Introducing 7th Inning Stretch & Handy Hardware

Hello, Friends, and welcome to the first day of Papertrey Ink's April countdown! Today I have the pleasure of introducing two new sets that I designed with the misters in mind (but I hope to show that they're versatile to work for the ladies, too). Let's get to it, shall we?

I'm going to start with a sporty set I put together for the baseball fan in your life. 7th Inning Stretch is a $15 set that will be available on the 15th of this month. The set includes several iconic baseball images along with a handful of sentiments to match.

My father-in-law once told my husband that there is nowhere in the world that he would rather be than a ballpark. I created this card with him in mind.

I started by stamping the stitched pattern onto a piece of Enchanted Evening cardstock and then die cut that with the Tag Sale #4 die. Next, I die cut the Framed Out #11 from the center of the tag, leaving the negative. The baseball stitches image is designed to coordinate with a 1.75" circle die, but it just so happens that it perfectly fits into the Framed Out shape as well. The stitches are stamped into white cardstock using Pure Poppy ink. That piece is adhered to the tag using foam tape.

I created the pattern on my Soft Stone base by stamping the baseball bat repeatedly using Spring Rain ink. The sentiment was stamped in Pure Poppy before the tag was adhered to the base and embellished with Pure Poppy saddle-stitched ribbon and a Spring Rain button.

This next card pairs 7th Inning Stretch with Thanks All Ways to create a simple and customizable thank you card.

You could easily substitute your team's colors to personalize the card for your favorite coach.

I began by stamping the baseball cap in Enchanted Evening ink onto Kraft cardstock and cut that out by hand. Next, I stamped my sentiment and masked off two rows of hexagons using the Cover Plate: Hexagons die to create a decorative strip reminiscent of home plate.

I die cut my mask using post-it notes and stamped my border with the striped hexagon image from Happy Hexagons. I finished my card by mounting my cap with a bit of foam tape.

The next set I would like to introduce is Handy Hardware. This set also retails for $15 and will be available beginning on April 15th. Handy Hardware celebrates tools and includes sentiments for everything from an apology to Father's Day and beyond.

My first card using Handy Hardware is inspired by my dad. You see, my dad is a carpenter and a very Do-It-Yourself type of fella. For as long as I can remember he, tools, and plaid have been completely intertwined.

So I went about creating a Father's Day card that would befit my papa. I started by stamping my plaid pattern using Enchanted Evening, Fresh Snow, and Pinefeather inks onto Kraft cardstock (I promise that shades of blue and brown are not all you'll see here this week - that's just how it happened to fall today). I also added a little texture with the Linen & Canvas impression plate.

Next, I created a coordinating pattern by stamping the decorative bolts strip in Pinefeather ink onto Pinefeather cardstock. I adhered those two pieces to a Rustic White base and wrapped the entire card with a length of rustic jute twine.

Over the twine, I mounted a square of Rustic White stock that I had stamped with the Father's Day sentiment and a frame from Framed Out #6. A die cut wrench was added to embellish the focal point.

My fourth and final card today is a birthday card. I wanted to do something a little different on this one, so I die cut a pinked edge on a piece of 1/32" thick birch veneer and then stamped and embossed my sentiment with clear detail embossing powder.

Next, I stained the wood with a sponge and some Dark Chocolate ink, so the sentiment really pops. I adhered that to a Rustic White card base that had been stamped with a stitched background using Ripe Avocado ink. A piece of Dark Chocolate twill adds nice texture and does a great job of hiding the impression made by the pinking shears die.

Then, I die cut the saw twice. On one of the cuts I stamped using VersaMark and embossed with silver powder. On the other cut I stamped with Classic Kraft ink. I trimmed closely around the handle of the saw and adhered it over top of the silver image (by die cutting twice I was able to keep the hole in the center of the handle). The saw was then mounted to the card with foam tape. It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but the ink-stained wood gives the whole sentiment panel a really cool appearance.

That's all for me today. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you back here tomorrow for more fun with my new sets for April. See you then!

Baseball Love Card (A2 size):
Stamps: 7th Inning Stretch (available April 15th), Background Basics Retro - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Soft Stone, Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Spring Rain, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink
Other: Tag Sale #4 Die, Framed Out #11 Die, Pure Poppy Saddle-stitched Ribbon, Spring Rain button - Papertrey Ink; foam tape - Scotch; white cotton twine

Thanks, Coach Card (A2 size):
Stamps: 7th Inning Stretch (available April 15th), Happy Hexagons, Thanks All Ways - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Cover Plate: Hexagons Die - Papertrey Ink; foam tape - Scotch; white detail embossing powder - Filigree

Plaid Wrench Card (A2 size):
Stamps: Handy Hardware (available April 15th), Background Basics: Super Stripes; Framed Out #6 - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White, Classic Kraft, Pinefeather - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Classic Kraft, Pinefeather, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink
Other: Handy Hardware Die Collection (available April 15th), Rustic Jute Twine, Linen & Canvas Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; foam tape - Scotch

Wooden Saw Card (4Bar size):
Stamps: Handy Hardware (available April 15th), Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Handy Hardware Die Collection (available April 15th), Pinking Shears Border Die, Dark Chocolate Twill - Papertrey Ink; clear detail embossing powder - Filigree; silver embossing powder; foam tape - Scotch