{capture the moment}

Thank you!

It has been nearly 48 hours since our latest release, and WOW, what an overwhelming response we have had!  It says a lot when we receive notes from customers (who haven't even gotten their orders yet!), thanking us for even designing this set.  What a heart-warming validation for all the effort & thought invested in this set of images!

Did you notice the tip sheet we compiled for Butterfly Kisses?  If not, you can find it here.  If you scroll down to the very end, you will see what I like to call my "Punch Lines".  Since I design all of my images to coordinate with punches, I like to have this list to refer to when creating.  Now you can benefit from the list, without having to do any time-consuming experimentation yourself!  Also within this list are 10 fun things to do with Butterfly Kisses!  One of which is to create a mask and create your own custom patterned butterfly with all the bits& pieces we have included for you in the set.  I thought I would show you step by step how quick and easy this can be!
1.  Stamp outline onto scratch paper.  Cut just inside the outline with a craft knife.

2. Stamp outline on your project cardstock (here I am using kraft).

3. Adhere mask to project using re-positionable adhesive.  Stamp your desired pattern within the mask. (Note: for the centers of my flowers I inked one single dot from the polka dot butterfly overlay.  If you look in the upper-left corner, I have left an inked version for you to see.  This was so easy to do since these are acrylics!)

4. Remove mask and admire your work!
I also did some "fancy" cutting for this project...
1. Use straight edge & craft knife to cut line, omitting the areas where the wings "over hang".
2. Remove straight edge and cut around outside of wings with craft knife.

And here's the finished project!  It was a little outside my comfort zone with the colors and distressing, but I am pretty happy with the results! Speaking of results, Amy Rysavy has been working hard over in the Papertrey Ink Pad gallery!  There were some hold-ups with the shipment of her set and she just received it yesterday afternoon and she already created three samples for us!  Two of them can be seen here, with third being added this weekend!  So be sure to come back and visit!  We have some special things in store for all of you in the coming weeks.  (There was a little hint at the end of yesterday's post, did anyone catch it?)  I'll keep you posted!

1

So many of you were right on when you guessed STRIPES!  This little guy is one of my favorites, along with his coordinating "starburst" pieces.  These particular images stamp SO crisp.  For this project I used fluid chalk inks and they worked perfectly with the layering.

This is an altered lunch bag.  I just cut the bag down to a height of 7.5-inches and added my custom patterned paper.  The top "flap" is just a 5-inch circle folded in half and adhered on the back.  For the front closure I used a Basic Grey self-adhesive magnet (I LOVE these things!  They are so FUN to open and close!) I used the Petal Point chalk inks, so it was really easy to ink the "B" in a different color from the rest of the sentiment.  This was a quick and easy project that would be so easy to mass-produce!  How fun would it be to make these in a variety of colors as well! Just pick two monotone colors and go to town!  Doesn't that sound like fun! I love this particular color palette though, it is so calming & refreshing!

Here are some stamp set details for those of you that have been asking... the set is entitled Butterfly Kisses.  It contains 30 images (including SEVEN 2.25-inch wide butterflies- 5 patterned, 1 solid and 1 outline).  It will officially go on sale at midnight EST tonight for $24 at our website, www.papertreyink.com.  Just as I said last month, we have plenty in stock, but in the case we do sell out, you can still place your order, with it shipping in 2-4 weeks.  Your credit card will not be charged until your order has shipped. With the unique images contained in this set, it will be worth the wait!

I also need to formally welcome Ellen Hutson on board our Design Team!  It has been so tough for me to keep this fact under wraps for the past month!  I have always admired her work and her eagerness to teach others.  She is such a wonderful model for everyone as both a woman AND a stamper.  If you don't know Ellen (which I highly doubt...EVERYONE knows Ellen! She's on a first name basis, you know like Madonna or Cher!) you can check out her blog here.  she composed a wonderful post about her introduction to our team and her first experience with acrylics.  Stop by and welcome her!

This countdown has been a pleasure, can't wait until the next one!  You are going to LOVE what we have coming next, no foolin' **wink**wink**. 

2

Polka dots!  How could you have a set featuring patterned butterflies without polka dots!  (In case you didn't already know, polka dots are my FAVORITE thing!)  I stamped the butterfly shadow with chalk ink (love how the chalk ink works with large solid images like this.  The stamped image ends up stamping perfectly even with no streaking or puddling), heat set it, then stamped the polka-dot overlay with Versamark and added turquoise Perfect Pearls.  The shimmer & shine looks so AMAZING in person!  The background was created by stamping the large and medium solid dots in Versamark on green patterned paper (Lime Swirl from Shabby Princess Collection by Bo-Bunny Press) and then brushing them with prefect Pearls.  I sketched a swirled "flight path" with pencil and used my paper piercer to punch the holes.  I then carefully erased the pencil marks.  The "Heartfelt thanks" sentiment is one of my favorites, well, actually I think the ENTIRE set is my favorite!  I haven't mentioned yet that these butterflies have a perfectly portioned 2.25 inch  wing span.  They aren't too big and they aren't too small.  This size really makes them so versatile!  One more patterned butterfly tomorrow!  Can you guess what "basic" is left?   

3

I decided to do a 3D project today.  This tin is leftover from a set I made for my mother to store all of her spices.  I found them for 75-cents a piece here, and there is no minimum purchase!  I have made purchases from them on more than one occasion and have been really happy with their service!

I thought this tin could be used as packaging for a small birthday gift or something.  The band wrapped around the bottom shows the variety of flowers in the new set.  I love that the flower centers are separate so you can easily integrate two colors if you like.  The lid of the tin features a floral butterfly (there are a total of FIVE patterned butterflies in this set, I've shown you only three so far.  Can you guess what the other two will be?!?!).  The larger daisies within the butterfly perfectly coordinate with the 1/4" circle punch.  So it was easy to add the flowers in a second color.  I used the slot punch to create openings for the ribbon (from American Crafts via Hobby Lobby) to go underneath the butterfly image, so it was not covered.  A quick and easy project! Only 3 days until you can purchase your very own set!

4

Only 4 more days to go until the debut at PapertreyInk! You will love what this set has to offer, I promise! Today's project changes an envelope into a functional card.  This is an idea that has been used by many designers over the years, so I do not know who the original credit goes to for such a clever idea!  For my project, I used an extra large envelope and scored it @ 2.25 inches from either side while the flap was open.  I stamped my pattern on the "outside of the envelope and added the butterfly block to the "flap".  The  "Birthday Wishes" sentiment that is included in this new set is such a great basic! On the "inside" I just added a sentiment along with a "notch" made with a circle punch at the envelopes opening.  A tag pulls out of the envelope that could feature a handwritten message or personal photo. These little colored adhesive jewels are from Doodlebug and added a perfect finishing touch.
One thing I love about this set is that the major decorative images have coordinating shadow stamps.  On this particular project you can see that there is one for the butterfly and the scroll circles in the background.  This "bohemian" butterfly (as Debbie has so kindly named it!) is my first hand-drawn image.  It is such an incredible experience to stamp with a piece of art that you completely drew by hand.  It will be fascinating to see what others do with the image as well! Very exciting!

5

SO here is your first little sneak peek at the new PapertreyInk stamp set, preparing to be debuted on March 15th!  Let the countdown begin!  You know how there are some sets that are just FUN to sit down and play with?  They enable you to be so creative, fitting different pieces together using unique combinations and this is one of them!  And who doesn't love a PAISLEY BUTTERFLY!  This card uses one of my favorite techniques, which is to heat emboss an image, and than watercolor over the details.  (click on the photo to get a closer view) It is so easy and the image remains bold and crisp.

I thought I would also share with you a little trick I do when creating my own patterned paper.  I use a scrap of cardstock leftover from the piece I cut for my card to "experiment" on.  I can try different combinations/ ink colors and than hold the samples up to my project to see which pattern/color compliments the overall style of the card best.  This also saves me from
making my card more than once! If you notice, on the sample I attempted to stamp a turquoise dot on top of the large paisley circles.  It just wasn't vivid enough.  So I used my anywhere hole punch to create a hole in the center of each of the paisley circles, than backed the whole sheet with a piece of turquoise cardstock.  It was just the touch of color needed!