Papertrey Ink January Release Countdown Day 1

Welcome to day 1 of the Papertrey Ink January release countdown! It is such a fun release and I have SO much to share with you today! Up first is a trio of cards using the fabulous new Into the Blooms: Roses die! They are so beautiful and easy to use to create amazing life-like blooms! I die cut all of the pieces using white cardstock and then colored them using an assortment of Distress Oxide inks and finger daubers.

This card also features the new Just Sentiments: With Sympathy stamp set; actually ALL of my cards I'm sharing today use different sentiments from that set. My sympathy card stash is lacking so I didn't mind creating a fresh stack to add to my collection. 

I learned a couple of tricks while assembling so many of these roses for this release. I will share them with you throughout today's post! As I mentioned earlier, all of the petals and leaves are die cut from white cardstock. One of the things that works really well is to alternate between light and dark layers, starting with your light layer as the base and work your way to the center.

Another trick that I found is to use liquid glue in the center of the first two layers and then add the 3rd layer using foam squares. that extra bit of dimension right there really allows the rose to look realistic. From there, I simply used liquid glue to adhere the last top piece.

My sister gave me a beautiful set of nesting bowls for Christmas and this card was inspired by the set. The background is die cut using the Border Bling: Tin Stitch die on a A2 sized panel of Berry Sorbet cardstock. I die cut the Spring Rain layer using the Scallop Stackers: Large die and adhered it to the top of the Berry Sorbet panel using foam squares. I also die cut a white panel using the Nesting Basics: Rectangles dies and the Nesting Basics: Pierced Rectangles dies. I stamped the sentiment in black and then added the flowers and leaves using foam squares.

The new rose dies have beautiful leaves, but I also wanted to add some additional detail and interest, so I used one of the leaf dies from the Into the Blooms: Dahlia die collection. If I must admit it, almost every single card I've made so far has used this leaf! ha ha! 

I added some glitter to the edges of the leaves and each of the roses for some sparkle and shine.

My second card using the new Into the Blooms: Roses die collection uses the same leaves as I mentioned earlier, but I decided to mix things up and make them in shades of blue and turquoise. I was inspired by a piece of embroidery that I saw and I couldn't wait to incorporate some blue leaves!

If you saw my sneak peek that  I shared on Instagram, then you would have seen all of the roses I created in all kinds of different colors. This card features two of the largest yellow roses and the smaller sized pink rose.

I had a lot of fun creating the background, but when it was all said and done, I covered most of it up! LOL! I used the same tin stitch background panel like I did on the first card and then layered a stack of two of the die cuts using the Cover Plate: Elegance die.

The final layer of the background is the medium sized frame from the Pierced Feature Frames: oval. I layered the flowers and leaves here and there. The sentiment is heat embossed in gold onto a strip of white cardstock and then tucked into the pink rose.

My third card using the roses dies features two of my favorites; the lavender roses! I love how these two turned out, which is surprising because as I was inking them up, I had my reservations!

I created another tone-on-tone background by layering the On the Border: Floral Bliss Die onto an A2 sized panel of Aqua Mist cardstock. I defined the edges by adding some of the ink that I used on the leaves using a blender brush.

I clustered the roses in a triangle shape and then added the leaves here and there to frame the roses. The sentiment, which is from the Just Sentiments: With Sympathy, is stamped in black onto a white banner that is die cut from the Banner Builder Basics die collection.

I tried to use 2-3 colors of ink on each layer of the rose, making certain to bring in at least one of the colors I used on the previous layers for continuity and realism.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I used the sympathy sentiment set for all of today's cards, but you could easily switch them up for any occasion.

My final card for today features the new Feathered Friends 19 die and the new Border Bling: Blooming Hearts die. I die cut all of the pieces for the bird, branch, and berries out of white cardstock and then inked them up with Distress Oxide inks.

There are quite a few small pieces and in the end I realized that I didn't put a piece on correctly! woops! Oh well! Anyway, I just carefully inked up each piece and glued them together using liquid glue and a foam square or two on the front wing.

I die cut the background using Stormy Sea cardstock and then blended some of the blue ink from the bird around the edges.

I forgot to mention that I added some additional shading and detail to the birds' wings using blue colored pencil.

My inspiration for this bird came from a picture of a completely different kind of bird, but I loved the colors so I gave it a try! In the end, I really like how he turned out! That wraps up day 1 and I'll be back tomorrow for day 2! Thanks for fluttering by!