Summer Camp Collection Introduction with Allison Frazier
Hello, friends – this is Allison Frazier, and I am absolutely thrilled to introduce my debut collection with Spellbinders called Summer Camp. This collection represents one of the biggest passions in my life. I grew up going to summer camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It is my happy place, and I still go back to visit almost every summer! I really wanted to capture the feeling of being at camp with this collection, so of course there had to be several critters who could form lifelong friendships, learn new activities, and enjoy nature together. Cute critters are what drew me into card making at the beginning, so it’s very fitting that my first collection celebrates them. It was also very important to me to go beyond the traditional camp theme and celebrate the simple joy of summer.
There are seven products in this collection – five die sets, a layering stencil set, and a set of sentiment stamps. I hope you will be inspired to create playful scenes that bring back your own memories of summer.
Trailside Trio
The Summer Camp collection centers around two sets of critters. With the Trailside Trio, you can create a fox, a raccoon, and a skunk. The unique feature of this die set is that each of the three animals starts with the same basic dies…the head, body, arms, and tail. From there, you can use the rest of the dies to create the unique features of each animal. Whether you use colored card stock, or you choose to color your die cuts with ink or markers, these critters are sure to make you smile.
Woodland Trio
With this second set of critters, you can create a squirrel, a deer, and a hedgehog. Just like with the first set, the three animals share common dies, including the body, arms, and belly. This set is a bit different, though, because of the hedgehog. While the squirrel and the deer share the same head, the hedgehog has its own head, as well as the quills. Note that the bodies in this set are the same size as the Trailside Trio, which means that all the clothing and accessories fit each of the six animals in the collection.
Camp Days
This large die set full of clothing and accessories is where the collection really starts to come to life. While I did include some traditional camping items, such as a campfire, s’mores, and a lantern, I also included some of the activities that one would enjoy at a summer camp, including tennis, archery, and hiking. Tennis was a must because I grew up in a tennis family, and it was one of the core activities at my camp. Archery was my son’s favorite activity when he went to camp. Hiking boots became one of my personal favorite accessories as I grew up and started exploring the great outdoors and landscapes around the world. I also included an ice cream cone because…well, it wouldn’t be my collection if there wasn’t ice cream somewhere!
Splash Days
At my camp, we spent a good majority of time in the lake, and this second set of clothing and accessories celebrates some of the activities that would consume our days. The name of this set has special meaning because we always had an annual “Splash Day” event at my camp. The whole camp would be divided into teams, and we would have various fun and friendly competitions in the water.
This set includes an adorable swimsuit, which you will discover to be quite versatile. There are also swim trunks and a life vest. Whether we were canoeing, sailing, or waterskiing, we learned from a young age that safety comes first. At the time, I never thought that a life vest could be this cute! Speaking of canoeing, there are dies to create a canoe and a paddle. There is also a fishing rod, along with a fish. I will be honest – I did not fish at camp. I also was in complete denial that there were fish in the lake at camp. Now that I am older and wiser, I still don’t think there are fish in that lake.
Trails End
This die set includes three trees, a hammock, and a set of directional signs with eight different sentiments. This set carries special meaning in several ways. First, “Trails End” is the name of one of the cabins at my camp. Second, the trees are reminiscent of the whimsical trees that were on the décor in my son’s nursery. These trees can help set the scene for many of the activities in this collection. The tree trunks can also hold so many other shapes that you might have in your stash, including circles and ovals.
I have always loved directional signs because they remind me of the ones at my own camp directing us to the various campsites that we would hike to every Wednesday. Sometimes we would just cook dinner and s’mores over a campfire, and sometimes, if we were lucky, we would pitch tents for the night.
The hammock is one of my more recent camp traditions. I take a foldable hammock with me to camp every summer now, and it’s the perfect spot to relax and dream of being a kid again. It also represents a theme that is very important in today’s world and something that I especially enjoy when I return to camp, and that is “unplugging” from technology and other distractions.
Lakeside Memories Stencil Set
This set of four layering stencils creates the perfect backdrop for a summer scene. The scene is very reminiscent of my camp, where we have a beautiful beachfront on a large lake surrounded be trees. I wanted this to be a very simple scene to stencil. You can add shading and details if you want, but you don’t need to. The scene was designed to fill a vertical A2 card, but you can adapt it to fit smaller sizes or even just stencil selective parts of the scene.
Summertime Sentiments
This set of twenty-two stamps includes sentiments that will fit any summertime occasion. I tried to include specific sentiments that would go with all the activities, while also including very general summertime greetings. I used all capital letters for the sentiments to create a clean, bold aesthetic when trimmed into strips.
One last important aspect of this collection is that I wanted you to be able to be creative and mix in your stash of other Spellbinders collections. The size of the critters and the accessories make them so adaptable, and I personally always love mixing and matching old with new.
I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the memories and inspiration that went into the design of this collection. I am so thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Spellbinders. For more inspiration and ideas using the Summer Camp Collection, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel. I hope this collection brings a big smile to your face. I can’t wait to see what you create!
5 Comments
Connie R.
Such a cute and unique critter die set. I had to order the whole set!
@craftee1 - Amy Tsuruta
Yay Allison! Big congrats, fabulous collection and such cute cards.
Krista Thomas
I only went to summer camp a few times, but this collection totally resonates with me! I ordered the whole thing and can’t wait to play! Congrats on a fabulous debut!!
scrapperatheart
This collection is adorable and so much fun! Your samples are all amazing! Congratulations once again!
Brenda Collins
Congrats on your new Collection! I am having so much fun using it! The critters are the best ever – so cute and so versatile. Thanks so much for all your work in bringing us this FANTASTIC collection!