...Free Spirit Boy Day 3, and New template

Good afternoon!
I'm late posting today due to a bit of wind, we had some snow and a few gales here last night and the electricity was interrupted for a short while. We got off easy there are still about 20,000 homes without electric today I believe!!

Anyhow, welcome to the third day of posting for the April release, we have 2 new stamp sets for you and today I'd like to show you a neat little packaging idea. The Rubber Band Box!
Casting around for ideas on packaging for 'Men', I remembered a dinky wee folder I had as a student, it was held closed with a piece of elastic and I always loved how it worked, so I translated that idea into a little box! You can see two versions of it in the photo above - these are the large and small sizes. Templates for both sizes will be included in the PDF! Hoping to have an SVG version available too!

Tomorrow we release the two stamp sets and the template here on the blog at 7pm my time! call back to see the stamp sets in their entirety and to join us for a Blog Waltz - yep, the Dt will be having a blog waltz, showing off more fabulous inspiration for masculine cards!! Today Julia, Belinda, Anya, Bonnie and Laurie are showing samples - pop over to see what the ladies have made!!!

Looking at the picture below you can see how these work! They are so fabby! I love these, and they are so easy to make and customise, endless possibilities with these! I am especially pleased with the wee rounded ends and the scoring that allows the card to roll smoothly around the edges, These are boxes that will look great dressed up casually or simply styled for a formal look!


You can see above how I filled mine with sweets and cookies, universally acceptable, yum! But, I can see these making excellent packages for all of those 'men' type gadgets we like to buy the boys, ipods, mobile phones, watches, all sorts of wee goodies will be extra special when presented in these wee Rubber band boxes.


Above, I use thin white elastic to secure my boxes, which I coloured up with copics to match the colour scheme of my gift ensemble. Above, the sentiment and star are from Free Spirit Sentiments and Free Spirit Boy. The box was randomly stamped with the graph paper stamp from Off Beat Backgrounds.


I completely customised the little box by stamping the inside with the circles stamp from Free Spirit Boy. I then sponged as well to make the Kraft card a shade of blue (Distress ink Chipped Sapphire) so that it would contrast well with the outside when opened. The elastic was coloured red this time. If you scroll down, you will see how the elastic is secured inside but I want to tell you about the card first!



I'm sure you are absolutely nothing like me and are there, at exactly the right time, every time, with card and present for your birthday boy! LOL, Well, I am ALWAYS late, I have absolutely no memory. So, with that in mind I included a couple of sentiments that I will use over, and over and over!

Above you can see how I added the age of the recipient to the card, (the numbers 0-9 are included in Free Spirit Sentiments) and below that the word 'Already'. I love how this captures the feeling that someone is growing up so fast! and when you pair it with the 'Sorry I missed it" sentiment, it is such a better way of saying 'belated birthday wishes' to a teenage boy.

I added another little image of a skater-boy to the inside of my card, (from Free Spirit Boy)along with a little background stamping with the graph paper stamp from Off beat Backgrounds.


I want to show you a neat trick you can do with the little bicycle stamp, or indeed any stamp for that matter. I love the look of distressed stamped images but I don't necessarily ALWAYS want a distressed feel on my cards sometimes I like clean and simple. It is so easy to get some different effects from your stamps just by inking them up slightly differently, for my card I inked the stamp but then leaned a little harder and 'rolled' the stamp around the ink pad, so that the non-stamping base of the bike stamp picked up some ink as well. then I stamped badly! LOL, Yep I leaned too hard and smooched, and i get this fab wee distressed effect!!


Below, on the left, you can see that the stamp, stamps perfectly well when used normally. Heavily inked and smooched as I just described and you get a fab distressed look. Two looks for the same stamp. And, below that again, if you ink up 'badly' ie, be sure to just touch the stamp to the pad without trying to get an even coverage, you can have another slightly cleaner, but still distressed look!

I love tricks like this that let me get loads more value out of every stamp! I could have made the boy stamps all have a distressed finish to them, but then, you have only one design option, distress every time! By making these stamps clean and graphic, you have the choice to mussy them up or keep it clean!! Love that!! Love versatility!! Go - try it on stamps you already have, I'll bet you can get stacks more mileage out of your stamp collection this way!!



Back to the Rubber Band Boxes - here is what the larger template will look like cut out - you can see I went ahead and added little eyelets at the ends to match my card, (the position of the holes is marked on the template) I think it gives a professional finish and it will prevent strain on the edge of the wee holes where the elastic goes through.


I use buttons to secure my elastic, perfect for all those wee buttons you don't use! LOL. I simply thread it through and tie a knot, you can trim the end quite close if your knot is tight enough!



Then just thread the elastic through the hole, making sure that the button is going to be on the inside of the box. Run the elastic across the front of the box and in through the other hole. secure with another button and trim, you don't need to pull the elastic too tight because when the box is folded up and stuck together, the elastic will automatically tense up.



Below, Box strung and ready to fold up and stick. I did all the stamping and adding the sentiment panel before adding the string and buttons!


Phew, did you make it through!! LOL

Hope they tickle! and I hope you can call back tomorrow to view the DT blog waltz, now, what do we think of wee boxes??? LOL

...there's a bit of a wind...

Hi all! It's Lisa, stepping in here for a moment to let you know that Claire's post may be up a bit late today. She was able to get word to us through her cellular service that due to stormy weather in Ireland, the electricity is out. Hopefully... for a number of reasons... it will be back up soon and Claire can delight us with her creations on Day Three of our sneak peeks of the two new stamp sets releasing on Thursday (weather willing!). In the meantime, please visit Julia, Belinda, Anya, Bonnie and Laurie to see what they've come up with to delight and tantalize you!

Lisa

...Free Spirit Boy, Day 2

Todays cards show a few more images from the two April sets, Free Spirit - Boy and Free Spirit - Sentiments, both releasing on the 1st of April.

Bonnie, Lisa, Julia, and Anya, are joining me today with some fabulous samples!! those ladies also have some 'manly' inspiration for you today! lol!

If you are new to this blog and indeed WMS you might like to scroll down and have a peep at yesterdays post, so's you'll know what's going on!

I used the laurel wreath image to make a focal point on the 'Congrats' card. I did some more clear embossing and sponging with distress inks, oooh yum. I used the zig zag stamp from Off Beat backgrounds to make the two colored panels behind the main image and then I stamped the laurel wreath again in versamark onto the dark chocolate card base just above the colored panels. I also stamped a little star (also from Free Spirit - Boy).


Just for fun I cut the stamped 'Congrats' sentiment apart and sort of tagged it on behind the main image.


Inside the wreath (Free Spirit - Boy) and sentiment (Free Spirit - Sentiments) were stamped in distress inks, I love how these inks make the words and image look a tiny bit distressed, you get a totally different clean crisp feel if you use inks like versacolour but I wanted the slightly 'rubbly' look here.



So, anyone have any beach boys?? I love the whole surfer thing but I am such a fake, I can't even swim...LOL! it doesn't stop me loving the look tho! Again with the clear embossing, of the circles stamp, sponged over with 'surfy' colours! See how I snuck in the hibiscus flowers stamped all over in Antique linen ink, I loved the background pattern this makes, It just completes the beach theme without being overtly floral! A bit of sponging and some seriously wonky stitching before taking a steak knife to the edge of the card to distress it!

The focal point for this card is made up of 3 little surf boards, I stamped them close together (there are 2 designs in the set) so that when I cut them out, they made a dinky wee fun shaped panel. The Aloha sentiment was fitted along the side of the last surf board. Tied a bit of twine around before adhering the surf boards and I just LOVE this card!

Truth be told, this card is equally suitable for a girl or a guy who's not afraid of bright summer colours. Depending on your guy, you could leave out the orange and go all shades of blue! How cool that would be!


Last card today is for all those minimalists out there, sometimes you don't need all the fuss and the images and fonts in these two sets are just so perfectly weighted for simple minimal cards, such as this party invite. I paired the graphic equalizer stamp with the single word to make a very simple, smart and super quick card.


Inside


Hope they tickle!! I'll be back tomorrow with some more inspiration before the release on Thursday, I hope you are getting plenty of ideas!!

...store news

Just a quick note. The store host has been experiencing some sort of technical issue. I would ask that if anyone has encountered a problem with any of the downloadable products, please email me at: claire.brennan1@ntlworld.com

The technical issue has resulted in a number of orders being processed through the store software slower than usual. I am working to rectify things but if you ordered in the last couple of days your order may be delayed by a day or so.

Many thanks for your patience!

...Free Spirit Boy, Day 1

Hello and welcome to the beginnings of the April stamp release at Waltzingmouse Stamps! If you are new to WMS, we release new stamps at the beginning of every month. In the few days leading up to the first of the month I show sneak peeks and samples here on my blog and on the 1st of April I will release the new sets!

Today begins the samples for Aprils two new sets: Free Spirit Boy and Free Spirit Sentiments. There will also be a new super handy template for April, more on that later.

Today also the DT begin their samples and you won't want to miss checking in with Jennifer, Lynn, Julia and Anya to see what they've done with this set.

As you will guess from the titles, these sets are all about making those notoriously difficult 'Man/boy' cards so much easier. There is a huge void in stamp designs that are truly suitable for the awkward 'teen' years and I wanted to steer well away from cutesy cartoony images in favour of something a little more edgy and up to date.

If you are not interested in making man cards, don't run away just yet, there are a few little surprises in these extremely versatile sets that you might just be interested in seeing! lol.

Specifically, the Free Spirit Boy set is designed for folks who need to make cards for boys aged from about 10 up to 20. I really tried hard to make this set a little different from what you might expect. Having said that, this is a hugely versatile set, crammed with 23 different stamps, many of which would be right at home on any sort of card.


For today's first card I used two of the 3 tribal motif stamps to create a sort of medallion image which framed my sentiment. I stamped the images and sentiment onto Kraft cardstock using Versamark and clear embossed with a heat gun. Once cool, I sponged with various Ranger Distress Inks, this is my fave current technique, the clear embossing resists the ink and you get a fab, stand out image with a cool grungy background! Colours used were Chipped Sapphire and Rusty hinge, and some black Versacolour ink. I could have just stamped the images in dark ink for a 'tattoo' feel but I had this Star trek/Klingon vibe in my head and wanted to grunge it up a little!!

The sentiment 'Awesome' from the Free Spirit Sentiments set is one of 54 separate stamps in the set. My little guy is 3 years old, and I have yet to experience what it's like to raise teenage boys but it strikes me that this is the age of encouragement and experience. In these years your little guy will turn from child to man and in all of that time, I imagine you will want to support and encourage him. That was the philosophy I had in mind when thinking up sentiments for the set. Phrases like " It's time to launch your dreams" and "Wherever you go, go safe" are the things I hope I get to say to my son someday as he embarks on the milestone adventures of life. Another thing I picture myself telling him frequently is "You can always come home" LOL, and this is also included in the set!!

The 'Awesome' card was a neat way to say 'well done' to your teen guy, the pic below shows the sentiment I used for the inside - It could also be used on the outside of a card. There are many groups of sentiments in this set that work well together for the inside and outsides of the same card but all of the sentiments work well on their own as well.

I paired it up with the third of the tribal 'tattoo' motifs, I think these are so cool and they can be grunged up, as above, or simply stamped, whatever suits your guy.


Today's second sample, a CD gift tin, uses a concentric circles motif. I see this sort of image on all sorts of 'pop' items and I wanted a large, random version of it as a stamp, something I could use either as a background stamp or to make a focal point.


Here I have heat embossed the image twice in copper embossing powder directly onto a CD tin, I LOVE this look, it looks store bought to me, especially when paired with this super simple black belly band. The little single circle motif from Free Spirit Boy and the sentiment from Free Spirit Sentiments are also copper embossed. I can see me giving this set to an older teen. It has a clean grown up feel, and doesn't need to be limited to boys, I think this makes a perfectly good 'Man' present too! LOL


Inside the tin, a super simple insert card, cut out with two spellbinders circles can be dressed up to match. It just lies on top of the CD. I cut it smaller than the CD because I wanted to see the silver of the CD so that my colour scheme of silver, copper and black from the exterior is repeated inside. Here I've added the little graphic equaliser symbol from the set, also copper embossed as this is a music CD. This is a CD compilation of some of DH's fave songs but you could do this with a store bought CD to dress it up. My CD tin came with the black inset plastic already in place to hold the CD. This took under 30 mins from start to finish.


Today's third card is for all you ladies who don't need to make so many masculine cards. They told me not to but I sneaked some flowers into the Free Spirit Boy set!! LOL, it's just a little trio of hibiscus flowers. They are there to back up the Surfing theme, more on that tomorrow. I know, I know, generally boys don't like flowers but tomorrow I'll show you how they work in with a dude card.


Today, they dress up a simple 'Thanks' card just beautifully. The trio was stamped twice in Memento Rich Cocoa ink in opposite corners to make a frame for the sentiment and coloured with copics. The sentiment is from Free Spirit Sentiments. Then a rectangular shape was cut out letting the flowers overspill the sides. The flowers were stamped a couple more times on the card base, just under the plain corners of the sentiment panel and everything was sponged a little with Tea Dye distress ink. I then wiped the sentiment panel with a little New Canvas Palette ink just to add a little more of a faded feel. Just had to adhere the panel and it was all done.


Sure hope these tickle! LOL.

A note about shipping for the April release:

The Post Office here will be closed on Good Friday 2nd April and Easter Monday 5th April, this means that anyone ordering on Thursday the 1st April, will have their orders shipped on Saturday the 3rd April and folks ordering from late Saturday until Monday night will have their orders shipped on Tuesday 6th April. My apologies if this proves an inconvenience for anyone but hopefully folks will all be having a lovely Easter break and won't mind the slight delay.

...another peep at April...

Today's sneak peek is from the same set as yesterday's...

If you're new to my blog, I release new clear photopolymer stamps at the beginning of every month! The April release is due in a couple of days, so today and yesterday I'm peeking at the new sets! I will be showing sample cards and projects over the next few days starting tomorrow, or maybe tonight...

Pop back for some inspiration...especially if you need inspiration for the dreaded 'Man' cards...lol

If you're new, you also might want to pop over to the Forum, we're building a brand new Waltzingmouse Stamps Forum, it's a cozy spot right now and we'd love to have you visit!! You will need to register to get in, but it just takes a second and we don't ask for any awkward information! lol!

...a peek at April

Something a little bit different for April...

This stampset will release on April 1st... what do you think the theme is?

...good grief

where has the week gone??

Well, we had our larger daughters school play this week which ate up two nights, It was just brilliant, I hadn't laughed so much in quite a while, just what was needed, they were fab.

The production was "Shenanigans in Sherwood" and was a Robin Hood tale with lots of twists. I cannot wait to get the DVD!!

Today was the last day of term so they're off for two weeks!! Bigger girlie is concocting a list of places to go/things to do...lol

Aside from that I've been fervently working on he May release, you might know that May is sort of our first birthday here at WMS and I'd like to mark the occasion in some way, a few ideas underway...lol

Yep, my little stamp company is nearly one!

Can you believe we started on 18th May last year? I can't begin to tell you how much I have learned in one year, I have to say tho' I mostly learned how much I still don't know! LOL, anyhow before that we have the April release and I'll be back with a wee sneaky peeky tomorrow! This one's a bit different...

In the meantime here's a pic of one of my fave things from the very first release in May last year! The wee red shoes get me every time! lol

...Leprechaun Round-up!

Was that an awesome St. Pat's Day Blog Hop or what? Three cheers for all who participated!!! The Waltzingmouse House forum proved to be a winner... everything went off without a hitch...even when Claire decided to start the ball rolling early! We like to live on the edge around here, don't you know! (*grin*)

We plan to have all of our monthly Blog Waltzes in the forum. Yep, we took a vote and think "Blog Waltz" is the perfect name for what we've been calling Customer Blog Hops. Don't you agree? Stay tuned for details on the April Blog Waltz, which will be held April 17th. We think the 17th is a lucky day for Waltzingmouse Stamps. (*wink*)

We had a bit of a competition going for those who waltzed with us this month. The game was to count the leprechauns found in the photos of the cards/projects created by the Waltzingmouse Stamps Design Team (and Claire) and post the number in the March Blog Hop Chat thread in the forum.

Just to recap, here are the photos of the DT cards/projects, in all their glory!

Anya Schrier: Life Is What You Make It

Belinda Chang Langner: Bleu Bella Designs

Bonnie Sharp: The Lucky Clucker

Claire Brennan Herself!

Jennifer Holmes: Simple Flourishes

Julia Aston: Create With Me

Laurie Schmidlin: Just Give Me Stamps

Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity

Some of the leprechauns are easy to see, but others are very hard to find. How many do you count? Well, if the number is 19 then you are correct!

We put the names of all those who guessed correctly in a hat, and the winners of a free stamp set were LaurieM and Sofia 73 Congratulations!!! Sofia73, please email Claire (claire.brennan1@ntlworld.com) to redeem your prize.

We are all tugging at Claire's sleeve, begging for more digi images. We think we've got her worn down, but feel free to add your pleas! {LOL}

Thank you all so much for waltzing with us this month. Stay tuned for sneak peeks of the April stamp sets starting March 28th!!

Lisa.

...quick reminder

A quick reminder that WMS is sponsoring another challenge over at Stampin around...head on over to see Anya's challenge and make a card!!

Exchange rates

I get lots and lots of enquiries about exchange rates, and quite a lot this morning in particular! So I’m going to try to pop a note up on the store every so often regarding the current exchange rate and what it means to WMS. Remember this is is an example of what a WMS set costs in your currency according to XE.com on the date stated and is subject to change.

One Waltzingmouse Stampset 8×6 inches, absolutely stuffed to the gills with stamps, costs £13.50 GBP Sterling which, today (21 March ’10), is equivalent to:

$20.28 USA Dollars
$22.14 Australian Dollars
€14.98 Euros

I hope this helps folks!

Shipping is not included here and is based on the weight of your package, but I believe the shipping I use is very reasonable. I don't like to pay excess shipping myself so I use the best value service I can.

If anyone has a particular currency they would like included in the reviews, pop me a comment here I'll be happy to add it to the list,

many thanks!

...just a reminder

Just to let folks know, I try to answer questions posted on the blog comments, but don't forget to leave some sort of contact details, particularly if your Blogger profile page is private!! lol! Many thanks!

Amber - the link for the free digis is here !

...inspiration everywhere

I positively wallowed in all of the fabulous cards and items that folks made for the WMS St Patrick's Day blog hop (scroll down to see my cards in the previous post!). It was a blast, I'll be going round again when the house is quiet this evening!

Thank you to everyone who took part, either posting or leaving comments or both! I hope you all enjoyed it! I do apologise for not being able to wait for the pre-arranged time! lol, I have absolutely no patience and I just couldn't wait! It was brilliant, if you haven't hopped along you can see the list here, do yourself a favour and take a wee notebook, there's a ton of inspiration!!

Talking of inspiration, here are a couple of decorated eggs that my mother made! Years ago my mum painted in oils and decorated eggs! My mum could do just about everything. Sadly mum is not able anymore, and the quick message here is do everything you can so's you don't regret it when you can't!

But the point of these pics is to show you where I got the inspiraton for the Nestie egg stamps I released last month! My mum has made some incredible decorated eggs from empty Goose eggs shells! this is one she made for me many years ago! I love it, wee houses are my very favourite and I treasure it!
She used to give them as gifts and there were some beauties, there was one with a double door, just like the stamp! Anyhow, just thought you folks might like a peep at them!

...St Patick's Day Blog hop!!!

So I made a plan to open the blog hop this evening and now that St Pat's Day is here I can't wait!! LOL. apologies to all you sticklers for schedules!! The more I think about it, the more I do feel that I should have planned it to start this morning instead!!! I have such a hard time getting my head around time differences etc that I think I maybe made what's known as a faux pas...huge apologies!lol.
Anyhow, without further waffle let me welcome you to our St Patrick's Day blog hop!!!

Here's how to follow the hop - pop on over to the WMS Forum here and register if you haven't already, it takes just a sec and we don't ask any awkward questions, lol.

Go to the 'Play Room' and you will see the March blog hop posts, one is a list of participants and the other is a thread for chat and the Leprechaun hunt!!!

The Leprechaun Hunt!

As you work your way through the hop you will see that the DT ladies are participating, BUT as I'm springing the hop open early they might be posting later on, you might need to check back!!

Check the DT photos (and mine) very carefully, if you see any leprechauns, note them down and count them all up. Post your Leprechaun tally in the chat thread that accompanies the hop list and I will pick a random winner from the correct answers to win a free Stamp set of your choice, I'll pick the winner on Saturday night!!!

look closely - I've been very, very sneaky!!!



I used one of the free digi stamps from the pack I put together here. Grab one now by clicking here if you don't have it, they're free. Check out this post for how to use.

I coloured my bunch of Shamrocks with copics and mounted it simply on one of the Celtic Lunettes digital paper from my store. The sentiment comes from Celtic Heritage.

The card below I made with some eggs from the Nestie Eggs set!! (currently sold out, more due in a week or so)

I deliberately off-set the centre panel so that my shamrock leaf could overhang the card without overhanging the card, like it Joan?? lol, I was amazed how many folks don't like bits that hang off the sides of cards! I guess it does make posting a nuisance but I think this is a nice compromise for folks like me who like a bit of overspill now and again! lol!!

I used the Victoriana papers that co-ordinate with the victorian egg! love matchy, matchy!

sentiment is from Irish Blessings.




I die cut 6 egg shapes using the Spellbinders Egg dies that co-ordinate with this product and I then stamped them with the little victorian egg.


I layered them together in pairs, right sides together and trimmed off a portion as shown below, when you open them out they make fab shamrock leaves!! lol. I stuck them together in their matching pairs and used them to make an oversized shamrock for my card!

I love how it gives a little border all around the outside edge of each leaf, almost like they had been cut with a special leaf die!! so simple!

Go, try it! I'm going to try some flower shapes this way with the eggs next!!


Now, happy hopping, remember the master blog list is in the forum here.