**Our AEI♥U Challenge ends this Sunday.  Click here to play along to win a May Guest Designer Spot**

 Hello everyone!   Welcome to our Designer Blog Hop.  I am so excited to finally showcase the products from our April Release.  All products are loaded up in the store and are available for purchase RIGHT NOW!!

Be sure to check all the way at the bottom of this post for information on how to win a $25 gift certificate to the store.  I have a lot to announce today so I apologize in advance for the long long post.

This is a very exciting day for us at Avery Elle for many many reasons.

#1 - I am thrilled to introduce our newest design team member - Nina Yang .  I have long been a fan of Nina's work and was impressed by her when she was a guest designer for us.  I am so excited that she is now a part of the team!

"Hello, my name is Nina Yang. I have been interested in stationary and gift packaging since a kid. Stamping and card making came after I started working from home in 2011. Fun & cute, bright & bold are my favorite styles. Cards and party/home decor items are my favorites to make. I share my projects at my blog http://waffleflower.com, hoping to offer something new or inspiring every time.  I’ve been looking to add a more clean & graphic style to my DT portfolio and has found the stamps by Avery Elle very easy to work with. I was overjoyed when Jamie asked me to join the team. I hope that this partnership will add variety to my blog and bring more inspiration your way. "

#2 - I didn't even know that this would be on my list today, but our very own Design Team Member Heather Campbell has been selected to be a Paper Crafts Magazine Go-To-Gal.  What a fantastic accomplishment and opportunity!  I literally couldn't be happier for Heather!  Not only is she so talented, but she is so nice too.  Gotta love that!  Congratulations!!!!

#3 & #4 - We have a new product designer in the house - drumroll please......JJ Bolton!.  As many of you know, JJ is known to some as the die cutting queen.  She has an incredible ability to work with a die and create magic.  Who would be better to be a designer of.... DIES!!!  Eek!  I have to say that I am so happy that we now offer our own line of Custom Steel Dies that work with your favorite tabletop die cutting machine.  We are releasing two die sets this month and over time will be releasing some to match past sets as well.  Please let us know which past sets you would like dies for and we will do our best to introduce the ones that you would like most.

#5 We are introducing another product line this month - Sequins.  Sequins are popping up on all sorts of projects and are definitely an emerging trend.  We now offer mixed blends of satin finish sequins that also coordinate with the colors of our Card Stock.  Our sequins have a much softer appearance than traditional metallic sequins.  Each bag of sequins contains two sizes, 5mm & 6mm.  Each bag except for the color Gold also contains a blend of shades to coordinate with almost any project.

Here is a summary of our entire April release.

Bonjour 4"x 6" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set & Free Matching Cut Files - Retail Price $15

Our 4" x 6" Bonjour clear photopolymer stamp set is deliciously cute.  Create macarons in various colors and sizes.  Add the background building strip, flourishes and sentiments to customize your creation.  This is the perfect set for a get well, birthday, hello or thank you card.  Consider using the coordinating steel dies to cut out the shapes to create professional results.  Measurements: Large macaron:1 1/2" x 1"; Small macaron: 15/16" x 5/8"; Have a sweet birthday sentiment" 2 1/8" x 3/4"; Bonjour sentiment: 1 1/8" x 3/8"; Border strip: 5 5/8" x 7/16"

Bonjour Elle-ments Custom Steel Dies - Retail Price $6.50

Our Bonjour Elle-ments Custom Steel Dies are exclusive to Avery Elle.  These premium steel dies coordinate with our Bonjour clear photopolymer stamp set and are proudly made in the USA. 

 Rounded Diamonds 4" x 6" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set & Free Matching Cut Files - Retail Price $15

We think our 4" x 6"  Rounded Diamonds clear photopolymer stamps have so many uses.  Make flowers, feathers, leaves, retro patterns and more.  Consider using the coordinating steel dies to cut out the shapes to create professional results.  Designed by JJ Bolton and Jamie Gracz.  Measurements: Largest solid rounded diamond: 1  3/8" x 1 3/8"; Smallest solid rounded diamond: 1/2" x 1/2"; Chevron leaf image: 1 3/4" x 1 3/4"

Rounded Diamonds Elle-ments Custom Steel Dies - Retail Price $12

Our Rounded Diamonds Elle-ments Custom Steel Die are exclusive to Avery Elle and are designed by JJ Bolton.  These premium steel dies coordinate with our Rounded Diamonds clear photopolymer stamp set and are proudly made in the USA. Largest Die measures approx: 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" ; Smallest Die measures approx: 3/4" x 3/4"

Funky Monkey 4" x 3" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set & Free Matching Cut Files - Retail Price $8

Our 4" x 3" Funky Monkey clear photopolymer stamp set may be small in size, but is SO cute.  Combine the monkey and accessories included in this set to create a fun and "hip" greeting.  The monkey image measures: 1 1/4" x 2"; Thanks a Bunch sentiment measures: 1 3/4" x 3/16"

Link It Up 4" x 6" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set - Retail Price $15

Our 4" x 6" Link It Up clear photopolymer stamp set is perfect for building custom backgrounds for your layouts or cards.  The classic link images included in this set are a great staple for any stamper's collection.  Measurements: Left border strip: 7/8" x 5 5/8"; Center border strip: 3/4" x 5 5/8" ; Right border strip: 1 1/8" x 5 5/8"

5mm & 6mm Stain Finish Sequin Packs (approx. 300 per pack)- Retail Price $3

The Berry Blend, The Citrus Blend, The Carribean Blend

 Gold, The Lucky Blend, The Kraft Blend

The Sugar Blend, The Winter Blend, The Lemonade Blend

I created the following card using our Lemon Grass, Pixie and Ultra Smooth Pure White card stock, a sentiment from our Sentimental Swirls stamp set, a Link It Up background strip, the Rounded Diamonds stamp set  & the coordinating Rounded Diamond dies.  I had a lot of fun coming up with this modern flower design.  I just ADORE the background building strips in Link It Up.  I think that the fine lines of the greek key strip compliment the flower beautifully.

 I am happy to continue the Hipster series of stamp sets with this little fellow from Funky Monkey.  You will see in later posts how this monkey can be sweet or a bit of a punk. ;)  I chose to show the punk side of him here. 

 So let's get to the hop shall we?

We have a very special Guest Designer on our hop this month.  Laurie Willison won our April Guest Designer Challenge and I am thrilled that she is joining us. I know that she is going to be such an inspiration.

Avery Elle / Jamie
Chunyuan Wu
Nina Yang
Heather Campbell
JJ Bolton
Laurie Willison
Kasia Curry

To celebrate our April Release Blog Hop, Avery Elle is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to one winner.

You have until midnight Sunday, March 31st to enter.  The winner will be announced on the Avery Elle Blog on Monday, April 1st (no foolin') .  All products are now available for purchase in the Avery Elle store.

To increase your chances of winning:

1. Comment on any of the design team's posts & here on the Avery Elle Blog
2. Tweet the contest (we are @averyellestamps )
3. Share us with your friends on Facebook (we are www.facebook.com/AveryElle ) and make sure they tell us you sent them.
4. Pin one of the April Release projects from here or the design team’s blogs to Pinterest
5. Like us on Facebook (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already like us)
6. Become a blog follower (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already follow us)
7. Join our Flickr group (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already belong)

I hope you enjoy all of the inspiration.  If you are still reading this, I am amazed!!!!  I would love to hear what you think about our release.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Our Last Day with Donna & April Preview

Today we have one last project from our Guest Designer Donna Mikasa.  I think that we can all agree that her creations this month have been FABULOUS!  I am truly so happy that she was able to join us.  Just check out this card that she made using our Roll With It stamp set.  I love that the hearts are floating out of the basket!!!  Be sure to stop by Donna's blog to leave her some love if you get the chance!

I am very excited that our April Release Blog Hop is tomorrow.  All products from our new release will be available for purchase in our store at the START of the hop tomorrow, Thursday, March 28th.  I have to say that I have been keeping some pretty big secrets these past few months.  We have TWO new product lines being introduced as well as a few other surprises.  Be sure to check back tomorrow to see and read about all of the exciting things that we have been up to.  I feel like I should give you at least one teaser since I am not posting the products ahead of time like I usually do.  Here is a very simple card that I made using one of the new sets....

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day and I hope you stop by tomorrow!

Heather & JJ are in the House

We have Heather with us today with this springy Thinking Of You card using our Petals & Stems stamp set.  Can you see where she used our All Squared Up set?  It is brilliant how she combined the two sets.

JJ created this gorgeous card using our Petals & Stems stamp set.  Her color scheme is fun and bold.  I absolutely love the little gold accent strip she used.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for our last post with our guest designer, Donna Mikasa (sniff sniff), and a preview of the products that we will be releasing this Thursday!  Have I mentioned that we will have two NEW product lines coming out?  I am so so excited finally show them to you!!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Inspiration from Kasia & Chunyuan

Today we have this fun Celebrate card by Kasia.  The confetti popping out of the celebrate banner is so clever.  One of my favorite things about the sentiments in our Celebrate stamp set is how they can be colored or left blank.  Kasia shows us how bold this set can be.

Chunyuan created this card using our To The Point and Sentimental Swirls stamp sets.  The way she offset the chevron images and created the background is so fun, fresh and modern.  Right up my alley!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Hi everyone. I hope that your week has gone well. Just a friendly reminder that there is one more week to enter our latest AEI♥U Challenge and create a project base on the photo below.

Hi everyone.  I hope that your week has gone well.  Just a friendly reminder that there is one more week to enter our latest AEI♥U Challenge and create a project base on the photo below.

I decided to play along with this mini card using our Bright Days and Knotty stamp sets.

I absolutely love seeing new entries pop up in the contest.  Thanks to all that entered so far.  It is going to be tough choosing just one!

Next week is THE week for our April Release.  We have four new stamp sets and two new product lines coming out that will be available for purchase on Thursday, March 28th.  You DO NOT want to miss it!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Celebrate with Heather & JJ!

Today we have JJ showing us this gorgeous card using our Celebrate and Petals & Stems stamp sets.  I love the contrast of the jute twine and gold metallic card stock.  So unexpected and pretty!

Heather created this bold and graphic card using our All Squared Up stamp set. The positioning of the enamel dots, sentiment and traingle images is so fun and interesting! I just love the versatility of this stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Not 1, not 2, but 3 Cards By Donna Mikasa!

Today we have our guest designer extraordinaire, Donna Mikasa, with us.  She has not one, not two, but three beauties for us using our Petals & Stems stamp set!   I just love how clean these cards are.  Aren't they pretty?!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

More Roll With It!

Today we have this bright card by Kasia.  I just love how she popped up the chevron patterned paper to highlight the tandem bicycle image from our Roll With It set.   So cute!!  It is the perfect miss you card!

 

Chunyuan created this sweet springtime card using our Petals & Stems stamp set.  The way she layered the smaller floral stamps on top of one another to create more dimension is brilliant.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Celebrate!

I am here on the blog today with a card I made from our Celebrate stamp set.  I stamped the border strip multiple times to create the fun background.  I then stamped the sentiment and frame from the set, trimmed it out and popped it up on the card base.  I wanted to keep the color scheme simple since the stripes are fairly bold and thought that the pop of yellow was a fun touch.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Our March AEI♥U Challenge starts today!!!

Hello everyone!  I am so excited because our March AEI♥U Challenge is starting today!!!  This isn't just any challenge.  The winner will be a guest designer for our upcoming May release!  How great is that? 

The winner will receive two stamp sets from our upcoming release, will be required to make at least two projects per stamp set, will receive a special guest designer badge for their blog (if they have one), and will be featured throughout the release month on the Avery Elle blog.

The challenge for this month is to create a project based on this picture.  

Here are the challenge details:
1. Avery Elle stamps or our free digital stamps must be used in each entry.  To use our digital stamp, right click on the image and save it to your favorite photo editing program. You may re-size it slightly if you wish.  Please note that our free digital stamps are copyrighted and are for personal use only.  Please credit Avery Elle when using them.

2. You may enter as many times as you wish.
3. You may enter a project that you have created previously.
4. The winner will not be chosen randomly.  We will be looking for entries that include great use of color, design & creativity.
5. You will have two weeks to enter.

THE DEADLINE TO ENTER IS SUNDAY, MARCH 31st.  THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY, April 1st.
I cannot wait to see all of your amazing creations!

Please add a direct link to your AEI♥U Challenge entries here.  Good Luck!

Have a great day!

OMG...You Rock!

Today we have this super fun card that Heather created using our Celebrate stamp set.  I love the patterned paper that she chose.  Mounted on our New Moon card stock, it is the perfect compliment to show off the fun sentiments!

JJ Bolton created this pretty card.  Don't you love how she stamped and shaded the largest bloom from our Petals & Stems clear photopolymer stamp set?  I love that she stamped part of the image onto the frame from Framed Fonts and popped it up to add dimension.  The cute Happy Birthday sentiment from our All Occasion Tags stamp set finishes the card off perfectly.

Thanks for stopping to take a peek!  Have a great day!

Miss You by Donna Mikasa

Our March guest designer, the wonderful Donna Mikasa, is back with us again today to share this sweet Miss You card.  She used our Roll With It set to create this springy scene.  How cute are those tiny butterflies?!?  TOO ca-ute!! I love it!  Be sure to stop by her blog to let her know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by today!!