Don't you just love summer? When the outside & inside seamlessly merge together with fresh-cut flowers from the garden. Especially sweet hydrangeas...
Warm summer nights spent catching fireflies under a starry sky...
Sipping cool lemonade in the shade of your favorite old oak tree...
Michelle Wooderson has captured the essence of summer in a jar with her sketches that helps to develop the concept for Friendship Jar Summer Fillers.
Friendship Jar Summer Fillers is full of all kinds of things that pay homage to summer...sea shells to strawberries, cold fruity drinks to bouquets of summer hydrangeas. Most exciting though are two new additions that have coordinating dies...
A new shorter pint jar...
and a pretty bow that is perfect for paper piecing! And the best part? These new additions can be mixed and matched with all of the previously released jar sets as well!
The details.
- Friendship Jar Summer Fillers will be available for sale on July 15th.
- It will retail for $24.
- Friendship Jar Summer Fillers contains a total of 25 images (1 pint jar, 1 american flag duo, 1 hydrangea bouquet, 1 bow, 1 strawberry filler, 1 single strawberry, 1 seashell trio, 1 sand bottom filler, 1 drink umbrella, 1 drinking straw, 1 set of drink drips, 1 dotted trail, 1 ant, 1 firefly and 12 sentiments)
- The new pint jar measures 2" tall and remains the same width as the larger jar, which is 1-3/4" wide.
- Coordinating dies for both the Pint Jar & Jar Ribbon will be available for sale separately. The Pint Jar die will retail for $4, while the Jar Ribbon die will retail for $4 as well.
If you looked at Michelle's sketches carefully, you might have noticed the concept of new label shapes & dies to coordinate with the jar, with the possibility of a separate set being designed to go along with them. Little Labels along with the new Jar Labels 2 die bring Michelle's concept to life!
The details.
- Little Labels stamp set will be available for purchase on July 15th.
- It will retail for $15.
- Little Labels contains a total of 16 images (3 solid outline frames, 3 dotted outline frames and 10 sentiments)
- A coordinating die will be available for purchase separately and retail for $6. Each label measures 1-1/4" wide and 7/8" tall.
In addition to the jar additions this month, we also have a brand-new EXCITING, innovative product line that we are absolutely thrilled to introduce to you! It's called the Half & Half collection! I have found myself often wanting a decorative "strip" on my projects while stamping...something that would look similar to one of our Mat Stacks cut in half...but I needed more length! This is how the Half & Half concept was born, essentially "half" a shape and half a strip! With the stamps, you can add that type of detail onto a one-layer card. With the dies, you can use patterned paper, cardstock vellum or whatever else you wish!
In the Half & Half stamp set, each patterned strip has two brackets that coordinate perfectly with the end of it, one solid & bold the other delicate and flourished. These strips can be used vertically or horizontally. There's also a few fun sentiments thrown in for good measure!
The details.
- Half & Half will be available for sale on July 15th.
- It will retail for $24.
- Half & Half contains a total of 14 images (3 extra-large patterned strips, 3 solid brackets, 3 flourished brackets and 5 sentiments).
- The decorative strips in the stamp set measures 1-7/8" wide and 3-1/8" long.
- A set of three coordinating dies will be available for sale separately, retailing for $20. The dies measure approximately 1-7/8" x 5-1/2" each, a nice large size that will make a BIG impact on your projects! Since the dies are open-ended on one end, they can be used to make strips as long as you like. You can even flip the die around and cut the opposite end of the strip for more options!
Now, let's get onto some fun projects using these great new sets!
I always associate summer with yellows and oranges, so I decided to go in that direction with my first project.
I heat embossed the hydrangeas & pint jar with White Filigree Embossing Powder onto Fine Linen cardstock. I then colored the hydrangeas in with Summer Sunrise & Ripe Avocado Copic Trios, with a little T1 thrown in for good measure. Finally, I stamped the Background Basics: Newsprint set down the length of the focal point with VersaMark ink.
To create the strip. I die-cut white cardstock with one of the Half & Half dies and then stamped it with the coordinating image from the stamp set using Summer Sunrise ink. ****sigh*** Can I just tell you how in LOVE I am with this line? I have wanted something like this forever, and it is such a joy to not only see it come to fruition, but to get to use it!!! So pretty!
I also added the multi-stripe image from Background Basics: Retro down the center of the strip in Orange Zest. The decorative strip provided the perfect place for my little jar label. I die-cut white cardstock with the new Jar Labels 2 and stamped the frame from Little Labels in Orange Zest. I then added the sentiment (also from Little Labels) in Ripe Avocado.
A simple card & layout, but I love the air of peacefulness and sunny days that it alludes to!
Another thing I love about the Half & Half series is how well it works for envelope embellishments. For the envelope I created to coordinate with this hydrangea card, I opened the envelope up so the flap was out flat and put a scrap of A2 sized cardstock inside so I had a nice flat stamping surface to work with. I then stamped the decorative strip on the front of the envelope, lining the straight edge with the crease in the envelope flap.
I then flipped the stamp around, re-inked, and stamped the envelope flap, lining the straight edge up at the fold with the previous impression. They line up easily and perfectly!
Because the slight "overlap" is on the fold of the flap, you can hardly even notice at all!
One of our forum members, *suzanne*, recently started a discussion about using the Edgers dies on envelope flaps. I thought this was so intriguing and had never thought to do this before, so I figured now was a good time to try it out. I pulled out Edgers #3, and let me tell you, it works BEAUTIFULLY! It was almost as if it was designed for this purpose. And the best part? Edgers #3 in particular works perfectly with the decorative strip width from Half & Half. The strips are exactly as wide as the biggest center scallop. *I can hardly contain my excitement over these discoveries!*
I added the stripes from Background Basics: Retro (just like the card) in Orange Zest and then die-cut an Angled Label from our label paper and stamped it with the coordinating stamp from Label Basics. This provides the perfect place to add the address or name of your recipient!
The finished ensemble is nothing short of irresistible! And I bet you can guess what I will be doing to nearly ALL of my envelopes from now on! Thank you for the inspiration *suzanne*!!!
Next, a fun strawberry card! I just LOVE strawberries, juicy and plump right off the vine and it was so fun creating a little version of that summer happiness with paper!
I die-cut a strip with one of the Half & Half dies from white cardstock and stamped the full-size jar (from the original Friendship Jar set) in Black Noir. I added the strawberries filler from Friendship Jar Summer Fillers as well as die-cut the lid and stamp it. The strawberries were colored with Pure Poppy & Ripe Avocado Copic Trios. I created a vellum strip, to which I added one of the smaller sentiments from Half & Half and scored it to fold up like a dimensional banner.
Each end of the vellum strip is embellished with Pure Poppy buttons tied with Pure Poppy Baker's Twine.
the background was stamped with the previously released set Delightful Doilies is Ripe Avocado onto Spring Moss cardstock. I love how dainty and homespun this looks!
A perfectly cheery card to wish someone a happy summer birthday!
My last card uses one of my favorite new color schemes, Hawaiian Shores & New Leaf, as well as showcase yet another fun way to use the new Half & Half dies.
As I mentioned earlier, the Half & Half dies are very versatile since one end is open, allowing you to make strips however long you would like. Here, I have shown how I die-cut the strip once and it is still attached to the original cardstock block.
By flipping the die around and aligning it with your original side cuts, you can add a decorative edge to BOTH ends. This opens up all kinds of amazing design opportunities!
I decided to create some scores in mine to turn it into a dimensional banner. The focal pint was die-cut with Fillable Frames #8 and stamped with one of my favorite sentiments from Half & Half. I also added some flourished brackets in New Leaf ink.
The strip was stamped with Embellishments in Fresh Snow and I added a little sparkle to the sides of the label with rhinestones.
I love the dimension that this technique added to my project and am already dreaming about all the other things I can achieve!
Now that I've shown you a few of my creations using Half & Half, let me show you the amazing things the team has created with this set!
CLICK HERE to read more from Betsy Veldman.
CLICK HERE to read more from Danielle Flanders.
CLICK HERE to read more from Dawn McVey.
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 Melissa Phillips.
CLICK HERE to read more from Michelle Wooderson.
I hope you enjoyed all of the projects we shared with you today. All of these sets are just a BLAST to experiment with! You certainly won't get bored once these join the rest of your collection! What are your thoughts today's introductions? Do you have any project ideas in mind already? We would love to hear what you think! You could have a chance at winning this amazing prize package just for sharing your comments with us!
- Friendship Jar stamp set
- Friendship Jar Fillers stamp set
- Friendship Jar Summer Fillers stamp set
- Friendship Jar Spring Fillers stamp set
- Friendship Jar Fall Fillers stamp set
- Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers stamp set
- Jar & Lid die
- Jar Toppers die
- Jar Label die
- Jar Labels 2 die
- Pint Jar die
- Jar Ribbon die
- Little Labels stamp set
- Half & Half stamp set
- Half & Half die collection
You have until 7am, Thursday, July 14th to leave a comment and be eligible to win. Only one comment per person please. One randomly selected winner will be announced on our July 2011 Release Winners page no later than noon the same day. Thanks for stopping by today and best of luck with the contest!
Melissa Bickford is showcasing her new sets as well.
Maile Belles has a few more projects highlighting Background Basics: Vines.
HYDRANGEA NOTE CARD & ENVELOPE
- STAMPS: Friendship Jar Summer Fillers, Little Labels, Half & Half (available July 15th) Friendship Jar, Background Basics: Newsprint, Background Basics: Retro
- INK: VersaMark, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Ripe Avocado
- PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Fine Linen
- OTHER: Half & Half dies, Jar Labels 2 die, Edgers #3 die, Summer Sunrise & Ripe Avocado Copic Trios, T1 Copic marker, Filigree White Embossing Powder
- FINISHED SIZE: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
STRAWBERRY WISHES CARD
- STAMPS: Friendship Jar Summer Fillers, Half & Half (available July 15th) Friendship Jar, Delightful Doilies
- INK: Ripe Avocado, Black Noir Palette
- PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Vellum Cardstock
- OTHER: Half & Half dies, Jar & Lid die, Pure Poppy buttons, Pure Poppy Baker's Twine, Pure Poppy & Ripe Avocado Copic Trios, T1 Copic Marker
- FINISHED SIZE: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
JOY & HAPPINESS CARD
- STAMPS: Half & Half (available July 15th) Faux Ribbon, Embellishments
- INK: Fresh Snow, True Black, New Leaf
- PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Hawaiian Shores, New Leaf
- OTHER: Half & Half dies, Fillable Frames #8 die, rhinestones (KaiserCraft)
- FINISHED SIZE: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
