The day after…

As you all well know by now, I love getting up the morning of the 15th and perusing all of the Design Team's projects with a hot cup of tea.  I'm stopping in here at the ol' blog to share with you my very favorite projects and my thoughts on them.  I hope you enjoy all the hard work that they each put into this release and get inspired to pull out some stamps today and get inky!

Melissa Phillips created this amazing mini tag book for her sweet little girl.  I love the way she used little brown bags and envelopes to assemble the "bones" of the book and then embellished it thoroughly in true Melissa style.  Top Ten was the perfect finishing touch for the individual pages that pull out, declaring the love Melissa clearly has for her daughter.

Lisa Johnson wowed me with her unique take on the pea pod image from Baby Button Bits. She stamped the pea pod on Aqua Mist cardstock using New Leaf ink and then cleverly cut out the middle section of the image.  By adding a punched scalloped circle layer behind the pea pod, you are able to get a glimpse of the Spring Moss through the opening.  The little nook she created was the perfect resting place for these three little New Leaf Vintage Buttons.

Betsy Veldman used the new Through the Trees set in a completely different way than anyone else on the team.  she stamped the large leafed tree image twice, once on either side of her card front, stringing the two together with a hand-drawn clothesline.  The addition of a cute little onesie and lots of sparkly pink hearts changes what could be seen as a elegant, refined set into a cute, baby themed project.  I just love that about stamps!

Becky Oehlers used the adorable cupcake image from Baby Button Bits along with the new Background Basics: Petal Power to make a sweet little baby girl card.  I love how simple and clean everything is.  One of my favorite touches was the way she simply applied Prisma Glitter to the top of the cupcake to give it distinction from the neutral background, without having to add an overwhelming splash of color.

Dawn McVey used one of my favorite images in Daily Designs as focal points on her back to basics card.  The simple Kraft card base paired with the bold pops of color just make me smile!  The added buttons and twine add just enough without being two much since each one respectively matches the flower they are adhered to.  Gotta love how the sentiment color pops on the kraft cardstock too.  Yay for the new pigment ink!

Debbie Olson completely blew me away with this birthday card she created using Through the Trees.  It is so simple, yet so striking.  I loved the way she added the rolling hills using just a bit of stitching and Spring Moss cardstock.  I love how this tree pairs up with the Turning a New Leaf paper collection as well.  A match made in heaven!  One last point, note how she used two shades of green ink on the leaves, with the darker color applied to the center.  I think it gives the tree a much more realistic look, don't you?

Geny Cassady made some of the prettiest background paper I have ever seen with Turning a New Leaf.  The Ripe Avocado & Hibiscus Burst just pop from the kraft background.  TOTALLY need to make some of this today!!!!!  She used one of my favorite patterns from the new Background Basics: Petal Power to create the pattern on the top portion of the card.  It was stamped in Versamark ink on Ripe Avocado cardstock.  It's such a dense and bold pattern, I love it!

Niki Estes got scrappy and created this adorable page of her son getting camera happy.  I loved the color scheme, so "boy", kraft, Orange Zest, Spring Rain, Spring Moss.  The intermingled Star Prints images and Vintage Buttons help to break-up all of the straight lines & right angles.  The use of the Top Ten set on the "notebook" paper she created accented the entire layout perfectly.  LOVE IT!

Heather Nichols paired up Through the Trees & Background Basics: Petal Power to create this stunner.  I am head over heels in love with the way this floral pattern pops on the Ripe Avocado cardstock when stamped in white ink.  The inking she did around the edges of the background just really bring everything together and make it look so soft and elegant.

Kim Hughes used two of my favorite images from Daily Designs, this little chick and the stitched leaf tag.  The vibrant, citrusy color scheme Kim chose is just out of this world and happy!  The placement of her small flowers around the ribbon knot is such a nice way to embellish without using the standard bow that we always end up using.

Michelle Wooderson paired up the new Pretty Pastels background paper with Background Basics: Petal Power to create these super simple, super sweet notecards.  Look closely…it's just strips of paper and a small sentiment.  You could easily sit down one afternoon and create dozens of these to have on hand.  It is such a wonderful concept.

One last project I just had to share is this amazing take on Through the Trees that the talented Jessica Witty created.  I would never have thought to add all those multi-colored buttons to the top of that tree.  Just goes to show how each stamper can have a completely different thought process when working with a stamp image.  I am definitely looking forward to playing more with this concept in the future.   Can you envision glittered punched circles in this type of formation as well?

I hope you enjoyed all of these amazing projects and take the time to stop by each team member's blog to give them a shout out and a thank you.  They dedicate so much to release week so YOU, the customer, are enlightened with inspiration and stamp happiness!  Enjoy!