Sneak Peek: Cat Antics Stamps, Rounded Rectangle Mat & Window Dies

Hello, and 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: I've always had a soft spot for cats, so I'm extra happy to share cards today using our darling new Cat Antics Stamps. This set comes with 11 unique cat images, so I love this grid-style card, which allowed me to showcase nearly half of them. I started by cutting an A2-sized cardstock panel twice using our Window Trio Heart Landscape Dies. I then filled behind each heart using tone-on-tone swatches of our new diagonal grid print from our Background Basics 2 Stamps in pink, fuchsia, and aqua. I added some of the kitty accessories from the set, like the yarn ball, mouse toy, and food bowl, coloring them to match.  I then heat embossed the punny sentiment "pawsitive vibes" in the 6th heart in the top, right corner. I have a teenage daughter for whom this card will be perfect. Her generation is all about "chill vibes."

Card No. 2: For my next card, I used the cute cardboard box from the set, adding two of the peeking kitties from the set and three other cats outside the box from our new Cat Antics Stamps. As a backdrop, I created a living room scene. I added "wallpaper" using a baby blue floral print from our Spring Fever Paper pack. I then used the wood floor border from our Sprawling Surfaces Stamps along the bottom of my card front and added a thin strip of white cardstock between the two to form my base molding. I added an armchair from our Cozy Christmas Stamps, stamped it onto a piece of red gingham-patterned paper from our Joyful Holiday Paper pack, and fussy cut it out with my scissors. I added three small windows around my chair using the window from our Sweet Treats House Add-on Dies. Lastly, I heat embossed the sentiment "I'm furever grateful" onto our Brilliant Banner 4 Dies, which had been cut out using a red polka-dot print from our Polka-dot Parade Paper.

Card No. 3: For this next card featuring the Cat Antics Stamps, I wanted the kitty holding the heart-shaped yarn and the other yarn balls piled into the cardboard box for the set to take center stage. I mounted them onto a stitched Rounded Rectangle Mat, which I backed with one of the slightly larger negative spaces left over from our Rounded Rectangle Window Dies. I then added a red and pink striped background behind them using our Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils. I created my own custom greeting by spelling out the word "wool" using our Chloe Alphabet Dies, stamping the word "you" from our Sea You Soon Stamps, "be mine" from our Love Birds Stamps, and the question mark from our Silly Sloths Stamps.

Card No. 4: Up next is another card inspired by the ball of yarn from the Cat Antics Stamps. This time I inked up large pastel dots of color across my entire background using small ink blending brushes and Distress inks. I then dried the ink really well with my heat gun, before stamping and heat embossing the balls of yarn in the center of each dot at different random angles to form my own handmade patterned paper. I really love the results!

For my focal point, I put the kitty holding the fall of yarn inside the box by cutting along the stamped edge with my X-acto knife. I framed her with a pink Stitched Heart 2 Die colored with the same Picked Raspberry ink used in my background. Lastly, I tied together my little scene with our Brilliant Banner 2 Dies, which I stamped and heat embossed with a greeting from the Cat Antics set.

Card No. 5:  For my next card, I created a paned window from a piece of white cardstock by die-cutting the same stitched rectangle four times using our new Rounded Rectangle Window Dies. I glued a piece of acetate behind the window panes and added foam tape on the back of my panel around the perimeter so I could add some small iridescent star confetti to create a shaker card. 

I then colored three cats from the Cat Antics Stamps and placed them inside a window box, which I cut from woodgrain textured cardstock. I didn't have a die for a box of this size so I just cut an angle from a strip of cardstock on one side and then flipped the triangle piece I cut off to use as a template to cut the other side at the same angle. For my flowers, I used all the different leaves and flowers from our Spring Garden Dies, inking them up on one side using finger daubers with distress inks. For my greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from the Meow & Furever Stamps onto our Brilliant Banner 4 Dies, cut from pink cardstock.

I've only scratched the surface today on how our new Rounded Rectangle Mat Dies and Rounded Rectangle Window Dies can be used. I found myself turning to these versatile dies for so many cards, which I will share much more later in the week.

Card No. 6: For my last card of the day, I colored the three little peeking tuxedo kitties from the Cat Antics Stamps. Black and white cats are my favorite so I couldn't resist creating a card dedicated to them. Plus, it made for a fun, bold color scheme when paired with hot pink. I used a row of three stitched hearts from our Window Trio Heart Portrait Dies and Window Trio Heart Landscape Dies and heat embossed them with my greeting by combining the "pawsititve vibes" phrase from the Cat Antics set with the word "sending" from our Panda Party Stamps. I then added hot pink tone-on-tone strips along the top and bottom using the print from our new Background Basics 2 Stamps. To dress it up, I added a stitched edge and ric-rac trim edge with our Slimline Basic Border Dies. Lastly, I embellished it with tiny hearts from our Basic Mini Shape Dies 2, which were topped with some Stickles Twinkle Glitter and set aside to dry.

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 contests will run through Saturday, January 11th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 12th.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Cat Antics Stamps & Dies, Rounded Rectangle Mat Dies, and Rounded Rectangle Window Dies used today, which will be available for purchase on Friday, January 10th.

 

Other Supplies Used:

Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Polka-dot Parade 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Basic Mini Shape Dies 2 Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sweet Treats House Add-on Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sea You Soon Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Basic Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Meow & Furever Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Stitched Heart 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cozy Christmas Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cozy Christmas Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Joyful Holiday Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Panda Party Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Fever Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Love Birds Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sprawling Surfaces Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Garden Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 4 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils Shop at: Sunny Studio	Background Basics 2 Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Window Trio Heart Landscape Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio
Silly Sloths Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stickles Twinkle Glitter Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Introducing Majestic Meadow & Tulip Path Background

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

Today, I'm sharing three new 6x6 background stamps which I'm so excited about! These aren't ordinary background stamps because they have coordinating dies, and every blank space in the scene was utilized to include bonus images that are mirror images of critters from our popular Little Birdie and Bunnyville sets which have been so nice to have.

Card No. 1: Up first is a card using our new Majestic Meadow Stamps. For this particular card, I primarily used images such as the birds and clouds that come with the set. The only extras I included were the birdhouse from the Little Birdie Stamps and the spring greeting from our Cheerful Daisy Stamps. When I was designing the Majestic Meadow Dies, I had some extra empty space to potentially fill in the set that wouldn't change the cost of the die, so I ended up creating two little border dies that would allow users to cut out the tulips on either side of the scene to either use by themselves (which I did on a later project) or to layer over the scene with foam tape to give your projects extra dimension.

Card No. 2: For my next card showcasing the Majestic Meadow Stamps, I created an Easter card with an egg hunt scene using the bunnies, basket, and banner from our Chubby Bunny Stamps. I was tickled that the "Happy Easter" banner perfectly fit the span between the two trees! To make the eggs appear at different vantage points in my scene, I stamped eggs in three different sizes, mixing the eggs from both the Chubby Bunny set and our Chickie Baby Stamps. I positioned the largest eggs near the bottom front of the card and the smaller eggs in the middle where they would appear to be further back.



Card No. 3: Switching gears, I have a spring card featuring our new Tulip Path Background Stamps. This beautiful scene features a winding path with a windmill, trees, and mountains in the distance. For this particular card, I colored most of the images with my Copic markers, but then I stamped and fussy cut a mask to cover them, leaving the sky and pathway exposed. This allowed me to quickly lay down some smooth and even color using Distress inks. Afterward, I added some stippling with my Copic markers in coordinating ink colors along the pathway to give the look of pebbles. I kept my mask and set it aside, which was helpful because this one mask was utilized for four different cards I created this week and is still available for more cards in the future.

To mix things up, today, I covered the windmill with other images to create unique looks with this set and expand its versatility; however, I will share a couple more cards later in the week where I retained the windmill from this scene. For my focal point in the foreground, I used the girl and boy gnomes from our Home Sweet Gnome Stamps and the little bird from that set, which I propped on the brick border. I used an image from our Garden Fairy Stamps for the mushroom house in the background. Lastly, I stamped the word "hello" from the Tulip Path Background set.

Card No. 4: For this card featuring the new Tulip Path Background Stamps, I paired two of the bunnies, the clouds, and three butterflies from the set with the spring scene backdrop. I love how these large oversized backgrounds can be fully used on a square card or given a slightly different look depending on whether you use it on a portrait or landscape A2-sized card and how you position it to the top or bottom, left or right. 

This time, I kept all my tulips in one shade of pale pink and added the carrot house from our Bunnyville Stamps to place over the top of the windmill in the scene. The only other elements I added were the Easter basket from our Big Bunny Stamps and the "Easter Wishes" greeting from our Happy Thought Stamps. I heat embossed my greeting on a pink flower print from our Flirty Flowers Paper, which had been die-cut into a pennant using our Notebook Photo Corners Dies.

Card No. 5: My next card returned to the background for the Majestic Meadow Stamps. I thought it would be fun to stamp this in brown ink and color it with pastel Copics to give it a Classic Pooh and Hundred Acre Woods feel. For my main image, I added a floating bunny that will be shared more on Friday using our new Balloon Numbers Stamps. I made him lift off the ground with a bouquet of carrot balloons from our Bunnyville Stamps. I taped some white twine to the back of each balloon for their strings and tied them in a knot to glue in his paw using some liquid adhesive. I then added some foam tape in and around the strings to help offset the string thickness and add dimension to my little scene. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment "Just a note to lift you up" using a greeting from the Balloon Rides Stamps.



Card No. 6: I couldn't leave today without sharing a card using the tulips from the Majestic Meadow Stamps all on their own. As soon as I squeezed those extra little dies into the set, I thought of this particular card idea. I started by stamping my polka-dot tone-on-tone background using dark navy ink stamped onto a slightly lighter shade of navy cardstock with our new Background Basics 2 Stamps, which will be shared much more throughout the week. 

This is a set I have wanted for a long time, but it wasn't feasible with our standard 4x6 sets so I set off on a long journey to find a new American supplier who could make these larger sets for a price point that was more favorable for our customers (sadly inflation is a real daily battle and it's depressing). I've thoroughly enjoyed both the basic A2-sized diagonal crosshatch linen-inspired background and this new smaller Swiss-inspired polka-dot border from the set, which can be stamped repeatedly to create a seamless background to cover almost any card size.

I trimmed down my background using our Stitched Square Dies to create a 4-1/2" square card. To frame my four tulip corners, I mounted them onto a lacey square using our Scalloped Square 2 Small Dies, which I had backed with a piece of hot pink cardstock to fill the eyelet lace holes. Lastly, I stamped the word "hello" using the Tulip Path Background Stamps and fuchsia-colored ink to tie my navy and pink color scheme together. 

Before I leave today, I wanted to share a little snapshot I took in hopes that it will help you line up the polka-dot background like a pro. It's difficult to see here, but I positioned the edge of my stamp border with the center of the previous stamped row of polka-dots so that they would repeat with perfect spacing every time. Of course, I found the use of a stamp positioning tool super helpful, along with a sticky mat or temporary tacky adhesive added to the back of my cardstock panel to keep it in place. I then closed the lid onto the stamp border so it would pick it up in just the right spot to stamp it once or twice for extra good ink coverage.

Here's a look at all the fun, colorful backgrounds I was able to create with the Background Basics 2 Stamps! I experimented with rainbow stamping and heat embossing for a few of these prints. I must admit I'm in love...

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 contests will run through Saturday, January 11th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 12th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Majestic Meadow Stamps & Dies, Tulip Path Background Stamps & Dies, and Background Basics 2 Stamps shared today, which will be available for purchase on Friday, January 10th.

Other Supplies Used:

Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Thoughts Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Home Sweet Gnome Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Home Sweet Gnome Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Chubby Bunny Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Chubby Bunny Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cheerful Daisies Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Chickie Baby Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Chickie Baby Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Balloon Rides Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Garden Fairy Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Garden Fairy Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Bunnyville Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Bunnyville Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Birdie Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Birdie Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Notebook Photo Corners Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Square 2 Small Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Background Basics 2 Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Balloon Numbers Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Balloon Numbers Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spellbinders Masking Sheets Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Flirty Flowers 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Square Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio