Wplus9 2013 Holiday Collection Day 1

It's 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 October 5th at www.wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers.

The Holidays are just around the corner and we are very excited to introduce our 2013 Holiday Collection! The 2013 Holiday Collection, is just that, a collection. The sets are not only amazing alone, but work fantastic together, as well as with many of our previously released sets. There are a lot of fun new stamps and dies to share with you, so let's get started!

First up, Woodland Wreaths and the Woodland Wreaths Companion Die.

Woodland Wreaths

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• 27 stamps: 4 wreath building base images, 18 decor building images and 5 sentiments
• will be available for purchase October 5th for $21

Woodland Wreaths Companion Die

• contains 4 individual dies wired together that can be easily separated
• Approx. Measurements: wreath - 2 3/4", partridge - 1 x 9/16", pomegranate - 11/16 x 5/8", orange - 5/8", pear - 7/8 x 5/8", foliage sprig - 1 1/8 x 13/16, bow - 1 x 1", flower - 1/2"
• will be available for purchase October 5th for $14

Woodland Wreaths contains four wreath images that you build. If you are not so great at 2 step stamping, no worries, the base image works beautifully all by itself as well. But I love the detail you can add when you start adding other layers. Plus, there's a little "cheat tab" on each of the stamps that will assist with lining up the images. Just make sure the tab is pointing in roughly the same direction for each layer, and you're good to go.

For this first card, I stamped the full pine bough base in green, and then added the sparse pine bough image on top in brown. To add a little "snow" to the wreath I traced some of the lines with an embossing pen and then heat embossed it in white. Finally, I added a little glitter to both the inside and outside edges.

The fruit is my favorite part. The pear, orange and pomegranate were all die cut and then stamped with the base images. To add the dimension and shadows, I used the "shadow" stamp for each included in the set. Again, if 2-step stamping isn't your thing, they look great without it too. But For me, it's all about the detail! To finish off the little focal point on the wreath I added some berries from Fresh Cut Florals. Oh yes, the images are all scaled to work wonderfully with the images in Fresh Cut Florals too!

The sentiment was embossed in white on Lake House card stock using one of the sentiments from Silver Bells, which you will see more of tomorrow. And for the background, I stamped the wood background from Dockside Backgrounds in a sand color onto our Oatmeal card stock.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wreaths (available 10/5/13), Silver Bells (available 10/5/13), Fresh Cut Florals, Dockside Backgrounds // Dies: Woodland Wreaths Companion Die (available 10/5/13), Fresh Cut Florals Companion Die // Ink: Lake House Pigment Ink // Cardstock: Oatmeal, Lake House

I know that the Holidays is a busy card making time for most of us. And the postage can add up. So let's take a look at some more simple cards. Woodland Wreaths is perfect for one layer cards.

For the "love" wreath, I stamped the base wreath layer, the twig layer, and the berry layer. I stamped the sentiment from Woodland Wreaths in the center and added a banner stamped with a sentiment from Heartfelt Holiday (we'll introduce that one tomorrow).

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wreaths (available 10/5/13), Heartfelt Holiday (available 10/5/13) // Dies: Basic Banners Die | Cardstock: White, Kraft

Next, a completely flat card. For this one, I stamped the base layer, then added the detail layer in a contrasting green. Instant depth. I added a few berries and then heat embossed some of the flowers included in Woodland Wreaths in white.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wreaths (available 10/5/13) // Ink: Cranberry Crush Pigment Ink // Cardstock: White

Or, you can kick it up just a little more. For my "peace" card, I stamped the base, the detail layer, and a few berries. I added a little Glossy Accents to the berries for some shine. To decorate my wreath, I added some greenery, a bow and a little Partridge, all included in Woodland Wreaths. So cute.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wreaths (available 10/5/13) // Dies: Woodland Wreaths Companion Die (available 10/5/13) // Ink: Cranberry Crush Pigment Ink // Cardstock: White, Cranberry Crush

You can also use many of the images in this set beyond Christmas and the Holidays too. Here, I've used the greenery to create a more spring like wreath.

I die cut and stamped the sprig several times and created a wreath. I lightly drew a circle using Clear Cut Stackers: Circles as a guide, just so I wouldn't drive myself crazy trying to get it perfect! I added more of the flowers from Woodland Wreaths along with a flower from Fresh Cut Florals in pink. And it wouldn't be complete without a bow, die cut using the Under the Mistletoe die (more on that tomorrow too!). For the sentiment, I stamped the "Thankful" text from Defining Words in Versamark and then over-stamped the sentiment from Fanciful Feathers in black.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wreaths (available 10/5/13), Fresh Cut Florals, Defining Words, Fanciful Feathers // Dies: Woodland Wreaths Companion Die (available 10/5/13), Under the Mistletoe Die (available 10/5/13) // Cardstock: White, Kraft, Oatmeal

Ready for the next set? We have what some of you are calling the Fresh Cut Florals of Winter....

Merry & Bright

• is a 4x6" clear photopolymer stamp set
• 32 stamps: 30 image builders and 2 sentiments
• will be available for purchase October 5th for $14

Merry & Bright Companion Die

• contains 13 individual dies wired together that can be easy separated if desired
• candle - 1 3/8 x 1/4", hurricane votive - 1 7/8 x 1 1/4", large holly - 7/8 x 5/8", small holly - 3/4 x 5/8", small pine bough - 1 x 1/2", large pine bough - 1 1/4 x 1", berries - 1/2 x 1/2", large amaryllis - 1 x 1", small amaryllis - 3/4 x 3/4", amaryllis bud - 5/8 x 1/4", large pine cone - 3/4 x 5/8", small pine cone - 1/2 x 7/16", mistletoe - 1 x 3/4"
• will be available for purchase October 5th for $16

I do have a soft spot for this one too. There are so many centerpieces to be made, especially when you combine it with Fresh Cut Florals and Woodland Wreaths. But, it stands just fine all by itself too. Like this one here:

Aside from the banner die cut, everything is included in Merry & Bright. This is a 2-3 step stamping set. So if you liked Fresh Cut Florals, you're gonna like this one too. I die cut and stamped all of the elements and arranged them around my candle that I stamped directly onto my card base. To finish it off, I added just a little Glossy Accents to the flame. I think I'm finally getting the hang of that stuff.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Merry & Bright (available 10/5/13) // Dies: Merry & Bright Companion Die (available 10/5/13), Basic Banners Die // Cardstock: White

And, here's another one. I love this one, because my son Carter helped my with all of the placement and colors. It was even his idea to make the candles "glow". So I pulled out some vellum and a some Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to experiment. I watered it down quite a bit and dabbed three small dots onto the back side of the vellum, then hazed it out with my finger. Voila!

Again, everything here is included in Merry & Bright. I can't get enough of all of the detail you can pack into these images.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Merry & Bright (available 10/5/13) // Dies: Merry & Bright Companion Die (available 10/5/13), Clear Cut Stackers: Circles // Ink: Cranberry Crush Pigment Ink // Cardstock: Oatmeal

Finally, I wanted to show you a more deconstructed use of Merry & Bright. For this card, I've used several of the images included in the set to create a pattern to flank the top and bottom of my sentiment. Check out those pine cones! Love. Believe it or not, they are created with one color ink. I stamped the detail layer first in brown dye ink. Waited a couple of seconds for the ink to dry, and then stamped the base layer on top in the exact same color. Waiting for the ink to completely dry gives that second layer extra depth. Instead of blending into the wet ink, it adds a second layer on top that intensifies the color. I hope that makes sense.

I practiced on scratch paper first to get an arrangement I liked. Notice that it all starts with the red flower and the rest of the elements "burst" out into a triangle, with the flower acting as the top of the triangle. I added a few leaves and some dots from Fresh Cut Florals.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Merry & Bright (available 10/5/13), Fresh Cut Florals // Dies: Folk Art Alphabet | Cardstock: White

That's all I have to share for today. But some of the girls have more to share with you! Be sure to head over to their blogs to check out what they have for you:

Hannah Craner
Jean Martin
Jinny Newlin
Kerrianne Bowen
Sarah Martina Parker

So there you have Day 1, I really hope you enjoyed today's previews. Are you ready for a chance to win today's featured products: Woodland Wreaths, Woodland Wreaths Companion Die, Merry & Bright and the Merry & Bright Companion Die? Just leave a comment by 9:00 AM EST October 2nd to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back tomorrow!