August 2011 Release: Le Cirque, Le Cirque Die, and Scalloped Oval Die

Hello, and welcome to Day 1 of our August Release! For those of you that are new to Wplus9, we will spend the next couple of days getting up close and personal with the products that we will be releasing this month. All previewed items will be available for purchase on August 5th at www.wplus9.com.

This month we have 2 new stamp sets and 3 new steel rule dies. Today's set is so much fun! The Circus/Carnival theme is wildly popular at the moment. I have shied away from it...until now that is. Le Cirque is both fun and elegant, whimsical and sophisticated. Right up my alley! I have designed this set in a way that the final style outcome is completely up to you.

Le Cirque

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 21 stamps; 8 images, 11 sentiments, 1 banner image and 1 scalloped oval frame
• will be available for purchase August 5th for just $19

What would make this set even more amazing? Matching dies of course!

Le Cirque Die

• coordinates with Le Cirque stamp set
• cuts 4 coordinating shapes
• will be available for purchase August 5th for just $9

Scalloped Oval Die

• coordinates with Le Cirque stamp set
• measures approx. 2.25" tall x 2.75" wide
• will be available for purchase August 5th for just $7

Today, I wanted to show you how, when used together, these products are perfect for all things PARTY!

I decided to create a birthday party ensemble for my youngest, Carter. His birthday isn't until February...but now I've got a great head start. First up is a little invitation. I decided to pair Le Cirque with our Vintage Envelope Die

I bought a pack of Recollections tags from Michaels and lo and behold, they fit perfectly into the Vintage Envelope! After cutting from patterned paper and assembling the envelope, I trimmed off the top flap. This left me with a pocket to tuck the tag into. To decorate the outside of the pocket, I die cut a label using the Label Layers 2 Die. I stamped the scalloped frame onto the center, it fits perfectly and creates a totally new look. I die cut my embellishments using the Le Cirque Die, and stamped the elephant, ringmaster and tightrope walker in blue, yellow, and red.

I then cut just the banner from green cardstock, stamped the banner image and sentiment in Versamark, and them embossed with white embossing powder.

For the insert, I used a little help from my PC. First, I created my text layout using Adobe Illustrator. You can use Word or Photoshop as well. Now, you could print these and then trim and adhere to your tag, but I wanted to try to print them directly onto the tag. I created a little pic-torial to show what I did.

Once I had it printed on the tag, all I had to do was add the little tent image included in Le Cirque, and the Admission Ticket (which has the recipient's name and the date of the party on the back).

How cute is that?!

Next up...the matching birthday card. I started this by creating some fun background paper using the ticket image and many of the sentiments included in the set. First I stamped the ticket image repeatedly in a block pattern using assorted colors. I pulled the colors from the patterned paper that I chose to work with, the A Walk In The Park collection by Echo Park.

I continued until I covered the entire panel. TIP: I start with a larger piece than I will need, this gives me some leftover to use on projects in the future. Then I came back in and stamped my sentiment phrases.

For the focal point, I used the same layout as the invitation, omitting the elephant and tight rope walker, using only the Ringmaster.

While I was at it, I wanted to show you how fantastic the scalloped oval is for creating banners.

Isn't that gorgeous?! Not the lopsided cupcakes...the banner. ;o) Let me show you how easy it was. I started with 3" x 6" rectangles of patterned paper. Scored each 1 inch down from the top, and notch the bottom. TIP: To cut the notches, I stacked all of mine and cut all at once using a craft knife. Add a little removeable adhesive between each layer to keep them from shifting.

Fold tops over ribbon and machine stitch into place. I die cut my scalloped ovals, stamped them with the scalloped oval image, and added my letters I cut using my Cricut.

I just love how fun, festive, and colorful this turned out. Just think of all of the possibilities and different looks you can achieve by just swapping colors and patterns!

Are you aching for some more? Be sure to check out the rest of the design team inspiration:

• Elise Durenberger
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jinny Newlin
• Kerrianne Gwin
• Lea Lawson
• Savitri Wilder
• Jean Martin - taking a few weeks off, but be sure to stop by and leave her some love anyway

Would you like to win Le Cirque, the Le Cirque Die, and the Scalloped Oval Die? We will be showcasing these goodies both today and tomorrow, so leave me a comment by 11:59 PM EST August 2nd to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

Thanks for joining us and I hope to see you tomorrow!