July 2017 Release Week: Summer Citrus Watercolor with Kelly

Hello Crafters! Have you been enjoying all of the amazing projects the design team has been showing?

Remember, everything will be available for purchase at 12:00 p.m. ET on July 5, 2017, at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers. If you are just joining us, be sure to check out Day 1, and Day 2 and Day 3.

I've got a fun watercolor version of the Summer Citrus set that Joni introduced the other day. Dawn doesn't assign us sets, and instead encourages us to use whatever inspires us during release week. And I was immediately drawn to this set, ummm...lined images? Yes please!

I immediately gravitated to the gorgeous Summer Citrus set. Sometimes you see a stamp set and a card idea pops in your right away. When that happens to me I can't ever shake it. Until I make that card I can't see it any other way.

This time around it was no line watercoloring. If you know my card style than you already know this is not my norm. It was a labor of love and I really struggled at times, but I love the way it came out.  You can see the card from start to finish in the video below.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Even though I was impatient and didn't wait as long as I should have watercolor is super forgiving. For me, that makes it a bit easier to approach it. Because let's be honest  some of these watercolor master pieces can make it seem really over whelming. However, if I can do it. You can too. Because this does not come natural to me, not even a little bit.

If you completely fell in love with this release like I did the wait is almost over! The stamps will be available tomorrow for your purchase. And, Dawn will be here to show you the remaining products that we've yet to share with you!

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to win a $50 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 9:00 a.m. ET on 07/05/17 to enter and we will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Winners page on 07/05/17.

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list contains affiliate links.

Wplus9 Black Dye Ink Shop at: Wplus9	Sakura WHITE GELLY ROLL Medium Point Pens Set Shop at: SSS	Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE Paper Trimmer 12 Inches Shop at: SSS	Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Shop at: SSS
Martha Stewart SCORING BOARD Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SALTY OCEAN Shop at: SSS	Canson MONTVAL WATERCOLOR 9x12 Pad Shop at: SSS
Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp LARGE GRID PAPER Pack Pad Shop at: SSS	ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker Shop at: SSS
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad FOSSILIZED AMBER Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CARVED PUMPKIN Shop at: SSS
MINI MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit Shop at: SSS	Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 2 Round Shop at: SSS	3M Scotch ROLL WHITE MASKING TAPE Shop at: SSS
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad RIPE PERSIMMON Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TWISTED CITRON Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MOWED LAWN Shop at: SSS
Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 8 Round Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MUSTARD SEED Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad BRUSHED CORDUROY Shop at: SSS
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ANTIQUE LINEN Shop at: SSS

July 2017 Release Week: Southern Summer Florals with Yana

Hello and welcome back to our July 2017 Release previews! All of the new products that we will be sharing with you over the next couple of days will be available for purchase beginning July 5, 2017 at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers. If you are just joining us, be sure to check out Day 1, and Day 2.

Southern Florals 1 stamp set holds a number of creative possibilities for cardmaking. I think you’ll agree with me that one can never have too many floral sets in their stash and this new set is a true must have. It not only looks fabulous on its own, but can be combined with Southern Summer Florals 2 and many other existing sets from WPlus9.

I decided to create a dimensional floral pattern for this card with the help of stamps and companion dies. I started working on my card by die-cutting shapes out first. I cut all of them 4 times out of white cardstock and then proceeded to do my stamping. The companion dies are open centered so that you can stamp first and then die cut. But I find often with these types of florals, they are easy to line up and stamp onto the die cuts. Cutting out several die cuts and then stamping all at once is quicker and a big time saver when creating several of the same flowers.

Classic floral color combination always wins, so this is what I went with. I stamped my flowers using Shell Pink, Little Piggy and Sweet Gelato and used Last Leaf along with Appletini for the leaves. I also incorporated a bit of Black for the flower centers.

Next, I grouped my die cuts into floral clusters and adhered them onto a 4 x 5 ¼” Oatmeal Cardstock panel using glue and foam adhesive. You can create an identical looking pattern on a one layer card with the help of some masking. But I am not always a fan of masking, I prefer to cut things out.

I intentionally left a bit of space in between each cluster to be able to stamp a sentiment. I went with a simple “With Thanks” message from the new Basic Labels stamp set and stamped it in black ink. You can choose to use other messages for this card and you can also stamp these using lighter ink color, maybe gray or dark green.

I adhered my background panel onto an A2 white top folding card base, added a bit of natural twine at the top and embellished my card using white enamel dots made using Nuvo Drops.

I hope you are enjoying the previews! Kelly will be here tomorrow with more, so be sure to stop in!

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to win a $25 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 11:00 a.m. EST on 07/04/17 to enter and we will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Winners page on 07/04/17.

July 2017 Release Week: Summer Citrus with Joni

Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the July 2017 Release Week. If you are just joining us, be sure to catch up on Day 1. I am excited to introduce the new Summer Citrus stamps and dies, Southern Sentiments, and the Basic Greetings Die.

AVAILABLE July 5, 2017

Summer Citrus
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$15 USD

Summer Citrus Companion Die
Steel Rule Die
$12 USD

Southern Sentiments
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$15 USD

Basic Greetings Die
Steel Rule Die
$11 USD

I know, do we need another citrus/fruit set?! Yes, Summer Citrus is incredibly versatile! You can create quirky hand illustrated looking patterns or use just the solid images for a more realistic sophisticated - but still fun - look like I've done here.

To create the vibrant lime background, I distressed my card base with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, and Twisted Citron. Then I splattered the card base with water and some diluted Distress Ink using my watercolor paint brush. Once it dried, I stamped some tiny dot images from the Summer Citrus stamp set using PURE COLOR Dye Ink in Mojito. Then, added some white dots using my Uni-ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen. I stamped the large fun sentiment from Southern Sentiments with a little "rock and roll" inking action to create a gradient effect.

I can't help but read these sentiments with a southern "twang"!

I heat embossed the citrus images in white on watercolor paper, then watercolored the images using ZIG COLOR Real Brush Markers. Once the watercolor images dried, I added Stickles on the fruits for shine and sparkle. I adhered all the images using foam tape for dimension.

For my second card I used the Citrus Background Builders stamp set. Even though this is meant to be a background set, I wanted to use it as a focal point. I used the same technique on my background panel as the last card - distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and water splatters.

This is another sentiment from Southern Sentiments. I added to the sentiment using the new Basic Greetings Die. The Basic Greetings Die cuts the stand alone words "thanks", "hello", "friend" and "smile" in script font. I chose to add the "thanks" die, cut several times and layered to create a thick chip board effect. The citrus cluster image was stamped onto watercolor paper, watercolored, and fussy cut. I finished it off with a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins to add interest.

I hope you enjoyed these new products! Be sure to stop by again tomorrow, Yana will be here sharing more of this amazing release!

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to win a $25 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 11:00 a.m. EST on 07/03/17 to enter and we will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Winners page on 07/03/17.

July 2017 Release Week: Southern Summer Florals 1 with Kara

Hello and welcome to the July 2017 Release Week! All of the products we will be showcasing over the next several days will be available for purchase beginning July 5, 2017 at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers.

Please Note: Due to the Fourth of July Holiday in the US, products will go live for purchase at wplus9.com at 12:00 p.m. ET on July 5, 2017.

I'm excited to kick off Release Week with a brand new floral set!

AVAILABLE July 5, 2017

Southern Summer Florals 1
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$15 USD

Southern Summer Florals 1 Companion Die
Steel Rule Die
$15 USD

Basic Labels
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$15 USD

Basic Labels Die
Steel Rule Die
$12 USD

Southern Summer Florals 1 is a beautiful mutli-step floral stamp set. The stamp layering is intuitive and easy to use. Choose your favorite PURE Color Dye Ink color combinations and very quickly you will have a gorgeous bouquet! I chose mine: Little Piggy, Sweet Gelato, and Cranberry Crush.

For my first project, I started by die cutting plenty of flowers and leaves with the Southern Summer Florals 1 Die set.  I stamped them all out in the pinks I chose as well as Mojito and Appletini for the leaves.  I arranged the flowers and leaves on the large oval die cut from the new Basic Labels set.  I used the coordinating stamp set to stamp the oval in Fairy Dust ink.  It makes a beautiful, subtle backdrop for my flowers and sentiment. The sentiment is from another new set that will be featured later in the week called Southern Sentiments.  Keep your eye out for it!

On my second project I went directly to my card front with my stamping to create and all over floral pattern.  I started by stamping the larges flower three times in a triangle and then built the rest of my pattern from there.  So simple, but quite an impact! This is a great design for mass producing.

A simple sentiment is all that's needed on this one.  This time I'm giving you a peek at some fantastic word dies that are in a new die collection called Basic Greetings Die. That's another one to watch out for over the next few days! I colored the die cut words with PURE Color Dye Ink and a sponge dauber. This easily creates perfectly matching embellishments for your projects.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at Southern Summer Florals 1 and Basic Labels.  Be sure to stop by again tomorrow for more peeks at the new July 2017 Release!

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to win a $25 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 11:00 a.m. EST on 07/02/17 to enter and we will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Winners page on 07/02/17.