Design Team 2018

Happy New Year everyone!   Vera Lane Studio has been busy planning ahead for our 2018 collections.  We released 2018 Matilda early and she has found her way into many hearts.  We have two new lines and our "Tiny Veras" that will be released each month, collage sheets and planner props too!  Our new line will lend itself to more art journaling and mixed media to prepare to see some new things emerging from the studio.

As we say goodbye to two design team members we are moving ahead with our very talented ladies; Corrie, Carole, Stephanie, Sharon, and Teresa.  New to Vera Lane Studio Design Team we are bringing aboard Angie Jones. Thanks to Stephanie for locating the perfect fit for our team, Angie has already been creating behind the scenes and you will love her style.  Angie is attracted to the quirkiness of Vera Lane Studio and has been a member of several design teams.  She would like to share a little bit about herself:  

"I live in Queensland, Australia with my hubby, son, daughter and our spoilt adopted Greyhound.

I have always loved colouring in since I can remember....my stamping / card making started around 30 years ago.....I bought some copic markers at a craft show about 3 years ago and sort of yes/ no for a year. Around 18 months ago, I did a few online classes and bam.....whole collection of markers now and I colour everyday!  I still have traditional stamps but I love and prefer Digital images now. I also create art journal pages, atc’s and have just really gotten into decorating my planner/diary."

Welcome Design Team 2018!

Please join us on Face Book and follow on Instagram to see what 2018 will bring!

Welcome to Wonderland at Vera Lane Studio and our November Guest Designer

 It seems like it is still summer here on Vera Lane as we arrive into November.  Many of us are putting away skeletons and pumpkin décor as we head into the holiday season.  With winter wonderlands upon us and a season that is merry, we are celebrating a different kind of Wonderland on Vera Lane.  Welcome to our  theme for November; (Alice in) Wonderland meets Vera Lane.

We have an exciting wonderland-packed month ahead.  The design team has been busy creating lots of inspirational items with current images sets and our new releases.  Design Team member Corrie Herriman will be our hostess for our November ATC Wonderland swap.  Vera Lane Studio has so many fun characters and more surprises coming out this month that you won't want to miss!

Many of you have seen the incredible happy mail our members are receiving from our original VLS Swaps -- we have a creative and loving group and there is no better time to jump in and join us!  If you are not already a member of our closed FB group please join in for a month of Wonderland fun and inspiration.

With a new month we have a new guest designer. Please meet and welcome Nasreen Nabaoui.

Nasreen has caught our attention with her wonderful inspiring posts and her review of Vera Lane Studio digi stamps on her YouTube channel.  You can watch it here.

My name is Nasreen and I am a South African, living in Ireland married to a Moroccant. Art is in my blood as both my parents are artistic and I have been crafting since I was old enough to pick up a pencil. I love all things crafty from decoupague to yarn crafts to card making. Whimsical, bright and feminine are all styles that I hold very dear ...add some pink and you have my aesthetic. I am overjoyed to share my work with you during the month of November.

Welcome Nasreen and welcome to our month of Wonderland!

Welcome October Guest Designer, Maxine Hole

It's hard to believe October is here and we are welcoming another guest designer to the Vera Lane Studio design team.  Maxine Hole comes from Croydon, England, a large town in South London.  Maxine has been a member of Vera Lane Studio fan group since June 2015 and would like to let you know a little bit about herself.

I live in Surrey and have been married 20 years.  I have two children , one now at college and the other looking at University. About 4 1/2 years ago I found I had more free time on my hands so I joined a local card group run by our previous guest designer Jo Harper, since then I haven't looked back.
I really enjoy making clever cards that move and I love getting my teeth into a project, so this guest spot has been a pleasure and has relit my passion for all things craft.  I hope you like what I have created, leave me a comment and say Hi!

You will be able to see Maxine's creations every Sunday in October!

October Nights - a collaborative with Papercakes and Vera Lane Studio

I'm excited to announce a month long collaborative with Vera Lane Studio and Papercakes by Serena Bee.  

The design team of Vera Lane Studio will be posting creations with Serena Bee's Papercakes paper collections Spooky Pastels and October Nights along with our quirky Vera Lane Studio digi stamps.  This collaboration is a perfect marriage of whimsy and fun!  With both digital download products the possibilities are endless and I am certain you will agree when you see what our design team has come up with.

Our collaboration will run the month of October.  Vera Lane Studio Digi Stamps has dozens of Halloween images for every taste, cute to spooky, whimsical to wonky.  The Papercakes paper collections offer a wide variety of patterns for you to mix and match to coordinate with your art creations.  To view this exciting collaboration please check us out on FaceBook.

Serena Bee's Papercakes collections can be found here.

Vera Lane Studio digi stamps can be found here.

I hope you will stop by and check out what our stellar Vera Lane Studio Design Team has come up with to celebrate October Nights!

Welcome Guest Designer Jo Harper

 Jo Harper will be joining the Vera Lane Studio design team in our guest designer spot for September.  Jo is no stranger to Vera Lane as an active participant in our monthly themed swaps.  Our theme for September is "The Royals".  Jo would like to share a little bit about herself:

I'm very excited to be chosen as a Sunday Guest Designer for Vera Lane, and have been busy trying to improve my colouring skills... I mostly make cards and ATC's, and I love funny quotes and words!

I have been married for 24 years, with two children, both at University. Oh, and a cat called Tortie! We live in a small village in the country, just outside London with quite a large garden, which occupies much of my time, growing fruit and vegetables and preserving.

I have been crafting for about 15 years, and run a local craft club with around 20 members (ages 27 to 94) – we love playing with ink, paint and anything messy! We mostly make cards, and I have to come up with a design every week, which is sometimes quite a challenge!

I'm looking forward to sharing my creations with you – I love Janet's images, they are such fun and easy to use, and definitely suit my sense of humour!

We had a great month of samples from our Guest Designer Vicki Garret and we thank her for her wonderful contributions.  I know you'll be welcoming to our new guest Jo and will support her with your comments.

OZ! ( Who doesn't love a good sale?)

Vera Lane Studio's image sets are always sale priced.  Our multi-image sets are bundled to extend your craft dollar and to allow you to increase your image library at tremendous cost savings.  If you are new to digi stamps you will wind the ease of storage and space saved from traditional rubber stamps is an added bonus. Our images are always at your fingertips saved on you r computer or flash drive. The downloads are yours to keep, and you may use them over and over again.

Our Vera Lane Studio Digi Stamp collection is constantly growing.  Sometimes we move sets around and take them off the Etsy shelves.  There is always room for our image inventory to change allowing for seasons and reasons of crafting fun.

I am pleased to announce a tremendous reduction in our Wizard of Oz value bundle sale.  Our OZ characters can be purchased individually with accessory images or bundled in sets of male and female characters; The Ladies and Boys of OZ.  Our bundle sets priced at $9.00 a set for three detailed characters and are reduced to $4.00 for our special seasonal sale. 

If you are a fan of the Wizard of Oz you don't want to miss our seasonal character set sale going on now!  

Meet our Sunday Guest Designer for August; Welcome Vicki Garrett!

We are excited to announce Vicki Garrett has joined the Vera Lane Studio Design Team as our Sunday Guest Designer for August.  Please look at her lovely weekly creations.  Vicki would like to share a little bit about herself!

I'm over the moon excited to be guest designing with Vera Lane Studio's this month!

I have been a huge fan of Janet's whimsical and quirky images when I discovered them in my early years of papercrafting. I enjoy many forms of creative expression, including paper crafting, mixed media, scrapbooking, writing and music. Visiting my blog has been described as a "surprise" given my lack of one certain style. I sure hope you enjoy what I've created for you this month!

Vicki will be joining our team in a month of sprinkles and sparkles!  I hope you will enjoy what we have in store for you this month!

New releases and crafting disasters

July is flying by and we added several sweet little gals to the shop and a dancing kitty.  There will be a surprise "soft release" this Wednesday, July 26 so please stay tuned! 

Our first July release has become a shop favorite-- our Kokeshi Dolls.  It's a set of five little cuties, and accent flower and a sentiment.  With our ATC challenge theme using your favorite VLS character with blooms this set has been certainly been a hit!  Our design team has posted fabulous samples featuring these gals.  We are finding these gals as so easy to color, fussy cut and paper piece!  Chiyogami Paper makes a terrific background or fussy cut for a doll's kimono. We are also loving the play with hair color as this lime green-headed Kokeshi by design team member Mischelle Smith.  This will be one of the stunning cards traded in our current ATC swap!


Our second July release is "Just Dance."  This value bundle 8 stamp set

comes with a sweet ballerina in her tutu, her dancing kitty, a studio door, a headband and crown and sentiments.  The studio door can be trimmed to make a glass window with acetate for any of our characters to stand behind.  Use our little dancer alone or with the other elements in the set. This set is adorable for the dancer in your life, journal entries, birthday greetings and invites.  Add glitter and gems to create a special artwork for someone special.

We have all had our share of crafting disasters in our studio spaces.  My dog loves to come into my studio and stretches his little body to eat paper items off my table.  I have found many long labored cards and coloring half eaten in other parts of our home.  Or maybe when I nearly drank my paint water or cleaned my brush in my coffee?  Or when precious Copics unknowingly fell into the wastebasket and had to be replaced!  Unfortunately my list is not a short one.  If you have a crafting disaster we are doing a give-away for your story on our private VLS FB group.  Please join us and you have a chance to win the July 26th soft release set.

Meet our July Sunday Guest Designer; Linda Camus

Welcome to July on Vera Lane!  Not only are we adding a new design team member (Corrie Herriman) we are welcoming our July Guest Designer - Linda Camus!

I am so excited to be your Sunday guest designer for July.  My name is Lin and I am married with 2 adult sons. I have two dogs which keep me active and love going for long walks with them. I live in Tasmania, Australia which is a gorgeous part of the world and I am retired which gives me a little extra time for crafting.

I have been card making for at least 10 years and sell my work at our local market.  I am not one that like to do lots of layers and flowers. I am more of a clean and simple worker. 

Why do I love Vera Lane images? First and foremost, I love their quirky design, they are easy to colour and I just love how easy they are to fussy cut.  You can work with them in so many ways from a card to journal page.  Janet does a wonderful job and I hope my designs can do the digi’s proud.

Linda will be bringing you lots of inspiration this month every Sunday. 

Visit Lin's blog at: lin-linscards.blogspot.com.au

Lin's creations along with the rest of our team's eye-candy can be viewed in our closed FaceBook group.  If you'd like to learn more about Vera Lane Studio you can join our FaceBook group or visit our FaceBook business page.

Welcome Corrie Herriman to our Design Team

We are so pleased that our entire design team will be staying on to continue their play with Vera Lane Studio digi stamps. The team is excited to add another member to our team of talent. 

Many of you know Corrie and the creations she has shared.  Now you will see Corrie's weekly posts. The team has already had a preview of things to come and we can tell you that you will be tickled!

So welcome Corrie!  Please read her introduction and look for her creations on Sundays!



Hi, my name is Corrie. I live in the Netherlands in a small market town called Venlo, which is situated next to the German border.

I have been crafting all my life; I knitted, crocheted, made dolls and teddy bears, painted and probably did quite a few more crafts. In 2012 I discovered paper craft and the rest is history as they say. I love bright colours but also like vintage and shabby chic. I started making cards and then quickly branched out into artjournaling, altering things, ATC's, postcards and tags. I love trying new things... and I have all the time in the world for my hobby as I don't work anymore.  Apart from crafting I also like nice food and wine, lovely holidays, reading and cooking. 

I am very happy to be on this team and I look forward to sharing my projects with you ! 

Blog: www.MadeByCHook.blogspot.nl

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/corrie.herriman/

Pinterest: https://nl.pinterest.com/corrieherriman/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/corrie.herriman

Have a cuppa with Vera Lane Studio

Vera Lane Studio has opened a merchandise shop at Society 6.  We

carry mugs, some note cards, zippered pouches, cell phone covers and a few more items.  They make great gifts or a gift for yourself.  Right now Society6 is offering world-wide free shipping until midnight tonight as well as a 10% discount with email sign-up.  Shipping is fast which makes for last minute gift shopping!

Please stop by our Society 6 shop a take a look at our new merch.  Here is a cute little zippered pouch featuring "Somebunny."

 If there are characters you would like to see in the shop please let us know.   Vera Lane images are bound to turn smiles on!      Stop by today to take advantage of free shipping.

 https://society6.com/veralane

The Traveler; Our June 5th new release

Our new release this week is a whimsical little traveling gal named Beatrix.  Beatrix is wide-eyed,

ready to seek adventures with her well traveled suitcase, camera, map and postcard.  This value-bundled seven digi stamp set also comes with three sentiments all in jpg and png high resolution files.

Our talented design team has shared their creations this week with more to come.  With so many travelers this summer The Traveler set is a great collection for scrapbooking, planners, journals and bon voyage cards. 




VLS DT Member Carole  opened up our week of fabulous designs with this beautiful dimensional card. Carole reversed the image of Beatrix and used the accessory images in repetition to bring you to the car's focal point.  The delicate light colors are perfect for a summertime traveler.  Isn't her periwinkle coat pretty?  Learn how Carol approached this creation by clicking on her name for her blog.

Stephanie will be blogging later as she was one of our DT travelers this week!  She's back home creating for you but was able to get her beautiful water-colored card up for you to enjoy before she left town. 

Stephanie uses watercolors in many of her creations with depth and vitality.  Her monochrome outfit on Beatrix looks great against her dreamy watercolor backdrop.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram @inkypinkyboo if you'd like to see more of her techniques.

Design Team Member Nikki brought you this adorable journal entry featuring The Traveler along with a row of houses from our Tall Houses collection and one of our Vera Lane car images.  Clever to tuck Beatrix in the vehicle and create a mini road trip!

Nikki changes up her media so you never know what she will use next.  Click on her name to see her blog and learn about her style and techniques.




Mischelle is our designer that likes to show us options.  Often Mischelle will

make variations on a theme.  Her version of The Traveler features Beatrix in a bright red coat against neutral tones.  The text from this set is repeated to create  an effective background for this piece.

Please be sure to check out Mischelle's beautiful blog "Mischelle Makes"

Speaking of traveling, our Designer Teresa has been enjoying a sunny vacation.  Teresa was sure to have her sample ready for you with today's post.  Beatrix is featured with a lovely hue of pink hair, lime green lashes and a sweet light aqua coat.  She looks stunning on the creamy background with the photos that bring pops of color with images from some of our other sets.  You can learn more about Teresa's approach to this set on her blog The Fat Cactus.  Teresa's use of color and balance of design elements is ever so inspiring.


We have two more designers to show off their makes this week as well as customers showing off their version of Beatrix and her travels.  Our sentiments and accessories are so versatile that you can see your own vision to create with this set with such great team inspiration!

Meet our June Guest Designer; Nancy Nickel!

Vera Lane Studio added an amazing Design Team in January 2017.  We are now bringing you additional creations from some of our talented Facebook members. Our new monthly Guest Designers will showcase along with our design team.  Look for our guests to present their creations every Sunday!

Please meet our very first Guest Designer for June 2017, Nancy Nickel

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada, with my husband of 30+ years. We have two daughters that are grown and gone, and we have lots of fun together in our empty nest. I am self-employed part-time, and am blessed to be able to spend my days playing in my craft room. I enjoy making projects that are encouraging, and put a smile on peoples faces. That's why I'm such a huge fan of Vera Lane Studio! How can you not smile at the fun and whimsical images available in the shop? Some even make me laugh out loud! I'm very excited to be Guesting with Vera Lane for the month of June. Big thanks to Janet and the entire Design Team! 

We are excited to have Nancy on board.  Please join us in giving her a warm welcome and check our FB fan page for her wonderful inspiring creations along with the rest of our super design team!

Windows and doors

We have two new releases this week on Vera Lane!  Our first release will be a shop favorite.  It is as versatile as it comes and can be integrated with your home photos and characters from our many collection.
Windows is an eight-image value bundle with five windows, a door and two sentiments.  Resize, stretch and pull these fun window frames to layers with characters or your family photos.  Our team has had so much fun playing with this set!

Design Team Member Teresa opens our week with these lovely samples that she shares on ur private FaceBook group.  All the characters are from other Vera Lane Studio sets!

Cute, right?  Please check our FB group to see the amazing projects our incredible design team has come up with  for the rest of our debut week!

Our second set release can be used with the windows quite well.  These "Girls on the block" faces make the cutest journal clips!  Use these heads for finger puppets or just about anything else!

Black, white and a POP! of color

Our monthly theme is black, while and a pop of color!  The Vera Lane Studio design team has been sharing wonderful samples to inspire our members.  Our monthly theme also reflects the topic of our monthly ATC swaps --so inspiration is always a click away!  You can join us and jump in anytime to enter your ATC up until the month end deadline.

Here are just a few pieces the team has shared in their diverse styles for our monthly theme.  Many members have already been inspired and our swap album for the month of May is growing.

DT Member Carole creates this whimsical underwater scene in shades of gray featuring images from Under the Sea and Ocean 11

Marina uses Tall Town and March for this eye-catching B/W orange scene.

Mischelle took her whimsy to the Cherry Street set in her pink-popping journal spread.

Teresa creates this striking contrast with an image from Journal Faces.

Stephanie uses her watercolor techniques to create shades of gray washes using Love you to the bone.

Our whimsical and quirky characters are easy to work with and diverse to suit your crafting mood.  If you are not already a member of our FaceBook sharing group please join us and play along!

April Guest Designer; Marina Prinsessan Holmen

Marina Prinsessan Holmen

I am delighted to announce our guest designer for the month of April, Marina Prinsessan Holmen.  Marina has been a fan of Vera Lane Studio digi stamps having submitted outstanding samples to share with our members,  I know the works she will be posting this month will be a treat!

Marina Prinsessan Holmen is 57 years young and loves to create cards.  Marina is married to a officer in military with 3 children ranging in ages 36, 21 and 19 and a  dog. Professionally Marina works children with special needs and has done so since 2003.

Inheriting her artistic vein from her mother and she from her mother , Marina loved to create art from an early age. Her art philosophy is to find beauty in the ugly, albeit Marina's creates are those of beauty!  When Marina had no time for pottery she began her paper crafting with scrapbooking -- that let to creating cards.  Marina has been creating wonderful paper crafts since 2002. 

Marina's creations will be posted on Wednesdays for the month of April.  I know you will be inspired by her creations.  Please welcome Marina in joining our fabulous and creative design team and cheer her posts on!  You can find more of Marina's creations on her blog at: www.frideborgsmys.blogspot.se

ATC Swap April 2017 with Vera Lane Studio

Our Design Team Member Mischelle Smith has opened a new ATC swap in our private FB group.

 Mischelle is calling for Vera Lane Studio digi stamp images to be incorporated into a Rainbow themed ATC. 

The swap will be accepting submissions through April 30th.  An upload of your card must be submitted in our designated album on or before April 30th to receive a swap partner's address.

Mischelle and our design team memebers from Vera Lane bring the very best in ATC swaps to crafting.  Their inspiration is tops!  You can visit Mischelle's creations on her FB Look Book, on Instagram and her blog at www.mischellemakes.com .   Please browse our Etsy shop!  If you like what you see please "like" our business page on FB and join our private group for sharing, contests, swaps and more!

Digi Stamps and printers

Coloring with diverse media without smudging printing ink is a concern with new to digi stampers.  If you are looking for an economical printer that will give you the best results choose a b/w laser printer.  You can find a low end Brother model to do the job for as little as $60 US.  Shop around, there are deals to be found.  The laser toner will take your alcohol markers and watercolor without smearing.  The toner cartridge lasts a long time and the aftermarket replacement cartridges are as inexpensive as a dye ink pad. 

If you using an inkjet printer there are printer options that will be helpful and user-friendly to most media.  Prior to printing you should be able click on a new window to reveal "printer options."  You want to select grayscale printing.  Not only will it save your ink, the printed page can work well with your diverse media.

In the sample on the right, "Lil Love" was printed on an Epson Workforce printer using the grayscale option. (Cardstock setting was also selected and the paper is inserted in the back of the printer)  There was no waiting time, no heat setting.  Copic and inexpensive alcohol markers work beautifully.  Watercolor and pencils, no worries.  The Tombow marker will pull the printer ink -- but I really worked it in.  If you are careful wit the pointed tip you can avoid the ink lines and will have no problem.  I have had success with grayscale printing on several inkjet models.

Looking for a new inkjet printer?  Make sure it can accommodate cardstock.  (Papers discussed in last weeks post).  If you do not need color printing an inexpensive b/w laser is the way to go.

Some choose to go to Staples or Office Max for their printing purposes.  Load up your layout with as many images as you can.  Save your file to a flash drive and take it to your chosen copy center.  Many places will charge $ .18 - $.25 for a single color or b/w laser copy.  Request color laser copy if possible to get the blackest black. If you bring your own cardstock or request theirs the cost will be the same.

Digi Stamping; Papers and a new release

Paper choices

There are many paper types out there and it can be overwhelming to choose.  How you work, what type of media you prefer and how much are you willing to spend are factors in your decision making.

Reams of paper vary in weight and price.  In the US we measure by lb.  GSM (gram per square meter) is the Euro weight.  The heavier the paper weight the more substantial the paper.  Paper is measured in the weight of printer's sized sheets (not the size you put in a home printer).  Depending on the paper type printer's sheets can vary in size so it can become even more confusing!  

While I like a heavyweight cardstock many home printers do not.  I have printed up to 110lb and preference a 100lb. paper.  I find a 65-80 lbs. weight acceptable, this compares with about a 150GSM.

I have tested four papers with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils and this is what I found.

Hammermill Paper, Color Copy Digital Cover, 80 lb, 8.5 x 11, Letter, 250 Sheets

This is my personal favorite.  It is a bright white very silky smooth paper.  The paper takes the printing ink very well and gives you a crisp image.  Copics blend very well with no feathering and maintain true colors.  Prismacolors go down smoothly.  It is a very reasonable price at about $10-12 a ream.  The heavier stock costs a little more.  I had switched to 80lb. just to take a little stress off the printer and it does the job. Personally I prefer this white over the other samples.

***Neenah Premium Cardstock, 96 Brightness, 65 lb, Letter, Bright White, 250 Sheets

Neenah is my second choice, although I think all these papers you will find suitable for digi stamp printing and coloring.  Neenah Bright White takes both Copic and Prismascolors well maintaining true color and vibrancy.  Ink prints crisp and clear. The 65lb. weight does not give the substance of the heavier weight but it works and can also be found for a few dollars less.  The white has a bit of a yellow cast to it when compared with the other samples.

Many crafters preference the Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80# Cover 8.5"x11" 250/pack.  this paper is about $36.00 a ream.  I had ordered the wrong paper but was still happy with Neenah quality.  The Classic Crest Solar White does get great reviews but I do not have it to compare.  I have read that people love it or hate it for Copics so I suppose it depends on the artist.  For 1/3 the price I found the Premium Card Stock a decent paper.               

                                                                                  

Copic Markers Blending Card by X-Press It, 25 Sheets (250GSM) **110lbs US 

This is a bright white smooth surface paper designed by Copic for Copic markers.  The white has a bit of a blue- gray cast.  It is a pricy paper at about $15-$16 for only 25 sheets.  While the markers blend very nicely on the paper's slick surface I found that color loses a little vibrancy and washes out unless you add multiple layers.  The paper is designed for alcohol markers so pencils are not compatible for my tastes, I like a little more tooth to grab the pencil.  Not much of a fan for these reasons: cost, too white, not good for combining your media.

Georgia-Pacific White Cardstock Paper, 8.5" x 11", 110 lb, 150 Sheets 

If you are new to digi stamping or on a budget this is a great starter paper.  Many crafters use this paper.  You can pick up a ream for about $5.00.  This cardstock keeps colors very true but is a little trickier to blend with alcohol markers.  It will leave a little streaking if you aren't careful. It's a nice bright white and closest to the X-Press It in hue. The surface is not as smooth as the Hammermill or X-Press It. It does have a little more tooth which makes it better for pencil.  If you like combining the two on your images this paper is a fair choice.

I have the above mentioned papers from experimenting while searching for a good all-purpose paper for my digi stamps.  The Hammermill is my go-to and pretty much the only paper I use lately. Choosing the right paper is a matter of preference and how you work.  There are other papers available that I have not reviewed, therefore this review is limited to the above products.

If there is a paper you prefer please mention it in the comments.