Thursday, October 8, 2015

Holiday Cheer

Hello! I'm back today with more to share with you from our Holiday 2015 Release, and a new-to-me product that I have fallen head over heals for: Viva Decor Holo Iridescent 3D Paste.

How fun is that background featuring the Viva Decor Paste and the Falling Snow stencil by Simon Says Stamp? I thought it was the perfect backdrop for the fun hat and mittens from Holiday Cheer. I stamped and heat embossed them in white and then added some color by sponging on Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks, and then die cut them using the Holiday Cheer Companion Die.

To create the string for my mittens, I used a paper piercer to poke a hole in each and then threaded a piece of hemp twine that I colored with a Copic Marker through them. Thanks Kathy! The sentiment from the same set was added onto a panel die cut using the Gift Card Layers Die.

But you don't have to get that intricate to create some great designs with this stamp set. With a few fun colors and good ol' stamping, you can whip up a batch of cards in no time.

I just stamped the solid images in the set and then over-stamped them in black with the corresponding line images. To add a little special touch, I just added a bit of sparkle with a Clear Wink Of Stella Pen.

This really is a perfect set for those mass produced holiday cards!

Featured Products

Monday, October 5, 2015

October 2015 Release Day

It's Release Day! Every thing we've previewed this week is now available for purchase at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers.

I have held back a few cards to share with you over the next couple of weeks along with videos, but I still plenty more to share with you today as well, so let's get to it.

First up is a very non-traditional clean and simple holiday card.

By now, a lot of you know how much I like to mix it up and use unexpected combinations. I love the contrast of the modern watercolored background paired with the very traditional and elegant font in Christmas Greetings. I hand painted very simple strokes of color onto an Arches hot pressed watercolor card base and then just heat embossed my sentiment in Gold. This is a great candidate for mass production.

Based off of your feedback, a lot of you seem to love the new Amaryllis stamp set as much as I do. I literally couldn't wait to ink this baby up!

I heat embossed the image in gold onto Tim Holtz Watercolor card stock and used Gansai Tambi watercolor to add a simple light wash of color to my image. The embossed lines keeps the color contained and makes it really easy to control and end up with gorgeous results.

I die cut the center of the image using one of the stitched rectangles from the Gift Card Layers Die and then cut a few more out of card stock, stacked them together and then reinserted it back into place. For the sentiment I used the Hand Lettered Holiday stamps and dies and then mounted it all onto a Dove Grey card base.

I loved the way this turned out so much that I decided to create a matching tag using the new Anastasia Tag Die.

Next, I wanted to step it up a little. By stamping my image in a waterproof ink, I am able to use the stamped image as a guide to create what looks like a free-hand painting. An added bonus? Allowing the detail lines of the stamping to show through, means I have less work to do.

To created this card, I started by stamping my image in Fairy Dust onto an Arches cold pressed watercolor paper panel. I masked the ends of my stamen with liquid frisket and allowed it to dry. Then I loosely pre-wet my paper, covering the image and a little beyond so that my color would bleed a little beyond the petals, creating a soft and loose edge.

I waited a couple of minutes to allow the water to soak into the paper a little and then I watercolored the flowers using Alizarin Crimson. I waited another minute or two, and then added a little more Alizarin Crimson to the center of my flowers and to the petals that are behind others.

Once the flowers were completely dry, I lightly re-wet the stem areas of the image and painted in the stems using Sap Green. Again I waited a minute or two and then dropped a little more along one edge of the stems to create a little depth. I allowed everything to completely dry and then removed the masking fluid and painted the ends of the stamen with Cadmium Yellow Deep. And of course....I had to add a few splatters! A gold heat embossed sentiment from Christmas Greetings finishes it off.

Some of the ladies still have more to share with you as well so be sure to stop by, they are amazing!

Design Team Inspiration

Thank you all so much for joining us for another release! I love seeing all of the enthusiasm and appreciate each and every comment.

And don't forget, I'm always open to special requests. So if there was a card that you've seen that you'd like to see a video or Periscope on, just leave it in the comments!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

October 2015 Release Week: Day 4

Tonight is the night! All of the products we've been sharing will be available for purchase at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers tonight at midnight.

If you are just joining us, you can catch up on Day 1, Day 2, or Day 3, and you will find a complete recap of all of the new products at the bottom of this post.

I'm so excited to be posting on the blog today because I am completely in love with the new Amaryllis stamp set.

I loved the flowers so much in fact that I wanted my bouquet to fill my entire card. I used very minimal masking to build up my image before watercolor them with distress ink. Watch below to see exactly how I did it.

On a side note, I totally lied about the name of the banner. It's actually the Basic Banner die. I should double check things before I start my voiceover.

I also did a copic colored card with this set on my blog if you'd like to head over and see.

As promised, here is a recap the entire release.

October 2015 Release - available 10/05/15

Photopolymer Clear Stamps

Christmas Greetings
3x4" Clear Stamp Set
$6 USD

Christmas Nutcracker
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Drummer Boy
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Holiday Boughs
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Holiday Cheer
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Holiday Hugs
3x4" Clear Stamp Set
$6 USD

Amaryllis
4x6" Clear Stamp Set
$14 USD

Steel Rule Dies

Anastasia Tag Die

$18 USD

Christmas Nutcracker Companion Die

$20 USD

Drummer Boy Companion Die
$20 USD

Holiday Boughs Companion Die

$10 USD

Holiday Cheer Companion Die
$14 USD

Holiday Hugs Companion Die
$8 USD

PURE COLOR Enamel Dots

Autumn Splendor-Blue
Enamel Dots
$4 USD

Autumn Splendor-Red
Enamel Dots
$4 USD

I hope you'll head out and visit the other awesome design team members too!

Design Team Inspiration

Check out what the rest of the girls have in store for you:

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to win a $25 store credit to wplus9.com? Just leave a comment below by 10:00 p.m. EST tonight, 10/04/15 to enter and I will select one random winner from all comments. Winner will be posted on our Release Winners page by midnight on 10/04/15.

Thanks for stopping by! There is still much more to see, and Dawn will be here tomorrow with more inspiration featuring this awesome release!

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