Post Release Wrap-Up

Well, hello, folks.

It's time to wrap up Papertrey's September release with a big ol' bow.
Like this one :)

Does anyone else think Maile should have named this set "BELLES and Bows?"
Seriously, I think that every time I see it. 

{So punny this morning, aren't I?}

If you're on the fence with this set, there's one thing you should know.

It is THE easiest set to use. Truly.
Something about the size of all of the elements and how they work together just works.
I'm super happy with it every time I use it.

To give the bells the hanging effect, I marked the placement of the bells and then punched a hole in the card front right behind where the bells would hang.  Then I slipped the ribbon through and tied the bow at the top of the card.

A word of advice on this one... get the dies.  You know me - I love a no-layer card much, much more than the next girl and I'll be using these stamps on plenty of no-layer cards - but they are really fantastic when popped up and used as embellishments.

I also used the Holly Jolly die at the top. 
Yup.  Used that one tons this month, too.  I added a little text with a stamp from Christmas Blessings... super simple.

Next up... Winter Cheer...

This one comes with a fun little swirl stamp that matches up with a few of the curved sentiments.

You can snuggle it in right below the sentiment, but I also thought it made a fun snow drift effect.  I just stamped it directly on the card then covered it with a simple post-it note mask when I stamped the tree. 

The tree is one image, so I just stamped the trunk first, then came back a second time with the tree and star.  I was going for a brighter green effect, so I inked the tree first in Lemon Tart, then inked it right away with New Leaf. 

My favorite is the little "snowstorm" that's happening.  This set comes three small circle stamps so that you can add ornaments to the tree.  I stamped them with VersaMark diagonally across the card, then embossed them with clear powder for a shiny snowflake effect.  I think it adds a lot to a simple card.

Speaking of simple...

here's a simple one made with Holiday Lights. 

I wanted to go for an unlighted/lighted effect so I stamped the string once on the card, then in the same spot again with the mat stack layer on top. 

One little trick here... after I stamped the lights on the card I layed a clear piece of plastic (I used one of the clear plastic backing sheets that PTI stamps come on; you could also use clear cardstock, etc) on top of the card.  Then I put my mat stack layer in place.  This made it super easy to just line my stamp right up with the image on the card and stamp it down perfectly in place on the mat stack layer.

I added the light bulbs with Versamark so that I could add some light with chalk pastels. 
A few rhinestones brightened things up a bit, too :)

I also thought it would be fun to add a little matching layer to the inside to finish things out.


Up next is Christmas Labels...

This card is fairly simple, but if you're looking to mass produce, it would be easy to simplify it even more.  You could skip the embossing and even the ribbon, or trade the ribbon for baker's twine for an even more cost-effective card.  I also love using rhinestones on mass-produced cards... lots of bang for your buck.

The "Holly Jolly" sentiment comes as a single stamp in a straight line, but it's easy to split the words just by inking one and then the other.  That left me room to add those cutie pie holly leaves again :)  This time I used the polka dot label image that's included in Christmas Labels to add some interest to the leaves. 

Now for a fun little Christmas wrapping idea...

I paired the new edition of Tag-its (#8) with a felt Damask Snowflake and a Parisian Lace doily for a simple and beautiful wrapped gift. 

I love using the Parisian Lace doily with tissue paper, so I went ahead and die cut the circle for the Tag-its snowflake image from tissue as well.  I kept everything simple and used one of the sentiments on a little Tiny Tag die cut and wrapped it all up with a bit of button twine.

I will admit... I am that girl that has a wrapping paper "theme" every year where all the papers coordinate in terms of color and design.  Some years I wrap everything in the same solid color paper and just add on fun embellishments... this would be perfect for that idea. 

And last on this Christmas list... Candy Cane Christmas...
done-up in non-Christmas fashion :)

The peppermint image reminded me of those fun whirly pop lollipops, so I just went with it :)

I stuck them onto some sucker sticks and wrapped them up with some clear plastic.  I actually used a corner of the bags that my Copic trios came in but any kind of thin plastic packaging would work.  Since I cut them down the bags were open both on the bottom and right sides, but I just kept that in mind when tying the bags closed and I coudn't  tell once they were finished.

A Wonderful Words die cut and sentiment from Wonderful Words additions made for just the right sentiment. 

I love making the most of my holiday stamps by figuring out how to un-holiday them :)

And there goes the September release!
I hope you have lots of new favorites :)

Noelle and I are recovering from one heck of a stomach bug this week, so we'll be participating in some R&R this weekend.  Oh, wait... that would be after hosting and doing everything up for a sweet friend's baby shower... um... tomorrow.

Sooooo... yeah... I think I might have a few projects to work on for that :)



{Christmas Bells} card
Stamps - Bells & Boughs, Christmas Blessings (PTI)

Cardstock - White (PTI)
Ink - True Black, VersaMark, Summer Sun (SU)
Die - Bells & Boughs collection, Holly Jolly collection (PTI)
Other - Hawaiian Shores ribbon, rhinestones  (PTI)

{Winter Wonderland} card
Stamps - Winter Cheer (PTI)

Cardstock - White (PTI)
Ink - Aqua Mist, Tea Dye Duo, New Leaf, Lemon Tart, VersaMark (PTI)
Other - Clear embossing powder (PTI)



{It's Christmas Time} card
Stamps - Holiday Lights (PTI)

Cardstock - White, New Leaf (PTI)
Ink - True Black, VersaMark (PTI)
Die - Mat Stack 4 (PTI)
Other - Pastel chalks (Stampin' Up), rhinestones  (PTI)

{Holly Jolly Holiday} card
Stamps - Christmas Labels (PTI)

Cardstock - Kraft, White, Simply Chartreuse (PTI)
Ink - Pure Poppy, VersaMark (PTI)
Die - Holly Jolly (PTI)
Impression Plate - Polka Dot Basics II (PTI)
Other - Rhinestones, Pure Poppy ribbon (PTI)

{Warm Wrapping} gift wrap
Stamps - Tag-its #8 (PTI)

Ink - Fresh Snow, Tea Dye Duo - Chai (PTI)
Dies - Damask Snowflakes, Parisian Lace, Limitless Layers Circle (1 3/4"), Tiny Tags (PTI)
Other - Vintage Button (PTI), Pure Poppy felt (PTI), Button Twine (PTI), white tissue paper


{Sweet Lollipops} card
Stamps - Candy Cane Christmas, Wonderful Words Additions (PTI)

Cardstock - White, Kraft (PTI)
Ink - Aqua Mist, VersaMark (PTI), Summer Sun (SU), Positively Pink (SU)
Die - Wonderful Words (PTI)
Other - Silk ribbon (PTI), White Filigree embossing powder(PTI), sucker sticks, plastic bags