view the project I made for the Seeds of Kindness blog hop for Gina K Designs. When I was ready to make my project for this hop I had a bunch pattern papers sitting on my desk from doing the latest color challenge over at StampTV.com. So this card contains a lot of yellow and green. I was originally planning to use the chocolate piece as a die cut border along one of the edges, but after running it through my Big Kick with the Tim Holtz die I didn't want to cut it. So I cut a piece of paper to slide through the cut area. I love how it looks. I pulled out my sewing machine and added some stitches. Then I colored the hanging plant from Seeds of Kindness to match and cut it out to hang it. I think it sort of looks like it is hanging in a fancy draped window. I had to add some rhinestone bling and a little ribbon accent on the tag. I like the sentiment I chose from the set to use on this card. This set is so much fun to play with and easy to color.

Stamps: Seeds of Kindness

Paper: Pure Luxury Grass Green, Chocolate Brown, & White and Basic Grey Origins

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Other: small adhesive rhinestones and chocolate ribbon

For more details on the card kit that is included with the purchase of the Seeds of Kindness stamp set, please click here.  Then, to see even more samples with this versatile stamp set, visit these designer's blog links who are participating in the hop tonight:

• Jessica Fick
• Colleen Schaan
• Suzanne Dean
• Bev Gerard
• Sankari Wegman
• Lee Murphy
• Melissa Shultz
• Giovana Smith
• Sharri Seffens
• Linda Payne
• Carla Suto
• Brenda Turner
• Janice Whiting

Then, for even more inspiration be sure to check out the Idea Center for all the samples that everyone has shared in the StampTV gallery.

StampTV's Retired Challenge Hostess Thank You Hop

Tonight we are having a special blog hop to thank our recently retired StampTV Challenge Hostess Team members:
Tina Gilliland: Color
Karen Knegten: Anything but a Card
Vicki Dutcher: Sketch
Sharri Seffens: Blast from the Past

These 4 designers have provided StampTV with a challenge each week during the months of March, April, and May, which totals up to 13 challenges! To view each of their challenges in one area, click on their names and it will direct you to their Idea Center Inspiration Page.

Even better, we have a special StampTV Challenge Magazine Volume 2* located on the Freebie Tab, where all 52 of their challenges are shared in a download PDF that you can save to your computer and print out at your leisure!  *We will be doing a similar magazine for our first Challenge Hostess team as well in the near future, so watch for that soon.

To honor the team a bit more, several GinaK Designers are joining together in a special thank you blog hop and would like to invite you to join us! 

Here are the cards I made using a favorite challenge hosted by each of these fabulous ladies.

First is a card using Tina's Color Challenge to use Red, Kraft and Ivory.  I pulled out an older Gina K set called Summer Harvest. I stamped the cherries on the textured burlap card paper and colored with Copic markers.

Next is a card using Karen's challenge to make a tag.  I made a tag that I then added to a card to send to her.  I used Fine Furnishings for the chair and pillow and Thanks a Million for the Sentiment.

The next card is for Vicki's Sketch from 4/1.  I used the set Stars for this one.  Vicki was such a Rock Star with all the awesome sketches she provided and so I knew I had to use that sentiment for her card. :o)

My next card is for Sharri's Blast From the Past challenge to use paper piecing. One of my favorite techniques!  I used the yummy strawberries image from the latest StampTV Kit and paper pieced them with papers from Basic Grey Nook and Pantry. 

I also made a card for Gina because she did a rock star job giving us inspiring photos each week to help get our stamping mojo going. I was inspired by INSPIRE 19 - Send a Smile.  So I made this groovy card with a smiley t-shirt for her.  It is also the card for my sketch challenge this week.

After visiting the links below, please check out this discussion on StampTV and share a favorite card you've made in the past or a new one you're inspired to make using one of the challenges from any four of the challenge hostesses.

Jessica Fick
Theresa Momber
Jennie Harper
Lee Murphy
Donna Baker
Melanie Muenchinger
Carla Suto
Brenda Turner
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Giovana Smith

It's time for another GinaK CenterStage Spotlight Team Blog Hop!

Each artist was asked to design their project by drawing inspiration from these photos of the AMAZING Christmas Cookie Bouquet the CSS Team sent to Gina's DT Coordinator Jessica Fick:

I decided to use the snowmen cookies as my Inspiration.  The cookies reminded me of the cute little snowmen in the set Winter Friends.  I like the colors blue, red and white together.  So I went with that color scheme and added a little Kraft in the mix because I just love that color. :o)  The sentiment is from the Warm and Wonderful set.  Here is the front of my card:

And here is the inside:

You can click on the images for a close up.  Now onto the rest of the hop...

Click on these links to see what the participating Designers have prepared for us tonight:

Jessica Fick,

Betty Neville,

Jen Charboneau,
Joan Ervin,
Vicki Dutcher,
Lori McAree,
Cheri Weston,
Melissa Cash,
Carla Suto,
Giovana Smith,
JenMarie Taylor,
Sue Morris,
Carolina Buchting,
Sharri Seffens,
Brenda Turner,
Kay Simmons,
Peggy Wainman,
Sue Van deVusse,
Shannon Bracken,
Tina Gilliland,
Deb Felts,
Jennie Harper,
Geri Utterback,
Selma Stevenson,
Melissa Shultz,
Linda Payne,
Joy Hadden,
Karen Knegten,
Melanie Muenchinger,
Nina Brackett

Everyone's projects will be added to the StampTV gallery and Idea Center over the next few days. You can search for them by using this tag: cssjf4

Melanie Muechinger's 2 Year Anniversay Blog Hop

Happy 2010!  Can't believe Y2K happened a decade ago.  Time flies!

Well, Melanie Muenchinger has invited several designers to participate in a blog hop to celebrate her TWO year anniversary of designing stamps for Gina K Designs.  She is an amazing artist and paper crafter. A true genius!  The set I've been asked to used in my project is School, Sports, Spirit.  This is the set for which I was a guest designer when it was released a few months ago. I thought since we are having ice and snow type weather in Pennsylvania this New Year's Eve, I would make a card with an icy theme.  I used the pair of ice skates and the Perfect Match sentiment to make an icy romatic card.  I made my own glitter card stock with the Baja Breeze using VersaMark ink and some glitter embossing powder.  It really looks "cool" in real life.  I also decorated the inside.  The silver ribbon with X's came from the packaging my boss gave my Christmas present in. The box was gorgeous and I knew I just had to re-purpose the packaging somehow. LOL!  Here are the photos of my card. You can click on the photos for a larger view.  The rest of the blog hop details are listed below the photos.

Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating two years of blogging and illustrating for Gina K Designs, and today she has invited 25 designers and YOU to join the party! First hop through the following designers' blogs using every set she has created since January 2008, from the first to the 25th! Then go to Melanie's blog to leave a comment for a chance to win a number of different prizes! So let's get hopping! 

Here we go!

Just So Hippy - Charmaine

Just So Hoppy - Donna

What's in Your Tin 1 & 2 - Donna

Hip Hop Accessories - Bee

Jumping for Joy - Barb

Cuddles and Hugs - Jessie

Little Tees - Cat

Just So Sporty-Pam

A Year of Flowers-Theresa

Say it with Flowers-Selma

Have a Cookie - Carolina

Tee Talk - Gabby

Hand in Hand - Ally

The Best Things in Life - Shannon, Sankari

A Charmed Life - Cathy

Wee Tees - Libby, Laura Jean

Arranged with Love - Selma

Sporty Accessories - Tina

Inspiration Mosaic - Jennie

School Sports Spirit - Melissa

A Year of Leaves - Geri

Hip to Be Square - Karen

Festive Frame - Linda

Tech Talk - Lee


Finally,
Nina and Jessica from the GinaK Senior Design Team have joined in, too!

You can also get in on the hop yourself and increase your chances of
winning a prize by creating your own project with any one of Melanie's sets and linking it in the Mr. Linky in her post, see full details here.

Hope you can join the fun! Enjoy your first hop of the year!

Tech Talk Blog Hop

I have to say that this is my favorite set out of the whole release.  I am a total geek and I work in IT at a Credit Union, so this set is perfect for me. Melanie is my hero for designing this set. :o)

I made two projects for the Tech Talk blog hop. This first project is for the girls.  I had to have Carolyn's template after seeing the samples during the release party.  I made a cute little "leather" purse with Pure Luxury Tan Leather card stock.  I printed the template in two sizes.  I made the purse in the larger size and then used the smaller template to make a little pocket for the front.  I sewed the edges to make it look more real.  I stamped several smaller images from the Tech Talk set all over the purse.  I made a little sewn tag for the front of the purse with two of the phrases from the set.





















My second project is a card that could be given to a boy or girl in your life.  I loved all the scenes that everyone created and decided to make one of my own.  I made a little window frame and used some DP from my Basic Grey Mellow stack.  I stamped the little doe from Life is Good on the DP to make it look like a doe in the forest.  The little clock on the wall is the face of one of the clocks from Nina's set, Special Fathers. 

Below is a picture of the inside of the card.

For more inspiration with Tech Talk tonight, check out these links:

Melanie Muenchinger {Illustrator}

Jessica Fick

Donna Baker

Lee Murphy

Lynn Mercurio

Nina Brackett

Sankari Wegman

Melissa Shultz {CSS Designer}

Peggy Wainman {CSS Designer}

Tina Gilliland {Guest Designer}

Karen Knegten {Guest Designer}

The Tech Talk discussion on the StampTV Idea Center is a valuable resource filled with tips, sample projects, and tutorials. Melanie's tip sheet, free PDF template as well as the Card Kit is available in the discussion as well.


If you haven't already, stop by GinaK's blog today to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win today's featured stamp set or any other stamp set valued at $23.95 of your choice!

Life is Good Blog Hop

Theresa designs the most amazing sets for stamping fun scenes and masculine cards.  I love this train from the set.  I stamped it on a piece of blue paper from a pad of Basic Grey with VersaMark ink.  Then I used silver embossing powder.  I tried to keep it simple so this could be a card for male. 

Note: To see a larger view you can click the picture.

For my next card I used my favorite stamp in the whole set.  The log cabin.  It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie.  I've been watching all of the episodes.  I am currently watching season 2.  I used liquid applique sprinkled with glitter for the snow.  I used some more paper from the same Basic Grey stack.  I used some fun felt ribbon in the center.  And the nail heads on the top two corners are from Gina's store.  Again, I tried to keep it on the masculine side. 
Note: To see a larger view you can click the picture.

For even more inspiration tonight with the Life is Good stamp set, check out these links:

Theresa Momber {Illustrator}
Jessica Fick
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Lee Murphy
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Colleen Schaan


Cheri Weston {CSS designer}
Melissa Shultz {CSS designer}
Peggy Wainman {CSS designer}


Geri Utterback {guest designer}
Brenda Turner {guest designer}
Linda Payne {guest designer}

The Life is Good discussion on the StampTV Idea Center is also a valuable resource for tips, samples, and tutorials. Theresa's tip sheet and the Card Kit is available in the discussion as well.

And, finally stop by GinaK's blog today to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win today's featured stamp set or another stamp set valued at $23.95 of your choice!

Gina K Designs Preview - Tech Talk

Well, now, we all know how totally awesome Gina and her stamp tv crew is, right?  Well they must have some kind of super powers.  Seriously!!!  I was so super psyched to be included along with all of the super talent on StampTV.  But when I saw the set assigned to me... well...  I squealed.  Seriously. :o)  That brings me to the super powers part.  So Melanie, must have been thinking of me when she designed the set that was assigned to me.  Yep, she was. ;o) And when it came time to decide which stamp to assign to me, it's like they knew.  I work in IT and I am a total geek.  And I love it.  So when I saw this set, I went crazy.  OMG!!!

So I decided to make the cutest laptop ever for my first card.  Decked out in pink, of course. :o)  Here is a close up of the cutest laptop ever.  And wouldn't we all want to receive this message on our cute little laptop?  Yes, we would!

I stamped the laptop image onto 120 lb. Pure Luxury White card stock.  I cut out the screen area.  I colored the whole piece pink with a Copic marker.  Then I stamped the bottom portion of the laptop on some Basic Grey pattern paper from the Lemonade collection.  I stamped "((((HUGS))))"  with white chalk ink on Black Onyx Pure Luxury card stock.  I also stamped the little pointer arrow with chalk ink.  I colored the mouse/touchpad with a black Sakura Glaze Pen (it looks really cool in real life).  Here is the full card with more paper from the Basic Grey Lemonade pad and other images from the set.

This laptop was made for me because it has a mouse for a right-handed person.  But the really cool thing is that Melanie (genius that she is) created a mouse for the left-handed person as well.  Isn't she super smart?  Yes, she is!  The card base is my new favorite green, Pure Luxury Fresh Asparagus.

So are you ready for more inspiration?  Don't forget to join us at the December Release Party in the Gina K Designs Member Forum over at SplitCoastStampers.  The party is from 7 - 10 pm CST.  That's 8 - 11 pm EST (in Pennsylvania, where I live).  Here is a link to the Member Forum.  You can also check out StampTV.com or Gina's blog for more details.  I know that members from the design team post helpful hints as the party approaches.

For even more ways to use these fabulous stamp sets, please check tonight's featured Illustrator's blogs:

Nina Brackett {Lovely Shelf}
Melanie Muenchinger {Tech Talk}

Then, visit our Designer's blogs participating in the previews tonight:

GinaK,
Carolyn,
Cathy,
Cindy,
Donna,
Emily,
Erika,
Jessica,
Lee,
Lynn,
Tami,
Theresa

 

We also have two of our special Center Stage Spotlight Designer's joining us with samples as well:

Cheri Weston
Melissa Shultz --That's me. Thanks for stopping by.

CSS Challenge Blog Hop

It's time for another CenterStage Spotlight Challenge Blog hop!

Hostess: Jessica Fick {Design Team Coordinator}
Theme: Stamp and color the image on Patterned Paper { any occasion card acceptable, it doesn't have to be Christmas themed} { image may be cut out and layered, but must be stamped and colored on patterned paper}
Requirement: any GinaK Designs stamp set; Glitter
Bonus Challenge: decorate the inside of your card to coordinate

I am so excited to be participating in this blog hop for Gina K Designs. It is such an honor to be a part of the CSS Design Team.  This challenge was quite a "challenge" for me.  I had a hard time deciding what paper to use and then what stamp to use.  So when in doubt I make something with coffee.  Can't go wrong with that in my opinion.
 

Everything I used on this card came from Gina's store.  The card stock is Fresh Asparagus and Tan Leather (love that stuff).  The pattern paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Paper Pad, Nutmeg.  The coffee stamp is from Signs of Autumn.  I colored the image using Copic markers and coated the mug and steam swirls with a Sakura Glitter Pen.  The copper brads were in the Autumn Kit of the Month.  The ribbon is Stitched Fresh Asparagus.  The button is from the Autumn Assortment.  I tied it onto the ribbon with some twine.  I sponged the edges with Vivid Tuscan Tan ink.  I also outlined other areas with the Sakura Glitter Pen.

I hope you enjoy the hop.  Now check out what all the other talented ladies in this group created for this challenge.

Participating Designer's links:
Brenda Turner
Carla Suto
Carolina Buchting
Cheri Weston
Deb Felts
Geri Utterback
Giovana Smith
Gina Krupsky
Janice Melton
JenMarie Taylor
Jennie Harper
Joy Hadden
Karen Knegten
Kay Simmons
Linda Payne
Lori McAree
Melisa Waldorf
Melissa Cash
Melissa Shultz <--You are here, that's me!
Nina Brackett
Pam Imholz
Peggy Wainman
Selma Stevenson
Shannon Bracken
Sharri Seffens
Sue Morris
Sue VanDeVusse
Sue Walsh
Tina Gilliland

Black Friday Shopping

I will be out shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Crazy, I know!!  I will need a ton of Starbuck's to keep me going.  :o)

Please stop by Friday night at 10 PM EST (11 PM my time) to view the card I made for the CSS Challeng Blog Hop.  More details on Jessica's blog.

Autumn Beauty Blog Hop

I am totally stoked to be participating with all of these super talented stampers in showcasing Theresa's Autumn Beauty stamp set. This stamp set has all the fall images that you need. My absolute favorites are the sunflower images. I love sunflowers. There is a farm near my apartment that has two fields full of these golden yellow beauties. They make me smile every time I drive by. And of course who doesn't like fall colored leaves and fun scarecrows. I was actually dozing off in my boyfriend's car yesterday on the way home from his birthday lunch when I dreamed this layout up. Crazy, huh? So here is my Autumn Beauty card.


{click image for larger view}

All stamped images are from Autumn Beauty sold at Gina K Designs. I used Pumpkin Spice, Soft Sand, & Vanilla Pure Luxury Card Stock. The pattern paper with the fall leaves is from Target Dollar Spot last year. I also pulled out my sewing machine for this one. I love the look of real stitches on hand stamped cards and wanted to make this card as special as possible for Theresa's blog hop. I hope my Autumn Beauty card inspires you to go stamp some beautiful fall cards.

For more inspiration, please check in on our Illustrator of Autumn Beauty, Theresa Momber. She has also designed a beautiful digital paper pack called All About Autumn that is available for purchase as well. Be sure to leave a comment on Theresa's blog for a chance to win this stamp set!
Theresa has asked five guest designers to join in on the blog hop tonight:
Pam Imholz
Melissa Shultz <--That's me :o) Karen Knegten
Jennie Harper
Brenda Turner
These Designers are also sharing projects tonight on their blogs:
Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mecurio
Melanie Muenchinger
We even have some of our CenterStage Spotlight Designers joining in tonight:
Geri Utterback
Shelly Wilson
Tina Gilliland