2013 Designers & Our Annual FREE Printables!

To kick off the day, let's start with a few more sneak peeks, shall we?

Ikat patterns can be found in all the latest fashion and decor trends.  Maile Belles has brought this popular pattern to life with one of her new stamp sets for this month.  She provides you with all the building blocks you need to create stunning, colorful patterns that will truly bring your projects to the next level.

A brand new alphabet stamp set and coordinating die collection will be joining the Papertrey line-up this month.  You can create endless letter stickers in whatever color you choose!  And the scale of these is perfect for adding custom sentiments to cards and personalized titles to scrapbook layouts.

We have a new $5 monthly series coming from Dawn McVey that you will definitely not want to miss out on!  Her collection of boutique style borders and frames along with sentiments with a vintage vibe will be just the thing you need to mix and match with your current stamp collection.  The coordinating dies will be a welcome addition too!

And now for some anniversary fun!

The first year Papertrey was in business, I was the only one designing product and we only released one or two stamp sets a month.  In our second year we began introducing product from other designers as well.  We selected designers who had a core Papertrey concept at heart, simplicity and versatility.  Yet they injected their creations with their own personality and flair to make them their own.  This is one of my personal favorite things about our company now and I am very proud to "reintroduce" the 2013 Papertrey Ink Designers…

You will be seeing new product introductions from all of these ladies throughout the year.  Their designs have already been selected and scheduled over the next twelve releases, and boy, to they have some AMAZING goodies up their sleeves this year!!!  Each of them has amazing illustrating talent and I am beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to continue working with all of them.

Dawn says, "I’m beyond excited about the upcoming year for my Raspberry Suite product line because some of the sets I have coming out in 2013 are very near and dear to my heart!  Some are sets that I can’t wait to stamp with myself, based upon my own personal stamping preferences and the type of images I like to stamp with — it’s going to be a fun year in the Raspberry Suite studio!! — and I’m excited about some of them based upon what inspired the sets to start out with.  One stamp set in particular was inspired by a gorgeous bedroom at the Biltmore mansion that I completely fell in love with when we were there on vacation last year!  And not only that, but I have such fond memories of that vacation, that I can’t wait to stamp with those stamps…..they’re very near and dear to my heart for sure.  I look forward to bringing you many new, versatile products in the coming year and I can’t wait to see what YOU will create with them!"

Dawn's signature style will definitely be coming into play with the designs she has scheduled to release this year.  She has really fine tuned her skills with her new sets coming, creating a lot of depth and detail that make her creations so easy to work with!  This year with the addition of a new $5 series, you will be seeing her participating in the countdown on a monthly basis!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Dawn McVey.

Erin says, "I really enjoy leaving little homemade goodies in my kids' rooms to surprise them in the mornings when they wake up. So some of my favorite things coming out this year are those that are inspired by them. Got little ones in your life too? I've got you covered. Can't wait to show you!" 

One of Erin's greatest abilities is to think of unique ways to use dies, and over the course of the coming year you will see that talent come into play!  You will also see lots of fun stuff geared towards kids, which really emphasizes Erin's role as a mother and what importance she places on making each of them feel special & loved.  Trust me, her 2013 designs will be among some of your favorites!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Erin Lincoln.

Heather says, "Being able to have the Pinefeather Press line at Papertrey Ink is truly a dream come true. I love seeing all of the creations pop up all over the internet and in magazines that have been made with products that I designed. I especially love when they are stamped and used in ways that I hadn't thought on my own. The Papertrey Ink design team consistently blows me away with what they come up with! When I am designing new stamps, I am making things that I personally want to stamp with – I figure if I want to stamp with it, you might want to as well! I am excited to share my new designs for this year! I think the Pinefeather Press line has a fresh and graphic look this year, but still with the simple rustic look that is my signature style."

You will be glad to know that Heather will be contributing another monthly series this year… something that is a bit of a different departure from the other series she has done in the past.  We look forward to revealing more about that later on in the week!  Another thing to look forward to from Heather, in addition to several amazing sets,  is a new little character that you just might love even more than Winter Penguin!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Heather Nichols.

Lexi says, "I'm excited to be back for another year, with a few fun "pieces of confetti" offerings. I love any and all holidays. That's when I tend to pull out my stamps and get crafty, so that's mostly where I've found my inspiration this year. Stay tuned! I can't wait to see what "confetti creations" you come up with, too!"

Lexi always inspires me with her clean & simple designs.  There is just something about them that makes you want to try several different techniques since they offer up such a clean palette to begin with.  I don't want to give too much away, but there is a beautiful holiday set specifically that Lexi has coming out later on this fall that I am already itching to use!  Just you wait and see what she has in store for you!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Lexi Daly.

Lizzie says, "When I sit down to draw, I'm often thinking about the people I love and what imagery I wish I had to make cards for them. I figure, if there's a gap in my collection there might be a need for others, too. If I can make the end result cute, all the better!"

One of the things that will make Lizzie stand out in 2013 are the sets she has created with the fellas in mind.  One of the most popular requests we get is for more images that will work well for the guys in our lives, and Lizzie has tackled that challenge head on.  She has wonderful illustration skills, and those shine through the products that you will be presented throughout the coming year!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Lizzie Jones.

Maile says, "I'm in love with some of the latest trends these days!  And as I was designing sets for this new year I couldn't get a few of them out of my mind.  I'm so excited to bring to you my take on things I'm currently loving.  For example, back in August I featured a few tips on watercoloring with stamps/heat embossing and called it Watercolor Wonder.  And that, I'm happy to say, played a huge influence on a set I'm happy to be bringing to you this very month.  I think this year stamp set style has vastly improved from the previous years and I can't wait to reveal it all!"

Maile has really captured the essence of several popular design trends with new stamp collections that you will not want to be without!  It is always amazing to see how to interprets something that we see every day in magazines or advertising and translates that into stamps that we can use to recreate the same look on paper.  Maile will have you embracing your artistic side when you use many of her latest designs!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Maile Belles.

Melissa says, "Since I started with Papertrey Ink I have always been drawn to designing clean & simple stamp sets with a touch of sweetness. I also love to design sets that can be mixed perfectly together giving you many stamping possibilites, as you've seen in my two previous series sets, Flower Fusion and Heart-2-Heart. This next year I will be bringing you more of the same simple & clean designs and I look forward to sharing it all with you!"

As announced yesterday, you will be glad to know that Melissa will be continuing a $5 monthly series again this year, because we all know how much you enjoy that from her!  In addition to her new series, Melissa also has some fabulous works of heart lined up for you in the coming year.  It has been amazing to watch Melissa's skills grow each year, and this year the most of all.  Her attention to detail and balance will really leave you inspired to create beautiful cards with a truly special style.

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Melissa Bickford.

Tiffany says, "I have been working professionally in the graphic design world for over seven years but my love for arts, crafts, and all things CREATIVE has been a life-long passion. I am currently on staff at my church in Ocala, Florida, where I create graphics for the Next Generation department. Hence, you will often see a bit of grungy youthfulness weaved into all my work for Papertrey. I am a wife and mama of two amazing children, and in those few moments of quiet, I often find myself keeping up to date on design trends via Pinterest. I love bold colors and meaningful sentiments that will mark your heart forever."

Tiffany is well-known for her grunge/shabby-chic style and she certainly will not disappoint you this year with the designs she has scheduled to be released.  I love how she can take a simple image and "grunge" it up to give it a whole new life.  It makes it easy to give a project personality when you have images like that to work with!  Tiffany is a great asset to our team of designers and I know I am excited to work with her latest designs!

CLICK HERE to see a special anniversary project from Tiffany Pastor.

As an extra special treat for you today, each of the designers above has prepared a special printable image that evokes their signature style.  If you click through to each of their individual blogs through the links above, you can see a special project that uses the image they designed!  A few of the design team members designed some projects using the freebies as well and you can check those out here:

CLICK HERE to see more from Ashley Cannon Newell.

CLICK HERE to see more from Melissa Phillips.

All of their images have been assembled on a single sheet, easy to print right from the comfort of your home computer so you can create some amazing projects too!  And I can't forget to mention that it's FREE!

CLICK HERE to Download Papertrey Freebies

Now it's your turn!  Download the printable freebie provided above and create a project using one of the fun new images included on it!  If you are feeling especially inspired, you can use additional images on extra projects to increase your chances of winning!

1. Create a new project that uses one of the images included on the FREE printable provided above.

2. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product.

3. Upload a photo of your project to your blog, online gallery or any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

4. Add the direct link to your project on our InLinkz list below.

5. You may create as many projects as you like for the challenge, but each project should have a separate link.

6.  And/or you can leave a comment here to be eligible to win.  Leave a "thank you" for the amazing designers and all of the incredible product they have designed just for you this past year!  Only one comment per person please. (Just click the small "comments" link in blue beside the date in the footer of this post.  If you are reading this as an email subscription, be sure to click through to the actual blog to leave an eligible comment)

7. You have until 7am EST, Thursday, February 7th to add your project link or comment and qualify for the contest.

8. SIX randomly selected winners will be announced on our February Release Winners page no later than noon EST, February 7th.

SIX randomly selected winners will each receive a personalized stamp set that includes a return address stamp along with a custom "handmade by" stamp to use on the back of your cards and other crafty creations.

I developed these designs exclusively for today's prize package and this is not something that will be made available for sale!  The stamps will be customized with the name and address of your choice!  A true luxury for any stamper to give their envelopes & card backs a sophisticated finish!  Best of luck to each and every one of you with the contest!