Day 1 of The A-Mazing Stamp Set, Letterman's Jacket Numbers Stitching Dies, and BB: Random Stripe

Hey PTI peeps! The time has come to kick off the April 2014 Papertrey Ink countdown. And boy oh boy, do I have things to show you. That reference to "boys" was not accidental...everything I've got going on this month was created with guys in mind. We've got your masculine paper crafting needs covered.  Let me show you...

First up, we've got the most humble of stamps, The A-Mazing Stamp Set. Not modest a bit, this one. This set features a square and circle maze, along with punny and insightful encouraging sentiments. For my first card, I decided to go for a graduation theme. I first stamped and heat embossed the square maze on Orange Zest cardstock with white embossing powder. Next, I stamped the same maze in Orange Zest on Summer Sunrise cardstock and die cut a circle out out of the middle. It was a great way to spotlight my sentiment. The mortarboard from Tag-Its #4 spins this card in the direction of a graduation theme.

Take a look at the font I used on the word "a-MAZE-ing". This stencil style font nicely reflects the maze theme. Also of note, you can change out the word "a-MAZE-ing" for "amazing" in this and a few other sentiments. Just fun to have the extra option if you want to go more subtle in your theme.

To continue on with the graduation theme, I have a card using the new Letterman Jacket Stitched Number Dies. Just scratching the surface with this lovelies today by using just the dies that cut the holes on a cardfront. I die cut "2014" out of Scarlet Jewel cardstock and backed it with gold foil paper. The photo can not do this card justice with how these holes catch the light and shine. It is really stunning and a total show stopper. So much so, that this card doesn't need much else. I die cut and heat embossed in gold the larger mortarboard from For the Graduate. It looks like the zero is wearing the hat. The Scarlet Jewel panel is also texturized with the Canvas and Linen Impression Plate.

This card is more on the simple side, so if you are searching for a design that would make quick and easy graduation announcements, this might be a jumping off point for you. Just change the colors to reflect your school colors.

Much more to come with these dies. They are a match made in heaven for Lizzie's new football set. And just think how great they'll look on coin purses and coffee cozies. Your man or son have a favorite team or player? Pick the right team colors in felt and you've got a quick gift they'll love to use.

Last up, is a gift bag featuring BB: Random Stripe, which is likely the easiest to use background set ever. The name alone gives you a clue...random. If by chance you make a mistake, which is a bit unlikely, it looks like you planned to do it. Just makes it more random.

Case in point, check out my bag. I alternated the thin and thick line strip stamps that make up this set along the font of this bag. There's a bit more of a gap between lines the 1 and 2 strips of the pattern than there is between 2, 3, and 4. NO BIG DEAL! I had to point it out to you, right? Visually, it works. Easy peasy.

I teamed this background set up with my other background set, BB: Diagonals. They play so nicely together. I like how retro it looks. This gift bag is rather large, but it was a cinch to stamp. Both sets are really easy to work with, otherwise I would have not attempted background stamping a project of this size. The proof's in the puddin'.

I used Come All Ye Faithful and Come All Ye Faithful Additions stamps decorate my tag. This choice reflects the bag's contents. :) The dog is wearing a birthday hat made from trimmed Teepee Time dies and Little Bitty Bird Addition Stamps.

I felt compelled to share what was inside the bag. This is for my brother-in-law and a more perfect saying could not have been found for him. :) I got this at Hallmark a few months ago. NEWSFLASH: This is probably the first and only time on a card maker's blog you'll get directed to go to Hallmark to pick something up if you are interested. HA!

The bag was cut out of Scarlet Jewel and Fine Linen cardstock on my Silhouette using the Happy Holidays kit from www.svgcuts.com. Had to kill two birds with on stone on this one...lots to do, might as well cross packaging for a gift off the list.

That's it for me today. LOTS more to come. More inspiration below. If you are interested in any of these products, they'll be available to purchase on April 15th, 2014 at www.papertreyink.com.

Nichole Heady
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Lizzy Jones
Melissa Bickford
Melissa Phillips
Lexi Daly 

Supplies

A-Mazing Gradute Card
Stamps: The A-Mazing Stamp Set, Tag-its #4
Cardstock: Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Dark Chocolate
Ink: Orange Zest, Dark Chocolate
White Embossing Powder

2014 Graduate Card
Stamps: For the Graduate
Cardstock: Smokey Shadow, Stamper's Select White, Scarlet Jewel
Dies: Letterman Stitched Numbers dies, For the Graduation
Linen/Canvas Impression Plate
Gold Foil Paper

Birthday Gift Bag
Stamps: BB: Random Stripe, BB: Diagonals, Come All Ye Faithful, Come All Ye Faithful Additions, Little Bitty Bird Additions
Dies: Come All Ye Faithful Additions, Teepee Time
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Canyon Clay, Scarlet Jewel, Blueberry Sky, Classic Kraft
Cardstock: Scarlet Jewel, Fine Linen, Stamper's Select White
Blueberry Sky Bitty Dot Pattern Paper
Canyon Clay Topnotch Twill
Bag: www.svgcuts.com