Happy 4th of July!

Hello All! 

I hope you are having a wonderful day with friends, family & loved ones!

We don't have any plans for the weekend, other than my boy's 4th birthday party on Saturday.

Here is my contribution to the MelJen's challenge this week.

I hope you are inspired to join us over here!

I used Army Bear for this card.

I completed the inside as well ..

Happy Crafting my friends!

Pretty In Pink

Join us for a Pretty in Pink Challenge over at MelJen's Challenge Blog this week!

I used A Girl and Her Kitty Image and colored her two ways, but kept the same layout, papers and color theme for both cards.

Hope to see you there!

Stay Crafty My Friends!

A Fancy Fold First for Me!!

Hello There Fellow Crafters! 

It's my DT Day and for your viewing pleasure and hopefully inspiration, 

I have created a Tri-Fold Shutter Card for you

featuring Bumble Bear Smile!

This card was completely inspired by 

Bets Kondrot's card she posted to the MelJen's Club on facebook. 

I'll be honest, I've never done a fancy fold card before. I've steered clear for a number of reasons, but when I saw her fancy fold, I thought I just had to give it a try! 

I hit a few speed bumps in my creation. The one I hit repeatedly was my cutting. 

I was mismeasuring some of the spaces and had to recut and recut. LOL! But aside from that, I had fun! I will be posting a tutorial on how I made this card next month, so watch out for it!

Thanks for visiting & stay crafty my friends!

Gina

Bling It Up with MelJen's!

It's time for another Challenge over at MelJen's! Wanna get in on it? Just Bling up your favorite MelJen's Design Image and link up with us on the Challenge Blog!

I used Lazy Susan Buggies and blinged them up with my Stardust Pen & a couple rhinestones. DP is from Echo Park 6x6 "a walk in the park" pad and the sentiment is from Amy R over at All That Scraps!

I'll be entering this lovely into the following Challenges:
CMC Challenge Anything Goes.
Aud Sentiments - "friend"
Delightful Challenges - Celebrate Friendship

See you over in the Challenge Section!

Happy Crafting My Friends!

Riley's Birthday Wishes!

So it's been a while since I've entered into any challenges and I thought with the current inspiration going on at some of my favorite blogs I should enter! Along with that I participated in a Card Swap with fellow Paper Divas on FaceBook, so this all worked out... cards for a swap and a challenge or two!

Here's my step by step as I created these cards...

I will be entering this card into the following challenges:

Riley & Co - Kraft Challenge

RCC #81 - Celebrations

CMC - Anything Goes!

MarkerPop - Party Time

Wish me luck my friends! Happy Crafting!

Shamrocks and a Challenge!

Join us over at MelJen's Blog for a Sham-Rockin' good time!!

Remember to use a MelJen's Image & be sure to put some green on it!!

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Crafting my friends!

Making a Valentine's Treat Holder

Helloooo Crafting Friends! 

Today is my Design Team Member day & I thought I'd share a how-to with you!  

I made these super Cute Valentine's for my girls and they were a hit with the 1st and 5th grades! You could make them for any holiday or occasion all you need to do is change the paper to fit your theme.. and of course, choose the right MelJen's image!! 

Here they are....

 

I started by cutting a piece of card stock at 4.25" & 5.5"

Then flip the card stock over, along one 4.25" side, I ran a strip of adhesive (1). Then along the bottom of the page 3/4 of the length of the paper (3). Finally along the top I run a 2.5" strip of adhesive right along the middle (2). I know the adhesive is hard to see, but looking at this picture, imagine the adhesive making a backwards L, then the strip across the top. I added the numbers for you during the folding process. 

(My actual treat holders didn't have the numbers. The other option would be to run a strip of adhesive completely across the top as you do along the bottom, but I hate wasting adhesive, so I don't do that.) 

 Step 3 is to roll the paper like a toilet paper roll... you're going to attach the two short sides (1).

Then pinch together the short strip along the top (2)... when you are pinching, look at it to be sure your adhesive is centered. If you pinch in the wrong place you will be pinching adhesive with adhesive and half of the tube won't have anything to stick to.

 Next, turn your tube over and put your candies inside. For my 1st grader I used M&M's. For my 5th grader I used Reeses Heart shaped Candies.

 Once your candy is inside, pinch the other end closed. Pinch it opposite of the first end. Your adhesive (since it is 3/4 of the page) will seal the entire end if you are pinching it correctly.

Finally, run one end through your crimper about 1/2 an inch, then the other end.

Your final treat holder will look like a sour cream package, attach your favorite MelJen's Valentine image and your treats are done!

I made 40 of these in one day. They are quick & easy!

Happy Crafting!

Hugs,

Gina

Riley's Sweet Friend

With Valentine's approaching, I should've been working on Valentine's cards, 

but of course I wait til the week before!! 

Well, for today's creation I went back in time to my very first experience with cling stamps -  

Riley & Co. 

I love, love, love Riley!! 

So for this card I used Heart Riley and colored him using my Copics. I used Versafine ink to stamp the word "kisses" inside the heart from my mimi & miles set. I die cut the image using my oval & scalloped oval dies. I stamped the sentiment on the front using Amy R's set & SU! punches for them. My ribbon is from The Paper Temptress & I attached 3 square brads to keep it simple and masculine while still adding a little something.

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:

Riley & Co - Show some love using non-traditional Valentine's colors

CCC - #61 Love is in the Air

Catered Crop - Polka Dots
RCC77 - Love is in the Air

Here's the close up and the inside...

Wish me luck & don't forget to follow my blog! The more, the merrier!

Mimi's Sunshine

Hello my crafty friends!

I am on a roll.. two cards in just a couple days and *Challenges*!!

Yep! That's right, I am entering challenges. I am so excited. Stella is getting her groove back. It's been a while since I've been motivated to work on challenge entries, but since I've gotten going again, it's so much fun.

So a couple weeks ago, I was looking at my side bar and was seeing all these "I made top 3" blinkies and thought, "You know, I should check in with those blogs and see how the challenges are going." I was so disappointed to see that a few of them have shut down. 
I removed my blinkies and then thought, 
"darn it! I should've saved those. They were fun groups."  

Ah well.. here I go to earn new ones! :)

This image is from the Mimi & Miles set.  

I colored her with & used my Copics to add texture to the grass.

The sentiment is from Amy R's Be Happy set.

The paper is from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Madison Avenue.

My ribbon is Silver Organza from The Paper Temptress.

I will be entering this card into the following challenges:

CCC - #60 Springtime 

7 Kids - Hexagons

MarkerPop! - #16 Texturizing

Cupcake Inspirations - #196 Kraft, Cream & Rose 

Wish me luck! :D

Thanks for visiting! 

Have a great week & be sure to follow my blog.. the more the merrier!

Snowy Greetings

A Snowy Greeting!

It has been a while since I've participated in a Challenge, but I was inspired by the Challenge at Cupcake Inspirations and decided to ink up some rubber for the first time that I've had for over a year!

The image and sentiment are from CC Designs.

I'll be entering the following challenges:

#95 - Cupcake Insprations - Snowmen 

Thanks for visiting!!

A Bookmark for DT Day!

Hello Fellow Crafters!

Today, over on MelJen's Challenge Blog,  I get to share with you something I've made that is "anything but a card"! 

One of my favorite things to collect are bookmarks. I love them. Bookmarks with quotes, prayers, pictures, any kind of bookmarks. So I decided to share with you a sweet bookmark I've made. I've kept it simple, using two patterned papers for the background and a friendly little sentiment I stamped in Memento Ink on to a scrap I had. I punched it out using the scalloped circle punch from Stampin' Up! I used Apple for Teacher and colored it using my Copics, fussy cut it, then popped it up using foam adhesives.

I hope I inspired you to get crafty! Be sure to swing by MJD Challenge Blog for more "anything but a card" inspiration from the other DT Members!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

~Gina

White Out Challenge & New Release

Howdy Crafty Friends! 

Just popping in a post to share with you the newest Challenge over at MelJen's and a New Release!

This week's Challenge is White Out! With the exception of the colored image and sentiment, the card & materials should be white! It's certainly a challenge for me because I enjoy using different paper and many colors! :) 

Here's my creation to inspire you using Sweet Little Fox!

I colored him using my Prisma Colored Pencils and used my Cuttlebug to emboss the backgrounds and die cut my image. All my paper and the "for you" sentiment is by Gina K Designs. I used VersaFine ink for the sentiment.

Remember with MelJen's weekly challenge, you must use one of her images. Be sure to check out her freebies and $1 digi's  to get you started, but keep in mind, winners receive free images - no reason not to play along! Who doesn't love prizes?!

On to the New Release!

You can find these lovelies in the shop now!

And don't forget.. everything is ON SALE this week!!

Happy Crafting my friends! 

A New Year & a Sale!

Hey there, hi there, ho there!! 

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Between Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years I've been running like crazy! I am ready to settle down now and get back into routine. I think napping will be part of my new routine! *wink*

So every year in my town I coordinate a Holiday Craft & Vendor show. This year was by far the biggest.. with 35 vendors! I spent $700 in advertising alone and I hope everyone did well! It was super stressful. I was pretty much MIA from October through December. I always had something on my mind, but it was a fun day overall and it's been a learning experience. This was our 3rd year. 

It all started 4 years ago. My girlfriend and I were chatting and thought it would be nice to have a craft show in our own town, after all, living where we do in rural North Dakota, we're always driving to go to shows. We put our thinking caps on and committed ourselves to it. The first year was a flop. lol!! 9 vendors and maybe 25 guests haha!! The 2nd year, my girlfriend backed out and I took the reigns. The show did really well. We had 23 vendors and about 300 people total come through. This year I handled all the details on my own again and it was pretty good. 35 vendors and I wasn't able to keep track of the guests, but almost a constant flow until the last hour or so. Plus this was out first year with Road Signs!! I think those made a difference. We had people coming in off the highway to visit, which was great advertising. It was fun, although stressful, but I look forward to this year's show!

 

 In Other News....

  Melissa has started a sale at MelJen's!! It will run for the entire month of January and is good on all digi's in the shop! Be sure to check back every Friday for our new releases!

January - now through the 31st, the entire shop is on sale 20% off. No code needed. Also, every order of $10 or more is entered to win a $50 gift certificate code to my shop. 1 random winner will be chosen & announced on Feb 1st. Multiple orders are good for multiple entries. :-)

  

Shop MelJen's Now! 

Until Next Post, take care my crafty Friends!!