Valentine Braid

This was fun to make. The braiding is like making boondoggles (something I did often in the summer as a rec center counselor). But instead of using that vinyl stuff you use ribbon. Brilliant!

I wish I could take full credit for this idea. But I was looking at  fellow demonstrators site and just had to make it. 

I LOvE looking at it.  

Thanks Lynn for inspiring me. 

Hand Stamped by Gina Dygert

Under the Stars

Valentine's are fun to make. I really enjoyed making this one. I was inspired by a Paper Crafting magazine. Remember you can be inspired by any thing.

To create this card I stamped the Bear from the Under the Stars stamp set in Black Stazon on to Watercolor paper.  

Then I used a Blender Pen and Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa Classic Ink along with a Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write Marker.

This heart was actually a free handed heart. The Regal Rose Heart is punched with the Heart to Heart Punch. The Chocolate Chip letters are from the Big Shot. No surprise there. The Timeless Type Sizzlits.

To create the cut letters I just stamped out the letters from the Calendar Alphabet and Numbers stamp set and then cut them apart.

I finished off the card by using my one of my favorite things....... Stampin' Dimensionals. I like for my cards to pop. 

Wondering how I got theold look in the card? Well I  sponged the Very Vanilla card stock with Creamy Caramel Classic Ink.

I plan to give this card to my husband. I want him to know how much I love him. 

I really like this stamp set. Don't be surprised to see more of the Bear in the future.

Hand crafted by Gina Dygert

Stampin' Up! Anniversary

Wow! 
I just recently realized next week I will celebrate my Stampin' Up! Anniversary. It has been 3 wonderful years. I look forward to many more. 

In honor of my Stampin' Up! Anniversary I have decide to give away one of my favorite things. 

Check out my Stampin' Up! Website for more information by clicking here.

I also thought I would share some of the first few cards I made as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  

In this butterfly card I used the end of a brand new pencil to create these little circles finishing off with a White Uni ball Signo Gel Pen. Creating "Faux Brads".




I look back at them and think. Sometimes it is great to keep it simple. 

 

That simplicity often allows us to focus the beauty in the stamps... the words and images.


Other times I look at these cards and think wow guess I hadn't really discovered Stampin Dimensionals. 


Hand crafted by Gina Dygert

Simple: I {Heart} Heart Valentine's card

Here is another I {Heart} Heart Valentine's card. This is a very simple and quick card.

To  make this card I cut a piece of 3" x 3" Whisper White card stock. Then I took the new Scallop Trim  Border Punch (Sale-A-Bration Flyer) and punched each side in the center to create this adorable look. 

I stamped 2 of the hearts from the I {Heart} Heart stamp set. The leafy heart has to be hand cut but you can punch out the LOVE heart with the new Small Heart Punch (Occasion Mini Catalog). 

I adhered the small heart on with Snail Adhesive and then used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up on a layer of Basic Black and Real Red card stock. 

Remember this is the stamp set you can purchase to help Support Haiti! 

Hand Stamped by Gina Dygert

I {Heart} Heart Valentine's card

This card is just so sparkly! And it even has a matching Very Vanilla envelope.

This card features the new I {Heart} Heart stamp set. This is the stamp set that you can purchase to help support Haiti. 

Every time I look at it, I think WOW! What a cute card. What a beautiful stamp set.


To make this card I cut a piece of 4" x 11" piece of Regal Rose card stock.  
 I scored it at 5 1/2" and again at 8 1/4" .  Using the Stampin' Up! Movers and Shapers Curly Label Die with the Removeable magnetic Heart from the Stampin' UP! Punch Windows. I placed my card inside the die. Made sure that the folded edge falls on the peak and valley of the heart (half of a heart). Since the Big Shot will only cut where there is a full
layers going through, I only cover the portion I want cut. Then you will have half a heart cut. 

Punch out a heart using the Full Heart punch out of Real Red card stock then place it in the center of the Stampin' Up! Embosslit die, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Cut and run it through your Big Shot. Then  use the embosslit  to cut a piece of Very Vanilla card stock. 
Layer the two hearts and place onto the heart area on the base of the card. 

Take a piece of Very Vanilla card stock stamp it with the following Classic Ink: Pretty in Pink using the polka-dot heart, Regal Rose with the leafy heart, Real Red with love heart and Chocolate Chip on the polka dot outlined heart. 
Finishing of using Versa Mark along with the 3 hearts and Iridescent Ice Emboss Powder. 

Don't forget to heat it with your Heat tool to make the iridescent Ice really sparkle.





Hand Stamped by Gina Dygert

Big Shot Fabric Projects

Have you wondered what else can you do with your Big Shot?

When I went to the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference in Phoenix, Arizona I was amazed at what some others were doing with their Big Shot and Fabric. 

The Big Shot and it's dies are a great way to cut out identical pieces. 

 

I wanted to share with you a few of the projects that were shown. They have inspired me to pull out my sewing machine. 

Stampin' Up! is a great company. 

At the end of the conference every demonstrator was given a hand sewn quilt square. Shelli, the co-founder, picked out the fabric. 
All the wonderful employees at Kanab, the Stampin' Up! home office brought in their sewing machines and created the quilt squares for us! 
I would LOvE to hug everyone there for doing this for us(1,000 US and Canada demonstrators).

 
I would LOvE to share my quilt square at your next workshop. 
Contact me to schedule your workshop. 

I will bring my Big Shot and show you how you can get started cutting your fabric.

Contact me at ginadygert@yahoo.com or call 757-483-6433 and we can schedule your workshop today. 
Even though I live in Hampton Roads Area in Virginia, I am willing to travel some to do a workshop for you. 

Simply Said Valentine

 I just love to use Real Red card stock for a Valentine. 

To create this card I used the 3 heart stamps from the Simply Said Stamp Set. Many forget that there are hearts in that set. Randomly stamping them in Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink Classic ink onto Very Vanilla card stock makes it look like a piece of Designer paper. 

The Popped out hearts area consist of :

Chocolate Chip card stock Mover & Shapers Heart

Very Vanilla card stock

Full Heart Punch

Real Red card stock Heart 

medium heart in the Heart to Heart Punch

Teeny Tiny Wishes words punched out with the Word  Window.

Finishing the card off with a piece of the Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon. 

Hand Stamped by Gina Dygert