Geek Guy Hits the Books-Electronic Style

I can't believe it...I woke up this morning finally wanting to head to my stamp room and create something. I haven't been feeling crafty at all lately and I was happy to have that feeling back. To make sure I didn't get stumped along the way and loose my mojo I decided to play in a couple of challenges.

The layout for this card is SC294 from Splitcoast and the theme is this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club challenge...Hitting the Books. I know my geek guy doesn't have a book in his hands but seriously, in this day and age is it even possible to hit the books without including a computer in the list of necessities? Maybe in kindergarten, maybe...but that's about it. Even I don't read paper books anymore since I got my Kindle last year, and now I can read on my computer and iPhone too! Ok, wait a second...I'm starting to wonder who the real geek is in this equation! LOL!!!

My hubby's always on his computer...he'll finish with his work laptop then pick up his personal laptop for "fun" surfing, as he calls it, so when I saw Who's That Geek Guy? from MFT stamps I knew it was the perfect set for him. The image is mostly paper pieced with patterns from Cosmo Cricket's The Boyfriend 6x6 mini deck and I coloured a little of it with copics. I always find it difficult to incorporate accessories into guy cards so I stuck with a black button and some grey Divine Twine. None of the sentiments were what I was looking for so I decided to leave it blank...now I can use it for just about anything.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions August Key Ingredients and my Sweet Sunday Balloon

Welcome back! It's always a fun time of the month at Taylored Expressions when the new Key Ingredients Subscriptions get mailed out to subscribers and Taylor challenges the Baker's Dozen to create something wonderful.

This time the challenge was to incorporate some sort of "fancy flight" into our project. Immediately I thought of the hot air balloon from The Places You'll Go, so I ran with that idea. I used today's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC81, for my layout.

When I first opened my August Key Ingredients the little packet of butterflies fell out onto my stamp table and I knew they'd be the perfect accent for the sketch. I didn't do much colouring on this since I paper pieced the balloon with one of the patterned papers from the kit and I popped that part on foam tape for dimension. I added some white liquid appliquee for puffy clouds and sprinkled them with glitter. Do you see the circles under each of the butterflies? Those are just punched out from one of the patterned papers...love how it all coordinates so perfectly! I couldn't resist giving the butterflies some sparkle with the smallest size of Crystal Twinkles. The letter stickers I used for the sentiment are also part of the August Key Ingredients and there are a few colours to choose from too.

Are you already a Key Ingredients subscriber? If so, then you know all about the wonderful benefits in addition to receiving a perfectly coordinated kit each month. If you're new to the Key Ingredients you'll definitely want to read about all the benefits in this post.

Also, to ensure you have plenty of inspiration for each kit you can check out the creations in the Key Ingredients Gallery...they're divided by month so it's easy to check back a few months down the road when you need a fresh idea.

Hopefully you're ready to jump in with both feet and become a Key Ingredients Subscriber, now that you know all the fabulous benefits, so be sure to pop over to this page in the TE Store to subscribe. I still marvel at how much mileage I get from each Key Ingredients kit and I have yet to use one up completely!!!

Hop on over to some of the other Baker's Dozen blogs for even more ideas using the August Key Ingredients kit.
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Balloon...in a few hours

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC81. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

My card is all done for today and I can't wait to share it with you, but I have to keep you in suspense for just a few more hours. I've combined my card with the August Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions so my post will go live at 11am Eastern today. I hope you'll hop back over to see what I created with today's fun sketch.  :)

In the meantime, I'm sure the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers have plenty of eye candy to share!
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Little Flower Power

I can't believe it's already Wednesday! Seriously, where has this week gone? I guess the bright side is that the weekend is only 2 days away! LOL!!

For my card today I had flower power on the brain so I pulled out my Feelin' Groovy set from Taylored Expressions, along with my Summertime Project Pantry kit. The layout is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge, MTSC86.

I had visions of flowers all over the car so I paper pieced it with one of the patterned papers from the Summertime Project Pantry and added a little solid colour with my copic markers. I gave the wheels some sparkle with an orange Spica glitter pen then gave the windows a glassy look with my clear Glaze pen. I used my grass border punch on another patterned paper then paper pieced five more flowers. There are Crystal Twinkles in the center of each flower for a little sparkle. The alphabet stickers included in the Summertime Project Pantry were perfect for a quick custom sentiment. The car and grass are popped on foam tape for dimension, along with the entire focal panel.

Wishing you a flower power Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Fred in Flight

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC80. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

I'm accumulating a healthy collection of new, still uninked, stamps, so I thought I'd dig into that pile for today's card. Fred the Bear in Flight from MFT was calling out to me. I wanted to make a card for my flight instructor because he's been such a great instructor and has gotten me to the point that I did my very first solo flight this past Friday! It was so awesome!!!!! Thanks Paul!

So I gave Paul the card on Friday after my flight (which was successful, by the way, since I'm here typing this! LOL!!!). He's so funny...he still marvels at the dvd tin I decorated a while back, so I knew he'd appreciate a hand-made card...and his reaction did not disappoint! I stamped Fred with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured him with copics. I added a light coating of white liquid appliquee to the fur trim and gave his goggles a shiny coating of clear Glaze pen. The patterned papers are an eclectic mix...the plaid is from Farm Fresh, the map is from Thrift Shop, and the airplane paper is a digi paper from the Flight of Fancy kit from The Digi Chick. I was thrilled to see that all the colours worked perfectly together!! I added some white felt clouds that I cut out with my Cloud Trio Die-namics then finished the card with a couple of SU corduroy brads.

Here I am beside the plane, grinning from ear to ear, after my solo flight.   :)

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation on Karen's Blog. Now let's go see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Yippee!! All the new stamps and Taylored Dies are now available at Taylored Expressions!!! But before you head off to fill your cart, the Baker's Dozen is sharing a recap of Tweet Hearts, Take Note and the Taylored Dies.

I worked with Tweet Hearts again today and paired it with one of the Take Note Taylored Dies. Doesn't the image fit perfectly in the die?!? I stamped the images onto Choice Buttercream using Colourbox inks in blue lagoon, yellow ochre and orchid pastel and I popped the bird bath on foam tape for dimension. I sponged around the edges with Memento desert sand on the main image and a few of the layers. I created the background paper by stamping the paisley image with Versamark ink and the sentiment is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. I added some loopy chocolate satin ribbon and finished the card with a rolled paper flower and some Crystal Twinkles.

Taylored Dies are made from American steel and manufactured in the US. They work in nearly every die-cutting machine including the Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft and the BigShot by Sizzix. Our first dies coordinate with Taylored Expressions stamps allowing you to cut stamped images quickly, easily, and perfectly every time! And the best part...these dies cut more than just paper. When you receive your dies you'll want to try them with fabric, felt, metal, magnet, polyshrink, canvas and more. Taylor has a fabulous instructional video showing you how to use the dies with the deeply etched TE rubber stamps...it's a slightly different process than with clear stamps but it works like a charm every time!

Click on the Fresh Out of the Oven tab in the TE Store to see all of these fabulous new products and offerings!!!

Felt Trios - Taylored Expressions is proud to offer 9"x6" sheets of wool blend felt in lots of yummy colours. This felt works wonderfully with our dies. We are offering 3 sheets in a trio of colours for just $1.00 (Triple Berry Trio, Fresh Veggie Trio, Winter-Fresh Trio, and Sundae Topping Trio) and 4 sheets (2 of each colour) in our Marshmallow Creme Duo for $1.25. There's also an I Want It All Bundle for just $5.25.

Cinch - The TE Store is proud to bring you the Cinch and coordinating accessories for all your binding needs. Everyone who purchases a Cinch Book Binding Tool will receive a FREE Journal Kit to help get you started with this fun tool!

Be sure to pop over to the rest of the Baker's Dozen blogs for more ideas, and happy shopping!

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Stacey Schafer-Guest designer for July-August
• Taylor VanBruggen
• and Nancy McKinney, our super talented Whimsical Wishes illustrator, is playing along again today.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2-Tweet Hearts

Today the Baker's Dozen is sharing sneak peeks of a very "tweet" new set called Tweet Hearts. All the new products will be available at Taylored Expressions starting tomorrow at 8am PST.

Anything with birds just makes my heart melt and these images are so fun and whimsical with paisley, dots and flowers adorning each of the bold images. This set can definitely make for some quick and simple stamping...no colouring required.

Of course I just couldn't seem to take the quick and simple road...sigh...and I decided to cut out most of the stamped elements. The images are quite simple though and really were a breeze to cut out, and the circle images that I used as my 'flower' work perfectly with circle punches!

My Summertime Project Pantry was still out on my stamp table and I thought the bright colours would work perfectly with Tweet Hearts so I used it again today. The layout is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, MTSC82, from a few weeks ago. I stamped the branch with Memento Rich Cocoa onto Choice Snow White then cut it out with circle Nestabilities. I left the die in place and sponged a little Memento Summer Sky for the background. The leaves are stamped in Colourbox Olive Pastel onto green cardstock and the two birds are stamped in Colourbox Warm Red and Yellow Ochre. I used Yellow Ochre again for the larger circle element and topped it with an image stamped in Colourbox Deep Lagoon (which really doesn't look very deep at all in my photo...sorry!). I added lots of stitching and popped several of the elements on foam tape for dimension, then finished the card with some Crystal Twinkles for a bit of bling.

Are you ready for more eye candy? Then lets hop over to the rest of the Bakers Dozen blogs to see what they cooked up with Tweet Hearts.

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen

and Nancy McKinney is playing along today too!


Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1-Take Note

It's the first day of sneak peeks at Taylored Expressions and if you were at CHA in Chicago last week then you got an early peek at the goodies we're showing for this release. Today the Baker's Dozen is sharing samples with the new Take Note stamp set and the fabulous coordinating Taylored Dies...yippee!!! The stamps and dies will be available in the TE Store on Friday, August 6th.

I'll start with the fun travel journal I put together. I wanted something bright and cheery so I pulled out my Summertime Project Pantry for all the papers and ribbon. The book itself is just a store bought diary that I altered.

I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the frame border from Take Note before I cut it out with the coordinating Taylored Die, then I combined the words 'travel' and 'journal' on one block and stamped the title. Easy Peasy!!! I added some Kaisercraft rhinestones for a little bling and popped the frame on foam tape. The corners were rounded with my corner chomper...love that thing!

Then I made a coordinating card and I used the same frame image from Take Note and coordinating Taylored Die, but in a completely different way. I pulled out Feelin' Groovy and inked up the van in Colourbox Warm Red. I just love the coverage these chalk inks give on solid stamps...it's so even! I stamped 'road trip' with Memento Tuxedo Black at the top of the frame and paper pieced the yellow flower. A few more strategically placed Kaisercraft rhinestones add just the right touch.

Isn't it fun to use the frame image and Taylored Die as more of an element on the card instead of the focal point? You could also just use the Taylored Die all by itself without the coordinating frame, or you could pair it with other sentiments. Not only are there three dies to coordinate with the Take Note stamp set, but there are also 6 dies that coordinate with the fun Garden Party Blooms set that was released in June. I have a sneaky suspicion that you'll see a few samples with the Garden Party Taylored Dies over the next three days too!

I know the Baker's Dozen has plenty more eye candy for you to look at so let's get hopping!

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarific Mavis

Happy Bellarific Friday!!! This week's challenge was Christmas in July and I was lucky enough to get to use one of the brand new images that Stamping Bella released on Wednesday for my final official post as a Bella Babe. What a great way to end a fabulous time designing for Stamping Bella!!!

Isn't Mavis with Holly the cutest kitty ever? She's on Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured with copics, then I added a smidge of sparkle to the berries with my red Spica Glitter pen. I pulled all the colours from some old My Mind's Eye Be Merry patterned paper.

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try from last Saturday...fun! I added a little zig-zag stitching along the sides of the patterned panel then finished the card with a couple of ghost snowflakes and Glitter Dots.

Next week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is Paper Piercing. To play along simply create a card using Stamping Bella images and email a photo to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. You could win Bella Bucks just for playing along. And speaking of Bella Bucks, be sure to pop over to Bloggabella to see today's round-up and leave a comment while you're there for another chance to win Bella Bucks.

Don't forget about the new release at Stamping Bella. To view all the new images in one place go to Stamping Bella then click on "stamps" then "new stamps for August". Happy Shopping!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Groovy Birthday

I saw a super fun challenge on the Moxie Fab World blog - Signs of Peace - and I just couldn't resist playing along.

Immediately I thought of my retro Feelin' Groovy set from Taylored Expressions along with the That 70's Project Pantry. Both the stamp set and the project pantry are full of fun peace signs!

I used TESC122 for the layout. I started by stamping the rainbow with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured it brightly with copics. I added white liquid appliquee to the clouds and sprinkled them with glitter before heating the liquid appliquee. I stamped the hearts with Colourbox Warm Red and Colourbox Dark Peony then cut them out and popped them on foam tape for dimension. I added a little sparkle to the hearts with heart shaped Twinkles. A little stitching around the main panel and the stitched ribbon finish the card. I should mention that the sentiment is super fun too...the "Groovy" word can be changed out for  either "Radical" or "Sweet" for a completely different feel to the card.

Don't forget to sign up for the August 24th Blast from the Past Blog Hop with Taylored Expressions. Click here for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen