This months inspiration is a fun take on florals, ruffles & pleats. Leaves me envisioning New Leaf ink stamped onto Aqua Mist cardstock with perhaps some pops of Harvest Gold or Lemon Tart die-cuts! Have fun perhaps trying your hand at pleats or ruffles using your favorite ribbons. This photo sparks all kinds of amazing summery ideas! We look forward to seeing your creations!
I have included an inlinkz list below for you to add your link to your blog hop project. This type of link list will allow you to select a thumbnail to go along with your link, making it easy to go back and find a project later that might have perked your interest.
You have until 11:30pm EST tonight (June 25th) to add your link to this list. THREE random participants will be selected to win a $25 PTI Gift Certificate to spend however they choose. They will be announced and highlighted here, on my blog, tomorrow morning. We look forward to seeing all of your creations!
EDITED TO ADD RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNERS:
Alex used one of the patterned heart from Heart-2-Heart to create this beautiful floral accent for her card. I love how she used the layers of color and was able to create something so intricate with just a single die and stamp. Just lovely!
Marybeth L. created this card using one of my favorites, Frilly Flowers. The way she used Fancy Flourishes in the background helps to anchor everything effortlessly. I also love the way she added her pop of yellow with the card base... subtle but definitely striking and unpredictable.
Jean put together this bright and cheerful card with the Turning a New Leaf dies & stamp set. I just adore the way she incorporated pops of yellow into her background by adhering lots of small Lemon Tart buttons. Not only does it add texture, it also looks amazing!
Congratulations to all three winners! Please send a note to customer service providing the email address you would like your gift certificate sent to. And thank you to everyone for playing along! It was amazing to see so many unique takes on this months inspiration photo!
Today, we're making our own embellishments! Whether you like to keep it simple or pile on the layers, this step-it-up challenge is for you! Join Dawn as she shows how to step up those embellishments for a variety of different looks!
Here are a few photos of Dawn's projects this week:
All three cards together...
Super simple embellishment...
Embellishment stepped up a little...
Embellishment stepped up a lot...
If you are joining along this week, here are the details concerning the Make It Monday Challenge.
--A new Make It Monday Challenge will go up every Monday morning at 9am EST.
--Create a project utilizing your take on the challenge. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product and include a hand-made embellishment.
--Post your project on your blog, in your gallery or on any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).
--You will have until 7am, Monday, July 2nd, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win. And you can enter as many times as you like.
--We will be tweeting and posting on our Facebook page every night (between 5-9pm EST) highlighting a Featured Project. These tweets/Facebook postings will just be a shout-out regarding projects that caught our eye.
--One randomly selected winner will be chosen from ALL the entries on Monday, July 2nd, after 7am. The winner will be posted here on this blog post, on Twitter and Facebook. The randomly selected winner will get a $25 PTI gift certificate to spend however they like!
Good luck to everyone and we look forward to seeing your projects!
EDITED TO ADD RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNER:
Congratulations Karen C.! You have been randomly selected to receive a $25 PTI gift certificate to spend however you choose! Please send a note to customer service with the email address you would like the gift certificate sent to. And thank you to EVERYONE who played along with this week's challenge!
Tomorrow we are excited to present the BIG monthly Blog Hop that Papertrey Ink hosts for all of its talented customers to show off their skills! The Blog Hop is an ALL DAY EVENT! An Inlinkz list will be posted here on my blog at 10am EST and you can add your link anytime up until 11:30pm EST. And don't worry if you aren't going to get a chance to make a project and play along, there will be a contest for non-participants as well over in our forum in the designated thread. I hope that I will see many of your familiar faces over here tomorrow! I look forward to seeing all of your creativity!
A day dedicated to seeking inspiration through projects utilizing Papertrey Ink products. This event allows all of our customers who enjoy sharing inspiration & artwork with their peers do so through their personal blogs.
The actual Blog Hop will take place tomorrow, June 25th, beginning @ 10 am EST and run until 11:30pm EST.
This months inspiration is a fun take on florals, ruffles & pleats. Leaves me envisioning New Leaf ink stamped onto Aqua Mist cardstock with perhaps some pops of Harvest Gold or Lemon Tart die-cuts! Have fun perhaps trying your hand at pleats or ruffles using your favorite ribbons. This photo sparks all kinds of amazing summery ideas! We look forward to seeing your creations tomorrow!
-Participating bloggers can add their link to the appropriate list here anytime between 10am EST and 11:30pm EST on June 25th within the InLinkz list that will be posted. The title of your post should be "Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge".
-Customers & participants alike can peruse all of the links and absorb all of the amazing inspiration that will be shared!
-After you have made your way through the list, simply return to our forum and participate in all of the fun!
-You can chit chat with everyone in the Blog Hop forum! Take this time to praise your peers efforts, discuss anything new you might have learned and which projects really offered something unique!
-The three random blogger participant winners will be announced in the morning on our forum and highlighted here on my blog!
-You can enter our Blog Hop Forum contest. There will be a special thread posted in our forum specifically for this purpose asking a question. Please only post once, as the winner will be picked via the Random Number Generator. The forum contest will end at midnight EST and the winner announced the following morning.
-Create a project while you are here, using the new inspiration you have gathered from the Blog Hop. You can post your projects in the gallery, even if you do not have a blog! We are looking forward to all the fun tomorrow and we hope to see you there!
--You will have until 7am, Monday, June 25th, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win. And you can enter as many times as you like.
--We will be tweeting and posting on our Facebook page every night (between 5-9pm EST) highlighting a Featured Project. These tweets/Facebook postings will just be a shout-out regarding projects that caught our eye.
--One randomly selected winner will be chosen from ALL the entries on Monday, June 25th, after 7am. The winner will be posted here on this blog post, on Twitter and Facebook. The randomly selected winner will get a $25 PTI gift certificate to spend however they like!
Good luck to everyone and we look forward to seeing your projects!
EDITED TO ADD RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNER:
Congratulations Susan Beauchaine! You have been randomly selected to receive a $25 PTI gift certificate to spend however you choose! Please send a note to customer service with the email address you would like the gift certificate sent to. And thank you to EVERYONE who played along with this week's challenge!
Today I have a few team changes that I wanted to take a few moments to let you know about.
Michelle Wooderson has decided to step down from her position on our Design Team. I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with her over the past few years. Especially collaborating on product concepts together. She have been such a valuable asset to our company and we really can't adequately express our appreciation for all she has done to contribute to our success. She is a great asset to the paper crafting world and everyone who has the opportunity to absorb creativity through her blog and her fantastic wit. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors; we just know she will be successful in whatever she chooses to do with her talents. Thank you for your years of dedication and commitment to Papertrey Ink, Michelle.
Beth Silaika has also opted to step down from her position as a stamp designer. She has been designing new products for us for a few years now and really has a unique sense of style that will be missed. Beth is going to be focusing more on her family, especially on her very special *6-pack*! She has a lot of talent paired with a heart of gold that is genuine and full of kindness. Her presence within the company along with her amazing design contributions will be missed here and we wish her nothing but the best as she moves forward in her life!
We also have a new designer joining the Design Team, someone that I have admired for quite some time now. Cristina Kowalczyk is now officially joining our ranks as a member of the release team. She will be contributing projects each month that will truly inspire you! For the July and August releases she will be taking things a bit easy and just contributing to the group posts because of some personal obligations, but then after that you will enjoy a full spectrum of projects from her each and every month!
Cristina's clean & simple style is refreshing and so incredibly inspiring to me. She is always thinking outside the box and coming up with the most amazing uses for stamps. I have fallen in love with so many of her creations over the years and just her overall perspective. Cristina loves using crisp white card bases and unique color combinations. She is a phenomenal stamper who definitely has a lot to offer all of you with her future contributions to the team. Welcome, Cristina!
The June Blog Hop is not taking place until June 25th, but we thought we would share the challenge as well as the inspiration photo here to give you a head start.
A day dedicated to seeking inspiration through projects utilizing Papertrey Ink products. This event allows all of our customers who enjoy sharing inspiration & artwork with their peers do so through their personal blogs.
The actual Blog Hop will take place on June 25th, beginning @ 10 am EST.
This months inspiration is a fun take on florals, ruffles & pleats. Leaves me envisioning New Leaf ink stamped onto Aqua Mist cardstock with perhaps some pops of Harvest Gold or Lemon Tart die-cuts! Have fun perhaps trying your hand at pleats or ruffles using your favorite ribbons. This photo sparks all kinds of amazing summery ideas! We look forward to seeing your creations on June 25th!
The day we have all been waiting for is finally here! Can't you just feel the anticipation in the air! Now is your chance to be one of the FIRST to get to play with all of the amazing paper crafting goodness that we are offering up this month!!! I wanted to let you know a few things about the day today so you can know what to expect!
The release party begins right now, at 7am EST on our forum. Be sure to stop by our forum and enjoy the camaraderie and chit chat about all of our new products. It's entertaining and a super duper way to pass the time until you can begin filling your cart.
Stamp Set & Die Reveal NOW @ 7am EST, just scroll below or CLICK HERE.
I have revealed all of the stamp sets in their entirety below, as well as all the dies. This way you can have everything in one place and make informed decisions about your purchases.
You can't have a party without a contest. Scroll below to find the "Release in Review & Release Contest" post with a question for you to answer. Share your answer with us and you will be eligible to win:
a $150 PTI Gift Certificate to spend on whatever you choose!
The contest will close at 9:30pm EST and the winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator. I will announce the lucky winner here before 10pm EST!
Release Ordering 101
I have added a page of information that will tell you all about the details of ordering during the release, procedures & policies you should be aware of and more. Whether your new here or a regular, I think you will all find this information helpful. You can find this information HERE.
June in a Nutshell!
You can always see a linked review list for each release on my Previous Countdown page, HERE. But I have also added the list below, so it's easy to navigate while you are making your shopping decisions tonight.
June Release Winners. Be sure to stop by our June Release Winners Page to see if you were one of the lucky folks to win a new release prize package!
Release Night Inventory Report.
BACK IN STOCK NOW:
Smokey Shadow 12-Pack Cardstock
Classic Kraft full-size ink pad
Chevron Stripes stamp set
PRODUCT UPDATES:
Felt Shipment- we are expecting a felt re-order shipment to arrive in about two weeks which should re-stock the colors we are currently out of.
Desktop File Left Die Delay-this die has been delayed and will not be available for sale tonight. We hope to have it available in the next few weeks.
Tea Dye Duo- the manufacturer is waiting on labels to come in and then will be able to ship this reorder. We hope to receive them in the next few weeks.
Out of Stock Premium Dye Inks- we are hoping to have these back in stock within the next four weeks or so.
DVD Stamp Storage Cases Update- We have just about everything worked out with the manufacturer for this product line and we hope to make these available soon.
If anything else is brought to my attention as they make preparations in the warehouse, I will certainly let you know here.
Don't forget: 10pm EST NEW Product Release Time. Just a friendly reminder that the new products will be released tonight at 10pm EST on our website.
Thank you so much for visiting throughout this exciting countdown and we look forward to seeing all of you throughout the day and later tonight!
The June release has been full of some gorgeous new products and we hope the projects from the team have been beyond inspiring! I've picked out favorites of my own, from each of the design team members, to share with you today! Click the link next to each team member's name to see more details about the project shown here, as well as the rest of her projects from this release! And be sure to read all the way to the bottom of the post.....you won't want to miss out on this month's release in review CONTEST!!!
Now that you have had a chance to see all of this eye candy, how about a chance to win a gift certificate to purchase some of the amazing goodies used to make them!
$150 PTI Gift Certificate
for you to spend however you choose!
All you have to do to enter to win is to leave a comment answering the question below...
Congratulations to Carrie T! Please contact customer service with the email address you wish to have your gift certificate sent to! And a big thank you to everyone else who joined in the party tonight! We loved seeing you here!
It's time to get organized and to get crafty all at the same time!! You're going to love this new organizational system we're introducing to you today.....finally, an easy and stylish way to catalog all of that design inspiration that we always seem to be collecting!
A set that developed as a collaboration between Dawn McVey & myself. Designed to provide you with everything you need to create an easy to manage system for filing bits & pieces of inspiration. From color combinations to sketches, techniques and so much more. You will be able to add to the system you establish for years to come with the basic tools that are provided within this set. Coordinates with all three of our Desktop File dies.
The Details:
Desktop File: Inspiration will be available for purchase on June 15th.
It will retail for $24.
Desktop File: Inspiration contains a total of 36 images. The color combo block measures 3-3/8" x 1-3/8". The graph paper & notebook line blocks measure 3-3/8" x 1-3/8" each. The technique block measures 1-3/8" x 2-1/2". The design notes block measures 1-3/8" x 2-1/4". The square sketch starter measures 1", rectangle sketch starter 3/4" x 1", and the circle sketch starter 1" diameter. "Inspiration" measures 1" x 1/8". "Journal Prompts" measures 1-1/2" x1/8".
Three coordinating dies will be available for sale separately, retailing for $7 each. These are single dies. Each die measures 4" x 2-1/2".
EDITED TO ADD FAQ: I don't understand why it is necessary to have a left die and a right die. Can't you just cut one left or one right and flip it over?
There are actually a couple reasons why there is a left and a right die. First is, some of customers really like the "good", nice rounded edge side of a die-cut to be face up at all times, so this gives them the option to be able to do that if they choose. Also, if people want to die-cut a *specific* area of a magazine clipping, it is much easier to get placement on the front of the picture, rather than the back.
The reason why all three dies are sold separately is so you can choose what you would need/how you would like to use them. So, if you want to flip your die-cuts rather than buying both left and right, you totally can! Or, for the people that would prefer to have both, they have that option too. Hope that helps!
Now that I've made all of the formal introductions, let's get started with introducing you to this fabulous new organization system! To kick things off, we have a short video that showcases just a few of the basic attributes Desktop File: Inspiration has!
After watching that, aren't you ready to just dig in and customize your own system? One of the greatest things about this is that you can establish it to where your creative process is embraced. Here are some of the details mentioned in the video.
With some basic large stamps, you can create an endless supply of index cards for your system. One of the hardest things about organizing something like inspiration is that you need the flexibility to continually add to it. And if you were to use pre-printed items, it might be hard to make sure you have enough "stockpiled" for years of use. With these stamps, you can make as many cards as you like, in whatever colors you want for years and years... a never-ending supply for just pennies.
The Desktop File: Inspiration stamp set provides you with SO many options for organizing the bits and pieces of this hobby that make it so fun.
These are just a few of the ways that you can use the bits and pieces contained in this collection to create a customizable, easy to update inspiration system. To start with, let me show you what I created to organize one of my biggest creative inspirations, COLOR!
It is no secret, I absolutely LOVE color and I am always on the hunt for unique color schemes to infuse into my projects. I knew I wanted to create a system where I could easily access my color inspiration photos right at my fingertips. I thought the best way to organize them would be to divide the schemes by their prominent PTI color.
I opted to use a rotary Rolodex for my Color Inspiration system because I knew I wanted to create a divider for each of the PTI colors. That rainbow of goodness just looks so good on a rotary version of a desktop file system! So I sat down with my Vagabond and the new Desktop File dies and cut dividers in each of our exclusive colors. It was easy and fun!
To begin making the actual inspiration cards to be filed with each color, I printed a thumbnail sheet from Pinterest. What I did was copy & paste the thumbnail images from my color board into a new document, shrinking each one down so it would roughly fit in a 1-3/8" square punch. I printed several on a sheet at once so it would be easy to create several cards for my file in one sitting.
I then punched out all of the inspiration pieces.
I stamped several blank white Rolodex filler cards (available in big packages at office supply stores for just a few dollars) with the *best* thing ever, this color combo block. This stamp makes it so easy to record your color combinations, and as an added bonus, it looks good too! I then adhered my inspiration photos to the right side of each card.
Next I filled in the color names that I pulled from the inspiration photos and used the coordinating rectangle stamp to "fill-in" the appropriate box next to each of them. I love how my color combo feels more "official" after taking it from Pinterest and adding it to my desktop file. I have a habit of pinning all the time, but not actually *using* the color schemes on a project. With all of them right here, the actual colors already broken down, I am very confident that this tool will be my new best friend! And I have the added bonus of adding to it as much as I want to, and the system can always accommodate!
I filed my cards behind the colored index tab that was most prominent in the color scheme. However, sometimes if the combo contained a color I seldom use, I filed it differently so that I would perhaps be more inspired to use that color frequently. I also plan on keeping some pre-stamped cards with just the Color Combo block on it, right on my stamping table. Then when I complete a project with a color scheme I enjoyed, I can add the ink colors immediately since they are already pulled out.
Now that you have seen what I created using this innovative system, let me share with you a few of of the systems that the team established...
I hope you have enjoyed all these organization tips that both the team and I have shared with you today! Hopefully you're feeling inspired to get organized and crafty all at the same time! We would love to hear your initial thoughts on everything we introduced! Please leave a comment on this post to tell us what you think of the new products and you will be eligible to win big!
$75 Papertrey Ink Gift Certificate
to spend however you choose!
You have until 7am EST, June 15 to leave your comment and be eligible to win. Only one comment per person please. One randomly selected winner will be announced on our June Release Winners Page before noon EST the same day. Thank you for stopping by today and best of luck with the contest!
CLICK HERE to see more from Melissa Bickford and her new stamp sets this month.
