Wplus9 February 2015 Release - Sending Sunshine

It's time for our first release of 2015!

As usual, I've been giving you some sneak peeks over on Instagram of our upcoming products and you all seem to be as excited about these as I am. The entire February 2015 Release will be available for purchase beginning February 5th at wplus9.com and at many of your favorite retailers as well.

Before the new products officially go on sale on February 5th, we are going to spend the next couple of days introducing all of the new stamps, dies and inks - showing you some fun ways to use them, and I've got to be honest, this release has really surprised me. I've struggled with the whole "cute" genre in the past. Well this release has a whole lotta' cute going on.

And...I LOVE it!

I am seriously having a hard time picking a favorite. I know that I shouldn't pick favorites, but I'm human too. This time it is hard. So excuse me in advance if I introduce each day as "my favorite".

Today, we are going to kick things off with my new favorite dies, a stamp set that compliments them perfectly and another die that rounds this trio out nicely.

Featured Products - Available February 05, 2015

Sending Sunshine
3x4" Clear Stamp Set
$6 USD

Sunshine Layers Die
$26 USD

Hey Hi Hello Die
$9 USD

Storybook PURE COLOR Collection

These guys are just FUN! In this first card, I've used several elements from the Sunshine Layers Die along with the Sending Sunshine stamp set. These guys are NOT a companion set, however they compliment each other perfectly.

When I was designing these, I knew that I wanted the die cuts to be detailed enough to be used stand-alone, but I still wanted to be able to accent them with stamps. So I created duplicate items in each the die and the stamps. You can use them together or alone. But you can not stamp the images onto the die cuts.

Most of the images in the Sunshine Layers Die have the trendy stitching detail on them, including the scalloped mat.

To create the rainbow, I die cut the image from white card stock and then used sponge daubers and Wplus9 PURE COLOR Dye Ink in Cranberry Crush, Wild Mango, and our newest colors releasing this month - Beanstalk and Bo Peep.

I used the same technique on the large "sunshine" die cut as well, this time using Cockleshell. To give it some weight, I cut 2 more out of white card stock and glued them all together. To add the shine, I covered the entire thing in glossy accents.

I finished off the sentiment by stamping "you are my" and "you make me happy when skies are gray" from Sending Sunshine in Memories dye ink in Black. I am just in love with the fun and quirky font in this set.

I liked the feel of this card so much that I decided to do one in a similar style but with a twist. I used several of the same elements but swapped out the rainbow for the sun also included in the die. I colored the inside of the sun using Wild Mango dye ink and the outer rays with Falling Star.

I used the same coloring technique for the "sunshine" die cut, using a sponge dauber to apply Bo Peep dye ink to white card stock. Our inks are wonderful for this technique. They apply so easily and dry so evenly that you'd never know they weren't colored card stock. The "HELLO" die cut is actually the negative space from the "Hey Hi Hello Die". I inked it in Wild Mango to make it match the inside circle of the sun.

I created the little "shaker" cloud by die cutting the smallest cloud from my panel and then again from Dove Grey card stock. I inserted the cloud outline back into place and filled the window with Martha Stewart Course Glitter. The rest of the sentiment was added in Wild Mango dye ink. This time I opted to stack the sentiment by masking off half of it when inking.

These cards are pretty different from my usual style but I just adore them. Both called for a little sprinkling of Pretty Pink Posh sequins. I think they are so much fun and they just make me smile. Which is a good thing...hopefully they'll have the same affect on their recipients!

This next card is a super clean and simple card that has a little more sophistication with a hint of whimsy.

This one was very simple to create. I masked off a square using some low tack painters tape and airbrushed the square in B00 (Frost Blue) using the Copic Airbrush System. I stamped and heat embossed a couple of clouds using the Sending Sunshine stamp set, and added a die cut cloud using the Sunshine Layers Die. I snuck in a sentiment from the Sending Sunshine stamp set and a silver embossed balloon from a set that I will share a little later this week - Unforgettable.

The Hey Hi Hello Die is one of those staple dies. Not only do you get the classic speech bubbles, but the resulting words that left over can be used as well like I shared in the card above.

But my go-to use for the speech bubble is in bold and graphic cards like this one.

I cut each of the speech bubbles from White and Sweet Gelato card stock. I inserted the resulting pink "hey" and "hi" back into their white counterparts. All of these were adhered to a card base stamped with the small dot chevron pattern from Borders & Backgrounds 4.

Finally, another favorite use for these is masking.

Here, I die cut the "Hello" speech bubble from Inkadinkado masking paper and adhered it to a white card stock panel. I then used two of the small circles from the Little Bitsstamp set and Little Piggy and Sweet Gelato dye ink. I repeatedly stamped the two circles all around the edges of the mask. I made sure to keep the stamping closer together around the edges of the mask and then gradually spread them out as I got further away. I used a Tsukineko sponge dauber to ink over the letters creating an ombre effect. These two colors are beautiful together and perfect for creating a seamless graduation of color.

That's it for me today, but now it's time to see what the Design Team has been up to. These ladies are amazing, so be sure to stop by! And if you see something you like, don't forget to leave them a little love while you're there.

Design Team Inspiration

• Joni Nina Andaya
• Kara Vrabel
• Maureen Merritt

Giveaway Alert

We can't have a release day, without a giveaway! Would you like to win the Sunshine Layers Die, the Sending Sunshine stamp set and the Hey Hi Hello Die before you can buy them? Just leave a comment below by 10:00 a.m. EST on 02/02/15 to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Releaser Winners page by noon on 02/02/15.

I'll be back again tomorrow with more of the February 2015 Release along with more chances to win, so be sure to come back. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!