"Heartily Yours" Valentine Box

Tonight I have another cute box that can hold a Valentine treat -- chocolate of course.  My box is made using Nina Brackett's cute stamp set "Heartily Yours" available from Gina K Designs. The box is very simple to make. You need to make the small square box then add Nestability hearts to the top and bottom. You start with one piece of black card stock 4 1/8" square and another piece 4" square. You score all four sides of each piece at 1".   I used ScorTape when putting my box together. I used two different size heart Nestabilities for the top  of the box. A retired piece of SU designer paper was used on the larger heart. The cute image was stamped with black ink and the heart colored with a Copic marker. I used another stamp from this set and used only the bee from that stamp for the top of the box and also for the wrapped chocolate pieces. The top heart was attached with dimensional tape as was the bee. A dotted Swiss bow was added as well as some black pearls to complete it. This box went together very quickly and I think it will be perfect to give something special to someone you want to remember on Valentine's Day.

If you are interested in making this box, you can go to Kim Hughes blog where she has a tutorial for this easy box.  Just click the link here. 

Hope you have enjoyed this little project.  Thanks for stopping by.

Think Love Challenge at TMITA/PCC

Here are two views of the box.

This is my cute gift card created with another one of Nina May's digi images.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  It seems like this month is going by so fast!    It is time for another TMITA/PCC Challenge.  I have been so excited to post my project this week for the challenge.  I made a box plus a gift card to match.  The cute digital image on my box,  from Nina May,  is called "Think Love".  Kim McDonald is the host designer this week and our challenge is to use the "Think Love" image on a treat box/bag/holder of some kind.  I decided to create a box.

My box is created using Kraft card stock and was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The Think Love digi was printed off and colored with Copic markers.  I cut the shape out to fit the font of the box then used a  black marker to add the scribble design on the edges.  Some Martha Stewart leaves were punched and glued in the corner to resemble a tree.  Hope it looks that way to you.  Red lace hearts were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and added to the sides of the box. 

The verse is from a stamp set by Nina Brackett called "Heartily Yours Additions".  This is one of the new stamp sets just released from Gina K Designs.  I created a tag with the verse and attached it to the top of the box with a red brad, which holds the top closed.  A red bow and red heart rhinestones were added to complete the box.

In Nina May's "Paper Cupcakes" store she has another image called "Friends in All Sizes" that I felt was perfect to create a little gift card to go with this gift box. This card is 3.5 inches square.   This is going to be the perfect gift box and card for a  little gift for someone special. 

I'm sure  you will want to join us this week in completing a project using this cute "Think Love" image.  It is free on the There's Magic In The Air with Paper Cupcakes Blog.  When you link your project to Mr. Linky on the TMITA/PCC blog, your name will be in the random drawing to win a free image by Nina May.  Click on the image below to see all the cute designs you will be able to choose from.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  It means a lot to me.

Blast From the Past Challenge Crayon Resist

Hi Everyone.  It is time for another StampTV  Blast From the Past Challenge.  I love hosting these challenges every Friday.  This week I chose Gina K's technique video "Crayon Resist".  Have you ever done this technique?  It is kind of like magic.  My challenge for you this week is to watch Gina's video and create a card using this technique.  You will find all the details in the Challenge info on StampTV.

I used some Basic Grey dp and a piece of white cs that was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder for the background.  A border was created with a Martha Stewart punch. Two small strips of turquoise cs were added to the top of the border.  The image is from Theresa's Purrr-fectly Delightful stamp set, available from Gina K Designs.  The design was then completed using the technique explained on the video. 

I hope you will go over and view this technique video and join in on my challenge here.  Remember if you upload a card into this challenge, you will be eligible to win any Gina K Design stamp set valued up to $24.95. 

Hope Your Day is Purrr-fectly Delightful

Tonight I am posting another card made with Theresa Momber's new "Purrr-fectly Delightful"  stamp set available from Gina K Designs.

This little kittie is so cute sitting in the cup.  I decided to paper piece this design.  The image was stamped on white card stock and again on dp.  The kittie was colored using Copic markers.  The cup was cut out and pieced. The flowers on the saucer were also colored with Copics.  The image was cut out with square Nestabilities.  The scalloped frame is Certainly Celery cs and each scallop was pierced.  The background dp was pulled from my scrap box.  I think it matches the design very well.  The verse was stamped and cut out with a Nestability tag. A small celery pearl was added on each end.  A flower was added to the upper corner then some Flower Soft added to the center of it.  Also a little Flower Soft was  added to the center of the flowers on the saucer.  Three small butterflies were punched and added and three pearls were added to the side  to complete the card. 

Golf Outing

Isn't this the cutest card.  Nina May now has her Paper Cupcakes store open and this is one of the digi images available. My husband is a big golfer so I just had to design a card with this cute image.   Here is the link.  On her home page, under "page navigation", Nina  has a link to sketches  and I thought this one would be perfect for this card. 

The background paper is from Basic Grey.  The other cardstocks are all textured.  I embossed both the turquoise and yellow cs with Cuttlebug embossing folders.  The image was printed off and colored with Copic markers then cut out with Nestabilities.  A ribbon, star buttons, and a punched butterfly were added to complete the card.

I hope you will go over to Paper Cupcakes and check out all the cute images.  If you haven't check out the challenge this week on  theTMITA/PCC blog and downloaded your free digi image, you can click here to join in on the fun.

Tons of Love

Hope you had a great weekend.  It is time again for another TMITA/PCC Challenge.  This cute image is Nina May's "Tons of Love".   Olga Jewell has challenged us to use this cute image and use  red ribbon, buttons, and glitter or something that sparkles!  I hope you will go over to the TMITA/PCC blog and pick up this free digi image and join in on the challenge.  You will have a chance to win one of Nina's  cute cupcake digi images when you participate. All the details are on the TMITA/PCC blog.

My background was embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile Texture embossing folder.  My card is 5.25 inches square so I had to emboss half the card then do the other half.  This is a pretty easy technique to do if you want to make a card larger than the embossing folder.  The image was printed off then colored with Copic markers.  She was cut out with oval Nestabilities.  Some Sizzix hearts were cut out and glitter added.  This cute elephant is trying to show you how much she loves you!   To keep with the challenge, I added some red ribbon across  the top and two red heart buttons on each end.  The verse is from Gina K Designs.  I used markers to color it so I could make the heart red.  Glitter was added to this heart too.

I want to be sure and tell you that Nina has just added a lot of new digi images to her store "Paper Cupcakes".  When you go to the store, you can click on "New Arrivals" to see the new images just added.  I have a few of these new images and have had fun today working with them.  I will post one of the cards later this week.  It is such a fun card.

Hop on over to TMITA/PCC and check out all the other designer's creative cards and pick up this cute digi.

You're Sweet

Hope you are having a good weekend.  Today I am posting a card I made with Theresa Momber's new stamp set "Purrr-fectly Delightful".  Yes, this is the same set that has the cute kitty stamps.  I am so ready for Spring to arrive and have a yard full of flowers.  This stamp set is available from Gina K Designs.

Two pieces of designer paper from the Latte Stack by DCWV were used for the background.  I have been making so many red and white cards it was fun to use different colors, and I love purple so really enjoyed making this card.

A Martha Stewart border was added across the middle of the card.  Two Nestie labels were cut out using different textured card stocks.  The flowers were stamped twice because I wanted to pop the flower on the right.  The image was colored with Copic markers.  The center of the daisies have brown Flower Soft (available from Joan's Gardens) added.  Doesn't that make a realistic looking flower center!  Diamond glaze was added over the water in the vase.  The vase and flowers were attached with dimensionals and the extra flower on the right is also attached with more dimensionals.  The verse was stamped and punched out and some purple rhinestones added to complete the card.  I am sure I will be using this image a lot.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. 

Blast From The Past Nestabilities in Your Cuttlebug Challenge

It is time for another StampTV  Blast From the Past Challenge.  This week my challenge is to watch Gina's videos "Nestabilities in Your Cuttlebug, Parts 1 and 2 then make a card using this technique.  This is a very easy technique that gives your card a lot of dimension.  Be sure to watch both of Gina's videos on how to do this.

This card is made with Rupa Shevde's stamp set "Sung From the Heart" available from Gina K Designs.  I love this umbrella.  We are having a lot of rain in our area.  In fact our yard is flooded.  Think maybe that is why I selected an umbrella to design with!!!!!

It was paper pieced.  Two sets of Nestability mats were cut as shown in Gina's  videos.  The Pink mat was embossed with the Sizzix Finial Press embossing folder then the center was cut out using an Oval Nestability.  It was layered over a piece of dp.  (We are having very gray skies.  The colors do not appear to match in the photo but do on the real card.  Maybe I will win Patty's Blog Candy and will be able to take better pictures, LOL!!!!!!)  The mats were centered in this cutout.  The verse was stamped then each word cut out and matted on black cs.  A  flower was added to complete the card.

I hope you will go over to StampTV and join in on my Blast from the Past challenge.  When you participate, you will be eligible to win a free stamp set from Gina K Designs.  Check out the details here.   

CSS Design Team Inspiration Blog Hop

It's time for another GinaK CenterStage Spotlight Design Team Blog Hop! 

Each artist was asked to design their project by drawing inspiration from these photos of the AMAZING Christmas Cookie Bouquet the CSS Team sent to Gina's DT Coordinator, Jessica Fick: 

The above pictures are of Jessica's children holding the cookie bouquet she received.  My inspiration came from the color, snowmen and snowflakes.  Also since this was a gift, I decided to include a few gifts in my design.  Here is my card.

Earlier this week I posted a "Free Standing Pop-Up Card" and decided this would be a perfect design to use again with this Inspiration Challenge. The stamp set used is "Winter Friends" from Gina K Designs. The base of the card is embossed with the Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder. Some rickrack was attatched along each side with ScorTape. A large Sizzix snowflake was cut and embossed then additional smaller snowflakes were added to the tag.  Aqua rhinestones were added to the center of each snowflake. A Martha Stewart corner punch was used to decorate the corners. A Martha Stewart border was added along the bottom of the tag with dimensionals. I do this to create a ledge to help hold the card open.

The snowpeople and gifts were stamped with Momento black ink, colored with Copic markers then cut out. Small tags were attached to the back of each to create pop-ups and give the card a lot of dimension. The greeting was cut out with Nestabilities and attached to the front panel. I used ScorTape on this project because it is very strong and will keep this card from pulling apart when opened and closed.  This card will fit into an A-2 envelope when closed.

Click on these links to see what the participating Designers have prepared for us tonight:

Jessica Fick,
Betty Neville,
Jen Charboneau,

Joan Ervin,
Vicki Dutcher,
Lori McAree,
Cheri Weston,
Melissa Cash,
Carla Suto,
Giovana Smith,
JenMarie Taylor,
Sue Morris,
Carolina Buchting,
Sharri Seffens,
Brenda Turner,
Kay Simmons,
Peggy Wainman,
Sue Van deVusse,
Shannon Bracken,
Tina Gilliland,
Deb Felts,
Jennie Harper,
Geri Utterback,
Selma Stevenson,
Melissa Shultz,
Linda Payne,
Joy Hadden,
Karen Knegten,
Melanie Muenchinger,
Nina Brackett

Everyone's projects will be added to the StampTV gallery and Idea Center over the next few days. You can search for them by using this tag: cssjf4

I Followed My Heart

Good Morning Everyone.  This morning I made another Valentine I want to share with you.  I have used stamps from two of the new releases from Gina K Designs.  The bird is from Rupa Shevde's new set "Sung From the Heart" and the verse is from Nina Brackett's new set "Heartily Yours". 

I love lots of dimension on Valentine cards and this one really has lots of layers.  I layered a piece of white cs that has corners punched with a Martha Stewart punch onto red card stock.  This piece was also embossed with the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss embossing folder.  The next layers are two Spellbinder "Fleur De Lis" dies that were layered to show eight points instead of four.  Each layer on this card is attached with dimensionals.  The next two layers are scalloped hearts cut with Nestabilities.  The bird (from "Sung from the Heart") was black embossed and cut out then layered on top of the hearts.  The verse from "Heartly Yours" was stamped and also cut out with a scalloped heart Nestie.  Glitter was added on each scallop and the heart in the verse.  Also the heart the bird is carrying has been glittered.  I used red Stickles.  A bow (GKD ribbon) was added to complete the card.

Have you started your valentines yet?  

I appreciate you stopping by for a visit.  Tomorrow evening I will be participating in another StampTV CSS Design Team blog hop.  Be sure to check back. 

Miss Kitty Pop-Up Card

It's time again for another Paper Cupcakes challenge.  This cute Nina May "Miss Kitty" image is FREE this week on the TMITA/PCC blog challenge.  I have been very anxious to post this card.  I love the way it turned out.  I have to admit I was having a problem deciding what type of card to make with this cute image.  It just looks like she is wanting to wish you a big "Happy Valentine's Day" so had to give her lots of dimension.  I decided to make this "Free Standing Pop-Up Card which fits into an A-2 size envelope.  It is a very easy style card to make.  The base of the card is made with a piece of red cs that measures 4.25 x 11 inches.  It was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder.  The tag measures 2.75 x 5.25 inches.  I gave the card a little extra dimension by adding pop-up hearts on the base. 

The digital image was printed then colored with Copic markers.  The white dots were added with an Inkssential's White Opaque Pen.  Some small punched flowers were added to the waist of her skirt.  The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder then cut out with a Nestie.  It was matted onto a piece of red cs.  A red scalloped heart was cut out with Nesties then embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Miss Kitty was attached with dimensionals.  When making this type of card you want the tag to stay up so I added a border under her feet that was attached with dimensional tape.  This created a little "ledge" so it would catch and keep the card open. 

The challenge this week was to use strips someplace on the card.  I decided to add my strips to the front panel of the card then attach the verse, which is from Gina K Designs.  A ribbon (from GKD) was added to the top of the base then additional ribbon added on the top.

Below you can see a side view  and also how the card looks when closed ready to put in an envelope.

                                                             

Have you ever made this type of card? They are so fun it is hard to stop making them.   I will be posting another very different one later this week.

I hope you will join us in the TMITA/PCC challenge using this cute  "Miss Kitty" digital image. Remember she will only be free this week.   Nina's Paper Cupcakes store is now open and you will find lots of other very cute digital images to work with.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog.  Have a great week creating.

Happy Kitty

I was gone last night and didn't get my post  done so will post this morning.  This is a card I made using one of the new releases from Gina K Designs.  This kitty is from Theresa Momber's new set  called "Purrr-fectly Delightful". 

The two white backgrounds were embossed using Cuttlebug embossing folders.  The kitty was stamped using Vivid brown ink and colored with Copic  markers then cut out with Nestabilities.  A Martha Stewart punch was used for the border along the bottom.  The hearts were cut out with sizzix dies and attached with dimensionals.  A strip of dp was added and a white polka dot bow attached to match the background.

How Tweet It Is To Be . . .

Hi everyone.  Have you seen all the new stamp sets, the new STV kit and accessories just released at Gina K Designs?  There are lots of new cards made with these new sets over on StampTV made by the design team.  Today I am posting a card created using one of the new sets illustrated by Nina Brackett  called Heartily Yours.  There are lots of cute images and greetings in this set.  I decided to use these cute love birds.

I started off with a card that opens from the bottom.  The white card stock was cut 4.25 x 11 inches.  I used a heart Nestability to cut an opening in the front of the card.  See card front in the picture on the left.  Next I used a piece of red cs  and cut a scalloped border using Nestabilities and glued it around the opening.  Next I cut three red hearts, with the Nesties,  that were layered in the cutout opening.  On the top one a verse from this set  was black embossed and three pearls added. 

The Love Birds were black embossed on the card front under the heart and the flower colored with Copic markers.  Hearts were stamp above each bird.  A Cuttlebug border was embossed below the birds then a piece of ribbon from GKD was layered across it.  A pearl was added at both ends.  A bow was made and attached at the top of the heart and two Cuttlebug corners added to complete the front of the card.

The picture on the right shows the inside of the card.  The heart is very dimensional because, as I said, there are three hearts each layered with dimensionals.  A red border was created using a Martha Stewart punch.  Some of the small hearts from the punched border were added around the large heart. 

I appreciate you stopping by my blog.  I hope you have a very nice weekend.

Blast From the Past Challenge "Heat Embossing"

Hi Everyone.  It is time for another Blast From the Past Challenge.  This week my challenge is for you to watch Gina's "Heat Embossing" video and create a card using this technique.  I also want you to add at least one heart to your card.  You can read all the details here on StampTV.

My sample challenge card is completed using Gina's  Pure Luxury Ivory and Good As Gold metallic card stock.  I also used Ranger Superfine Gold Embossing Powder, from Gina K Designs, which is a perfect match for the gold cs.  Both the card stock and embossing powder are so beautiful.  The images are from  Vintage Borders and Elegant Post stamp sets.  Both of these sets were designed by NinaB, available from Gina K Designs.

To start this card, I used a cuttlebug embossing folder to create the embossed heart background.  The images were  gold embossed then cut out with heart  Nestabilities.  The  heart border with created with a Martha Stewart punch.  A pretty bow was created using ribbon from GKD.

I hope you will join in on my challenge this week.  Gina K is releasing a lot of new stamp sets today and if you enter a card in this challenge, your name will be entered in a random drawing to win any Gina K stamp set valued up to $24.95.  Good Luck.

Purple Vellum Butterfly

This is a CAS card I made for Jennie's STV Sketch Challenge.  The background is Eggplant Envy card stock that was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The white frame was created using two Martha Stewart punches.  The butterfly is from Gina's "Take Flight" stamp set and was black embossed onto a piece of purple vellum. It was cut out and  mounted on the white frame with a dimensional. The black pearls where added to complete the Sketch Challenge.

Italian Tile Background Challenge

Before I get started talking about this card, I want to thank all friends who sent me such beautiful cards for everything I was celebrating last week.  I cherish every one of them.  Handmade cards are always so special. 

Gina is celebrating her favorite StampTV episode of 2009- Inking a Cuttlebug Folder. 

In her Inspiration Challenge this week, she tells us that everytime she does this technique, it reminds her of rich Italian Tile.  She has posted a picture of a gorgeous fireplace and asks us to create our own Italian Tile using the picture of the fireplace for inspiration.

This is also one of my favorite  techniques so wanted to create a card for her challenge.  The stamp  I used is from Gina's "Owl Always Love You" stamp set.  My background color is Soft Suede.  I used a Memento Dew Drop Desert Sand ink pad to ink up the inside of my Finial Press embossing folder.  A piece of GKD pure luxury ivory heavy base weight cs was used for the embossing. This card stock is thick and really gives you a beautiful impression after being embosssed.  I love how this turned out.

I first stamped the owl image then did the double Cuttlebug embossing technique.  In order to keep the ink off the inside oval, you need to first cut a masking piece (I cut the same size Nestie oval out with a piece of the Eclipse Masking Tape) and place it over the design area.  The image was colored with colored pencils and OMS.  Some very small black pearls were added on the eyes.  I love the fancy Nestability tags.  I stamped the greeting then cut it out and embossed before taking it out of the die. Some self adhesive brads I purchased from Gina K Designs were added to complete my card.

This challenge ends tonight but if you are interested in seeing more about this challenge just click here.

Blast From the Past Challenge

I am still trying to play "catch up". I was out-of-town during the holidays.  I prepared my STV Blast From the Past challenge and Lee posted it for me while I was away.  I forgot to prepare my blog post before leaving, letting you know about this challenge, so thought I would post it today.  This particular challenge is open until Thursday, Jan 7, at 8pm cst. 

 Last Friday my Blast From the Past Challenge was to watch Gina's  video “Ribbon -- Ways to Make Cheater Bows then upload a card using one of the bow techniques shown by Gina.

Here is my sample card for this technique.  The Gina K stamp set I used is Nina's  "Lovely Shelf".  The Navy Blue background was embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile Texture embossing folder.  The white frame was cut out with the Nestie Fleur De Lis  die and a smaller blue square was also cut out with a Nestie.  The tea pot and cup were stamped using Night of Navy ink then both were clear embossed to give the effect of china.  (I rubbed a VersaMark ink pad over the images and used detail clear embossing powder.)They were attached with dimensionals.  The verse is also from this set.  It was stamped with Night of Navy ink and cut out with a Nestie then sponged before removing it from the die.  Each scallop was pierced.  The rose was stamped and colored with Copic markers then cut out and attached with dimensionals.  After completing the card front, the "cheater" bow was added.  Two slots were punched and ribbon inserted.  This type of bow usually is not looped but I wanted a fuller bow so folded back the ends and inserted them back into the slots.  The card front was then attached to a white card.

I hope you will go over and watch Gina's informative video and join in on this challenge.  You will have a chance to win any Gina K Stamp set valued up to $24.95.  

Painted Pony

Seems like I have been gone for so long.  We are back from celebrating our holidays and it is time for the first challenge of the year for TMITA.  Patty gave us a color challenge this week to use with Nina's cute Painted Pony digi image.  This is a free image at the There's Magic in the Air with Paper Cupcakes blog this week.   Hope you will go over and check out all the other designer's blogs then download this cute image and join in on the challenge.  We have two new Design Team Members joining us this month:  Sue Walsh and Patti Gilliam.  The Guest Designer this month is Lisa Foster.

 Painted Pony Color Challenge:

Have you ever had an idea on how you wanted to make a card and it turned out completly different?  Well, that is what happened to me with this one.  Since this was a color challenge I was trying to make this pony very colorful using the color challenge inks but was never satisfied with my painting.  I decided to change gears and just color him with the Dusty Durango ink and highlight certain areas with Suede.  He is not all that colorful, but he is cute.  I used reinkers and a water brush to paint the pony.

I found this cute dp in my stash that was close to dusty durango and crushed curry so decided to use it and mount it on a piece of suede cs.  I still needed to use  always artichoke so cut a long strip of always artichoke cs and used scissors to cut blades of grass for the pony to stand in.   I love the swirls in the dp and thought it would be cute to have the pony playing with some butterflies.  Silly huh, but looks like the pony is having lots of fun!  Since I had butterflies, I had to add some punched flowers.  The butterflies and flowers are punched out of crushed curry cs.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you will go over and download this cute free image and join in on the challenge.

Melanie's Blog Hop "Arranged With Love"

Be sure to scroll down to see my other card in Melanie's Blog Hop.

Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating two years of blogging and illustrating for Gina K Designs, and today she has invited 25 designers and YOU to join the party! First hop through the following designers' blogs using every set she has created since January 2008, from the first to the 25th! Then go to Melanie's' blog to leave a comment for a chance to win a number of different prizes!

This is my second post for Melanie's Blog Hop, this time using "Arranged With Love".   The image was stamped using Memento Black ink and colored using Copic markers.  A Martha Stewart punch was used to create the romantic border on each side.  A bow and pearls were added to complete the card.

So let's get hopping!
Here we go!

Just So Hippy-Charmaine
Just So Hoppy-Donna
What’s in Your Tin 1 & 2-Donna
Hip Hop Accessories-Bee
Jumping for Joy-Barb
Cuddles and Hugs-Jessie
Little Tees-Cat
Just So Sporty-Pam
A Year of Flowers-Theresa
Say it with Flowers-Selma
Have a Cookie-Carolina
Tee Talk-Gabby
Hand in Hand-Ally
The Best Things in Life-Shannon, Sankari
A Charmed Life-Cathy
Wee Tees-Libby, Laura Jean
Arranged with Love-Selma (You are here)
Sporty Accessories-Tina
Inspiration Mosaic-Jennie
School Sports Spirit-Melissa
A Year of Leaves-Geri
Hip to Be Square-Karen
Festive Frame-Linda
Tech Talk- Lee

Finally, Nina and Jessica from the GinaK Senior Design Team have joined in, too! You can also get in on the hop yourself and increase your chances of winning a prize by creating your own project with any one of Melanie's sets and linking it in the Mr. Linky in her post, see full details here. Hope you can join the fun! Enjoy your first hop of the year!