February New Releases and Blog Hop!

Yay - today is the day!

It's Release Day for SP & Company.  Do you know what that means??? It means that I can finally show you MY VERY OWN stamp set that I designed exclusively for SP & Company! Yes, I've been keeping it quiet that I have my own stamp sets coming out, but I can finally talk about it! I am beyond over the moon excited about this opportunity Samantha has given me and I can't thank her enough! My stamps will be sold under the name of Vintage October Signature Stamps in the SP & Company store!

So... onto the Hop details and then I will share my new stamp set and the two projects I've created with it!

This month's color is Bright Red! After you're done hopping around today, make sure you play along with this month's Red challenge (click here for details) for a chance to win some awesome SP and Company prizes!

Join us for our Release Celebration that is happening today and tomorrow on the SP Forum HERE.  You can talk to all of the designers, discuss projects and chit chat with other stampers!

Don't forget that the random prize patrol is watching so leave a comment on every blog to be eligible for the prizes!!


OK, now onto the stamps! My very first set is called Journal This and it is available right now at the SP & Company store.  Here is what the entire set looks like:

Ah, it was so great to finally hold the finished stamps in my hands after so much hard work! I decided to make a mini album for my husband with them.  I'm giving it to him for Valentine's Day and it's all about us.  For once, I'm not including the kids (which was actually hard to do!).  I have some old pictures in there from years ago.  The quality of the pics aren't the best; they were old scans, but I know he won't care about that.  He will appreciate the album AND the fact that I used my stamps! He's awesome like that.  :-)

First up, the cover.  I used Large Polka Dots and several elements from Journal This.  I also used a little bit of paint and baker's twine.  Oh, and I used some fab American Crafts ribbon to cover up the icky spine.  This was a plain chipboard album until I got my hands on it.

I also used a bunch of Echo Park papers, and some of the papers and elements included in this month's SP & Company Club Kit.

And I've finally broken into my Washi tape.  I just couldn't hoard it any longer. :-)

That sweet little "Love You" is from Journal This, too! The lines are from Scallops & Lines.  Want to know a secret? When I was creating Journal This, I had that set in my head to coordinate along with it.  I thought it would be fun to pair up some of the days of the week or numbers with those lines.

For this page, I dropped our picture into a glassine envelope.  I always like to have 'working parts' in my albums.  The heart is from Artsy Heartsy and that faux tab is Journal This yet again.  That sweet little "Love" is from the I Love Love set.

For these pages, I used a few more fun elements from my set along with Echo Park papers.

That fun circle is from Echo Park's Metropolitan Kit.  Love these stickers....

For this spread, I added some twine in and strategically placed some mini heart stickers, along with the mix-n-match sentiment I created with Journal This.  Click on the pictures to see the detail.  :-)

How much fun are those circular stamps with the numbers on them? I was inspired by typewriter keys when I created them!

Here's a close up of the stamping and my journaling:

I also wanted to show that this set could be used for cardmaking, too, not just scrapbooking! I really love how this grid came out.  :-)  So many possibilities for this one, huh???

I simply cut out a heart from Artsy Heartsy in Echo Park's Metropolitan paper pack, stamped on it and used a pop dot to adhere.  So clean and simple, yet effective.  This card will accompany the mini album when I give it to my husband!

Make sure you check out the SP Blog to see what Samantha did with the new stamps! We also have the Stamp Team and the Challenge Team teaming up today to show you lots of amazing projects with the newest stamp sets!

Here is the list of designers that will inspire you today:

Chrissie
Lori
Jen
Amber
Britt
Vicki 
Kelli
Michelle
Stephanie
Patty
Bonnie
Susan
Tella

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I'd love to hear your comments on my projects and my stamp set!!! And, just in case you're wondering, I do have another set scheduled to come out next month!!!

Cardstock: Echo Park
Stamps: SP & Company
Ink: Memento, Hero Arts Hues
Other: Washi Tape, Divine Twine, EK Success Punch, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, American Crafts Ribbon