WMS September Release Day One

Here we go!

Welcome to the start of the September release previews at Waltzingmouse Stamps! Four new sets will be released on Monday, September 19th.

But first up, a big warm fuzzy announcement! We have lost a few of our beloved design team members over the past few months but today I am so happy to share the news that Kelly Schirmer, Clare Buswell, and Becca Feeken have joined the team! We are happily snatching Kelly and Clare from the Mischief Makers and Becca, well - you know how fantastic Becca is! Big hugs ladies, I am so glad to have you as part of the team!

Ok, on to the goodies! Four new sets this month, today we're previewing A Cottage Home. This is a 4x6 inch set and is prefect for sharing in the excitement of a new home, welcoming a new neighbor, or just enjoying the love of your own home.

I'm starting today with an easy little wine bottle topper - a great way to spruce up a bottle of wine for quick gift!

Doesn't get much easier than this! I paper pieced the large cottage image onto a strip of cardstock that had been scored and punched with a 1-1/2 inch circle. Just slip the tag over the neck of the bottle and you have an easy peasy gift.

The sentiment was stamped onto a die cut tag and adhered with some baker's twine. An easy way to add a little welcome note to new neighbors! I love to do these at the holidays, too, they make great hostess gifts!

Next up is a simple card that uses some of the sentiments from A Cottage Home.

I love the needlework sampler look of this with the gingham background and the wallpaper-like patterned paper. Isn't that font yummy? It coordinates nicely with Cameo to Go...

Ah, home sweet home. There's nothing quite like a cottage to evoke feelings of simpler times... romantic thoughts of an easier life... all wrapped up in cozy! So what's your favorite type of cottage?

A hideout in the woods surrounded by nothing but nature?

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A place of fairytales and daydreams?

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A colorful Victorian?

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Or something simple and traditional, a cozy place with a white picket fence?

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Whatever your preference, I am sure we can agree that home is an important place. The last project I want to share today is a bit of home decor, a little neighborhood of colorful cozy cottages reminiscent of simpler times.

I stamped the large cottage image from A Cottage Home four times onto cream cardstock and colored each of them with Copic markers. I went for the palest colors. I also stamped some of the coordinating elements - a little topiary and pathway - and colored them also. Then I cut everything out and assembled it on a piece of patterned paper trimmed to fit inside my frame.

Look at that fancy gingerbread woodwork!

Here is a clickable version for a larger scale photo if you're interested in seeing it a bit closer. It is always so difficult to photograph items like this!

So what do you think? I am excited to hear your first impressions. I will be back tomorrow with more previews - you will love this next set, so I hope you will stop back! Until then, here are the other Design Team ladies sharing previews today! Enjoy!

Anya Schrier - you're here!
Becca Feeken
Claire Brennan
Jennifer Holmes
Julia Aston
Kate Whelan
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Niki Estes
Sarah Martina Parker
Tosha Leyendekker

Have a fantastic day!

Anya

Recipe
New Home Wine Bottle Topper
STAMPS: A Cottage Home (available September 19) - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
PATTERNED PAPER: October Afternoon, Crate Paper
INK: Jet Black Archival Ink, Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Double Ended Tag Die - Spellbinders; 1-1/2-inch Circle punch - EK Success; Sewing machine

Home Sweet Home Card
STAMPS: A Cottage Home (available September 19), Cameo to Go, Gingham & Co. - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush - Papertrey Ink; Crumb Cake - Stampin' Up!
PATTERNED PAPER: My Mind's Eye
INK: Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake - Stampin' Up!; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Blossom Baker's Twine - The Twinery; Sweet Blush button - Papertrey Ink; First Class Friend Die - My Favorite Things; Sewing Machine

A Cottage Home Decor
STAMPS: A Cottage Home (available September 19) - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
PATTERNED PAPER: Blue Houndstooth Paper - The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)
INK: Rich Cocoa Memento - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Copic Markers - Imagination International; Picture Frame - Walmart; Flat White Spray Paint - Krylon

This and That

Good Monday morning, friends!

I hope you had a great weekend. Bill and I had the honor of attending a wedding for some dive friends of ours on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, a lovely location - it was really nice.

I got it in my head that I wanted to create for some recent open publication calls, so I've been creating some stuff I can't really share with you right now. I've also been trying to get a head start on projects for the upcoming Waltzingmouse Stamps release. But I do have a little paper crafting something I made that I hadn't shared yet, so I thought you might like to see that today.

I used a mix of butterfly punches and dies to put together this 'catalog of specimens'. The patterned paper is from the Pixie-Licious collection from Cosmo Cricket. Home decor is always fun to make - this is for my friend's newest little one.

I also wanted to share some yummies.. I love baking with zucchini this time of the year and one new recipe I tried this summer is this Chocolate Zucchini cake.

It was delish! I can get you the recipe if you're interested - its from a raddy old cookbook my mom gave me full of zucchini recipes.

Have you visited the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge Blog recently? Lynn introduced some new Mischief Makers this past Saturday! We've also been using some of my own card sketches, too. I've been taking a bit of a break from playing along with the group, but am still playing along! You should, too, and say hello to our new ladies!

Thanks for the visit today, I will be back with more tomorrow!

Anya

Recipe
Patterned Paper: Pixie-Licious - Cosmo Cricket
Other: Classic Butterfly Punch - Martha Stewart Crafts; Beautiful Butterflies Die - Stampin' Up!; Frame - Ikea

Easter Brunch

Good morning, Waltzers! Welcome to the April Friends of WMS Blog Waltz. Today we're creating for Easter.

Here are the details: if you want to waltz along with us and you haven't yet linked up your project, head to the link list thread in the WMS Forum to link up your creation and view the other participants. There is also a thread for chatting about what you've seen. This month a random Waltz participant will be chosen to receive a prize.

Family get-togethers and the accompanying food is one of my favorite things about holidays. My mom and I have been chatting about Easter brunch and I thought I'd put some quick and easy items together for the Easter table.

I used the Nestie Eggs stamp set to create place cards and napkin rings for each guest.

For the place cards, I stamped the largest egg onto a piece of colored cardstock and then cut it out. I chose colors that were complimentary to the springy, colorful tablecloth. I added some sparkle by applying Stickles to a few spots on the eggs. A strip of cardstock was the perfect place to hand-write the guests' names. A folded piece of cardstock helps the eggs to stand up. Easy peasy!

The napkin rings coordinate with the place cards, because that's how I am. :) I stamped each egg twice and cut the center out to achieve the multi-colored look.

A ribbon threaded through the back of the egg was tied around the napkin. I cut two parallel slits in a strip of cardstock and then adhered it to the back of the egg. The ribbon is threaded through this, and so the egg is undisturbed. Here's a closer look:

Simple, yet it will add a special touch to the Easter table. Thank you for stopping in today, enjoy the rest of the waltz!

Anya

Recipe
Stamps: Nestie Eggs - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue - Stampin' Up!; Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist - Stampin' Up!
Other: Stardust Stickles - Ranger Industries; Vintage Cream Satin ribbon - Papertrey Ink