{Preview} ARTSY BORDERS + Sample Inspiration Projects

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! Today I'm excited to give a preview of the new stamps coming to the shop beginning April 8. They're called Artsy Borders. Monika and I (Shery) are sharing a few projects we made using these stamps. Well, it's actually a lot -- we got a little carried away, as you'll see, especially Monika ;o)

I came up with these artsy border stamps out of a need: I love masking, but I wanted a way to quickly create something (especially when I don't have a lot of time to spare) where I wouldn't need to do a lot of masking and still get that artsy collage look. I played around with some images, starting with ones that were already stamps, and used them to create border stamps. And you all know me...I love grunge, artsy, distressed backgrounds and all that, so I added in some newsprint, sheet music, the works...and we've got four to start off this fun line of stamps:

{Preview} April Release Sneak Peek

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! April will be here in a week, and at STAMPlorations HQ, we're getting ready to release new stamps. We've got FIVE awesome 4" by 6" sets to play with! Want a peek? Here you go!

   

First up are two baby-themed sets that Shirley and I each designed. The Bee's Knees BabyBump features Shirley's trademark fun doodled images with a touch of whimsy and sentiments in her handwriting. Heaven Sent features images in my sketchy/hand-drawn style and sentiments that combine my love of typography. When I found out I was pregnant in late December, no way we were going to let a release month pass without a baby-related set or two! Shirley had the BabyBump set done last year and she tweaked it a bit for this release. Inspired by Shirley's BabyBump set, I worked on finishing Heaven Sent in January while fighting the awful morning sickness. I already had the teddy bear and rocking horse drawn last year, back when I didn't even know (or plan) on being pregnant. So I went on to draw a few more baby-related images and picked the baby carriage to complete the set. (Other images will be available later as STAMP Lab stamps.) 

SmallBirds is another one of Shirley's designs. If you've been to Shirley's blog, you may have seen a few of her cards featuring her fun doodled birds. She originally had these birds made with her stamp maker last year, and now we're making them available as clear stamps at STAMPlorations!

   

Noteworthy and Fond Expressions are two sets filled with sentiments that are perfect for almost any occasion! When I was designing Noteworthy, I made sure the sentiments will work not just for cards but for other projects as well, such as journaling cards, art journal pages, ATCs, layouts, and even Project Life. As for Fond Expressions...I wanted a set of sentiments with that fun calligraphy style to be used primarily for cards. These two sets are great to use with many of our stamps!

So what do you think of this release? Got a favorite? Excited to see them in action? As usual, the STAMPlorations girls will be showcasing these stamps in a blog hop! Mark your calendars! We'll have a week-long April Stamp Release Blog Hop from April 20 to 24. We even have a super talented and awesome guest designer joining us. One thing I can guarantee: you will be inspired by the girls and the projects we'll be sharing and you'll have loads of fun!

And...beginning April 1st, we're making the April stamps available. No need to wait for our blog hop to snag these goodies. We're making them available as soon as April is here -- and no, it's not an April Fool's joke! For the first week only, these stamps will be 10% off and ship free worldwide (no minimum!). If you're a stamp club subscriber, be sure to use your personal discount coupon code to get an extra 15% off on the sale price. Sweet!

In the next few weeks, you'll see the STAMPlorations girls start using these stamps in their projects. In the meantime, I hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Hugs!