PaperFections

2012 Calendar Tray

I had a new calendar idea for 2012 and decided to utilize my 7 Gypsies Photo Tray for it.  I'll be showing you these quarterly next year over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom, showcasing different stamping techniques each time!  The first quarter for 2012 highlights watercoloring two different ways -- one using Copic Various Ink Refills and the other utilizes the more traditional dye ink pads.

I hope you'll join me HERE for all the details of this quarter.  You'll be able to follow along and create your own calendars each quarter -- I'll post them at least one full month (4-6 weeks) in advance!

Gina K Designs November Release Inspiration Hop 1!

Welcome to Gina K Designs’ November stamp set release inspiration blog hops!  We hope you enjoyed the Release Party last night -- Remember, all of the new October release stamp sets are now available in Gina’s store!  Our first stamp set being featured today is: Stately Flowers 1 by Melanie Muenchinger -- aren't these flowers gorgeous?!!  I adore flowers (and I'm sure glad Melanie knows that, too!) . . . this is a fabulous concept Melanie came up with!

Here’s my sample -- the rest of the sneak peak I showed you yesterday: 

For this birthday card, I stamped the beautiful poppies with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic's X-Press It Blending Card and then selected my Copic colors to coordinate with the patterned papers I chose, using my Copic color chart:

I used Copic's Pitch Black Atyou Spica Glitter Pen to accent the center of the flower, and I also went over the "Happy Birthday" stamped sentiment (from Pleasant Plurals) with the glitter pen, to give it a little more emphasis and sparkle!

An orange dotted paper die cut was added on the inside of the card and Gina's Sweet Mango Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight cardstock, die cut with Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Motifs frames the poppies:

Our next stamp set being featured today is: Make a State-ment also by Melanie Muenchinger -- what a great set to compliment the Stately Flowers series OR to stand alone!

Here’s my sample card that I thought would make a fun Valentine: 

I used this week’s CPS #246 sketch for the layout of my card; it measures 4.25” square.  Papers are all from Gina's Nature's Greetings 6x6 paper pack.  It's a little difficult to see, but the scalloped border is Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeabilities with Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities insert that is four hearts that form a flower!

And the tiny heart die cuts make great confetti to place inside the card!

These Gina K design team members also have samples to share today. Make sure you leave a comment on each of the blogs because Gina will choose two random winners from all of the comments who will each receive a grab bag of free stamps (at least 12 stamp sets in each bag)!  The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win . . . good luck!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger – Illustrator Stately Flowers and Make a Statement
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jennie Harper
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist <== You are here!
• Suzanne Dean
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

I’ll see you back here again tomorrow with more of Gina K’s November release!

{Poppy Birthday}
Stamps: Gina K Designs Stately Flowers 1 by Melanie Muenchinger, Pleasant Plurals,  
Dies: Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities, Fleur De Lis Accents & Motifs dies, Grand Calibur
Paper: Gina K Designs Heavy Base Weight Cardstock-Ivory & Sweet Mango; Basic Grey Little Black Dress 6x6; Copic X-Press It Blending Card
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black;
Copic Markers: YR00, YR02, YR04, YR09, YG03, YG63, T1, T4, T6; Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pen-Pitch Black
Accessories:  Pop Dots; black silk ribbon

{Somebody Loves You Card}
Stamps: Gina K Designs Make a State-ment by Melanie Muenchinger,
Dies: Spellbinders Classic Scallop & Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities, Wonky Rectangle Nestabilities dies, Grand Calibur
Paper: Gina K Designs Heavy Base Weight Cardstock-Ivory (card base) and Nature’s Greetings 6x6 Patterned Paper Pack
Ink: Memento Rhubarb Stalk; Versamark pad,  
Accessories: Pop Dots; black detail embossing powder & heat gun; black silk ribbon

 

Gina K Designs November Release Party Invite!

We are very excited to extend an invitation to the Gina K Designs November Release Party tonight.  We have a fun evening planned for you -- chatting, prizes, challenges, stamp sets reveal, design team shares, and most importantly (we’ve changed it this month, going forward) at the BEGINNING of the party (7pm Central) November products will be available for you to go shopping!

If you came from Suzanne Dean’s blog, you're at the right place. If not, you can head over to StampTV, where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop.

Here's a sneak peek of one of the projects I will be sharing at the party tonight:

Hope to see you at the party -- here are all the details:

• When: Today, Tuesday, November 29
• Where: StampTV Release Party Forum
• Time: 7 PM to 9 PM (CST)

Next, head on over to Michelle Woerner’s blog to see what she's sharing with you today and I will see you back here on tomorrow for the beginning of our three day Inspiration Blog Hop series for November!

The Gifted Stamper Giveaway!

Do you love the idea of creating beautiful handmade, heart-felt gifts for the men, women, family and friends in your life?  If this sounds wonderful and you don't know where to start, we have a solution!

Please join long-time instructor and my dear sweet friend, Julie Ebersole, in her class The Gifted Stamper: One Dozen Easy-to-Make Gifts For All Occasions.  Julie will guide you through 12 beautiful, easy-to-make gift ideas and projects suitable for any occasion.  This interactive online class will feature a work-at-your-own pace schedule, supported with video tutorials and detailed downloadable PDF instruction sheets. Participate in a dedicated forum and gallery during class.

This fantastic class is only $36 and will run from December 1st through December 12th, but all content will always remain available to students. During class there will be fun prizes and a special discount code for all students. For complete details please visit HOWnow School of Creative Arts, Ellen Hutson’s new online workshop site!

Whether it's for the upcoming holidays, a birthday, or "just because," nothing conveys heart-felt like handmade . . . click here to register now.

Would you like a chance to WIN a spot in this class?  I will choose a winner via the random number generator from all comments left on this blog post by this Saturday morning, December 3rd!

I also want to remind you that TODAY is the last day to receive your Black Friday-Cyber Monday and 5th anniversary celebration 15% off  in Ellen’s store (if you need the code, it is 5yearsold)!  Ellen wanted me to let you all know that she received a ton of new product in today from My Mind's Eye as well as restocks on popular items!

Happy shopping!

Ellen Hutson 5th Anniversary Celebration!

All weekend long, we are celebrating Ellen Hutson LLC's store 5th anniversary over in the CLASSroom! You don't want to miss all the giveaways, challenges, and prizes, so I hope you'll hop on over and read all the recent blog posts there!  Starting today thru Sunday there will be a new challenge posted each day -- play along and you could win each of the different prizes!  

Here's the sample for my challenge today (you can find all the instructions and prize info here):

We hope you'll play along and visit us this weekend!

Christmas Challenge!

Today's JustRite Friday Challenge will help you finish (or get started!) on your holiday cards and tags . . . it will be time to start using and sending them out before you know it!  Here's my sample for the challenge:

You can find all the challenge details (and prize info!) and how I made my tag over at the JustRite Inspiration blog today.  Happy Friday!

Holiday Snowglobe Shaker Art

Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom, I show you how to make this 4" x 6" framed snowglobe shaker artwork . . . I hope you'll join me!  That sweet snowglobe is this year's Lockhart 2011 Limited Edition stamp, Nicholas Sings Carols, colored with my Copic markers of course!

Gina K Gratitude November Design Team Hop

Welcome to another Gina K design team blog hop. In honor of the upcoming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, today we're featuring cards with a Gratitude theme to them. If you came from Melanie Muenchinger’s blog, you're at the right place. If not, you can head over to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop.

Here's the thank you card I came up with today, using the brand new StampTV kit, Nature’s Greetings:

I ADORE poppies and these are ruffled gorgeous-ness!  This “mini kit” was a little extra “all occasion” bonus for the year -- normally the StampTV kits come out every 2 months.  I know I’ll be using this one a LOT, since I adore botanical themed sets! 

I stamped a quarter sheet of Copic’s X-Press It Blending Card with the poppies and started coloring with my favorite red Copic maker combo:

Here are all of the Copic colors I used:

The “thanks a bunch” sentiment is from Garden Fresh.  After die cutting it with Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities, I used the R24 Copic marker to color around the embossed edge of the sentiment.  It is popped up over two die cut Spellbinders Peony flower (die cut from Gina's Black Onyx Pure Luxury cardstock).  The centers of the poppies were accented with Black Diamond Stickles.

I'm so grateful for each one of you that stop in here each day -- your comments really warm my heart!  Now head on over to Theresa Momber’s blog to see what she's sharing with you today!

11.11.11 Veteran's Day

 

Hello on Veterans Day!  I'm so very grateful to all those who have served, in every generation -- especially my own deceased father and 87-year old father-in-law, who both served in the Army.  So I had them and those who are currently serving in mind when I designed these cards for Copic Marker's participation in the Operation Write Home blog hop today:

 

Some of you may have heard of Operation Write Home (OWH).  If not -- in short, the operation helps organize and provide handmade greeting cards for deployed military heros so they in turn, can write home to their families and friends. It's just one small way we can serve them as they serve us!

The OWH organization has sent over one million handmade cards overseas to our service members and if you would like to participate in the operation, you can find the guidelines for making cards here.  To find a list of the 11 invited papercrafting companies participating in today's 11.11.11 Veteran's Day blog hop, please visit the OWH-Stars and Stamps blog.

You can find all the details about how I made my cards today over on the Copic Marker blog. 

These cards use the Strength and Hope stamp set manufactured by Gina K Designs and illustrated by Theresa Momber.  For the entire month of November, Theresa is donating all of her proceeds from the sale of this set to the American Cancer Society!  Theresa originally designed this stamp set with cancer and other awareness causes in mind, but I thought it also worked well for military support, with a yellow ribbon tied around the tree.  What better way to help support many different causes!

Products used:

 

JustRite Stampers November Release #2: Winter Words

JustRite Stampers' final day of November release stamp sets brings you this wonderful Winter Words clear stamp set:

Fabulous set of full of great words you'll use for the winter months ahead!  So I thought ahead to Valentine's Day and came up with this heart shaped box of chocolates card:

I used Cricut's Everyday Pop-Up Cards cartridge to create the card -- the chocolates are frosted with coarse crystal glitter (hopefully you can see that by clicking on the photos for a larger view). I stamped the "Happy Valentines Day" sentiment from JustRite's stamp set with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink and hand cut the banner shape.  I used several other words from this set on the inside of the card:

These are my kind of chocolates . . . pretty, easy to make, and no calories!

Happy early Valentine's Day!  Here are the other JustRite designers that have projects to share today:

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Michele Kovack 
Angela Barkhouse
Sharon Harnist  < == You are here!
Kellie Fortin
Eva Dobilas
Heidi Blankenship 
Kathy Jones 
Barb Schram

Products used:

 

 

Copic Christmas Card

Today over on the Copic blog, I have a tutorial on how to create this Christmas card using quite a few Copic products, along with this darling Lockhart Wagon of Toys stamp -- including the background stamped with Copics! I hope you'll join me there for all the details!

The holidays are right around the corner -- it's never too early to start creating your cards!

Supplies used:

 

JustRite Stampers November Release #2: Backgrounds!

This week JustRite Stampers is bringing you the 2nd installment of its November stamp set release and today’s stamps being featured are a brand new line for JustRite -- background stamps!  These background stamps are made of deeply etched red cling rubber and measure a generous 4.50” x 5.75”.  Here’s the first one -- Scrolled Vine:

Isn’t it gorgeous?!!  The void in the center is intentional and designed to hold any of JustRite’s Nested Sentiments . . . or anything else you’d like to do with that blank space!  I stamped the background with Dazzle Champagne VersaMark onto a #8 Kraft Tag.

I accented the tag with this gorgeous vintage ornament stamp from JustRite’s Cling set, Deck The Halls, die cut with Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments die. I filled in the blank center of the Scrolled Vine background with some pretty Prima Jaqueline lace trim and stamped a “Noel” sentiment from Deck The Halls.

The Champagne Dazzle Versamark is gorgeous stamped on this kraft tag -- hopefully you can see all the sparkle in this close-up (click on photos for a larger view):

To finish the tag, I added a red button and hand stitched metallic gold cord accents by piercing holes in the tag first, using Tim Holtz's Design Ruler. My red silk ribbon (shown on the left in the photo below) was a little too bright for the other red colors on my tag, so I dyed it a shade darker by placing the ribbon in a baggie and adding a few drops of Copic R29 Various Ink Refill:

The other new background stamp we’re featuring today is Vintage Wallpaper:

Here’s my card, also using JustRite’s Cling set Merry & Bright:

To achieve the background, I colored directly onto the background stamp with Copic markers R89 and YG97:

Then, since the alcohol ink of the Copic marker dries quickly on the stamp, to reactivate the marker colors I spritzed the stamp with a Mini Mister filled with Copic Colorless Blender and very quickly stamped onto Neenah Natural White cardstock (stamped image is on the right below):

To finish the card, I distressed the edges of the background paper and machine stitched the background to an ivory card base and stamped and die cut the ornament and colored it with Copic Markers E42, R89 & YG93:

The center sentiment was stamped and die cut separately and popped up on foam tape.  The rest of the ornament was also popped up over a white doily that was altered by airbrushing a combination of Copic E50 and E41 (so it would match with my other ivory cardstock on the card):

By placing the doily onto a piece of white cardstock with temporary adhesive while I was airbrushing, I now have a stenciled doily I can use on another project!

And to help you stamp these nice large background stamps, JustRite now has this large 5" x 6" acrylic block with finger grips:

 

You can see more projects today using these new background stamps by visiting these JustRite design team members:

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Debbie Olson
Kellie Fortin
Michele Kovack
Angela Barkhouse
Sharon Harnist  <== You are here!
Heidi Blankenship
Barb Schram

I'll be back again tomorrow with another new JustRite release!

{Scrolled Noel Tag}
Stamps: JustRite Cling-Scrolled Vine Background Stamp, Deck The Halls,
Dies: Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments dies, Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine
Paper: Ranger Inkssentials #8 Kraft Tag, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Ink: Tsukineko Dazzle Champagne VersaMark, Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Copic: R29 Various Ink Refill,
Accessories: May Arts 1.25” Red Silk Ribbon, Prima Jaqueline lace trim, red button, Tim Holtz Design Ruler, Paper Piercer, gold cord

{Vintage Wallpaper Ornament card}
Stamps: JustRite Cling-Vintage Wallpaper Background Stamp, Merry & Bright,
Dies: Spellbinders 2010 Heirloom Ornaments & Classic Circle-Lg Nestabilities dies, Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine
Paper: Neenah Natural White cardstock; Essentials by Ellen Small Doilies (4”)
Ink: Memento Rhubarb Stalk & Bamboo Leaves      
Copic Markers: R89, YG97, E41, E50 & Colorless Blender solution,
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System-3, Sparmax Windstorm Airbrush Compressor, Ranger Mini Mister, Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, 

JustRite Christmas Linky Party

Welcome to JustRite Stampers first Linky Party!  This is a great opportunity to share your JustRite Christmas projects with JustRite’s blog readers and find new places for inspiration.  The Linky Party lasts until tomorrow, so you still have time to participate and share your JustRite Christmas projects on THIS blog post.  For the party, JustRite is celebrating with a JustRite Christmas Stamp Sale -- 25% off every JustRite Christmas stamps, JustRite Original Christmas sets, JustRite Cling Christmas sets and JustRite Clear Christmas sets!  These are some of JustRite’s most popular stamp sets ever!  Christmas stamp sale ends November 17, so shop early for the best selection!

I used one of my favorite holiday/winter sets, Blizzard Bunch, to create this mini framed home decor piece:

This little frame measures approximately 3.50" x 4.50" and is one I picked up from Michael's dollar bin a few months back.  It was the perfect size and shape to fit this JustRite Original large oval stamp set!

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card and colored it with these Copic markers and Black, Olive & Red Atyou Spica Glitter Pens:

I added Polar White Flower Soft to the bottom of the image, to give it a realistic snow look!

We hope you'll join us for the JustRite Linky Party, for some big savings, wonderful holiday inspiration, and prizes!!

Products Used:

 

Give Thanks

A new JustRite Friday Challenge was posted today -- to make and actually send (or GIVE!) a thank you card or gift to someone.  Here's my sample, using JustRite's Clear Autumn Words set, introduced last month:

I love those leaves!  This is a card, constructed with two #8 manila tags.  You can find all the details on how to create it over at the JustRite Inspiration blog today.

Thanks for stopping by -- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps: JustRite Clear Autumn Words, JustRite Cling Signs of Life, 
Paper: #8 manila tags; My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found-Sunshine 6x6  
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Potter’s Clay, Bamboo Leaves 
Accessories: Seam binding, 3D foam tape,