Blog Hop Re-Cap, Prize Winners, Coffee Die Tutorial & MORE!

Hi Everyone!!! Thank you for your patience while I prepared this post.
At the end of every hop I love to re-cap all of the amazing projects from our designers! Let's not wait any longer. Have a look!


From Teresa Kline

From Sarah Jay

From Laura Pryor




From Jen Carter

From Jen del MuroFrom Emily Leiphart



From Amy Kolling

From Debby Hughes

From Alicia Thelin

Totally amazing!

Now, a couple of days ago we announced our hop prize winners on our FaceBook Page. Do you follow Lil' Inker on FaceBook? If not, CLICK HERE. I actually do quite a bit of chatting there!

The winner of the $10 store credit is Chunyuan and the winner of the 2 Cute Ink Set of her choice is KopyKat AKA Holly. Chunyuan has already contacted me, but Holly if you're out there please email me at lilinkerdesigns at gmail dot com!!!

Congrats Congrats Congrats!!!!! And thank you to all of you who take the time out to hop with us and leave us such wonderful and enthusiastic feedback. We appreciate it so much!!!

So are you ready for some more??? I've really been wanting to share a pictured tutorial with you showing you how to use the registration marks on our new Coffee Cozies Dies. CLICK HERE to be taken to the tutorial page.

Ok, so we still have Coffee Cozies sets and Funny Bunnies sets available at the LID Store for you to take home today. AND as an extra added BONUS we've just marked down some stamps sets in our store and we'll be running this select items sale until at least next Sunday. Currently marked down are some sets from our 2 Cute Ink line: Hamster Cupid $5, Arctic Friends, Snow Mouse, Cocoa Bear and Sweet Bee are all $7.50 for a limited time. We have a few Holly Jolly sets in stock and they've been reduced to $15. Why not grab one up today?

Thanks for stopping by today!

International Shipping Rates Update

Good afternoon! I'm following up from our post a few weeks ago regarding our International Shipping Rates.

We did find it necessary to increse our international shipping rates as of now.

For Australia, Canada and the UK our first class shipping has increased from $5.00 to $5.50 for orders totaling $66.00 or less. We are keeping our rate of $6.50 for orders over $66.00.

Other regions, such as Netherlands, Denmark, South Africa, Iceland, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Belgium, French Polynesia, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, France, Malaysia, Germany, Bermuda our first class rate has increased from $5.00 to $6.00 for orders totaling $66.00 or less. We are keeping our rate of $6.50 for orders over $66.00 for the time being.

We think you'll find that these rates are competitive and that the increase is reasonable considering the recent postal increases.

We'll be back shortly with a post to re-cap our exciting release hop, a pictured tutorial using our new Coffee Cozies dies and thei built in alignment tool as well as the annoucement of our prize winners and some pictures from the swap I attended with Ariana and Sarah Jay on Saturday!!

Thank you so much for your attention and understanding.

New Release Hop Day 5

This has been such an amazing week!! Thank you to everyone who has so positively and enthusiastically left comments for myself and the Design Team this week. We've all had so much fun making projects with our new sets Coffee Cozies and Funny Bunnies and now it's YOUR turn to enjoy them! There are still sets left at the LID Store today!







And speaking of enjoy.....get ready to enjoy a post from all of our designers today with more amazing projects showing off our new goodies.

I am planning to come back with some pictures to add to the informal tutorial I wrote up on Monday about using our Coffee Cozies dies and their registration marks for perfect stamp to die placement. AND I will be back to announce the winners of the prizes we're giving away for this release. You have until 11:30 P.M. EST Saturday March 24th to comment to be eligible for the random drawing.

We are experiencing a slight delay getting our Funny Bunnies orders out the door. We really appreciate your patience while we get these orders packed and shipped and all ready for you. It shouldn't be long at all. I'm guessing that they will all have grown wings and will be well on their way by Monday the latest!

So I am going to leave you to get started on the rest of your crafty little way! The first stop on the hop today is Alicia Thelin!

Enjoy have a fabby day and I'll see you in a few days with a pictured tutorial, Prize Winners, hop re-cap AND I'm hoping to snap some pics on Saturday at my first Shoe Box Swap. I'm going with Ariana and our friend and DT member Sarah Jay is going to be there and we'll be meeting for the first time!!!! OH YAY!!! I cannot wait and I just MIGHT be bringing some prizes with me!

Ok, off you go! Thanks for stopping by today!

New Release Hop Day 4 - Funny Bunnies

Oh my goodness! I can't even believe today is Thursday already! SO many of our new sets have grown little wings and are off and flying to their new homes as we speak. We're so happy with the response we've received from our customers and fans this week regarding our new sets. If you think this release is good...oh boy! You just wait until NEXT MONTH!!! More on that at the right time!

Let's talk more bunnies!!! Isn't this set so great!



If you're just joining us today, we're showcasing our new 2 Cute Ink set called Funny Bunnies! It's jammed packed with cuteness with TWO focal bunny images, a basket image, two different egg stamps and NINE sentiments.

If you think bunnies are only for Easter, think again!!! This set contains some great sentiments for everyday use such as "Hiya, Sweetie!", "Just hopping by with a great big bunny hi" and "Fewer things are lovelier than friends like you". Aren't those good? I think so! HA! But I think it's also neat that so many our sentiments in this line are truly interchangeable with all of the other images in the 2 Cute Ink line and this really gives you more bang for your buck, don't you think?

I have a quick and easy card I made to share with you today. Have a peek....



I tried to color an actual, colorful, swirled lollipop. I added some clear embossing powder over it to give it some shine. It's hard to see in my picture but it's pretty cool in person. I made a grassy hill for my bunny to stand on and I added in the clouds by sponging with white craft ink and using a negative from a cloud die cut. I also embossed my sentiment which is a great way to add a little shine and really have your sentiment pop off the kraft paper.

Ok, come and get your copy of this set in the LID Store. They are selling fast! And don't forget to leave comments along your way through the hop today to be eligible for our prizes; a $10 store credit and a Funny Bunnies set!

Amy Kolling is the next stop on your way today and then onto Sarah Jay, so a quick hop today but TOMORROW pour yourself a cuppa coffee. It's our group post day so our entire team will have something new to share with you!

Thanks so much! Make it a good day!

New Release Hop Day 3 - Funny Bunnies

Hello and welcome to Wednesday, day THREE of our new release hop! Thank you for joining us and supporting us with your delightful and exciting feedback over the last few days!

Today we're here to introduce what I know is going to make you squeal with delight. This is truly my favorite set from our 2 Cute Ink line so far AND it's our largest with two main focal images and three supporting/coordinating images and EIGHT sentiments. We really have a nice variety of sayings for this set. They can be used for Spring, Easter AND everyday! There's just something about these bunnies which makes me think this is our cutest set yet! Have a look...



So sweet. Right?

Here are a couple of projects I made using these funny little bunnies. I love making little scenes for these guys and this first project is no exception. Have a peek...



I wanted my little bunny to look like she was sitting on a spot of grass. I used the "l" die from our Jingle Joy set to cut a piece of felt (green grass) for her to sit on and of course I added a couple of white felt clouds to adorn her sky! I just love this Springy feel of yellow and purple too.

Let me just stop for a minute and tell you how easy and fun these images are to color. A coloring/Copic marker expert I am NOT. I used some quick "flicks" or strokes to add color for fur and a combo of markers to color her bow and the same "flicks" technique for her ears and that was pretty much it. It took me less than 5 minutes to do and overall I think the results are pretty darn okay!!

So if you're new to coloring I think our 2 Cute images are an easy, fun and CUTE way to get your feet wet. Not into coloring? Seriously, paper piecing is loads of fun and gives you just as cool an effect! So it's true that these sets really are for all and any skill level!

Ok, one more project for you today....I made this fun little lollipop holder!



I started by carefully inking my image so as to avoid the actual lollipop part of the stamp knowing that wanted to add a real one and then stamped and colored my image. Then, I used our oversized sentiment flag from our Flags & Tags set to cut out the tag and because this die has the clear backer I could lay the die over my bunny and line it up and actually see through the die so I could place the bunny on the flag wherever I wanted him! Yet another reason every paper crafter should own this die, LOL!!

After sponging the sky and adding in some grass with my Copics (you guessed it...more "flicks")I used a glue dot to stick my pop on the tag exactly where I wanted it and added in a little strip of paper for a hand?...paw? as if he's holding the pop for you! The rest is pretty easy...a strip of decorative paper, some twine and of course a sentiment! Here I used our Easter sentiment. I thought this would be a really fun way to give a sweet little Easter treat. I hope you like it!

Ok, so...LOVE, right? A total must have set for bunny lovers, colorers, paper piecers and stamp lovers in general for making sweet Spring cards, Easter greetings or just for everday like saying hi!

Remember as you hop along to view our bunny cards for today remember to leave comments along the way. We are going to pick two winners from this week's comments. One will receive a $10 store credit and the other will win our brand new Funny Bunnies set!

I hope you're enjoying this week as much as we are! Both sets that we've previewed this week are currently available to take home today from our LID Store!

Now, I'm going to send you on your way to the FABBY Alicia Thelin's blog to see what crafty goodness she's up to today!

Enjoy, have fun and thanks for stopping by today!!

New Release Hop Day 2 - Coffee Cozies

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments you left for us yesterday. Judging by your feedback I think it's safe to say you're loving our new Coffee Cozies set! YAY!!!

And an extra thank you for the feedback you left regarding the registration marks on these dies. If you missed my post yesterday about the new feature you can go back and read all about it HERE. These dies have a built in alignment tool so that your stamps and dies line up PERFECTLY and it's really SUPER simple to use. Run your dies through your cutting machine and use the negative that remains to help line up your stamped art to your die by making marks in the alignment holes. Go ahead on over and read all about it. I'll wait :), LOL!!



However, I can't emphasize enough that this is truly only an option for perfect alignment and we've had just as super results with these products using them the traditional way of die cut first, then line up by "eyeing it" and stamping.

Have you taken a few minutes to look at all the stamps that come in this set and the super cute fonts and sentiments?

What are some of your favorites? I'm loving the Vitamin "C" sentiment. I'm also loving the smiley face in this set. I actually drew it and Ariana perfected it in her graphics software. Heidi Schwoerer of 2 Cute Ink also helped on this set and did a fabulous job of taking my sketches and making them into this cute artwork.Thank you again, Heidi!

So apparently I'm loving the Coffee and Friends sentiment because I just noticed now as I am typing this that I used this sentiment on today's project as well! That's okay! This project shows you how nicely the dies work just by themselves with some patterned paper. Have a look....



It also shows you how the over sized sentiment flag from our Flags & Tags set is literally the perfect backdrop for every project and how I think every paper crafter in the world should have one!!! LOL!!! I swear..I haven't put this guy down. LOVE!!

Now, tomorrow we will begin to post projects featuring our new 2 Cute Ink set which seriously and honestly is the BEST one we've done! So please come back and visit us tomorrow and Thursday so you can see it. And Friday the entire group will be posting. So pour yourself some Vitamin "C" on Friday because our hop will be plentiful and loaded with goodness! Also, don't forget to leave comments along the way as you hop because we'll be giving away prizes, a $10 store credit and our new Funny Bunnies set from 2 Cute Ink! Both of our new sets are already in the LID store and are ready to go home with you today! So run right over for a preview of the Funny Bunnies set!

I'll leave you now to head on over to the amazing and talented Emily Leiphart's blog to see what crafty goodness she has brewing!

Thank you for stopping by today!

New Release Hop Day One - Coffee Cozies!

YAY! I can finally share this set with you! Welcome to our New Release Hop Day One....Introducing Coffee Cozies!!

We have been working so hard on this set for what seems like FOREVER! I really wanted to bring you a set of dies and stamps which focuses on the cutest part of coffee, the cozy! What's a coffee cozy you ask? Why, it's the little sleeve that goes around your to-go cup, of course!

This set includes 4 dies: coffee cup, lid, cozy and handle which can be used to make a cute to-go cup or even a sweet little mug...mixable and matchable for that perfect cup!

The coordinating stamp set includes 26 stamps, our largest set yet and includes cute images to dress up your cozy as well as many wonderful coffee themed sentiments like "Good Morning" and "Warm and Sweet Just Like You" which are done in a lovely and decorative font! There's even a fun smiley and steamy swirl stamps...lots and lots of possibilities with this fun set!






A VERY special thank you to Heidi Schwoerer of 2 Cute Ink, contributing artist on the Coffee Cozy set! Thank you, my dear! Heidi took my hand drawn art which wasn't TOO BAD (LOL) and made it into something adorable! Round of applause for Heidi!!!

Let's have a look at a project I made using this set to help you fall in love with it as much as I already am!



Before I get to the ins and outs of this project let me take a minute to talk about this die set. We've done something new with this set if you noticed from the graphic above. We've added registration marks to these dies to help with lining up your stamps and dies...the thing about this feature is that it's there as an option for you to use if your a perfectionist like me and want perfectly stamped dies....let me explain...

If you'd like to use the registration marks for perfect stamp placement you will want to run your dies through your cutting machine using a scrap piece of paper. It's the negative here that will give you the perfect placement. See those extra holes the die cut out on the negative? Those are the registration marks and they are the key to proper alignment. Put the negative aside for now...but KEEP it with your set when you store it so it can be used over and over again.

To begin, first stamp your image...color it to your heart's content or stamp it with dye ink in your favorite color...and when it's perfect and ready for cutting lay the die negative (from above) over your stamped image and line it up so that there's nice, even white space all the way around your stamped image. Using a pen or marker(I like marker best)fill in the holes in the negative then remove the negative.

Now, lay your die over your stamped image and line up the markings on your sheet so you can see them through the holes in the actual die and CUT! THIS method will yield you perfect results.

BUT, you do NOT HAVE to use this method for perfect alignment. Ariana and I designed this set in such a way that you can use the standard, slightly faster method of die cut first, then stamp by eyeing just as easily and effectively and pretty darn perfectly too! Again, this new method I described above is an option that we thought it would be nice for you to have!! I like options!

So my first project above is what I thought would be a super cute way to give a coffee gift card to a friend or the babysitter or a thank you for a neighbor! Of course I didn't get a picture of it but I actually made a pocket on the back of this tag so the gift card has a nice little place to sit! I just love this combo of kraft and pink and I think that the heart is my favorite cozy stamp! You likey?

I have one more project to share with you...Have a look....




I just love that you can mix and match colors to make infinite coffee cup combos! This one uses an aqua and red combo that I just love as well as the flower cozy stamp and possibly my favorite sentiment from this set. Here I used the "l" from our Jingle Joy set to create the perfect slit in the top of my card where I threaded my ribbon!

Ok, ARE YOU READY FOR MORE???? We are giving away prizes this week as we celebrate new release week so don't forget to comment all along the hop each day. We'll be giving away a $10 store credit and our 2 Cute Ink set releasing this month which we'll be showcasing here beginning Wednesday.

Now, I'm going to send you on your way to Design Team Member Alicia Thelin's blog so you can see what's up at Scrappy Betties! Have fun today! I can't WAIT to hear what you think of this new set! Oh and one more thing before I forget BOTH of our releases are available for purchase at the LID Shop today so that if you want them both they're yours for the taking with no waiting!

Thanks for stopping by today! We'll see you tomorrow for hop day 2 and more fun with Coffee Cozies!