April/May 2015 Release| Premiere of In Bloom: Addie's Garden + In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways + The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways

To enter our April/May 2015 Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.

To enter to win The Big, the Bold and Comfort + The Big, the Bold and Friends + new The Big, the Bold Cutaways CLICK HERE

To enter to win In Bloom: Lola's Bouquet  + Essentials: Audrey Cutaways + In a Word Cutaways CLICK HERE

To enter to win In Bloom: Addie's Garden + In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways + The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways...continue reading!

To enter to win Scenery: Mini Scenery: Multifaceted + My Precious + Sparkle + True +  Cover Model: Multifaceted Cutaway CLICK HERE (goes live at 7:00 a.m. CST on May 1, 2015)

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It's all about flowers today!

In Bloom: Addie's Garden is the first in a series of stamp sets illustrated by Julie dedicated to flowers and leaves in the style of the roses in The Big, the Bold and Extras.  With flowers like tulips, Gerber daisy, hydrangea and leaves, you can make projects for mother's day, birthdays, weddings, sympathy, just because and more!  These flowers are just gorgeous and will add an instant elegance to your project!

We are adding to our In Bloom series with In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways.  These are stand-alone dies in the style of the roses and leaves from The Big, the Bold and Extras but BIGGER with a presence and stature all their own like the formidable Dame Maggie Smith they are named after. With outlines + solids you can do so much with these dies.

We are bringing you The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways which are the companion dies of our well loved The Big, the Bold and Extras.  Now you no longer have to fussy cut the flowers, leaves or banner out as these dies will give you a nice white edge around your stamped image (aka sticker look).

>>>THE DETAILS<<<


In Bloom: Addie's Garden
Available for purchase the evening of May 1, 2015
6x8 stamp set
Retails for $22.00
Includes nineteen (19) stamps


In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways
Wafer Thin Steel Dies
Available for purchase the evening of May 1, 2015
Retails for $18.00
Includes eight (8) dies


The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways
Wafer Thin Steel Dies
Available for purchase the evening of May 1, 2015
Each retail for $10.00
Includes six (6) dies

>>>THE GOOD STUFF<<<

Let's get to the fun part and see what Julie, our guest stars, Maria F. & Maya Isaksson (our fabulous winners of our 1st Birthday Bash challenge), Lydia Evans (our April Leading Lady), + Anita in France (our May Leading Lady) and The Talent (our supernova creative team) made with the products. And make sure you visit Maria's, Maya's, Lydia's, Anita's and each of The Talent's blogs for more knock-it-out-of-the-park projects and details.  Don't forget to share some love with them too!

Julie

Hello again!  I'm very excited to share my projects with you today.  Before I do, I want to give you a little background into the inspiration for my projects and some of the stamps you will see today.

My love of crafting comes from spending much of my childhood coloring, making handmade cards, practicing my handwriting or calligraphy, making fun crafts, and much much more.  I believe I get my love for crafting and art from my mother and my grandmother.  Today, I want to introduce you to Addie Jane Holt Rogers - my maternal grandmother, aka Mama.

One of Addie's loves was painting, and I can remember her sitting by the front door and living room (that is where the best light was) and watching her paint landscapes and flowers. She would tell me how she was blending colors, or why she used certain tools.  I watched in amazement.  She even guided me through my first painting of a giant orange and brown mushroom on a yellow background (inspired by a greeting card circa 1977).    I also remember a particular vase of silk flowers that she kept on her dining room table and how larger than life these flowers seemed to be.  These memories were a big part of the inspiration for In Bloom: Addie's Garden and the roses from The Big, the Bold and Extras.  Mama, thank you for your talents and fostering my creativity. Thanks for collaborating with me on these. *wink*  I think you would have enjoyed this hobby. I miss you very much!

Now, for my projects inspired by these products and Addie:

This card features the In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways and boy oh boy did I have fun with these. I came across a tag I had inked a long time ago, and used the solid rose shapes to cut the flowers and leaves, and then the outline cutaways to cut gold paper to highlight the design.  A strip of cardstock, gold paper and vellum for banner strips and gold embossing and this card is finished.  The gold is soft and shiny and picks up the gold iridescence of the sprays used to make the original tag.

Let me just say I adore this card.  It even feels like Audrey Hepburn, doesn't it?  I used the two scalloped frames to create the backgrounds - the large one to cut vellum, gently lifting up from the card base, and the smaller one, inked in various shades of pink distress inks.  The new The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways made quick work of getting these vellum flowers ready for the card.  I did fussy cut one flower to give it a slightly different shape.  I am in love with how these white embossed vellum flowers look against the pink background, and little pearls and gems added with the "true treasure" sentiment.

These watercolor daisies are so fun, and you can paint them just about any color. I stamped and masked the daisies from In Bloom: Addie's Garden on watercolor paper and used my caran d'ache watercolor crayons and a brush.  The sentiment was quick and easy.  I wish you could see the Wink of Stella on the flowers and smile die cut from The Big, the Bold and Friends cutaways.

Last, but not least, I had been really looking forward to making a card with these tulips, and wanted to color them with my Prismacolor pencils.  I love these pencils and how you can keep adding color and get interesting shading with them.  I especially like them against kraft cardstock.  Sometimes I emboss the images white and then color, but this time I stamped the images in Creamy Brown chalk ink so the image would be subtle, and then went back and added the colored pencil.  These leaves are all outline stamps, but I didn't have to mask them.  I just stamped them the direction I wanted, and then when it was time to color, I just chose which leaves would be in front and which would be behind.  It's a great trick!

Thanks so much for joining us here on the blog, and be sure to check out the projects below.  They are simply fabulous!


Guest Star, Maria F.

CLICK HERE to see more from Maria.

Guest Star, Maya Isaksson

CLICK HERE to see more from Maya.

April Leading Lady, Lydia Evans

CLICK HERE to see more from Lydia.

May Leading Lady, Anita in France

CLICK HERE to see more from Anita.

The Talent

CLICK HERE to see more from Gayatri.

CLICK HERE to see more from Heather P.

CLICK HERE to see more from Joni.  Don't forget to check out Joni's blog all week for more In Bloom: Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya and a giveaway!

CLICK HERE to see more from Kelly.

CLICK HERE to see more from Lea.

CLICK HERE to see more from Mayuri.

CLICK HERE to see more from Vanessa.

CLICK HERE to see more from Heather H.

>>>THE GIVEAWAY<<<

Comment here on this post for a chance to win In Bloom: Addie's Garden stamp set + In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways + The Big, the Bold and Extras Cutaways of your own by 11:59 p.m. (central standard time) May 1, 2015.  One comment will be chosen at random.

All winners during our April/May Release will be announced by May 3, 2015.

To enter our April/May Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.