Papertrey Ink September Release Day 1

Welcome, my friends, to Day 1 of the Papertrey Ink September Release! There is so much to love this month that I know you will all be smitten! Today, I am featuring the new "Sentiment Staples: Christmas" and a darling new set called "Merry Mug"! I have used it in a few different ways today, but first off, I'm sharing this sweet "thinking of you" card! My other projects are all Christmas-y, so this way I can just ease you into the idea that Christmas is on its way! LOL! Also, don't forget to stop by the Papertrey Ink Blog to see how the other designers have used today's featured products!

When I decide which particular sets I want to buy, I usually try to think of all the ways that I will use it. This "Sending you a hug in a mug" sentiment, in addition to the other sentiments,  makes this set a "sure-sale" for me! Is that even a word? LOL! I'm a sucker for mugs and cups, especially for holiday crafting, but knowing this could be used for tea inspired gifts/cards as well as "all things winter" makes my mind go crazy with possibilities! 

For this card, I used the new "Pierced Feature Frames: Oval to frame this stack of pastel colored mugs. It is die cut using Weathervane cardstock and popped up onto the Pale Peony Bitty Big pattern paper panel. I used the small polka dots to balance out the large print on the cups. The trio of cups are stamped in Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart, and Pale Peony. I used some left over flowers from my Traveler's Journal project in the corner of the bottom mug.

I love all of the little "extras" that this set comes with; the tag, the heart, the "steam" image. All of these little details really make a project seem more special. The steam is heat embossed using silver powder. 

I continued the embossing with the sentiment. I stamped the "sending" portion directly onto the mug using Versamark ink and then heat embossed it. The "you a hug a in a mug" portion is embossed onto a white sentiment strip and attached to the card using some foam squares. I thought some sparkling clear sequins would look so cute sprinkled around the steam. I had so much fun making this card! 

My second project also uses the "Merry Mug" set, as you can see! Last year, I made up some packages of "mug cake" mixes and added them to  Christmas mugs to gift to the secretaries at my sons' school. This year I thought it would be fun to do the same thing, but THIS time, I made some fabric sacks to put them in. I know that cookie mixes are popular to buy in the fabric sacks around Christmas time, but I thought that a miniature version would be super fun! 

 You could also use powdered hot chocolate mix as well, if you wanted! I'm sure I'll be trying that as well at some point before the holidays hit! Also, the sweet little heart that is included got my Valentine's Day brain working as well...don't be surprised it I pop out with some mug-tastic Valentine goodness! Ha Ha!

The recipe that I used for the "Mug Cake" can be found HERE. I used Devil's food cake as my "other" cake that you can pick. I also included some mini chocolate chips inside the fabric sacks as well. I used the snack sized ziploc style bags. I was able to get about 2/3 of a cup of mix into the bags as well as a good sprinkling of the mini chocolate chips.  The fabric bags are cut 4 inches by 6 inches and then sewn on 3 sides. This is the perfect size to hold everything, but it does require some "shoving"! LOL! The topper is die cut using the new "Shape Shifters: Oval 3" and is the perfect fit for the fabric bags.

The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. I realize that it is a little hard to see in the photos, but in real life it goes very nicely with the Kraft cardstock and the homespun feel. I thought that black would be too harsh! Once the sentiment was stamped, I was able to score a nice straight line to fold it over. It does hang a little bit lower in the back, but I like that because I am planning on writing the "to/from" greeting as well as a label with the directions on how to cook the mug cake.

This particular mug is one that I got from Hobby Lobby a few years ago, but it is the perfect size to hold one of these mixes! I also forgot to mention earlier that one recipe of "mug cake" makes 10 ziplock baggies of mix.So....I have made 10 of these little gifts! My sewing machine has been happily humming along these past few days!

I absolutely love the whip cream image. I discovered a fun little stamping tip for the cream whilst stamping 10 different swirls; ink the edges using Fine Linen Ink. Once you have a good amount of ink of the edges, take your fingertip and swirl it around. I figured this out about 2/3 of the way through, but I love the result! There is also a "cinnamon" sprinkle image as well that I also stamped in Fine Linen ink. I also went one step further and used my color spritzing tool and a brown marker to add some extra cinnamon-y speckles!

I chose 5 different Moda Fabrics so there is 2 of each design. It was fun mixing and matching all of the different designs to add to each mug to coordinate with the fabric! The heart is added to the cream using foam squares as well as the little holly sprig and berries in the corner. This project took a little longer than a card, but I am very pleased that I have 10 gifts ready to give this Christmas. The recipe said that the mix would be good for 6 months in an airtight container, so I pressed the bags closed very well. It was easy to sew a straight line underneath the sentiment as well...unless I filled the bag a little too full! woops! Oh well....I'm human! Ha Ha!

My final project uses the new "Sentiment Staples: Christmas". I wanted something other than a card for this stamp set as well, so when I saw that this set had the "from our home" and the "from my home" sentiment, I KNEW exactly what I wanted to do! Most of you probably have the charming Tiny Town: Basic Die, so this will be a fun project to put together this Christmas. 

I used Soft Stone Bitty Big patterned paper for the houses; one each of the different patterns. I used white for all of the shutters, doors and Scalloped Shingles. The "Merry Christmas" portion of the sentiment is heat embossed in white onto a strip of Pure Poppy Cardstock. The oval piece is the very center of the smallest Pierced Feature Frame: Oval that will be released this month. It is die cut out of Soft Stone cardstock and I used the outer frame for a bonus project at the end of this post.

I stamped the "from our home to yours" portions of the sentiment in Smokey Shadow ink. I added the red sentiment strip in the middle using foam squares. I just love the vintage vibe that this particular font gives the project, especially with the red and aqua color combination! It is one of my favorite color combinations for Christmas!

I used the new "Shape Shifters: Oval 3 die" again on this project as the bases to glue the houses. I wanted the houses to have a little bit more substance and this sweet die cut gives it that extra touch. It also gave me a place to add these mini bottle brush trees. It just really amps up the "cute" factor a few notches, am I right? What is it about women and anything "miniature"? 

I threaded some Pure Poppy 5/8 inch saddle stitched ribbon and some Pure Poppy Swiss Dot 5/8 inch Satin Ribbon through the holes of the handles. I didn't add any extra twine of fussiness so that the recipient can just untie and find the sweet treat or gift inside!

I have a few bonus tags to show you that I made as well. I was having so much fun and I had the extra Soft Stone ovals leftover from the tags I made for the houses, that I figured I may as well. It gave me a good excuse to use all of the different "Merry Christmas" fonts as well.

I threaded them all with some Pure Poppy Baker's Twine. I can't wait to add these to my Chrismtas gifts this year! I know that I shared quite a bit today, but I hope that you enjoyed it and that I have given you some inspiration for your holiday season! Thanks for fluttering by!