New Stamps Coming In December

I know the blog has been very quiet lately and I apologize. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. More often than not, this is because I am focusing on other areas of Wplus9; the website, product development, new product research, and/or administrative stuff.

Some of you may have noticed a lot of small changes happening regularly over at the storefront. There is still more to come, but here are a few things we have been working on:

In order to streamline our important communication channels, we have started posting all announcements in the "Recent News" section on the website and enabled you to subscribe to the RSS Feeds for all announcements. You can find this in the left hand column on the main page as well as in the footer of every page of the website. Again, all important announcements will always be posted here. For example, the message below:

Every now and then we have to do a little planning and reorganizing. In order to keep things running smoothly here in the Studio and to create the best possible shopping experience for you, we will not be releasing any new stamps this November 2011. Instead, we have been focusing on cleaning up the website and making progress on new product research and planning. Exciting things ahead!

But not to worry, we already have our December release here in the Studio and it will be one sweet Valentine's Day! The Design Team and I are sure that you will love the December 2011 release, including 3 new stamp sets and 3 new steel rule dies.

Thanks!
Dawn

We have also enabled a "quick-cart" when shopping. Now, when you add an item to your cart, instead of going directly to your cart and having to navigate back to continue shopping, a pop-up window will display confirming that the selected item was added to your cart. You then have the option to continue shopping without ever leaving the current page you are on or continue through to your cart and checkout. We hope you find this to be a much more pleasant user experience.

Along with some of the functional areas of the website, we have made some aesthetic changes as well. These changes incorporate the look and feel of our new packaging.

We have also made a lot of progress in areas that I can't quite share yet, but we are working on a couple of exciting things for 2012. I will share more when everything is final.

So, even though we will not be releasing any new product for November, we are proactively making improvements internally to ensure that we continue to bring you quality products in a timely manner for an enjoyable experience. I will be back this week with some new Design Clip videos. It's been a while and I was a bit rusty, so they need a bit LOT of editing!

I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween! Thanks again for all of your support!

October 2011 Release Day

It's Release Day! All of our October 2011 stamps are now available for purchase at www.wplus9.com. If you missed the release, you can start here to catch up.

Release Day is also Group post day. I visit the Design Team every day of the release, but Release Day is reserved with one last parting project from each of the ladies, that I get the pleasure of showcasing.

Lea Lawson

Do you see all of the detail captured on this one card? Notice the very subtle layering of images down the center vertical strip? The glitter added to the mittens? And the pom-poms?! Seriously, she had me at the pom-poms.

Savitri Wilder

I always enjoy the simplicity of Savitri's cards. Though they seem simple, I am always drawn to how every piece has a purpose and is strategically placed to create balance and guide the eye, always allowing the focal point to shine.

Cristina Kowalczyk

Holy masking batman! There she goes again! I love the way she's masked off a tree and used Fair Isle Backgrounds to create a Christmas tree. And did you see the "star" at the top?!

Jean Martin

The addition of bright pink to this soft color combo is amazing. I love how Jean's used the gold ribbon to compliment the gold embossed frame.

Kerrianne Gwin

Kerrianne shows us how to get a big impact with minimal supplies. The inked edges of each heart helps define each one without using too much color. Simple and sweet.

Thanks so much for joining us for this festive release!

October 2011 Release Day 4

It's time for the full reveal. Time to show you the sets we are releasing this month in their entirety. All products will be available for purchase on October 5th at www.wplus9.com.

Fair Isle Backgrounds

Details

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 10 stamps; 7 background building strips and 3 individual background building images
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $19

Winter Wishes

Details

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 10 stamps; 7 images and 3 sentiments
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $13

Christmas Wishes

Details

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 14 stamps; 1 large frame, 5 accent images, and 8 sentiment builders
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $13

Dear Santa

• is a 3x4 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 3 stamps
• will be a FREE GIFT with every order $30 and over during the month of October; will be available for purchase November 1st for just $6

I sincerely want to thank everyone for the kind words and excitement you have shared here with me over the last couple of days. I can't thank you enough. But, I can do one more giveaway. Want to win the entire release? Just leave a comment by 10:00 PM EST TONIGHT October 4th to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here by 11:00 PM EST.

Good luck!

October 2011 Release Day 3

Can you believe it's Day 3 of our October Release already?! I have been having so much fun sharing our release with you so far. I really had such a good time playing with these stamps. But it's not over yet. I still have one more to share with you, and this one's a little bit different:

Dear Santa

• is a 3x4 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 3 stamps
• will be a FREE gift with every order $30 and over during the month of October; will be available for purchase November 1st for just $6

Yes, that's right! This little number will be included as a FREE GIFT with every purchase $30 and over during the ENTIRE month of October (while supplies last). Dear Santa is great for creating lists, using on scrapbook pages, mini-albums, and even cards...like my first project.

I just had to pair it with A Pocketful! And of course, there's that Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey) patterned paper again. I started with a notebook die cut (Papertrey Ink) and stamped the "Christmas List" header image in blue.

I stamped the image again in red and used the small Marvy Uchida punch to cut out just the center fair isle poinsettia image. I adhered the note to the card base and added the pocket over top using some foam tape. This card really makes me yearn for colder weather. Although I will most likely have to wait until January, I am so ready.

This next project is perfect for adding your journaling to those Christmas layouts. And as simple as simple can get!

I stamped our numbered list from Class Act and topped it with the "Dear Santa" sentiment from Dear Santa. From start to finish? Oh, about 4 minutes including clean up.

Next up, how about some little notebooks for the little ones to create some wish lists?

Thanks to inspiration from the incredible Christina, these were actually very easy. I started by cutting several plain printer paper into 3x5.5" pages to use for the note pad (about 10-15 sheets). For the top binding, I cut a sturdy piece of cardstock to 3x4" and scored it at 2" and again at 2 1/8" as shown below.

This creates a little nook to hold the paper and folds over the sheets of paper neatly. I stamped my "Wish List" image onto the front.

For the blue one, I created a wrap-around cover that tucks closed under the patterned paper strip on the front. I cut the cover to 3" wide x 8 3/4" long and scored it at 5 1/2" and 5 5/8".

I stamped the outside cover with the star from So 80's and the inside with the "Name & Age" journaling spot from Class Act.

For Carter's, I cut one gray piece of cardstock at 7 3/4" x 3 1/4" and scored it at 5 5/8" and again at 5 3/4" and wrapped it over. I stamped the front cover with the "Wish List" sentiment, and cover the inside of the back with some more of that Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey) paper. He just loves it, and couldn't wait to use it, as you can see!

And that wraps up Day 3 for me. But wait! The design team has more:

• Elise Durenberger
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jinny Newlin - hosting a challenge!
• Kerrianne Gwin - hosting a challenge!
• Lea Lawson - hosting a challenge!
• Savitri Wilder
• Jean Martin

I really hope you have enjoyed our little previews so far. I will be back tomorrow with the full reveal. In the meantime, would you like to win Dear Santa and Class Act? Just leave a comment by 9:00 AM EST October 4rd to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

Don't forget, the fun continues tomorrow with the full reveal and a chance to win the entire release!

October 2011 Release Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of our October 2011 Release. Thank you for all of the wonderful comments yesterday, I am so excited over the enthusiasm for this release. If you missed Day 1, be sure to catch up here to see what I'm talking about. There is still a little time to enter to win our first 2 sets from this release.

Today, we are taking a look at another wonderful holiday classic, Christmas Wishes.

Christmas Wishes

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 14 stamps; 1 large frame, 5 accent images, and 8 sentiment builders
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $13

I had so much fun creating with this set. I was able to mix and match it with a few of our previous sets to create a ton of different projects. Let's start with a warm homespun card.

Sigh...I just love this card. Want to hear a secret? I accidentally sewed it closed! Yep...I sure did. Oops. So I've decided to display it in a shadow box instead (at least until my mom steals it, that is). I started this card by stamping the friend definition background strip from Defining Words in Versamark onto white cardstock.

I stamped it unevenly around the edges, leaving the middle open and dusted it randomly with gold Perfect Pearls before inking the edges.

This made a great background to stamp the beautifully flourished vintage frame from today's set onto. This frame has the perfect classic and vintage feel to it. It reminds me of those old wrought iron signs that hung from posts.

This set comes with a ton of images and sentiments to mix and match together to fill the frame with. Here, I add the holly image and the "Holly Jolly" main sentiment, then added the "Christmas" sentiment in the little nook at the bottom of the frame.

I add some paper from Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey), wrapped the panel with twine and then tucked some lace underneath before stitching to the card base (and forever sealing the card!). Notice the little postage stamps? More on how I created those a little further down.

Next up, another one layer mail-friendly card. This one is gender neutral with a little more vibrant color scheme featuring more of that great Nordic Holiday paper from Basic Grey. Can you tell I like it.a.lot?

This one is super fast. I started by stamping the frame in blue onto white cardstock and adding my image and main sentiment.

I then added the rest of my sentiment. I wanted to show you a close up of the "Wishing You A" stamp.

I have included this onto one stamp, leaving the perfect spacing to line it up on either side of the circle. Now it will be perfectly lined up every time. And, there is plenty of room between them to ink them separately if you wish.

Ready to change gears, and go a little softer? I loved the color combination of the green, wine and pink so much...that I just had to revisit it.

This one reminds me of a patchwork quilt and it was so easy! Want to see how? I started by using the Martha Stewart Postage punch to punch some little stamps from white cardstock. I used our Postmarked set to add some faux postage and postage marks.

The images in Christmas Wishes can be used without the frame are perfect for adding accent images for that finishing touch. I added the small sentiments "Christmas" "Wishes" to the last postage stamp.

I punched more stamps from some patterned paper in coordinating colors and inked all of the edges before adhering to a Kraft panel. I decided to finish the inside of the card with my all time favorite sentiment from the Classic Christmas set and topped it with another image from Christmas Wishes.

Before stitching the kraft panel down, I used the single dotted journaling line from Pile It On to add the grid. I adhered the whole thing to the front of rustic white cardstock using foam tape so that I could hide the hole where I attached the seam binding. This little card is 4x4 making it a perfect size to add to a gift bag or even to tie around the neck of a bottle of wine or champagne.

I have one more project to share with you today. This one is very traditional both in color, and in feel. I used yet more of the Nordic Holiday paper to create a matching tag and card.

For the card, I stamped the "Happy Holidays" sentiment from Christmas Wishes onto a cream strip of cardstock and flanked it with an accent image also from Christmas Wishes. I used foam tape to adhere this over a Label Layers 3 die cut stamped with a frame image from Very Vintage Greetings. I adhered that to a strip of cardstock which I cut a decorative edge using a Spellbinders die.

For the inside, I used the same sentiment as above and added some holly from Christmas Wishes on opposite corners.

The tag was simple as well. I used the same technique I used in the first card to prepare the tag base. I added some odds and ends, and finished it by splitting the "Merry Christmas" sentiment from Christmas Wishes between two tags from the Le Cirque stamp set.

Whew! Can you believe how versatile this set is? I really hope you've enjoyed today's set so far. But don't worry, there is still more from the talented Design Team:

• Elise Durenberger
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jinny Newlin - hosting a challenge!
• Kerrianne Gwin - hosting a challenge!
• Lea Lawson - hosting a challenge!
• Savitri Wilder
• Jean Martin

Would you like to win Christmas Wishes? Just leave a comment by 9:00 AM EST October 3rd to enter. Do you like to see lots of projects with lots of pictures during release week, or do you prefer just a couple with fewer pictures? I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

Don't forget, the fun continues tomorrow with another set, hope you will join us again!

October 2011 Release Day 1

Hello! Happy World Card Making Day! Not only is it WCMD, it's that time again...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 October 5th at www.wplus9.com.

Today we are kicking off Day 1 of our October Release with a bang! We have 4 new stamp sets to introduce this month, and they are all centered around the winter season. When it comes to Christmas in this industry, it's very difficult to conceptualize something that isn't already over-saturated in the market. But, we have done it! Now, I can't claim that there isn't anything else like these out there, but they are certainly uncommon. I am very proud to introduce Fair Isle Backgrounds and Winter Wishes.

Fair Isle Backgrounds

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 10 stamps; 7 background building strips and 3 individual background building images
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $19

Winter Wishes

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 10 stamps; 7 images and 3 sentiments
• will be available for purchase October 5th for just $13

Today's first card totally focuses on the wonderful patterns that can be created with Fair Isle Backgrounds.

I started by stamping several patterns onto white cardstock. There are so many different possible combinations with this set that I don't think I'll ever bore with it.

Although most of our background stamps are just over 5.5 inches long to accommodate a standard card base, I should mention that 2 of the more intricate patterns in this set are just under 5.5 inches long. Once I had all of my patterns created, I created the sentiment strip. I used a sentiment from Poinsettia Patterns and flanked it with one of the single images included in Fair Isle Backgrounds.

To finish, I inked all of the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and stitched them together before adhering to a Kraft card base. I just love how warm and rustic this card is, and though it is technically one layer, flat, and mail-friendly...it is by no means boring.

Next up, I guess you could call this the girly version.

I started the same way as last time, creating my background panel using different fair isle patterns. I'm telling you, these are so easy to use, and create the most amazing backgrounds, borders, and accents!

Those cute mittens and sentiment are from Winter Wishes. I stamped the mittens three times in row, and then added the little string image also included in the set. Notice how the patterns match the Fair Isle Backgrounds? I just love them. I added little brads to hang them from. Another flat embellishment, making this card pretty mail friendly!

I added the sentiment by cutting a die cut from our Label Layers 1 Die in half and tucking it under the focal panel before stitching. I am so in love with that font!

Now, let's take a closer look at Winter Wishes. First up, I wanted to use these cute little clothespins that my mother found for me.

I just love how this card turned out, and it happens to be Hunter's favorite. This set comes with the most fantastic fair isle patterned medallions. Our Mehndi Medallions set was so popular, that I just knew I wanted to do a follow up set. If you are a fan, you will love these. I started by stamping one of the medallions onto the top and lower edge of a piece of patterned paper from the Mischievous Collection (My Mind's Eye).

In the center of this, I added a strip of Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey) patterned paper and stitched in place.

For the focal image, I added a cute pair of those mittens to hang from a "clothesline". This time I used a simple piece of crochet thread.

Finally, for my last card, I wanted to let those medallions shine.

I created my background by stamping several of the medallions in blue, red, navy, and gray onto white cardstock.

The sentiment was added directly over another medallion stamped in blue. And of course, another pair of those cute mittens hanging from a button to finish it off. Love.

I can't express enough how versatile and fun these stamps are to use. Fair Isle Backgrounds is a great staple set, perfect for winter, baby, and any quilting/knitting themes. It's great for adding a warm and homey feeling to any project. The sentiments in Winter Wishes are generic enough to be used all winter long in addition to those Holiday/Christmas cards. You know me, I'm all about classic staples and tend to shy away from those overly trendy or cutesy items. A little can't hurt, but I'm always thinking about stamps that will last the test of time.

Want to see more? Head on over for a visit with the Design Team to see what they've been up to. They all have their own unique styles and some of the girls are celebrating World Card Making Day with contests complete with Wplus9 prizes, you won't want to miss it!

• Elise Durenberger
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jinny Newlin - on vacation this week
• Kerrianne Gwin
• Lea Lawson
• Savitri Wilder
• Jean Martin

So, have we turned you into a Fair Isle fan? Would you like to win Fair Isle Backgrounds, and Winter Wishes! Just leave me a comment by 9:00 AM EST October 2nd telling me what you are most excited about from today's previews to enter. I will select one random winner from all comments. Winners will be posted here.

The fun continues tomorrow with another must have set, see you then!

Project Supplies

Joy To You & Yours
Stamps: Fair Isle Backgrounds available 10/5/11, Poinsettia Patterns (Wplus9)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Purely Pomegranate, Not Quite Navy (Stampin' Up! dye ink); Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap (Tim Holtz Distress)
Cardstock: Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink)

Sending Warm Winter Wishes
Stamps: Fair Isle Backgrounds, Winter Wishes available 10/5/11 (Wplus9)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Purely Pomegranate (Stampin' Up! dye ink); Antique Linen (Tim Holtz Distress)
Cardstock: Rustic White (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Label Layers 1 Die

Warmest Winter Wishes
Stamps: Fair Isle Backgrounds, Winter Wishes available 10/5/11 (Wplus9)
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up! dye ink); White acrylic paint
Cardstock: White, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey); Mischievous (My Minds Eye); Doily (Wilton)
Other: Label Layers 2 (Wplus9); Buttons, twine (Papertrey Ink)

Warm Wishes
Stamps: Fair Isle Backgrounds, Winter Wishes available 10/5/11 (Wplus9)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up! dye ink); Smoky Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey); Doily (Wilton)
Other: buttons, twine (Papertrey Ink); crochet thread from stash)