Simple Seagull

Good morning!

We're all moving a little slowly this Monday morning - but are thrilled that today is the last Monday of school for the school year. I don't know who's more excited Mom or the kids! lol!

Today's card is a simple one - made to let the beautiful stamps speak for themselves...


Once again, I paired Gina's Not Forgotten stamp set and Rupa's Guiding Light stamps to make this thinking of you card. I think this sentiment is perfect for any one in our lives that are going through a difficult time... and I'm sad to say that I know several people who are in just those situations right now.

I'm so glad I have this beautiful sentiment - and others like them in this stamp set for just such situations. Everything was colored with Copics on white linen cardstock. The clouds were made with a scallop circle punch and chalks.

Have a wonderful day!

Jessica

Thoughts of you...

Today's card showcases two of GinaK's must have stamp sets from this past month's release: Not Forgotten and Guiding Light. They work so well together, I think.

I stamped the images in Black Versafine ink on White linen paper and used detail clear embossing powder. The images were colored with Copics and the sky was shaded with Chalks and a scallop circle punch used for the cloud shape. Stickles finished up the main image with some sparkle.

Here's the inside view...

Enjoy the rest of your day - and thanks for stopping by!

Jessica

Remembering Mom....

Happy Mother's day weekend, everyone!

While this holiday is a joyous one for most of us, but for some it's touched with pain... not being able to spend it with their beloved mothers. My cards today are in honor of those men and women who are celebrating the memories of their mothers.

GinaK's new Not Forgotten stamp set is a godsend for cardmakers who desire to send out a card for just such an occasion as this one. I paired the set for my first card with Asela Hopkin's Friendship's Garden.

My next card uses GinaK's Tropical Flowers and Take Flight stamp sets, along with more of the Rough and Rugged Digital Papers, also from GinaK. It's also the card I'm using for PaperCraft Planet's Sketch Challenge this week.

I stamped the leaves in black memento ink directly on the digital papers for a silhouette look. The butterfly was stamped twice on vellum in versamark ink and embossed with SU's Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

Then, I took a light green Copic marker and colored the backside of the cut out butterfly. After layering it, I added some pearls for the body.

I hope this Mother's Day weekend is filled with wonderful memories of your mother and all she means and has meant to you.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom Linda and my mother-in-law Sandy!

I love you both!

Jessica

Girl Friday Sketch

Happy Friday!

This morning I have 3 cards to share. I made all three of them one night last week using the same Sketch that I drew for myself along with the same CosmoCricket Girl Friday paper & Foofala Buttons. Do you do that sometimes too?

When I sit down to papercraft, one card always leads to a couple more because as I'm creating ideas pop into my head on how else I could have made the card. So, as soon as I finish one, I'll begin on the next one... My designs are similar almost all the time - but I love to add little touches to them with embellishments to make them a little more special.

First up is one with Melanie's Jumping for Joy...

I LOVE this bear giving himself a hug! He was colored with Copics as was the little circus stand that he is sitting on.

Next, is one I made with Asela's Friendship Gardens and Gina's Not Forgotten stamps...

Once again, the flowers were colored with Copics. On all of these images, I stamped in Black Versafine ink & clear embossed on GinaK's Pure luxury white cardstock. When I'm working with dark, rich colors like these Girl Friday papers, I want to make sure that my stamped images really stand out so I almost always use the Versafine ink and emboss it.

And, finally one with Melanie's Wee Tees...

I love this sketch and know it will be one that I use a lot. One reason that I love it so much is that the patterned paper strips are all cut at 4" - which means my 12x12 papers are getting cut into 3 equal strips and I can get a ton of cards made with each strip!

The main panel is 4 x 5 1/4 ; the strip is 4 x 1 ; and the middle panel is 4 x 3. Most of my measurements for my cards are cut this way - to maximize my 12x12 cardstock, which is really kind of OCD considering how MUCH I have, but I can't help myself! lol!

To make the colored papers really pop, I added an 1/8" border of Black cardstock to each panel. Black and Brown are such great colors for this little tip. The card bases are all GinaK's 120lb. Pure Luxury White - that cardstock is so thick and can really stand up to all the layers and embellishments you may add to your cards.

Thanks for checking in today - have a great weekend!

Jessica

Preview Day 4: Not Forgotten

Good morning!

We've saved one more set to share with everyone tonight. It's a very special set that Gina designed specifically to fit a need that she had once her father died this past winter... a set of sentiments to make cards for our loved ones who have recently lost someone special recently.

This is a stamp set filled with touching sentiments that can be used for anyone who needs a sympathy or thinking of you card. Many of the sentiments are especially perfect for those first holidays and events that are so hard to celebrate when a special loved one is missing from your celebration. Appropriately enough, Gina named it "Not Forgotten."

I made this first card with Gina's mom in mind...

You can substitute the word 'husband' with several different family member names that Gina has included in the stamp set. I chose to build my phrase on my large round acrylic block before stamping so everything could be perfectly aligned before I stamped. After stamping, I used a couple of Nestability dies to cut them out. I stamped everything in Black Memento ink onto Gina's Heavy Base Pure Luxury white cardstock, so the embossed edges would really pop on my simple card.

I paired these sentiments with the leafy sprig stamp image from Tropical flowers and my EK Success Butterfly punch. I also used the new Digital paper pack called Rough and Rugged that Gina designed that will be available later tonight. It's one of my favorites from her because of the masculine colors and patterns.

Here's the inside view of the first card - check out this paper (also from the digital pack)

Some of you may know that my husband recently lost his Grandma. I made this next card for my in-laws to send to them on Mother's Day letting them know that we're thinking of them during this first holiday without Grandma Fick.

I replaced the 'husband' word from the acrylic block and replaced it with the 'mom' stamp included in this set and stamped several of these sentiments out so I could send Brad's two uncles cards too.

Once again, the paper is from Gina's Rough and Rugged Digital paper. I used her Black Onxy as the cardbase for both of my cards because I adore how sturdy it is. I love my Stampin Up cardstocks, but they aren't even close to as thick as GinaK's cardstock! I stamped the flower from Asela's new Friendship Gardens stamp set onto Gina's Pure Luxury white cardstock and colored with Copics.

Here's the inside view...

While I was stamping these cards, I was really touched by the sentiments and was so thankful to have them in my collection for those times when I need to make cards like the ones I've shared today.

Several of Gina's Design Team members have made cards to share today too - here's their links:

Gina, Erika, Donna, Emily, Cindy, Theresa, Beverly, Melanie, and Carolyn

Our Release party is tonight from 7-10 (CST) in GinaK's Forum over on SCS - I hope you'll be able to stop by and see some more samples from all of us. I have several to share tonight and know the other DT members do too. All the new products will be available in Gina's Online Store at 10(CST) - so get ready to do some shopping! lol!

*** Also, my Fun with Flowers Online class has been a huge success! A BIG thanks to all of you so who chose to take my first online class through GinaK! We've scheduled a chat for tomorrow (Friday, April 23) from Noon - 1 (CST). This is a time for you to log onto the classroom blog site and ask Gina and I questions about the class or anything Gina sells in her store. We're going to take a little break from all the online orders to rest our feet and chat with all of our students who can join in - I hope you will be one of them!

We've scheduled our next live chat for next Thursday night (April 30) from 8-9 (CST). We hope the later time will help our students who are unable to chat during the day due to work or scheduling conflicts.

For more information about the class, check out the StampTV ClassRoom tab or Online Classes at GinaK's store. I'm beginning preparations for our next online class - so if you have any requests or suggestions on what you'd like to see offered, feel free to email me at jessjean12@gmail.com

Have a great rest of your day!

Jessica