Inspiration Week: Introducing Christmas Icons & Tag Topper Dies

Welcome!  Today's the big day!  Before you run off to go shopping, make sure to check out the final unveiling of products and scroll down to the bottom of this post for our last giveaway of the week and a special offer for free shipping.  ;)

Today I'm super excited to share a new set of dies that were created with the same flexibility and value as our fishtail banner dies.  I also have one last holiday stamp set to share that was created as a compliment to the gift tag dies with 11 small iconic Christmas images and the words "to" & "from" in 4 unique fonts.  As you will see from my examples though it's pretty fun all on it's own too.  

Introducing Sunny Semi Circles Dies (Retail: $15.00)

These dies were designed to be ultra flexible for creating tags, labels, bookmarks, card panels and shaped cards from 1/2" wide to 4" wide.  

I honestly wanted to have sooo much more time to play with these dies, but I only was able to finish some holiday gift tags with them today (although you might check the SSS Blog this afternoon for another bonus project with them).  I used the dies to create both the inner tag as well as a shadow.  I then decorated them with images & greetings from Gleeful Reindeer, Blissful Baking and Christmas Icons.

To use them, I found using these steps gave me the best results:

1. Draw a faint pencil line on your cardstock with a T-square ruler approximately 1/2" to 2" from the top depending on the circle size.
2. Using some washi tape, secure them in place along the line that was drawn and run them through the die-cutting machine (As an alternative, I found you could also skip the first step by using a clear ruler with a grid and pushing the die flat with the edge of the ruler before adhering with washi tape).
3. Use a paper trimmer to trim them down each side.  Because they are sized at exact 1/2 increments they are super easy to trim using the guides on your trimmer.  
4. Erase pencil lines and shorten to desired length.  Round corners if desired.

Introducing Crescent Tag Topper Dies (Retail: $9.00)

Just like the Sunny Semi Circles, these were designed to create a variety of tags, bookmarks, labels and card panels in three sizes. I created several gift tags using the middle tag size together with Blissful Baking & Christmas Icons to embellish them.  These would be perfect for adhering to baked goods for neighbors and friends at the holidays.  As a finishing touch I added cute borders to my tags using our Sunny Borders Stamps & coordinating dies.

Introducing Traditional Tag Topper Dies (Retail: $10.00)

I created a third style of gift tags with the new Traditional Tag Topper dies.  You can die-cut the hole with the slot die for ribbon that comes with this die set or mix them with the Crescent Tag Topper dies for more options. This was the last project I tackled for the release and I had a lot of fun using up some extra odds and ends from different stamp sets shared throughout the week--it always feels really good to have nothing go to waste. 

To add some interest to my 2-1/4" wide tags I cut a second portion from patterned paper to add to the top of each one using Doodlebug's Here Comes Santa Claus 6x6 paper pad.  I then die-cut the bottoms using different Fishtail Banner dies.  I actually was able to use them for the flat bottomed tags as well since they were narrow enough.  

As a side note, I wanted to point out the Minnie Mouse inspired embellishment using our Holiday Style set.  I stamped an extra set of ornaments with Hero Arts Charcoal ink and Black ink for the shadow.  I then punched our her ears using a 5/8" circle punch before paper-piecing them together.  I had so much fun on the is one & it was super easy--I can totally see myself mass producing these for all my gifts this Christmas.

Up next is a grid style card focusing on all the fun images from the Christmas Icons stamp set.  For my sentiment I turned to one from our Bundled Up set that was just the right size to fit in my center square.

I think many of the images from the Christmas Icons set make great companion pieces for the little penguin from our Bundled Up set from last year.  To decorate my package I added stripes to one with a pen and ruler and stamped circles on the other one using a circle snowflake from our Snow Kissed set.  The little holly added to his hat was taken from the new Blissful Baking set.  I finished off my card with my other favorite banner from our Sunny Borders set.

For this Christmas Icons card I inked up my background using a tiny bit of Picked Raspberry with Festive Berries and Fired Brick distress inks. I then flicked on water and when it was dry, used the two poinsettia images to stamp a tone-on-tone print onto the background.  I then stamped and colored 6 separate images with Copic Markers which I fussy cut out.  It looks like there are actually 10 flowers, but I was crafty and placed many of them off the edge where I could trim them off and add them to a second spot so nothing went to waste (and saved me some time).

For my merry word die, I pressed a piece of kraft cardstock into my VersaMark ink pad and sprinkled the whole piece with glittery gold embossing powder before heating it up and die-cutting my word from it.  A sentiment heated embossed in coordinating gold powder from our Merry Sentiments set completed my card.

This last card was created using a glue pad with those same poinsettia images (and the trio of dots from our Sweet Shoppe set) together with hot pink foil and a Mini Minc machine.   This is one of those times where a stamp positioner to get extra good glue coverage with multiple impressions of the stamp is really helpful.  

You can also achieve a similar fun look by stamping with VersaMark & applying metallic or colored opaque embossing powder on black cardstock.  I then just added some jewels to the center of each flower for some extra bling and foiled a sentiment on some plain white cardstock using Merry Sentiments.

I honestly had so many more ideas for this set that I ran out of time for, but hopefully I shared enough to get your creative wheels turning--I think there are endless ways these cute images can be used and I can't wait to see what you make!

Here's a full look at the new Christmas Icon stamps, Tag Topper Dies & Sunny Semi Circle Dies all being released today (dies are a bit larger than they appear here)...

      

I hope you've enjoyed all the sets and inspiration this week.  I'm loving the new dies for their reasonable price point, flexibility and space saving features!

Would you like to win a $20 gift code to our online store?  Use the rafflecopter below to enter to win.  We will be giving away a new gift code each day for a total of five chances to win!  If you're just joining us, there's still time to enter the contests from earlier in the week too. ;)

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Each contest closes on October 8th at Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, October 9th.  :)

SALES & FREEBIES:

Before you rush off, I wanted to let you know that I'm running a special for FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $25 for our US retail customers & all orders over $50 for our Canadian friends through Monday, 10/10/16 at Midnight PST (offer will be applied automatically).  

In addition, orders over $49 from any location will qualify for $5 off using the code SAVE5.

Don't forget all orders will automatically come with a free 7/8" holly die (while supplies last).

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used Today:

                 

        

      

Inspiration Week: Introducing Holiday Style & Merry Sentiments

Hello & welcome to day 4 of our Holiday Release preview.  Are you excited for tomorrow?  I know I am (but truth be told I still have several last-minute details to pull together so I'm glad I still have a little time left). ;)  Thank you for all your sweet comments both here and on Facebook and instagram.  I read every one of them and they've all meant so much to me!  

Today I'm showcasing two fun layering sets called Holiday Style and Merry Sentiments.  The Merry Sentiments set is a 3x4 set filled with sentiments that build on the word Merry and then also includes a fun vintage-inspired layering light bulb image.  I've always adored light bulbs--There's just something about them, so bright and happy.  ;)  There's also a Merry Word die that coordinates with the set.

First I used the layering jingle bell and bow images from the set.  These images took me forever to design, but I will say it's never felt more gratifying to stamp with a new set of mine.  I generally feel like all layering stamps are magical, but even more so when it's something you labored so hard on.  



And here's my actual card using them.  Believe it or not, I didn't use a stamp positioning tool for these. Granted these are my best ones, but it just goes to show you don't have to have one to make it work.  My best results came from stamping the darkest image in black and then lining up the largest, lightest image over the top using the three shiny marks in the center to line things up.  For my bell I used Colorbox Seattle Sky Premium Dye Ink, Colorbox Storm and Versafine Black Onyx.

For my sentiment, I inked up some white cardstock with my favorite jumbo dauber and red distress inks.  When it was nice and dry I heat embossed my sentiment in white (this phrase comes cut apart so that you can use it all lined up in a row or stacked (as you will see from card shared below).

Next, I have a card using the tree bough and layering ornaments from Holiday Style.  I surprised even myself with all the fun and unique ways this tree branch can be used.  The ornaments are so bold and easy to layer freehand. Once again I found it was easiest to stamp the shadow first in the darker color and then stamp the ball over the top.  I then used a 1" circle punch to punch them out. 

The set comes with three different ways to hang your ornament with both a hook and a string as shown here.  I provided the string both as a solid image and one with a break in it so that when it's stamped on the tree branch it gives the illusion it's actually hanging from the tree.  For my sentiment, I turned to stacking the sentiment from the set, pairing it with my favorite new banner image from Little Angels.  

My third card uses the tree bough branch from Holiday Style and the other stamps from Merry Sentiments.  For this card, I stamped the branch in three different colors of ink to form a border around my card panel.  I then die-cut all my light bulbs from white cardstock and stamped them with my Misti Tool (using a similar technique shared HERE).  While a Misti isn't absolutely necessary it definitely made my life easier when it came to stamping a ton of these from different colors.

When I had them all stamped out I loosely placed them where I wanted them on my card and then used a little ink dauber to apply an inky glow around them with my distress inks.  I then adhered to my light bulbs and added some glossy accents to them.  My sentiment was stamped with a phrase from the set and paired with several layers of the Merry Word die stacked on top of each other.  

For this card, I went bright and happy again having my ornaments hang from what looks like a garland.  When I was nearly done I accidentally got some ink on my card base just below the red ornament.  I tried sanding it off, but it still looked too obvious to me so I got clever with some sequins to try and hide my mistake.  That particular sequin still feels a little misplaced to me, but overall it was a good save for something that could have landed my card in the trash. 

For my second rainbow of the day, I lined up the bulbs from Merry Sentiments in a fun clean and simple card.  I used our Wavy Border dies to form my string for the lights and inked up my background the same way I did for the first card using a mini ink dauber.

For one last card, I thought it would be fun to create an overall background and everyday card using the bow from the Holiday Style set.  Once again I was too lazy to mess with any sort of positioning tool.  I started by just inking up the bows with the base color and once I had them all placed I then could go through color by color with the layering images.  

When I was done I was hoping to hide some of my stamping imperfections & perhaps tone it down by spritzing it with water and flicking on some black ink.  In the end, I'm not sure if I ruined it, but after all the work I had put into it I decided to press on, adding a sentiment from our Sweet Shoppe set and coordinating Sweet Word die and fishtail banner dies.  The splatters and bows have a very 80's vibe to it, right?  

This is a little graphic showing all the different ways our Merry Sentiments set can be used. I think this little set has a big bang for your buck with the layering light bulb and 9 different combinations for sentiments when paired with the Merry Word die.

I am frequently asked what colors I used in my stamping and while I didn't keep records for all the cards in this post, I have gone back and tried to match them due to popularity.  I have listed them from light to dark.  :)

Jingle Bell
Colorbox Seattle Sky
Colorbox Storm
Versafine Black Onyx

Red Bow, Lights & Ornaments
Hero Arts Pale Tomato
Colorbox Strawberry
Colorbox Cranberry

Tree Branches
Grasshopper (first card)
Tree Frog (third card)

Pink Lights & Ornaments
MFT Cotton Candy
Hero Arts Bubble Gum

Slightly Darker Pink (alternative)
Colorbox Candy
Versafine Clair Charming Pink

Lavender Ornaments
Colorbox Pixie
Colorbox Lilac

Yellow Lights & Ornament
Versafine Clair Cheerful
Colorbox Banana

Orange Lights & Ornament
Colorbox Tangerine
Papertrey Ink Orange Zest

Green Lightbulb (fifth card)
Versafine Clair Verdant
Colorbox Grasshopper

Turquoise Lights & Ornament-Option 1*
Colorbox Seaglass
Colobox Ocean

Blue Lights & Ornament- Option 2*
Colorbox Poolside
Colorbox Wave

*I was having trouble finding an exact match for the blues I used since it appears they are now retired, but I have provided options for slightly more aqua or slightly more blue.

Here's a full look at the new Merry Sentiments 3x4 stamps and companion dies...

            

And here's a look at the new Holiday Style 4x6 stamps and coordinating dies...

        

Both of these will be available for purchase starting tomorrow morning!  Yay!

Would you like to win a $20 gift code to our online store?  Use the rafflecopter below to enter to win.  We will be giving away a new gift code each day for a total of five chances to win!  The contest closes on October 8th at Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, October 9th.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Make sure to check back tomorrow morning for one last stamp set and several standalone dies that I'm really excited about.  ;)

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used: