November 2010 Release Week: Day 1

It's here, it's finally here! The long awaited Wplus9 November Release. Thank you all so much for your patience and we hope not to disappoint. We have 4 new stamp sets, 2 of which are illustrated by our very own Hannah Craner! You do not want to miss these gems, they are a must have for pulling together any holiday treats.

We are changing things up a bit this release and would love to hear your feedback. For those of us that just can't wait, our entire release is currently available for purchase at The Studio. If you haven't seen it yet, head on over and check everything out. Then be sure to join us here all week long as we get down with design and show you what these babies are made of!

Today we are starting with my contribution this month. Love, love, love this set. Now there are quite a few great ornament sets on the market. But not one combined everything I was looking for. Classic clean lines, both solid and linear images and big bold sentiments. Thus...a Classic Christmas was born.

Classic Christmas

Details

Set of 12 high-quality photopolymer stamps;
3 large linear ornaments, 3 smaller solid ornaments, 2 string images, and 4 sentiments
Full Set Dimensions: 6x8
Price: $19

This set is perfect for mass production. I love that the large ornaments can be used as a single focal point on a card and they are large enough to adorn your layouts. For my first card I started with the "MAY YOUR HOLIDAYS sparkle AND shine" sentiment. So of course my ornament had to sparkle! I started by die cutting a piece of transparency with a Spellbinders label and stamping the ornament, string and sentiment using white StayzOn.

Gasp! I know, I know...no StayzOn with clear stamps. I figure as long as I don't make it a habit, it won't hurt. Finger's crossed. ;o) Now, my new favorite coloring technique. I am not great at coloring large images with Copics. OK...I'm not even good at it. I have discovered a new love that is perfect for me and the Copic challenged. Ranger Distress Inks paired with your Copic markers. First I stamped the image using Broken China Distress Ink. Then, using my blending tool and with more Broken China ink, I filled in the image for my base color. I started on the edges and left it lighter in the middle to create the bulbous illusion for the ornament.

I know, it looks hideous at this point. But trust me, it gets better. Once you have the desired base color, come in with your matching Copic markers and your blender pen to add shade. The blender pen is important to use all over the color you've layed down to eliminate any hard lines. It makes it blend beautifully.

Looking better, huh? Instant depth and it's soft, and has some texture to boot. Now just trim the whole thing out and hit it all around the edges with your ink and blending tool to eliminate the white edge. This looks amazing on flowers! I'll have something to show you a little later on that. To finish this ornament I had to add some sparkle, right! So, I used a Martha Stewart glue pen to add some glitter along all of the lines in the ornament, and attached it to my transparency label.

I adhered it all to a black card base. I love the contradiction of glitter with the clean black base. Playful and serious.

This next one just makes my feel cozy and comfortable. I used the all three of the solid ornaments for this one. I arranged all three ornaments on my panel first and then picked them all up together with my acrylic block. This way I could stamp this all at once and make sure they were centered.

To create a visual frame of space all around the edge, I layed a post it note down to mask the top edge with stamping my strings. Notice the strings on the two ornaments on the left? I flipped the stamp with the bow and used the top of the image without the bow instead. Those little snowflakes in the background are from Hannah's set All Occasion Tags. I'll show you more of those later this week. ;o)

This last one is probably my favorite. It is crazy simple, but I love the colors. They remind me of a Victorian Christmas, but the ornament has a modern twist. Love it.

To create that soft water color feel, I first stamped the image onto some vellum and heat embossed it using detail white powder (Stampendous). Then I stamped some Tattered Rose Distress Ink onto some wax paper and spritz it with just a tad bit of water. Using a small paint brush, I mixed it and applied it to the entire bulb. Now, to get the darker edges, I used Fired Brick! Yep...no where near the same color, right? Well, using the same technique, but adding more water, I was able to dilute the color to something suitable to compliment the lighter rose color. I just hit it around the edges and then used my finger to blend it together. Voila!

The great thing about this set, is the 4 sentiments work together to finish off your card inside and out. I added my sentiment to the inside along with some more of those cute little snowflakes to finish this card off.

There is so much fun to be had with this set. Whether you are looking to make a bunch of cards fast (but stylish) or you want to take your time and create truly one of a kind masterpieces, this is that set.

Are you enjoying thus far? Want to win Classic Christmas? Leave a comment by Monday November 8th, 11:59 pm EST and I will pick a random winner.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see more of this month's release in action!