February/March Release Day 1

Hello, it's that time again...Release Week! 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 February 5th at www.wplus9.com.

We have a feminine, floral, fun release for you this month. We will be introducing 3 new stamp sets and 4 new dies over the next couple of days. The theme this month is centered around Folk Art. But don't worry, as usual, I've just pulled from the traditional Folk Art design for inspiration, and created a more versatile and stylized version of my own. All of these products will take you far beyond any single style as I plan to show you. So let's get started with Folk Art Florals and the Folk Art Florals Die.

Folk Art Florals

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 24 stamps; 20 images and 4 sentiments
• will be available for purchase February 5th for just $14

Folk Art Florals Die

• compliments the Folk Art Florals stamp set
• designed to be used as stand alone images
• comes on a single die that can be easily snipped and separated
• will be available for purchase February 5th for just $12

My first card captures the namesake of this stamp set.

I wanted to show you how easy it is to create some of those more intricate looking folk art patterns thanks to all of the great individual images in Folk Art Florals.

I started by stamping the birdhouse image onto rustic white cardstock and flanked it at the top and bottom with the leaf branches included in the set.

I then added a small flower to the gap between the branches and another flower to the top. I repeated each at the bottom to mirror the top. You could stop here and this fits perfectly inside of our Label Layers 3 Die, but I decided to keep building.

I added the little flower cluster to each corner and to the left and right of the birdhouse. The "Friend" sentiment finishes this card off.

For my next card, I wanted to try a little shabby chic. The Folk Art Florals Die is perfect for this.

I cut the birds and leaves from a couple of different patterned papers and paired them with our Hearts & Clouds Die and Love Notes Die.

I created a sweet little focal point to set on top of our Circle Stackers 1 die (more on that later this week) and a lace doily.

I channeled my mom for this one, as she loves the shabby chic style, and thought the large bird and little bird would be a perfect representation of parent and child for a Mother's Day card.

I just love how this tag turned out. I wanted to show you how I used our new dies to enhance a pre-made paper flower from Kaisercraft.

I nestled the flower inside of a couple of dies from Circle Stackers 1 and I used more of the leaves from the Folk Art Florals die.

A Mother's Day ensemble perfect for my mom.

Folk Art Florals includes a variety of sizes and flower shapes, making it easy to create both focal images and backgrounds patterns. There is just enough character in each image to make it unique, but not so much that they become locked into one style or theme. So, let's take it clean and simple now.

I started this one by stamping one of the largest flower images and leaves.

I then added one of the smaller flowers to the middle of the largest flower and filled in with some of the smaller leaves.

Last I added one of the smallest flower images, selectively inking just the flower. Using the corner of a ink cube makes this really easy.

I added my sentiment from Hope Seed Co. and added a double line of scoring at the bottom for texture to finish this card off.

For the final card today, I wanted to show you some of that background stamping I was talking about.

I used many of the flowers and leaves to create a petite floral pattern as a backdrop for the birdhouse die cut.

Are you ready to see more from this set? The possibilities are really endless. Be sure to stop by the Design Team's blogs to see what they have done.

• Elise Durenberger
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jinny Newlin
• Kerrianne Gwin
• Lea Lawson
• Savitri Wilder
• Jean Martin

Would you like to win Folk Art Florals, and the Folk Art Florals Die? Just leave me a comment by 9:00 AM EST February 2nd to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

The fun continues tomorrow with another must-see set and 2 coordinating dies, see you then!

Project Supplies

Folk Art Friend
Stamps: Folk Art Florals - available 2-5-12 (Wplus9)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Antique Linen, Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Rustic White (Papertrey Ink); Kraft (Wplus9 beta)
Other: Pinking shears(Fiskars); sewing machine (Singer); thread (Coats & Clark)

Shabby Chic Mother's Day card and tag
Stamps: Heartfelt Mix, Defining Words (Wplus9)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger); Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Natural White cardstock (Wplus9 beta); Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet cardstock (Papertrey Ink); gray cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Uncommon patterned paper (Authentique)
Dies: Circle Stackers 1 - available 2-5-12, Folk Art Florals - available 2-5-12, Hearts & Clouds, Love Notes (Wplus9)
Other: Paper Flower (Kaisercraft), pearls, twine (May Arts); sewing machine (Singer); thread (Coats & Clark); doily (Wilton); seam binding (Hug Snug); Fabric tape (Martha Stewart)

Warm Wishes
Stamps: Folk Art Florals - available 2-5-12, Hope Seed Co. (Wplus9)
Ink: So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: White, Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Scoring board (Martha Stewart)

Friend
Stamps: Folk Art Florals - available 2-5-12 (Wplus9)
Ink: Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!); Lulu Lavendar, Thatched Straw (Tsukineko); Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Natural White, Kraft cardstock (Wplus9 beta); Fine Linen, Lemon Tart cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Circle Stackers 1 - available 2-5-12, Folk Art Florals - available 2-5-12 (Wplus9)
Other: Snow Cap acrylic paint (Ranger); buttons (Studio Calico), twine (May Arts); sewing machine (singer); thread (Coats & Clark); pinking shears (Fiskars)