Welcome to the April Release Hop!

Hello there! Welcome to our April Release Hop!

We have a huge batch of new goodies for you this month that you are going to love to get crafty with! I can't wait to show you so let's get right to it, shall we?

First up is our new Party Pachyderms set! How cute is this? Seriously! These elephants are partying and dancing and are ready to celebrate! You will love to stamp with this set because there's no coloring required. The elements included can be made into a custom background or even as elephant accessories. For instance, a party hat can be stamped on the elephants head, or a balloon or flower held in an elephant's trunk. We kept the sentiments simple and to the point but in a font that is fun and pairs perfectly with the images. We think you'll really enjoy putting your partying pachyderms together with this next, new die.

Our new Boxed Up Birthday Greeting Die is a fun text block die and it is the perfect focal image size for an A2 card front. The stitching included around the frame adds a great touch. This die can even be used as a shaker! I think you're going to love how well this goes together with our new Party Pachyderms Stamps. This is a fun die that will help to create quick and easy birthday cards and I know you'll reach for it again and again! The nice thing about it is that even though it makes a quick and easy card people will think you SLAVED to make their cards! LOL!

Yayyyyyyy!!!! We have had these in our inventory since we released our first set of Speech Bubbles but we wanted to give you just the right stamp set to go with them. We have! More on that in a minute. These new Speech Bubbles 2 Dies are terrific! You will LOVE their size and shape AND they feature our exclusive Dual Stitching. The means you'll  cut stitched speech bubbles AND you'll have a stitching left around the piece that cut away so you can use that piece for a whole other purpose like a recessed sentiment. So even though I felt like I HAD to design you a stamp set to go with these dies you'll have loads of stamps already in your collection that will be useful with these dies.

Here it is! This is our new Just Sayin' Stamp Set!! You know we love sentiments that are just a little sassy and so we've brought more of that to you with these stamps and they all stamp perfectly on our new Speech Bubbles 2 Die Set. I envision using one of the larger stamps on a speech bubble and then a follow up stamp in a smaller speech bubble. For example, "We'll be friends forever because you already know too much."  and then having a bubble that says "Just Sayin'". Isn't that fun?

MORE FUN!! This is our new Petal Card Die. It created an adorable note card that when folded as shown above it stays completely closed without adhesive. I love it because it's like a little gift note that your recipient will unwrap to open. The overall die is large, but the finished folded die cut is small-ish at 2 5/8 square. We've added our signature stitching detail because it rocks and it looks especially good on this notecard! The scored lines will assist with folding and I even use my bone folder to help get a perfect crisp fold. This is something you can die cut a whole bunch of and keep on hand for any occasion.  We thought you might like some glassine envelopes to put this card in so we've stocked them in the perfect size for you. You will love the presentation this makes!

Here are the mini glassine envelopes I mentioned above. These fit out new Petal Card perfectly and and the flap can be sealed closed with some fun washi tape of even a sticker. You'll love them!!

You told us you loved our Send Pretty Mail Stamps and wanted more so we've designed a Send Pretty Greetings set in the same font combo and even added in some fun little elements. This set is so pretty and has some terrific, useful greetings for so many purposes! I know you're going to love it. It works perfectly with our new Petal Card Die as well! You'll notice that just about each outlined image has a coordinating solid image stamp as well. The solid images are just slightly off size so you can do some fun shadow stamping and I'll show you an example of that as we move throughout the release hop this week.

Okay, so.....about these flower dies.......THEY ROCK!!!! And I have NO IDEA why we didn't do a series of stitched flowers AGES AGO!!!!! Well, our Perky Posies Dies are now and they are lovely! We've given you several sizes and shapes and added stitching in lots of different ways to keep these so visually interesting and pretty. Some even have cut outs and I think you might just like them the most from the set. I know I do! The petals are simple and will work with all the different flowers and we've included a couple of different sizes of circles which you can add as the centers of the flowers if you so choose. You are going to love crafting with these flower dies again and again!! YAY!!!!!! I'm so happy to add these to our die collection!

Next up is an AMAZING and quite large stamp set designed by our very own Sarah Jay! Our new Vintage Ink Set is a modern, clean and fresh take on a vintage tattoo theme. There are three main focal images in the set each can be adorned with all the fabulous elements that have been included here. All of the sentiments will stamp on the banner which I think you're going to love "wrapping" around the focal horseshoe, anchor and heart. This is such a fun set to color. I just know you're going to love it! Sarah did an amazing job with this don't you think? WAIT until you see some of the amazing cards from our design team showcasing this beautiful set. I know it's going to be one you have to have!

I wanted to bring you a set of dies to complement our new Vintage Ink Stamps but I had to pick and choose which elements to coordinate with otherwise this die set would be enormous. So, I chose to focus on the extras in this set like the banner and florals and clover. Personally, I enjoyed TREMENDOUSLY having these to reach for as I was creating with this set and I know you will too.

Oh, YEAH!!!! I love love love how this stamp set turned out. This is our new Awesome Blossom Stamp Set and it's so very rockin' don't you think? First, the sentiments.....they are done is a font I love. It's the same one we used in our Paint Your Canvas Stamps and I just had to have more. They came out so cute I think. The sentiment "May you always have laughter in your lives and love in your hearts" is something that my dear friend, Katey, and Maid of Honor said at my wedding to Keith and I during her toast and it's always stuck with me. This just seemed like the perfect time to share it with you. It's perfect for a wedding card or anniversary card too. Gee, I guess these sentiments are very personal to me because taking a better look at it these sayings each mean a lot to me in their own way. I hope you love them! The flowers....ohhhhh the flowers. LOVE! My favorite blossoms in the set are the ones which also have a coordinating detail stamp. So you can stamp the blossom in say a lighter pink and then add it's petals or coordinating detail stamp in a darker ink. I love the possibilities these images give you. I also really love the flowers that appear as though they are tight buds just ready to bloom. I love em' all - who am I kidding?!!! HA! Any of the flowers that have open centers also have a coordinating center stamp so that they may be filled in with a stamp or even by hand with a marker. This set is a MUST HAVE, don't you think?

And OH YEAH!!!! We've given you a coordinating die set for our Awesome Blossom Stamps!! Yeeehaaaaa!!! Woooo hooo!!! Here's why I love them....they can be used a couple of different ways. Most obviously, you can cut many from white paper and then stamp on them in any color - perfect! BUT you can also cut these dies from colored cardstock and then use the center or detail stamps in a coordinating ink to create an entirely different looking bloom. You can even use them to cut patterned paper. Lots of possibilities here and I love that! These dies are wired together and some of the dies are nested. You're going to want to separate some of these before use and our Wire Cutting Pliers will really help with that. You may even want to snag one of our Magnetic Die Storage Sheets to contain these guys together. We created them this way to keep them as affordable as possible for you! :)

Ok, our We Connect set may not look like a must have at first glance but trust me when I tell you IT IS!!!!!!!! My vision for this set was to create a set of interlocking circles that you can stamp and then heat emboss in white so that you can color or water color the centers in all different colors and I love love love how this looks when it's complete. This set is a colorer's dream!! LOL! Of course you can always stamp these images in black and color as well. They are really quite a few things you can do with this and I know you'll enjoy playing with it! We kept the sentiment simple but perfectly coordinated so that we could bring you the largest and most fun circles to color that could fit on a 4x6 stamp set! Add this one to your cart. You won't be disappointed! :)

Even though the following die sets have been available in our store for the last few weeks, our Design Team will be showcasing them during this release and they are amazing!

Our Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Rectangles give you THREE THINGS that you've been asking for for quite some time:

• An A2 card base sized stitched rectangle die
• Additional sizes of the Stitched Rectangles you love so much :)
• AND a set of Dual Stitched Rectangles

 This set has it ALL!!!! The largest die in this set cuts a stitched rectangle which is the perfect fit for your card bases and it's something that has not been featured in any of our rectangle die sets UNTIL NOW!

The remaining three dies in this set feature our exclusive Dual Stitching on the inside and outside of the cut line which can be used in so many fun and creative ways!

What is Dual Stitching you ask? It is a concept in die cutting first introduced to our paper crafting community by Lil' Inker Designs back in June, 2013. Perforated stitching lines are included on the inside and outside of the main cut line leaving you, in this case, with perfectly stitched rectangles as well as a negative cut also with stitching around it as well! It's really like getting two die sets in one!

There are 4 sizes of dies in this set which come nested on a magnetic sheet for handy storage. Sizes are as follows:

Largest die cuts an exact A2 stitched rectangle at 4.25" x 5.50" (this die does not feature dual stitching and cuts a stitched rectangle only)

Three additional, Dual Stitched Rectangles die sizes are:
 3 7/16" x 4 5/8", 2 1/2" x 3 5/8", 1 1/2" x 2 13/16"

This is an amazing addition to your collection of Stitched Mats even if you already have our original Stitched Mats: Rectangles. We've brought you additional sizes of stitched rectangles, the A2, card base stitched rectangle you've been asking for AND three sizes of rectangles with Dual Stitching all in one handy set!

This set of dies features THREE THINGS that you've been asking for:

• MORE Stitched Squares in additional sizes. 
• A die that cuts a stitched stitched square (instead of just cutting a stitched border) and in a more cardbase-friendly size 
• AND a set of Dual Stitched Squares! 

We've done it all with our Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Squares!! The largest die in this set cuts a stitched square 4.25" x 4.25 which is a very card-friendly size and is a die that we've not yet featured in any of our die sets.

The remaining three dies in this set feature our exclusive Dual Stitching on the inside and outside of the cut line which can be used in so many fun and creative ways! 

There are 4 sizes of dies in this set which come nested on a magnetic sheet for handy storage. Sizes are as follows: 

Largest die cuts a stitched square exactly 4.25" x 4.25" (this die does not feature dual stitching and cuts a stitched square only) 

Three additional, Dual Stitched Squares die sizes are: 3 7/16", 2 1/2", 1 9/16" 

This is an amazing addition to your collection of Stitched Mats even if you already have our original Stitched Mats: Squares. We've brought you additional sizes of stitched squares, the card-friendly 4.25" stitched square you've been asking for AND three sizes of squares with Dual Stitching all in one handy set!

Ok, so that does it. Whew! That's a pretty huge release!! What are your favorites??

How about some projects?  Hmmmm....what to share...what to share....... Ok, I know! Let's start with our Boxed Up Birthday Greeting Die and Party Pachyderms Stamps!

This was ooooooh so very simple to make. I used an ombré ink pad to stamp the banner from Party Pachyderms onto a white card base. I die cut my Boxed Up Birthday Greeting Die from pink paper and I used a blender to add some ink for shading. I then made this into a shaker just by adding a piece of acetate and some clear sequins. I love how this turned out and it's a great example to show you what a perfect focal size this new die is. It took me extra time to turn this into a shaker. But you can skip this part and just adhere the sentiment and you have a pretty card in just under 5 minutes that you can customize with different colors for any recipient! LOVE!

I just went to town with stamping on this one and I enjoyed EVERY minute of it!! I created a custom background with the elements from the Party Pachyderms Stamps which I then die cut using a stitched rectangle. I stamped my ellie and added a party hat and then fussy cut him out. Now, if you LOVE this stamp set and want some coordinating dies let me know. I was on the fence about creating them for you so I'd love your feedback. But here again is another cute design that really didn't take long at all. I love making fun cards that look like a lot of effort but were really fast to make. Also featured here is our popular Stitched Scallop Border Die.

Here I did some watercoloring. Does it look like a bad 80's tropical print?? AAAAhahahahahaha!!! It kind of does but I just went with it. Once my watercoloring was dry I die cut two bubbles from our new Speech Bubbles 2 Die Set. See how the Dual Stitching leaves the stitching around the cut away? Awesome, right? Then, I stamped my sentiments on a white panel underneath which appears recessed because of the foam tape I used. I was able to line up my stamping because I lightly pencil traced the bubbles. Here my sentiments are from our new Just Sayin' Stamp Set and I couldn't possibly love this set more! I think it's cute and hilarious all at the same time! You will love this one! Also featured here are our Side Stitched Rectangles. 

Here again are our new Speech Bubbles 2 Die Set and our Just Sayin' Stamps. I like that these two projects show you some different sentiment to die cut combinations and layouts! How about that yayness stamp? It's so GREAT!!!!!!! I'm so super excited to have this in stamp format. It's something I say when talking all. the. time.!!!!!  I'm a silly girl :) Also featured here is our Cover Up Die: Pointelle and seriously, if you don't have this die well, honestly, I think you're missing out! Is it okay I said that? I think it's just flippin' amazing! Just sayin'!

I have one more card for you today which you may have already seen because I used this for the Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness Blog Hop as a sneak peek of this new set. You might recall that above I said I designed it specifically to stamp and heat emboss on white paper and the color and I've done just that here with Copic markers. I just love love love how this turned out! SEE!!! You NEED THIS, right? Ha!!!  

Oh, my! The silliness is in full effect today. I think it's just because I'm so very excited about all of our new goodies! I hope you are too!

I am going to let you go now and hop and visit our design team and see their projects. Here is a list of everyone participating in today's hop:

LID Blog http://www.shoplilinker.blogspot.com/ <<<----------- You are here :)

Laura Williams http://lauralooloo.blogspot.com/

Lisa Henke http://mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/

Heather Hoffman http://housesbuiltofcards.blogspot.com - this is Heather's first release hop as a new Design Team Member. YAYYYYY!!!!! Go, Heather! Go, Heather!

Karen Baker http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Lea Lawson http://www.lealawsoncreates.com/

Sarah Jay http://www.criminalgrace.com/ 

Maureen Merritt http://www.mamamostamps.com/

Chrissy Larson http://chrissycards.blogspot.com/

Amy Kolling http://stamp-n-paradise.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Carter http://jensinkspot.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to get in on winning one of three $15 gift certificates to our store please leave some love along your way for our design team by commenting on their blogs. I know they appreciate your love and comments so much and I know I appreciate the time you take to do so so you shall be rewarded with prizes!!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending part of your day with me! I hope you love all the new release goodies we have for you this month! We'll see you tomorrow for day 2 of our new release hop!