January Release in Review!

All righty, folks... this is it.
The big one.
All the marbles.
Every darned last Papertrey Ink January release project for your viewing pleasure :)

{New products available at www.papertryink.com tonight at 10pm EST.}

Let's jump on in!
First up... Celebrations...

Love the large scale words in this set.  It's a bit reminiscent of Dawn's Say It With Style set in that way, so if you loved that set, this one will be right up your alley, too.

I heat embossed the words with clear powder on strips of Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist, and New Leaf cardstocks and added the longer sentiment with a touch of Harvest Gold. This was my attempt at a new-to-me color combo. 

Poor Berry Sorbet... she must sit in my paper drawer thinking she's Raspberry Fizz's younger, less popular sister because for some reason, I almost always go for Raspberry over Berry.  No idea why... I just do.

BUT.
I believe Berry Sorbet finally grew out of the awkward teenager phase with this one :) 
{She's all grown up and sophisticated with that vellum Quatrefoil cover plate embossing behind her.}
Worked her way off of the B team and up to Varsity.
{Paired her up with the popular girls... Aqua and Leaf.}
I think I've finally cured her self-esteem issues.
{She finally got asked to the prom... making it to the Release in Review and all.}

It's a win-win.

Next up... Happily Ever After.

Good grief... if only I'd had the paper-crafting know-how way back when I got hitched. And Pinterest... seriously, brides today have no idea how good they have it, do they? {For the record, we pre-Pinterest brides were lugging around 15lbs of Brides magazines for all of our inspiration.  Not the same, folks... not the same.}  I woulda flipping paper-crafted the world with save the dates and invitations and thank you's and what-nots.


Oh, wait.

I'm also the same person who broke her 7 year streak of handmade Christmas cards this year.

{I blame it on the darned Christmas play taking up every living breathing moment of my December. Plus the annual Christmas Party of 30 plus people at my rather unkept house. Plus the Christmas shopping that all had to be done in advance. Plus the ill-fated road trip to Colorado.}

So... yeah... maybe the handmade wedding extravaganza wouldn't have actually happened.
But I like to dream.

And my dreams currently feature a super cute save the date card such as this.
Bells & Boughs + Happily Ever After = A Match Made in Heaven :)

{Anyone else out there ever think that Maile Belle's Bells & Boughs set should have been spelled Belles & Boughs to go with Maile's name? Seriously.  Think it every darned time I pick that set up. Hopefully now that I've unleashed it on the universe it will live with you instead of me.  You're welcome}

A few felt hearts from the Tiny Tags dies take the bells from holiday to wedding day.  I added the flower at the top for an extra bridal-y touch :)

 Moving on to Tag-its #12...

I went for a rustic elegance kind of feel on this one.  The heart image from Tag-its fits nicely inside the largest Heart Prints punch. 

I added a bit of Copic coloring to the heart to tie the color scheme together and then added a punch of lemony-lime color with the patterened paper just to keep it fresh.

I think the Vinyard embossing plate really adds an extra umph to this one.  Lots of detail for hardly any work. Gotta love that.

Moving in a slightly more vintage direction, here's Lace Bouquet and Think Big Favorites #12...

I'm going to be so sad to see the Think Big Favorites series end after this month... I just find those larger sentiments to be so super easy to plan a card around. 

I started this one with a piece of Picadilly patterned paper from Basic Grey.  I thought Lace Bouquet would add to the vintage feel of the paper so I overstamped that in Spring Moss.  The color here looks a little muddy to me... it's definitely "mossier" in real life :)

For a fun twist on a regular card, I used the new Front & Center #2 die for the top layer.  When the sides are stitched (or otherwise adhered), the handle opening of the die-cut makes the perfect spot to hold a gift card!

I shaked, rattled, and rolled this card and yet me tell ya... that gift card is secure.  I originally thought I would add some stitching lines along the sides of the gift card but I just didn't need to.

Have you tried the new Front & Center dies yet?  I am loving how seriously versatile they are.


And finally... the last Flower Fusion set in the year-long series... #12.

I decided to fancy this one up by using the coordinating die to create a folded fabric flower.  It was super, super simple to do.  I just used the thin linen I had on hand to cut four flowers out.  I just cut them like cardstock and it worked perfectly. 

Here you can see the die, the die-cut flower, and the folded flower section that I used to make up the final embellishment.

To get the quartered flower, just fold the flower in half and secure with a glue dot like so...

Then fold it onto itself again and secure with another glue dot.

Stick four of them together and voila...

Pretty, right?  A little Spring Moss felt cut with the Pinking Shears border die and the flower is planted :)  The Tag Sale #3 die-cuts make for fun mats for the flower and sentiment.

I have a few friends who have started working out with me at 5:15am every morning {kickboxing... good times} and I had one of them in mind when I made this one.  Love the sentiment :)

Soooo... thoughts??
I thought this release had a super fun feel to it.

I'm sure the rest of the design team has cooked up a truckload of super fun projects, too, so be sure to stop by...
Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Erin Lincoln
Maile Belles
Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillilps
Michelle Wooderson
Danielle Flanders

This is the newly mature and probably slightly over-confident Berry Sorbet and myself... signing off :)

{Happy Happy Happy} card

Supplies available at 10am (EST) on January 15: Celebrations set

{Wedding Bells} card

Supplies available at 10am (EST) on January 15: Happily Ever After set

{Hello Heart} card

 Supplies available at 10am (EST) on January 15: Tag-its #12

{Vintage Birthday} card

Supplies available at 10am (EST) on January 15: Lace Bouquet, Think Big Favorites #12, Front & Center #2 die
Other supplies: Picadilly paper (Basic Grey); For the Record paper (Echo Park)

{You Can Do It!} card

Supplies available at 10am (EST) on January 15: Flower Fusion #12 set & die