Jan 06, 2020
January Release – Day 1
Hey, crafty friends! It’s Taylor here today! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you were able to spend a relaxing holiday and ring in a whole new decade with family and friends! As you may have realized, we skipped our usual December release of Valentine goodies in place of a January Release instead. Quite honestly, I’m just not ready to start Valentine’s Day before Christmas! But now that we’re into the new year, let’s get this love fest started!
The Creative Team and I have been busy getting crafty with the new goodies and we’ve got lots to share! Here’s an ‘at-a-glance’ look at the January Release and what you can expect from sneak peeks this week:
- This release includes over 25 new products including stamps, dies, stencils, 2 new Masking Stencil designs, and new embellishments! Everything will be available at the TE webstore on Tuesday, January 7th at 9am CST (Yep, that’s TOMORROW!). We want you to be able to place your order and get your goodies ASAP to start crafting for Valentine’s Day!
- Each day (Monday – Thursday) will feature a new how-to tip, technique, or process video.
- Get a chance to win it before you can buy it by commenting with your answer to my Question of the Day (located at the bottom of each release week blog post)
- Last, but certainly not least – don’t miss this month’s special offer (details below).
Purchase the Loved collection bundle and receive 15% off the three items included! The Loved collection includes the Loved Background stamp along with the coordinating cutting plate and stencil. This offer is valid Tuesday, January 7th – Sunday, January 12th.
Let’s get to the inspiration! Today the Creative Team and I will be sharing projects using all of the products being released tomorrow. So as you travel around to all the blogs, you can start ticking your favs. Here’s a look at the project I created with a few of the new goodies:
I had fun layering two different stencils to create a one-layer background. I’m also sharing some of my favorite ink combos for blending and tips & tricks for creating a project like this in the video below:
After using blender brushes to ink the heart, I used the reverse heart mask to mask the blended heart and begin creating a cloudy background.
For a little extra stability and dimension, I cut each of the arrow sentiments three times from Sugar Cube cardstock backed with Stick It and stacked them together.
As I mentioned before, all of these products will be available to purchase Tuesday – that’s tomorrow, January 7th, at 9AM CT. I want you to have a quick look at everything we’re releasing along with inspiration – there’s a lot to share so let’s get going!
The Loved collection includes the Loved Background stamp plus a coordinating cutting plate & stencil. This trio of products is designed to work perfectly together. You can stamp the hearts and apply color easily through the Loved stencil which aligns with the stamped images. The Loved Cutting Plate die cuts all of the hearts with one pass through your die cut machine so you can arrange them in a variety of ways!
Heather Nichols created a neutral colored background using Toffee cardstock and Sugar Cube ink with the Loved Background stamp. She popped up just a few embossed and watercolored hearts that were cut out with the Loved Cutting Plate die.
You can create a stunning effect by using just a few rows of hearts from the Loved Background stamp as Jen Shults did on this card. She quickly added color to hearts using the coordinating Loved stencil and Blender Brushes and then arranged the die cuts hearts by using the Loved Cutting Plate die cut as a template.
There’s a new man in town! Who, you ask? Sarcasti-chuck! It’s the hilarious “other half” to the fun-loving Sarcasti-chick! The Sarcasti-chuck stamp & die combo set includes Sarcasti-chuck, several facial expressions, and a fantastic collection of snarky sentiments. Get the Sarcasti-chuck’s Wardrobe stamp set and coordinating dies to dress him up for different occasions!
Um, I think I have actually heard my husband say this to me when I have rolled my eyes at something he’s done! Jill Hawkins added the perfect expression to Sarcasti-chuck to go with this sentiment and his little outfit cracks me up!
Keia Shipp-Smith dressed up Sarcasti-chick & Chuck for a Valentine date. Is Sarcasti-chick right about the choice of headband? Or maybe she’s right about the classic hairstyle her hottie is sporting? Whatever the case, you are going to have too much fun dressing up and accessorizing this cute couple!
You knew we couldn’t have just one Big Grumpy, right? Let’s welcome Big Grumpy – Cat to the family! He’s also holding a sign (just like our original Big Grumpy) and has perfectly snarky sentiments to fit inside. There’s also a new Big Grumpy – Valentine stamp set and coordinating dies. You can dress up the Big Grumpy critters to spread the love, but they will hate it. All of the sentiments and Big Grumpy accessories coordinate with both of the Big Grumpy critters.
Valentine’s Day is NOT Big Grumpy’s favorite. But, you probably guessed that already. Noriko Fairchild made Big Grumpy hold a heart balloon and it was TERRIBLE! At least the heart confetti falling in the background is grey. You’ll want to check out Noriko’s blog for the surprise inside sentiment that completes the poem!
Being an introvert myself, I can completely identify to the sentiment that Jill Hawkins used on this card! Even though the Big Grumpy critters are grumpy, they certainly will bring a smile to the faces of your friends and loved ones who can relate to the snarky sentiments!
We are excited to introduce a few new additions to our Mini Strips collection! There’s a new option for cutting out the sentiments using the Mini Strips – Asymmetrical die. This die cuts out all 10 sentiments in one pass and has asymmetrical angles on the end of each strip. The die works with all previously released versions of Mini Strips. In addition, we have the new Mini Strips – Valentine stamp that includes 10 Valentine/Love themed sentiments.
Gayatri Murali created this bright, happy background by blending a rainbow of colors and die cutting the sentiments several times. She pieced the asymmetrical edges together to create the stunning background and finished it off with a simple sentiment in black & white.
The best thing about the sentiment strips that you create with the Mini Strips collection is that you can use a whole bunch like Gayatri did on the project above or use just a few like Jill Hawkins did on this heart shaker card. My favorite part is and always will be that I can stamp and die cut multiple sentiments at one time and they are ready to go when I need one or more for a project!
The new Follow Your Heart Background stamp is a unique option for Valentine projects featuring a whole bunch of arrows arranged around a heart shape. There are tons of possibilities when mixing and matching the background with the Follow Your Heart Sentiments clear stamp set and Shot Through the Heart die set.
Melody Rupple created a Valentine card that shines using the Follow Your Heart Background embossed in gold paired with a sentiment from the Shot Through the Heart set that is die cut from gold foil cardstock. Her blended heart in the center and touches of red finish off this card perfectly!
I always love ideas for using my holiday-themed stamps and dies for another occasion. And Jill Hawkins gets bonus points for the rainbow color combo on this sweet and simple card using the ‘hello’ arrow from the Shot Through the Heart die set.
If you are looking for something a bit more formal, you will love the new Flip the Lace stamp set and coordinating Flip the Lace die. The pretty lace image is perfect for a delicate border design on a Valentine card, wedding, or anniversary card. Pair it with the coordinating edger die for ever more options!
Keia Shipp-Smith used the Flip the Lace stamp set and coordinating die to create this gorgeous gatefold card. The lace embossed in gold on the Poblano Pepper cardstock is simply stunning and I love how she created a beautiful bouquet of flowers with the previously released Fresh Picked Florals stamp set to tuck in behind the sentiment.
Here are a few more fun and whimsical looks for this release. Flip the Script – Love stamp & die combo set features a fun hot air balloon with the sentiment etched into the balloon design. Handlettered Love has a sentiment for your Valentine projects for both young and old (my girls are getting “love you to the moon & back” Valentine’s this year… one of the favorite phrases we share). And we’re excited to complete our Inky Fingers collection with the new Inky Fingers – Valentine stamp set!
Melody Rupple created a pile of cute little Valentines using the cute bugs and critters paired with colorful fingerprint impressions on small 3×3 notecards that are die-cut from our Bracket Notecard die.
Noriko Fairchild finished off this Valentine’s Day card by stamping the sentiment from the Handlettered Love in the center of the masked heart. Her background design is stamped and embossed with the previously released Twinkle Twinkle Background stamp – another awesome use for this versatile background!
You can never have enough Valentine basics like the new Banner Year – Love stamp & die combo, Heart to Heart stencil, and All Tucked In – Valentine clear stamp set. You will find yourself reaching for these designs to add that perfect background, sentiment, or accent to your Valentine projects. And they can definitely take center stage too!
Heather Nichols let the new Banner Year – Love shine on both of these cards that feature the playfully patterned banners. She added a bit of sparkle to the card with heart banners using the new Heart to Heart stencil with Moonstone glimmer paste.
You may already have this next stamp set if you joined us at Stamp Joy 2019! In Your Corner was the set that found its way into our attendee goodie bags and now we’re excited to share it with everyone! You’ll also love the coordinating {Boxed In} Corners paper pack. Use it with the In Your Corner stamp set to create quick and easy cards with the option of stamping the seasonal floral arrangements in one corner or both corners (simply by flipping the panel in your MISTI)!
Melody Rupple let her coloring skills shine on this pair of cards that she created with the In Your Corner stamp set. She stamped the corner images onto the pre-printed border layers and simply added color.
Are you ready for some new Masking Stencils? We have two new shapes that you’re going to love: Hearts and Hexagons. Both sets include two sizes of each shape on a stencil that includes etched alignment guides for an A2 card front to making lining things up a snap! The Masking Stencils collections also include the inside piece of each stencil which provides even more masking options!
Don’t be afraid to add blended images right over a stamped background like Heather Nichols did on this card that she created using one of the heart stencil over a background that she stamped with sentiments and images from the new All Tucked In – Valentine clear stamp set. The bold heart created the perfect place for the “love you” sentiment!
The masking stencils include the guides to perfectly center the main shape on your project, but that doesn’t mean you can’t move the stencils around to create other effects. Jill Hawkins created a gorgeous rainbow-colored border by overlapping colors using the different shapes in the Hexagon collection.
And finally, we’re kicking off a new collection called Bits & Pieces, with three new embellishments! Keep your eyes out for projects that show off the Drip Drops, a raised iridescent bubble in a variety of sizes. You’ll also love finding ways to incorporate the colorful acrylic hearts and shimmery heart confetti to your Valentine projects and more!
My question of the day is: What are you most excited to see in this month’s release? Do you have a clear favorite? Or a few favorites?
I’ll choose three lucky winners to receive one of their favorites from the January Release!
Simply leave your comment by TONIGHT, Monday, January 6th at 10PM CST. One comment per person. Winners are chosen at random and will be announced on the TE blog on release day, tomorrow, January 7th!
Make sure you check out the rest of the Taylored Expressions Creative Team projects using today’s featured products! And then I’ll see you back here tomorrow with more inspiration as all of the products go live!
