Sneak Peek: Introducing Gift Card Envelope & Treat Bag Topper Dies

Hello and welcome to day 3 of our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which will be available for purchase this Friday!

Card No. 1: Today I am sharing two brand new die sets with infinite possibilities that extend way beyond what their names imply as I was able to fill every available corner with useful everyday dies. Up first is a die set called Gift Card Envelope Dies. The name makes it sound a tiny bit boring, am I right? However, not only does this set come with an envelope perfectly sized to dress up your gift cards and give them in style, but it can also be used to create envelopes for classroom Valentine's Day cards like I did here! Also included are 5 unique hearts that don't overlap the sizes of any of our other heart dies, including a fun outline shape that can be layered with our Stitched Heart 2 Dies and Scalloped Heart Dies, plus two fun postage stamps, 3 different design options sized to fit within those stamps, three basic posey flower shapes, and the script phrases "sending my love" and "be mine" which are sized to mix and match with previous script words from other sets, including our Loopy Letter Dies.

For my mini card set, I used the pandas from our new Bighearted Bears Stamps shared yesterday. I kept my designs clean and simple to make them easier to mass produce, letting the images, sweet greetings, and cute paper prints from our Classic Gingham Paper, Striped Silly Paper, and Polka-dot Parade Paper packs take center stage. To add the "to" and "from" on the outside of my envelope, I used our Inside Greetings Birthday Stamps. For the "love is in the air" sentiment, I paired the word "love" from the gift card envelope dies together with the phrase from our Love Birds Stamps. I also couldn't fit the full die-cut phrase "be mine" on the card with the bicycle without it feeling crowded, so I partially stamped just the word "be" also from the Love Birds Stamps.

Card No. 2: Next up is just a little medley of options that you can create using the Gift Card Envelope Dies. I love that they are small enough to cut from our 6x6 pads of patterned paper. For these, I used our Dots & Striped Pastel Paper which is so fun with the double-sided prints. So many times when we craft we're really only able to use one side or the other so this is one instance where both sides of the patterned paper can be fully appreciated at the same time. 

For the phrase "for you with love" I cut the greeting from our Baking Spirits Bright Stamps in half so I could stack and stamp them in the smaller space. To adhere the flaps I would recommend using a 1/8" sticky double-sided score tape or a liquid glue pen. My favorite is the Zig 2-way Glue Pens because they don't have the mess of other liquid adhesives, can get in small spaces with just a small line, and have a super strong bond (when adhered while still blue before drying clear) which is extra important when using thicker patterned paper that stubbornly wants to go back to its unfolded state.

Card No. 3 & 4: Next up is a pair of Valentine's Day cards using all the fun elements that come with the Gift Card Envelope Dies, sans envelope. I started by making the card on the right, but then realized I had all the interior hearts left over from the outlined heart dies from the set and they would also make a really cute card. I love it when I can minimize paper waste and almost use every square inch!

Card No. 3: Taking a closer look, for this card I die-cut three of the hearts from the Gift Card Envelope Die set in three coordinating shades of red cardstock that became progressively lighter as the hearts got smaller. To build my base for each heart, I then cut a fourth lighter shade in a peachy pink color using our Stitched Heart 2 Dies to stack underneath. For my background, I cut a 4.25" x 5.5" panel of red cardstock using the middle shade to fill my background and layered it with the darkest shade of red which I cut using our Quilted Hearts Portrait Dies, cutting off a strip down the right-hand side to give me a straight line to stack my hearts on. I added the simple "be mine" greeting to the bottom left using the word dies from the set cut from white cardstock. I love how it pops against the deep red colors. Lastly, I added our Heart Shaped Pearls to the top of each smaller heart using Ranger's Multi Medium Matte which is a strong liquid adhesive that dries clear and matte.

Card No. 4: Next up is the second card using all the leftover scraps from the previous card. Since I indeed had been cutting the first set of hearts out using random scraps I save in a file folder labeled "red", I really had to scrounge for more scraps to match the hearts I was left with and that would also be large enough to fill my background for a second card. I settled on another card design where only part of the Quilted Hearts Landscape Dies is used with a diagonal orientation to give my card a little extra interest. I once again used the word dies from the Gift Card Envelope Dies to spell out "sending my love" in white cardstock and added the Heart Shaped Pearls to the center of each smaller heart. When I was done, I still felt my card was missing something so I chose to round the bottom two corners with the We R Memory Keeper Corner Chomper to add a little extra interest and jazz it up a bit. 

In the end, I really love how both of these turned out and I felt like I was right back in grade school making good old-fashioned Valentine's Day cards--You know the kind where you fold the paper in half to create a heart. Except I'm finicky about my hearts and I love how these fit my idea of a "perfect heart"

Card No. 5: For my next card, I was riding the wave of the school Valentine mindset so I paired a row of the cute postage stamps I assembled from the Gift Card Envelope Dies with the Notebook Tabs Dies, adding the lines, scissors, and pushpin from the A Cut Above Stamps, and the pencil from our Color My World Stamps. To reinforce the look of a handmade Valentine, I layered two of the open hearts for the Gift Card Envelope Dies and stamped a "Happy Valentine's Day" script greeting from our Happy Thoughts Stamps on the lines of my spiral notebook paper using VersaFine Clair Morning Mist Ink to look like it was written with the pencil. For my background, I used the cute pink "quilted heart" tone-on-tone patterned paper from our Flirty Flowers Paper pack. The finished size of my card is 5" square.

Treat Bag No. 1: Switching gears, I'm really excited to share our new Treat Bag Topper Dies. Once again these are compact enough to cut from a sheet of 6x6 Patterned paper with room to spare and they come with so many versatile dies that I know I will be using over and over again. The bag topper portion measures 4 inches wide so they are perfect to pair with 4x6-sized glassine, kraft, or clear acetate bags to create fun little gifts for every occasion and holiday under the sun. They don't have to be limited to sweet treats either. I think would be a fun way to dress up so many different small gifts!

This die set comes with a small elongated stitched rectangle die that I think is going to be in constant use in my craft room. It's just the right width to fit on a vertical card and three of them can stack nicely to create three smaller scenes (which I did for a card I am sharing tomorrow). It also includes a nice little banner, the word "happy" (which is a smaller, more versatile version of an older die we retired years ago seen HERE), and a cute layered party hat.

For these little cookie gifts, I used the reverse side of the same patterned paper found on my last card from our Flirty Flowers Paper pack and then used some red gingham scraps from our Joyful Holiday Paper pack. When creating A2-sized cards I'm always left with 1/2" strips of paper I don't have the heart to toss and they work so perfectly in instances like these to add a little something extra to projects. To make them look finished and an intentional part of my design, I ran them through my die-cutting machine so they would have the same stitching around the outside edges. I then added the pandas and the word "you" from our Bighearted Bears Stamps paired with the word "love" die-cut from red cardstock using our Gift Card Envelope Dies. Once again I intentionally kept this design really simple, making it easier to mass-produce for friends and family.

Treat Bag No. 2: For this set of Treat Bag Toppers, I didn't use my favorite accompanying stitched rectangle die and instead used the main die to add a scalloped edge to some pink gingham paper scraps I had sitting near my desk from our Gingham Pastels Paper pack. I then layered them with the Stitched Heart 2 Dies which had been cut from a pink polka-dot print from our Dots & Stripes Pastels Paper pack. This time I used a kraft bag to hold my little gifts so I thought it would be fun to color the birdies from our Love Birds Stamps in tan shades to match, positioning the birds to fill each side of the heart with a little tree branch for them to perch on.

Treat Bag No. 3: For my last treat bag idea of the day, I used all the pieces that come with the Treat Bag Topper Dies set to decorate my topper with a fun birthday theme. I was ecstatic when I went to my local Winco Grocery store and found generic candy-coated chocolates sold in bulk by the color. They only came in 4 unique colors, but I had already made my topper so it felt like kismet that they happened to have them in the same shade of yellow that I had used. The only elements I used outside of the dies that come with the set were the Dots & Stripes Pastels Paper for my party hat and the stamped "birthday" word from our Happy Thoughts Stamps. I'm very excited to have this birthday word die available to go with so many different sentiments from that stamp set!

Card No. 6: For my last project of the day, I couldn't resist putting those wonderful party hats and the cute banner from the Treat Bag Topper Dies to work with our Bright Balloons Dies and Perfect Gift Box Dies. When those sets came out this past summer, I immediately felt regret that there wasn't a party hat available to compliment them so this die fills that gap for me. To make my card extra happy and festive, I used prints from our Rainbow Bright Paper pad, adding the stitched edge from our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies and stamping the greeting using our Inside Greetings Birthday Stamps with Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I love how cute these elements look together!

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily sneak peek contests run through Saturday, January 6th at Midnight PST with the winners announced here on Sunday, January 7th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Gift Card Envelope Dies and Treat Bag Topper Dies used today and available for purchase on Friday, January 5th.

 

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Color My World Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Color My World Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Polka-dot Parade 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Thoughts Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Flirty Flowers 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Dots & Stripes Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Inside Greetings Birthday Shop at: Sunny Studio	Quilted Hearts Landscape Shop at: Sunny Studio
Quilted Hearts Portrait 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
A Cut Above Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	A Cut Above Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Notebook Tabs Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Bright Balloons Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Perfect Gift Boxes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Love Birds Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Love Birds Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Bighearted Bears Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Bighearted Bears Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Heart Shaped Pearls Shop at: Sunny Studio | Studio Katia
Striped Silly 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Baking Spirits Bright Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Multi Medium Matte Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Introducing Bighearted Bears & Sprawling Surfaces

Hi there! Welcome to day 2 of our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which will be available for purchase this Friday!

Card No. 1: Today I am sharing card ideas using our newest panda stamp set called Bighearted Bears which is perfect for Valentine's Day and so much more! This set comes with a little post office mailbox, letters, and bears in so many new cute poses. I also was able to pair two of the new pandas with the panda on the top of the mailbox from our Panda Party Stamps so they mix and match for double the fun. For my background, I started by cutting clouds from masking material using our Comic Strip Everyday Dies and then inked over them using Tumbled Glass distress ink before pulling up the masks to reveal the white cardstock beneath. 

For the buildings behind my bears, I stamped and colored the border from our Charming City Stamps. When I was done I felt like the buildings were drawing the eye away from the scene in the foreground too much so I cut a piece of vellum and adhered it to the back of an arched window I cut using our Stitched Arch Dies. This was just what my scene needed to frame the scene and make the buildings feel a bit hazy in the background like they would be in real life. Lastly, I inked up varying shades of red cardstock for our layered Brilliant Banner 2 Dies and heat-embossed my greeting, pairing the word "love" from our Love & Light Stamps with the words "sending" and "your way" from the Panda Party Stamps.

Card No. 2: Up next is a cute Parisian scene, mixing the bears from Bighearted Bears and Panda Party with the Eiffel Tower and cafe table and chair set from our Paris Afternoon Stamps. The real star of the show though is the cobblestone from our new Sprawling Surfaces Stamps. This set comes with 3 unique "flooring" or outdoor surfaces to create realistic scenes with vanishing focal points or "forced perspective". If you are a fan of some of the amazing artists who do this freehand, these fun borders now allow you to look like a pro with the help of a stamp set that does the heavy lifting for you. For this card, I colored the cobblestone with a no-line coloring technique, but once again I felt like the colors I chose were too bold with everything else I had going on so I was able to subdue them by wrapping my border strip in a sheet of vellum and adhering it with flaps to the back so I didn't have to mess with trying to hide the adhesive. 

To create the shrubs in the background, I used our Fluffy Clouds Border Dies and inked them up with mowed lawn distress ink. For my greeting, I paired the die-cut word "sending" from our new Gift Card Envelope Dies (to be shared more tomorrow) with the words "Valentine's Day" from our Bighearted Bears Stamps and the "wishes" word from our Christmas Cookie Stamps. The same "wishes" word can also be found in our Truckloads of Love Stamps and Reindeer Games Stamps. The little pink pennant strip they were stamped on was cut using one of the dies from our Notebook Photo Corners Dies. 

Card No. 3: Moving indoors, this card features the new Sprawling Surfaces Stamps, spotlighting the wood floor border which I paired with the cute sofa and other living room furniture from our Cozy Christmas Stamps. For the occupants, I used three bears from both our new Bighearted Bears Stamps and Panda Party Stamps, adding wallpaper to my room using a seafoam green polka-dot print from our Dots & Stripes Pastel Paper pack. Lastly, I heat embossed my "home is wherever you are" greeting from our Puppy Parents Stamps onto our Brilliant Banner 2 Dies which I inked up pink to match the pink heart the bear is holding.

Card No. 4: Using the third border from the Sprawling Surfaces Stamps, I created an outdoor scene using the park bench and tree images from our Spring Scenes Stamps. I think the bricks go together so well and the little panda bears on the bicycle and Panda with the flower bouquet from our new Bighearted Bears Stamps were the perfect compliment. When I had my images placed in the scene, however, I felt like the large white space inside the bicycle wheels was really glowing against my brick background so I ended up coloring them to match the bricks to hopefully keep the eye from going straight to that spot. To complete my scene, I added the sitting bear from our Panda Party Stamps, a greeting from our new Big Bunny Stamps, and the butterfly from our Birthday Mouse Stamps (or Spring Showers Stamps).

Card No. 5: I created a whimsical scene for this card featuring the Bighearted Bears Stamps. I started by inking my background using Broken China Distress Ink together with masks I had cut using our Fluffy Clouds Border Dies. I then colored six heart balloons and the bicycling couple using Copic Markers, positioning the balloons with the coordinating strings to lift my bicycle into the clouds.  I then added a 1" strip of Classic Sunburst Paper to the bottom of my card using the blue grid print to match my clouds, adding the stitching along the top edge with the die from our Slimline Basic Border Dies. I completed my card with a punny sentiment from the set and layered a loopy heart border from our Heartstrings Border Dies.

Card No. 6: For my last card I kept envisioning a pile of letters to go with the darling mailbox from our new Bighearted Bears stamps so I stamped and cut out many little letter masks so I could stamp a section of them, cover them in masks, stamp another layer, move the masks, and repeat until I had a proper-sized letter pile. I added the little panda from our Panda Party Stamps to a thought bubble from our Comic Strip Speech Bubbles Dies and a thin stitched frame using our Frilly Frames Herringbone Dies.

To ground my mailbox I added a simple strip of black cardstock along the bottom, but then I was struggling with hiding the unfinished edge of my letters which I had positioned off the edge of my paper when I stamped them so a little white scalloped border from our Slimline Basic Border Dies came to my rescue. Adding it had the added benefit of giving me a nice little "box" to fit my sentiment. To create my greeting I paired the "thinking of you" phrase from the Fast Food Fun Stamps together with the word "this" from our Alpaca Holiday Stamps and the "Valentine's Day" from the new Bighearted Bears set.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily sneak peek contests run through Saturday, January 6th at Midnight PST with the winners announced here on Sunday, January 7th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Bighearted Bears Stamps & Dies and Sprawling Surfaces Stamps used today and available for purchase on Friday, January 5th.

  

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Comic Strip Everyday Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Dots & Stripes Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Fluffy Clouds Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Scenes Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Scenes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Heartstrings Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Stitched Arch Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Sunburst Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Charming City Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Charming City Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Paris Afternoon Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Paris Afternoon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cozy Christmas Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cozy Christmas Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Panda Party Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Panda Party Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Notebook Photo Corners Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Birthday Mouse Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Birthday Mouse Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Love & Light Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bunny Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Big Bunny Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gift Card Envelope Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Fast Food Fun Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Alpaca Holiday Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Parents Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Frilly Frames Herringbone Shop at: Sunny Studio
Comic Strip Speech Bubble Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Basic Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio