A Little Caffeine to Get You Going

Welcome to the JustRite blog hop for Taylored Expressions! I have to tell you that before I started playing with my JustRite stamps I was more than a little intimidated. It all seemed so confusing looking at it online, but now that I have my own JustRite stamps I'm totally hooked! They're SO much fun to use and I'm SO glad I took the JustRite plunge! For my project today I chose A Little Caffeine Borders & Centers and I paired it with the 2" Stamper with Bonus. All my friends know I'm a coffee girl and most of them are coffee lovers too, so I decided to make a little gift set.

I started with a small Perfect Package and created my notecards to fit. The box was quick and easy to decorate because I just followed the layout on my notecards. I added some fun coffee ribbon to the front and voila! 

On the inside of the lid I created a pocket to house a gift card. The pocket ended up right under the word Starbucks and I honestly did not measure for that...it's a total fluke...a happy accident! 

Inside the box are a set of 3.5 x 3.5 inch notecards. When I received my Caffeine Border & Centers I was really pleased with the size of the images. I know, I know, it says it right on the package, they're 2 inches, but I'm a visual person...giggle! 

I stamped the borders onto teal and orange Prism cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and cut them out with circle Nestabilities. I layered those onto a scallop of chocolate. Next I stamped the centers with Memento Rich Cocoa again onto Choice Snow White and cut them out with circle Nestabilities. I coloured the images with copics and attached them with Foam Tape for dimension. The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow collection. I sewed the squares to some chocolate with my Janome Sew Mini then attached everything to a Choice Snow White card base. I love my little project and now I have to find JusttheRite person to give it to! giggle!!!  :)

Let's go see what the other talented ladies on the JustRite hop have created.

Donna Baker

Jami Sibley

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laura Fredrickson

and Sankari Wegman

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Let's get stamping!

Remember the fabulous stamping event I attended back in March, Stamp New England? Well the organizers have done it again. This time though they're "Stamping Around" first to Connecticut in July next to Vermont in September and then to Philly in November. Registration for Connecticut and Vermont is already open. I can't make it to Connecticut but I'm doing my very best to work the Vermont event into my calendar. Click here for all the details and registration information. Maybe I'll see you in beautiful Vermont!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Clean and Simple

I have a clean and simple card to share with you, but first I have to thank everyone for the wonderful happy birthday wishes yesterday. Oh my goodness, I had so much fun reading all your comments! I have the BEST friends and blogging friends!!! Hubby and I had a great day yesterday, went out for a delicious dinner and he got me a Kindle ebook reader!!!! I'm SO excited...it'll be here on Wednesday!!!! Yippeeeeeeee!!!

Ok, on to the card. I wanted to make an encouragement card and I used the Mojo Monday sketch #90 for the layout. I really wanted to keep it clean and simple, and I think I accomplished that. I've had these gorgeous Primas since my trip to Calgary in March (I know...I have a hoarding problem...grin!) but I thought this was the perfect layout to use one and just add a sentiment. The sentiment is one of the quotes from Faith and Hope at Taylored Expressions. It reads "Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons do not last. The spring rain will come again. by Sarah Ban Breathnach". It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto mellow moss and cut out with square nestabilities. I pierced around the edge for a little interest. The patterned paper is retired SU close to cocoa designer paper and the ribbon is from my stash. I used Choice Buttercream for the card base and ran it through my Stylized Flowers cuttlebug folder. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bellarific Friday on Saturday

Today I'm sharing my Bellarific card from this past week's challenge.

Jenabella did a fun sketch so I inked up my Turtle Tots Picking Posies from Stamping Bella. Did you know this stamp includes the sentiment too? Thanks Em!

He's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I coloured him a second time and cut out his body so I could pop it for dimension. The paper piercing around the oval is freehand so don't look too closely...it's good from far but far from good! LOL!  :)

The patterned papers are from Imaginisce, the Twitterpated line...I still LOVE this paper and I have lots of the white polka dot one left. I sewed the green patterned paper to some so saffron and added it to a white card base. I used my Spellbinders Ribbon Tags Trio to cut out the sentiment and attached it with white grosgrain. The red Prima seemed like a perfect addition and I finished it with a Celery Bella Marble Dot. 

Did you see all the wonderful submissions for this challenge on Bloggabella? If not, go take a peek. You could win $10 Bella Bucks just for leaving a comment on Em's post, but if you participate you could win $20 Bella Bucks!!! Em will be posting the next challenge on Monday so come play along.   :)

AND, in honour of Em's birthday on June 25th, we're having a Bella Blog Hop and you're invited to join in the fun. Here's the link for all the details and to sign up. 

Boy there's a lot going on in June in my life! Actually, it's my favourite month of the year. First, today is my birthday, then next week is my anniversary, which happens to be the same day as the 1st year anniversary of our move from Canada to the US and it's also Father's Day. Then it's the first official day of summer. Then it's Em's birthday and the blog hop. Phew...it'll be July before I know it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen  :)

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!!

In case you didn't know, today is Taylor's birthday...that's THE Taylor from Taylored Expressions. Happy Birthday!!!!! Given that it's Taylor's birthday, I simply HAD to use a cupcake on my card, but I wanted to use my Beary Special and Beary Special Accessories, so I got creative and paired them with For the Love of Cupcakes. The layout is Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #72. 

I started by stamping the monkey with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White, then I masked his tail and stamped the balloon. The tray of cupcakes is from the three tier cupcake image from For the Love of Cupcakes, which I cut out. The monkey, balloon and cupcakes are coloured with copics but I paper pieced monkey's ears, face, hands and feet. The patterned papers I used are from Basic Grey's Porcelain line. The cupcakes and balloon are popped for dimension. 

On the side panel I stamped the birthday hat and sentiment from Beary Special Accessories then punched them out with my 7/8" circle punch. I stamped the hats again, coloured them with copics, cut them out then popped them for dimension. The circles are layered onto a 1" circle of chocolate. The strip across the bottom is kraft and I added some pretty Peach Vintage Flower Lace. The other solid colours I used are celery and blush blossom. I love love LOVE the Beary Special set but it certainly wouldn't be complete for me without the Beary Special Accessories too! And don't forget, for every set sold during June, July and August, Taylor is donating a generous portion of the proceeds to Sick Kids Hospital.

Because it's Friday, there's a new Our Friday Friend on the Stamp a Sweet Impression blog...welcome Julie Smith! So take a second and pop over to Stamp a Sweet Impression to see what Julie created. Did you know you too could be Our Friday Friend? All you have to do to be 'discovered' is upload creations using Taylored Expressions stamps to Splitcoast and use the keyword tayloredexpressions (all one word).

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!

and Happy Friday to you!!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Chill Out!

When I saw this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast I immediately thought of my new 'Tude stamps from Stamping Bella. I decided to use Amplee'Tude on this card cause I felt like some ice cream and this saved the calories. I thought it was perfect to pair with my Chill Out sentiment too.

I started by stamping AmpleeTude with Memento Tuxedo Black then I cut her out with rectangle Nestabilities. I coloured most of her with copics. Oh, how I long to have luscious locks like hers! Every time I try to let my hair grow, it gets to just below my shoulders then I chop it off...I never seem to get past that point...not even as a little girl...sigh. Sorry, back to the card. I pulled out my fun Bella Blvd. Swing Into Spring papers for this card and paper pieced her dress. I used a pink Atyou Spica glitter pen for her headband and I popped the ice cream cone for some dimension. (that's just for you, Emily W.)   :)

I started with a white card base then added some chocolate and baja blue, which I sewed together. I used my SU eyelet border punch on the strip of chocolate just below the yummy pink velvet ribbon (I thought it was luscious ribbon, like her hair...giggle!).  I finished it off with a couple of Primas and some Bella Bonbons in fuschia and burnt honey. 

Don't forget to check out Bloggabella on Friday for this week's Bellarific creations. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Beach Bum Christmas

This may seem like an odd pairing, but I was going through my photos from our Jamaica trip, which was this past Christmas, and I kept seeing Christmas decorations in the background. I thought if I can spend Christmas in the sunshine then so can our beloved Cuppie! So that's how this card came to be...I paired images from Beach Bum with the tree and sentiment from Season's Sweetings. The layout is Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #71. 

The first thing I did was stamp the sunscreen bottle with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White then I masked it and stamped the beach ball. I masked the ball then stamped Cuppie on the lounger. I stamped Cuppie a second time onto a scrap, along with the tree, so I could cut them both out. Cuppie is 'popped' for dimension. Everything was coloured with copics and I added some black dots to the sand for a little interest. 

The entire image was cut out with square nestabilities before I adhered the tree. Some Christmas Red Stickles adds a little shimmer to the ornaments on the tree. The sentiment was stamped directly onto the red polka dot paper and I added a row of green star shaped Twinkles. Some turquoise Glimmer ribbon finished off the focal panel.  

The red and yellow patterned papers are from the Scenic Route Garland Collection. The base layer, garden green, got texturized with my Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. I thought I was going to have a problem with the angled panel cause it's totally out of my comfort zone, but I think it came together nicely. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

A Little French Chef

Today I started with Jen's Sketch For You to Try as my jumping off point for this card. I decided to use Cheffa Huggabugg from Stamping Bella 'cause he hasn't seen any ink yet, and once I decided on him, the colour scheme just popped into my head. I don't know why, but black, red, kraft and white just seems so perfect for little Cheffa. I'm imagining he's in his bakery on a chic street in Paris. 

I started by stamping the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink then coloured him with copics. I gave his chef coat and hat just a hint of colour with W0, otherwise there would have been way too much white and he wouldn't stand out from the background. He's cut out with square Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop of black. I added some Crystal Stickles to his wings for some sparkle. 

The card base is kraft then I layered some black and riding hood red. I ran the riding hood red panel through my D'vine swirls Cuttlebug folder for some texture. The fun polka dot paper is by Bo Bunny and it's available in a rainbow of colours...I love polka dots!!! A black Prima flower was perfect for the bottom accent and I added two buttons to the center. 

Don't forget about this week's Bellarific Friday Challenge. You'll find the sketch on Bloggabella and you have until Thursday at 5pm to submit your creation to Em. You just might win some Bella Bucks..woo hoo! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Kick Back and Relax with Cupcakes

I have two creations to share with you today!!!

This first card uses the brand new For the Love of Cupcakes stamp set and papers from the Cupcakes Key Ingredients (which is sold out at the moment but read here for more info from Taylor) from Taylored Expressions. I love love LOVE this set!!!! The Weekend Sketch Challenge #84, hosted by Laurie Schmidlin, was the perfect layout for this. 

I started by stamping the cupcake image twice onto Choice Snow White. I coloured it with copics then cut out one of the images with circle Nestabilities and I cut the other out with scissors. It's popped for some dimension. I added some pink Tiny Twinkles for a little sparkle. The polka dot flower was cut out using my Blossom Nestabilities...it's such a pretty flower shape!

I ran the three blue panels through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then adhered them to the fun striped paper and backed that with some pink. The apple green double-edged polka dot ribbon was from my stash and I think it added just the right amount of green. I'd love to hang onto this card cause it makes me happy, but it's already in the mail, on it's way to make someone else happy.  :)

My next creations is a manly one. I made this card over a month ago, when I was back home at my parents' place but for some silly reason I haven't shared it here yet. 

We have a friend who's retiring from his career as a police officer and I made this card with his retirement in mind. The image and sentiment are from my much-loved Boys Will Be Boys set and I used the March 20th Key Ingredients to create this card. The layout is another Weekend Sketch Challenge #76, which also happened to be hosted by Laurie Schmidlin...what a coincidence! 

The boots were stamped with Memento Tuxedo black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. I tried to make them look like my Blundstone boots. My friend Nancy McKinney, who designed this stamp set, turned me on to Blundstones (or Blunnies) a few years ago and I'm soooooooooo happy she did. When the stamp set first came out I emailed her right away to say how cool it was that there was a pair of Blunnies in the set! She made an awesome card with some pink blunnies which you can see here. 

I ran the blue background piece through my Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug folder then added some ribbon and a buckle from the March 20th Key Ingredients. I finished it off with three orange snaps from my stash. Our friend's retirement party is at the end of this week so I hope the card arrives on time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Friends

I don't have a card to show you today because I had a fabulous weekend with our friends from back home. Hubby arranged for them to fly in and surprise me. Traditionally we spend my birthday with these friends, and my birthday is next weekend, so it was a fabulous surprise to see them...we haven't seen them since we moved to the US last June. Wow, I can't believe it's been a year already. 

We spent Saturday in Boston. We went on a Harbour Lunch Cruise then walked around the city and of course we had to visit Cheers. 

And speaking of friends...I met some wonderful friends when I was an SU demonstrator. But I haven't seen some of them since the Bermuda cruise last year because I dropped when we moved countries. When we moved to the Boston area I already had one friend here, Tami, thanks to SU. Well another friend, Lynsay, was here at the end of May to speak at Tami's SU meeting and it was so much fun to hang around for a few days with Lynsay. Tami hosted a lobster-que. 

All I can say is that June is off to a wonderful start!!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen