Cheers

I've been delving into digital scrapbooking quite a bit lately. My friend Jen Tapler hosts a fabulous Scrappy Sunday forum on Papercraft Planet, complete with free templates each month and prizes too. I only found out about it last month when I saw Charmaine post about it on her blog and I thought if I don't know about it, then there's definitely lots more people out there who don't know about it either.

So if you're a digi scrapper (of course paper scrappers are welcome too!) then help me spread the word. Jen's layered templates are amazing, and did I mention completely free?!? Simply join Papercraft Planet (it's free) and become part of the Scrappy Sunday group...all the details are posted online.

Here's one of the layouts I did for September Scrappy Sunday.

The layered template was designed by Jen Tapler and all the papers and elements are from the Brotherly Love Kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Meghan Mullens for Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Party Hats

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC85. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing, and this sketch happens to be another of the bar napkin sketches Nancy McKinney created at CHA, so she's playing along too! This week, in addition to the sketch, Karen asked us to create a birthday card in support of Operation Write Home.

I'll be sending this little birthday card along with other cards from my stash to Operation Write Home. Please click the link for more details or visit Karen's blog. There are just a couple of requirements and one of them is no glitter.

The party hat and present images are from Beary Special Accessories which is available at Taylored Expressions. I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured them with copics. I wanted to jazz up the hats a little, but no glitter...so I used my clear glaze pen to add shine to the polka dots. All the papers are from the Make a Wish Project Pantry and I used my much loved scalloped eyelet border Taylored Die on the strip of green along the bottom. I really really wanted to add some bling on that border strip but I wasn't sure...does no glitter mean no bling? I decided to play it safe and leave it plain, and I like the way it all turned out!

Hopefully you'll play along with this week's sketch and consider sending a few of your hand-made cards to Operation Write Home. Now let's go see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created with today's sketch.
Jen Tapler
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy McKinney
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Celebrate the Journey

This week my flight instructor asked if I would make a card for a friend of his who just got his private pilot  licence...definitely! I love it when my card-making has a purpose!

I knew I had to use a plane on the card so I hunted through my stash of stamps and pulled out Going Places from MFT. I love the plane paired with the skyline and the sentiment which is absolutely perfect for this person because as I understand it, he's been working on his pilot's licence for a few years now in his spare time. I used the Mojo155 sketch for the layout.

The blue polka dot paper is from the Bitty Dots collection by Papertrey Inc and I embossed it for a little texture. I used Papertrey's small cloud die on white felt then added the row of stars with MFT's star border Die-namics. The sheet music may seem like it's out of place, but it has the purpose of personalizing the card because the recipient is a pianist.

I had an amazing cross-country flight yesterday...island hopping from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket, to Cape Cod then back to my home base of Norwood. That was my longest solo flight to date and it was a blast!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Clothes Line

Ok, so maybe the title should be Sweet Wednesday Clothes Line, but that just doesn't sound as good. We had friends visiting over the Labour Day weekend so I wasn't able to play along with the Sweet Sunday stampers for this week's sketch, but I wasn't about to let a sketch go by without me!

I thought Santa's Clothes Drying was a perfect fit with SSSC84 and also it was a good excuse to get my weekly (or not so weekly lately!) Christmas card done.

It was really tough to get a good photo of the shading on this card...so if you can imagine, the red hat and pants look much better IRL! I added white fun flock to the hat and pants and some glassy bits (I forget their official name) to look like snow. The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather...so fun...and I paired it with the open scallop die-namic and some baja blue ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Today's the day when everything the Baker's Dozen has been sharing is available at Taylored Expressions. As you hop around today you'll see more fabulous creations using all the new stamp sets and products.

I worked with Hangin' Out - Wicked Wardrobe again today, along with the Fright Night Project Pantry. I have to say that I love love LOVE this set and the project pantry...I love colouring with purples and there just isn't enough purple out there in paper land. LOL! I decorated a sweet Mini Pail and put together a coordinating card.

Let's start with the card. I used MTSC88 for the layout. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. I added some sparkle with my purple and pitch black Spica glitter pens then popped the image on foam tape onto the orange background.

I used my scalloped eyelet border Taylored Die along the edge of the lighter purple cardstock and wrapped the gorgeous purple ribbon around the card before adding a fun button from the Fright Night Project Pantry. The green bats in the corner are also from the project pantry.

Next up is the Mini Pail. This little project was a snap to put together and would be such a wonderful little gift for your favourite trick or treaters. I simply wrapped the patterned paper around the pail and attached it with Sticky Tape. I added the purple scalloped eyelet border die cut strip then topped the seam with some green ric rac from the Fright Night Project Pantry. You can see a sampling of the other ribbons in the kit tied to the handle. The hat was coloured exactly the same as I did for the card.

Taylored Expressions has some birthday bash specials which are being offered from now until Monday, September 6th.
1. Purchase ANY 4 full-size stamp sets and receive a free Binder Box.
2. Purchase ANY 8 A la Carte stamps and receive a free set of Stamp Storage Panels.
3. Four orders will be selected at random (one from each day Friday-Monday) to win a $25 TE gift certificate.
4. The first twenty customers to order the Fright Night Project Pantry will receive a free set of orange glittered chipboard letters.

So if the amazing stamp sets weren't enough to get you shopping, these birthday bash specials are definitely a huge incentive!!!

Now let's hop along and see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen is sharing today.

• Barbara Anders-Guest designer for Sep-Oct
• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 3

Today the Baker's Dozen is getting a little spooky with sneak peeks of two new Halloween sets, Hangin' Out-Wicked Wardrobe and Fright Night Favors (which has a coordinating Taylored Die). Everything will be available at Taylored Expressions on Friday, September 3rd from 8am PST.

For my card today I worked with Hangin' Out-Wicked Wardrobe, which is part of the Whimsical Wishes line and illustrated by Nancy McKinney. There are so many fun images I had a difficult time narrowing down my ideas! Gotta love it when that happens!!! But I couldn't get the little ghost out of my mind...I kept thinking how cute he would be trying to dress up like a witch. I know ghosts aren't supposed to be cute, but seriously, this little guy is darling!!!

All the papers and embellishments are from the Fright Night Project Pantry with the exception of the googlie eyes...they're from my stash. I used the Bubbles Big Background stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black for the background and I'd originally thought of adding googlie eyes to the smaller circles on the background. But then I used the Border Taylored Die on a strip of black and had an ah-ha moment...the googlie eyes fit perfectly in the circles of the scallops...hooray!!! I love that little border of eyeballs all going in different directions...cracks me up!

I know you'll see plenty more fabulously spooky creations using Hangin' Out-Wicked Wardrobe, Fright Night Favors and the Fright Night Project Pantry as you hop through the Baker's Dozen blogs today.

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

I'll be back tomorrow with another fun creation for release day!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks-Day 2

The Baker's Dozen has plenty more new images to share today and we're continuing with the birthday theme, but it's Belated Birthday A la Carte images today at Taylored Expressions. Everything will be available for purchase starting Friday, September 3rd.

I don't know about you, but I always seem to be late getting birthday cards sent out. And that's despite the fact that I have everyone's birthdays in my calendar with reminders...ugh! I've said it before, I'm a card-maker not a card-mailer! LOL!!!

So these new Belated Birthday A la Carte images are definitely going to get plenty of use at my house!!! These super cute images and sentiments were concepted by our very own Jami Sibley...yay Jami!! Apparently she saw a need for belated birthday cards too! Wink! The images are illustrated by the same artist as the Apple Doodle Ink stamps that we've come to love. There are seven different animal images with coordinating sentiments that include something for the inside of cards too!

I'll start with Belated Birthday Stand Out. These little birds are so stinkin' cute!! I always seem to colour my birds blue...I think it's because I had a blue budgie for eleven years.

I stamped the birds with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured them with copics. They're cut out with square Nestabilities and I popped the tallest bird for dimension, then I popped the balloon twice for even more dimension. The patterned paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Togetherness mini deck.

I used the new Border Taylored Die on a strip of green along the bottom and added some Tiny Twinkles between the scallops. The sentiment on the outside reads "I didn't forget your birthday." and on the inside it reads "I just wanted my card to stand out from the crowd!". How perfect is that with that little bird towering over the others! So tweet!!!

Next up is this adorable little squirrel in Belated Birthday Oh Nuts!.

He's also stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. I popped the acorn for dimension. The patterned paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Wanted mini deck and I paired it with kraft and suede brown dark. I added a row of pleated paper just below the cream and brown polka dot ribbon. A few Tiny Twinkles add just the right amount of sparkle to the card.

The "Oh Nuts!" sentiment on the outside works perfectly with "Sorry I forgot your birthday" on the inside.

I know the rest of the Baker's Dozen has plenty more sweet ideas to share using the Belated Birthday A la Carte images, so let's get hopping!

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

I'll see you back here tomorrow for another day of spooky sneak peeks!!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 1

It's time for new stamp sets from Taylored Expressions and we have so much to share this month that we're starting sneak peeks a day early!!! Everything will be available for purchase at Taylored Expressions from Friday, September 3rd at 8am PST. 

Let me introduce you to today's sneak peeks: Make a Wish, Bubbles Big Background, and Borderlicious stamp sets, all illustrated by the super talented Nancy McKinney, along with the Make a Wish Project Pantry and balloon and borders Taylored Dies.

Make a Wish is the newest addition to the TE Giving Tree charitable stamp sets that help support various charities. For the months of September, October and November when you purchase this set Taylored Expressions will donate $7 from the sale of each Make a Wish set to a national children's charity that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Could there be any better way to support a very special foundation while still getting new stamps?!?

Make a Wish is going to become your new go-to set for for birthdays, both masculine and feminine. There are so many fun elements in this set along with coordinating Balloon Taylored Dies so you get perfectly cut out balloons every time. Combine everything with the Make a Wish Project Pantry and you'll make someone's birthday wish come true with every project!!! I just want to remind you that the Giving Tree Charitable Sets come as one full sheet of deeply etched rubber so you'll need to give the images a quick trim before inking them up.

I stamped the sentiment and outline balloon with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White from the Make a Wish Project Pantry (the ribbon and twine are also from the project pantry) and coloured them with copics. I stamped the other balloon with Colorbox Warm Red ink then cut out both balloons with the coordinating Balloon Taylored Dies. I also used the new Border Taylored Die on the strip of orange then pleated some ribbon for a little texture. I coated the sentiment with clear glaze pen so it's super shiny in real life. A little sewing and lots of foam tape help add even more dimension. Even with the scallop border, I think this makes a great masculine card!

The rest of the Baker's Dozen has plenty more eye candy for you so get hopping!

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

See you tomorrow for another fabulous sneak peek!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday-a Beautiful Day

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC83. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

This week's sketch is compliments of Nancy McKinney, so you'll see that she's playing along too. I can't remember how the topic of sketches came about, but during CHA in Chicago we were all together sitting at the bar laughing and having a fabulous time, then Nancy started sketching layouts on the back of napkins. I know there's more to the story than that, but the wine from that evening seems to have clouded my memory. ;)

I knew when I saw this sketch that I wanted to focus on a sentiment in the circular panel, and when I saw the MFT guest designer challenge (to focus on a sentiment) I figured I'd use my Framed Greetings set with the coordinating Die-namics, and throw my name in the hat for the contest. I used a couple other Die-namics too, the jumbo scallop border with a piece of denim, and the flower and leaf trio with patterned paper from October Afternoon. The background circle is cut from a cork sheet and I used some pink felt with my Sizzix 3D flowers die for the pink flower. I adore how this turned out, with the bits of stitching and the pleated ribbon along with all the neutral colours.

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 have created.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Lynn Put
Nancy McKinney
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Little Christmas Joy

Welcome to the third Blast From The Past blog hop with Taylored Expressions. I love these monthly hops. It's so much fun to see how everyone uses their much loved TE stamps!!!

I decided to use Wings of Joy for my card today because I've been a huge slacker with my Christmas-card-a-week. So I actually made four of these cards, which means I'm all caught up and back on schedule! I used the blast from the past sketch  for my layout.

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and I paired it with my new Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather mini deck. I love the unconventional purple hues in this holiday paper! The image is coloured with copics and I added a little sparkle with my red Spica glitter pen. I used my open scallop border punch on the patterned paper and added some Tiny Twinkles between each scallop for a little sparkle. I kept my embellishments to a minimum (thinking ahead to postage for mailing these cards) and simply wrapped some cherry twine and tied a bow.

Now I know there's plenty more eye candy along the hop so get going!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen