Inspiration Week: Introducing Baby Bear Set with Giveaway

Hello & welcome to day 2 of our new release preview week!  Today I'm super excited to reveal a fun new set celebrating babies called Baby Bear!  

Up first is a card combining the new set with the tree from Summer Picnic, the grass from Sunny Sentiments and the ric-rac border die from Sunny Borders.

For my next card I had fun using those same outfits to dress my little trio of bears in.  For my card base I cut two medium hearts from our Stitched Heart Dies, inking up the top one to match my images colored with copics.  

This set comes with several small companion images to stamp on the front of the bibs and onesies and I used the little heart to stamp a repeated pattern for my background.  I finished off my card with my sentiment heat embossed on a banner from our Sunny Borders stamp set.

For my next project I focused on the chunky diaper pin for a fun, graphic card.  To add a little interest, I stitched around each block on my sewing machine, popped up each pin with foam tape and added glossy accents to the colored portion of the pin.

The stamp set comes with bottles, sippy cups and pacifiers as larger standalone images as well as smaller versions to accessorize the bears.  I chose to use both versions by stamping a subtle repeat background for this sweet unisex baby card.

For my next card, I created another clothesline card pairing the bibs, onesies and socks with the cloud dies from our Sunny Sentiments and Rain or Shine die sets.

For my last card I created a baby blanket from the picnic blanket from the Summer Picnic Set.  I also stamped an extra set of feet to cut out so that I could fit a onesie on the sitting bear.

The patchwork border was created with a new square die that is not available for purchase, but that we are giving away free with all orders placed throughout the month of July.  I have been searching for the perfect sized die to create this look for quite some time now so I'm super excited to finally have one.  I can created a printable PDF for this card with step by step instructions HERE.

My sentiment was stamped with our new Sweet Shoppe stamp set that will be unveiled tomorrow. ;)

Here's a full look at the new Baby Bear Stamps and coordinating dies which will be available for purchase this Friday on July 1st.  This set was designed with pint sized bears to compliment the larger bears from Sending My Love and Comfy Creatures.

     

Stay tuned tomorrow for more new products and fun ideas using them, but before you go make sure to sign up for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate to our store using the rafflecopter below.  

We will be giving away one $20 gift certificate each day for a total of five lucky winners this week. The contest for each post closes at Midnight PST on Friday, July 1st with winners announced on Saturday, July 2nd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comfy Creatures: Celebrate Birthday Card with Anni

Hey stampers, Anni here!  Today I'd like to share a card I made using the set Comfy Creatures. For the stars in the background I used the Star Border Die and the sentiment is from the set Sunny Borders Die.

I stamped and colored the little monkey. I chose colored pencils for the coloring. I really love to use colored pencils but it takes a little bit of time. Coloring with Copics is so much faster. But when I have the time I prefer to use colored pencils.

I paper-pieced the sweater of the monkey. Hey, a monkey in a polka dot sweater - it couldn't get cuter, could it?

For the panel I cut a tag from white paper and a bigger one from patterned paper with stars, added a hole and twine bow.

For the sentiment I die-cut the word Celebrate once from yellow cardstock and a few times from black cardstock and stacked it up.  I finished the card with some die cut stars in the background to complete the theme.

Thanks for stopping by and have a sunny week!
Anni

Woo Hoo Graduation Owl Cap & Diploma Card with Lindsey

Hi, Lindsey here. Today I'm sharing a graduation card using the adorable Woo Hoo stamp set and the banner from the previously released Sunny Borders stamp set. This set is great because you can personalize your card with any schools' colors. Just stamp the cute little owl and color his accessories to match your graduate's school colors.

I started my card with an A2 size rectangle. I created my own patterned paper by stamping several caps and diplomas all over the rectangle. Then I colored the images using Copic markers. I also colored the border around the outside of the card with a blue Copic marker. 

I made the little owl the star of the show by creating a little scene for him on a stitched circle. I colored the outside edge of the circle and popped it up using foam tape. I stamped the "Happy Graduation" sentiment in the banner, colored the edge with blue, and popped it up with foam tape as well. I think the blue on the outside of all the shapes really pops. It is a simple and easy way to personalize your card. I finished the card by adding some Wink of Stella to all the areas where you see blue.

This set is so adorable! I love owls, and I can definitely see myself using this set for more than just graduation cards. It is nice that the graduation cap is not attached to the owl, so you can choose to use it or not. Thanks for reading, and I hope you've been inspired to create your own personalized graduation card for your own graduate!

Fresh & Fruit Perfect Pear Anniversary Card with Lindsey

Hi!  Lindsey here today with a “sweet” card using the new Fresh and Fruity stamp set. This set is full of yummy fruits and cute sentiments! Let’s get started!

I made the cute little pears the stars of this card. I cut an A2 sized card base using some Doodlebug patterned paper. Then I cut a scalloped oval frame and white oval to do my stamping on. I stamped two little pears side by side and added the sweet little faces to them. I colored the pears using Copic markers. Next, I stamped my sentiment.  The top part of the sentiment is from the Fresh and Fruity stamp set and the “congratulations” is from the older Sunny Borders stamp set. I bent both sentiments to match the arch of the oval.

To finish off the card, I added a few sequins in opposite corners, and tied some black and white twine across the top of the card. I also added some white dots to the scalloped oval with a white gel pen.

I hope you’ll check out this fun set, and thanks for reading!

Inspiration Week: Woo Hoo, Birthday Smiles & School Time Dies

Hello there!  Today's the big day!  You can now purchase all the new stamps and dies featured this week in our online store.  Yay!!!  

Before you head over I hope you will take a quick look at all the fun ways you can use our new Woo Hoo Stamps and dies.  ;)

Up first is a graduation card using the set in a straightforward way.  The set comes with both a large diploma and a little shrunken down version for the owl to carry.  For my blue background I stamped a tone-on-tone print using the "Happy Graduation" sentiment and some clear VersaMark ink.  For the yellow portion I used the star border from the Sunny Borders stamps to stamp a continuous pattern.

To round out my little scene I die-cut some clouds from white cardstock using the Rain or Shine dies and used the Fishtail Banner dies for my sentiment strip.

My next card uses the larger graduation cap and diploma in the set without the owl for a slightly more sophisticated design.  To create the red star print, I used the three smallest star stamps from Stars and Stripes to create a random pattern.

Up next I thought it would be fun to show how you don't have to be limited to graduation cards with this set.  For this one I created a special thank you card for teachers. Using my MISTI I stamped a random alphabet letter border using our Sweet Script stamps stamped onto black cardstock and heat embossed in white to evoke the feeling of a chalkboard and to help reinforced my school theme.  I completed my card with the banner from Sunny Borders and the "Thank You" sentiment from Stars & Stripes.

My last card goes patriotic with the cute owl from this set, adding the little hat & sentiment from Stars & Stripes. To create my background I cut 3 to 4 of the Star Borders from red, white and blue cardstock and layered them on a kraft panel.  Because I alternated their position on my panel and the border is only 5.5" long, I cut my finished panel apart and hid the gap under my blue panel (inked up in Stormy Sky distress ink).  I finished off my card using the Fishtail Banner dies to create my little pennant for my sentiment.

Here's a closer look at the 3x4 stamp set and dies featured on today's cards...

 

Unfortunately I didn't find the time to create some new projects with these, but I'm super excited to finally offer the Birthday Smiles and School Time dies that so many of you have been waiting for as well (the Happy Home dies are expected to follow in July).  ;) 

 

Would you like to win some of these fun products?  Today we are giving away the Woo Hoo Stamps and coordinating dies to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below.  You still have time to win the products featured earlier in the week as well.  ;)

Winners will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, April 3rd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope you've enjoyed all the ideas this week and will stop by our shop to pick up some of our newest items.  For a limited time we are offering two different exclusive bundles to save you a little extra money and save you some time at checkout.  Don't forget you can also use the code "SAVE5" to save an extra $5 off all orders over $49.  ;)

Inspiration Week: Introducing Summer Picnic & Comfy Creatures

Hello there!  Today is all about ideas featuring our Comfy Creatures and Summer Picnic sets!  I hope you will take a look at all the fun ideas and sign up for today's giveaway.  

I found myself turning to Comfy Creatures over and over again while working on my cards for this release.  It has so many versatile images that compliment our other sets for fun scene building options.  While I sadly forgot to use them together for my cards this week, the new Comfy Creatures set was designed to mix and match with our previously released Sending My Love stamp set for endless combinations.  I also added two tails to the new set which can be added to either side of the body which work great for the cat and monkey faces.

Up first is a fun scene using the Summer Picnic stamps and the grassy border stamp from Sunny Sentiments.  I might have gone a little overboard with all the images I layered on this card, but it was hard to stop with all the cute choices available in this set! 

My second card features the boy body in swim trunks and the hula girl body from Comfy Creatures.  I decided to turn them into monkeys using the two different faces provided in the set and stamping their tails so that they could intertwine with each other.  

I cut my card base using the Stitched Heart Dies and masked off my beach and waves using Post-it Tape and our new Wavy Border dies featured on Monday (inked up from top to bottom in Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye and Salty Ocean distress inks).  After the ink was dry I heat embossed my greeting using the "aloha" sentiment from the new Island Getaway stamps.

Up next is another card featuring the different critters from Comfy Creatures.  I inked up each rectangle in my grid design using Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers distress ink.  I then stamped a subtle print in the background of each using some of the smaller images from the set (borrowing the leaf from Island Getaway).  When the distress ink was completely dry I heat embossed my sentiment in white.  

These critters were designed to be able to stamp together in a single layer, but I accidentally made a coloring mistake on my little monkey's head so I ended up stamping a second head and layering over the top with foam tap.  I love the dimension it gives him.  To bad he didn't fall in the center to make things look a little more balanced.  ;)

My next card uses the tree from Summer Picnic (LOVE the versatility of that tree), the monkey and sentiment from Comfy Creatures, the grass from our Sunny Sentiment dies and our Fishtail Banner dies.  

I was inspired to color my grass using a technique similar to the one shared by Nina Trapani in her tutorial HERE.  I included two different bananas in the comfy creatures set: one by itself and one for the creature to hold.  I used the extra banana in the set to stamp a random pattern in my background to reinforce the sentiment.

My next card is a simple take on the Summer Picnic set.  I paired the fun little ant images with the trail from the Backyard Bugs stamps.  I then cut a simple frame from patterned paper on my paper trimmer and stitched it to the perimeter of my card.

My last card uses the squirrel and tree (cut in half) from Summer Picnic, the birthday sentiment from Comfy Creatures, the banner and "let's celebrate" sentiment from Stars and Stripes and the grass border from Sunny Sentiments for a fun birthday card.  I think this would be super fun done up with a Fourth of July take too!  ;)

And here's another look at the new products featured on today's cards...

 

 

Would you like to win some of these fun new products?  Today we are giving away the Summer Picnic and Comfy Creatures stamps to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below.  If you're just joining us, make sure to check out our giveaways earlier in the week.  We will also be back tomorrow with one last prize featuring our graduation set.  

Winners will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, April 3rd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope I've helped jump start your creative juices.  I can't wait to see what fun projects you create with all these set.  Just a reminder that all our new products will be available for sale first thing tomorrow morning in our online store.  ;)

Inspiration Week: Introducing Fresh & Fruity + A Giveaway

Hello there!  We're back today with lots of ideas using our new Fresh & Fruity stamps and dies coming out this Friday along with another GIVEAWAY!  

Up first I have a card using a number of the different fruit images from the set, along with the pineapple from the Tropical Paradise stamp set shared yesterday.  All of my images were colored with copic markers and then I stamped the texture on my lime and lemon using the extra image in the set with inks a bit darker than my copic coloring.  I also used a white gel pen to add shiny marks to my orange and watermelon slices.  

I finished off my white cardstock panel by die-cutting the bottom edge using a border die from the Sunny Border dies (the patterned paper is from an older Doodlebug collection called Fruit Stand).

Up next I have a card using the strawberry image from the set.  I started by coloring my strawberries with Copic Markers.  This image has a fun companion image with the seeds that can layer over the top of the main image.  I created these as a separate stamp to increase flexibility with your designs.  It can either be heat embossed in white or left off so that a cute little face from the set can be stamped instead.  I love both versions, but I am especially smitten at how the seeds pop when heat embossed!

Up next is a card focusing on the watermelon images.  I thought it would be fun to use the watermelon slices to create a scalloped border.  I cut another little scallop from coral cardstock using our Sunny Borders dies and then stamped a subtle tone-on-tone background using Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn distress inks along with the wavy stitched stamp from Backyard Bugs.

My next card uses the citrus slice from the set.  I stamped several citrus slices onto masking material, fussy cut them out and then used them to mask of the areas where the images overlapped.  I stamped my citrus slices with clear VersaMark ink onto white cardstock, heat embossed the images with white embossing powder and then colored them in with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, a little water and a spare paint brush.  

I really struggle with watercolors, but I love how the heat embossing gives you a raised line to color within.  I am also in love with using the Strathmore Bristol paper with these Zig markers.  I love the smooth surface and the way the pens blend on the paper.

My next card focused on the pears and coordinating sentiment.  One of my favorite color schemes is pink and green so I thought it would work well for this card.  I paired Doodlebug's new swiss dots petite prints paper with the scalloped border stamps from Sunny Borders and the Sunny Borders dies.  I used the two faces from the set to add a little personality to my two pears and cut out the strips of paper for my sentiment using the Fishtail Banner dies.

For my last card I used the cherries and sentiment from the set and the sprinkles image from the Birthday Smiles stamp set which I heat embossed in white to create my tri-dot pattern.  I actually cut and colored two of the cherry images and then popped the second image up over the first with foam tape, offsetting the leaves to create dimension.  I also added some shine to my cherries using glossy accents.  :)

And here's another look at the new stamps & dies featured on today's cards...

 

Would you like to win some of these fun products?  Today we are giving away the Fresh & Fruity stamps & Wavy Border dies featured yesterday to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below.  

Winners will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, April 3rd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope you enjoyed all the ideas today.  Come back everyday this week for more ideas and for another chance to win the products featured that day.  ;)

Inspiration Week: Introducing Tropical Paradise & Island Getaway

Hello there!  I'm so thrilled to be kicking off the countdown to our new release on Friday with some fun projects using the newest sets along with a GIVEAWAY each day!  Today I am showcasing just a few of the fun ways you can use Tropical Paradise, Island Getaway and our fun new Wavy Borders dies!

Up first is a card using Island Getaway and borrowing a monkey from the new Comfy Creatures set to be showcased on Thursday.  ;)  For this card I die-cut clouds from a sticky masking material using the dies from Rain or Shine and Sunny Sentiments.  I added them to my background before sponging on Tumbled Glass distress ink.  I then layered on some Peacock feathers distress ink along the bottom of my card front feathering out the color to blend with the tumbled glass.  I then stamped the waves over the top in Tumbled Glass using the waves stamps from the set.

To create the hammock, I die-cut a circle from some extra white cardstock and then cut another circle in same size from the edge of the original circle to create the moon shape.  I then inked it up with a heavy layer of that same Peacock Feathers distress ink and traced the edge with a sharpie (using a piece of scratch paper beneath it) to give it the appearance that it had been stamped like the rest of the scene.

For my next card with Island Getaway, I used the same cloud masks from the Rain or Shine and Sunny Sentiments dies.  Then for my waves, I sponged on Peacock Feathers, then Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean distress inks with masks cut with the Wavy Borders dies.  I used Post-it tape and was able to cut and use them over and over again on a number of cards before they lost their stickiness.  I love the finished results of the waves with the layered colors!

I finished my card by coloring in the flip flops and the little clothespins from the set with Copic Markers and stamping a sentiment onto a strip of paper, cutting the end with our Fishtail Banner dies.

For my third card using Island Getaway I wanted to create a card with the monkey playing in the waves.  I used my island stamp in the set to form my sandy beach, hiding the edge behind some die-cut waves.  This time for my waves using the Wavy Borders dies I cut them all from white cardstock.  I then sponged on ink starting at the bottom using Salty Ocean, trying to make the blend gradual and keeping the top edges fairly light.  I love how it gives a frothy appearance to my waves and makes them stand out against each other.  I finished my card with a flower in the corner from the Tropical Paradise set.

Up next I have a card combining the palm tree, island, waves & sentiment from Island Getaway with the flamingos from Tropical Paradise.  For this card I used my mask to sponge on Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon ink on the bottom two-thirds of my card, moving the mask down as I worked to add some different layers of color.  I then used the waves stamp from Island Getaway to add some more waves.  For the top half, I cut a second mask using the other side of the die and sponged on Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade distress inks.  Keeping my wave mask in place, I layered the negative portion of a circle mask over the top and inked the sun in more Spiced Marmalade before stamping my sentiment over the top in black ink.

My stamped images were colored with Copic markers and I cut a little sliver from my wave using a craft knife to slip one of the flamingos feet into the water so it didn't look like it was walking on water.  ;)

My next card uses the florals from Tropical Paradise, the smaller hibiscus flower (in my background piece) from Island Getaway and a sentiment from the Sunny Sentiments stamp set. 

For this card I sponged my background with Peacock Feathers distress ink and then stamped the subtle flower print in the background using Tumbled Glass distress ink.  My flowers were colored in Copics and my sentiment was stamped using SSS Doll Pink ink

For my last card today I wanted to focus on all the fun fruity drinks and pineapples from the Tropical Paradise set.  I started by die-cutting a circle from white cardstock and lightly sponging on some Tumbled Glass distress ink in the center.  I then layered my stamped images colored with Copics, grounding them with a banner from our Sunny Borders stamp set.  For my sentiment I borrowed one from the Island Getaway set, curving it on my clear acrylic block to match the curve of my banner.  The outer frame of my card was inked using Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade distress inks and then I used a small heart stamp from the Tropical Paradise set with the Mustard Seed ink to stamp a repeated pattern.

That's all I have for you today.  Here's another look at all the new products featured on today's cards...

 

  

Would you like to win some of these fun products?  Today we are giving away the Tropical Paradise and Island Getaway stamps to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below.  Come back everyday this week for another chance to win the products featured that day.  

Winners will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, April 3rd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope you enjoyed all the ideas shared today.  I had so much fun playing with these sets!