Warm Winter Wishes

You know how much I love a sketch challenge and I couldn't let Taylor's first sketch of the year, TESC151, slip by without playing along. I'm really squeaking in under the wire though because the next sketch goes up tomorrow!

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This is card #7 for Project Christmas 2012. I used Winter Wonderland from Taylored Expressions. I think I should have let the blue and brown ink dry a little longer before embossing the vanilla snowflakes though, because the powder stuck a little to the other snowflakes despite using my embossing buddy first...sigh. Could have something to do with the fact that I think this was the quickest card I've ever created though, and it would be an easy one to make multiples of (but of course I didn't think of that). The patterned paper is from the My Mind's Eye Signature Christmas paper pad. Oh, and this card is nice and flat for easy mailing too!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 1!

October Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the OvenDepartment at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday 10/5 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

Today we have lots of new stampy goodness to share from Taylored Expressions. I'll start with the adorable Woodland Winter set, illustrated by Doug Applegate for the Apple Doodle Ink Collection. This is a full size set on a 5.75" x 8.5" full colour sturdy storage panel and includes 21 images and sentiments for just $21.95. You'll fall in love with these cute little critters!

I used Taylor's current sketch challenge for the layout, TESC147, and supplies from the 12 Days Project Pantry. I started by stamping the little mouse then I masked him and stamped the fox, to create this adorable duo. The image is coloured with copics and I added some rhinestones (which I coloured with R29) to their hats. Do you see the subtle tree background paper? I repeatedly stamped the tree image with old paper distress ink to create this look.

Next up is Snow à la carte, another fun image illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Word à la carte Collection. This single stamp is just $5.95, perfect for quick cards and projects.

I took my own advice on this one and created a clean and simple single layer card. I know...freaky for me, eh? :-)

First I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White then I coloured it with copics. Next I ran it through my swiss dots cuttlebug folder to add the snow. Then the snowgirl looked a little sickly with bumps all over her body so I stamped her again, coloured her and popped her on foam tape. Love how this little bit of dimension adds so much detail to this simple card.

I have another very special stamp set to tell you about, and I know you'll see fabulous samples with it on some of the other Baker's Dozen blogs: Moka Hope. As you probably know, October is breast cancer awareness month. Taylored Expressions will donate $1 from the sale of each Moka Hope set to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

TE is also a proud sponsor of the Hope You Can Cling To card drive over on Splitcoast and we encourage everyone to participate in the challenges during October and donate their cards to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This little set is perfect for all types of encouragement cards and while it was designed with breast cancer in mind, her ribbon can be customized to any colour for any cause or disease.

Now it's time to hop around to the rest of the Baker's Dozen blogs and see what everyone else created.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jami Sibley
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

See you tomorrow for more stampy goodness!!!
Oh, and by the way, these two cards are numbers 20 & 21 for my Project Christmas 2011.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 1

June Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, June 3rd at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the OvenDepartment in the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets on Thursday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Special Early Bird Offer on Release Day for the first 15 orders over $100.  It's TOTALLY SWEET!
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and all will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Thursday 6/2 at 7pm for the drawings.

Can you believe it's already time for another fabulous release from Taylored Expressions?!? Today the Baker's Dozen is headed to the beach with a whole slew of beachy stamp sets like A Day In Paradise, Moka Lani, Beach Belle, Surf's Up and two beachy dies, the palm tree die (which coordinates with the palm tree from the previously released set Hangin' Out at the Beach) and the wave border die.

I've used Beach Belle and A Day in Paradise today. So let's start with Beach Belle, one of the Penguin Petites sets illustrated by Doug Applegate for the Apple Doodle Ink line. Each Petite set comes on a 3" x 5.5" full colour sturdy storage panel and is made of deeply etched rubber on EZ Mount. The Petite sets are already trimmed out so you can get load them onto acrylic blocks and get stamping in a jiffy.

I started by stamping Beach Belle with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White then I coloured her with copics. The card layout is TESC139.

I chose fun patterned papers from Echo Park's Splash paper pad and paired them with pacific point. So you see the new Wave Border die going across the card? Aren't those curly waves so fabulous!!! I cut the waves out of patterned paper and again out of pacific point so I could layer and create a bit of a shadow effect. My circles impression plate came in handy for adding texture to the orange panel and a couple of Twinkles on the flower in her hair gave the card just a little bling.

Let's completely switch gears from bright and cheery to serene and restful with this card using A Day In Paradise. This is a full sized set containing 21 solid and line images and sentiments and comes on a 5.75" x 8.5" full colour sturdy storage panel. It's illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line.

Can I just say this could be my new 'go to' set for summer!! I love it...it's super versatile for both masculine and feminine cards and I love that there's a Happy Retirement sentiment in the set!!!

I stamped the chairs and umbrella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto kraft then coloured them with copics. The umbrella is paper pieced and popped on foam tape for dimension. I used my green pencils to add in some tufts of grass.

The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye Stella Rose Hattie collection and the blue solid is baja breeze. I'd really love to be sitting under that umbrella right now, maybe with a refreshing margarita!!

Now it's time to hop around and see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created with these new stamps and dies!
Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen
Tori Wild
Wanda Guess
and illustrator, Nancy McKinney

See you right back here tomorrow for more fabulous sneak peeks!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 2

Today we're continuing with the baby theme with two sweet new set, Baby Cakes and Bringing Home Baby. I'm showing Bringing Home Baby, illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line. All the new products will be available at Taylored Expressions on Thursday, May 5th from 8am PST. 

You'll find a wonderful variety of images, perfect for cards or personalizing a home decor or gift item. As with all TE stamps, this set is made from deeply etched red rubber and comes already trimmed, ready to pop onto an acrylic block and start stamping.

I went with a card and used TESC137 for the layout. The carriage was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. Then I decided to paper piece parts of it using the polka dot pattern from the Alphabet Soup Girl Projec Pantry. The main panel was cut out with oval Nestabilities then I traced and stitched around the edge.

I used my medium scallop border die to create the three scalloped layers on the left and dotted it with pearls. I finished the bow with a pretty mini rose and added the fun banner sentiment along the bottom of the image.

Now it's time to hop around and see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created with Bringing Home Baby and Baby Cakes.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Jami Sibley
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

So Proud of You!

I made this card using TESC136 for the layout. Can I just say, I {heart} all the white space!!! I really must make a conscious effort to do this more often. Thanks for the fabulous sketch Taylor!

I used the new Dream Big set from Taylored Expressions and paired it with patterned paper from October Afternoon Report Card. Black accents are always fitting on a grad card so that what I used for my layers.

The image were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and I coloured the books with copics. I stamped the sentiment before adding the fab star texture with my stars impression plate. A little stitching, some ribbon and brads, and that was it! This was super quick to whip up even with that bit of colouring!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 1

My post is jam packed today with fabulous new images and dies that will be available at Taylored Expressions on Thursday, April 7th. So let's get right to it, shall we?!?

The first set I want to share is Treasure Life, a full sized stamp set illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line (and Nancy is playing along with today's sneak peeks!). Apothecary jars are big in home decor and Treasure Life captures this fabulous design trend. 

In addition to the stamps, there's a set of coordinating Apothecary Jar Dies and fun Apothecary Shelf a la carte stamp. I used all of these products on my card today and I adore how it turned out!!!

I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black onto choice snow white and cut them out with the Apothecary dies. I used my stamp positioner to perfectly place the lemons and apples inside the jars. Everything is coloured with copics and I added several coats of clear glaze pen to the jars for plenty of shine. The butterflies were cut out using my butterfly dies and I added tiny Kaisercraft pearls to their bodies. The script paper in the background is from Kaisercraft's Timeless Collection. 

The Apothecary Shelf a la carte image was stamped directly onto patterned paper Lily Bee Design Picket Fence paper pad, and cut out. I added a little shading and coloured the drawer pulls. Is this image not super fabulous??? It can be used with so many other stamp sets, not just the apothecary jars. 

Next up is the most fabulous graduation set called Dream Big. This set is also illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line and the images are perfect for quick and easy announcements or mass-produced cards that many people make during grad season.

I used Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #135, TESC135, for the card layout and kept this card simple and easy. The images were stamped onto choice buttercream with Memento Rich Cocoa and Colorbox Aquamarine then punched out with my 1 3/8" circle punch. Do you see the star pattern on the kraft layer behind the images? Well that's the new Stars Impression Plate...LOVE IT!!! The patterned papers are from the Crate Paper Portrait Collection and I thought the background layer was perfect with the calendar months at the top! 

I wanted the sentiment to have a little oomph so I stamped it with chocolate pigment ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. Some chocolate satin ribbon, mini roses and Twinkles on the tassels are all this card needed for a perfect finish. 

Now let's get hopping to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen cooked up with Treasure Life and Dream Big!

• Charmaine Ikach
  Danielle Lounds
  Jackie Pedro
  Jami Sibley
  Jodi Collins
  Karen Giron
  Melissa Sauls
  Regina Mangum
  Sankari Wegman
  Taylor VanBruggen
  Tori Wild
  and illustrator, Nancy McKinney

Here are the dies I used on today's projects.

See you back here tomorrow for another day of fun sneak peeks!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Sketchy Winter Wishes

Have you heard the news? Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenges are baaaaaaaaack!!!! Woo hoo!!! This is my card for TESC135. You'll find all the details right here on Splitcoast, and there's a prize for one random winner too!!!

When I looked at this sketch I saw snowflakes, and I knew it would be perfect for my Project Christmas 2011...this is card #10.

I stamped the snowflake from Winter Wonderland with Memento Rose Bud ink then cut it out with the coordinating winter wonderland snowflake dies. The patterned paper is Doodlebug Winter Wonderland, although you don't really see much of it. Another thing you don't see much of is the blue scalloped strip I added along the diagonal edge, cut with my small scallop border die. Some satin ribbon, hot pink rhinestones and machine stitching finish the card nicely.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen