February 2011 Release Day 1: Flora & Fauna I

Welcome to Day 1 of the Wplus9 February 2011 Release! For those of you joining us for the first time, we will spend the next couple of days giving you some peeks at projects using the stamps from this month's release. All sets will be available for purchase at www.wplus9.com on February 1st.

Wow, do we have a fantastic release scheduled this month! This month marks Wplus9 Design Studio's 1 year anniversary. One year ago this month, I embarked on this fantastic venture...and I've loved every minute of it! Thank you all so much for making this one of the most fulfilling years ever for me. Seriously. From the bottom of my heart.

Joining us this month to help us celebrate, we have the crazy talented Sarah Martina Parker. She will be here all month long to help us do it up right!

As if that were not exciting enough, I have also invited Mrs. Jinny Newlin to remain on the Wplus9 Design Team permanently! Or at least until she can't stand it anymore. ;o) Don't worry, I will still be selecting Guest Designers periodically for month intervals. Ok, now I believe we can get on with this celebration. Ready?

Up first, we are previewing one of my new personal favorites. Oh my, you will surely fall in love with this set. This not-so-little ditty is the first in a series that I am working on. I have drawn my inspiration for the series from the states' symbols. State birds, flowers, and butterflies to be exact. Flora & Fauna I was inspired by Virginia and North Carolina. This one is so gorgeous, we've decided we need two days to properly introduce it.

Flora & Fauna I

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 7 stamps; 4 large focal images and 3 accent images
• will be available for purchase February 1st for just $19

Today, I want to focus on the gorgeous Cardinal and single Dogwood Bloom included in the set.

I am in love with the way this turned out. The illustrations in this set really are some of my best ever. To begin, I used a circle cutter (Martha Stewart Crafts) to cut a 2 1/4 inch circle and stamped the cardinal using black ink.

What I really like about this image is that the shading is built in. Because of this, I only had to use one shade of red for the entire bird. Score!

I matted my focal point on a yellow scalloped circle, and matted that on a white doily that I distressed by crumpling it up and then inking it with some distress ink (Ranger).

To create the background patterned paper, I used the single Dogwood bloom also included in the set. I had no idea when I added this one single image how much I would come to love it. That paper is so stunning and sophisticated. And that's just stamped in black on white cardstock. Just IMAGINE the possibilities there!

I just assembled everything and added my sentiment (more on that Sunday!).

This next one literally made me squeal when I finished it. I've used the large Dogwood blooms and one of the smaller butterflies for this one.

Again, we are talking pure and simple stamping. A little Versamark and some white embossing powder and a big beautiful stamp. For me, it all starts with the stamp when I craft, and this set does not disappoint. I paired it with a sentiment from Ever After. I think it's a gorgeous wedding card that could easily be recreated in the bride's colors.

So are you ready to see more? The girls have some gorgeous creations to share with you.

Elise Durenberger
Hannah Craner
Jinny Newlin
Kerrianne Gwin
Maile Belles
Savitri Wilder
Sarah Martina Parker

That's it from me for today, I can wait to share more with you tomorrow. What do you think of the overall concept of this Series so far? Something that you could see wanting to see more of? Leave me a comment by 11:59 pm Saturday, January 29th letting me know which birds/flowers/butterflies you'd like to see grouped together? I'll pick one random winner from the comments to receive Flora & Fauna I. Winners will be posted here, be sure to check to see if you've won. Thanks for joining us and hope to see you tomorrow!