Friday, July 11, 2014

These United States & State Abbreviations - Day 2

Welcome back, friends! It's Day 2 of the July Papertrey Ink new release countdown and I'm back with a couple of additional projects featuring These United States, the coordinating die collection, and the coordinating mini, State Abbreviations. Thank you all so much for sharing your excitement over the These United States Collection!

There was one question from yesterday that I wanted to answer in today's post so everyone might see it. The Primitive Country Bug asked "Are they all scaled the same so you can create an actual "map" of the U.S.?" The answer to that is no. If the states were all scaled the same and you wanted to make sure that a smaller state, like Rhode Island, was significant enough to be used by itself on a project you'd end up with states like California being enormous. Likewise, if you scaled California to be a reasonable size for a card you'd end up with a tiny speck of paper for Rhode Island. Make sense? So I decided to scale the states differently so they could all be used independently of one another. I hope that's not too much of a disappointment for any of you. I assure you the scaling decision was very carefully considered.

Alrighty, how about we get on to some projects, eh?

I wanted to showcase the large US die today. It can be used with several of the image stamps in These United States to illustrate things like moves or road trips, but today it's on more of a "missing you" sort of card.


I began by layering a piece of Spring Rain Striped Paper with a piece of Spring Rain cardstock for a little stability. Then I die cut the US shape out of the center. I placed the die cut panel over a white card base and stamped the Pure Poppy heart in the general vicinity of Texas. Next, I adhered the US panel to the card front with foam tape. I continued by die cutting a banner from Enchanted Evening cardstock and heat embossed my sentiment using white detail powder. I stitched on a white button with baker's twine and then adhered that piece to the die cut panel. As a finishing touch, I coated the heart with Glossy Accents for a little shine.


On the back of the card I stamped the "handmade in" sentiment from These United States in Enchanted Evening ink. I followed up with the Texas abbreviation from State Abbreviations. The $5 mini State Abbreviations is perfect for labeling the state dies, locations on the US die shape, or finishing phrases in These United States.

My next project is a home decor piece. I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a scrapbooker, but I still enjoy documenting memories of our special trips and events. These framed pieces are the perfect solution for someone like me.


I began by stamping a 5"x7" piece of Aqua Mist cardstock with the smallest dots in Polka Dot Basics III. Next, I printed a photo from our anniversary trip to Alaska last fall. Then, I die cut an Instant Photo 1 Die shape and stamped it with the calendar image from Big Ticket Basics. I followed up with small accent images denoting the date of the photo and then adhered the frame to the photo with foam tape.


I continued by die cutting the Big Ticket Basics Die shape from Smokey Shadow cardstock and the state of Alaska from Hawaiian Shores cardstock. I heat embossed the decorative image from Big Ticket Additions onto the ticket border with clear powder and the sentiment with white powder (I am of the opinion that Virginia doesn't have the exclusive on lovers, by the way).


I adhered that to the Aqua Mist base and embellished by adding the Alaska shape with foam tape. I finished up by mounting the photo piece atop the ticket border with foam tape. Now we have a nice little framed reminder of our trip to keep on display. Yay!

Thank you all so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll check back tomorrow for more These United States and Text Block: Thankful projects. In the meantime, Nichole, Betsy, Dawn, Heather, Maile, and Melissa Bickford all have more inspiration for you. See you soon!

Recipes:
Wish You Were Here Card
Stamps: These United States (available July 15th), State Abbreviations (available July 15th) - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Spring Rain Striped Paper, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: United States Die (available July 15th), First Place Die Collection, White Vintage Button - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Cherry Baker's Twine - Divine Twine; Glossy Accents - Ranger; White Detail Embossing Powder - Filigree

Alaska Is For Lovers Frame
Stamps: These United States (available July 15th), Big Ticket Additions (available July 15th), Big Ticket Basics, Polka Dot Basics III - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow, Hawaiian Shores - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: True Black, Hawaiian Shores - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Alaska Die (available July 15th), Instant Photo 1 Die, Big Ticket Basics Die - Papertrey Ink; White Detail Embossing Powder, Clear Detail Embossing Powder - Filigree; Foam Tape - Scotch

23 comments:

Renee said...

And this is why I did a little scream when I saw the peeks...
I DIE over the decor project...
LOVE it!! :)

June K said...

Love your card and the home decor of your anniversary trip. I'm glad that all states will large enough to use independently or a couple states together.

mamashops said...

Oh Lizzie, i LOVE these dies and can't wait to see the sentiments! I especially love the 'Handmade in.."
stamp. Could you give us a clue as to how many dies will be grouped together? Thanks so much and have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

I can NOT wait to buy them!! I'm hoping there is an option to buy the whole 50 states set too! I know you said they were sets of neighboring states. (Wink)

Fabulous idea about the scaling!
Cheers!

Birgit said...

Love your projects today! The home decor piece is awesome and so clever. Thanks for answering my question about size. It makes perfect sense that you sized them to be used independently from each other. This is turning out to be a great release (as always)!

Grace said...

Amazing. Such a cute set

jintyoo7 said...

Fabulous :)

StephH said...

This new die set is just awesome Lizzie! Love the "Handmade In" addition set too! This little decor project of yours is just the sweetest. You two are the cutest couple ;)

merryf said...

Oh my gosh, that shadow box/frame idea is GENIUS! So many ideas running through my head right now, I could make them as gifts for when out-of-staters visit me. Can't wait to see my NJ/NYC cluster of dies!

Denise G. said...

I love these dies and really appreciate all states are covered. I really love your shadow box.

karen h said...

Really loving this collection. I can't wait to see it all revealed. I'm happy that there is a US die and then the individual states (and that those are scaled to use alone). Thank you for (as always) putting so much thought into your offerings.

Debra said...

I did not think I needed this set....but my mind was changed by your creative inspirational project and cards!

Kathryn A said...

Great ideas, here! I just received Big Ticket Basics, and I love how you've paired the calendar stamp with the Photo Frame die, which I also just received!! I probably wouldn't have thought of doing that. Thanks for the inspiration!!

Kathie B said...

Your wonderful samples are doing their job...I am so excited about these new dies and all the possibilities. Thanks so much!

Kathy Krug said...

Thanks foe explaining the information about the states. Fabulous ideas for cards.

Parker said...

United States stamps and dies... you've done a great job in causing me to get this wonderful new release.

klarcher said...

I can see that the United States stamps and dies are going to be a must for me

Sharon said...

Great projects! Super excited about state dies!

Anonymous said...

These dies are going to be such a big hit! I love them all.

Kathy Mc said...

Super explanation of your reasons why, Lizzie, and it makes perfect sense to me. I can see the possibilities are endless with these stamps and dies…not only scrapbooking or cardmaking but also home decor. Love your framed remembrance and the good old USA!

Helen L said...

Great dies!! They look so fun to use!!

Unknown said...

You two cutie pies in the home decor:-)

Unknown said...

i can't wait to include each state's diecut to my stash. All my vacation scrapbook pages will be getting a new die cut. And these are just in time for this year's trip. Yeah!!