January Honorable Mentions

Hello, everyone!  Happy Friday!  Things have been super, super, SUPER busy here behind the scenes at Papertrey Ink as we prepare for our THIRD anniversary festivities!  I know, can you believe it?!?!?  Three years of monthly releases.  That would be thirty-six total!  And we are looking forward to many, many more!  All of the BIG festivities begin on Monday, February 1st, so I hope you will stop in often to see the announcements, the prizes and the fun all the way through the 15th!

Now onto this month's Guest Star Stamper contest!  All of the entries were amazing, as usual, which made picking a winner so difficult!  I have highlighted them today along with a few other favorites that I thought couldn't go without mention.  Without further ado…

Barbara Anders created this super simple valentine card that really uses quite an untraditional color palette.  I love the Kraft, Pure Poppy and Black together.  I also like how simple she kept the project, yet it still maintains a feeling of sophistication & style.  Note the "rule of threes" that Barbara kept in mind, with the three flowers (from Blooming Button Bits) balanced out with the three brads in the corner.  The gingham ribbon she uses is so unusual as well.  I was trying to think about where I could get my hands on some and then it occurred to me that I could easily color our True Black Gingham Ribbon with a Copic marker to achieve the same look!

Taheerah used an unconventional stamp choice for a Valentine project, Beyond Basic Borders.  She transformed the tree image into something all new with hearts of various sizes.  I also love her color combo of Smokey Shadow, Black & Pure Poppy!  

Laurel Seabrook recycled one of the boxes that package our stamps into a special treat for her daughters, while also incorporating Trendy Tubes and Tiny Treats: Valentine.  I love how the candy chosen complements her color scheme and how she kept it simple to replicate.  Think of the other holidays you could do this for in appropriately themed colors?  Even school or team colors!

Barbara DeBose had her children help her create these adorable pencil valentines using Tiny Treats.  With so many elements that kids can participate in during construction, it's a great way to bring everyone together!

Anya made this stunning project using the new Say It With Style set.  I love how she cut out the leaf from Turning a New Leaf and allowed it to curve around the sentiment to make it more fluid.  With a touch of trendy woodgrain and some pleated Ripe Avocado Satin Ribbon, this project is something that I find especially inspiring and look forward to replicating in my own studio!

Barbara Anders used one of my favorite color combos, Ocean Tides & Ripe Avocado, for her Say It With Style project.  I love, LOVE, love the way she folded a strip of ribbon under her floral embellishment.  I think that is such a nice way to add texture without going overboard.  It also replaces the need for leaves. 

Barbara DeBose paired Everyday Button Bits and Say It With Style to make this adorable cherry themed card.  I love she was able to turn the sentiment into something fun & whimsical just by mixing it up with a pastel color scheme and light-hearted images & patterns.

Amy Wanford kept it super clean & simple with her Hello Card.  Not everyone may notice this, but Amy's concept revolutionized the way I look at my background sets!  Amy used Polka Dot Basics II for the different elements of pattern that are incorporated into the three pops of color that make up the focal point of the card.   Just think, you can take ANY of your Papertrey background sets and create the same thing in hundreds of different color schemes.  This would be amazing with Background Basics: Petal Power and so many others.  And talk about quick and easy!

Kelly B. used Bird Watching in a fun & modern way that I just loved.  By creating blocks of color in the background using patterned papers from Bitty Box Basics and echoing those colors with the birds, she was able to create an amazing, cohesive project.  You could use the same concept with floral images and anything else you might want to repeat in multiples.

Melissa Ladd used the balloon string image from Everyday Button Bits with a color combination that I thought was just out of this world.  So fun & cheerful!  I also loved the way she incorporated more than three buttons to represent balloons.  I had always used three since there are three strings, but Melissa added others and it looks really unique!

Paper In Bloom used the golden oldie, Friends 'Til the End as the basis for her project.  I loved the contrast of the "rustic" torn edge of the text block compared to the clean crisp look of the images.  Such a nice feast for the eyes!

Julie Masse made this fun Valentine ensemble using our Do Me a Favor box.  Featuring images from Tiny Treats: Valentine, everything works together hand in hand beautifully.  The bitty heart accents created with Background Basics: Hearts is such a nice touch as well.  I love how easy and "doable" this is, something you could totally mass produce for teachers, friends or family.  Some cute little chocolates tucked inside would be such a sweet surprise for the recipient.

Vanessa Menhorn decorated the Around Town Tote with shapes from Be My Valentine In Shape Collection by Kim Hughes.  I loved the colors she chose along with the simple ribbon border with just a little button trio as an accent.  So well balanced and just perfect!

RESmith used Blooming Button Bits to decorate a Do Me a Favor box as well.  I love how the floral arrangement appears to be crowing from the bottom and then explodes up onto the flap of the box.  Such an organic, fun look.

Melanie used the Home Made template & stamp set to create a special Valentine House!  Decorated with hearts along with traditional colors of love, this would certainly make a unique piece of deco to set out in celebration of the upcoming holiday!

I hope you have now become as inspired as I have!  We would love to see your entries for this month's Guest Star Stamper Contest.  The current categories are actually going to be the very last for this contest!  We have some new and exciting contests & challenges being introduced next year which will be replacing Guest Star Stamper.  So here's your last chance to enter!  We would love to see what you create!  Check out all the details HERE.  

Have a great weekend!