Close to My Heart April 2019 SOTM Love so Sweet

Here are two cards made with the CTMH April 2019 Stamp Set, Love so Sweet. I absolutely love this set. 

Gina K. Designs March Challenge

So, being a Last Minute Larry got me today!  I planned to enter these two cards in the Gina K. March Challenge, but I think I missed the deadline.  That's ok, it was fun to make these cards.  The snow is finally starting to melt here and I'm really excited to see colors besides white, gray, and brown.

Supplies:
Gina K. Ink:  Sweet Mango, Turquoise Sea, Dusty Rose Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green, Black Amalgam
Other Ink:  Versafine Black,
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White 110 lb., GKD Black Onyx
Gina K. Stamp Sets:  Watercolor Flowers
Other items:  foam dots, tape runner, Zig Clean Color Brush Yellow

Gina K. Designs March Challenge

Gina K. Designs March Challenge

Used up the Scraps and Made More February Challenge Cards for Gina K. Designs

Gina K. Designs February Challenge

Gina K. Designs February Challenge

After making some cards for the February Challenge, I had some scraps left over.  These cards were super quick to make!  I ended up using all of the images I had cut out.  For the background I used some black/white washi tape.

Supplies:
Gina K. Ink:  Coral Reef, Peach Bellini, Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green
Other Ink:  Versafine Black,
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White 80 lb., GKD Coral Reef
Gina K. Stamp Sets:  Lovely Words, Sentimental Bouquet
Other items:  foam dots, black/white washi tape, heart dies, tape runner

Gina K. Designs February Challenge Entries

The theme for the February Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to use the Pantone Color of the Year = Living Coral.  Also the challenge requires something stamped inside and to show a peek.  I had a rough time getting pictures of the front and the inside!

Supplies:
Gina K. Ink:  Coral Reef, Peach Bellini, Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green
Other Ink:  Versafine Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White 80 lb., GKD Black Onyx
Gina K. Stamp Sets:  Lovely Words, Massive Messages, Sentimental Bouquet, Lettered and Lovely
Other items:  foam dots, black/white washi tape, heart dies, tape runner

Gina K. Designs February Challenge Entries

Gina K. Designs February Challenge Entries

Gina K. Designs February Challenge Entries

Gina K. Designs February Challenge Entries

New Cards Created with Gina K. Designs Today and Always and Massive Messages Stamp Sets

Gina K. Stamp Sets Today and Always and Massive Messages

This weekend I finally got a chance to make some cards.  It's been a crazy February here in Northern Wisconsin....Polar Vortex, Snow, More Snow, and today a Blizzard Warning.  The good news is that spring will come eventually. I enjoy winter when it's not below zero, but right now I'm ready for a change.  These colors make me happy!

Card Supplies:

Gina K. Inks:  Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green, Sweet Corn, Tomato Soup, Blue Lagoon

Additional Ink:  Black Versafine for the greetings

Gina K. Stamp Sets:  Today and Always and Massive Messages

Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White 80 lb. and Gina K. Black Onyx

Other items:  tape runner, foam dots, Brother Scan n' Cut, clear enamel dots

Gina K. Designs Mini Ink Cube Storage Solution

Gina K. ink cubes in clear plastic clamshell stamp cases

Recently I have started to think about how much crafting "stuff" I really need. Like others,  I spend so much time organizing and moving stuff around in my craft room that I don't really get to create.  So, I'm downsizing and keeping essential crafting items and stamp sets that I really love (and sets that are versatile).  The inks I have decided to keep are Gina K. Designs, Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, and a few Altenew sets.  I'm also keeping the essential pads like Versafine, Memento, Versamark, etc.

At first I was storing the ink cubes in the Tim Holtz storage tins.  They are cute, functional, and pretty inexpensive.  Even though these are small ink cubes, I felt like they were still taking up too much space in the tins.  Then, I tried putting them in some plastic stamp cases I had from some old wood mounted stamps I had unmounted.  I was excited to see that 24 ink cubes fit perfectly!  I like how I only have two containers for all the cubes instead of four of the Tim Holtz tins.  It's easier for me to grab these and get the colors I need.

The downside is that it's a bit of a challenge to keep them in "order" if that something that's important to you.  It doesn't bother me of they shift around a bit when I pull colors out.  I was thinking I could take some cardstock and make a "map" for the bottom of the case with the inks listed in the order I would like to keep them.  For now, I'm just happy all the colors are together in two cases.  I chose to get the ink cubes instead of the full size pads because they take up less space and I find them easy to use with my stamping platforms.

Getting Organized and Ink Swatches

Gina K. Ink Swatches

A long time ago, in the 1990's when I still had remnants of big hair, I fell in love with stamping.  I was all in for quite a while (about 10-12 years) until I started a family.  Then, my stamp room was taken over by little people.  Now, they are growing up and I have "reclaimed" my craft area.  I'm starting to inventory what I have and what I "need" to purchase/replace.  Some significant changes have occurred while I was away including stamp platforms, wafer thin dies, clear stamps, and more.  For now I have decided to use Gina K. Designs ink cubes and cardstock along with Altenew ink cubes.

I love how Gina K. inks and papers work together and the quality is excellent.  Also, I'm in Wisconsin and it feels good to help a fellow Cheesehead!  What attracted me to the Altenew ink cubes is they come in sets and I really like the colors.  I searched all over to find images of the stamped inks and there are not many out there so I'm going to get some posted here to help others.  So far I have played around with my Gina K. ink cubes and you can see some swatches here.  I'm still deciding if I want to go the Jennifer McGuire ink swatching system, or just swatch them all on a page. The image here is a 6 x 8 piece of cardstock in a page protector.  I will get some better quality images up soon.  I snapped this quick with my phone.