The day after…

Here we are, another release come and gone!  It's hard to believe that 2010 is right around the corner! 

I hope you enjoyed the past weeks festivities as much as I did.  It was so fun to put Christmas colors aside and work on projects that were bright, pink & girly!  As I've mentioned before, one of the first things I love to do after a new release is take a peek into the design team gallery!  It is always *so* fun to see what they have created with the stamps, especially with my very own sets because they always seem to come up with amazing ideas that I had never even considered when designing the images!  As new tradition holds, I thought I would share a few of my very favorite projects with you today.  Just to keep you inspired!

Debbie Olson used several different pattern strips from Simple Valentine to create the background for this stunning card.  I love how she was able to achieve a perfect balance by having a very simple focal point paired with a busy background.  And who could not love that little touch of glitter?

Geny Cassady used several bits of the new Simple Valentine paper to create small squares to adorn the cover of her card.  I love how she added random buttons to the squares to help break up all the straight lines.  Also, the clever use of the sentiments from the coordinating Simple Valentine stamp set as a border around the focal point was genius.  Adding the small hearts between each word just made it that much better.

 

Heather Nichols created this fun & cheery card with Blooming Button Bits & Polka Dot Basics II.  I love how she grounded the flower stems with the white border-punched cardstock and then utilized that as the perfect resting place for the sentiment.  The little button at the end of the ribbon tab was such a nice touch as well!

 
Becky Oehlers went in a really nontraditional direction with her Simple Valentine color scheme, going with a turquoise glitter along with white and black accents.  I love how she only stamped the pattern on the lower portion of the center block and divided the two halves with her black satin ribbon.  I cannot get over how perfect her glittering is either!  🙂

Melissa Phillips totally went vintage with Say It With Style and I love the outcome.  the color scheme of Scarlet Jewel & True Black is totally to die for as well!  I always love the little touches and details she adds to her projects and am sure to take studious notes so I can attempt to recreate them later on!

Kim Hughes turned some predictable images from Blooming Button Bits and turned them into something I hadn't planned on when I originally designed the set.  She used flower pot upside down to make it look more like the upper portion of a vase.  Then she excluded a single stem from the stem trio and made it appear to be coming out of the vase.  Pair that with a single bloom added to the top and you have a delightful combination!  I also love how she curved the sentiment stamp to create a unique banner!

Lisa Johnson showcased Blooming Button Bits as well.  I am TOTALLY in love with the way she stamped the flower trio onto a circle of cardstock and then added the leaves underneath that.  Talk about a time saver!  By utilizing the circle rather than individually hand-cut blooms, you are still able to gain that gorgeous layered look but in a quarter of the time!

Niki Estes did lots of fun layering with the Simple Valentine papers along with Say It With Style.  I love the black stitching accents she added in between the strips.  They really make a bold statement (and why don't I ever think to use anything other than white thread in my machine? lol!)

Michelle Wooderson paired up last year's Heart Prints with Say It With Style.  She also used several bits and pieces from the Simple Valentine paper pad.  I love how she threw in a few borders from Borders & Corners Hearts as well.  The layering and colors are just so pretty and feminine!

Betsy Veldman used one of the flourishes from Vintage Labels in conjunction to Say It With Style.  I think their styles go together effortlessly and I look forward to trying the combo out myself.  One detail that I instantly took note of was the way she layered a single strip of the bitty heart pattern from Background Basics: Hearts underneath the "Smooches".  It adds just a touch of color and definition to the word without having to do any actual paper layering.  LOVE that!!!  Nice and clean & simple!!!

Many of you may have already seen these from the Tiny Treats: Valentine group post we did a few days ago, but I thought it would be worth highlighting them again, just because they were THAT good!

Lisa Johnson's Friends Forever card literally made me gasp out loud.  Oh, my goodness!  Could you just die over how cute that little cat and dog are together?

And of course there was Becky Oehlers' clean & simple notecard sets, complete with the punny sentiment on the flap of the envelope.  Totally will be recreating this for gifts at some point!

 

And last but not least is Dawn McVey's sweet little baby boy card.  I totally had a lightbulb moment when I saw those images in neat little borders like this.  Wouldn't they look so cute stamped on ribbon to tie a matching gift with?

I hope you enjoyed this little summary of the design team's best work from this month.  They are all so incredibly talented and willing to share thier craft with others!  If you haven't done so recently, be sure to stop by thier blogs today and leave them a little note of appreciation!  It will totally make thier day after all the work they put into this month's release admist all the holiday hustle & bustle!