Carolina's Creative Pad

Gina K. Designs March Inspiration Hop Day 4: Believe In Yourself and Great Sayings

 
Happy Wednesday! 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 deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!!

We're concluding these series of inspiration hops with two more sets - Believe in Yourself Stamp Set Duo and Great Sayings.

First up is a card with Believe in Yourself Stamp Set Duo.

Here's how it came together:

1. Create a side-folding standard size card.
2. Cut a 2" x 2-3/4" rectangle out of patterned paper which came from GKD Patterned Paper Pack - Parisian Garden and adhere to a 1/8" bigger piece of card stock. Adhere it to the bottom right corner.
3. Stamp the sentiment onto a 3-1/8" x 1-1/8" piece of card stock with purple ink, adhere a strip of patterned paper, a flower on top of that, and then adhere it all to the card front with some pop dots.
4. Stamp the butterfly at an angle with purple ink. Color it in with green and adhere rhinestones on the antennae.
5. Add a photo corner on the upper right corner and finish the card off with a flower on the photo corner.

Stamps: Gina K. Designs: Believe in Yourself Stamp Set Duo
Paper: Gina K. Designs: Pure Luxury Lovely Lavender and White card stock; Gina K. Designs Patterned Paper: Parisian Gardens
Ink:  SU! Perfect Plum ink
Accessories: Copics, Rhienstones; Photo Corner Punch; Flowers

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Next up is a card with Great Sayings.

This set has so many great sayings and wanted to make sure I made it the focus. Another thing to note here, is the use of the flower image. As you will notice the image itself is quite long. I wanted to just highlight the flowers and did so by punching them out and using it for the center of the bow. Here's how the card came together.

1. Create a top-folding standard size card out of Ivory card stock.
2. Stamp the sentiment on the bottom right corner with brown ink.
3. Tie a piece of ribbon around the middle and set it aside.
4. Ink the flower image with brown ink and punch it out. Add some liquid white pearls to the middle of each of the flowers and when dry, add it to the middle of the knot. With that, you are done!

Stamps: Gina K. Designs: Great Sayings
Paper: Gina K. Designs: Pure Luxury Ivory card stock
Ink:  Coffee Bean Brilliance Ink
Accessories: Ribbon; Martha Stewart Scallop Circle Punch; Liquid Pearls

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Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration: 

• Gina K
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tea Bag Folding Through the Seasons™ - Review & Give Away!!!

Happy Monday! Hope you had a nice weekend. I'm excited to kick off the week with a review of Tea Bag Folding Through the Seasons™, one of the newest books from Annie's Attic. I'll start off by reviewing it, then I'll share a card I put together that incorporates one of the folds from this book, and then finish this post off with details on how you can win your very own copy of this book plus the card I'm sharing with you today!!! Huge thanks to DRG Publishing for their generosity!

Here's a photo of the front cover of the book. 

Isn't it beautiful? Sharon M. Reinhart is extremely talented and in this book she not only shares some amazing folds, but shows you step-by-step on how you can make them yourself - love that! If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you are already aware of how much I love to think outside of the box when it comes to paper crafting and to me, this book did just that. Pieces of paper became works of art and trust me, I will have a very hard time throwing scraps away again!

This 48 page book is divided into seasons; however, Sharon points out how easy it is to take a spring card featuring a certain season and turn it into a fall card, just by changing the sentiment and color of paper you use. The projects are beautifully photographed, each fold has step-by-step diagrams, and through out Sharon shares tips she refers to as "Project Notes" and conveniently placed them at the beginning of each project.

The book begins with an introduction to Tea-bag folding. This section turned out to not only be educational but prepared me with a list of items I needed to make the floral medallion I used on my card (see below). Then next section is an introduction to basic folds. Here you'll find step-by-step instructions and photographs of each basic fold. This section is very important and it is the perfect way to get started on tea-bag folding. Sharon refers to this section in every project, so you'll become quite familiar with it.

The next 40 or so pages you'll find projects. For each project you will find a list of sources; a list of materials; instructions on how reproduce the card and the tea-bag fold featured on the card or tag; and step-by-step diagrams are included so you can follow along as you create your version of the tea-bag fold.

The last page in the book is Buyer's Guide...which I always find so handy! As I mentioned above, I decided to try out one of the folds and decided to make the floral medallion fold. Here is what my card looks like.

Here's a side view of the floral medallion.

I'm also participating in StampTV's Mix it Up Monday (STVMONJW1) challenge which is to use flowers as the main focal point. I thought the floral medallion was the perfect way to make my flower pop. I used double sided patterned paper to create the floral medallion and love the fact that a bit of blue peeks out on the sides. Here are the steps I used to put the card together.

1. Cut out a 3-3/4" x 4" piece of patterned paper, use the border punch on both 4" sides, and adhere it to the card front of a 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" card base. 
2. Stamp Birthday Wishes from Gina K. Designs Garden Silhouettes set towards the bottom of the patterned paper and set it aside.
3. Using a complimentary piece of patterned paper, create floral medallion by following instructions found on page 8 in the Tea Bag Folding Through the Seasons™ and adhere it to the middle of patterned paper.
4. Add a flower in the middle of floral medallion.
5. Add pearl flourishes under the floral medallion and with that, you are done! 

Stamps: Gina K. Designs: Garden Silhouettes
Paper: Gina K. Designs: Pure Luxury White Card Stock; My Mind's Eye: Good Day Sunshine (Up Town paper)
Ink: Memento Rose Bud and Tuxedo Black Ink
Accessories:ZVA Pearl Flourishes, Spellbinders: Labels One; Prima Marketing Flower

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 As I mentioned above, I'm giving away a copy of this book to one lucky reader as well as the card I created here. All you need to do is leave me a comment telling me what you love about paper crafting books - what section, what subject, etc. You have until Thursday, May 19th, 11:59 pm (CST). I will post the winner's name on my Friday's post and will also share another fun fold from this book. Good luck to all!

Don't miss out on adding this book to your craft library. You can purchase a copy now over at Annie's Attic, you can get it in print as well as a PDF download. Don't miss out, get your copy today.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Life Is Sew Sweet!

Happy Monday and May 3rd! We're in May already...wow, can't believe how fast this year is moving along. We had some unexpected things come up this weekend so I apologize my lack of posting. I do however have a fun little gift set to share with you, but first thing first. The winner of my Verve Blog Candy is Tammy Howell, please email me, caffeinegirl13@gmail.com with your address so I can get your goodies out to you. Now onto today's post.

As most of you know, the Unity Website has been having issues and it's made ordering a bit confusing for some of you. Angela and the rest of the team have been working crazy mad to try to get it back to normal. As of Sunday night, it still wasn't quite there, but from the bottom of their hearts they thank you and appreciate your patience.

I have been having a blast designing for Unity and have been blessed with the opportunity to see a bit of what goes on behind the scenes...all I can say is WOW! All the things that go on, the preparations, the planning, the team work...well I'm just floored. The word UNITY is quite fitting for this company and the group of amazing people that work to make it what it is. I'm glad I've been able to be a part of it for a month and looking forward to May.

I also wanted to thank all of you for your sweet comments you've left on my Unity posts and for the warm welcome you extended from the day I was announced as a guest designer.  To show my appreciation, I'd love to give the following gift set to one of you.

Here's a photo of just the box.

And a photo of just the cards.

All the images and sentiment are from one of the newly released Cosmo Cricket/Unity line of stamps. The set I'm using here is called Material Girl. The size of the note cards are 3"x3" and all fit into the adorable little box. Inside you will also find some envelopes to go with it. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop paper pad. I added some sewing to each of the note cards as well as to the box cover. On the spools, after I colored and cut them out, I added some embroidery floss before adhering them to the card front.

As I said above I'd love to give this set to one of you. Leave me a comment telling me one thing that is sweet in your life right now. In other words, what is one of your blessings that you are grateful for today. I have many, with first and foremost my family; but I also have the amazing opportunity to share what I love with all of you and with every project I post, I hope I inspire you to create.

Now, what about you? You can leave me a comment here or over at the Unity Blog  later on today. I will announce the winner on my blog's Hip Hop post this Thursday, May 6th!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Anything But a Card Tuesday: A Zero Calorie Candy - Card Candy with some Blog Candy!

Hello! I wanted to start today's post with a moment of reflection. Two days ago Shannan Teubner lost her husband. This devastating loss came to her and her boys suddenly and without any warning. Shannan and I have never met in person, but have communicated online...such a beautiful person all around. Please keep her and her boys in your thoughts and prayers.  

I've been keeping a gratitude journal, the original journal/book was a gift from my brother 15+ years ago, and every night I take a moment to jot down some things that are top of mind for me or just things that I need to just unload. No matter how good or bad my day might have been, I always end up by listing the five things I am most grateful for:

1. My Husband/Our Marriage (after 22 years together and 16 of those married, there's no way to separate the two)
2. My Family
3. Our Health
4. My Friends
5. My Creativity

I've noticed that over the years the order might change a bit, but these five things have always been my top five. So I ask you to take time today to reflect what is important to you; hug or call your loved ones and let them know what they mean to you; and be good to yourself so that you can be there for others.

Okay, that concludes today's personal ramblings...thanks for indulging me. Now onto this week's  Anything But a Card Tuesday Challenge over at StampTV. This week, I'm challenging you to make some zero calorie candy...card candy that is! Here's a photo of what I came up with...first a photo of the petal card closed.

 

Here it is opened.

If you've never heard of card candy, let me take a minute to explain what it is. Card Candy is a kit of embellishments, typically no less than four, you put together that are ready to add to a card or project.   All items then get attached with dimensionals, pop-up dots, or glue dots to a piece of acetate or plastic sheet. This sheet is then placed in a clear bag sealed with a decorated bag topper.

As you noticed above I decided to put the embellishments into a petal card. I wanted to try a different packaging, but below I will show you what it looks like in a typical holder. The petal card I cut out using an AccuCut Die and a sheet of from My Mind's Eye's Abbey Road paper. I then put it aside to work on the embellishments.

For the embellishments and bag topper, I'm using one of my favorite Gina K. Designs set - Square Pegs designed by Melanie Muenchinger along with the newest StampTV Kit, Organize It. Not only am I using this set because I love it so, but because it's part of my blog candy I'm offering today! I decided to stick to a birthday theme for this one but you can always make it for generic cards or even for a mix of holidays and events.

Here's a photo of the card candy in a typical holder.

 

Stamps: Gina K. Designs: Square Pegs by Melanie Muenchinger; StampTV Organize Kit
Paper: Pure Luxury Ivory Card Stock; My Mind's Eye's Abbey Road and BeLoved
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Vivid Ink - Raspberry & Tea Rose; Certainly Celery Classic Ink
Accessories:Petal Die; AccuCut; Ric-Rac; Ribbon; Halfback Pearls; Paper clip; Crimper; Flowers; Small, Large and Scallop Oval Punches; Hemp; Pink Satin Ribbon; Button;

Now, are you ready for the blog candy? This is what you'll get:

~A brand New Square Pegs set valued at $23.95

AND

~The card candy kit I put together for this challenge.

I will enter your name into the drawing every time you do one of the following:

1) Make your own card candy and post a link here and don't forget to post it over at StampTV for  a chance to win a Gina K set valued at $24.95.

2) Use a Gina K. Designs set

3) Use a Gina K. Designs set designed by Melanie Muenchinger

3) Post a link to this post on your blog or whatever gallery you post your project.

This means your name can go into the drawing up to four times! You have until Monday, February 15th by 8 pm PST...GOOD LUCK!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!