Celebrating the Past, Present and Future: 2007

I thought it would be fun to "set the stage" with each of the posts in this blog series with a few fun facts about the year we are traveling back to. 

Billboard's #1 song for 2007 was Beyonce's "Irreplaceable".

The Final Harry Potter book is published Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Apple Computer Company announces the release of the very first iPhone during January of 2007. Apple’s first iPhone was exclusively available through AT&T at first and thousands of people lined up outside of stores in anticipation of its release later that year. It was originally sold for $599.00 and within less than 3 months of its release, more than 1 million units were sold. 

And Helen Mirren received Best Actress Leading Role for her part in The Queen!

Our first year is business was obviously an exciting milestone full of many first. February marked the very first "countdown" on my blog, which at the time was a unique way to showcase projects leading up to the official release of new product. Our business model was unique, with a decision to release one stamp set a month. February through June of 2007 we did just that, with a little experiment snuck in for an extra release on April 1st.

At the time I was also one of the only product designers, just learning the graphic design programs to make it happen. November marked the start of a few other product designers joining the ranks, including Melissa Bickford and Candice Agulair.

Our most popular product for that year was Holiday Treats, which featured a collection of stamps sized to fit the address labels everyone was wrapping around Hershey's Nuggets and tucking inside of windowed nugget tins.

Looking back through our offerings that year, I am proud to say that many of the designs are just as useful now as they were then. Living up to the test of time and our motto: simple style and endless possibilities. Let's see if you agree! Here are a few favorites that the designers have decided to revisit.

Beautiful Blooms is a fabulous 27-piece set is full of limitless layering & building possibilities. Featuring several different shapes of flowers, each having coordinating solid & outline images. Fun polka-dot & gingham centers can be used with several different blooms. A trendy font was used for the six sentiments in the set, with a space left to dot the i's with a special miniature floral image. These are flower basics that you will return to over and over!

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Dawn McVey.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Taylor VanBruggen.

Stephanie says, “I completely adore all of the outline and dotted accents Beautiful Blooms offers. Those seemingly small additions create such a whimsical vibe on a floral set. :)”

CLICK HERE to see more from Stephanie Gold.

Green Thumb contains all the basics for spring in a fun 2-step format. Various sizes of flower images along with stems in four heights make it easy to become a floral designer. You’ll be creating your own custom arrangements in no time! The signature polka-dot boot has separate toe and “loop” stamps to give you the ability to add a second color with ease. Give your projects the perfect finishing touch with one of the seven fun sentiments included in the set.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Erin Lincoln.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from customer, Kelly S. (Gingham Girl)

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from customer, Kim Singdahlsen.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

Heather says, “I think for many stampers floral sets are a favorite. For me, if you add in a few gardening elements then it moves that set up on the list of favorites – and that is exactly what the Green Thumb set is!”

CLICK HERE to see more from Heather Nichols.

Out to Sea is a beautifully illustrated nautical themed set is the perfect collection of images for ocean-lovers and those that are constantly in search of unique masculine themed images. The carefully chosen sentiments pair wonderfully with the images, making this a set that can be used time and again for many different occasions.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Betsy Veldman.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Dawn McVey.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Debbie Olson.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Maile Belles.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

Wanda says, “This set is special to me because I love everything relating to the ocean. Nautical motifs are one of my favorite crafting themes because of the ocean and because of my faith. My husband and I were married right on the ocean and I have such fond memories.”

CLICK HERE to see more from Wanda Guess.

You will love the layering possibilities with Spiral Bouquet, a unique floral set. Use the linear also use the shadow stamps individually, allowing for a total of three different images alone or in conjunction with the coordinating shadow stamps. You can looks with just one set! There are also several different spirals and garnishes that can be added to either the flowers or leaves, making customization a snap. To finish your beautiful creations, there are six sentiment combinations created in a complementary script. Featuring a total of 26 images, you will find limitless possibilities and stamping fun with this all-inclusive set!

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Betsy Veldman.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from customer, Helen F.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from customer, Kate W.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from customer, KCrawford.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Dawn McVey.

Dawn says, “I was so looking forward to pulling Spiral Bouquet out and playing with it again.  The flowers are so unique and when this set came out the first time, there were a lot of techniques I'd never explored that can totally be applied to this set today!  I hope you'll pop over to see how I gave it a watercolor twist!”

CLICK HERE to see more from Dawn McVey.

Text Boxed is a fun take on reverse images. Each “box” element includes 2 or three coordinating images that can be layered within the “boxed” image or utilized to make patterned paper. A separate frame stamp can be added to outline any of the boxed images. The words were designed to fit at the bottom of the boxes, but have such a simple style they could be utilized for a multitude of projects. This set includes a total of 31 images.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Betsy Veldman.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Debbie Olson.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Lexi Daly.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from Lizzie Jones.

CLICK HERE to see more of this project from me.

Laurie says, “To me, Text Boxed is as classic Papertrey Ink as you can get!  I still remember the month it was released, and how impressed I was with the incredible versatility of it.  Little has changed today!  Reverse images are always in style, and the clean and classy fonts make this a set that will never go out of style!”

CLICK HERE to see more from Laurie Schmidlin.

Now it's time for the future of these sets, which is all up to YOU!

-Do you already own any of the five sets that were highlighted today? Time to dust it off and make an all new project using it!

-Don't own any of today's showcased sets? Draw inspiration from any of the projects highlighted in todays' post and adapt a Papertrey set that you already own.

-Share your new project with us in the Inlinkz list below and you will have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate! Only one project entry per person please.

–For an alternate/additional way to win, leave us a comment letting us know what your favorite 2007 Papertrey stamp set is and why. It can be one of the sets shown today, or you can check out the "Stamps by Release" section of our store HERE. We will randomly select a winner from the comments for an additional $25 gift certificate. 

-You have until 7am ET, February 21st to add your project and/or comment. Winners will be selected that morning and posted on a special "Celebrating the Past, Present & Future: Winners" post the next morning, 7am ET, February 22nd. We can't wait to see your projects!