An Update and Some Eye Candy!

Good morning!! I thought I would stop by with a lil' post today as I have some info and updates for you. I even have some eye candy! I was going through my cards yesterday and I realized I made one that didn't make the hop!! Poor thing! LOL! More on that in a min.

So, We are waiting on a large shipment of dies to arrive that have been out of stock for a little bit. I am keeping my fingers crossed for them to arrive by Monday. I will keep you posted. I am really hoping they arrive tonight! You know the minute they do and I verify the counts that you will receive my email if you're on our notification list!

It was a very busy New Release Week and we're so happy you're loving the new goodies. Monday, March 4th will be the last day for order fulfillment while I take a small break the rest of the week to recover from a surgery I'm having on Tuesday. You can bet that the minute I can get right back to it I will!

I am going to try my very very best to announce the hop prize winners on Monday before my break as well!!

Here is a card I made for our new release hop that some how didn't make it online!

Here is stamped "Hello" from our new Darling Diamonds Stamp Set in Crumb Cake Ink onto kraft paper which I mounted on a chocolate card base. I made the focal image using our Circles & Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die and Connected Circles Die and then stamped a rainbow of "hi" diamonds from our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set - such a fun trio of goodies!

Have a wonderful wonderful weekend and thank you for your well wishes for speedy recovery! I really appreciate that!!

Chat soon!

 

New Release Day 3 - Group Post Day!!!!

Hi there! I can't believe this is our last hop day. What a week!! I'm so very excited that you're loving our new goodies as much as I am! 

Let's do a little re-cap on what we released this week and then I have a couple more projects to share with you!! 

Here are the pictures of everything we released this week...

This fabby guy is a die which cuts this intricate and beautiful and, not to mention, trendy pattern. The die is 4.25" wide x 5.5" tall and lines up perfectly with your pre-made A2 card base to easily cut this lovely stitched pattern. It's GORGEOUS on its own, but we made some super duper awesome goodies to go with it!!!!

These awesome stamps decorate its companion stitched pattern! Make it intricate or keep it simple - either way it will be gorgeous with our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set which contains some of my favorite sentiments in the perfect size and font!

Our Connected Circles Die was made to coordinate with both our Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die and our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set. Here's how it works..... Well, it works on its own, of course. So run it through your die cutting machine and you have this great strip of connected circles which is exactly 5.25" long so it reaches from one end of your A2 card to the other and can be trimmed down for smaller widths. You can stamp on it embellish it - anything you like and it makes a great die to add to your collection. 

It's true potential is reached when it's used with our Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die. Here's how - First use your Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die. Then, place your Connected Circles Die over your Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern lining up the pattern which it does perfectly and cut again. NOW you have a connected circles border which ALSO features this fabulous stitched pattern! Something cool I learned while experimenting? Cut another strip of circles right next to the previous one and your left with diamond negatives and yup - they fit smack in the middle of our C&D Stitched Pattern! AWESOME SAUCE!

This is another amazing stamp set which is super on trend and going to be hot hot hot!!! It's loaded with sketchy doodles and coordinating sentiments done in a sketchy and fun font. What's really cool is that we made these stamps to coordinate with our brand new Notebook Die! It's a perfect small size at 2.25" x 3.125" and makes for a fabulous focal image and features our signature stitching! We even did a coordinating stamp of a distressed notebook background which really brings this die to life.

These stamps are absolutely addictive to stamp! Just wait until you get your hands on them! They make amazing backgrounds and I really love what this set "says". Use it for friends and loved ones to celebrate, tell someone you miss them, send someone a sweet hello...loads and loads of fun options.

This mini set of awesomeness can be yours free when you place an order of $75 or more and use the code AWESOMESAUCE at check out OR add it to your order for only $5!! It's really a cute little set of sayings in a terrific font!

SWOOON!!!! I know!! LOL!!!

Ok, so I have some projects to share with you today that you haven't yet seen. I'm hoping you think I saved the best for last! These are my two favorite projects I created with our new goodies. I hope you like them too!!

I made a very interesting discovery - a "happy accident", if you will (remember Bob Ross?, LOL). Here I die cut 5 different pieces of card stock with my Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Plate and then I had at it with my 1 inch circle punch which trims out these individual circles PERFECTLY! I was SO excited to find that out! It made making this card super super easy. I love dies - you know that, but I admit it...I turn to the punches every so often and this was one of those times! Once I had all my circles done I adhered them in a random color pattern to my card front and embellished is as shown. I popper up one of the circles and added the "hi" diamond, my FAVORITE from the Darling Diamonds Stamp Set. I love how this turned out! This is one of those cards I won't be able to part with!! Do you some of those too?

Oh I had the best time stamping this card! I absolutely love stamping these doodle stamps all over a card front especially in neon ink! I created a sentiment that I "built" with different words in the set. I would totally say this! HA!! Loving that "like" inspired thumb. I'm doing a lot of "this" in this this post. It's the doodles and the neon - it's taking me back - picture me talking with my hands and using my hands to make the quotes....I digress. Anywhoo - what a fun stamp set this is!!!

Would you like another peek at my cards from my previous posts this week??

A big thank you to Jen Carter and Alicia Thelin for your ideas and contributions for these sets!! Thank you, Ladies!!!! 

Just a reminder that I will be fulfilling orders through the weekend and my last post office run will be Monday the 3rd. Tuesday I'm having that surgery I mentioned and more than likely I will be out of commission for the week which means a slight pause on orders shipping out. 

Also, I'm waiting on a large restock of items to arrive. As of today, they are late and I'm waiting to hear back on when I can expect them. As always I will keep you posted. We are also planning another release for sometime in April, I'm hoping as early in April as possible! I think you'll love the goodies we've cooked up for you!

Now, don't forget about the prizes we're giving away.....2 $10 store credits! I am going to try try try my best to have them picked and announced on Monday! Please leave some love for our designers to be entered to win!!!

Ok, on to the rest of the hop....Judith is up next! ENJOY! And don't forget everything you see here is available in our store today and ready to go out the door to yours!

It's been a fantastic hop! Thank you for joining us!!!

New Release Day 2 - Notebook Die & Doodles Stamp Set

Hello there!!! I'm so excited to be back for Day 2 of our New Release Hop!

If you joined us yesterday you saw that we released two awesome new sets. Yesterday we focused on our Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die, Darling Diamonds Stamps and Connected Circles Die which makes gorgeous cards!

Today we're going to take a closer look at our brand new Notebook Die and Notebook Doodles Stamp Set!

This is one totally awesome stamp set!!! I happen to think that doodles are ALL the rage and I'm obsessed with them right now that's why I'm so excited to bring you this set! It's loaded with sketchy doodles and coordinating sentiments done in a sketchy and fun font. What's really cool is that we made these stamps to coordinate with our brand new Notebook Die! It's a perfect small size at 2.25" x 3.125" and makes for a fabulous focal image and features our signature stitching! We even did a coordinating stamp of a distressed notebook background which really brings this die to life.

These stamps are absolutely addictive to stamp! Just wait until you get your hands on them! They make amazing backgrounds and I really love what this set "says". Use it for friends and loved ones to celebrate, tell someone you miss them, send someone a sweet hello...loads and loads of fun options!

Would you like to see some projects?? I'm ready to show you!!!

Yes, I'm also obsessed with anything chalkboard right now so I made this card. These stamps look amazing stamped in white on a black background. First, I outlined my notebook die on my card stock and then I removed it and stamped my doodle stamps using the outline as a guide and then I heat embossed everything in white. To achieve a chalkboard look I outlined everything with a white pencil and sponged on some craft white ink. I found this technique on Pinterest and it was super easy. I stamped the notebook stamp on my die and kept the focal image simple with the sentiment Friends 4 Eva and three doodle hearts in neon pink ink. Did you know that Hero Arts has an entire line of neon ink pads?? LOOVE THEM!!!

I wanted to show you that this set also can be very has versatile so I decided to try a more masculine card! Here is used our Stitched Mats: Rectangles on my blue card base. On my patterned paper layer I stamped and stamped off several different doodles from the set in yellow ink and created my focal image with cork sheet and one of my favorite sentiments from the set "U + Me = :)". Isn't that cute???

More neon obsession here! This time I stamped my doodles in neon ink right on my notebook die focal point and used a sentiment from our Sunshine Sentiments Stamp Set. I think the font from that stamp set also coordinates perfectly with my doodle stamps!! I added double sided tape in a striped pattern on my card base and covered it with glitter to give a plain card base some sparkle and shine!

I also wanted to show you how simple it is to use this set for a simple one layer card. Here I stamped the star doodle frame right to my card base and colored it with neon, gel hi-lighters and stamped the "Hey, GF" sentiment. I don't think I mentioned that all the sentiments in this set will fit inside all three of the frames in this set. See that "ribbon"? It's neon parachute cording that I found at AC Moore! It sort of reminded me of neon shoe laces.....which I totally had!

This set is rediculously fun to stamp with! You are going to LOVE having this in your collection!

We also released a mini sentiment stamp set called Awesome Sauce which you can get for FREE when you place an order of $75 or more and enter the code AWESOMESAUCE at checkout! We have a very limited supply left!

This is such a fun release. Thanks so much for being a part of it! Before I send you on your way make sure you leave a comment on each designer's blog. One blog will chosen as our secret prize blog so the more comments you leave the better your chances of winning!! We're giving away 2 $10 store credits to Lil' Inker Designs!  Also, thank you so much for all of the well wishes you left for me on yesterday's post!  I really appreciate it! My plan is to recover in a jiffy and be right back at it!

Judith is your next stop on our hop today! I'm excited to see what she cooked up for us!

Enjoy the rest of our hop today! We'll see you tomorrow for Group Post Day - the last day of our hop!

 

New Release Day 1 - Circles & Diamonds!

Oh my goodness it's FINALLY HERE!!!

I have been absolutely DYING to share these new goodies with you AND make a fabby announcement!!!! Aw yeah!

 Welcome to Day One of our New Release Hop!!! First, I am so excited about some news! The amazing, sweet and talented Suzanne Dahlberg has joined our team!

 I first met Suzanne at a local tag swap here in the New England area and right away I liked her and I've been following her lovely blog. I think she has oodles of talent and I know you're going to love seeing what she does with our goodies!!!!

Here is a little bit about Suzanne in her own words...

WOW! Talk about a crafty dream coming true - I am so psyched to be joining the Lil' Inker Designs Team! I’m a 30-something crafty girl born and raised in the Boston area, where I currently live with my husband and our dog. I am a cancer researcher in biostatistics, and have been making cards since 2005. When I am not crafting, I enjoy traveling, snowshoeing, cooking, and watching singing shows on TV. I have so much fun with this hobby and cherish the friends I’ve made as a result of it.


 Yayyyy!!! Welcome, Suzanne! I'm just so happy to welcome you today!!!

Who's ready for some new goodies?????  I am going to reveal everything we're releasing just as I always do on a Monday and then share some projects made with today's focus items. Remember, everything you're about to see is all available today in our store....

This is our brand new Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die!

This idea for this set was brought to me by our very own Design Team Member, Jen Carter! Jen and I went back and forth on several emails on our visions for this set and we finally came up with three products you are going to LOVE. Jen put a lot of effort into this idea so be sure and thank her along your hop this week!

First up - It's a die which cuts (not a texture plate which embosses) this intricate and beautiful pattern. The die is 4.25" wide x 5.5" tall and lines up perfectly with your pre-made A2 card base to easily cut this lovely stitched pattern. It's GORGEOUS on its own, but we made some super duper awesome goodies to go with it!!!!

Our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set is made to coordinate with our Circles & Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die. You'll see that we made several patterned diamonds to stamp directly in your stitched pattern which really gives it character and life. The oversized sentiments in this set are done in my FAVORITE new font of all time! It's fun and whimsical and totally WORKS. You will love these stamps. They even make fabulous background builders when used on their own. I'm in love with it. The possibilities are endless with these stamps and I literally cannot stop reaching for them!!!

Our Connected Circles Die is certainly an interesting little guy. It too was made to coordinate with both our Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die and our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set. Here's how it works..... Well, it works on its own, of course. So run it through your die cutting machine and you have this great strip of connected circles which is exactly 5.25" long so it reaches from one end of your A2 card to the other and can be trimmed down for smaller widths. You can stamp on it embellish it - anything you like and it makes a great die to add to your collection. 

It's true potential is reached when it's used with our Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die. Here's how - First use your Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die. Then, place your Connected Circles Die over your Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern lining up the pattern which it does perfectly and cut again. NOW you have a connected circles border which ALSO features this fabulous stitched pattern! Something cool I learned while experimenting? Cut another strip of circles right next to the previous one and your left with diamond negatives and yup - they fit smack in the middle of our C&D Stitched Pattern! AWESOME SAUCE!

Ok, this is a stunner too so hold on to your seats!! 

Introducing our brand new Notebook Doodles Stamp Set!!!

I don't know about you but I used to doodle on my notebooks like ca-razy instead of paying attention in school! This is a super doodley, sketchy fun set that can be used for loads of projects!  I have a feeling that doodles are going to be a HOT HOT trend in stamping! The font itself is also sketchy. You can click the image above to get a larger look. When you get your hands on this set your are going to fall in love! It makes the best background building set. It's just so fun to stamp these stamps!

I am so excited about the way this set turned out and it was made to coordinate with this next, new product.......

Our designer, Alicia Thelin, came to me and said, "I wish I had a small-ish notebook die with the signature LID perforations" and I instantly loved the idea. She starting brainstorming on stamp art and thus our Notebook Doodles Stamps were born! As you see in the stamp set above, this die has a coordinating notebook background stamp with a distressed feel in keeping with the sketchiness of this set.  

This die is a perfect on the small side size so it fits great in the center of an A2 card as a focal image! 

Oh, how much fun I have had working with this set!!!!!

Next up is a small set of sentiments done in an adorable and funky font. It's just a couple of things that I say or have said or enjoy saying! For a limited time while supplies last you can receive this stamp set FREE when you place an order of $75 or more and use the code AWESOMESAUCE at checkout. Quantities are very limited so if you like it grab it even if your order is under $75. It's only $5!

Ready for some projects? Oh, my goodness..I don't even know where to begin. I made so many projects!

First up is a set of 4 colorful invitations I made and they were super easy! The dots you see in the center are from the Darling Diamonds Stamp Set and the sentiment is from our You're Invited Stamp Set. Wouldn't these be fun to invite a few friends over? 

I'm obsessed with neon right now! This card uses some amazing neon card stock that I received from a dear friend for Christmas. Seriously, there is nothing better than craft supplies for Christmas!

Here I wanted the die cut pattern to sort of stand on its own so I kept the embellishments to a minimum and added only my sentiment panel (You're Invited Stamp Set), a strip of black cs and a scalloped strip of smooth, silver glitter paper from American Crafts. Love that!!

This is another fun card I made and features the Connected Circles Die. I stamped the centers of the diamonds with our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set and pieces of sentiments from our Of the Heart Stamp Set to make this "hi i heart you" sentiment. 

I made this card with our Darling Diamonds Stamp Set and Awesome Sauce Stamp Set! See how the Darling Diamonds set can make a fantastic background? I tried an ombre effect here!

Oh, I just love how this one turned out. The sentiments in this set are some of my favorite we've ever done! You can bet you'll be seeing more like it in the near future!!! Here I stamped the outlined diamond from Darling Diamonds onto patterned paper, trimmed them out and applied them to my diamond centers. See how the Connected Circles Die runs the length of my card base? I love that about this die!

Ok, one more.......

This time I die cut my pattern and stamped it with the red "petal" stamp from the Darling Diamonds Stamp Set which I mounted with foam tape to a red base. See how you can still trim this layer down for matting over colored card stock without sacrificing the pattern? I then made a little faux chalkboard panel using my Stitched Mats: Rectangles dies. I heat embossed the Smile sentiment from Darling Diamonds onto the black cs then outlined with white pencil and sponged on some white craft ink.

Are you loving our new goodies? I know, right?! AMAZING STUFF!!!! I am so excited for our hop these next few days. Our hop will run through Wednesday and you can leave comments through Sunday evening to be eligible to win one of 2 $10 store credits!! Sa-weet!! Each hop we choose a secret blog from which all of our winners are chosen so leave a comment on everyone's blog to increase your chances of winning!

Before, I let you go - next Tuesday, March 5th, I'm having a little surgery. I'll spare you the details...it's nothing major but I am going to be off my feet most likely for the rest of the week. I am going to work my tail off to get everything ordered through this Saturday/Sunday out the door by Monday the 4th. After that there is going to be a slight delay on order fulfillment until I'm back on my feet. I appreciate your understanding! :)

Ok, Alicia Thelin is up next today. I can't WAIT to see what she's created with today's Circles & Diamonds goodies! We'll see you tomorrow when we featured projects to inspire you with our new Notebook Doodles and Notebook Die Set!! Hummina hummina!

P.S. - Do you like ur new product graphics above? Ariana did a fantastic job with giving them a little facelift!

 

Made With Love Blog Hop

Good morning! I'm here today to do a little chatty about the Made with Love Blog Hop that starts today!

All of the fabulous and talented participants of the 2012 Paper Crafts Magazine Gallery Idol competition are having a hop today to celebrate Valentine's Day. One of those immensely talented participants is our very own Design Team Member, Amy Kolling of Stamp-n-Paradise!

Before I share Amy's card with you today I'll tell you that Lil' Inker Designs is among the prize sponsors for today's hop! We're contributing two $10 store credits and a prize package to three different, lucky winners!! All you have to do to be entered to win one of these prizes or any prize from the other amazing contributing companies is HOP ALONG!!! 

Here is the hop order so that you get right to hopping!!

Taheerah Atchia 

JJ Bolton 

Joscelyne Cutchens 

Jennifer Ingle 

Amy Kolling 

Agnieszka Malyszek 

Wida Miller 

Jocelyn Olson 

Miriam Prantner 

Anita Recksiedler 

Elena Roussakis 

Jennifer Rzasa 

Erin Lee Schreiner 

Dana Warren 

Laurie Willison 

Tessa Wise 

Nina Yang 

Amy was generous enough to share her card with me so that I can post it here! I can't wait to show you! It's full of Lil' Inker goodies!!

Isn't this gorgeous?? 

Here Amy is using our Stitched Mats: Rectangles which is what she used to create that fabby frame. Amy also used our Of the Hearts Dies to create her banner. This die set also contains that cute little arrow pointing at her focal image. A perfect Valentine!!!

Enjoy the hop today! It's filled with amazing designers and fantastic company sponsors!!!

Don't forget that here at Lil' Inker we're getting ready for our new New Release Blog Hop on February 25th and seriously, these sets make me SQUEEEEE!!!!

Thanks for stopping by today! We'll see you SOON! YAY!