Entire August Release Winner

Tonight's the night! The Wplus9 August Release will be available for purchase tonight at midnight at www.wplus9.com. But before then, I wanted to announce the winner of the entire August Release.

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August 2010 Release Winner Day 3: Entire August Release

Jinny Newlin who said:
These are fantastic! I LOVE your attention to detail! You get in lots of little stamps to make such perfectly coordinated, complete, stamp sets. Those sentiments are great, too! So many UNIQUE sentiments to choose from!

Congratulations Jinny! Contact me at dawn@wplus9.com with your address so I can get these into the mail for you!

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I also wanted to take a minute to welcome all of you who are discovering Wplus9 for the first time. I saw a lot of new names in the comments this month and am thrilled to welcome you. Thank you so much for leaving comments and for supporting me. There are a ton of talented stamp designers out there and anytime I can inspire you or catch your attention...it is truly an honor.

August 2010 Sneak Peek Day 3: Full Reveal

It's Day 3 of the August Release, the moment you've been waiting for, the full reveal. Introducing the newest additions to the Wplus9 Design Studio. All sets will be available for purchase on Sunday, August 8th at www.wplus9.com.

Guiding Light

Details

Set of 17 high-quality photo-polymer stamps;
2 sentiments and 15 images
Full Set Dimensions: 6x8
Price: $19

Guiding Light Sentiments

Details

Set of 9 high-quality photo-polymer stamps;
9 sentiments that coordinate with Guiding Light
Full Set Dimensions: 4x6
Price: $10

Magical Moments

Details

Set of 13 high-quality photo-polymer stamps;
4 sentiments and 9 images
Full Set Dimensions: 6x8
Price: $19

Design Basics: Backgrounds II

Details

Set of 3 high-quality photo-polymer stamps;
3 background building images that coordinate with Magical Moments
Full Set Dimensions: 4x6
Price: $10

Still undecided? The design team has more samples to share with you today.

• Elise Durenberger
• Hannah Craner
• Heather Pulvirenti
• Kerrianne Gwin
• Maile Belles
• Savitri Wilder

And now for the BIG giveaway. Want to win the entire August Release? Just leave a comment by 9:00 pm tonight and I will select one random winner. Tell us what you loved about this release. Or what you'd like to see more of.

And we'll all be back tomorrow for Group Post Day with new samples from the August Release. Hope to "see" you here.

August 2010 Sneak Peek Day 2: Magical Moments

Welcome back to day 2 of the August Release. From the look of it, there are a lot of lighthouse fans and there, and some of you may just become fans. And did you see the rest of the design team's samples? Swoon! I loved reading all of your comments and I hope you will enjoy today's sets just as much as I do.

If you liked the popular Mehndi Medallions, you will love "Magical Moments". "Magical Moments" is a gorgeous indie vibe set where peacocks steal the show. But I didn't stop there, I've also created another installment of backgrounds to perfectly compliment the set.

Magical Moments

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 13 stamps; 4 sentiments, and 9 images
• will be available for purchase August 8th for just $19

Design Basics: Backgrounds II

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 3 coordinating background building images
• will be available for purchase August 8th for just $10

So let's get started shall we? This whole set plays around one shape and is repeated in almost every image, let's see if you can find it. For my first card I started by stamping the medallion image onto a strip of Chartreuse (PTI) cardstock and embossed them in black. I wrapped the strip with a simple white satin bow.

I repeated the same medallion on either side of the strip on the card base in Scarlet Jewel (PTI), leaving only half of the medallion peeking out from underneath. Now the part that I really love about this card is the visual effect that was created by layering the white border punched strip on either side directly over the medallions. When I saw this Martha Stewart punch a couple of months ago I snagged it up. I just knew it would be perfect for this set.

To finish the card, I added one of the lotus flowers, leaves and sentiment, all included in the set. I didn't start this card with a wedding theme in mind...but it kind of ended up being a perfect non-traditional wedding card.

Next up is the star of the show, a gorgeous peacock with some very stylized plumage. This is one of the two peacocks included in the set, not your typical peacock by far, but I love that stylized flourish of feathers!

I started by stamping the peacock and sentiment onto a Spellbinders Label die. The feathers spilling out from underneath the label are actually a separate stamp. I've included a little flourish of feathers in the set as well, which is perfect for accenting the peacock or using alone.

This image is large and detailed enough that really much else wasn't needed to complete this card. A tiny bit of glitter and rhinestones were just enough to take it over the top.

Finally, I wanted to show you "Design Basics: Backgrounds II". Even though these backgrounds coordinate perfectly with the images in "Magical Moments", I wanted to show you how well they stand on their own.

How fun is that? I stamped one of the 5.5" long background images onto Chartreuse (PTI) and Summer Sunrise (PTI) cardstock in Colorbox pigment ink in black. I folded a label die over, added a circle punch and a black button (Denami). Added my sentiment using some chipboard alphas, and done. Simple, quick, and graphic...just my style.

I am in love with the stamps in this release. The possibilities really are endless. Just check out what the rest of the design team has done.

• Elise
• Hannah
• Heather
• Kerrianne
• Maile
• Savitri

Want a chance to win both sets? Leave a comment telling me what your favorite bird is by 11:59 pm EST August 6th for a chance to win both "Magical Moments" and "Design Basics: Backgrounds II". Winners will be posted here. Be sure to stop by again tomorrow for even more samples and another chance to win.

August 2010 Sneak Peek Day 1: Guiding Light

Welcome to the August 2010 Release here at Wplus9 Design Studio. This month Wplus9 is 6 months old, and here at The Studio, we are celebrating with 4 new stamp sets! Not only will I be previewing our newest additions before they are released for sale on Aug. 8th...the entire Wplus9 Design Team will be joining me each day as well! And let me tell you, these ladies know how to work a stamp. It's definitely good stuff.

So let's get this party started shall we. Today, I'm excited to finally share with you "Guiding Light" and "Guiding Light Sentiments". First, I must confess, I have a secret love affair with lighthouses. There is something so serene and just a bit haunting about them. I used the infamous St. Augustine lighthouse as my inspiration when illustrating this set. I absolutely love that city and everything surrounding it, so rich with history (and hauntings).

Guiding Light is packed with images for building the perfect sophisticated, gender neutral, sympathy card. But we didn't stop there, pair the images with the "Guiding Light Sentiments" set for even more options.

Guiding Light

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 17 stamps; 2 sentiments, and 15 images
• will be available for purchase August 8th for just $19

Guiding Light Sentiments

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 9 sentiments
• will be available for purchase August 8th for just $10

For my first card, I thought the woodgrain background from Woodgrain Silhouettes would compliment this set perfectly.

I started by stamping the woodgrain background onto Kraft cardstock in Versamark and embossing with clear powder. Using the Spellbinders Labels 1 die, I cut a window in the center. To create my scene, I started by stamping two of the cattail images onto the bottom of a white panel. I stamped off once for some to create an illusion of depth. All around the edges I softly sponged some blue, just enough to create the hint of a sky.

This made the perfect backdrop for me to nestle in the heron image standing tall and graceful on the stump. If you've seen these birds, you know just how majestic and proud they look, so graceful and tall. All that was left was to add the sentiment from "Guiding Light Sentiments".

Lastly, I attached the white panel directly to the back of the Kraft panel and attached that to the front of my card using some foam tape.

Next up is the image that started the whole set. The beautiful lighthouse. The large lighthouse is two separate stamps; the lighthouse itself, and the stripes.

I started by stamping the lighthouse first onto cream cardstock in black ink. Then I added the stripes in deep red. To bring even more life and dimension to the image, I broke out the Copics. I love how that tower just seems to pop right off of the card.

I die cut a panel from cork using another Spellbinders label die and added some of the birds from Practicing Creativity's "Look Up" and one of the sentiments from "Guiding Light Sentiments". When stamping directly onto cork like this, if you are impatient like me, just hit it with the heat gun to speed up drying time.

For my last sample, I used just one simple starfish image from "Guiding Light" and a sentiment from "Guiding Light Sentiments".

Ah, that Thrift Shop paper from October Afternoon looks just perfect with this card. Don't you think?

Want to see more? Check out what the rest of the girls have done with these sets. But don't forget to come back and leave a comment to win!

• Elise
• Hannah
• Heather
• Kerrianne
• Maile
• Savitri

Want to win both sets? So what do you think? How do you feel about lighthouses? Hate em, love em, don't care either way? Leave a comment by 11:59 pm EST August 5th for a chance to win both "Guiding Light" and "Guiding Light Sentiments". Winners will be posted here. Thanks so much for joining us today!

CHAcago Summer SuperShow 2010

Whew, I'm back from beautiful Chicago and home in hot and sticky Florida! I've got to say that I'd forgotten how gorgeous and comfortable summer weather is outside of Florida. We do most of our northern travels during the winter, so it was great to take a break from the heat of Florida summers. And to be traveling to the CHA SuperShow to meet such fabulous and talented people was just truly the sweetest icing on the cake. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosement which faces the convention center. So turning into the hotel, our view was cause for excitement!

Once we got in, we freshened up a bit from our flight and headed over to meet Paulina and Courtney for dinner.

OMG, these girls are so much fun! Although I came for the SuperShow, this was really the highlight of the whole trip, I am so glad I got to meet them both. We had a blast just talking, getting to know each other, and goofing off. I swear it was so comfortable and I felt like I'd known them for years already. And a big plus...I got to meet Paulina's mother, Nami, who is just the sweetest woman EVER. I admire how genuine she is after 20+ years in business. Truly an inspiration!

I met so many wonderfully talented people at the show! I was so excited to get to meet everyone, including Kelly Marie (Lawn Fawn), Laurie Chilton (DeNami DT), Taylor (Taylored Expressions), Susan Opel (PaperCrafts), the PTI girls, and we even ran into Ashley Cannon Newell (Embellish Magazine) on the "L" train while out sight seeing. And of course, Ms. Dawn McVey herself. She really is a doll and extremely sweet in person.

After the show, Kerriane and I jumped on the "L" train. I tell you, I'm so proud of us, we got really good at navigating that train! There were definitely some scary characters, and some of the cars smelled like urine...but we're tough and we managed. LOL

We decided to head downtown to take in some of the night life and a little of that famous pizza. And oh yeah, it really is the best pizza I've ever had. MMMM!

We stayed at the SuperShow all day Friday, and since Kerrianne had never been to Chicago...and I was traveling sans-kids...we decided to go sight seeing Saturday.

We did all of the touristy stuff including, Millenium Park, the Magnificent Mile, and of course we hit Wicker Park on the way back to the hotel where we ate at Cafe Absinthe. I could have stayed down there all night if we didn't have such an early flight the next morning. There was a huge music festival going on and it was a great eclectic and artsy crowd. But I refrained...rescheduling a flight would have just been way too expensive. ;o)

Now I'm back home and hard at work on the August release. We have some great fun going on this month starting on the 5th! Can't wait to share it all with you!

Inside The Studio: Important Announcements

August Release

If you are wondering where the August release Sneak Peek posts are, don't worry, there will be an August Release! However, it will be delayed. Since I will be out of town at the CHA Super Show, we have pushed the release to begin with sneak peeks on August 5th.

But don't fret, August also marks Wplus9's 6 month birthday and we will be celebrating with 4 new stamp sets and lots of release sneak peeks and samples! It should be a ton of fun and I hope to see you there.

Order Delays

Also, just a quick heads up:

All orders placed July 28th-August 1st will ship on Tuesday August 2nd.

Thanks in advance for your understanding!

In the meantime, have a great weekend and I will try to schedule a couple of posts for while I am gone so that the blog isn't a ghost town.

The Cutting Cafe: Jot It Down

Happy Friday! Hope you all had a wonderful day. Mine was fantastic, progress at work, got my hair did after work, and then out to eat for all you can eat crab legs with the fam. Fantastic. I'm getting ready to watch a little Ghost Adventures with Hunter, but wanted to pop in and share a card with you.

This card uses the Jot It Down printable stamp set from The Cutting Cafe. This is a great set for scrapbooking with 43 images for creative journaling. Well, I'm not a big scrapbooker, but when I saw the "Hello my name is" image...I immediately thought of AA (don't know why, and boy is that sad!). Which in turn, made me think of being sorry. HA!! And out came this baby. Don't ask me why my twisted mind works like it does. ;o)

Thanks for stopping by, and hope your weekend is off to as good a start as mine!