Saturday, October 31, 2015

October Leading Lady, Keren Baker | Take Five

Sadly it is our last Saturday with our astonishing outstanding October Leading Lady, Keren Baker.   We've felt so utterly delighted and blessed to spend the last five weeks with the all-round lovely Keren.  We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to you, Keren, for the brilliance, scope, depth, sheer creativity and mastery of each of your performances.  It has been an true honor to have you as our leading lady.  

If you missed her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE or her delightful and innovative second performance showcasing cut files CLICK HERE or her third triumphant performance where she goes 3D CLICK HERE or her party of a fourth performance CLICK HERE.

Lucky for us all we have her final command performance today.  

Keren_oct2015
I feel like singing, 'and now, the time is here, I'll face the final curtain' ;-)
My final week is over as Leading Lady. Who was to know it would be so much fun and how much it would stretch my creativity. I said to Shay that I'd not really done flower cards very much...but now I LOVE them! This next flower project is one of my favourite cards ever! 
I'm loosely basing my projects around 'gift giving' this week; hope you can see where I'm going with it!ll5a
I wanted it to look like a bunch of flowers, with the vase as the card base. I've mixed and matched flowers from both 'In Bloom: Elsa's Flora' and 'In Bloom: Anna's Flora'. These sets work interchangeably so well because the sizings are the same- which means you get more use out of them. I've simply added the sentiment from Winter Woodland
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To make it 'beyond the card', I've added a little acetate frame that I adhered to the front of the card (but knew I'd cover with the blooms). Granted, it does show at the back, but you could  add more flowers on the back of the card, which would be a lovely touch.
Next up pillow boxes for any gifting occasion
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So for the Christmas one I've mixed up Winter Woodland with Elsa's Flora, and for the Grateful pillow box, I've used the Take A Bow Cutaways, the Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs stamp set & the flowers from In Bloom: Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya.
I've gone a little different for my next gift! A pair of earrings!
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I've made these pretty quickly (and very easily) using the new In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways and black shrink plastic!
I simply die cut the shrink plastic and then shrank them. They were a little wriggly whilst shrinking and probably need a coat of varnish just to give a little strength. For the background I used the Mini Scenery: Multifaceted stamp.
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My last (& super quick) project is more of a message from me rather than an actual tag. It was to say 'thank you' for having me (Shay & Julie) and for you all being so supportive of my projects. It's been a joy to be here, and hugs to all of you. 
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In case you're wondering, I've die cut the In a Word: Hugs Cutaway into a piece of cardstock die-cut with the new Cover Model: The Leaf Effect Cutaway. I die cut it onto some plain card too. Add some distress inks onto the top of the word. Fold the Leaf Effectpibece in half and adhere to a folded piece of vellum. Insert the 'hugs' piece and add sequins to finish! 
If you still wanted a chance to win the $30 gift voucher which Shay & Julie have kindly donated, do visit my blog & follow the instructions there. You've got until Nov 2nd to do that.08910-w2526w_30giftcard
Thanks so much,

Keren xx


w&w-supplies


Friday, October 30, 2015

October 2015 Release | Premiere of Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs + Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See? + Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs + Essentials: Noelle Cutaways + Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings

To enter our October 2015 Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.
To enter to win In Bloom: Anna's Flora + In Bloom: Elsa's Flora + In Bloom: Renee's Leaves + In a Word Cutaways CLICK HERE 
To enter to win Comfort + Joy  + Mini Scenery: Multigrain+ Cover Model: The Leaf Effect Cutaways+ True Multifaceted Star Cutaways + Scenery: Into the Woods Creative Screenings + Scenery: Multifaceted Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Leaf Effect Creative Screenings  CLICK HERE (goes live at 7:00 a.m. CST on October 28, 2015) 
To enter to win In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals + Let it Snow + Mini Scenery: Madison + Our Town + In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways + Take a Bow Cutaways + Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screenings  CLICK HERE  (goes live at 7:00 a.m. CST on October 29, 2015)
To enter to win Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs + Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See? + Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs + Essentials: Noelle Cutaways + Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings...continue reading!
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We are so excited to introduce Evelin T of Evelin T Designs who we worked with to bring you Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs and Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs.  It was kismet that we met Evelin at CHA back in January and immediately loved her and her work.  Evelin is a very gifted at illustration and calligraphy along with being a loving wife and mother.  Make sure you visit her site to see all she has for sale and she also does magnificent custom work.

These stamp sets have lovely handwritten sentiments and illustrations by Evelin which will make your holiday cards, tags, gifts and projects oh so pretty, sweet and elegant!  We know you are going to love these sets as much as we do!  She is also joining us today to share some very sweet projects she has made using her stamp sets!

Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See? is another awesome background which has hexagons, stars and cubes depending on how you look at it.  What do you see? We have Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings which is the same design blown up for stenciling!

Essentials: Noelle Cutaways is our next addition to the Essentials cutaway collection and you will love all the possibilities in this including the little "to" and "from" perfect for making gift tags!

>>>THE DETAILS<<<


w&w_HappiestofHolidays-wETD_6x8stamp_webprv 
Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
6x8 stamp set
Retails for $22.00
Includes thirty-seven (37) stamps--twenty-seven (27) sentiments + ten (10) images

w&w_Merry&Bright-wETD_6x8stamp_webprv 
Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
6x8 stamp set
Retails for $22.00
Includes twenty-three (23) stamps--eleven (11) sentiments + twelve (12) images


w&w_MS-DoYouSeeWhatISee_3x4stamp_webprv 

Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See?
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
3x4 stamp set
Retails for $6.00
Includes one (1) stamp set

w&w_Essentials-Noelle_Cutaways-web-prv 
Essentials: Noelle Cutaways
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
Wafer Thin Steel Dies
Retails for $28.00
Includes ten (10) dies

w&w_DoYouSeeWhatISee_CreativeScreenings-web-prv 
Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings 
Stencils
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
Retail for $4.99
One (1) 6x6 inch stencil

>>>THE GOOD STUFF<<<

Let's get to the fun part and see what Evelin, Keren Baker (our October Leading Lady), and The Talent (our supernova creative team) made with the products. And make sure you visit Keren'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!

Shay

I have been so floored by the projects by Julie, our October Leading Lady, Keren Baker, our Special Guest Star, Kathy Racoosin and our superb Talent and we still have this last day to go!

I am incredibly excited about these 2 stamp sets we worked with Evelin to design.  They are at once whimsical and elegant.

Card No. 1
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I forgot how much I love coloring in stencils.  With a clear Wink of Stella pen (something I used a whole lot for my projects this Release) and Distress Inks released this year I filled in the Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings on a piece of watercolor paper.

I cut out the open wreath and solid wreath from In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways from white cardstock.  Don't you love this set?  I had my heart set on it and we named it after our friend Paulina from Pretty Pink Posh as she loves the wreath in Happy Christmas that Julie used to base this set upon.

I then cut out In a Word: Merry Cutaway twice--once using silver glitter paper and the second out of white cardstock and stacked them together offsetting them a bit.

I also cut out the bow from Essentials: Noelle Cutaways and colored it in.  I placed them all on the patterned panel and a white card base.

A bit busy, but I so love that background and wreath!

Card No. 2
shay_day4b

I really wanted to play with the Take a Bow Cutaways and the Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings.  I chose the flat bow with the separate rounded rectangle that you can use to create a different center.

Using Distress Inks, some gold lame Heidi Swapp Color Shine and the Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings I decorated each of 3 bows and simply Distress Ink for the centers.  I assembled them.

On a piece of cardstock I stamped the Mini Scenery: Madison (second generation) and to further soften it I painted over is lightly with white acrylic paint (appropriately called white wash).  Matching up the arches I adhered the bow ties to the background stamp.  I stamped the little sentiment in navy from Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs.  Don't you love tiny little sentiments?  I find "for you" one of the most universally appropriate sentiments for any occasion.  I adhered the panel to the smaller layer from Essentials: Noelle Cutaways.

I made a card base using the larger rectangle layer of Essentials: Noelle Cutaways (allow part of the die over the folded card edge to hang off the edge of the cutting plates so when you run it through your die machine it doesn't cut there).  I also cut out the large layer out of jade colored glitter paper which I covered the card front with.  I adhered the bow panel on the card base.  I added a little bit of stamping of the open dots from Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs and adhered some sequins around that stamping.

Card No. 3
shay_day4c

This card is really simple.  The little panel is cut from the smaller rectangle layer of Essentials: Audrey Cutaways.  I stamped the birdhouses from Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs in black ink and painted them in with a clear Wink of Stella pen and Distress Inks.  Then I stamped snowflakes from Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs in light grey in the background and stamped the lovely sentiment from Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs.  I added the panel to a card front which I adhered a layer cut from Cover Model: The Leaf Effect Cutaway.

Card No. 4
shay_day4d

I really love that I could make this card because it incorporates some of what I envisioned when Julie and I designed this whole collection and how well the pieces work together.

On a piece of white cardstock I stamped the lovely swag of greenery from Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs in black...I found it too harsh so I decided to over-stamp it with Versamark and gold emboss it.  Well my stamping was a little off on the right which meant improvising.  Before that I nestled the two story house from Our Town in the center of the swap and stamped it in pale tomato by Hero Arts.  Then on either side I stamped the "bottle brush" styled trees from Our Town in green.  I colored over the house and trees with my trusty clear Wink of Stella pen (yes again).  I added a little bit of shadowing with the pen and grey Distress Ink.  

Around the gold swag I stamped various leaves from In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals and Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs in a light grey.  Over all of that I decided to layers pieces of the rounded leaf (both solid and outline) from In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways.  What you may not be able to see, but makes for a subtle and lovely look is I painted the background with white acrylic paint making sure I was careful not to paint over any stamping.  I did this basically to cover up some inky finger boo-boos but I really love the look.  I cut the panel with the larger rectangle layer of Essentials: Audrey Cutaways.  I stamped the sentiment from Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs in charcoal grey. Then I finished it off by adhering it to a cardbase.

Now you are in for some gorgeous projects from Evelin, Keren and the glorious Talent!


Evelin T of Evelin T Designs

evelin_HappyHolidays evelin_Jolly evelin_Jolly2 evelin_SeasonsGreeting
Evelin on Instagram: @evelintdesigns
Evelin on Facebook: http://facebook.com/evelintdesigns

October Leading Lady, Keren Baker

keren_Oct30b keren_Oct30 
CLICK HERE to see more from Keren.

The Talent

gayatri_Wishing youa Merry & Bright Christmas #1 
CLICK HERE to see more from Gayatri.

heather_103015 
CLICK HERE to see more from Heather P.


joni_day4-ww 
CLICK HERE to see more from Joni.  

kelly_Friday Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs CLICK HERE to see more from Kelly.

vanessa_merryandbrightgraphic 
CLICK HERE to see more from Vanessa.

lydia_DSC06394
CLICK HERE to see more from Lydia.

>>>THE GIVEAWAY<<<

Comment here on this post for a chance to win Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs + Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See? + Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs + Essentials: Noelle Cutaways + Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings of your own by 11:59 p.m. (central standard time) October 30, 2015.  One comment will be chosen at random.

All winners during our October 2015 Release will be announced by November 2, 2015.

To enter our October 2015 Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

October 2015 Release | Premiere of In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals + Let it Snow + Mini Scenery: Madison + Our Town + In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways + Take a Bow Cutaways + Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screenings

To enter our October 2015 Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.
To enter to win In Bloom: Anna's Flora + In Bloom: Elsa's Flora + In Bloom: Renee's Leaves + In a Word Cutaways CLICK HERE 
To enter to win Comfort + Joy  + Mini Scenery: Multigrain+ Cover Model: The Leaf Effect Cutaways+ True Multifaceted Star Cutaways + Scenery: Into the Woods Creative Screenings + Scenery: Multifaceted Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Leaf Effect Creative Screenings  CLICK HERE 
To enter to win In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals + Let it Snow + Mini Scenery: Madison + Our Town + In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways + Take a Bow Cutaways + Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screenings...continue reading!
To enter to win Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T Designs + Mini Scenery: Do You See What I See? + Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs + Essentials: Noelle Cutaways + Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings CLICK HERE (goes live at 7:00 a.m. CST on October 30, 2015)
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In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals is a lovely multi-step floral stamp set with a gorgeous graphic leafy wreath.  Not only is this great fun stamping for the holidays, but change up the colors for any occasion or season!

Let it Snow has a few sentiments and a sweet, whimsical snowy background that is perfect with Our Town a set to create sweet holiday scenes whether it be autumn, winter and even Valentine's Day.

Mini Scenery: Madison is an elegant graphic background to add a touch of class to your projects and we have Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings which is the same design blown up for stenciling!

In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways is a stand-alone die set based off the wreath and leaves found in Happy Christmas.  This set of cutaways is drop-dead gorgeous...seriously!

Take a Bow has three (3) different size and variations of bows.  Add them to In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways or any of your projects for instant panache.

>>>THE DETAILS<<<

w&w_InBloom-HolliesFestiveFlorals_4x6stamp_webprv 
In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
4x6 stamp set
Retails for $15.00
Includes thirty-two (32) stamps

w&w_LetItSnow_3x4stamp_webprv 
Let it Snow
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
3x4 stamp set
Retails for $8.00
Includes eight (8) stamps--four (4) sentiments + four (4) images


w&w_MS-Madison_3x4stamp_webprv 
Mini Scenery: Madison
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
3x4 stamp set
Retails for $6.00
Includes one (1) stamp


w&w_OurTown_4x6stamp_webprv 
Our Town
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
4x6 stamp set
Retails for $15.00
Includes thirty (30) stamps

w&w_InBloom-Paulina'sGreenery_Cutaways-web-prv 
In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
Wafer Thin Steel Dies
Retails for $28.00
Includes six (6) dies

w&w-TakeABow-Cutaways-web-prv 
Take a Bow Cutaways
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
Wafer Thin Steel Dies
Retails for $14.00
Includes six (6) dies


w&w_Madison_CreativeScreenings-web-prv
Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings 
Stencils
Available for purchase the evening of October 30, 2015
Retail for $4.99
One (1) 6x6 inch stencil

>>>THE GOOD STUFF<<<

Let's get to the fun part and see what Julie, Keren Baker (our October Leading Lady), and The Talent (our supernova creative team) made with the products.

Not only do we have all this awesomeness, but we are gilding the lily by having Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker joining us today as a Special Guest Star!  Kathy is so warm, generous, genuine, sweet and shockingly talented.  We are so thrilled to have showcase her projects today!  Don't forget to play along with her 30 Day Color Challenge going on all this month with plenty of sensational inspiration and giveaways (there may be one from w&w --wink, wink)!

Make sure you visit Kathy's, Keren'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!  It’s Day 3 and I think I’m still feeling the effects of the marvelous projects from all of our lovely ladies from yesterday’s post.  I’m also loving all of the rainbow projects - rainbow geese, leaf-words, trees and jingle bells.  Gotta love it!  

Today, I have two tags and two cards to share, so let's get started.


Tag 1 - Happy Holidays
jmog_HappyHolidaysTag_oct2015_day3

For my first tag, I cut the new tag die from our newest Essentials: Noelle set.  It is round at the top and banner cut at the bottom.  Using the adorable flower builder set, In Bloom: Hollie’s Festive Florals,  I stamped the small poinsettia, leaf shapes, small flowers and “berries” to accent this tag in shades of green and crimson, and inked green around the edges of the tag too.  I am loving all of the sentiments from Evelin, and this Happy Holidays sentiment is from Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs.  Topped with a bow, this tag is ready to add to any gift.

Tag 2 - Joy

jmog_JoyTag_oct2015_day3


For my second tag, I chose this cute tag from Essentials: Audrey Cutaways, and found that the scallops from the new Mini Scenery: Madison stamp matched up very nicely and made a fun background.  I stamped it in silver, and then added some wink of stella between the double lines.  It is subtle, but looks great in real life.  Stamping and embossing Joy in red (also from Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs) was a simple and elegant choice to complete this tag.  

Card 1 - Merry Wreath
jmog_MerryWreath_oct2015_day3

This card just kept evolving.  It started as a sketch, and after some input from Walter and Davis, it went from red accents to gold and green.  The background panel was created from the Mini Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings using Studio Calico Mr Huey’s sprays in Opaque White and Shine.  The wreath layers from bottom to top are: solid wreath cut from vellum with green copic marker colored on back, detail wreath cut from white cardstock inked in gold pigment and then embossed gold (looks so awesome on that cut out ), and one more detail wreath cut in white.  These are layered together with the pattern slightly offset, glued with Glossy Accents, and then the leaves are gently lifted for dimension.  

I decided to try a bow from the Take A Bow Cutaways cut from vellum, and I think I really like it. Something different, right?  I cut one of the tails in half so I could have them hang below the bow, rather than lay flat behind.  The In A Word: Merry Cutaway sentiment was the perfect way to finish this off - cut from green glitter tape on white cardstock.  Me -> Happy Place!



Card 2 - O Holy Night
jmog_oholynight_oct2015_day3


I am pretty excited about this card because I tried a few things that were out of my comfort zone.  I used the Our Town Digital Files to create the snow slope foreground.  These files are free with purchase of the Our Town stamp set from October 30th - November 13th.  Using my die cutting software, I created a snow slope and placed the house and tree files overlapping the slope and merged the shapes together.  Once cut out, it provided the perfect layout for the card, and all I needed to do was stamp the house and trees.  Although it is very subtle, I used the KISS technique where I inked up the house in grey, and then pressed in on the Mini Scenery: Multigrain wood grain stamp to give the house some texture.  I really like how that turned out.  The trees also have a little hint of Wink of Stella so they can glisten under the night sky.


About this sky - I was super excited when I came up with this idea. I used distress inks to create the blue of the night sky, and then dried the ink very well with my heat tool.  Using some Platinum pigment ink, I sponged over the Mini Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screening to create the burst effect for the Christmas Star embossed in silver (also in the Our Town stamp set). This shade of ink was perfect to give a nice shimmer but still allow the blue to show through.  I could see using this same stencil to create a windy day and then add some snow.  The sentiment “O holy night” is from the Let It Snow set, also embossed in silver.  As an alternative, I almost stamped it “silent night” on the outside, and “holy night” on the inside.  


I love the concept of this card, but I’m just not that good at stamping on the pre-cut paper.  I don’t know if it is my glasses, or what, but I can’t get my images centered on the cut outs.  I think I just need to invest in a MISTI, right???  Hee Hee Hee  


Get ready - It’s time to check out our Special Guest Star, Kathy Racoosin, and Keren and our TALENTed ladies of w&w.

Special Guest Star, Kathy Racoosin

kathy_IMG_9398 kathy_IMG_9415 kathy_IMG_9411
CLICK HERE to see more from Kathy.

October Leading Lady, Keren Baker

keren_oct29 keren_oct29b keren_oct29c 
CLICK HERE to see more from Keren.

The Talent

gayatri_So very Grateful! 
CLICK HERE to see more from Gayatri.

heather_102915 
CLICK HERE to see more from Heather P.


joni_day3-ww 
CLICK HERE to see more from Joni.  

kelly_Thursday Our Town 2 
CLICK HERE to see more from Kelly.

vanessa_christmasvillage 
CLICK HERE to see more from Vanessa.

lydia_DSC06398 
CLICK HERE to see more from Lydia.

>>>THE GIVEAWAY<<<

Comment here on this post for a chance to win In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals + Let it Snow + Mini Scenery: Madison + Our Town + In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways + Take a Bow Cutaways + Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings + Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screenings.of your own by 11:59 p.m. (central standard time) October 30, 2015.  One comment will be chosen at random.

All winners during our October 2015 Release will be announced by November 2, 2015.

To enter our October 2015 Release's The Big Giveaway CLICK HERE.