a few things i love...

happy valentine's day! mine is being spent at home from work because i have the flu... my fever broke last night, but two days of chills and overheating has me wiped. i'm trying to take it easy, so i thought i'd save a full project for a different day.

one thing i love doing is sharing some of the things that make me smile, so i'll jump right in:

1) Glee... love it. can't wait to own season 2 on DVD.

2) almond cluster granola (in bulk) for cheap at the local grocery store. $0.78/ lb is hard to beat!

3) an upcoming project that i personally think is amazing... sneak peek below:

4) fleece blankets (you know the kind that are 2-layers, tied along the edges?) in pink and zebra print. what lifesavers when i was shivering my skin off during this fever/ flu.

5) my mom who calls me just because and upon hearing i'm sick announces, "i'm coming over. what do you want me to bring?" and then despite my protests of, "i'll make you sick," brings a HAUL from Costco... microwaveable meals, juice, chocolate milk (my fav), 4 pots of petunias, pre-mixed salad, frozen lasagna, mini cinnamon rolls, almond cookies, and a bouquet of valentine's day roses. gosh, i'm one lucky girl, huh?

what are you loving right now? i'd love to hear what makes you smile! :D

...and that's all i have for today, go enjoy yourself!

happy valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

here's a quick couple of cards i'm giving to my friends daughters (ages 7 & 5)... they'll love the Basic Grey fruits with the googly eyes :D simple, but sweet...



i hope your day is filled with love!

a love note

no, i'm not talking about a love note that i've received--i'm talking about some love notes that i've made recently. i'm still busy digging through my scrap pile (solely in Valentine's type colors, so that's why you've been seeing lots of red, pink, and white), but i'll be making some custom ordered invitations for a bridal shower along with some matching paper-crafts party favors. i'll make sure to post the pictures of them when they're done--they should be cute because the color scheme is bright and cheery! (rose pink, cantaloupe orange, and ivory) **speaking of bridal showers, i was an emcee for a larger bridal shower last night--fun times and fun games had by all**

so, the simple cards have been my friends lately--slap a little patterned paper, ribbon, and a few heart stickers, and we're good! the red card above has a stamped image from Impress Rubber Stamps, and the one below (the cute mailbox) comes from DoodleFactory Country set... i thought i'd convert it for Valentine's day :D

do you notice anything funny about the card above? i was a little upset with myself for the mistake, but it was so cute (and i don't have anymore scraps to recreate it) that i thought i'd show you anyway.

hope your 'over the hump' day went well--i think i'm off to get a haircut... my ends are in need of some attention :D don't you just love the "post haircut" feeling? i love running my fingers through--something i've enjoyed every time :)

anyway, i'll pop in later, but have a lovely day!

2sketches4you Kazan's #43

yay, i'm back, and it's saturday! :D i've been trying to continue posting regularly so i don't get off track. today i'm posting some more of my Valentine's scrap cards that i've been posting lately (watch out--there's still more to come!) and i've really enjoyed seeing what comes out of that box and onto a card. most of the time i like the end result, even if the card isn't quite as much "me" as it normally is.

do you know what i mean?

well, here's a quick card--patterned paper from K&Co, a couple previous cuts from my Cricut (square outline and circle), and then some stamping, bling, and my fav. new doo-dad embellie with the hearts. what do you think? is this typical 'Ginny' style, or is this something different??

i know what i think, but want to hear what you have to say too :D
okay, on to the sketch i used for this card--it comes from 2sketches4you, one of my all time favorite sites for sketches.

this week, Kazan had a fabulous sketch (#43) and i couldn't resist playing along. i might make another card using this too!


i used similar papers and supplies as with THIS card earlier this week, and i just love that velvet silhouette paper so much, i *had* to use it again. these are all scraps, remember, so i pulled a lot of different manufacturers together--Bazzill dotted paper, SEI for the brown, DCWV for the silhouettes, some kraft and white card stock for the embellie and card base. the hearts are punches, and the ribbon is from Michael's.

mmmm, i LOVE that combo of bling, button, embellie, and pins on this card--somehow it all gelled, you know? thinking i'll have to send this to someone special ;)

i also inked up a lot of edges on this thing--definitely helps to tie things in, don't you think?

hope you enjoy and have a wonderful weekend--relax a bit!

Embellish Hearts Color Challenge

thank goodness it's Friday!

whew, made it through the first week back of teaching after break--let me tell you, it was close!

i thought i'd have some fun by playing along with the Embellish Magazine Challenge for this month--red, pink, black + hearts in honor of Valentine's Day.

so here we go--i actually used scraps of everything except for the ribbon--lately the pile has been getting smaller and smaller--so cool to see what i can make with what i already have!

such a huge funky knot here--love it. an it's sort of hard to tell, but the tree stamp is in red and has some of the heart leaves glittered with prism glitter. sweet stuff.

i have another "love" card--this one features stamps solely from DeNami Design (well, actually, i lied--the little heart stamp isn't but close enough!) let me tell you--these stamps are too fun to play with sometimes--i have to hold myself back quite often. here i used a little fun fluff and lacquer to add texture.

if you're interested in seeing more DeNami goodness, check out Paulina's blog--she is on their design team and does a fabulous job! she's also holding a giveaway too, so definitely head her way.

hope your Friday was awesome, and that your weekend is equally so! thanks for stopping by :D

love is in the air

i love making Valentine's Day cards... they're just so fun!
this first one is a bitty 3x3--made from scraps (again! can't believe i'm getting these used up, yay!) and a DeNami Design glitter and button too!

super simple stuff... but so cute :D

i have a little birdie here i picked up from Michael's in the $1 bin--SO CUTE, don't you think? i went for "fun" with this card, and i love the little bit of coloring and glitter that i added to the wing and breast of this chickie!

here's the full card view--sorry for the poor picture, something wonky happened in between shots... hmm, have to check that out later.

and lastly, i'm using another DoodleFactory stamp which i LOVE ...so appropriate for so many occasions, don't you think? also, this paper has flocking on it, and it is AMAZING... this piece looks great with the brown polka dot ribbon and pink gem & cardstock combo i have. what do you think?

okay, and lastly, i have this card featuring some yummy Amy Butler paper and a row of tiny pearls. also, see that little DeNami "love you" sentiment? so great!

this card also features an embellie that i made in a batch along with THIS card from yesterday.

so what do you think--which one is your favorite? glad you could stop by :D

2sketches4you, kazan's #20!

wow, it's been a while since i've posted an actual card. but never fear, i've been making tons of cards over here... i actually had a list of +/- 50 Valentine's cards to give to friends, family, and swimmers... i mass produced about 24 small cards from one of my favorite simple designgs that i'll have to post sometime. but i was really excited to get back from PA (where i cheered for brothers Pete and Link in their MAJOR swim meet in which they did AMAZING!) and check out the new sketch from Kazan. last night i got to work and came out with something pretty cute...

whatdya' think? like the cherries?

i wasn't sure if the flower was too much, but it's bright and cheery. let me know what you think, it's fun reading your opinions... :)

oh where to start?!

so i have a lot of cards to post... i don't know how i got so busy with life so that i haven't been posting!

first of all, i got to create some cards with my friend Paulina last Saturday... which was AMAZING (as was the time before!), and i made this set of cards that *could* be used for Valentine's or just everyday, "i love you" type cards. i found an older stamp that my mom used to use for Valentine's cards back when she used to stamp (SOooo long ago...) i just couldn't resist the "kisses" stamp... too perfect, right? i also used DeNami Design stamps (the swirl and the "sending you love") which are a blast to work with... anything that i can think to use, they have. i may be having the pleasure of helping DeNami Design with a stamping show sometime in March... and i'm stoked. i loved the last show i went to (and my first one), and i found out i'm a pretty good saleslady :) not too pushy, but just the right amount of suggestion.

also, while i've been looking through blogs and papers, i've realized that gray is a perfect neutral color to use for card bases... and since i had a whole bunch of gray that i wasn't using, i decided to cut it up for another card set (FYI i'm going to get rid of these cards somehow... our church is having an auction to raise $$ for our mission team, and i'm going to donate some card sets to the auction) i LOVE the resulting bold card--it's ribbon i bought from Costco (best double sided stuff i've seen EVER!), black velvet floral patterned paper, yellow cardstock, a chipboard flower, and of course some bling :) not my normal combo, but i LOVE the result, don't you?




so, in addition to this card, i had prepared more gray for some square cards... again, i'm thinking "SET" here. so i made the following cards using the same general idea and the same general materials: pink die cut flower paper, assorted buttons, red grosgrain ribbon (varied sizes), glitter, swirl stamps from Jo-Ann's, elsie patterned paper, textured cardstock, small punch out letters, Fiskars border punch, embroidery floss, flowers and brads from ???, and who knows what else. anyway, i like some of these more than others, but i'm planning on adding to the collection, so i'm sure i'll make something i just can bear to give away :)






here they are all together :)



by the way, i made the above cards (even the big pink ribbon one... sort of loosely followed it) using the new sketch from Laura over at 2sketches4you. i honestly couldn't decide which card i liked best, so i thought it best to post all of them. 2sketches4you is one of my favorite blogs to check out with so much great talent/ inspiration, and ALWAYS fabulous sketches :) you definitely need to check them out! i may even try out the sketch again (there's a bonus one this week--yay!) and post later... we'll see :)

for now, happy viewing! good night, and good luck!

tiled valentines

i made these cards the other day using some elsie paper that has fun square patterns all over one side, and then red background with white polka dot stripes down the other... i thought it would be perfect to cut apart and piece onto a card--everything was already "matched" so making these was SUPER easy. i could have put all the squares onto one card, and made it into a general purpose type of card, but i decided to stamp out a Valentine's sentiment using my $1 alpha stamps from Michael's, and by using a small acrylic heart i got in a "thank you" sentiment set from Jo-Ann's. i added dimension by using some 3D tape on the circle shape, so it pops a little. :)

anyway, i thought the big button was fun too... so here you go--super quick and easy Valentine's day cards that you could even give to a guy! i think i'll be making more of these to give to some swimmers i'll be visiting around Valentine's day at my alma mater, Grove City College.

many many mini cards

so i've been very busy this week, even though it may not seem like it. i have been making a TON of mini cards to give to family, friends, and co-workers for Valentine's Day. they're quickie cards, but they still require assembly, so it's sometimes slower going than i expect. overall, though, i'm quite pleased with the effect. i know that many of the cards i make are simple, because as my mom reminds me, "not everyone is going to cherish your cards like you do... they may keep it on a dresser for a while, and then just throw it out!" i keep telling myself that when i get to urge to get really fancy. i love making beautiful cards, don't get me wrong--i just have to be careful who i give my really beautiful cards to so that i make sure it's someone who will appreciate them.

i'll be posting some other cards later that i made with Paulina the other day--we had a blast stamping for 7+ hrs as we watched movies, listened to music, and had some good food. her whole family spoils me rotten :) no complaints here, though. i really love the stamps i got to use (and GLITTER that i rarely get out because of the messy i always seem to make), so you'll have to check back to sneak a peek of some more Valentine's i made.

anyway, i hope you enjoy, and aren't cramming too many LOVEly cards for Valentine's until the last minute ;)