Hello, and welcome back to another day of previews! We are going to continue taking a look at all of the new products that will be available for purchase beginning August 5, 2016. If you are just joining us, be sure to check out Day 1 as well.
Today, I wanted to give a you look at the upcoming All Year Cheer stamp set and companion die.
AVAILABLE AUGUST 5, 2016

All Year Cheer
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$15 USD
All Year Cheer Companion Die
Steel Rule Die
$15 USD
Today we are getting back to basics with some good ole' stamping. If you are a purist stamper at heart, you are going to love this set! Don't get me wrong, you can certainly pull out your bag of tricks and techniques...but you don't have to. A little ink is all you need. And maybe your dies if you just can't resist.
How cute are they? Here I stamped the tree branch and leaves directly onto my base panel along with the sentiment and a few of the littlest flowers included in the set. I then stamped and die cut the larger flowers to add to my branches.
As the name implies - All Year Cheer - you could swap out any of the elements here to make a card appropriate for Spring through Winter.
These multi-step stamped birds (say that threes times real fast!) are simply sweet. They have each have 4 main stamps to build them. I like to stamp their bellies first, then their heads. If you are die-cutting them, I advise doing that now, and then adding their legs. Their eyes and beaks are all contained on the same stamp, so you can stamp them all in the same color, or do selective inking.
Next up, I wanted to show you how well this set coordinates with the previously released Summer Blooms stamp set.
I started with the branches and leaves again and then added some of the smaller flowers from Summer Blooms for my "background". I did a little ombre action on this one by stamping the flowers first in Bloomsberry and then over stamping with a little Cockleshell on the lower half of each flower.
I used the same inking for the bird with a twist. Start by stamping off Falling For Blue on scratch paper, then ink the stamp (without cleaning it) with Lake House, then stamp. Now ink the top portion of the stamp again with Falling For Blue and over-stamp.
To separate him and his branch from the background flowers, I stamped and die cut his branch and those little pink rose-like flowers, also from All Year Cheer.
For my last sample today, I wanted to showcase those fall leaves in the set.
You knew I was creating a wreath. I mean come on, I'm kind of obsessed with wreaths! But how could I not?
For these, I did all of my die cutting first and then stamped my leaves using Gala Red, Pumpkin Spice, Last Leaf, and Hayride. Even though these are open dies, meaning you can stamp first and then die cut, I find it much faster to die cut a bunch and then stamp them. They are very easy to line up and if they are just a bit "off"...it's handmade.
For the details on my bird, I added a little shading by way of stippling with Copic Markers. I stamped the bird in Lake House and Hayride/Pumpkin Spice inks (using the same technique referenced above - stamp off the Pumpkin Spice and then ink with Hayride). I finished him off by adding a little reflection in his eye using a White gel pen.
To create the gradient background, I used Post-It tape to mask the edges of my panel and then ink blended the background using Hayride and Pumpkin Spice. To create the "watermarks", I used a paint brush to flick splatters of Copic Blending solution onto the panel. The Copic Blending Solution will "bleach" and push our inks away leaving the water drop effect.
That's it for today. I hope you love this set as much as I do. I have more to share with you so be sure to come back tomorrow!
Giveaway Alert
Would you like to win a $25 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 9:00 a.m. EST on 08/03/16 to enter and we will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Winners page by noon on 08/03/16.