Wplus9 April 2014 Release 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 April 5th at www.wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers.

Are you ready to see what's headed your way? I'm very excited to share everything with you. Today, I'll be focusing on these two stamp sets and companion die.

Spring Blooms

Details

• is a 6x8" clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 26 individual flower building stamps
• will be available for purchase April 5th for $21

Spring Blooms Companion Die

Details

• contains 6 individual dies wired together that can be easily separated if desired
• coordinates with the Spring Blooms stamp set
• Approx. Measurements: (A) - 1", (B) - 3/4 x 4/5", (C) - 1 1/5 x 1", (D) - 1 3/5", (E) - 4/5 x 3/4", (F) - 1 x 1/2", (G) - 1 x 3/4", (H) - 1 x 4/5", (I) - 2 1/4 x 1 2/5", (J) - 2 1/2 x 1 1/4", (K) - 1 3/5 x 1", (L) - 1 3/4 x 1"
• will be available for purchase April 5th for $17

Strictly Sentiments 4

Details

• is a 4x6" clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 10 individual sentiment stamps
• will be available for purchase April 5th for $14

With Mother's Day just around the corner, these two stamp sets make a wonderful pair. Strictly Sentiments 4 has you covered with plenty of sentiments for the occasion. And, it features that gorgeous font from Valentine Wishes that you guys have been requesting more of! Let me show you how great it pairs with the florals in our new Spring blooms set.

I opted for the larger 4x6" set versus a 3x4" set to accommodate the larger scaled sentiments in this set. I don't think you will be disappointed! They really stand out and hold their own against the large scaled florals in Spring Blooms.

I stamped several of the flowers and leaves using our new PURECOLOR dye inks, creating a frame to encase my sentiment. This set is so easy to use - from simple stamping to fun and creative techniques.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Spring Blooms (available 04/05/14), Strictly Sentiments 4 (available 04/05/14) // Inks: Appletini Dye Ink, Bloomsberry Dye Ink, Wild Mango Dye Ink, Sweet Nectar Dye Ink // Cardstock: White

Speaking of techniques...I can not get enough of them lately! I find myself going through what seems like reams of paper just experimenting and trying new things. Which is how I ended up with the next two cards.

First up, how about some water coloring? These images are perfect for it!

Say what?!

I am in love with how this little cheat resembles an actual water color painting! And it is so easy. I stamped my images in Peeled Paint and Fired Brick Distress Inks onto 140lb water color paper. Then I used water and a paint brush to paint over the images. The negative lines in the five petal flower created the perfect amount of break in the color. Once the initial wash was dried, I came back in and added some additional washes of color with a brush.

The centers of the flowers were added using the same technique with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. For the sentiment, I knew I needed something big and bold. The largest "hello" from Hand Lettered Hello fit the bill. I will formally introduce that one tomorrow.

To finish it off, I distressed the bottom edge of the water color paper with edge of my scissors and adhered it to a Soft Honeydew card base.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Spring Blooms (available 04/05/14), Hand Lettered Hello (available 04/05/14) // Cardstock: Soft Honeydew

My next card is the product of another experiment.

I've shown you guys how to use the Copic Colorless Blender to faux water color with our inks. That got me wondering if possibly they had similar properties...could you use them with the colored Copics as well. You know, lay down your base color with a solid stamped image, and then add deeper shades to add definition and detail?

Well this was the result:

Now, I've used Copics with other inks before. But the Copic color just lays on top of the ink. With our PureCOLOR dye inks, they actually blend together for a smooth blended transition. And, since you can blend them, you can manipulate the shape. The poppy-like flowers were created using the rounded flowers in Spring Blooms.

I die cut all of my pieces from white card stock using the Spring Blooms Companion Die. I then stamped the flowers with our Sweet Nectar dye ink, and stamped the different leaves with Old Gold and Appletini. I allowed them to dry completely and then started added additional color and details using a few Copics.

I didn't want to take away from the flowers, so I finished this one off very simply. I added some white wood embossing to the background. Once I had stamped the wood and added the embossing powder, I took a brush and knock off an area to stamp my sentiment and then created some irregular edges as well. Then I heat embossed as usual.

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Spring Blooms (available 04/05/14), Strictly Sentiments 4 (available 04/05/14), Dockside Backgrounds // Inks: Appletini Dye Ink, Old Gold Dye Ink, Sweet Nectar Dye Ink // Dies: Spring Blooms Companion Die (available 04/05/14) // Cardstock: White

So there you have Day 1, I hope that you have enjoyed today's products. I still have more, but I'll be sharing them in videos later this month.

How about a giveaway? Are you ready for a chance to win today's featured products: Strictly Sentiments 4, Spring Blooms and the Spring Booms Companion Die? Just leave a comment by 9:00 AM EST April 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!