w&w: Lola's Bouquet

 

Oh I'm so glad you're back for day #2 of the Winnie & Walter release! Our very own Joni Andaya will absolutely WOW you with a highly versatile floral set she designed. If I counted correctly, there are FIFTY FIVE different stamps included in the set. I used only four of them for the two cards shown here, so you can just imagine the possibilities with this set! It could take you a year to get through! Let's take a look.



I have a fondness for antique bottles in different hues of blue with writing down the side. This bottle stamp was begging to be duplicated, like the actual bottles that are often on my kitchen window sill. Since we're moving in TWO DAYS, those bottles have long been packed up, but looking at the card makes me just as happy. The sentiment, which fits perfectly in the bottle, is from another set we'll see on Friday. Love how Winnie & Walter stamps are consistently scaled across the sets so you can mix & match.

And what do you know, it's another one-layer card from me!

 

Here's another vase from this set, cut out from patterned paper. The florals are slightly smaller than the one on the first card, and are whimsically floating around without stems. Love the background (which you'll see later) and how easy it is to smoosh distress inks onto the paper. I think it gives off an impressionist stained glass effect.



 Here's another version of that card, with a copic-colored vase.

Well, we're half way through the April/May release! Check back and see the final two sets. Like yesterday, be sure to check out the amazing projects from Julie, Shay and our guest designers on the Winnie & Walter blog. Of course, there's also a ton more inspiration on the personal blogs of our Talent:

Gayatri | Heather P. | Joni | Lea | Mayuri | Vanessa | Heather H.

Finally, don't forget to comment-to-win a stamp set each day of the release on the Winnie & Walter blog, and enter the big give-away to win the entire April/May release. Let me tell ya, that's a lot of goodness!
  

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

CAS-ual Fridays: Sassy Smiles and the Whole Shebang

Day #2 of the CAS-ual Fridays release party shows off the Sassy Smiles and Whole Shebang stamp sets, as well as the Fun Fetti Fri-Dies. Just like yesterday's Lovely Greetings set, these two stamp sets are heavy on fun sentiments with wonderful fonts. Let's take a closer look!

You really can't get much simpler than this! Pick your two favorite colors, and add the secondary sentiment in black. How EASY to make a set of these one layer wonders to give away?! It doesn't always have to be complicated, right?! That's the best thing about large-scale sentiments, they fill up the space quickly. These simpler cards are good for teen boys too. They can do without the frills : )

OK, back to the frills! Check out the font on this large sentiment from Sassy Smiles! Love it! The heart cluster flowers are cut out and joined with sequins, more negative heart pieces from yesterday's Lovely Links Fri-Dies, and a gold thread double bow.

I am such a huge fan of secondary sentiments, and think they work great as an additional design element, or inside the card itself. In this case, the secondary sentiment is embossed in gold on the vellum. It's not super-easy to read, but being secondary, it doesn't have to jump out at you. I think it's fun to have things that the recipient find after they initially pull it out of the envelope. If you don't read it right away it doesn't detract from the card at all.

Stay tuned for more fun sets, including a wonderful floral set. Don't forget to check out the other Ink Squad girls:

Marcie | Jingle | Virginia | Deepti | Zoey | Angie

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

w&w: Big and Bold, Baby. Big and Bold.

     

It's the beginning of a Winnie & Walter release party! We're here all week to wow you with amazing stamp sets and cutaways!

  

Knowing not to mess with a good thing, there are TWO new Big Bold word series being released this time. One is The Big, The Bold and Friends including one of my favorite large words ("hugs"), and the other is a much needed set for me, The Big, the Bold and Comfort. I like that it's not called "Sympathy" because more often than not I'm sending a card because someone is sick or dealing with a serious health issue. I really didn't have anything like this set in my collection.

This one layers up some of the Big Bold Comfort words for a sympathy card. The vase is colored with copics and will appear with the floral element in a set debuted tomorrow. When making the card I initially stopped after stamping the words and the vase/flower. Even though I love white space, it just didn't seem finished to me. So I turned to stencils. The triangles from Scenery: Triangled Creative Screenings are a great space filler. I chose a similar color to the stamped word and flower. Especially since it's a sympathy card, I like to keep the number of different colors and elements on the low side. 

  
This card is slightly different from the first one posted. It's got a black base and the flower faces toward the center of the card. The supplies are out, might as well go for a second card!

 

And old stand-by, using script words for a stem never grows old for me. Sometimes that's just all you need! Especially if it's a more solemn card.

   
The pieces of the gorgeous rose cutaway (featured later this week) are colored flat with copics. So easy! The card base is a glimmery silver so it gives a subtle shine.

I'll see you again tomorrow with more w&w goodies. They include a set designed by one of the design team members! I can't wait to show you! Don't forget to join the Big Giveaway happening until May 1st, and additional giveaways on each of the daily Winnie & Walter blog posts. There's a big party going on over there : )

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

CAS-ual Fridays: Just Lovely!

 

It's release time for CAS-ual Fridays! That means it's time to settle in for four days of fun new stamp sets and Fri-dies!  

Today we're debuting Lovely, Lovely Greetings and Lovely Links ... a collection of FANTASTIC sentiments (seriously, these are becoming my go-to, space-filling sentiments) and strips of fab heart clusters.



This card uses a cluster of Lovely Links as a tone-on-tone background panel. Really love how it fills the space but doesn't take your attention from the main panel. Stay tuned for details on the floral image. On the sentiment, you might think it's the main sentiment of the Lovely Greeting set, but no, there are FIVE more that are just as sweet. A must-have set, for sure.

Here's another one of the sentiments. See what I mean? Exactly what you'd want to tell someone! I used a portion of the Lovely Links Fri-die to layer behind the main panel, as well as some bits of lace. I like having just a portion of things peeking out. No need to show off the whole element all the time!



Of course, those links come in stamp form as well. Here is quite possibly the easiest thank you card ever. Stamp a few random rows, stamp one of the included sentiments, and get ready to make a bunch more now that your supplies are all out!

    
Stamp a few more rows and you have your own personally created background. The negatives from the heart cluster Fri-die make great coordinating accents.

Well that's it for the first day! You're not going to want to miss checking out the other Ink Squad girls throughout this week:

Marcie | Jingle | Virginia | Deepti | Zoey | Angie

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

Fusion: 1940's Vintage Birthday Card

 
Welcome to another fun Fusion Challenge!
  
I jumped on the sketch this time, specifically the can on the left. Here are the elements I took from that can:

• blue stripe background (w&w Scenery: Stripes)
• red label with white writing (Top Dog Dies Gift Tag)
• yellow outline (shh ... sneak of w&w new release)
• sentiment printed on top of the stripes (w&w Sugar Rush, Altenew Birthday Bash)

  
The stripes I had to re-do. The first time they were too intense, so I restamped them without taking care to get a solid image. The worn look seemed to fit more with the vintage can photo.
 

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team!

Amy Tsuruta

 Betty J.

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston 

Katie Brooks

Lynn Mangan

Kimberly Wiener

Lyndal Higgins

Michelle Williams

Michelle Lupton

Stephanie Severin

Winners: Will be chosen by all of our teammates, each choosing one favorite. The winners will be announced at 4 am (PST) in two weeks!


Thanks for looking!
-Kelly

Fusion: Party Lanterns

Welcome to another fun Fusion Challenge!

 I was all about trying for the photo and sketch on this challenge. The festive party stamps are from winnie & walter The Party. For the Chinese lanterns I incorporated the silver from the photo by adding a real tassel with silver thread. The bottom right corner has party confetti instead of the banners from the sketch. To fill the middle space I did some generational stamping on the sentiment.

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team!

Amy Tsuruta

 Betty J.

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston 

Katie Brooks

Lynn Mangan

Kimberly Wiener

Lyndal Higgins

Michelle Williams

Michelle Lupton

Stephanie Severin

Winners: Will be chosen by all of our teammates in two weeks. We each will choose one favorite. The winners will be announced at 4 am (PST) in two weeks!


Thanks for looking!
-Kelly

Summary Saturday: Heart Border Die

Welcome to a slightly different Functional Friday where I'm happy to review all of the different ways the Top Dog Dies' Heart Border Die has been used over the past three months. Yes, I am officially closing the book on this die : ) Like the Functional Friday articles, my hope is that even if you don't own that exact die, the ideas will translate to similar dies you do own.

Each of the photos and captions below are linked to the original article in case you missed a project and want more details on it. 

stitch shapes

tear for a background

stitch sentiments AND use the tiny hearts like sequins

make rosettes

die cut with another die

cluster the tiny die cuts

cluster more of the tiny die cuts

die cut with another die

wrap small packages

create a stained glass look

dress up vases or wine bottles

layer to make different patterns

sponge ink through the holes

use the old dryer sheets for a detailed background

BEST TIP EVER on getting those tiny die cuts out ... what a life saver!!!

Thanks so much for all your feedback throughout this series! It's been so wonderful to read your thoughtful comments. We are currently in the middle of packing up our home of the last 17 years and getting it ready to be put on the market. Packing has come to a large halt after finding severe water damage in our master bath that has caused us to tear it down to the studs. This surprise remodel has taken on a life of its own as we navigate through the permit process, find replacements for everything that is not standard in our house, attempt to save money by doing everything we're able to by ourselves, and uncover additional hidden issues. Unfortunately, this all means I haven't had much time left at the end of the day to be out and about in blogland. I'm really looking forward to some time coming up where I'll be able to say "hi"!! Until then, have a wonderful weekend, and a blessed Easter if you celebrate!

Hugs,
Kelly