Today's countdown presentation is going to be so incredibly fun & inspirational, I can hardly wait for you to have the opportunity to see everything!
Today is the day that I get to introduce you to a stamp set that Melissa Phillips & I collaborated on. Anyone who is familiar with Melissa's blog, knows the magical energy it exudes. Diane in our forum recently summed it up perfectly...
"Every time I visit her blog I feel like I'm transported to some magical mystical land filled with sparkly sugar plums, floating fairies, and pixie dust!
It's kind of like the Wizard of Oz, after the tornado has plopped Dorothy's house "over the rainbow", and she opens the door and it turns from the dreary brown and dusty Kansas, into a colorful land of magical splendor (do you remember how you felt as a kid watching that?)
That's how I feel when I visit Melissa's blog."
I was totally captivated when Melissa sent me sketches and sentiment suggestions for a new stamp set called Love Lives Here. As soon as I looked over everything, I knew I could make her sketches come to life and transfer her creative magic into a stamp set that everyone could use, allowing them to make a little of the magic themselves at home.
The details.
- Love Lives Here will be available for sale on December 15th.
- It will retail for #24.
- Love Lives Here contains a total of 28 stamps (3 house bases, 3 house roofs, 2 helping hands, 1 butterfly, 1 circular heart frame, 1 scalloped circle frame, 2 small hearts, 1 clump of grass, 1 small flower and 13 sentiments)
A set of coordinating dies for this set will also be available. The charming shapes feature Melissa's signature heart cut-outs, which allows you to easily add personality and that special Melissa magic to anything you create.
The details.
- The Love Lives Here Die Collection will be available for sale on December 15th.
- The set of 5 dies will retail for $12.
- The Love Lives Here Die Collection contains a total of 5 dies: 1.5" x 1" (Butterfly), 1.75" diameter (scalloped circle), 1" x 1.5" (Helping Hand), 1.25" x 1.5" (House), 1" diameter (Heart Circle).
Now that I have all the formal introductions out of the way, let's get onto some fun projects!
My daughter, Hannah, always loves it when I make her pretty little things to put in her bedroom. I created this little Flower Photo Pot as something special she can look at and be reminded of how much I love her. And the best part? The photo can be easily swapped out as she gets older!
It all started with a little tin pail and a styrofoam ball. I measures the diameter of my pail and purchased a styrofoam ball that was slightly smaller than it. I have a habit of saving every little scrap of felt after die cutting shapes from it. I pulled out my Simply Chartreuse felt stash and cut it into little bits and pieces. Using a skewer, I poked the centers of each scrap down into the ball, which creates little gathered bunches.
It only takes a few minutes to do the top portion that will be showing. And the grass-like texture it adds just can't be beat!
Next, I cut the butterfly shape from the Love Lives Here die collection and stamped it with the coordinating stamp image using Summer Sunrise ink. The images are SO incredibly easy to line up with these die-cut shapes because of the hearts!
I cut a piece of NEW! Melon Berry felt with the butterfly die again, this time just retaining the little heart portion. I covered the two wide sides of this clothespin with vintage book print (from an old book) and then adhered the felt heart onto the clothespin. I then was able to fit the stamped butterfly right over the heart since the opening obviously matched up perfectly. I love how the heart appears to be bursting from the center of the butterfly!
The altered clothespin is simply clipped to the edge of the pail, allowing you to add a photo, a special quote or anything else you desire. And as I said earlier, it is so easy to swap out photos when the recipient of this little gift needs a change of scenery!
While playing around with the Bloom Builders dies, I discovered the best way to use fabric is to first heat & bond some interfacing to the back that has a paper backing. Leave the paper intact while die-cutting, then you can remove it if you like. This added stability helps to achieve crisper cuts and you are better able to add dimension to the petals. Here I have used the medium Bloom Builders #1 die with some pretty yellow floral fabric.
After assembling it using the same steps I used HERE, I stitched a Melon Berry felt flower to it's center along with a Melon Berry button. The hole thing is hot glued to the top of a trimmed down wooden skewer.
The felt flower here uses the small Bloom Builder #1 die and the yellow floral fabric as the center, finished with a Lemon Tart button.
This sentiment from Love Lives Here is one of my favorites and reminds me so much of Hannah. I heat embossed it onto Kraft cardstock using White Filigree powder. I trimmed the sentiment into a strip and notched the end, then attached it to the skewer stem of the largest flower.
Now that I have shown you my creation, let me show you what the team has come up with!
CLICK HERE to read more from Melissa Phillips herself!
CLICK HERE to read more from Betsy Veldman.
CLICK HERE to read more from Dawn McVey.
CLICK HERE to read more from Debbie Olson.
CLICK HERE to read more from Erin Lincoln.
CLICK HERE to read more from Heather Nichols.
CLICK HERE to read more from Jessica Witty.
CLICK HERE to read more from Lisa Johnson.
CLICK HERE to read more from Maile Belles.
CLICK HERE to read more from Michelle Wooderson.
CLICK HERE to read more from Niki Estes.
Isn't everyone's work just fabulous! I don't know about you, but I am so incredibly inspired by all of the at creative eye candy! What are your initial thoughts of this set? Is there a particular project, image or sentiment from the set that speaks to you? We would love to hear your thoughts! You could have a chance to win an amazing prize package just for sharing your thoughts with us!
- Love Lives Here stamp set
- Love Lives Here die collection
- Basic Banners die set
- Boxy Banners die set
You have until 7am EST, Tuesday, December 14th to leave your comment and be eligible to win. Only one comment per person please. One randomly selected winner will be announced on our December 2010 Release Winners page by noon EST. Thank you for stopping by today to participate in the "magic" and good luck with the contest!
Melissa Bickford has more to share using Make a Wish & Additions.
FLOWER PHOTO POT
- STAMPS: Love Lives Here (available December 15th)
- INK: Summer Sunrise, VersaMark
- PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Kraft, vintage book print from old book
- OTHER: Love Lives Here die collection, Bloom Builders #1 die collection, Beautiful Blooms die, embroidery floss (DMC), Melon Berry felt, mini clothespin, Lemon Tart button, Melon Berry button, wooden skewers, small pail (measuring about 2.75" in diameter)
- FINISHED SIZE: 8" tall x 6" wide
