Day 3

"In friendship's fragrant garden,
There are flowers of every hue.
Each with its own fair beauty
And its gift of joy for you."

When I first met Melanie Muenchinger way back when, she sent me some sketches that I just flipped over. (Actually, I flipped over all of her sketches!) We planned out each month's release and these sets we slated for the holidays.

You have no idea how excited I am to finally be able to release them!

Introducing "A year of flowers" and "Say it with flowers."



I remember one Christmas, I gave my Mom a brand new microwave oven. A really great one too, with all the bells and whistles. I also gave her a small box of hand-stamped cards. She still talks about those cards but she can't even remember who gave her the microwave. Hand-made gifts mean more to people than we realize. I know I treasure things that others make for me.

So, I decided to use these two fabulous sets to show you how to make a quick and easy gift that your friends and neighbors will just love. This makes a great gift for the teacher, daycare provider, co-workers and everyone else on your list.

One of the things that I love about this set of flowers is that there is a flower for every season. So that makes this the most versatile flower set ever.

You can make Easter cards with the tulip and Valentine's cards with the rose. (I didn't use the poinsettia for my project because I am sure you'll be seeing tons of that one from all of us on the design team throughout the month.)

I love these daylilies. I decided to use the crayon resist technique on glossy paper. I used black Stazon Ink.

(If you are not familiar with this technique, click here for a tutorial.)

Daylilies remind me of a warm summer day so I brayered over them with a Big & Juicy pad in bright, vibrant colors. Once the ink dried, I used a Tim Holtz sanding block to distress the edges and scratch up the surface.

 

Here is what's inside this card from Melanie's stamp set "Say it with flowers." I placed the greeting in the lower  right-hand corner which leaves a whole block of the inside available for writing.



Then, I wanted to make a card with an Autumn feel. I used the sunflower and warmer tones. Again, I distressed the surface.



Here is the inside of this card.



I wanted one card to have a more quiet feel in case the recipient needed a sympathy or other type of more serious card so I used darker colors with my brayer.



Here is the inside of this card.



Once I was finished my three cards, I placed them, along with three envelopes, in one of our new clear boxes that we will be releasing on Thursday night. These come in packs of 10 with clear seals for both ends.

They are available in three different sizes. One holds up to 8-10 cards with envelopes, one holds 3-6 cards with envelopes and one holds 1-3 cards with envelopes.

(I know a lot of you sell cards on ebay and etsy or at craft fairs. These ultra thin clear boxes are a great way to sell and ship more expensive single cards. It keeps dirt and dust off of them and protects them in shipping.)

I made a belly band to go around the box and I stamped a greeting from "Say it with flowers" for the front of the box.



I had so much fun making this and it only takes a short amount of time to complete.

Aren't these flowers a dream come true? And the greeting set will work perfectly with
other flower sets you already have in your collection.

So let's talk about storage solutions!

Introducing Store More Stamps by Little Monkeys
This is a fabulous way to store all your unmounted stamps in one convenient place.


*The following information was taken from the Little Monkey's website:

"The store more stamps Starter System includes six sleeves with inserts, everything you need to get started storing your stamps. The sleeves hold at least one set of stamps, with the option to add another insert to hold more stamps facing front and back. 8" x 8" coated inserts hold clear and unmounted/cling-mounted stamps. You can also slip in full sets of clear stamps using the plastic sheets provided by the manufacturer, one per side using the insert as a divider. Each starter system also includes a sample of the static cling sheets, which are used to mount rubber stamps to use the acrylic block system for stamping. Stamps mounted on static cling also can be stored on the inserts. Our goal in setting up the starter system is to be sure the system is incredibly versatile and accommodating for all levels of stampers/stamp collectors.
Box dimensions: 9" x 3.25" x 5"."

We will also be carrying extra inserts and sleeves. The starter set and refills comes in two colors, "Green" and the limited "Indian summer." 

Clear boxes for storage!

I have a few stamp sets that were given to me by some of my "besties in the biz" and I just love them. I have started storing them in clear boxes as well. The thinnest clear boxes (1/4 wide") will fit one small set of clear stamps. (It's pretty cool.) That box is not shown here. Shown below are some of my unmounted and clear stamps and how they look when stored in clear boxes. 



Ask and you shall receive!

Introducing Gina K. Designs DVD tins

We've had so many requests for DVD size tins for storage and for embellishing. Well, we finally found them and they will be released on Thursday night!

I stored "The Magic of Christmas" stamp set in this tin. First, I cut down my insert and taped it to the front of my tin. (I blurred out the images because it's not time to see the whole thing in print yet! LOL)




You can see how nicely the entire stamp set fits inside. These tins will be available for $2.99 or 4 for $10.00. They make beautiful gifts too. You can fill them with writing paper, greeting cards, photos, recipes and so much more! I will be doing some samples of that coming up in the future.



We actually have a couple more new things that will be released on Thursday night including our brand new Bling & Dazzle Sateen Flowers in white and ivory. You can color these flowers with copics and they maintain their shine. We also have new self-adhesive rhinestones, Niji water brushes, VersaMark pads for embossing and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

The best way to see it all is to click on the what's new button on our website and everything new that we've added will appear.

So, Don't you just LOVE Melanie's two new sets?
Would you like to win a pair?
Leave a comment here and I will randomly pick a winner who will win these two sets! (You have to have them both together! LOL!)
I will announce the winner later.

And you know what tonight is, don't you?
It's our release party in our forum! If you've never been to a Gina K. Designs release party, make sure you read this post. It will help you with everything you need to know. It's super fun and they'll be sneak peeks, give aways and so much more!
.  .  .  .  .
We have two winners from yesterday's preview.

Congratulations to the winner of "Winter Foliage."

Linda wrote:
Gina
Does your brain ever get a rest! What an awesome idea for the glazed brads. WOW! I love the Christmas Blessings church. What a neat card. Also the Winter Foliage. I love anything with leaves.
Thank you for giving us a chance to win.
I have my fingers crossed.
God Bless

Congratulations to the winner of "Christmas Blessings."

Nellie wrote:
I sure could make nice cards with that lovely church stamp. Thanks for the chance. Nellie

Congrats Ladies! Send your snail mail addresses to info@ginakdesigns.com and we'll get those right out to you!
.  .  .  .  .

Would you like some more inspiration?
Check out what our design team has done with Melanie's beautiful flower sets!

* Carolyn King
* Cathy Tidwell
* Emily Giovanni
* Erika Martin
* Jessica Fick
* Lee Murphy
* Melanie Muenchinger

Tonight's the big night! I better go do my hair!
Have a great day and see you later!
Hugs,
Gina K.
Posted by Gina K at 10/1/2008 8:21 PM
Categories: uncategorized
 

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