More Whatever Floats Your Boat Paper Piecing...

Good evening!

I LOVE this giraffe in the Whatever Floats Your Boat stamp set!! Isn't she adorable?! I stamped her twice in versafine ink and clear embossed on GinaK's 80lb. cardstock. The layers are pieced together and popped up for lots of dimension. To make the window open on both side, I cut one of the windows out from my second image and turned it upside down to fit on the other side.

here's a closer look...


And, could this sentiment be any more perfect with this image -

Here's the inside view - look at these fun DCWV papers!

I left it plain inside so there would be enough room to write a little encouraging note to a friend.

Next, up - check out this adorable elephant balancing on this fun ball...


Once again I stamped the images twice in versafine ink and clear embossed it on GinaK's 80lb. cardstock and then colored with Copics. Then this guy was paper pieced and layered together onto this big ball I made with a Circle Nestability die.

I was thrilled to see this paper from Cosmo Cricket that had these balls on them - just like the elephant's ball!! So, I free-hand cut mine out of a couple of die cut circles and layered everything together for the focal point of the cardfront.

here's the inside view...

Such a fun and easy card - perfect for a little guy's birthday card!

Thanks for joining me again tonight - I've had a lot of fun with Rupa's Whatever Floats Your Boat stamp set! I love the challenge of pulling out some of my older favorite stamp sets to play with again! Check back tomorrow night as I'll have another card with one of Gina's Lucky Seven Stamp set ... Zoo Animals and a tutorial on how to 'make clouds' with your chalks and a scallop circle die cut!

For more DT eyecandy with the Lucky Seven sale stamp sets - check out these blogs tonight:
Melanie
JenMarie
Brenda

Jessica

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Good evening!

I have a couple of cards to share tonight celebrating Gina's Lucky Seven Stamp set sale this weekend! The prices are so great that it's worth taking advantage of them to stock up on gifts even if you already own all the stamp sets! I love blow-out prices, don't you!?

My first card is made with Asela's Zoo Animal's stamp set - this zebra is so cute! I can't help but think of the Madagascar movies whenever I see him... lol!

I made my card based on my STV Sketch challenge that you can find HERE. I love all the layers this sketch has! Here's the inside view of this card...

I stamped the zebra in white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder and then colored in a few of the stripes with my Koh-i-noor white colored pencil. I really like how it looks kind of like a chalkboard!

Next, is another card with Rupa's Whatever Floats Your Boat stamp set ...

I have used this set a lot but this is the first time I've inked up this little mouse - he is so cute!

I stamped him twice on GinaK's 80lb. cardstock and colored with copics - paper piecing and popping up the mouse from his cheese-boat for some added dimension. This Cosmo Cricket paper was a perfect addition with those little fishies... lol!

I love this fun sentiment...

Here's the inside of the card - more of the delicious paper! I kept it blank inside - just room to sign everyone's name for the birthday boy.

Thanks for checking in with me tonight - I'll have some more cards from these two stamp sets to share with you tomorrow night!

There are a few other Design Team members that are sharing projects with the Lucky Seven stamp sets too tonight - so, hop over to these blogs for more inspiration and ideas!

Theresa
Donna
Cindy
Jen Marie - one of our CenterStage Design Team members!

And, Melanie has shared her famous Tip Sheets for her two Lucky Seven Stamps sets (Jumping for Joy and Cuddles & Hugs) over on StampTV in this discussion. You can save the PDF files for your own personal use!

Jessica

Lucky Seven Sale

Good evening! I am thrilled to announce that Gina is having a HUGE sale she is calling the...



Lucky Seven Sale Event: July 10-14, 2009

Buy any three of these seven stamp sets listed below (regularly priced at $23.95 each) for $49.95 and you can choose from one of these normally priced $19.95 stamp sets for free! (A value of $91.80)

OR, for an even more amazing deal: Buy them all for $125! Purchase all of the Lucky Seven stamp sets and you will receive all 4 of the free stamp set choices for free! (A total value of $247.55)

Lucky Seven Stamp sets available for this sale event:
Many Happy Returns
How Sweet it Is!
Jumping for Joy
Zoo Animals
Christmas Blessings
Whatever Floats Your Boat
Cuddles and Hugs

Stamp sets available for free with the purchase of 3 of the Lucky Seven Stamp Sets:
WhooHoo!
Rectangle Greetings
Heartfelt Hits 1
Kindred Greetings for Kids

To take advantage of these sale prices, look for the Lucky Seven Button on GinaK's Online Store that will be live tonight! **There are no substitutions on other stamp sets - only these seven stamp sets are featured with the sale prices and must be bought in groups of 3 for the sale price to work. **

Check out these GinaK Designs Senior Design Team blogs tonight for projects made with these seven Lucky Stamp sets!

Many Happy Returns: Joanne and Lynn
How Sweet it Is: Gina and Carolyn
Jumping for Joy: Cathy and Lee
Zoo Animals: Asela and Donna
Christmas Blessings: Kurtis and Emily
Whatever Floats Your Boat: Erika and Jessica
Cuddles and Hugs: Melanie and Theresa

The Lucky Seven Sale event will start at tonight, July 9th at 10 pm and will run thru midnight Monday, July 14th - so you have until the end of Monday to take advantage of this great sale!!

now, onto my card featuring Whatever Floats Your Boat -


I love this little skateboarding Turtle! I stamped him three times in black versafine ink and embossed with clear embossing powder and then colored with Copic markers. Then I paper pieced the three layers together to make this turtle 3D!

See what I mean...


The sentiments in the stamp set are perfect for kids of all ages! I made this card with my son in mind, so I choose this sentiment...

and finally, the inside of the card...

I hope you'll take advantage of this sale event - the stamp sets Gina choose to put on sale are some of my favorites! I'll be sharing more cards with Rupa's Whatever Floats Your Boat stamp set for the next several days - so be sure to check back in for more ideas with it.

Enjoy your blog hopping!
Jessica

Baby Cards Class Photos

Good morning!

I have tons of photos to share today to show off the four cards we'll be making at my Baby Cards Class tomorrow (2/10). I still have some openings for my two class times - (1-3) and (5:30-7:30) so give the store a call at 608 579-1026 if you would like to join us.

A 6x6 Basic Grey paper pack, buttons & fibers are all included in the class fee! For my cards, I chose to use Basic Grey's Sugared line.


We'll be making one of each of these four designs and will be using Copic markers to color the images. Some images will be stamped on designer papers and colored while others will be stamped on GinaK's pure luxury cardstock.

We'll be using several GinaK stamp sets to make the cards - Whatever Floats Your Boat, Hand in Hand, How Sweet it Is, and Owl Always Love You.

I'll provide the card sketches for the class to work with and they will cut the papers from their paper pack that they want to use to make their cards. I like these kinds of classes, because they really teach the entire cardmaking process from start to finish.

For the sentiments, we'll stamp them and then cut them out with a variety of nestabilities that we carry in the store. I really like how almost every single sentiment from GinaK will fit in one of these dies - it makes it so easy to use!

I will be offering this class again next month with these same cards if tomorrow's date doesn't work. Right now, I'm thinking the class date for March will be the 12th, but I'll let you know for sure later in the month.

Have a great rest of your day!
Jessica

An Elephant Never Forgets...

.... a birthday! Don't you wish we could say the same thing! lol! I'm so bad about getting cards out in the mail on time to reach the birthday person on their actual birthday, it's quite sad. I'm going to try to get better about this this year though.... In fact, I mailed 2 birthday cards out earlier this week to some family members that are having a birthday today and tomorrow! Yay for me! lol! They don't read my blog, but I hope they got their cards on time!

I mentioned yesterday that I would be sharing my Stop and Stamp class cards today, but I haven't had a chance to photograph them yet - so watch for them in tomorrow's post. Sorry for the delay! We'll be making Valentines cards together... hint... hint...

Today's card is one that we made recently at a Stamp a Stack class I held at GinaK Designs store in McFarland. We made 3 other card designs that I'll share soon on my blog. This is my favorite card of the bunch because I LOVE this elephant! It's from Rupa's Whatever Floats Your Boat stamp set.

We stamped the image on a Marvy Giga scallop circle punchout in Memento ink on GinaK's Pure Luxury 80lb. Cardstock and colored her in with Copic markers - she's girl because she's pink, in case you were wondering! lol! I highlighted her toes and blanket with Sakura's Glue pen and Doodlebug's glitters. So, that should tell you how fine of a line that the Sakura glue pen draws!

The sentiments were stamped in Memento ink and then punched out with Marvy's Super Jumbo star punch and Marvy's Giga Scallop Rectangle punch. To highlight the scallops, we pierced the back of the scallops and then turned it over for a punched-tin look.

We used the numbers Cuttlebug folder to emboss a sheet a Coordinations cardstock and then highlighted the inner core color by sanding it with Tim Holtz's sanding block. Since I didn't have enough of the same color for everyone to do 3 of each, the gals did 3 different colors which I like because then you have a variety of cards!

Have a great day and keep warm! Brrr... we're in the deep freeze around here!

Jessica

Whatever Floats your Boat!

Hi everyone!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post from Friday *click on the link to take you to the correct post* to be entered to win a free GinaK Designs stamp set of your choice. I'll announce the lucky winner a little while after the 7:00 pm deadline!

Today, I'm sharing the set of 4 cards I made with Rupa's adorable set Whatever Floats your Boat. These little animals have such personality - I love the eyes!

The four animals were stamped on textured Bazzil cardstock in Versafine Black ink and colored with Koh-i-noor pencils & Gina's odorless mineral spirits. While I usually use Stampin Up's whisper white cardstock for this technique, sometimes I want a soft textured look, so I pull out some textured Bazzil cardstock to color on. If you've tried prisma pencils and have been frustrated with the blendability of some colors, try Koh-i-noors. They will shock you with how blendable they are.

I rubbed ink on the Cuttlebug embossing folders *the side with the Cuttlebug logo on* before I ran the paper through to emboss. I like to do this technique with tone on tone colors, so I used the same colored paper & inks for a subtle shading. It really helps the embossing to pop.

I punched out the stars with my well loved EK Success Star punches and then ran them through to emboss. Afterwards, I took my sponge dauber and shaded all around the star edges.

Card Details: Whatever Floats your Boat; SU papers & inks: soft sky, wasabi, river rock; SU afternoon tea dsp & ww; SU punches: corner rounder, scallop border, my way arrow, large square; Cuttlebug & embossing folders; Ranger's Inkssentials White Gel pen; Marvy Scallop square punch; Gems: EK success star punches; Making Memories 1/16 eyelets & eyelet setter; paper piercer; Black Stazon; Koh-i-noor pencils; OMS; blending stumps; Sakura glitter pen; aqua painter; Staedlter journaling pens

When you spend so much time making the outside of your cards look pretty, I think it's a nice touch to decorate the insides of the cards too! I don't always take the time to do this, but I find it adds such a polished look to my projects.

I hand drew the double lines around the white cardstock with my favorite multiliners - my black Staedlter pens. I love to use the .1 and .3 tips for this look. You may have noticed I outlined the arrow punch out on the cardfront. When I first began scrapbooking years ago, I started outlining photo & journaling mats and have always loved how it highlights the image I've matted.

I'm often asked how I get my lines so straight and I always say that I don't! That's why I usually have spaces when I draw my lines - it adds character and covers up my boo-boos. It's hand-made so it's not supposed to be perfect, right?!

After I drew my frame, I used Koh-i-noor pencils, OMS & blending stumps to color & shade. A few dots here and there around the frame, and it's finished!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jessica

New Opportunities; New Friends - BLOG CANDY ALERT!

Card Details: Summer Harvest, Versafine Black ink; Clear Embossing powder; peerless watercolors; twinkling h2o's; aqua painter; crystal lacquer; Nestabilities; SU ribbons; Glitter Dots; Stickles; Primas; CraftT Colored Embossing Paste

I'm so excited that Gina has invited me to join her design team! It has been a pleasure working for her at her store in McFarland - she's the best bosslady ever! Thanks for the opportunity to work and teach at your store and now to be on your design team, Gina!

Card Details: Whatever Floats your Boat; SU solid & dsp & coordinating inks; EK Success Star Punches; Cuttlebug & Embossing Folders; Stazon; Koh-i-noor pencils; OMS; blending stumps; Sakura Glitter Pen; Fine Detail Staedtler pens; SU My Way arrow punch, scallop border punch & corner rounder; Dollar Store Gems; MM mini eyelets; paper piercer; Ranger's Inkssentials White Gel pen; SU square punch; Marvy Scallop Punch

I am also blessed to call Rupa - one of her talented illustrators - my friend. Isn't this little mouse sweet? I love this newest set of hers and so does my 7 year old daughter Ashley. Tonight, she made me a sweet little love note with this mouse image... one I'll treasure always!

Card Details: Flowers for Daisy; Bazzil Cardstock; K&Co. dsp; SU ww; Versafine Black ink; Clear Embossing powder; Nestabilities; Copic Markers; Sanding block; EK Success large corner rounder; Basic Grey Archaic Fibers & Glazed Brads

And then there's Asela. I have been a fan of hers for several years now. Her coloring is always gorgeous. I'm so thankful when she takes the time to describe in detail her coloring steps. I've learned a lot from her - wouldn't it be awesome to take a coloring class from her?! Her illustration style is so classy and she is a great addition to GinaK Designs. I'm looking forward to seeing many more stamp sets from her in the future!

The cause behind Flowers for Daisy is so touching and one that only makes me admire Asela and Gina more. (click on their names to read the story behind the stamp set.)

Card Details: Little Tees; SU '08 In Colors & WW & coordinating inks; SU scallop border punch & round tab punch; Hero Arts gems; paper piercer; Ranger's Inkssentials White gel pen; Cuttlebug & Embossing Folders; Sakura Glitter pen & aqua painter

I was able to meet Melanie last weekend when Gina and I went to CHA. She is full of ideas for some awesome stamp sets - I'm excited to see what she'll come up with next. This T shirt set is such a great idea and one that I know will get a lot of ink!

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So, how about some blog candy to celebrate my design team news!

Since this is the first time I've ever done this how about we make the question nice and easy....

What is your favorite GinaK Designs stamp set?

hmmm... maybe that's harder than I thought! I love them all, but if I had to choose only one, I think I'd pick Just Keep Swimming because I love those sea critters! They're perfect for any coloring medium!

Comment on this post with your favorite GinaK Stamp set by Monday, July 28th at 7 PM and I'll choose one random winner to receive the stamp set of their choice.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica