2017 Catalog Launch Prep Part 1: Third Prize

When starting my preparations for my 2017 Catalog Launch, I knew that I wanted to showcase the new 2017-2019 In Colors. To do that, I decided to use the Eastern Palace Bundle.

I made five, four inch card bases by cutting one from each color–Powder Pink, Fresh Fig, Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist and Tranquil Tide.

Using the Eastern Medallions #3 and #2 together, I cut out medallions from each of the five colors and then used the #8 Scalloped Circle from the Layering Circles to fully cut them from the colors. I cut mattes from Whisper White and used liquid adhesive to adhere each medallion to a matte.

On Thick Whisper White, I stamped the sentiment in each of the five colors and then die cut them using the #1 stitched circle from the Stitched Shapes Framelits. These were adhered to the centres of the medallions using Dimensionals. These mattes were then adhered to the card bases using Fast Fuse.

Whisper White mattes were cut for the inside of the cards and they were sponged with each of the five colors and then adhered inside the cards.

In assembling the cards, the colors were contrasted on the cards so that the sentiments matched the card bases and the inside sponging matched the medallions. These colors worked so nicely together!

To contain the cards, I used the 1/16" rule of box making via Catherine Pooler. The box bottom was made from Dapper Denim card stock and the top from a sheet of the exquisite Eastern Palace Specialty DSP! I used a circle punch to punch half circles in each side to make it easier to open.

I used a strip of the beautiful foiled paper with a strip of Dapper Denim on top to create a belly band for the box. Since the strips were not long enough, I adhered them to Thick Very Vanilla die cut with the #8 circle from the Layering Circles and then adhered a larger circle of card stock on top of it, cut with the #7 circle from the now retired Circles Collection Framelits.

A medallion was cut from Dapper Denim using the #2, #3, and #4 dies. Layering Circle #1 was used to die cut a piece of Gold Foil which was adhered behind the medallion. The completed medallion was adhered on top of the large Very Vanilla Circle to complete the box.

I think that the box and the cards looked very impressive and I may make a set for myself in the future!

Eastern Palace Suite and Stitched Shapes Framelits

The Eastern Palace Suite is the epitome of ornateness. The dies are so intricate and the number of different combinations for using them is simply mind boggling!

For today's card, I decided to limit the colors and let the dies shine through with the help of a little gold foil!

I started by cutting a card base of 4.75 x 6" from the new Thick Very Vanilla Card Stock. I then cut two mattes–one from Gold Foil and one also from the Thick Very Vanilla.

The Hexagons Dynamic Embossing Folder was used to emboss the Very Vanilla Matte and then it was adhered to the gold matte using liquid adhesive.

I used the largest square from the Stitched Shapes Framelits to die cut a piece of Gold Foil. Using the Eastern Medallions Thinlits, I used a combination of dies #3 and #5 to cut a medallion from Thick Very Vanilla. Liquid glue was used to adhere these. Be sure to check my Numbered Die Sets blog page (located at the top of my blog) to see which dies I am using.

Die #8 was used to cut a piece of the Gold Foil. After the sentiment was stamped in Basic Black on Thick Very Vanilla, it was die cut with the #1 Stitched Circle die. These two pieces were adhered with liquid glue and then stacked onto the other two die cuts using Dimensionals. One of the gold tassels was sandwiched between them.

Dimensionals were used to adhere the set of die cuts to the hexagon matte and then the whole thing was adhered to the card front.

To add a little touch of gold to the inside of the card, one of the gold vinyl stickers from the Eastern Palace Bundle was adhered down the right side.

Doesn't this card look ornate in the Very Vanilla and gold?

Be sure to purchase your Eastern Palace Bundle in my online store before May 31! You will have lots of fun using all the parts of this suite!

Watercoloring With The Eastern Palace Suite

Have you purchased your Eastern Palace Bundle yet? No? Then what are you waiting for?

I have been having all kinds of fun with this bundle that is now available for you to purchase but only until May 31! There are two bundles to choose from and here is what you get:

Eastern Palace Starter Bundle $77.75

The Eastern Palace Starter Bundle is for those of you who just can't wait to get your hands on some of the new catalog offerings and must get a taste!

Eastern Palace Premier Bundle $134.75

The Eastern Palace Premier Bundle is for those of you who want it ALL! In my experience, this is the bundle that you want because the Starter Bundle does not include the Thinlits which MAKE this bundle the fun that it is!

Both bundles contain FREE product! The Starter Bundle offers the Very Vanilla Notecards and Envelopes for FREE while the Premier Bundle gives you the new Very Vanilla Thick Card Stock and the Very Vanilla Envelopes for FREE.

These bundles are only available until May 31 so purchase yours from my online store now!

Now let's take a look at the card I have for you today!

In creating this card, I started by cutting a matte from Watercolor Paper and then used combinations of the Eastern Medallions Thinlits to cut openings in the matte.

Next, I cut open a Ziplock bag and cut it in half. The resulting piece was larger than my matte. I pressed three ink pads down onto the plastic: Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, and Bermuda Bay. I then sprayed the plastic which caused the ink to bead.

I pressed my matte face down onto the plastic and then flipped the plastic over. By flipping it over, I was able to see where the ink was and I could "smoosh" it around while looking at the matte. I like this method better than just smooshing the matte down onto color and hoping for the best!

I used my heat tool to dry the matte and then kept repeating this process until I had the coloring the way that I wanted it. I then adhered the matte to a Basic Black matte of the same size by using liquid adhesive. This was then matted with Lemon Lime Twist.

My next step was to stamp the flower image from the stamp set onto a piece of Bermuda Bay using Basic Black. This was then die cut using die pieces #10 and #11 and the petals bent upwards. I also die cut a Basic Black piece using die #3. After die cutting, I used scissors to snip the medallion from the card stock since this die does not completely cut out the shape.

A piece of the new Finely Woven Ribbon in Lemon Lime Twist was knotted vertically on the right of the matte and then the matte was adhered to a 4.75 x 6" Bermuda Bay card base using Dimensionals.

The flower was adhered to the black medallion and then onto the card front using Dimensionals. One of the new Clear Faceted Gems was added to the centre of the flower.

The sentiment, from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set, was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and then adhered to the card front.

For the inside of the card, a small stamp was used with Bermuda Bay to stamp in all four corners. Lemon Lime Twist was then sponged around the matte. It was adhered with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

I just love how the colors turned out on this card!

Special Note: I will be numbering the dies in the more complex sets to make it easier for you to follow which die I used in my blog posts. For future reference, you can check the die sets and their numbering by visiting my Numbered Die Sets page on my blog. I will update it as I use and add more sets.

Eastern Palace Bundle With Numbered Thinlits

Today I bring you a sneak peek at the Eastern Palace Suite, one of the new product suites from the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog.

As a demonstrator, I am able to preorder before customers so I get to play with some of the new products! As a customer, you will be able to preorder from two of the bundles for yourself starting May 1!

My card today uses one of the new In Colors–Lemon Lime Twist–along with the stamps and Thinlits in the product line.

When first looking at the Eastern Palace Suite, you may find the dies of interest but find the stamp set a little lackluster. Let me assure you that it is not! The shapes in the stamp set are meant to be combined and repeated to create intricate designs that match up with the equally intricate detailed dies! My card uses only the bare bones of this bundle!

I started by numbering the dies with a permanent ultra fine point Sharpie–14 dies in total– to make it easier to talk about them in tutorials and so you will know which die to use if you want to replicate any of my projects. I intend to do this with several of my other sets of Framelits/Thinlits, especially the layering ones.

I started by using the #3 die on a piece of Dapper Denim. This was a learning experience because I was expecting it to cut out an intricate circle frame but the outer edge doesn't cut so the intricate part stays part of the paper from which it is cut! However, I wanted it cut out so I used one of the Layering Circles Framelits to do just that. At the same time, I decided to make the centre portion a little more elaborate so I inserted the #4 Thinlit and did both cuts at once.

Next I used one of the new Eastern Gold Vinyl Stickers to add further elegance to the die cut and then adhered the die cut to a Lemon Lime Twist square of Eastern Elegance DSP using Dimensionals. This was further layered onto a square of Dapper Denim.

Another patterned square of DSP was adhered to a Dapper Denim matte and then the two mattes were adhered together with more Dimensionals.

To further enrich the card, a piece of Gold Foil was embossed using the Festive Embossing Folder and then adhered to a 5.5 x 5.5" Dapper Denim card front using Fast Fuse Adhesive. The mattes were then adhered on top using Dimensionals.

For the inside, a Thick Whisper White matte was stamped repeatedly around the edges with two different circles and then a smaller, ornate stamp. Unfortunately, one of the ornate stamps did not stamp well so I hid it by making use of the #10 and #11 dies. Because the #10 dies is another one that does not cut out around itself, I used scissors to snip it completely from the DSP and then layered it on a Dapper Denim shape cut with  the #10 die. The card front does not contain a sentiment; I reserved that for the inside of the card, stamping with Basic Black. The stamped matte was matted with more DSP and then adhered inside the card to complete it.

I really love the Lemon Lime Twist color! It is so fresh and vibrant and reminds me of Spring! I can't wait to get some of the card stock.

I hope you will give the Eastern Palace Suite a try when it becomes available to you on May 1. So much fun to keep you busy until you can order from the rest of the new Annual Catalog!

For your future reference, here is a list of items from the Eastern Palace Bundle that were used on my card.

• Eastern Beauty #143675
• Eastern Elegance DSP #144147
• Eastern Gold Vinyl Stickers #144150
• Eastern Medallions Thinlits #143725
• Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad #144086