curio cover

Welcome to our second day of product introductions and projects for our new Capturing Summer collection! All of the new products we’re showcasing will be available to purchase in the shop beginning at 10am EDT on Wednesday, July 14 – that’s tomorrow!

If you’d like to see all of the new Capturing Summer products up close, Laurie will be hosting an Instagram Live presentation of all of the new products today – Tuesday, July 13 at 11:00am CDT, so tune in if you’d like to check it out!

Let’s get to today’s product introductions for our Capturing Summer collection…

Container Garden stamp set + die

The Container Garden set features a garden of summery blooms, sized perfectly to fit inside the Jumbo Jar die we revealed yesterday. There is even a layer of potting soil and a couple of sweet bumble bees to add to your designs!

Click HERE for stamp set details ($18)
Click HERE for die details ($20)

BotaniCuts Geranium die + Pretty Pot die

Geraniums are a summer favorite here with their vibrant blooms and zesty sent! Create your own paper version using our BotaniCuts Geranium die. The Pretty Pot die is the perfect size for potting them up!

Click HERE for BotaniCuts Geranium details ($24)
Click HERE for Pretty Pot details ($6)

Curio: Summer Findings die

Our new Curio collection is filled with all sorts of curiosities! The Summer Findings die features treasures you might find while out on a summer nature walk, including butterflies, a bee, dragonfly, shells, and assorted greens.

Click HERE for Curio: Summer Findings die info ($20)

Curio: Divider & Details die , Curio: Cover die + Curio: Labels stamp set

“Display” all of your found curiosities using the Divider & Details and Cover die to create designs reminiscent of vintage curiosity boxes. You’ll have fun creating little collages inside each of the spaces in the Divider die. The Curio: Labels stamp set is filled with words and phrases that fit on the small label dies found in the Divider & Details set. The Curio: Cover die creates a mitered woodgrain frame. along with decorative hinges and latch. Use them as simply decorative items, or get creative with interactive ideas.

Click HERE for Curio: Divider & Details die info ($26)
Click HERE for Curio Cover die info ($15)
Click HERE for Curio: Labels stamp set info ($7)

I’m excited to show you several projects with these new products. It brought me so much joy to create these!

First up are a few projects using our new Curio collection. These delicate and detailed insects are one of my favorite products to date. Here I created a card front using the new Curio: Divider and Curio: Cover dies, and filled in all of those little compartments with the elements from the Summer Findings die. I diecut the divider portion three times from kraft cardstock and stacked them up for extra depth. Then I just added the Cover strips around the outer edge of the Divider – the mitered frame pieces are sized just right to fit around the outer edges of the Divider.

[imagelinks id=”309″]

The Divider & Details die includes some tiny paper clip dies…yes, paper paperclips. lol! I cut them from gold metallic cardstock for a realistic touch. I loved layering up the little labels (cut with the Divider & Details die) and all of the other elements. To color the insects and shells, I used my favorite coloring method – sponging with Oxide Inks, and then adding more shading and details with colored pencils and a white pen. It’s so fun to diecut and color a whole pile of these beautiful bugs in allll the colors of the rainbow!

My next card again uses the Curio products, but this time I simplified things a bit and omitted the Cover die and hinges. I simply cut the Divider from white cardstock and layered it over my card base, which was inked with some Vintage Linen Oxide ink.

[imagelinks id=”310″]

I went with a beachy theme this time and used mainly the shells and greenery sprigs, inked up in colors that remind me of pretty ocean plants. I used the bottle from the Divider & Details set to create the tiniest shaker bottle filled with sand and a sprig of coral. There’s even a cork for the tiny bottle!

For this next Curio card, I wanted to play with creating something interactive. I used the Cover die around a sheet of acetate to create a card front that looks like the top of a box.

[imagelinks id=”311″]

The inside of the card also has a surprise interactive element. I took the cut-out from the largest space in the Divider die and nested it back inside its opening. I secured it with a hinge from the Cover die, and created a tiny “pull” using the latch from that set, folded around the bottom edge. This little door opens up to reveal a happy birthday sentiment. In this photo, you can also get a glimpse of how I attached the cover/front of my card to the base. I used a panel of cardstock that was just a bit taller than my cover panel, scored to create a lip that I could attach the front panel to – just enough of a lip that it hides under the front frame.

The inside of the card was embellished with the Curio: Divider and lots of elements from the Summer Findings die, along with a few other items – a couple of blooms cut with our new BotaniCuts Geranium, a leaf from BotaniCuts Rose, and a couple of tiny blooms from BotaniCuts Wildflower. Our Pretty Postmarks set seemed like the perfect set for adding a few stamped details as well.

Next I have a few cards using our new BotaniCuts Geranium die. I love how realistic this die looks when it’s all colored up! The petal cut-outs built into the die make it realistic (and easy to assemble). For this first card, I paired it with our new Pretty Pot die. There’s something about cobalt blue and bright geraniums that screams summer to me, so I inked up my pot with Blueprint Sketch Oxide ink and added some white paint splatters.

[imagelinks id=”312″]

The Geranium blooms were sponged with Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick, and Aged Mahogany inks, then shaded with colored pencils. I used a white pen to add a dot to the center of each flower. The leaves were sponged with shades of green, then I used colored pencils again to add more detail. For the background, I did some loose watercoloring on a panel of watercolor paper, then added some wood planks – you could use our Shiplap Die, or these were actually done using our new Sitting Pretty porch die – I just trimmed off the porch portion, which left me with the perfect planks for placing under my pot. The icing on the cake? I few dropped geranium petals…you know you can’t have geraniums without a few shedding petals! 🙂

This next geranium card has a much softer look. I diecut the geraniums from white cardstock and just added some soft pink shading with a colored pencil. Instead of placing them in a pot, I clustered them in thee bottom corner of my card, along with some bits and pieces from our new A Side of Greens die, introduced yesterday.

[imagelinks id=”313″]

Let’s talk about the background! I used the new A Side of Greens die and diecut it twice from a panel of white cardstock (once from the upper left corner, and once from the lower right corner). I kept the resulting negative piece (including the center) and adhered it to a panel of soft gray cardstock (with some foam tape for dimension). I finished the design with a sentiment from our Opposites Attract set and a dragonfly using our new Curio: Summer Findings die. I cut the wings from vellum for an airy look.

Our last featured product for the release is the fun Container Garden set. I had so much fun with this set! So many possibilities. For this first duo of cards, I paired the set with our Jumbo Jar die that it was designed to coordinate with. I created some fun jar-shaped cards with acetate “peek-a-boo” fronts.

[imagelinks id=”314″]

I used the Jumbo Jar die to create the shaped card base (fold a piece of cardstock and position the top of the jar die just above the fold line so it doesn’t cut through the fold, creating a shaped base). I used the interior die from the Jumbo Jar set to cut a window from the front of this shaped base. I also cut two jars from acetate. I stamped up my Container Garden flowers and dirt layer onto their matching diecuts, then sandwiched them between the two layers of acetate, securing with adhesive around the edges. I adhered this to the inside of my shaped card base so the flowers show through the window cut-out. If you want a nicely finished interior, you can cut a second jar + window to adhere to the inside of the card and cover the edges of the acetate layer.

I finished them with a sentiment stamped inside, and a couple of cute bees added to the front with foam tape. Such fun and happy cards!

The Container Garden set has lots of possibilities beyond pairing with our Jumbo Jar. It’s also great paired with our Market Baskets die!

[imagelinks id=”315″]

Here I created a jute-lined basket by cutting the liner layer from burlap, and the wire portion from black cardstock. The Container Garden set looks just right planted in the basket. For the background, I used the rays from our Shining Light die introduced yesterday, cut twice from a Crimped Slimline panel. It’s just a fun touch to the background!

While I had lots of bits and pieces lying on my desk, I noticed that putting two of the Container Garden clusters end-to-end filled a slimline card just beautifully!

[imagelinks id=”316″]

I popped a couple of them up with foam onto a Crimped Slimline base, and topped it off with an Opposites Attract sentiment and a pretty dragonfly using our new Curio: Summer Findings die. Nice and easy, but oh so colorful!

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 prize! We’ll be giving away TWO $50 gift cards for today’s blog hop.

Read on for details…

• Comment here on the blog for one entry (one comment per person).
• Comment on our Inspiration Team Members’ blogs for more entries (linked below – one comment per person, per blog)
• Comments close TONIGHT (Tuesday) at 11:59pm EDT on July 13
• Winners will be posted at 7am EDT on Wednesday, July 14, here on the blog

The inspiration team has been busy creating with these new stamps and dies! Hop along to see what they’ve been up to (click HERE if viewing via email)