Deck The Halls With Kara

Hi Guys! I'm continuing to build up my holiday card stash. I saw a friend on Instagram has already finished all of hers. I've got a little bit of work ahead of me. Lucky for me, it's my favorite kind of work!

For this card I decided to give an older set a fresh new look by pairing it with the Clear Cut Stackers Hexagons. These hexagons add a modern twist to any set! I decided to use Festive Greetings because this string of lights is so fun and easy to color. When creating many cards for a holiday I want each one to be special, but not too time consuming to create. This is just that!

I started with a white panel and die cut three hexagons in a staggered pattern. That left a large white space at the bottom right, perfect for my sentiment. On another white panel I stamped the string of lights three times. I was careful while stamping to make sure the lights would show through the hexagon windows.

I colored the lights with Copic markers and clear Wink of Stella. Before I popped the die cut panel up on dimensional adhesive over the holiday lights I added a few hanging down from the windows. I felt it needed just a bit more so I used the die cut hexagons that were left over and stamped some lights on them. I popped them up as well and had three layers of dimension and shimmering lights!

This is another card design that is very easy to recreate and mass produce. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Big Rainbow Blended Smiles

Hi, it's Maureen here with a happy little card for you on this Saturday morning. The new Happy Birds stamp set definitely puts a big smile on my face. What about you?

Wplus9 Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Birds , Festive Greetings// Inks: Black // Dies: Sunshine Layers Die, Love Showers Die // Cardstock: White, Black

I'm a big fan of the clean and graphic look.  I love to contrast black and white with pops of color, like I've done here. I started by die cutting a piece of white card stock using the Sunshine Layers die. Then I blended Distress Inks over it to make a bright background. Knowing that the rest of my card would be all black and white, I really wanted this background to pop. I stamped the sentiment and images and then die cut them and added them to the panel with foam tape. Before finishing the card, I used a Copic Multiliner pen to draw stitch lines around the focal panel. This simple technique helped to bring the whole design together.

I almost forgot to mention this little detail...I wanted my bird to look like he was flying or jumping for joy, so I flipped through my WPlus9 stamp set and found this stamp from the Festive Greetings stamp set. I think it's perfect !

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a happy day!

VIDEO: Colored Stamping on Kraft

Hello! Today I'm sharing one basic design with three different looks all using the Little Bits and Festive Greetings stamp sets.

The first card features colored stamping on Kraft cardstock. I used to create with Kraft a lot - I mean A LOT. But I have been really into color lately. By using this technique, I can have the best of both worlds!

Watch above or in HD at YouTube

By stamping the image first in white and then over-stamping the image again in color, I was able to maintain a color more true to the ink.

I really loved this simple design, so I decided to try it in a couple different versions as well.

The gorgeous color combo of Sweet Nectar, Lake House, and Old Gold looks amazing on white.

I heat embossed the sentiment in gold and added a sprinkling of Pretty Pink Posh Sequins to dress it up.

Then I wanted to try a more monochromatic color combination.

I added pops of silver and gold along with a little twine to this one.

I think you could use the other images in Little Bits (hearts for love - stars for birthday - sequins for congratulations) and switch out the sentiments for just about any occasion. Talk about versatile!

Featured Supplies

Wplus9 Little Bits 3x4 Stamp Set Wplus9 Festive Greetings 4x6" Stamp Set Wplus9 Basic Banners Die Wplus9 Premium Kraft Cardstock Wplus9 PURE COLOR White Pigment Ink Wplus9 Lake House PURE COLOR Dye Ink Pad Wplus9 Sweet Nectar PURE COLOR Dye Ink Wplus9 Old Gold PURE COLOR Dye Ink *Tsukineko Ink Pad 10 SPONGE DAUBERS Rubber Stamp *Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD *WOW Embossing Powder OPAQUE BRIGHT WHITE SUPER FINE WL01SF *EK Success POWDER TOOL Applicator EKT001 *Precision Heat Embossing Emboss Tool Gun Hero Arts PW200 *EK Success CRAFT TWEEZERS Precision Tip 54-04000 *3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Permanent *Silhouette VELLUM 8.5 x 11 Paper *Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Powder Blue & Teal 657900 *PRE-ORDER Sizzix MAGNETIC PLATFORM FOR WAFER-THIN DIES Accessory 656499

InLinkz.com

Holiday 2014 Release Preview

Are you ready for the Wplus9 Holiday 2014 Release? We have lots of new products hitting the stores on October 5, 2014. But before they officially go on sale we are going to spend the next couple of days previewing all of the new stamps and dies and showing you some fun ways to use them. You can find all of the new products at the bottom of this post.

Remember, the entire Holiday 2014 release will be available for purchase beginning October 5th at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers.

We have two new sets that are a little different from our usual style. I don't normally do "cute". I can illustrate it, but I usually have trouble executing the images into a card design. So, I decided to tackle those first. You know? To get them "out of the way" in case I had trouble.

Oh how wrong I was!

I had SO much fun with Merry Little Christmas and Merriest Wishes! These sets feature three elves - Rebecca Elf, Hunter Elf and Carter Elf - they are a playful little bunch and a blast to color. I used Copic markers for both of my examples today.

I colored Rebecca Elf in bright colors for a non traditional Christmas color scheme. I decided she needed a little sparkle to her outfit and used a white gel pen to add a "sequin" shimmer.

I decided to go with the playful vibe of the image and turn this into a shaker card using a ton of Pretty Pink Posh sequins. This was super easy thanks to the new Holiday Apertures Die also being released. I did not have this use in mind when I designed this die, but let me tell you...this is one versatile die!

Wouldn't this be a fun Holiday card for a little princess?

Next up, a fun card in traditional colors featuring Hunter Elf. I stamped the main image of Hunter sitting on an ornament, masked him and then added several more ornaments using the single ornament stamp included in the set.

Again, I colored everything using Copic markers and added some shimmer to the large red ornament using a clear Wink of Stella pen. It's not really showing up too well in the photos, but it is so pretty in real life and really adds the extra little "something" to the design.

I finished the card off with a sentiment also included in this set and adhered the panel directly to a Cupid's Bow card base. This font combo is one of my new favorites. It can easily go from cute and playful to more modern and trendy.

I have one more card to share with you today. This one features the Festive Greetings stamp set paired with more Copic coloring.

This is another one of those sets that can stretch across several genres. Today's example is bright and colorful.

I started by stamping the main large "Jingle" sentiment and then stamped the separate string of lights directly over it. Next I stamped three additional single bulbs on separate paper and colored them. I cut them out, adhered them over the bulbs that were overlapping the greeting, and finished coloring the rest of the bulbs. I wanted the lights to look entwined in the sentiment. Looking at the photos, I probably should have left the blue bulb behind the "J".

To help reinforce the look of a "glow", I used a Q-Tip to apply a very light halo of chalk pastels around each bulb in their respective colors. The finished panel was adhered to a Black card base. Flat and perfect for mailing!

I really hope you enjoyed today's cards. Sometimes going outside of your comfort zone can be a lot of fun! I'll have more featuring these sets, including a video, a little later this week. If there's anything you'd like to see a video on or more information about the featured cards today, be sure to leave it in the comments below.

I'll be back tomorrow more to share!

Design Team Inspiration

• Kara Vrabel - Be sure to stop by and see Kara Vrabel, she is featuring several of the new release items, including Winter Woodland and Snowflake Backdrops - demonstrating how well everything can be used together.
• Joni Nina Andaya - And Joni is sharing more of Merriest Wishes and Merry Little Christmas!

Holiday 2014 Release - available 10/05/14

Photopolymer Clear Stamps

Merriest Wishes
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Merry Little Christmas
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Winter Woodland
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Snowflake Backdrops
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Snowflake Backdrops
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Twenty Fifteen
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Strictly Sentiments 6
3x4" Clear Stamp Set
$6 USD

Hand Lettered Holiday
3x4" Clear Stamp Set
$6 USD

Steel Rule Dies

Hand Lettered Hello Die
$6 USD

Holiday Apertures
$16 USD

Landscape Borders Die
$12 USD

Snowflake Trio Die
$7 USD

Stag Trio Die
$12 USD

Winter Woodland Companion Die
$9 USD

Giveaway Alert

So what do you think? Would you like to win the Merry Little Christmas and Festive Greetings stamp sets before you can buy them? Would you like to see more sets like these from Wplus9 in the future? Just leave a comment below by 10:00 a.m. EST on 10/02/14 to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Releaser Winners page by noon.

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!