May 2010 Release Day 3: Full Reveal

Welcome to Day 3 of the May Release, the moment you've been waiting for, the full reveal. Introducing the newest additions to the Wplus9 Design Studio. Both sets will be available for purchase on Saturday, May 1st at www.wplus9.com.

Kisses & Cuddles

Details
Set of 26 high-quality photo-polymer stamps;
13 sentiments, 12 images, and 1 circular label stamp.
Full Set Dimensions: 6 x 8
Price: $19

Design Basics: Backgrounds I

Details
Set of 3 high-quality photo-polymer background building stamps
Full Set Dimensions: 4 x 6
Price: $10

Thanks so much for joining me for this release, and don't forget to check the winners page here to see if you were one of the lucky winners. All winners will be posted by 12 the following day. And join us tomorrow to see what the Wplus9 Design Team has done with these adorable stamps!

May 2010 Release Day 2: Design Basics: Backgrounds I

Welcome to Day 2 of the Wplus9 Design Studio May 2010 release! Today I've got a couple of cards to show you that focus on my first background set release. I created it to coordinate with "Kisses & Cuddles", but as you'll see in my samples today, this set can also hold it's own.

• Design Basics: Backgrounds I contains 3 background building stamps
• It will be available for purchase Saturday, May 1st.
• Coordinates with "Kisses & Cuddles"

For my fist card, I decided to pull out my Cricut (for the 2nd time ever) to cut out the letter B and a couple of stars. I decided to really let the backgrounds shine here and went a bit more on the rustic side.

I absolutely love how this turned out. I took a couple of pieces of card stock in Papertrey Ink's Rustic Cream, Ripe Avocado and Spring Moss, and went to town stamping with the circle and star background builder in today's set, and added some complimentary polka dots from Papertrey Ink's Polka Dot Basics II. I also created a cute pattern using one of the single stars from the "Kisses & Cuddles" set. After I had all of them stamped I cut them into 1.5" squares and adhered them to my card front. Instead of stitching, I decided to paper pierce each square. This created a perfect base to embellish with the letter B and the stars I had cut from the Cricut. To finish it off, I added the circular label and the "Baby" sentiment from "Kisses & Cuddles".

Now this next card just makes me smile! It is fantastically fun and incredibly simple. But it sure does pack a punch.

Wow! Doesn't that just make you happy?! I used the same background image and stamped it in Stampin' Up!'s Melon Mambo, Summer Sun, and Tempting Turquoise onto Papertrey Ink's Stampers Select card stock. I added some buttons and floss and adhered to the card front using foam tape. I thought the sentiment from Practicing Creativity's "Your Dandy" was perfect for this bright cheerful card.

And finally, I wanted to share one more card with you featuring the flowered background stamp and an image and sentiment from "Kisses & Cuddles". I tried to go a little more vintage-y here, not sure I hit the mark. But hey, practice makes perfect, right?!

I used the mobile image, which is actually two separate stamps. One for the top piece and another for the dangling objects. I've included 3 for you to choose from in the set.

Are you ready to see the full sets already? Well, be sure to stop by again tomorrow and I will reveal both full sets. Thanks for making time for me today and as always, thanks for your comments!

Want to win a set? Leave me a comment by 11:59 pm EST Thursday, April 29th and I will select 1 random winner to receive Design Basics: Backgrounds I. Winners will be posted here, and will have 1 week to claim their prize.

May 2010 Release Day 1: Kisses & Cuddles

Welcome to Day 1 of the Wplus9 Design Studio May 2010 release! I will be releasing two new sets this month and they are "precious".

I have always associated the month of May with new life, maybe because it is my birth month. ;o) So this month I am bringing you the ultimate baby set and a coordinating background set! Get ready to feel fertile, because these images are adorable. Today, it's all about Kisses & Cuddles.

• Kisses & Cuddles contains 26 stamps; 12 sentiments, 13 images, and 1 circular label stamp.
• It will be available for purchase Saturday, May 1st.
• Coordinates with Design Basics: Backgrounds I

For my fist card I used the bunny image and paired it with the "Kisses, Cuddles, Giggles and Hugs..." sentiment. When I was a little girl, I used to help my mother make these gorgeous Victorian bunnies out of burlap. I remember picking out the materials for the ornate dresses she would sew and pinning down the patterns. For little girls and boys we would pick out soft patterned flannel and cotton materials instead of burlap. It is one of my favorite childhood memories.

Since I am still a bit Copic challenged, I decided to paper-piece the image. It reminds me more of the one I had as a little girl this way anyway. (OK, so I didn't give it up until I was 15...seriously, it was quite sad). I stamped the bunny in brown onto some old Stampin' Up! patterned paper and fussy cut it out. Then for the insides of her hands and feet I used Papertrey Ink's Aqua Mist cardstock.

For the background panel I pulled out my much neglected Big Shot and used one of Stampin' Up! texture plates. I inked the edges of the focal panel a bit, matted it on Aqua Mist, and added a huge bow. I think this is one of the most elegant baby cards I've ever seen. And then the sentiment adds the perfect touch of "baby-ness".

In this next card, you get a glimpse of one of the background patterns from tomorrow's set. Keeping with the Victorian feel, I studied pictures of old Pram's, looking at the shape, the handles, and the wheels to make sure I captured the correct styling.

I couldn't be happier with the results. I decided not to take the "easy" way out here and colored the pram using Copics. Go easy on me...I'm learning. ;o) But none-the-less, when the images are this cute, it's hard to mess it up! Oh, and if I can just say, I think I've found a new favorite color combo. Here I've used Papertrey Ink's Stampers Select, and Spring Rain paired with Stampin' Up!'s Regal Rose. Love it. And that yummy flower:

I have to thank Rosemarie for her fabulous tutorial! Mine is no where near as gorgeous as hers, you really have to see it. And her tutorial is very easy to follow.

So what do you think so far? Hopefully you feel a little inspired. I will be showing you the second set tomorrow, and revealing both sets in their entirety on Friday before they are available at midnight.

Want to win a set? Leave me a comment by 11:59 pm EST Wednesday April 28th and I will select 1 random winner to receive Kisses & Cuddles. Winners will be posted here, and will have 1 week to claim their prize.

One Layer Challenge via Kristina Werner

I have a quick post tonight, as I have dishes and laundry waiting, and I still haven't eaten dinner. The wonderfully talented Kristina Werner challenged us to create a one layer card. So here is my take:

I have been dying to use this set, "You're Dandy" by Practicing Creativity Designs, and this was the PERFECT opportunity. I created a circle mask in the center and used the handy little guide included in the set to line up the rays. Once I was finished stamping, I peeled away the mask, stamped my sentiment and added some faux stitching. Super simple and crazy fun if you ask me.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of your wonderful comments!

So Random: April

One of my blog friends, Paulina has started to posted random tidbits about herself monthly and has invited us to join along. I love reading more about her and I thought it would be fun.

So here are 10 random facts about me:

1. I don't have a favorite color. Really, I have a favorite that I always turn to for certain uses, decorating, clothing, crafting, etc. and they are all different. But if we are playing a game, and you ask "what color do you want to be"...I always pick yellow. So I guess that would be my favorite "generic" color.
2. Speaking of yellow, my all time dream car is a bright yellow soft top Jeep Wrangler. I am not-so-secretly waiting for my Liberty Renegade to die so I will feel justified in getting one. ;o)
3. I spend at least 3 of my lunch hours a week blog hopping and catching up with you ladies.
4. I'm terribly indecisive and a compulsive "sampler". I could order 8 items from a menu, and just sample each one and be happy.
5. Buying in bulk scares me. Seriously, I can't go into a Sam's. There is something incredibly creepy about a gallon of green beans or mayo.
6. I've only ever had 2 boyfriends...and I married them both. Consecutively of course!
7. I couldn't manage without my mother! She nannies for us and I don't know what I will do when/if she ever stops. I would never be able to keep up with everything.
8. I am so lame that if you called me on a Friday night, I can guarantee you that I will be sitting at my craft table stamping. It's my favorite and most productive night of the week to create.
9. I've always had more guy friends than girl friends.
10. I'm a musical schizophrenic. You'll find everything from NWA to Lilly Allen to Tim McGraw to Rage Against the Machine on my iPhone.

So that's my random list for April. I'd love to read some of yours and I will be back later with some cards for KWerner's challenge and the Embellish Challenge.

EBTKS #13 - Sketch Challenge

Time for another EBTKS challenge.

OK ladies (and gents), I'm stepping WAY outside of my comfort zone here. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been trying to really stretch from my norm lately. So when I saw this sketch I immediately thought of a window with a flower box. (and the St. Louis Arch) Don't ask why. I stopped asking why my mind works the way it does years ago!

I started by hand sketching the arched window frame in pencil onto the front of my cardstock and then using a hobby knife to cut it out. I adhered transparency to the inside of the card and hand sketched in some siding for the house using a Toner Gray Prismacolor marker. I added the shading using SU! pastels in Bordering Blue.

For the "flowers", I again used the tree tops from Funky Foliage. First I stamped the medium polka dots from PTI's Polka Dot Basics II in SU!'s Cameo Coral, stamped the tree tops in black, and added the flower centers from Funky Flowers in black. I fussy cut them out and added the leaves from Funky Flowers in SU!'s Glorious Green. A little punched trim, some ribbon, a butterfly, and some pearls...voila! All that was left was the sentiment, from PTI's Giga Guide Lines.

If the color combo looks familiar, it should. It is the current Color Cue colors with a touch of green added!

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Project Supplies

Stamps
Funky Foliage, Funky Flowers by Wplus9 Design Studio; Polka Dot Basics II, Giga Guide Lines by Papertrey Ink
Ink
Bordering Blue pastels, Cameo Coral dye ink, by Stampin' Up!, Black fluid chalk ink by Colorbox
Cardstock
Stamper's Select, Summer Sunrise, and Clear by Papertrey Ink, Glorious Green by Stampin' Up!
Fibers
Whisper White grosgrain ribbon
Other
Butterfly, and large scallop punch by Martha Stewart, Pearls (unknown)

All Eyes On...Masking

"All Eyes On..." is a new monthly feature where we will concentrate on a technique or current trend, create some cards, and share our own personal tips or tricks. Now I don't have anything that credits me as an "expert", so this is just me sharing with you my explorations in creativity. And I promise to even share the disasters with you, as there are plenty of techniques out there that scare me. LOL

This month we are focusing on masking. And I want to apologize up front for the simplicity of this project, the week turned out to be much busier than I anticipated. My oldest had the District Derby races for Cub Scouts this weekend. I'm proud to say my little man came in Second and won Best In Show! That's 4 trophies for that car this year. We head off to Council next weekend to race against all of North Florida. Wish us luck! But you didn't come here for that...so on to the cards!

Simple? Yes, but still so cute! Don't you think? I think one of the biggest advantages masking offers is the ability to create gorgeous CAS one layer cards that are mail friendly. You can't beat that if you ask me. Trust me, it's cheaper on your wallet, and I've had a card arrive torn in half before! Not exactly ideal. ;o)

Personally, I prefer to use Post It Notes for my masking. They are pre-gummed and super thin. If you need a bigger masking area, they sell the larger Post Its as well. You can punch shapes, trim, or hand cut. For this little 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" card, I just trimmed a Post It down to 2.5" x 2.5" inches and centered it on my card front.

Now, I have heard a lot of people say they have issues with getting a clear impression when masking with clear stamps. And so they will lay their cardstock over a magazine or mouse pad, something with a little cushion to simulate the cushion layer of a rubber stamp. I personally, have not had this issue. I always stamp with my cardstock directly on top of my dining room table. But, I wanted to try it, just to see the result. So for the pink card I put a bubble mailer between the table and cardstock. I was actually quite surprised by the result.

As you can see in the picture, this actually made the masking lines LESS crisp for me. But, it's not a loss, because I actually like the soft feel this has when paired with the woodgrain background from Woodgrain Silhouettes. Now that I have my masked area, I just stamped my focal image. I used the large butterfly from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions and finished it with a little bling and rounded corners.

And here is a close up of the aqua card. You can see that the masked lines are much more crisp here. Again, I stamped this with nothing between the cardstock and table. These little darlings so remind me of Pottery Barn Baby.

Joining me today is Kerriane Gwin and Maile Belles, be sure to stop by their blogs to find out more about their gorgeous card as well. Kerrianne does a little trick that opens up even more possibilities with the butterfly images in Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions.

And Maile works her magic using all three sizes of butterflies along with the woodgrain background.

Have you tried masking lately? If you have or if we've inspired you, leave me a comment and a link to your project. I'd love to see what you're up to. Have something you'd like to see us tackle? I've started a list and would love to add yours to it. You can also connect with us on Facebook, catch up, ask questions or leave suggestions, maybe even see your card featured if you've uploaded it to our Flickr Gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you find some time to craft!

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Project Supplies

Stamps
Woodgrain Silhouettes and WoodGrain Silhouettes Additions by Wplus9
Ink
Fresh Snow by Papertrey Ink; Black by Colorbox Ink
Cardstock
Aqua Mist by Papertrey Ink; Cameo Coral by Stampin' Up!
Other
Fiskars corner rounder, Sakura white gel pen, rhinestones (other)