PaperFections

Gina K December '13 Release Inspiration Hop-3

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop … Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hops. Today's first featured stamp set is Lots of Thanks by Beth Silaika. You will never need another thank you stamp set again ... look at all the fantastic fonts and thanks expressions in this set, along with beautiful accents! I arranged all of the thanks sentiments from this set (which were only about half of the total stamps in this set!) on an acrylic block (use a grid one, such as this to make sure everything is straight) and stamped them with Gina's Black Onyx ink onto Ivory Heavy Base Weight Cardstock, to create a posterboard effect (stamp it in white on black and you'll have a chalkboard effect!). Then I stamped the... Read more →

Gina K September Release Inspiration Blog Hop 1

The Design Team for Gina K Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas and as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hops. Today’s featured stamp sets are Let It Snow and Winter Blocks . . . I couldn’t resist making a snow globe card for Theresa’s darling Let It Snow-man! (Click on any photo for a larger view) He was stamped with Gina's new Moonlit Fog Color Companions ink onto Ivory Pure Luxury Cardstock and colored with these Copic markers: The snow was covered with Star Dust Stickles. The snow globe form is a Silhouette cut file (by Silhouette), cut from Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock, sponged with the fabulous new Gina K Designs Kraft Color Companions ink . . . ohh-la-la, I love this color!! The beautiful Let It Snow sentiment was embossed with vanilla embossing... Read more →

Copic Coloring Guide, Level 4: Fine Details!

Good morning and welcome to a very special blog hop . . . I am very excited to announce my participation and publication in the latest book in the series, the Copic Coloring Guide, Level 4: Fine Details! Authors Colleen Schaan and Marianne Walker have partnered up again with the team at Annie’s and some of the most talented artists and designers in the industry to bring you a quality publication packed full of techniques, theory, tutorials, and inspiration. The 64-page book is the latest in the Coloring Guide series, offering information and educational material for crafters of all skill levels. From light source to shading and shadows, to mixing mediums and tackling detailed images, this book shows how to take your coloring up one notch further … by focusing on the fine details. All of the information is presented in an easy-to-follow format. An included CD contains all of the hand-drawn images used in the tutorial section of the book, along with the assembly instructions for all of the projects. Each participating designer is hopping today to give you a peek at their favorite project from the book AND a chance to WIN your own autographed copy! Here's my... Read more →

Doilies & Lace

Hello! Today I have another fun tag to share with you . . . can you tell tags are one of my favorite things to make?!! This one uses a great new stamp set from JustRite Papercraft, illustrated by Samantha Walker, Doilies & Lace! I stamped three different doilies from this set with Memento inks onto a standard #8 manila tag. That sweet scalloped border along the bottom is also a stamp from this set -- doesn't it look just like lace?!! To make the doilies stand out and give them some real dimension, I used my Copic E41 marker to outline them. I also used Copic RV55 to color the manila hole reinforcer at the top of the tag, to match the pink cardstock I used to back the tag: The pretty center sentiment is from JustRite's new Get Well Labels Twenty clear set and has tons of great sentiments for other occasions in it, too! I stamped the pretty label onto another manila tag and die cut it with Spellbinders coordinating Labels Twenty die, then matted it with another die cut of pink cardstock and popped it up on foam tape. To finish the tag, I added colored... Read more →

Get Well Chicken Soup

Hello, friends! Sorry it's been a while since my last post . . . I sliced my thumb very deep back in April and it's been numb ever since. I still can't grasp much with that thumb and hand yet, but I'm gradually getting a little feeling back. As you can imagine, this has made crafting a little more difficult these days! So I thought this "get well" tag might be just the crafty medicine I needed this week! I started by inking a #8 manila tag with Distress Inks . . . I love these bright colors! Then I used JustRite Papercraft's new Leafy Background by Samantha Walker: And stamped it using only water. The water "bleaches" out the ink and leaves the lovely watermarked image behind! . . Next, I used Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmelade, Broken China & Worn Lipstick) to color directly on this new rubber cling mount JustRite set, Chicken Soup Labels Four: . . After stamping the colored label onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card, I die cut it with Spellbinders coordinating Labels Four die and mounted it with Copic Foam Tape onto the tag. Please pardon the tad... Read more →

Copic Hobby Lobby Project Sheet 2013

If you are near a Hobby Lobby store, you may want drop by and pick up the newest Copic project sheet they probably have there, featuring Penny Black's Mimi in Paris character and Spellbinders dies: I had so much fun making this coordinating gift bag and greeting card combo -- Mimi and her little dog are so much fun to color! Always being able to find just the right Copic color to match just about any patterned paper color is one thing I adore about my Copics! Plus, you are assured the colors are permanent and won't run if they happen to get wet. You can find the instructions on how to create these projects over on my Copic FAQ & Tutorials page, towards the bottom under Tutorials. I hope you enjoy your long Memorial Day weekend! ~ Sharon Read more →

JustRite May '13 Release

Today is the first day of JustRite's May release inspiration blog hops. The first new stamp set we have to show you is this floral beauty -- Irises Vintage Labels Four: I used it to make this 6" x 5" Mother's Day card: I used JustRite's coordinating Custom Vintage Labels Four Dies to cut the image, after stamping it with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto Neenah Natural White cardstock. These are the Copic Sketch Markers and Atyou Spica Glitter Pens I used to color the image: I found Spellbinders' Labels 28 to be a nice complimentary die shape to the stamp image, so I die cut two coordinating patterns of My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart-Be Amazing 6x6 papers to layer on Copic Foam Tape behind the Iris. To help accentuate the die cut shapes, I used Copic YR23 and BG53 to outline the embossed edges of the patterned papers: I stamped one of the sentiments, "Mom", onto the lower right corner of the card front and added a punched butterfly accent. You can see more samples of this beautiful stamp set today from these JustRite designers: JustRite Inspiration Debbie Olson Kathy Jones Marisa Job Sharon Harnist <=You are here!... Read more →

JustRite April Release Day 1

Happy April, everyone, and welcome to JustRite Papercraft's April release inspiration blog hops this week! Our first stamp set to show you this week is this cling mounted red rubber Floral Thank You: Solid stamps like this are a great tool to create one of my favorite background techniques, Copic Blender Bleaching, like I did on the turquoise background of this 4.75" square card: It's a pretty quick and easy technique -- Start by airbrushing glossy white cardstock with the Copic Sketch marker of your choice. I used BG49: Next, use an alcohol prep wipe as an "ink pad" -- wipe the surface of the stamp and then quickly (before the alcohol has a chance to dry) stamp onto the airbrushed background: In reality, the alcohol will be lifting off the Copic airbrushed color, thus "bleaching" the cardstock. Next, to create the floral focal image, I used Memento Markers to ink the floral spray in this stamp set, using Rose Bud, Bamboo Leaves &Teal Zeal. Then I stamped the image onto one of Inchie Arts new 3-inch white Art Squares: To finish the focal image, I airbrushed Copic YR21 onto the Art Square background. The finished image was matted with... Read more →

JustRite & Faber-Castel Mixed Media Blog Hop 2

Welcome to day two of the JustRite Papercraft and Faber-Castell mixed media 2-day blog hop! Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post, to see more samples from the rest of the design team members and look for the graphics below, for instructions on how to enter for your chance to win some fabulous JustRite and Faber-Castell product giveaways! For today's project, I chose to use Faber-Castell's Gelatos again ... I love their beautiful watercolor quality and wonderful color range! Here's my 8" x 8" altered frame, using JustRite's Grand Damask cling rubber background and clear Grateful Hearts Vintage Labels 2 stamp sets: (Click on any photo for a larger view) Directions: 1. Cut a piece of heavy weight cream cardstock the size of the wood frame (8" x 8"). 2. Spritz the rubber background stamp with water; this helps the Gelatos glide on smoothly. 3. Then color directly on the cling-mounted red rubber stamp with the Gelatos: I used these Gelato colors: Green Tea & Spearmint Cotton Candy & Blueberry 4. Spritz the stamp/Gelatos again with water. 5. Stamp onto ivory heavy weight cream cardstock. Repeat steps 2-4 until cardstock is covered with pattern.... Read more →

JustRite Birthday Blessings Celebration!

Welcome to the last day of JustRite Papercraft's March stamp set release! Today's featured stamp set is this fun Celebration Labels One & Bracket Borders One clear stamp set: It's an all-around great set for just about any celebration you can think of . . . graduation, wedding, birthday, or any kind of congratulatory day -- promotion, new baby / announcement, engagement! I went in the birthday direction: I love the pretty birthday blessings sentiment & font! And isn't that "celebrate" bracket border across the middle that coordinates with Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders One die fabulous? I'm in love!! And I didn't want to cut off one bit of that pretty border, so my finished card size is 6.25" x 4" and will fit into a standard business envelope. That gorgeous flower is from JustRite's new Floral Vintage Labels Two cling stamp set (which debuted Tuesday on the JustRite blog): It was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card and colored with these Copic markers: R81, R83, R85, G21, G24, G28, Y21, E25 & Lemon Atyou Spica Glitter Pen. I hand-trimmed it and popped it up on Copic Foam Tape. And since I just had... Read more →

Gina K February 2013 Release Inspiration Hop-Day 3

The Gina K Designs design team welcomes you to day 3 of our fabulous February release Inspiration Blog Hops … Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! As you hop through the blogs listed below, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a few days after the hops. Our first featured stamp sets today are Lots of Dots by Beth Silaika: And this month’s 1 Free with 3 set, Petite Borders: I combined them both on these two cards, along with Melanie's A Year of Flowers 2 from Monday: For this card, I stamped the cool dotty circles with black ink randomly onto Gina’s Ivory Heavy Base Weight Cardstock and layered it onto a card base of Black Onyx, matted with Turquoise Sea . . . I think this is my new favorite color combination! The Petite Border is difficult to see in the photo above, but below you can see it a little better:... Read more →

Gina K February 2013 Release Inspiration Hop-Day 2

The Gina K Designs design team welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop … Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! As you hop through the blogs listed below, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a few days after the hops. Our first featured set today is The Northwoods, by Theresa Momber: I couldn’t help but go a little masculine and get good and inky with this set! I made this #8 tag: The background was very easy to do – First, I stamped the images with Versamark and clear embossed them. Then I just wiped a few Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads (Tea Dye, Faded Jeans and Peeled Paint) onto my non-stick craft sheet close together, spritzed the ink with water and dipped my #8 manila tag into the inks. Just keep dipping the tag until you achieve the desired look you want: Once the tag dries, buff any ink off the... Read more →

Gina K February 2013 Release Inspiration Hop-Day 1

The Gina K Designs design team welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop … Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! As you hop through the blogs listed below, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a few days after the hops. Our first featured set today is All Occasion Tags 2 by Tami Mayberry: I love these pretty frames – they make such quick and easy cards, like this birthday one: I mixed two of my favorite new Gina K Color Companions Ink Pads, Cherry Red for the frame and Ocean Mist for the sentiment, stamped onto Gina’s Ivory Heavy Base Weight Cardstock. Then I used Copic BG000 to color the outside part of the frame. I used the coordinating Spellbinders Grommet Tags die to cut it out and then popped it up on foam tape. Ocean Mist grosgrain ribbon ties everything together. Our next featured set is A Year of Flowers 2... Read more →

JustRite March Calendar

Hello, friends -- goodness, it's been a long time since I stamped! But I'm back today with my March calendar . . . it uses a brand new stamp set from JustRite Papercraft called Winged Vintage Labels Two & Three. Here's a look at the whole set: It coordinates with JustRite's Custom Dies, Vintage Labels Two and Vintage Labels Three: And Spellbinders Wonderful Wings die set: Here's my 6-inch March calendar I created with all of the above! I'm SO ready for Spring and this set was begging for some pretty bright colors! I stamped the pretty swirly Labels Three frame (the middle size of frames in this set) with Memento Rose Bud ink onto Neenah Natural White cardstock and die cut it with the matching JustRite Custom Die. I love that the center of this stamp is the different shape of JustRite's Labels Two die, so I used that coordinating die to cut the sentiment in the center and popped it up on Copic Foam Tape: I inked the sentiment with Tangelo Memento ink and then colored just the "Love" and "Pleases" with a Rose Bud Memento marker, for a quick and easy duo-colored sentiment. Underneath the sentiment, I... Read more →

JustRite CHA/January Release - Day 4

Today's new JustRite Papercraft stamp set being released is Good Friends Labels Twenty-Nine: It coordinates with Spellbinders brand new Labels Twenty-Nine die set (JustRite is taking pre-orders for this die set, which will ship approximately mid-February): I thought the pretty frame would make a great photo frame for this 8-inch scrap page of my daughters: I stamped the frame with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink onto Neenah Cream cardstock and then colored it with these Copic markers (R22, R24, T5): The frame was die cut with the largest Labels 29 die and the center opening fussy cut by hand. The frame is popped up with Copic Foam Tape over the photo. Copic's Lipstick Atyou Spica Glitter Pen was used for the journaling in the lower right corner: I used one of the flourish stamps from this set to accent the lower right and upper left corners. The flower was made with Spellbinders Peony dies, cut out of red wool felt. The pretty sentiment was stamped with Versamark and white embossed onto black cardstock, then die cut with a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die. These JustRite designers also have projects with this set to share today: JustRite Inspiration Marisa Job Debbie Olson Angela... Read more →