Quick Stitch Kits with Papertrey Ink

Does it feel weird to be coming to my blog for the first time during a PTI monthly countdown on the 15th? It feels a little odd to be writing to you finally at such a late date! Good thing I have a great excuse. :)

You likely are aware that after five years of being on the Papertrey Ink Design Team, that I stepped down from my duties, effective this month. Such an incredibly hard decision for me! I cried more than once. I have had such an enjoyable time being a part of it for all these years. And the thought of not counting myself among their ranks still makes me sad.  I told myself when I started in February of 2010, that I'd do it for two years. HA! I went for five. And during those five years, I went from being a mother of one, to a mother of three.  I also went from being hired to do some of the social media management (remember Papertrey Radio?) to a design team member and then on to a product designer for a company I have always considered to be the BEST in the business. A dream come true.

That dream of product designing is exactly what has brought me to this blog post today. The simple concept of stitching dies, which all started one day when I was on the treadmill trying to figure out how this clumsy and inept hand-sewer could make cute felt barrettes for my little girl, has taken off and become something of a phenomenon. Just like me, you have wanted a way to make cute, professional-looking, and personalized felt crafts without any frustration. Even better, we get to combine all that crafty goodness with our paper crafting passion and beloved tools. What's not to love?

Starting on March 1st, I'll be designing and pulling together a bi-monthly kit of dies, stamps, and other assorted sundries for Papertrey Ink called the Quick Stitch Kits. The above photo is a preview of the first one, the Sewing Staples Kit. Oh, there is some fun to be had in pretty organizational products. Stampable iron-on transfer onto satin ribbon, beading, and coordinating stamping products are just a few of the features. Hope you are excited as I am over it!

Outside of the kits, I'll still be a participant in the monthly product releases too. I think February is my only month off this year. You'll be seeing plenty of me on the monthly releases from here on out. Lots of stamps, dies, paper, and even more stitching dies will be released from Chapter 3 Designs on a monthly basis at Papertrey Ink. I'm super busy. And now that I have time and space to let the creativity carry me off down the rabbit hole, only good things are up ahead.

Thanks for all your support, warm comments, and camaraderie over the last five years. And the biggest hug for loving the stitching dies as much as I do. Your enthusiasm for them over the last two years have made what is coming up ahead possible. And thank goodness for it. I don't know what I would do without new stitching dies. They are my favorite too!

I'm being joined on this new venture by a talented quartet of ladies on the Quick Stitch Design Team. We love having new faces around PTI Land. They'll have every release all stitched up.

Tracy Miller
Hilary Kanwischer
Rebecca Luminarias
Lizzie Jones

See you in two weeks! I've got lots to show you.