Autumn Acorns & Background Basics: Houndstooth Day Three

Hello! And welcome to Day 3 of the Papertrey Ink Countdown. Today, Nichole and I are going into a bit more detail about my two newest stamp sets and coordinating dies... Autumn Acorns, Autumn Acorns Die Collection & Background Basics: Houndstooth (all available beginning August 15th at Papertrey Ink!). So, be sure to visit Nichole's blog too for all of the details and an assortment of her amazing projects.

Now, let me get started! First up, Autumn Acorns...

You can't go wrong with coordinating dies! A set of fun shaped dies, one for the acorns and another for the leaves. No fussy cutting needed, yay! And think of all the possibilities!

Onto some samples...

Here's an invitation trio. My vision behind this trio is to give you an idea of some of the possibilities available to you when using both the stamp set and the dies together.The Kissing Technique is a fun way to dress up those stamped acorn bottoms, like I've done here using Background Basics: Houndstooth.Paper piecing is fun! Just die cut two acorns from the desired cardstock or pattern paper, trim off the top and piece together.Felt acorns add a fun texture to any project or card.

Lots of die action on the card above. I started by die cutting the leaves from Rustic Cream cardstock, stamped in Terracotta Tile and attached with dimensional adhesive to a Rustic Cream cardstock block. Then rounded all the corners of the cardstock block.

Next, I die cut the acorns from felt (Dark Chocolate, Simply Chartreuse, Harvest Gold & Fine Linen) and then trimmed and attached the tops. Added a bit of Baker's Twine stitching to each and then attached into place. Stamped the cardstock block with "Celebrate Today" (a sentiment perfect for many occasions such as birthday, wedding & etc), wrapped with more Baker's Twine and attached to a Fine Linen card base.

Next up, Background Basics: Houndstooth...As I mentioned previously, Background Basic: Houndstooth includes two background building strips, one in a large pattern and another in a small pattern. For this card, I stamped die cut buttons using both the small and large patterns, in Dark Chocolate.I paired the houndstooth patterned buttons with an autumn circle, from 2009 Autumn Tags, stamped in Summer Sunrise. Attached the circle on top of a die cut frame (created by die cutting the Fillable Frames #7 die from the soon to be release Layerz Mat Stack #1) which was adhered to a kraft card base. Then embellished with the hand stamped houndstooth and Dark Chocolate buttons.

Now onto the stamp details...As mentioned before, by Nichole and myself, Background Basics: Houndstooth has been designed with an added feature to make background building easier. When finalizing this set months ago, Nichole had expressed to me that when using Background Basics: Gingham it occurred to her that it would be so much easier to line-up if the bases went out farther around the edges of the pattern. So, when creating the final files, I made sure to add an extra wide base to the images, an approximately 1/4" extension all the way around. Check out the extra wide base in the photo above.The added base width give you an unobstructed view through the stamp itself, allowing you to clearly see exactly were your are placing your next image. Making lining up your backgrounds a breeze! Check it out above.Here's a close up of the extra wide base in action!

Well, that's it from me today. I hope you've enjoyed this detailed look into my new goodies for the month of August. Remember Autumn Acorns, Autumn Acorns Die Collection and Background Basics: Houndstooth will all be available for purchase starting August 15th, at Papertrey Ink. I honestly can't wait to see these sets in your hands and in action! But in the mean time, please let me know what you think so far. I'd love to hear!!!

Now, for even more sneak peek goodness, be sure to visit Nichole Heady , Dawn McVey, Heather Nichols, Melissa Bickford & Lisa Johnson.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Maile


You're Invited Trio:

• Stamps: Autumn Acorns & Background Basics: Houndstooth
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Simply Chartreuse, Summer Sunrise & Versamark
• Cardstock: Rustic White
• Pattern Paper: 2008 Bitty Dot Basics
• Accessories: Simply Chartreuse, Harvest Gold & Dark Chocolate Felt & Autumn Acorns Dies

Celebrate Today:

• Stamps: Autumn Acorns
• Ink: Terracotta Tile & Dark Chocolate
• Cardstock: Fine Linen & Rustic Cream
• Accessories: Chocolate Baker's Twine, Dark Chocolate, Fine Linen, Simply Chartreuse & Harvest Gold Felt, Autumn Acorns Dies & Corner Rounder

With Thanks:

• Stamps: Background Basics: Houndstooth & 2009 Autumn Tags
• Ink: Dark Chocolate & Summer Sunrise
• Cardstock: Kraft & Rustic White
• Accessories: Rustic Jute Button Twine, Dark Chocolate Buttons, Coaster Board, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Fillable Frames #7 Die & Layerz Mat Stack #1 Die