Spring Fling

SURPRISE! It's the start of the group posts for the February Papertrey Ink Release. It's a day early. Which means there are three group posts this month. Just too much goodness to do anything otherwise. Full steam ahead for the next three days as we finish out our anniversary activities with as much inspiration as we can squeeze in.

Today is all about spring. And thank goodness for that. I'm about to go track down a certain groundhog and give him a piece of my mind. Especially as I sit here with a nasty winter storm due to arrive in 14 hours. Looks like another day off of school for the kids. YAY! Not. Trying to find my happy place. Let's focus instead on what is coming up in 5 short weeks when the first day of spring arrives.

I know a lot of you are already in love with the floral spray that is in the 7th Anniversary logo. Today we show you what it can do as a stamp. Isn't it lovely? On my project, instead of stamping the second step in the leaves and the flowers, I choose instead to go for a watercolor look with my Copics. Notice how I purposely colored outside the lines? A simple way to achieve a more artsy look. And this also had the advantage of allowing me to color the bouquet with many different colors. Hello Pantone Color of the Year Radiant Orchid.

I used three cuts of the bouquet die to create this floral background for my sentiment label. Everything is mounted on a Spring Rain cardstock that is covered with the Circles Cover Plate. A small cluster of flowers and leaves are in the lower right hand corner. Individual elements are included in the set as well as the main floral image.

I heat embossed my sentiment from Limitless Layers: Labels in white on Spring Rain cardstock. It's cut out with Limitless Layers 3 1/2" Oval dies and the new Limitless Layers: Labels. Yeah! Love this basic.

Next up, we have an Easter project featuring one of those bonus products we like to sneak in and surprise you with around this time in the countdown--the Bunny Bag Die Set. I'm sure you've seen on Nichole's blog all about this fun little item. I decided to take the idea of a bunny and turn him into a tag.

I first took Tag Sale #6 in Fine Linen cardstock and trimmed off the half circle on the bottom before I went to work adding all the fun bunny elements with the stitched ears and nose in Lavender Moon felt. I found that the small cat face from Halloween Sweets and Treats (one of my most favorite Halloween sets of all time) works great to add the whiskers and mouth in a stamped format. The bunny nose covers up the cat's eyes and nose perfectly, no masking involved.

My bunny limbs are stitched into the tag using my Stitching Lines dies. I went this route to match the stitching in the ears and nose. In for a penny in for a pound. And since I had already gone that far, how about a stitched heart from Coffee Cozy Details Dies? This bunny is all stitched up.

My eyes were created using epoxy dots and cuts from Heart-2-Heart #12.

The back of the tag is the back of the bunny. I cut the tag, ears, and feet again and covered up the backs of the die cuts from the front, so we have a clean surface to work with on the backside. I, in particular, like the epoxy dots use to create the foot pads. Carries over from the eyes on the front. A little felt bunny tail is included in the Bunny Bag dies and it is stitched in place with a button.

Heather's got an adorable little $5 Easter set called Hippity Hoppity this month. The CUTEST images and sweet sentiment. This sentiment is from that set and carries over the theme from the front that was established by the stitched heart.

I think this whole project would be even more spectacular if created entirely out of felt too. Could be more of a toy for a child. Flat Bunny, sort of like Flat Stanley. Maybe? Something to think about.

OK, shifting gears a little bit, pun intended, to Special Delivery. I wanted to demonstrate today how you can alter the little truck from this set using elements from other stamps sets. There are plenty of ways to customize beyond the fun ways included in the Special Delivery set itself. I'm just scratching the surface.

I can't just get away from the cuteness of the ice cream truck. Here I wanted to show just how different you can make it look by changing up the elements used to stamp the detailing. Looks entirely different from the ice cream truck on Day 1. And as an additional fun element, I "welded" the spoon from Comfort Food to the top of it. HA! Fun! Sweet As Can Be was used to stamp the cones in the background and provided the sentiment.

And how about forgoing everything but the truck itself from Special Delivery and delving into your stash to find even new trucks to create? I think all the Tiny Treats Collection  offer up a world of possibilities. What else can you find?

Thanks for stopping by. These products and many more can be purchased at www.papertreyink.com in just a few more days. February 15th at 10 PM EST to be exact. More examples below and I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Nichole Heady

Dawn McVey

Melissa Phillips

Heather Nichols

Betsy Veldman

Cristina Kowalcyzk

Ashley Cannon Newell

Laura Bassen

Danielle Flanders
Lizzy Jones
Melissa Bickford

Supplies

Gracious Garden Card
Stamps: Gracious Garden, Limitless Layers: Labels
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Royal Velvet, Spring Rain
Dies: Limitless Layers 3.5" Ovals, ,Gracious Garden, and Circle Cover Plate
Ink: Royal Velvet, Blueberry Sky
Royal Velvet Grosgrain Ribbon
White Vintage Buttons

Bunny Tag
Stamps: Hippity Hoppity, Halloween Sweets and Treats
Dies: Bunny Bag, Tag Sale #6, Stitching Lines, Coffee Cozy Detail Dies, Heart-2-Heart #12
Ink: Classic Kraft
Felt: Lavender Moon

Ice Cream Card
Stamps: Special Delivery, Comfort Food, Sweet As Can Be
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
Ink: Fine Linen, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Melon Berry
Dies: Special Delivery, Comfort Food
Hibiscus Burst Simple Stripe Patterned Paper

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Stamps: Special Delivery, Holiday Cheer, City Scene Christmas Sentiments, Tiny Treats: Christmas
Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy
Dies: Special Delivery, Stitched Strip
Copics