April 2011 Release Day 1: A Special Lady

Hey, hey! It's that time again...release time! This month we have 2 new stamp sets and a new die to introduce. On top of an incredible release, we have the fabulous Lea Lawson making her debut with the Wplus9 Design Team. And, as if that were not enough, we have the incredibly inspiring Paulina Nakamura guest designing for us this month as well! I know, right?! Let's get started!

Over the next two days, we will be giving you a peek at a gorgeous Mother's Day inspired set. This set is awesome. You will be able to create a Mother's Day card for every single woman on your list. Seriously, whether it's your grandmother, aunt, sister, a friend, a co-worker, even a mom-to-be! This set has it all, including possibilities way beyond Mother's Day.

A Special Lady

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 15 stamps; 2 large focal images and 13 sentiment builders
• will be available for purchase April 1st for just $19

My first card today is my favorite ever. Ever. I used both of the flower images included in the set, a little masking, and A LOT of copic coloring. But oh it is so worth it.

Choosing the flowers to use for this set was cake. I used the favorite flowers of my two favorite and most influential women in my life. Tulips for my mother, and daffodils for my grandmother. I started by creating a mask for both flower images. I stamped the two foreground flowers, layed down the mask, and stamped again to add in the background flowers. I then went to town adding color, color, and more color.

I just had to add a butterfly from Flora & Fauna I. I knew I wanted to keep the layout very simple, so for some added interest I scored a 1/4" margin all around the edges using my Martha Stewart scoreboard.

For the sentiment strip I stamped "FOR A SPECIAL" and "Mother" in black onto a strip of vellum.

I then layered that over a smaller strip of white cardstock. The coloring was so vibrant that the addition of the white underneath adds great balance to the bottom of the card and helps the sentiment to stand out. I matted the whole panel on a black card base, and of course stamped one more butterfly, trimmed it out, and added it to the left of the sentiment.

Now, I'm going to take it in another direction. My tireless effort at the whole shabby chic/vintage thing. I'm obsessed with it. LOL I just can't give up on it until I feel like I can do it. Call me crazy. ;)

For this one, I did a little paper piecing. I stamped the tulip once on green cardstock and then again on some patterned paper.

I trimmed out the entire image from the green and then only the blooms from the patterned paper. I adhered the blooms directly onto the green base.

Notice the panel? This was so easy to create. I used the top of our All Occasion Label die as a guide. I die cut it, and using a pencil traced the top half.

I trimmed around the pencil marks and then used my paper trimmer to cut straight down the sides to my desired length. The little embellishments in black are a little peek at something from the set you'll see more about later this week. I added some random postmarks from Postmarked, and finished it with the "Friend" sentiment also included in A Special Lady.

So there you have Day 1. I hope you are enjoying it so far. So I know my favorite ladies' favorite flowers', how about you? Who is your favorite lady, and what is her favorite flower? Leave me a comment by 11:59 PM EST March 29th. I'll pick a random winner from the comments to win A Special Lady.

After you leave a comment, be sure to check out more from the rest of the Design Team:

• Elise Durenberger
• Hannah Craner
• Jinny Newlin
• Kerrianne Gwin
• Lea Lawson
• And our April guest designer: Paulina Nakamura

Project Supplies

For A Special Mother
Stamps: A Special Lady, Flora & Fauna I
Ink: Black (Ranger); Copics
Cardstock: Black, White, Vellum (Papertrey Ink)

Tulips For My Friend
Stamps: A Special Lady, Filigreed Frames, Postmarked
Ink: Black (Ranger); Antique Linen (Tim Holtz Distress Ink)
Cardstock: Vintage White, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Thrift Shop Collection (October Afternoon)
Other: Buttons, Twine (Papertrey Ink); Doily (Wilton)