It's Christmas In July...

...at Taylored Expressions with a sale and a brand new fabulous product!!! Let me introduce you to the new Perfect Package card box!

You may already be familiar with the square Perfect Packages that Taylor offers, but this one is the perfect size for cards!!! Wooo Hoooo!!! I'm am super happy to have a Perfect Package that fits standard size cards (4.25 x 5.5 inches) and envelopes...imagine the possibilities! What a perfect way to wrap up a set of all-occasion cards for a wonderful Christmas gift! That's what I decided to do with my new Perfect Package card box...so instead of having a Christmas card this week I've created a Christmas gift!

The Perfect Package folds flat for shipping and storage. When you're ready to use it just raise the sides and flip the magnetic panel to the inside...voila! Quick and easy and no adhesive required. The front flap uses the same magnet to keep the box closed. It's made of sturdy, thick, smooth white cardboard...VERY classy and the quality is out of this world!!! I'm definitely going to stock up on these because I {heart} this new Perfect Package card box!

For my notecard set I wanted a cohesive look so I used my June 20th Key Ingredients to keep them all in the same colour scheme. I also sewed on each of the cards to help unite the set.

I decorated the Perfect Package with a few layers of paper, some ribbon and layers of gorgeous flowers, all from the June 20th Key Ingredients. Simple and quick! The recipient could easily reuse this as a trinket box or even to package a small gift since it's already decorated.

The teddy bear card uses images from Beary Special and Beary Special Accessories. The flower and leaves are popped for dimension and I added some Tiny Twinkles below the sentiment.

This flower and vase are my favourite images from the Fresh Flowers set. The flower is paper pieced then shaded with copics and popped for dimension. I added some black Flower Soft to the center for some texture. The white flowers are from the June 20th Key Ingredients and the buttons are from the Savannah pack.

The cupcakes on this card look yummy enough to eat! This card features For The Love of Cupcakes. It doesn't show in the photo but I added some crystal effects to make the dome look like glass.

This birthday card is my favourite. I love how the flower is tucked under the image panel. I paper pieced the balloons from Beary Special Accessories and popped them for dimension then added a tag with the birthday sentiment from Beary Special.

So here are my cards housed in their new Perfect Package card box. You can see that there's still room to add more if I want. I'm sure the box would hold a dozen cards and envelopes, it's such a great depth.

To celebrate Christmas in July at Taylored Expressions, Christmas stamp sets are 20% off from July 15-25th. Also, one lucky winner will receive a set of 5 of the new Perfect Package card boxes so be sure to hop over to Taylor's blog to enter!

Now let's go see what the other gals have cooked up for Christmas in July.

Taylor Van Bruggen

Ana Wohlfahrt

Charmaine Ikach

Dawn Easton

Donna Baker

Jami Sibley

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laura Fredrickson

Sankari Wegman

and guest designer Rachel Sztonyk

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Happy 81st Birthday!

I made this card for a friend to give to her mom this weekend. Her mom loves colour so I used plenty of it, and she also likes gardening and sewing so I added some Primas and stitched the base layers. The layout is Mojo 95.

My BFF Dana sent me this You Take the Cake set from MFT and it arrived yesterday...the timing couldn't have been more perfect. When I inked the image to stamp it I avoided inking the candles on the cake because I wanted to personalize it and use the number candles from For the Love of Cupcakes from Taylored Expressions. So I stamped the cake image first onto patterned paper for the wall paper, then I stamped it onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics. I used my stamp-a-majig to position the numbers on the cake. Then I cut out the lady, cake and candles (all in one piece) and adhered them onto the 'wall paper'. I added some lime green Stickles to the cake and used my yellow Spica pen for the candle flames. The cake image is layered onto black to make it pop.

Next I stamped two of the three presents, coloured them with copics and cut them out with Labels Four Nestabilities. All the paper I used was from the June Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions, except the black.

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I ran a square of Frosted Pink cardstock through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then layered it onto black and Blush Red Medium and stitched the layers together. I used my SU scallop border punch on a piece of striped paper then tied some apple green polka dot ribbon into a big fluffy bow. I tucked some Primas from my stash under the images and added a Bella Bonbon to the center.

This card's about half an inch thick with dimension, but I know it's ok because it's going to be hand delivered. I really hope she likes it!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

My Support Team...

ETA: Mel aked which line of Primas I used because it has skulls on it. I didn't even notice that was what was printed on the Primas...too funny! Here's what the back of the Prima packaging says: #714659-Petal Pallette Pink/Lime. The flowers come in a tube that's crimped at the top. Hope that helps! Thanks for pointing out the skulls Mel!

This card cracks me up!!! But I made it with a very specific purpose in mind.

When I was in Manhattan a few weeks ago one of my shopping missions was to go for a proper bra fitting at a specialty store. After all, as Stacy and Clinton say, the girls need to be taken care of, right? So I googled bra stores and found Bra Tenders, which was only two blocks from our hotel (and Crystal, my fit specialist, told me that Stacy and Clinton have brought people to them!!!). I liked that they're an independent business that's been in business for a long time with plenty of repeat clients. Needless to say, the proper bra really does make a difference...and makes you look slimmer too. It really was an uplifting experience!!! :)

As soon as I saw Granny's Support Team from Our Craft Lounge I knew it was the perfect set to use for my thank you card to the staff at Bra Tenders. I didn't plan that the card would be sooooooo bright but it'll actually fit in well with the store decor because they've got it decorated like you're on Broadway...bright, fun and cheery, just like this card. I used the Weekend Sketch #88, hosted by Jenn Balcer, for the layout.

I stamped Granny and the bra with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured them with copics. I added some black dots to the bra with my Copic Multiliner so it would coordinate with the green panties on the chair. I also added lime green Stickles to the flower centers on Granny's dress. I cut the bra out with Labels Four Nestabilities and cut out Granny with rectangle Nestabilities.

I chose the yellow floral pattern from my new Basic Grey June Bug 6x6 pad. The solid colours are Intense Kiwi, Blush Red Medium and Intense Orange, all by Prism. Once I had all my layers and strips in place I sewed around the edge with my Janome. The striped ribbon is from my stash and I love how it brings together all the colours. A few Primas and my favourite sentiment treatment, a banner, finished the card perfectly.

I can't wait to get this in the mail cause I know they'll get a good chuckle out of it at Bra Tenders (don't you just love that name...I love saying it!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

One Martini Addy-Tude

My new stamps from Stamping Bella arrived on Friday and this is the first one I inked up...I just love how sassy Miss Addy-Tude is!!!

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I hopped over to the Bella forum on Splitcoast to see what this week's Bella challenges were and the Show and Tell Challenge #2 is a fun one...to choose one of the Bella images that depicts what you do for a little bliss. Wait a second...I'm definitely not saying I turn to the bottle...LOL! But what I've really come to look forward to is our Friday nights out for dinner to our local American Joe's. It's our way of wrapping up the week and starting the weekend. We always sit in the bar area and usually have the same server, Cindy. We've gotten to know each other and she knows my favourite drink is their Pink Sangria...Mmmmmmm. I stay away from martinis though or it would be "one martini, forget the rest, floor"!

I stamped AddyTude Loves Her 'Tinis with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured her with copics. And look...four of my new light copic colours made it onto this image! I used YG0000for the drinks, W00 on the lenses of her glasses and her shoes, V0000 on her boa so it wouldn't be stark white and BG0000 around the image. I {heart} the new light copic colours!!! To jazz up the image even more I added white flocking to her boa and crystal effects to her glasses and shoes (to make them look like patent leather).

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I used black for layers and the rest of the papers are from Basic Grey Lemonade. I used an EK slim border punch along the vertical strip for some interest and stitched around the base layers. The black polka dot ribbon is sheer so I layered it onto black cardstock to give it more punch. The image is cut out with deckle rectangle Nestabilities and the sentiment (which is included with the image) is cut out with Labels Three Nestabilities. I layered a couple of Primas then finished the card with Marble Bella Dots in Pickle and Garnet.

So what do you do when you need a little pick-me-up? Come play along with the Show and Tell Challenge #2 in the Bella Forum on Splitcoast...of course there's a prize involved!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bellarific Friday on Saturday

Today I'm showing you my Bellarific Friday card from this past week's sketch challenge. This sketch was hosted by Jenabella (aka: Jen del Muro).

Did you check out Bloggabella yet? There was lots of participation for this sketch and the entries are fabulous! Wonder who the lucky stamper will be that'll win the $20 Bella Bucks just for participating...we'll have to tune into Bloggabella on Monday to find out. :)

I decided to use Krista's Flowers from Stamping Bella for this sketch. As I was colouring it I realized it was quite similar to the image I coloured for my Christmas card this week...the swirls were the same style, the double lines in some places...both images are illustrated by the same person...Krista! Isn't it funny when you realize you're drawn to a certain style!

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured them with copics. I specifically chose a circle Nestability that would cut off part of the flowers because that's the look I was going for. The image is layered onto a scallop circle of chocolate. I coloured the flowers a second time, cut them out and popped them for dimension. The colours of the vase is a mixture of about 4 colours...I just kept layering until I got the right shade.

I stitched together some celery and chocolate then layered that onto the white card base. The patterned papers are from the Porcelain line by Basic Grey...I thought it was a fun idea to cut out the zig zag pattern and I like how it's straight lines and points work with the circle. Instead of adding a sentiment panel I tied on some ribbon from my stash...I know it doesn't exactly follow the sketch but they're for inspiration, right?

Don't forget to go leave a comment on this post on Bloggabella...you could win $10 in Bella Bucks just for being in the "Peanut Gallery" (love that term Em uses for people who leave comments!). I hope you'll play along with next week's Bellarific challenge. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

New Arrival

Did the title get you??? Ha ha ha!!! My "new arrival" announcements are likely quite different than anyone else's! LOL! Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday and moved right into my stamp room......

I'm SO excited to have the new Copic colours!!! I absolutely can NOT wait to try them out. You can have them too...just run over to Eclectic Paperie (and they now ship to Canada for all my Canadian friends back home!) to pick up this hot little item while they're still in stock! :)

Happy Stamping!

Karen

A Card for the Contractor

Here's the manly man's card I made as a thank you for the contractor that helped fix my water issues last week. I reached for my favourite manly set Boys Will Be Boys from Taylored Expressions and I knew the tool belt would be absolutely perfect!

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics. I cut it out with circle Nestabilities the used my Labels Three Nestabilities to cut out some Intense Kiwi(Prism) to layer under the image. I've seen people layer circles onto this shape and I really like the look so I thought I'd give it a try.

The white base is 5 inches square. The solid layers are orange and teal Prism papers...I love the bit of texture they have. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 Brilliant collection. I added a little stitching around the edges and some fun ribbon from my stash, then I ramped up the manly-ness with some screw brads...the perfect touch! I wrote a little note on the inside and sent it on it's way. I hope he likes it. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Garage sale

I'm finally letting go of lots of my Stampin' Up! sets and products that haven't been used in more than a year. Since I'm no longer a demonstrator my list includes both retired and current products. Everything is priced to move. Most sets have some staining on the rubber and/or wood but this does not affect the quality of the stamped image. I have photos of all the products if you wish to see a specific item. Please email me with any questions or to place an order (include your shipping address): karen_motz@yahoo.ca

• All payments must be via PayPal. All prices are in US dollars.
• Shipping will be via USPS Priority Mail. One set should fit in a Priority envelope for $4.95, any more will ship in a flat rate box for either $10.70 or $14.50. I'll pack large orders as efficiently as possible to save shipping costs. Shipping outside the US will need to be calculated separately.
• The list is looooong and I'll be updating it as items are sold. Stamp sets with an *asterisk beside them have a coordinating wheel for sale.

Stamp Sets:

A Beautiful Thing (mostly unmounted) $6 SOLD

A Little Bird Told Me $8 SOLD

All About Occasions* $5 SOLD

All About You $8

All Natural $8

Always $11 SOLD

Amazing to Zany (half mounted) $12 SOLD

Arfully Asian $9 SOLD

Artifacts $9

Background Sampler $6 SOLD

Backyard BBQ (unmounted) $12 SOLD

Because of You $7 SOLD

Best Friends Alphabet lower case (mostly unmounted) $15

Big Birthday Candle (mostly unmounted) $8 SOLD

Big Blooms $8

Big Bold Birthday $9 SOLD

Bid Deal Alphabet $15

Birthday Whimsy $5

Bitty Birthday $7 SOLD

Bodacious Bouquet* $10

Boho Backgrounds $7 SOLD

Both Way Blossoms $5 SOLD

Bud Basics* $6

Bundle Up $9

By Definition Background $7

Canvass Background $7 SOLD

Carte Postale* $9

Cause for Celebration (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Celebrate Everything $7 SOLD

Circle of Friendship $7 SOLD

Crab & Company $9 SOLD

Day to Day Flexible Phrases (unmounted) $12 SOLD

Doodle That $6 SOLD

Doodle This $10 SOLD

Dotted Background $7 SOLD

Easy Elegance $7

Eat Cake $9

Embrace Life $15 SOLD

Essence of Love $7 SOLD

Everyday Flexible Phrases $12 SOLD

Expressive Flexible Phrases (unmounted) $12 SOLD

Fancy Flexible Phrases (half mounted) $12 SOLD

Fine Lace Background $7

Flaky Friends $8 SOLD

Flight of the Butterfly (mostly unmounted) $15 SOLD

Flower Filled $7  SOLD

Frames with a Flourish (unmounted) $12 SOLD

Fresh Cuts (unmounted) $12

Fresh Fruit $10 SOLD

Friendship Blooms $5

From the Kitchen Of (unmounted) $15 SOLD

Fundamental Phrases $12 SOLD

Ginormous Flowers $9

Glad Tidings $8

Hand Stamped By $5

Happy Everything $7 SOLD

Happy Harmony (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Happy Heart Day $7 SOLD

Headline Alphabet $15 SOLD

Heartfelt Thanks* $10 SOLD

Home is Where the Haunt Is $7 SOLD

In the Spotlight $5 SOLD

Infinite Goodness (unmounted) $5 SOLD

It's a Girl Thing $5

It's Snow Time $13

It's Your Birthday $10

Jumbo Outline Alphabet $15 SOLD

Just Journalling Block $5

Just So Sayings $6

Letterpress Alphabet $15

Like it a Latte $9 SOLD

Little Pieces $6

Live Your Dream (unmounted) $13 SOLD

Loads of Love Accessories $9 SOLD

Loads of Love $12 SOLD

Looks Like Spring $9

Lots of Thoughts $5 SOLD

Love It (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Love Matters $10 SOLD

Make it Count (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Mark the Date $6 SOLD

Monkey Business $8 SOLD

Monogram A $4

Monogram Ampersand (&) $4

Monogram C $4

Monogram K $4

Monogram M $4

Monogram T $4

Mostly Flowers $5

Newsprint Double Alphabet (unmounted) $18 SOLD

Nursery Necessities $12 SOLD

Office Accoutrement $10

Oh, So Lovely (unmounted) $5 SOLD

One of a Kind (unmounted) $9 SOLD

Ornamassortment $6

Owl Together Now $15 SOLD

Paisley Background $7

Perennial Favorites (unmounted) $5

Petal Prints* $12 SOLD

Pick a Petal $8 SOLD

Polka Dot Background $7 SOLD

Polka Dots and Petals* $6

Priceless* $14 SOLD

Print Pattern Background $7 SOLD

Punch Pals $14 SOLD

Reason to Smile (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Sassy Stems $6

Season by Season (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Season of Friendship $12 SOLD

Season of Joy $13 SOLD

Season's Greetings $9 SOLD

Seeing Spots* $7 SOLD

Serene Sunflower (unmounted) $15  SOLD

Short Order Double Alphabet $18

Sidekick Sayings (mostly unmounted) $5 SOLD

Simple Shapes $6

Simple Type Double Alphabet $18

Simply Said $13 SOLD

Simply the Best (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Sincere Salutations-FRENCH (unmounted) $10 SOLD

Sleigh Bells Ring $6 SOLD

Snow Burst $7 SOLD

Snow Flurries $5

Snowfall $8 SOLD

So Many Sayings (unmounted) $5 SOLD

So Many Scallops $5

So Much $8

Spring Solitude* (unmounted) $5 SOLD

Stem Sayings (mostly unmounted) $6 SOLD

Stencil Alphabet (unmounted) $15

Summer by the Sea $13 SOLD

Sweet Celebrations $8

Sweet Serendipity $10

Tag Line (unmounted) $9 SOLD

Tags for All $9

Tags On Board $6

Take Three $6 SOLD

Tart & Tangy $8 SOLD

The Snowflake Spot $9 SOLD

The Wheel Thing $8

Time for You $8

Time Well Spent $9

Toile Blossoms (very stained) $10

Totally Tabs $5 SOLD

Touch of Nature $11 SOLD

Tres Chic Background (unmounted) $7 SOLD

Unfrogettable* $13 SOLD

Vases in Vogue $5

Very Punny $5 SOLD

Wanted $7 SOLD

Well Worn Alphabet (unmounted) $15

Whimsical Alphabet $15

Whimsical Numbers $8

Wild About You $9 SOLD

Wild Rose (unmounted) $15 SOLD

Wish You Were Here $7

Wishes Awash (mostly unmounted) $6 SOLD

With Gratitude $9 SOLD

Wonderful Wings $13 SOLD

Wonderful Words $8 SOLD

Wonderful You (unmounted) $15 SOLD

Word by Word Background $7

Year Round Fun II $13

You Make Me Happy $7

Zoofari $7

Wheels:

Wheel-Jumbo-All About Birthdays (coordinates with All About Occasions) $4 SOLD

Wheel-Jumbo-All About Gratitude (coordinates with All About Occasions) $4

Wheel-Jumbo-Basics Outline (stained-coordinates with Bud Basics) $4

Wheel-Bloomin’ $3

Wheel-Jumbo-Bodacious (coordinates with Bodacious Bouquet) $4

Wheel-Jumbo-Bouquet $4

Wheel-Jumbo-Classic Stars $4

Wheel-Flip Flops $3

Wheel-Gifts Galore $3

Wheel-Jumbo-Happy Happy Birthday $4  SOLD

Wheel-Leaf Prints (coordinates with Petal Prints) $3

Wheel-Jumbo-Leaves A La Carte (coordinates Carte Postale) $4

Wheel-Lily Pad (coordinates with Unfrogettable) $3 SOLD

Wheel-Jumbo-Petals (coordinates with Polka Dots & Petals) $4

Wheel-Jumbo-Snow $4

Wheel-Snowman Fun (very stained) $3

Wheel-Jumbo-So Swirly (coordinates with Priceless) $4

Wheel-Solitude (coordinates with Spring Solitude) $3

Wheel-Jumbo-Spot On (coordinates with Seeing Spots) $4

Wheel-Jumbo-Spotted $4

Wheel-Watercolour Joy (coordinates with Heartfelt Thanks) $3 SOLD

Wheel-Jumbo-Watercolor Vine $4

Accessories:

Punch-Spring Bouquet (new, in plastic wrapper) $6 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Apricot Appeal (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Bashful Blue (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Certainly Celery (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Lavender Lace (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Old Olive (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad River Rock (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Ruby Red (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Classic Ink Pad Wild Wasabi (new, in plastic wrapper) $3.50 SOLD

Clean & Simple Sake

I know this doesn't look like the typical clean and simple card, but that's because of the beautiful paper...it's from the Bo Bunny Splendor line. The paper is actually what inspired the clean design because I couldn't bear to cover it up. My 'white space' is just covered with flowers instead of being plain jane...grin!

I stamped Sake Ketto from Stamping Bella with Memento Tuxedo Black and paper pieced her dress then used just a couple of copics for her skin and hair. I cut out the image with Labels Three Nestabilities the pierced around the edge. I layered the patterned paper onto ruby red then tied some gold ribbon around the bottom. Two String of Pearls Bella Baubles in the top right corner add just the right touch. I just love how quickly this card came together...Hmmm...I think I'll have to do more clean and simple cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Starry Topiary

Here's my Christmas card for this week and I used the Mojo Monday Sketch #94 for the layout. This sweet starry topiary is just one of the four images in this set from Sunshine Designs. I picked up these stamps when I was in Calgary in March...I'm always on the look out for great new Christmas stamps now that I'm making one card a week all year long.

I stamped the image twice with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White. I coloured the image with copics then cut out the star and popped it for dimension. The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop circle of kiwi kiss then I added some red Stickles to the berries. The sentiment is by AMuse.

Onto the white card base I layered some real red, which I ran through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I added a white strip of cardstock and outlined it with red Stickles. The yellow rectangle is Prism Sunflowers Medium. The patterned paper is from my stash and I have no idea which company it came from...I bought it as a little 4x4 pad and it's called Winter Soulstice, but that's all I know, sorry. I do like the bright, happy colours though. I added two ribbon loops under the sentiment panel to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen