Sneak Peek: Roly Poly Penguins & Snowmen in Sweaters Stamps

Hello and welcome to Day 5 of our Holiday Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I have been sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which will be available for purchase tomorrow, along with our 9th Birthday celebration festivities!

I am super excited for today because I have two adorable stamp sets to share which are so perfect for winter and Christmas cards!

Card No. 1: First up, is a card featuring our new Roly Poly Penguins Stamps. This set comes with seven adorable chubby penguins. I created these to be a larger scale to complement the polar bear from our Holiday Hugs. When asked what large critters people wanted to see next penguins were high on the list, but I liked the idea of going with a medium size for extra design flexibility and options. Just like with our Big Panda, Big Bunny, and Holiday Hugs, one of the penguins has dies that cut out their flippers so they can hold objects.

For this card, I started by die-cutting our Scalloped Square 2 Large Dies from white cardstock and then cut a square window just inside the stitched line using an Xacto knife with a metal ruler. I then used our Stitched Square Dies to cut out an opening from my 5" square black cardstock panel so that I could layer the two pieces and create a window for my penguins to peek around. I inked the front of my white card base using some tumbled glass distress ink and then stamped the "you warm my heart" sentiment in the center using our Mug Hugs Stamps.

Card No. 2: Up next is a fun card featuring the new Roly Poly Penguins, paired with a classic red and black buffalo plaid background which was created using our new Buffalo Plaid Straight Dies and the coordinating Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils. I added a lacy scalloped edge along the bottom using our Eyelet Lace Border Dies and framed my two penguins using our Stitched Heart 2 Dies. I finished my card by heat embossing "Waddle I do without you?" from our Penguin Pals Stamps onto a red wavy banner die-cut using our new Brilliant Banner 3 Die.

Card No. 3: I once again found myself unintentionally drawn to a particular color scheme with these stamps so I apologize if you are seeing a trend form. Ha-ha! For this card using our Roly Poly Penguins Stamps, I wanted to focus on the little coffee (or hot cocoa) cup which led me to use the cafe table and umbrella from our Paris Afternoon Stamps. I also used a red and white striped background I had made earlier with one of the new Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils in the 2-piece set. Coloring my umbrella in matching red and white stripes was just too tempting to pass up. 

To make it look like my center penguin is sitting behind the table, I used the penguin with no body and only arms to be propped above the table and then used the legs from another penguin to dangle below the table like he's sitting on a stool that lines up with the table legs. I framed my scene using our Stitched Rectangle Dies and added a sentiment from our Inside Greetings Seasons Stamps.

Card No. 4: This time I had the little Roly Poly Penguin hold a Christmas card from the set and paired him with the extra letters and mailbox from the Snail Mail Stamps. For my neighborhood backdrop behind him, I layered two of the borders from our Scenic Route Stamps and added a bit of sparkly glitter to the trees using Stardust Stickles. I found the perfect greeting to compliment my scene using a sentiment from our Holiday Express Stamps.

Card No. 5: For my last card today showcasing the Roly Poly Penguins Stamps, I wanted to create a pile of penguins with all the adorable different personalities from the set. My daughter had the honor of fulfilling her lifelong dream of visiting Antarctica this past December and seeing the large colonies of penguins so I reimagined them here huddled up together and dressed up for winter. It was so much fun coloring all their scarves, earmuffs, and hats in a rainbow of colors! For the trees in my backdrop, I used a border from our Winter Scenes Stamps and then stamped a punny greeting from our Penguin Pals Stamps.

Card No. 6: Switching gears, I have a card featuring our new Snowmen in Sweaters Stamps. This set includes seven adorable snowmen dressed for winter, two snowy trees, a number of unique snowflakes, the oversized "warm winter wishes" greeting I used here, and a "Yay for sweater weather" sentiment. For this card I let all the elements of the set take center stage framing them with our Stitched Rectangle Dies and using a pink confetti dot print from our Joyful Holiday Paper pack. The two little trees that come with this set are larger versions of the one from our Winter Scenes Stamps so I was able to bring in the smaller-sized one from that set for my background. I'm really happy to have the additional size options for this cute tree!

Card No. 7: For this card using our Snowmen in Sweaters Stamps, I created a rainbow cable knit background. I started by inking my cardstock panel with Distress inks and then embossed it using our Cable Knit Embossing Folder. I then colored the snowmen's sweaters in rainbow colors to match and framed them using our Stitched Circle Large Dies. I heat embossed the "Yay for Sweater Weather" sentiment from the stamp set onto a pink wavy banner die-cut using our new Brilliant Banner 3 Die. I had the stitched scalloped border sitting on my desk from our Ribbon & Lace Dies leftover from another card since the die from that set cuts both a positive and negative version on either side of the cut line. I adhered it to the bottom of my card and it added that extra bit of detail I was seeking to put the finishing touch on my clean and simple design.

Card No. 8: Continuing with colorful cards, I have a rainbow gingham background I created by embossing a piece of white cardstock using our new Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Die. I then took turns masking off every other row to ink them in a rainbow of Distress ink colors (substituting Picked Raspberry for red). I am so in love with how it turned out! In hindsight, I wish I had made several of these backgrounds at the same time assembly line style to have on hand for future cads so that I could ink the same color several times with the same mask before switching colors.

For my focal point images, I colored the snowmen from our Snowmen in Sweater Stamps to match the colors in my background and framed them using our Scalloped Oval Mat 1 Dies. I then heat embossed my sentiment from the set onto a banner die cut using our Brilliant Banner 1 Dies. Lastly, I added three snowflakes accents cut from cardstock colors to match using our Basic Mini Shape Dies 2 and Basic Mini Shape Dies 5. The third snowflake shown in green will be a free gift with all retail purchases in our online store, starting on Friday (while supplies last).

Card No. 9: For my last Snowmen in Sweaters card today, I paired three snowmen with the hanging lights from our Scenic Route Stamps and the smaller tree from our Winter Scenes Stamps to create the look of a Christmas Tree lot. It's difficult to see it, but peeking out a tiny bit from the background is a stitched snowy hill using our Slimline Nature Border Dies and a stitched edge along the bottom from our Ribbon & Lace Dies. I tucked a strip of striped paper from our Joyful Holiday Paper pack along the bottom and stamped the "season's greetings" sentiment from our Inside Greetings Holiday Stamps onto a Brilliant Banner 4 Die.

Treat Bags: I couldn't let this holiday season pass without creating some cute treat bags using our Treat Bag Topper Dies. For these gift bags, I used the patterned paper from our All is Bright Paper pack together with the snowman from Snowmen in Sweaters Stamps and the penguin from Roly Poly Penguins Stamps. I added the "Merry Christmas" greeting using the word "Merry" from our Merry Mice Stamps and the word "Christmas" from our Bells & Baubles Stamps. For my kraft bags, I used a 4x6-sized bag purchased HERE or you can alternatively use Wilton 4x6 clear bags and glassine bags.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $25 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily contests will run through Monday, August 26th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Friday, August 30th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Here's a closer look at our new Roly Poly Penguins Stamps & Dies and Snowmen in Sweaters Stamps & Dies used today and available for purchase on Friday, August 23rd.

Other Supplies Used:

Mug Hugs Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Express Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cable Knit Embossing Shop at: Sunny Studio	Basic Mini Shape Dies 2 Shop at: Sunny Studio	Merry Mice Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Scenic Route Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scenic Route Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Eyelet Lace Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Basic Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio
Inside Greetings-Holidays Shop at: Sunny Studio	Penguin Pals Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Penguin Pals Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Winter Scenes Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Winter Scenes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snail Mail Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snail Mail Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Circle Large Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Scalloped Oval Mat 1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	All Is Bright Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Paris Afternoon Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Paris Afternoon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Stitched Heart 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Joyful Holiday Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Bells & Baubles Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Bells & Baubles Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Treat Bag Topper Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Square 2 Large Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Inside Greetings Seasons Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 4 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Buffalo Plaid Straight Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils Shop at: Sunny Studio	Basic Mini Shape Dies 5 Shop at: Sunny Studio	Red Zircon Jewels Shop at: Sunny Studio
Rubellite Pink Jewels Shop at: Sunny Studio	Peridot Green Jewels Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio