budding beauties spring

Welcome to the final day of reveals and projects for our Fresh Air collection! I hope you’ve been enjoying all of the fun and projects. Aren’t our Inspiration Team members amazing? I just love seeing what they create – opening all of those emails with their project photos is one of my favorite things!

The new products being showcased today will be available to purchase in the THE SHOP beginning at 10am EDT on Friday, March 27, with the exception of some of the dies, as noted below (due to some issues with our die manufacturer including a move and some COVID-19 related issues, we are hoping to have these dies sometime in early April).

Before we get to the product introductions, just a heads up that Laurie will be hosting an Instagram Live presentation of all of the new products on Thursday morning – (that’s TODAY for those of you like me that are having a hard time keeping track of days in this weird new world of ours!) March 26, at 11:00am CDT, so tune in if you’d like to check it out!

Now let’s meet today’s new products…

Fresh Air stamp set + Fresh Air die (**COMING SOON**)

Open up the windows and let in the Fresh Air! This pretty stamp set is filled with lovely details, including a billowing curtain, a potted geranium, and two-step brick details. Have fun building scenes with these fun elements, and then finish it off with one of the sentiments from the set – perfect for letting someone know you’re thinking of them!
**Please NOTE: The Fresh Air die is delayed due to issues with our manufacturer, including a facility move and COVID-19 issues. We are hoping to have it in stock in early April.

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This set comes on a 6″ x 8″ sheet and includes a full-color printed stamping guide.
Made in the USA
Sentiments included in the set:
Take Care
You’re on my mind
Sending Sunshine
Hello there
Approximate sizes:
window – 2.3″ x 2.8″
curtain – 1″ x 3″
vine – 2.8″ x 1.25″
flower pot – 1″ x 1″
brick cluster 1 – 2.3″ x 2″
brick cluster 2 – 1.75″ x 1.4″
Fresh Air stamp set price – $24
Fresh Air die price **COMING SOON* – $22

**COMING SOON** – Fresh Air Window Frame die

**Please NOTE: This die is delayed due to issues with our manufacturer, including a facility move and COVID-19 issues. We are hoping to have it in stock in early April.

This die is designed to coordinate with the Fresh Air stamp set, or it can be used on its own for various scene-building applications! The simple arch shape coordinates with the inside of the window opening from the Fresh Air stamp set, allowing you to cut just the inside of the window to create openings on your card fronts and more.

Set of 2 dies
Made in the USA
window opening – 1″ x 2.4″
window grids – .6″ x 2.5 each
Die price **COMING SOON** – $8

Brick Layer die

This handy little die is just right for adding a bit of texture to your next project! This die is designed to make use of the negative portion of the die, allowing you to cut a brick texture from card fronts, backgrounds, and more. 

Set of 2 dies
Made in the USA
Approximate sizes:
brick cluster 1 – 1.6″ x 1.3″
brick cluster 2 – 2.15″ x 2″
Price: $8

Budding Beauties Spring stamp set + die

The Budding Beauties Spring set is designed to coordinate perfectly with the Bottled Up stamp set. Fill the bottles with these pretty spring blooms, which include tulips, baby’s breath, and cherry blossoms. Use them individually, or cluster a few different stems together with the Fit to Be Tied dies to created pretty bouquets. There are also a handful of tiny sentiments to stamp on the label found in the Bottled Up set. Use these pretty stems with or without the bottles as focal points and more on your next projects

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This set comes on a 4″ x 8″ sheet and includes a full-color printed stamping guide.
Made in the USA
Sentiments included in the set:
wedding day
wishes
congratulations
happy spring
for you
easter blessings
to you
Approximate sizes:
tulips – 2″ x 3.35″
baby’s breath – 1.75″ x 3.25″
cherry blossoms – 1.6″ x 3.9″
Budding Beauties stamp set price – $18
Budding Beauties die price – $19

To aid in your list-making and planning, below you will find the prices for today’s products in one spot.

• Fresh Air stamp set – $24
• Fresh Air die **COMING SOON** – $22
• Fresh Air Window Frame die **COMING SOON** – $8
• Brick Layer die – $8
• Budding Beauties Spring stamp set – $18
• Budding Beauties Spring die – $19

I got so much joy from creating these projects to share with you today! I think the two sets being shown today are some of my all-time favorites. Let’s get to it.

My first card uses the new Budding Beauties Spring paired with Bottled Up. I just loved pulling these bottles out again and stamping them in all kinds of springy colors.

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I filled a couple of the bottles with the tulips and cherry blossoms from the Budding Beauties set, and also placed a tulip cluster at the base of the bottles. I was inspired by Norine’s use of the Cozy Cup Coaster die in her TGIF post a few weeks back, and tucked one here in a similar fashion. The background was done with our new Painterly Stripes Background stamp – I just love that diagonal plaid pattern. So simple, and it goes with everything!

I spent a whole afternoon stamping the tulips, baby’s breath and cherry blossoms from the Budding Beauties set, which made putting projects together so quick and fun! Here I just took two of the tulip stems and gathered them up with a Fit to be Tied bow for an easy birthday card.

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The background here was one that I created for a different project and just wasn’t happy with how it turned out, but it worked perfectly with this card! Don’t you love that? I heat embossed our new Fresh Floral Background stamp onto watercolor paper using clear embossing powder, then watercolored over it. My original intent was to use this panel as more of a focal point of the project I was working on, but the texture in the watercolor paper didn’t give me great results with my embossing powder. So I tossed it aside, but layering a Crimped Frame panel over the top worked out perfectly and gives this card an artsy look.

My next card uses the baby’s breath image from the Budding Beauties Spring set. I was so excited to try embossing this image with white embossing powder. I love how that turned out!

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I started by watercoloring a panel of watercolor paper with shades of blue. Then I stamped the baby’s breath stem three times using dark green ink. I then stamped the bloom portion of the baby’s breath with Versamark and heat embossed it with white powder. I layered the Just Mason Around jar over the top, stamped with Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch inks. I finished it off with a sentiment tag done with the Sentiment Suite Basics die and Sentiment Suite: Birthday stamp set.

My next few projects use the new Fresh Air stamp set. I love how this set turned out so much! I have so many more ideas for this set…I need to find more time! 🙂 What ideas can you think of for things to put in or around that window?

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To create the texture in the background, I used our new Brick Layer die. Oh man. I’ve always had a thing for brick images and textures and I just want to use this die on everything. 🙂 I dieuct both of the brick clusters from the die set from a panel of watercolor paper, then added some soft blue-gray around them. Before adhering it to my card base, I sponged my card base with some rusty orange ink to let the color show through the brick cut-outs. Once my panel was layered over the top, I also added some shading with a colored pencil to give even more depth the the image. The rest of the elements on the card are from the Fresh Air stamp set – the vine, the curtain, the shutters, and the potted plant. I layered just one half of the Fresh Air Window Frame die over the left side of the window, and attached it only on the hinged side so I could let it hang open a bit.

My last card was soft and delicate, but this next one is just bursting with sunshine! Here I pulled out that cute flower bouquet from the Top Down Day set that was introduced a few days ago, and filled up the “window box” as well as a pot.

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The pot I used here is from the Macra-Made for You die collection, which is a great size for the flower bouquet from Top Down Day. I stamped the shutters in a sunshine-y yellow, and the two-step bricks from the Fresh Air set were stamped in shades of mint green. I also included the potted geranium from the Fresh Air set. So fun and cheery – I want to go visit this house, don’t you?

My next card combines elements from the Fresh Air stamp set with the Print Shop: Fresh Floral background. I had this pretty background lying around, and I just couldn’t let it go to waste.

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For this card, I created a peek-a-boo window in the front of my card by using the simple arch from the Fresh Air Window Frame die. This arch matches up with the inside of the Fresh Air window, which makes it perfect for creating windows…well…in your windows! 🙂 I tucked the vine-y flower cluster from the Print Shop: Fresh Floral set at the top of the window cut-out, and a potted geranium from the Fresh Air set is perched on the windowsill. I stamped the “take care” sentiment from the Fresh Air set on the inside of the card so that it shows through the window cut-out.

When designing today’s products, I decided to pull the arch cut-out and frame die out of the main Fresh Air die set and make it its own stand-alone die because I think it has so much potential all on its own. I used it here to create this card, combined with the cherry blossoms from Budding Beauties Spring.

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I started with a panel of watercolor paper, and diecut the arch cut-out twice, as well as the brick clusters from the Brick Layer die. I then added color to the brick areas using shades of gold and rust watercolor. I layered the window frame diecuts over the top, as well as two cherry blossom branches. I backed this panel with a second panel of watercolor paper, which was watercolored with shades of blue to show through the window cut-outs. I finished if off by stamping the “you’re on my mind” sentiment from the Fresh Air set.

That wraps up my projects for today – I hope they brought you some sunshine and inspiration! Now that you’ve gotten to meet all of today’s new products and see them in action, you can “greet” them for a chance to win a $50 gift card! Read on for details…

• Comment here on the blog for one entry (one comment per person). What caught your eye today, and gets you excited to get creating?
• Comment on our Inspiration Team Members’ blogs for more entries (one comment per person, per blog)
• Comments close at Midnight EDT on Thursday night, March 26
• Winners will be posted at 7am EDT on Friday, March 27 here on the blog

You are in for such a treat! It’s time to see what our amazing Inspiration Team has to share with you today!

(click on the images to visit the Inspiration Team blogs, or click HERE if viewing this post via email)

Thank you so much for visiting today!

All of the new products we’ve showcased today will go up in the shop on Friday morning (that’s TOMORROW!) March 27, at 10am EST, with the exception of those dies noted as DELAYED within this week’s posts. Just a little housekeeping note about the new products. They’re already loaded into the shop, but the stock has not been added. SO, if you see an “out of stock” notification, no worries – we’re just getting the store ready, and the stock will be added Friday morning at 10am EST, with the exception of the delayed dies – those will continue to say “out of stock” until we get our shipment in.