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Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Monday, 13 February 2017

Gina K Designs – February Inspiration Blog Hop – Day 1


Good afternoon! Welcome to another fabulous blog hop celebrating the new stamp release for February by the Gina K designs illustrator team! We hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projects as you hop along to each of the designer’s blogs! Today, we are featuring the stamp sets by Melanie Muenchinger and Theresa Momber.
http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/category.sc?categoryId=16

For my card above I used Melanie's Fabulous Flowers. I stamped the lineart images first in a frame arrangement onto white card stock and then filled in with the solid images, using a rock and roll technique to get two shades of ink on each stamp. I added a little outlining with copics and matted it with Turquoise Sea cardstock, also from Gina K. I love how it turned out.

For my second card for Melanie's set, I tried the Black Magic technique - if you are new to that see Gina's excellent video here. Again I couldn't get away from the floral frame idea.
If you were at the release party the other night, you might have seen this card also using Fabulous Flowers - this time I used only the line images and clear embossed them onto white card stock, before letting loose with the sponges and Gina K Inks.

Now for some cards I made using Theresa's new set, Framescape - Simply Spring.
Theresa's new set features a frame stamp which is designed to fit on a 4.25 by 5.5 inch card, but I wanted to see if I could make it into a square - I like square cards sometimes and it gave me another option for using this set. I did it by inking up one side of the frame to a little under half way and stamping that, and then inking the other side and stamping it slightly over the first impression to complete the square. I found it actually quite easy and was able to eyeball the lining up, but I'll bet if you have a Misti tool or similar you could do this by simply sliding the card across. I then sponged my scene in springy colours - and added a few flowers and some foliage in copic marker. I decided to sponge the cardfront also to reflect the scene. The actual scene is popped up on a black mat.
You don't have to use the complete scene stamp every time either, you can use a snippet of it like I did here - I cut out a window aperture with a craft knife and popped in a slice of the scene behind it. I added a few tulips - also from the set right in front of the 'window' to help the perspective.
Theresa's set comes with a host of little add on stamps, which can be used on their own, I used the two hot air balloon images to make this masculine themed card and gift tag set. This is such a versatile set!

I really hope you have enjoyed the samples, if you have any questions, just pop me a comment here and I will answer you!

It's time to go now and enjoy the gorgeous inspiration samples from the rest of the team - don't forget to comment on each blog for your chance to win a $20 Gina K Designs gift certificate! To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop. Ready for some inspiration? Here are a few of the projects I have created for today’s hop:

Gina K
Melanie Muenchinger - Illustrator for Fabulous Flowers
Theresa Momber - Illustrator for Framescape – Simply Spring
Cathy Tidwell
Chris Dayton
Claire Brennan (you are here)
Donna Idlet
Karen Hightower
Laurie Schmidlin
Sean Fetterman
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Susie Moore


Don’t forget to pop over to the Gina K Designs Store and check out all of the new products available this month in the “What’s New” section at http://www.ginakdesigns.com.
Thank you for stopping by!

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

...lights, camera, action....

https://youtu.be/pyAQEZZHY6A

And so I did it...I leaned how to make videos and I finished one! If you would like to see it, click this link, or the pic above to see it on YouTube! Remember, go easy on me, I'm just getting started!

Wednesday, 25 January 2017

...Let's have Coffee...and a sale at Gina's!


Evening folks, hope all is well where you are. Fancy a coffee? Fancy a bargain (Gina's having a wee sale, deets further down the blog post)

This was a really difficult card to make... it took me all last week just to get through the door of the studio... do you ever have trouble getting going again after a break? I really do. Once I got in there it all came together within about a half hour, which is about how long I always expect to take to make a card, but rarely do...

Anywho, to kickstart my January crafting, since there's less than a week of January left, and people are already talking about summer holidays, I dug out some zingy orange card stock and made a little paper awning to go with my cafe seats stamp from the Petite Patisserie set.

I cut a strip of the paler orange the same with as the white strip of card that my image was stamped on. Then I adhered 4 skinny strips of the darker orange on top of the paler orange and trimmed the ends to look like awning. I stuck the top end to the card base, but popped up the bottom up on several layers of dimensionals so that it sat out from the card and created that overhang. I had already scored a line across the awning about a quarter inch from the end, and so I folded that a little to help the shape along. Then I stamped a 'Caffetteria' sign (from the set) and trimmed it out with scissors and adhered to the fold.


I thought it was simple, yet striking enough to make an interesting card. I hope you like it. I coloured my stamped image with colouring pencils to match the orange cardstocks.

If you haven't seen the Patisserie set, here it is below: it's a nifty set full of sweet things to help you celebrate birthdays etc! Clicking on the image will take you to the set in the store - and that's a good thing because Gina is running a little sale - you can get 15% off right now (offer ends 1/26/17 at 11;59pm - and remember that's USA time!)


http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/searchquick-submit.sc;jsessionid=E3EFD29FB2F9A5DAA34A77477FCC12AD.p3plqscsfapp002?keywords=patisserie

Here is a link to my Pinterest page showing examples of cards made with Petite Patisserie:

https://uk.pinterest.com/wmstamps/petite-patisserie/

Tuesday, 2 August 2016

...Gina K Designs DT Blog Hop, Day 2



Welcome to another fabulous blog hop celebrating the new stamp sets from the July StampTV Release Party! We hope to inspire you with some beautiful card projects as you hop along to each of the designer’s blogs! Today, we are featuring stamp sets by Beth Silaika and little old me, Claire Brennan. I have over 20 photos to show you - so you need to pop off right now and get that mug of coffee/tea - whatever will sustain you through the following inkfest.

Bella Elephant

The first set we are featuring is Bella Elephant by Beth Silaika. Beth has created a super cute set with the sweetest images and matching sentiments to make the perfect card project!


I thought the Bella images would be perfect to decorate some baby blocks - and I made up a little template for the blocks. I am trying to get the template ready to giveaway as a download and I may or may not have that ready by the time this post goes live - watch this space. ED - The template will be available here tomorrow, I'll put up a new post for it, it was too much for today's post! So pop back tomorrow for the free download!

The blocks are made of card and they are hollow, I created mine with room decor in mind, and sealed them shut, but when you make these, you could easily leave them open-able and put little gifts such as baby socks or little washcloths or pacifiers in them.

I stamped Bella and coloured her using copics and then added thin frames and the A, B and C - these should be included in the download so you can replicate what you see here exactly if you wish - it's super simple. I coloured my little elephant yellow and used some patterned papers from the  Sending Love paper pad to create my colour scheme.

I made up a matching card to present along with my blocks. Simple assembly, stamping and colouring, and what a neat set you will have to present to your next mum-to-be.


Next up are my sets, sure hope these tickle!

Petite Patisserie

http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/product.sc?productId=2649&categoryId=16

A brand new set featuring a large store stamp with two 'dressable' windows and all the little bits that you need to dress this up as a cake shop, an ice cream parlour or a cafe, and all with a little European flair. Even teeny curtains! After all, why say 'Cake Shop' when you can say 'Petite Patisserie' lol! I love this set.

This tip sheet shows you how the accessory stamps (in orange) can be used with the main store image (in black) - there's a multitude of options!


This set can go as simple or as fussy as you like - let's start with fussy shall we? This Patisserie features cakes - these could be birthday or even wedding cakes,
depending on your need.


The idea is simple - stamp and colour - but if you look close up, you can see that I have cut out the windows and then added some curtains in behind. I cut out the curtains too, because I wanted the cakes to be 'behind' the curtains - I had such a load of fun with this set. ALL of the lines that you might want to cut are very simple on purpose, there are no awkward lumps or bumps protruding anywhere that you might want to cut! Just simple clean lines. You can achieve a really detailed look with simple trimming. I used a craft knife, it's way easier than scissors for cutting out internal shapes.


Create a Coffee Shop, below - I simply trimmed the windows and added curtains behind and then the tables and chairs behind that. I would love to show you how easy this is and I'm planning a how-to post in the next day or two where I show you the behind the scenes on how to put a card like this together.


You may have seen this Version already, I shared it at the party:



Of course you don't always need to use the full store when you make cards with this set, the smaller images work well with the sentiments also!

So Cool

Something a little simpler now - the So Cool set. Another brand new set!

http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/product.sc?productId=2651&categoryId=16

A super clean, super simple, ice cream and lolly set. A selection of faces is included for folks who enjoy the kawaii look, and indeed these are terrific for adding meaning to your card - take a look at this card below. I stamped some of the small images in two rows and added the sentiment 'you're the coolest ever' together with the word 'dad'. I was able to add the little moustachio-ed face to the orange lolly to reinforce the masculine element.

A super simple, single layer, masculine card, AND you get to use all the bright colours that you sometimes don't associate with 'man cards'! win win!


Or what about this - for the 'coolest ever coach' - reinforce the idea of a 'team' by adding tiny faces to the little triple ice cream cone - I love this so much!

I included some vital words in this set such as 'dad' 'mom' 'nurse' 'doctor' 'teacher' 'friend' 'coach' - these can all be added to the larger sentiments to create specific cards in case you want to make something jolly for the important helpers in your life.


Sweet Thing

 The next set up is Sweet Thing, another brand new set. This is a cupcake builder set and I believe it to be the most versatile cupcake builder set that I have ever seen.

http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/product.sc?productId=2650&categoryId=16

This is what the set looks like (click image to make it bigger), below is a tip sheet that shows examples of what you can create with these stamps.
Here's how the tip sheet works - In the top left is a small image of the stamp set -  you can see that I have put numbers beside the various stamps in the set. On the right hand side and at the bottom I show you how to 'add' these pieces together to create the cupcakes featured. 


On this card below, I stamped the cupcake from the bottom right corner of the tip sheet (I added the little banner as an extra) and you can see what pieces go together to create it. Once you get the hang of this, the combinations are endless. I will be doing a dedicated blog post about this set soon also.

There are a ton of sentiments in this set also - I love this one:

 This is another cupcake combination from the set - there are plenty of options for birthdays, babies, weddings, and any other day that cupcakes are required. The little teddy, angel and rose can all be used on their own also.


When I got to the end of drawing this set I had a wee area of blank space and I hate to waste space! So, I drew up a little apron label type stamp - it has room for you to write your name and it's a little 'from the kitchen of' stamp - I love it, it's perfect for when you bake and you are giving out little informal gifts - like these jars of cookies - they are re-purposed salsa jars containing some homemade spice biscuits, simply dressed with a square of fabric and a little apron stamped tag - perfectly simple, the work of moments!




My Island

My Island is a grungy silhouette style tropical inspired summer set, I brought it with me to Gina's from WMS and I love it. Here are a few samples that long time WMS folks might recall, but other folks may not have seen! You will have seen this set featured in Gina's video at the release party.

http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/product.sc?productId=2647&categoryId=16





It's been a long post, and thanks for sticking with me, I'm going to stop waffling, but if there's anything you need to know, just leave me a comment and I will reply to you - in the comments. I'll be posting lots of How-To's over the next couple of days, so when you have recovered, you might like to pop back! :)

Don't forget to comment on each DT blog for your chance to win a $20 Gina K Designs gift certificate! To see who won, check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hop.

After a small nap and some food, you might be ready for more awesome creations?! Just click on the links below for more from Gina and the Cast&Crew:

Gina K
Beth Silaika - illustrator for Bella Elephant
Claire Brennan (Me!) - illustrator for My Island, Petite Patisserie, So Cool and Sweet Thing
Allie Gower
Cathy Tidwell
Karen Hightower
Kendra Wietstock
Laurie Schmidlin
Melanie Muenchinger
Sean Fetterman
Sheri Gilson
Susie Moore
Theresa Momber

Don’t forget to pop over to the Gina K Designs Store and check out all of the new products available this month in the “What’s New” section at http://www.ginakdesigns.com.

Thank you for stopping by!

Sunday, 14 September 2014

...Welcome to the September Pajama Party!



Hello folks and welcome to our September Pajama Party! So glad you could make it - we have some fun challenges for you tonight and we hope you can play along. If you saw the Invite post you will be familiar with the challenges and you may even have you cards all ready to link up, but don't worry there is plenty of time to play if you are only just joining us - the links will remain open for 24 hours! (this post went live at 11:45pm - UK time on the 14th, so you have 24 hours from then!)

PJ Party Schedule:
The PJ party post and all challenge links are now live since 11:45pm on the 14th Sept - Folks have 24 hours to link up their challenge entries. - The PJ party winner will be announced at 11.45pm on the 15th Sept.

Rules - a little housekeeping!

• You don't have to use Waltzingmouse Stamps to play along,
but it will make us especially happy if you do! 
• You can enter each challenge as many times as you like, using separate cards
and separate links, but you cannot enter any one card in more than one challenge!
• Links should take folks directly to the blog post/spot where we can see/
comment on your challenge entry.
• Please mention our PJ party and challenge on your blog or gallery post
(- you are welcome to grab the PJ logo or sketch graphic and
add those to your blog if you like)
 • You do not need to enter every challenge, but the more entries
you have the better change of winning the prize!

Prizes

We're changing up the format of the prizes a little - we will have one overall winner chosen at random from the 4 challenges. The prize winner will receive £30GBP store credit for Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Now please note - this is important - if the winning entry uses Waltzingmouse brand stamps or dies the prize will be doubled and the winner will get £60GBP (approx $98USD)!

Please note that projects using only free WMS products will not be eligible for the double prize - though you could still qualify for the £30GBP!

OK, now we have the challenges, we have a couple of samples to get you going:


Challenge 1. Doodle Do
Make a project using this technique - stamp an image or 
sentiment and then add some hand doodling!

ideas from the WMS DT - 


from Claire - If you click on the pic it will get bigger and you'll see where I doodled kisses and hugs, (x, o) all over the 'happy' sentiment, the happy cake and candles immediately made me think of the Eat Cake set, and so I pulled that out and stamped the solid cake, I did a little doodling on the cake also, I just used the cake decorating stamp for inspiration! A white gel pen really makes the doodles stand out!


from Julia - click on this pic to make it bigger and you will be able to see how Julia has coloured her leaves using a pen dotting technique - this is super effective and rally gives that rustly old leaf effect, genius Julia! The oak leaf image is from Peace and Plenty and the background was created with the Cabin Plaid Backgounder, this card


Link your  Challenge 1. Doodle Do entries here: 




Challenge 2. Too cute to Spook
Make a project featuring Halloween cuteness - we want to see sweet treats and dinky delectables for Halloween - the sort of thing you might rustle up for the wee folks.

ideas from the WMS DT - 


from Claire - I remember when we launched the folding tag dies, Karin popped a little sewing kit inside for her release sample, and I have been wanting to put things inside those tags ever since, I made a tiny pocket out of vellum and stitched it to the tag, the closing tab on the tag holds it closed even with a few Tic Tacs in there, these tags would be super attached to pencils or other stationery items for a class giveaway. A chalkboard Boo popped up on the front - since these could be class treats I thought chalkboard technique was the one to use!




 from Jeanne - Boo and friends paired with the Opera Tags Stamp set - super combination!


 from Julia - Boo and friends paired with the stitched tag die and Zig Zag 
backgrounder for a little zing.

Link your Too cute to Spook entries here: 




Challenge 3. Old Pajamas
Make a project using any of your older Waltzingmouse Christmas sets - For our samples, we have blown the dust off our Seasonal Flourish sets!

ideas from the WMS DT -
 from Jeanne - Bright Season stamps are a classic match for the Seasonal Flourish sentiments.

from Anya - I love how Anya matched the dainty cups from Afternoon Tea with 
her warm Wishes sentiment from Seasonal Flourish sentiments.
 

 from Julia - classic silver embossing on a blue ground, the crown is from Seasonal Remedies.

 from Tosha - does't that Vintage Christmas Backgrounder look smart in red with 
the black and white, super pepperminty candy fresh!

 from Lynn - stunning silver embossing on the Ornate Ornament stamp, and I think I spy Alpine Christmas snowflakes in the BG...

 from Karin, cosy felt flower with Camellia leaves go beautifully with this lovely flourished sentiment on Karin's card!

Link your Old Pajamas entries here:




Challenge 4. Bedtime Story Sketch
ideas from the WMS DT - 

 from Claire - That Alpine Christmas mountain range die is one of my most favourites! A different texture was added to each mountain range, it works beautifully with the Seasonal Flourish stamps!
 from Jeanne - The Picot panel die is lovely as the centre panel on Jeanne's baby sketch card. 
It could be a boy... :) dainty little images from Vintage Baby Shower, sentiment from Little Darlings sentiments.


from Tosha - Boo and friends on the front of the folding tag, and a mix up of Peek a Boo sentiments and the Great Big Owl inside, a super take on the sketch from Tosha!

from Julia, I love that Julia used the Great Big Owl as the centre panel for the sketch, and look at his eyes glowing, those are amber gems, I think! a great spooky look for Owl!

Link your Bedtime Story Sketch No. 6 entries here:



Good luck ladies - I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!