Gingerbread Lane Day 3

Hello, Blogland! Thank you for joining me for Day 3 of the September Papertrey Ink Release Countdown. I've really enjoyed sharing projects with all of you this week. It's so exciting (and a little bit relieving, too) to be able to show you what I've been doing lately. That said, I have a couple of additional treats to share today.

This first project shows how you can use the Essential Pillow Box for something other than typical gift giving (though it is great for that, to be sure). Today I'm using it as a placecard (with a special message inside)!

If you please, kindly ignore any visible water spots.

I started by cutting my pillow box and then adding texture with the Herringbone Impression Plate. The box is a smidgen too big to be textured in one pass, but the center score line is the perfect place for an impression plate seam so you can do it easily in two passes. I added leaves and an acorn from Autumn Acorns as well as a name plate made from Fillable Frames #8. I used Fresh Alphabet for my fella's name, but you could just as easily handwrite the names (especially if you have some long ones). A little twine bow finished off the outside nicely.

Inside the box is a small card stamped with lines from Desktop File: Inspiration and a sentiment from Think Big Favorites #19. These placecards would do double-duty on your Thanksgiving table: letting everyone know where to park it and letting them know exactly why you think they're so special. Awwwww...

Next up today is a batch of gift tags featuring imagery and sentiments from Gingerbread Lane as well as the super fun Loop de Loop Border die.

I used the same handful of supplies for all of the tags so they would coordinate. Every Christmas I use Kraft wrapping paper and red ribbon to decorate our gifts. The solid paper makes wrapping a snap and I can do whatever I want with my tags without having to worry about them clashing.

The smaller images and corresponding die cuts work perfectly on the Fillable Frames #9 shape (the Framed Out #5 image fits almost perfectly on Fillable Frames #9; I trimmed a tiny bit off of the straight ends to make it work).

The Loop de Loop border is wonderfully suited to decorate the holes in the ends of the tags or add a sort of papery fringe.

The larger Gingerbread Lane images are sweet-as-can-be on the Tag Sale (#4 above & #5 below) shapes. By using the same basic supplies, the tags can all be different while still remaining cohesive.

That's all for me today, but I'll be back tomorrow with Day 4 of the countdown. In the meantime make sure to check in with Nichole Heady, Heather Nichols, Dawn McVey, Melissa Phillips, Ashley Cannon Newell, Melissa Bickford, and Tiffany Pastor for as much inspiration as you can handle. I'll be back tomorrow with even more gingerbready fun. See you then!

Recipes:

Acorn Placecard Pillow Box:

Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Rustic White - Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Autumn Acorns, Fillable Frames #8, Fresh Alphabet, Desktop File: Inspiration, Think Big Favorites #19  - Papertrey Ink

Ink: Ripe Avocado, Canyon Clay, Classic Kraft, Terra Cotta Tile - Papertrey; Burnt Umber, Congac - Palette

Other: Herringbone Impression Plate, Autumn Acorns Dies, Fillable Frames #8 Die, Jute Button Twine - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Rounder

Small Gift Tags:

Cardstock: Rustic White, Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th), Framed Out #5, Polka Dot Basics, Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink

Ink: Classic Kraft, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette

Other: Fillable Frames #9 Die, Loop de Loop Border Die (available September 15th), Gingerbread Lane Dies (available September 15th), Dark Chocolate Button Twine - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch

Large Gift Tags:

Cardstock: Rustic White, Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th), Polka Dot Basics, Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink

Ink: Classic Kraft, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette

Other: Tag Sale #4 Die, Tag Sale #5 Die, Loop de Loop Border Die (available September 15th), Gingerbread Lane Dies (available September 15th), Dark Chocolate Button Twine - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Cherry Baker's Twine - Divine Twine; Colored Pencil - Prismacolor

September Papertrey Ink Countdown: Gingerbread Lane Day 2

Good morning, Blogland! From the sounds of things you're all as excited about this month's release as I am. Thank you all for your comments and kind words. I have even more surprises to share today, so how about we get down to it.

My first project is a card that shows the versatility of the little house in Gingerbread Lane (releasing September 15th). You can achieve a completely different look simply by shaking up your color choices.

I stamped my house onto the Kraft card base and added color to the roof and door with the corresponding fillers. The rest of the house was colored with a subtle blue colored pencil for a nice, soft, wintery look. I added the loop de loop image (look a little familiar? just wait, you'll see) to look like smoke coming from the chimney and embellished that with a stardust glitter pen.

I then took the In The Meadow snowdrift die cuts and sponged them with Spring Rain ink, shimmer sprayed them, and texturized them with the Woodgrain impression plate. I layered the final pieces to the card base and stamped the sentiment as a finishing step. The card is so sparkly and tactile in real life.

My next project for today is another sweet (literally) pillow box.

To get the masked label area I first drew an outline of my die on my cardstock. That allowed me to line up where I wanted to stamp my label and the outline isn't a big deal because it's going to get cut off eventually anyway. I then covered my label with a post-it mask and stamped the rest of my background.

Die cutting was next (I used painter's tape to keep my die in exactly the right spot when it was run through my machine), followed by embellishment with the small candy images and sentiment from Gingerbread Lane. The final step was glittering the candy bits. Now this box is all ready to give someone a treat come Christmas time.

And my final project of the day (along with my final introduction of this release) is a happy little gift bag.

Do you see my last surprise? The Loop De Loop Border die (available September 15th)! This die is a much larger version of the loopy image in Gingerbread Lane. It's about 3/8" tall and 8 1/2" long with open ends, so you can make your loop...uh...loop on forever. Or at least long enough to embellish scrapbook pages and gift wrap and whatever your heart desires. The loops are also slightly irregular so the border has a little bit of a whimsical, hand hewn look about it. I love it and I hope you do too!

Anyway, details about the bag...I started by stamping the herringbone pattern on my bag bases (the front and back are decorated in almost exactly the same way) and trimmed two white fronts to be just long enough to accommodate the height of my gingerbread people. Those white pieces were first stamped with the dashed background and then with the ginger folks and hearts. The white pieces were mounted to the green pieces and the borders were attached with a glue pen.

The sentiment panel was die cut and stamped with the frame from Fillable Frames #7, sentiment from Believe (an oldie, but a goodie), and a tiny heart from Gingerbread Lane. That piece was attached to the bag with a bit of foam tape. Finally I embellished the gingerbread people's buttons and the tiny heart on the sentiment panel with a bit of glitter (apparently I'm on a glitter kick this week). The bag looked a teensy bit empty, so I randomly stamped the gingerbread people outlines onto tissue paper. Much better!

I hope you've enjoyed today's projects. Make sure to visit Nichole Heady, Heather Nichols, Dawn McVey, Danielle Flanders, Jessica Witty, Melissa Bickford, and Tiffany Pastor for even more inspiration. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again tomorrow with a handful of additional projects. See you then!

Recipes:

Home for the Holidays Card:
Cardstock: Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Other: In The Meadow Dies, Woodgrain Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Stardust Pen - Sakura; Shimmer Spray - Tattered Angels; mineral spirits


Candy Cane Pillow Box:
Cardstock: White
Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th), Fillable Frames #7, Polka Dot Basics - Papertrey InkInk: Simply Chartreuse, Sweet Blush Pigment, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Other: Essential Pillow Box Die (available September 15th) - Papertrey Ink; Crystal Fine Glitter - Martha Steward Crafts; glue pen


Gift of Friends Gift Bag:
Cardstock: Simply Chartreuse, Terra Cotta Tile - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th), Background Basics: Retro, Background Basics: Herringbone, Believe, Fillable Frames #7 - Papertrey InkInk: Simply Chartreuse, Classic Kraft, Terra Cotta Tile, Aqua Mist Pigment - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Front & Center #1 Die, Loop De Loop Border Die (available September 15th), Fillable Frames #7 Die - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Crystal Fine Glitter - Martha Steward Crafts; glue pen; lunch bag; tissue paper

Introducing Gingerbread Lane & the Essential Pillow Box

Greetings, Blogland! Today begins Papertrey Ink's September countdown festivities (the new products being shared today will be available on September 15th at 10:00pm). I have a few goodies to share with you this month, so let's get to it!

First, let's take a look at Gingerbread Lane! This $24 set (and coordinating dies) celebrates the sweetness of the holiday season! The set includes gingerbread people and a customizable house with both outline and solid stamps for maximum versatility. You can embellish to your heart's content with confectionery details or keep things simple for quick and easy projects. The set also includes sentiments perfect for every need, ranging from treat packaging to holiday cards and gift tags. The possibilities are truly endless!

How about we start with a simple, easy-to-mail Christmas card. I love sending cards at the holidays, but dealing with a large number of cards that all need special postage (during the postal system's busiest time of year) does not sound like my idea of fun.

This little ditty is a breeze, incorporating just a single layer of 1/16" foam tape and dimensional glaze for a bit of texture. I die cut my ginger lady and then used the outline, solid stamp, and button stamp together to whip up this quickie. I colored in her piping with a white colored pencil (a white pen would work well too) to add a little contrast and then added the aforementioned glaze to her buttons.

The sentiment (also from Gingerbread Lane) was stamped inside the chevron frame from Fabulous Frames. A little foam tape, impression plate/corner rounder action, and this card was ready to share.

Next up we have a wine bottle tag featuring the little house from Gingerbread Lane. I started by die cutting and stamping the house's outline and then filling in the main house image. Then I filled in my roof. The set includes both a full strip of gumdrops as well as a single gumdrop so you can go with a single color or multi-colored arrangement. Tip: the gumdrop at the very, very peak of the roof is slightly concave, so the single gumdrop image works best if you do a smidgen of masking. It's not totally necessary, but I wanted to give a heads up. No masking needed with the full strip of gumdrops.

I further embellished my house with the solid (square and roundy topped) windows, candy canes, door, and loop de loop images. The gumdrops and candy canes were then given a healthy dose of glitter. They look so real I started giggling like a five year-old. It's hard to show in photos, but it's awesome. I promise.

The banner at the top of the tag features one of the sentiments from Gingerbread Lane. There are both "from our" and "from my" sentiments in the set so you can send a gift/card/what-have-you from however many people you choose. Handy, no?

And last but not least is one of my very, very favorite contributions for this month's release. I give you the Essential Pillow Box. I love this pillow box. I designed this shape several years ago when I couldn't find an existing pillow box die that would fit a standard gift card. Everything on the market was just barely too small. So I put pencil to paper (so to speak) and here we are. I'm so excited!

Here are a few features of this new die:

• Fits through most of the popular die cut machines available these days. If your machine has at least a 5 1/2" opening you're in good shape.
• You can get two boxes from a single sheet of cardstock.
• It fits a standard gift card/credit card, but it's also a great size for all sorts of tiny treats.
• There are finger cut-outs in the inside flaps so it's nice and easy to get to the treat inside the box.

For my box today I began by stamping a half-sheet of white cardstock with Background Basics: Medallions. Then I die cut my box (if you cut first you may have trouble stamping on the debossed score lines). Another tip: I like to pre-fold my score lines before taping my box together because it just seems to close more smoothly.

Then I embellished the box with some Pinefeather saddle stitched ribbon, a bow from Bells & Boughs, and a little "just for you" sentiment. The button on the bow was stitched on with a little bit of metallic embroidery floss for just a bit of fancy-pantsyness.

Alrighty. That's all for me today. I hope you've enjoyed today's post. Make sure to visit with Nichole Heady, Heather Nichols, Dawn McVey, Betsy Veldman, Erin Lincoln, Cristina Kowalczyk, Melissa Bickford, and Tiffany Pastor for more countdown action. I'll be back tomorrow with more gingerbready, pillow boxy fun. See you then!

Recipes:
Sweet Season's Greetings Card:
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th), Fabulous Frames - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Simply Chartreuse, Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Other: Fabulous Frames Dies, Linen & Canvas Impression Plate, Gingerbread Lane Dies (available September 15th) - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; White Colored Pencil - Prismacolor; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Corner Chomper - We Are Memory Keepers

From Our Home To Yours Wine Tag:

Cardstock: Rustic White, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Gingerbread Lane (available September 15th) - Papertrey Ink

Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette

Other: Gingerbread Lane Dies (available September 15th), Wine Bottle Tag - Papertrey Ink; Glue Pen; Crystal Fine Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Foam Tape - Scotch; Red Nail Heads - Mark Richards

Just For You Pillow Box:

Cardstock: White

Stamps: Bells & Boughs, Background Basics: Medallion, Framed Out #3, Fillable Frames #9 - Papertrey Ink

Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Pinefeather - Papertrey Ink; Noir - Palette

Other: Essential Pillow Box (available September 15th), Bells & Boughs Dies, Framed Out #3 Dies, Pinefeather Saddle Stitched Ribbon, Scarlet Jewel button - Papertrey Ink; Metallic Embroidery Floss (Precious Metals E168) - DMC; Foam Tape - Scotch; Scor-Tape

Thank You & A Sneak Peek

First, I want to take a moment to thank all of you that took a moment to reach out, either here or elsewhere. Your kind words and bits of joy mean so very much to me. I know that, in time, things will get easier, but in the meantime your shared happiness is keeping a light burning. So many of your comments made me smile and those smiles soothe. Thank you.

In happier news, I have this little ditty to look forward to sharing soon:

I have a few other tricks up my sleeve too, so please make sure to check back in the coming days. Thank you for stopping by today and thank you for sharing your joy.

In Search of Joy

Good evening, Blogland. I don't often share these sorts of things, so please bear with me. It's been a long, hard summer. Sure, there have been some wonderful highlights, but there has also been a good deal of pain (both physical and emotional). Most of those things I haven't mentioned here, but I'm really struggling with this most recent low and I could use an assist.

About two weeks ago, we unexpectedly lost my 24 year-old brother. His death came as a shock and I don't think any of us is even close to regaining our bearings. Some days are better than others and I'm hoping that an infusion of everyday joy will buoy me on the not-so-good days. So I'm going to ask for a little bit of help from you today. I'm hoping that those of you that read and generally keep to yourselves (I tend to be one of those readers, too) will do me a favor and share a little bit of recent joy from your life.

As for me, tomorrow I'm going to try and focus on our wedding anniversary. I've had eleven special years with the fella I love and we are celebrating our nine years of marriage by floating down a river in a canoe. It may not be fancy, but being alone in nature with my husband sounds almost perfect.

I made him a card to commemorate the occasion. Just a little something to let him know how much he means to me and how much I adore him (both on our anniversary and every other day of the year). He has been a source of strength and comfort in the past weeks and I truly don't know how I would have coped without him.

So here's his card. I used a birdhouse image from Bird Watching and the clouds from Up, Up, and Away (I rolled the ink just on the edges so they would be a little lighter). I colored it with pencils, but didn't pay much attention to light sources or shadows or any of those sorts of things. Just let it happen. The sentiment is from Love Lives Here. I hope he likes it.

Thank you for checking in today and please feel free to share your stories of happiness and joy. New baby? Reached a milestone? Heard a great joke? Bring on the happy.

Thanks, all. I'll be back soon.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Kraft, Simply Chartreuse - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Love Lives Here, Bird Watching, Up, Up, and Away - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Rain - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Other: Picnic Plaid Impression Plate, Linen & Canvas Impression Plate, Pinked Edge Die, Lemon Tart Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Mineral Spirits; Adhesive Pearls - Mark Richards; Foam Tape - Scotch