Sneak Peek Week: Love Monkey Stamps & Botanical Backdrop Dies

Hello and welcome to our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  This week I have been showcasing cards using our new collection for Spring available for purchase tomorrow morning.  :)

Today's share includes our new 4x6 Love Monkey stamps & dies, as well as a cool new standalone A2 sized die called Botanical Backdrop.

Card No. 1: For my first card of the day I used the Love Monkey stamps to create a monochromatic Valentine. To create my background, I double stamped our Cascading Hearts stamps in a crisp red ink onto white cardstock and then I sponged on candied apple distress ink with a jumbo dauber to create an ombre effect on my panel, saturating the ink more along the top and fading it towards the bottom to mimic my heart pattern.

I colored my images with Copic Markers and cut them out with the coordinating dies.  As many of you know I love to fussy cut stamped images, but this is one set where you just might want to purchase the dies to save your sanity.  As I learned the hard way, the tree branch and monkey tails are a bit challenging to trim around so if you're on the fence this is one set where I would recommend them (or perhaps stamping the images onto your card background and masking off the monkeys before stamping the tree branch). ;)

I framed my little monkeys using our Stitched Ovals dies and Fancy Frames Oval dies and then stamped my sentiment on a curve to match using a stamp positioning tool.  To play up the scalloped theme, I cut two scalloped borders using our Stitched Scallop dies out of the same white and red cardstock and then offset them for a fun ruffled look.

Card No. 2: Up next is a card using the swinging monkey from the set, together with the extra vines included. To frame my little scene, I used our Frilly Frames Lattice dies without the lattice insert and then masked off a smaller rectangle using Therm-o-web's Purple Tape. Next I inked up my background with tumbled glass and twisted citron distress inks before peeling off the tape. I then paired my little guy with the mailbox & letters from our Sending My Love stamps.  Finally I stamped my sentiment from the set using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I love the look of the masked background and better yet, it's a great way to keep your card flat for mailing.  ;)

Card No. 3: For this card I thought it would be fun to color the balloons in rainbow colors to match the striped paper from our Rainbow Bright paper pack for a super bright and happy card.  I inked up my cloud background using a MFT stencil and tumbled glass distress ink.  I then colored two houses from our Happy Home stamps in equally bright colors to match the feel of my monkey and framed the little scene using the negative space from our Stitched Ovals dies. To finish my card I used a sentiment from our new Over The Rainbow stamps which I will be sharing more of tomorrow.  ;)

Card No. 4: For this fun card I turned to our new Staggered Circles Die which I shared yesterday for a sweet Valentine's Day card.  I used a piece of red, pink and white striped paper from our Holiday Cheer Paper pack which inspired the colors I chose for my front card panel and circle cutouts. I then added a zig zag border detail with our Ric Rac Border stamps and stamped my sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with white opaque embossing powder.

Card No. 5: For my last Love Monkey card of the day, I paired the cute monkey couple together with our Stitched Heart dies and the banner from our Sunny Borders stamps which was then stamped with my Valentine's Day sentiment from our Happy Thoughts stamps. Then I die-cut the polka-dot background using our new Frilly Frames Polka-dot dies, backed them with pink cardstock and paired them with two stitched scallop frames from our Fancy Frames Rectangle dies.

Card No. 6:  I am now completely switching gears with our new A2 sized Botanical Backdrop dies.  Honestly I would have liked more time to play with these because I think there is so much more things that these fun dies can do, but I sadly just ran out of time. 

For this card, I set aside the beautiful leafy frame die that comes with this set and focused on all the cool flower dies that come in the center for a pretty Mother's Day card. I had some striped paper strips from our Dots & Stripes Pastels paper pack leftover from another project so I adhered them onto some copy paper for my own custom print.  I then layered over the top a scalloped mat using our Frilly Frames Lattice dies.  After loosely arranging my flowers in opposing corners, I cut the Happy Word from our Flirty Flowers Paper and stamped the words "mother's day" from our Happy Thoughts stamps. After I had everything placed where I wanted it, I took turns lifting the pieces and applying them to my card with some liquid glue.

Card No. 7: For this card, I took that same medium sized flower used in my last card and this time paired it with some different pieces for the center to create daffodils!  For my background I embossed a piece of blue cardstock with our new Sunburst embossing folder and then distressed it with some blue ink and my jumbo dauber to accentuate the sun rays. To create my stems, I trimmed some thin strips of green cardstock on my paper trimmer and then added the two individual leaves from the set. For my sentiment I stamped the words "thank you" from our Autumn Splendor stamps onto a banner from our Little Angels dies using Versafine Onyx Black ink. A little strip of yellow striped paper from our Dots & Stripes Pastels paper pack and a scattering of Studio Katia Radiant Pineapple Fusion sequins finished off my card.

Card No. 8: My final card of the day uses the Botanical Backdrop frame and flower dies with Therm-o-web's PeelnStick Toner Sheets and their Amethyst Watercolor Foil and Lime Satin Foil.  Due to the foil's reflective nature combined with the dark background, this card was incredibly hard to get a good photo of, but it's so pretty in person! 

The directions on the toner sheets suggest die-cutting and then foiling, but after lots of trial and error I would say I got much better results by foiling small blocks of the toner sheet in the sizes I needed for a particular color and then die-cutting them afterwards.  By doing this the foil was able to get into the stitched grooves of the die (versus leaving black toner paper showing by doing it the other way).  I love these toner sheets though and it took away much of the frustration I have with foiling--It was super fun to be able to create custom colors and die-cuts from a single sheet of toner paper  Even better, I was able to combine these sheets with their foam adhesive sheets to die-cut dimensional flowers with one pass through my machine!

I think the glitz of the foil paper makes it ideal for a classy wedding card.  I added some pretty bling by Queen & Co. to my flower centers and heat embossed my sentiment using our Everyday Greetings stamps with silver embossing powder.

Here's an example of just a few of the fun ways the flowers from our new Botanical Backdrop dies can be layered...

I'm so happy you've joined me for today's sneak peek and I'd love to give a $25 gift code to one lucky winner.  Make sure to keep checking back all this week for more peeks & prizes for up to five chances to win.  The contests run through Saturday at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 6th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's a closer look at the new Love Monkey stamps & coordinating dies and new standalone Botanical Backdrop dies used today (available for purchase on Friday, January 4th).

      

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Happy Home Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Home Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Angels Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sending My Love Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sending My Love Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Heart Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Scallop Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sunny Borders Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sunny Borders Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cascading Heart Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Fancy Frames- Ovals Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fancy Frames- Rectangles Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Thoughts Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Happy Word Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Cheer 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Oval Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Flirty Flowers 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Dots & Stripes Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sunburst Embossing Shop at: Sunny Studio	Over The Rainbow Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Staggered Circles Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Frilly Frames Lattice Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Frilly Frames Polka-Dot Shop at: Sunny Studio	Everyday Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek Week: Puppy Parents, Puppy Dog Kisses & Staggered Circles

Hello and welcome to our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I will be showcasing cards using our new collection for Spring coming out on Friday, January 4th.  :)

Today I'm sharing our new 4x6 Puppy Parents stamps & dies, 2x3 Puppy Dog Kisses stamps & dies and a new standalone Staggered Circles die.

Card No. 1: For my first card I used 4 for the 6 puppy and Dog parent pairs from our Puppy Parents stamps and grounded them on my card using some stitched circles from our new Staggered Circles die.  

This die comes with 5 small circle dies in 5 unique sizes and as the name suggests, have been staggered for perfect placement both vertically, horizontally and diagonally.  It has been over-sized so that you can have two of the circles overlap off the edge or four of the circles on the card perfectly.  The beauty of this die is that you don't have to carefully measure out where to put individual circles using traditional nesting circle dies.  Also because there is stitching on both sides of the cut line, both sides are useful.  Plus, it includes some extra sizes that some traditional nesting sets might not offer because it's physically impossible to nest the circles in smaller increments.

For my card, I cut four of the largest 1-3/4" circles out of paper from our Classic Gingham paper and Gingham Jewel Tones paper packs.  For my sentiment I used the die from our Little Angels dies and paired the stamped sentiment from the Puppy Parents set together with the word "mom" which I spelled out using our Loopy Letters dies.

Card No. 2: Up next is a card combining the sweet sheep dogs & dog house from Puppy Parents together with the sheep dog, balloons, party hats and sentiments from our Party Pups stamps. To frame my little scenes, I have used our Comic Strip Everyday die cut from black cardstock.  The Comic Strip die comes with some little clouds which I cut from 1.5" wide iCraft Purple Tape and used as a mask before inking up my background with tumbled glass distress ink.

Card No. 3: For this card I used some of the stitched circles leftover from another card using our new Staggered Circles die.  I then colored each one in the center using a finger dauber with mustard seed, twisted citron, candied apple & broken china distress inks.  For my patterned papers I mixed a variety of papers from our Polka-dot Parade Paper and Rainbow Bright Paper packs. The party hat and dog balloon were borrowed from our Party Pups stamps and the sentiment from our new Puppy Dog Kisses stamps. For the stars of the show, two of my doggies came from our new Puppy Parents set which coordinate with our previously released Devoted Doggies stamps.

Card No. 4:  For this card I positioned the Staggered Circles die on the diagonal, so that I could fully fit all four circles on my card panel without bleeding off the edge. To back my circles I punched slightly larger circles from the grid print in our Gingham Pastels paper pack and then for my decorative edge using our Ric Rac Border dies.  I then colored my little dachshund puppies with Copics and positioned them within the circle cutouts, stamping the little paw print from the set using some pink ink.  It's a pretty simple card, but I love the soft and sweet color scheme!

Card No. 5: Up next is a card combining the dog house and two of the dogs from Puppy Parents with our new 2x3 Puppy Dog Kisses stamps. I used those same cloud masks that I created for the Comic Strip style card above for my card here, inking up my sky around them with some broken China ink and then removed some of the starkness by inking the clouds lightly with some tumbled glass distress ink after my masks had been removed.

For my grass, I started by inking it up using some twisted citron and mowed lawn distress inks and then loosely and quickly sketched in some blades of grass with a variety of green Copic markers that complimented my distress inks.  This is far from perfect, but I love that it doesn't matter once you layer it with the pieces from the stamp sets.  

I completed my card with a sentiment from our Puppy Parents stamps.  In order to squeeze this extra sentiment on the stamp set, I had to break it apart and separate the words so I wanted to make sure I created a card that showed it off.  It's nice having words separately sometimes though to increase the different ways they can be used.  :)

Card No. 6: For my last card of the day I have a card once again combining the dog house, bowl and tennis ball from Puppy Parents stamps with the Chihuahua from Puppy Dog Kisses.  To create my fun background, I added strips of Therm-o-web Sticky Lines adhesive to a piece of red cardstock and then heat embossed them using Wendy Vecchi's red geranium embossing powder. I am so in love with the results!  To keep things looking clean on my edges, I cut the panel I created down the center and put the clean cuts on the outside edges of my card, hiding the seam down the center with my white panel.  I then added a decorative edge using my favorite zig-zag die from our Ric Rac Border dies.

My mom has a Chihuahua that is her pride and joy so I wanted to make sure I created a card specifically for her with this little set.  While the images in Puppy Parents set can be used year 'round, many of the sentiments center around showing gratitude to moms and dads which is perfect for Mother's Day and Father's Day cards.  For my card here I finished off my card with a Happy Mother's Day sentiment on the inside using our Happy Thoughts stamps and a few Iridescent Star Crystals by Studio Katia.

I'm so happy you've joined me for today's sneak peek and I'd love to give a $25 gift code to one lucky winner.  Make sure to keep checking back all this week for more peeks & prizes for up to five chances to win.  The contests run through Saturday at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 6th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's a closer look at the new Puppy Parents and Puppy Dog Kisses stamps & coordinating dies, as well as the new Staggered Circle dies used today (available for purchase on Friday, January 4th).

      

   

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Little Angels Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ric Rac Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Devoted Doggies Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Devoted Doggies Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Party Pups Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Party Pups Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Jewel Tones 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Comic Strip Everyday Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Loopy Letters Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Iridescent Star Crystals Shop at: Sunny Studio