Sprinkled with Love - TE Blast from the Past blog hop

Welcome to this month's Blast from the Past customer blog hop sponsored by Taylored Expressions!!!

This time the theme was love, and I interpreted the word a little differently. I have a love for desserts and I thought my Sprinkled with Love set would be perfect for today's hop.

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto choice snow white and coloured with copics. I cut it out and popped it on foam tape for dimension and I used my stamp-a-majig to position the sentiment exactly where I wanted it above the cupcake. I added yellow Stickles to the sprinkles and coated the cherry with my clear glaze pen for some shine.

All the papers and embellishments are from my Valentine Project Pantry, including the pink sparkly fluff I used to cover the chipboard heart. In the background you may notice that I used my Hearts impression plate for a subtle pattern and my small scallop border die created the perfect red edge. The layout is Mojo174.

One lucky participant will win a Taylored Expressions stamp set of their choice, just for playing along, so be sure to join the fun and sign up for next month's hop!!

I'm off to check out the rest of this month's fabulous creations!



Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Snow Day {MFTWSC3}

It's time for this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club, MFTWSC3. The weekly sketch is posted each Wednesday at midnight on the MFT Blog and in the MFT Forum on Splitcoast, as well as in the weekly newsletter.

There's a prize each week for one participant, chosen at random. You may use any stamps and supplies that you wish. Each week a keyword is assigned to the sketch, and this week's keyword is MFTWSC3. All you need to do to enter is upload your card to the gallery at Splitcoast and enter the given keyword in the keyword box during the upload process. After the deadline (noon Eastern on Tuesday) we randomly choose a winner from that week's entries and the winner will receive a $15 gift voucher. If the winning card uses MFT stamps, the participant will earn a $5 bonus, for a total of a $20 gift voucher!

Today's card is my Project Christmas 2011, card #3. No, I'm not crazy...I just keep myself from going crazy in December by making Christmas cards all year long. You should give it a try!

I used the sweet Snow Day Pure Innocence image...love her! She's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and done up with a combination of paper piecing and copic colouring. I {heart} these non-traditional purple patterned papers from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather pack. It probably doesn't show in the picture but the snowballs are covered with sparkle thanks to my clear Spica glitter pen and I added chunky diamond dust to the snow on the ground. White liquid applique is the finishing touch on her boots and hat. 

I gave the card more dimension by cutting out the girl and the snowballs before colouring them, then I popped them on foam tape. I added a single pink snowflake which I cut with my snowflake die-namics and I also used my little open scallop die-namic on the base layer. 

Be sure to head over to Kim's Blog to view the entire list of design team participants...there's plenty of inspiration for you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Sweet Sunday Congrats

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC100. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing. Can you believe we're at sketch #100?!? Thanks for all these fabulous layouts Karen!!!

For my card today I made a baby congrats card, because I became an Aunt again last week. My brother and his wife have a new little boy to add to their family. Although I use the term "little" loosely...he weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces...yikes!!! At that rate he'll be bigger than the rest of the kids in no time! LOL!!

I reached for my favourite set for baby cards, Hangin' Out from Taylored Expressions. I adore the sweet little onesie and the simple sentiment. I paper pieced the onesie with a pattern from my MME Fine & Dandy True Blue pad. I have plenty of boy patterned papers but not much in the way of baby boy (with softer blues etc.) but I think this worked out nicely. In addition to the choice buttercream cardstock I added kraft and suede brown dark. I love sewing on my cards and in one of the Splitcoast forums I read a tip that it's easier to zig zag around a circle than sew a straight stitch, so I gave it a try. It turned out perfectly (and I'm not hiding a boo boo under the image panel either...LOL) and wasn't nearly as difficult or time consuming as I thought it would be. I see myself sewing in circles in the future!

I wanted to jazz up the star border a little because I thought it needed some colour. After punching the border on kraft I adhered it to buttercream then trimmed along the star edge with scissors to create a layer. Then I punched the same border out of sunflowers medium and used the punched stars (which normally end up in the trash) to fill in the border. They were super easy to pick up and place with my Embellie Gellie! Love it!!!

I hope you'll play along this week and link your creation on Karen's blog. Now let's hop over and see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created with today's sketch. Sadly this will be Laura's last sketch on the team so be sure to stop by and leave her lots of love. I'm sure we'll all miss her Sunday inspiration!!
Jen Tapler
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Define Good...

Today I'm playing along with Jen's January Sketch For You To Try and this is my Project Christmas 2011, card #2. Yay me!

I find the best way to motivate myself to make Christmas cards right after Christmas is with new product...grin! So I did a little shopping at The Cat's Pajamas and picked up some fun stuff, including this Define Good set.

My buddie Jeanie often uses kraft cardstock and thanks to her, I'm reaching for kraft cardstock more often. It worked perfectly with my idea to have a white bunny so he really pops. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto kraft and cut it out with rectangle Nestabilities. Then I stamped it again onto choice snow white, coloured it with copics, then cut it out. It's adhered right to the kraft panel...no foam tape. I added some white flock to the bunny and white liquid applique to his hat.

The patterned papers are from my Basic Grey Jovial pad. I used my MS modern garland border punch along the edge of red and added some clear Twinkles for a little sparkle. The sentiment just cracks me up...that's something I would have said as a child! LOL!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Go Confidently...

Today I have a sweet card (well I think it's sweet anyway) that I made with the New Beginnings set and coordinating Butterfly dies from Taylored Expressions.

I used this week's Mojo173 sketch for the layout. At first I was stumped by the sketch and then I remembered the butterly dies which I hadn't even used yet! I stamped the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black onto choice buttercream and cut it out with my Take Note 2 die. As a side note, all TE stamps are made of high quality rubber so when you use them in conjunction with TE dies there's one small trick to get everything lined up every time. Click here for a quick video demo by Taylor.

The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket Togetherness and I thought the clouds and kite strings were a perfect motif for a 'dreams' card. I whipped up that cute bow with my Bow Easy and finished the card with plenty of crystal Twinkles.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Better Get Better {MFTWSC2}

It's time for this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club, MFTWSC2. The weekly sketch is posted each Wednesday at midnight on the MFT Blog and in the MFT Forum on Splitcoast, as well as in the weekly newsletter.

There's a prize each week for one participant, chosen at random. You may use any stamps and supplies that you wish. Each week a keyword is assigned to the sketch, and this week's keyword is MFTWSC2. All you need to do to enter is upload your card to the gallery at Splitcoast and enter the given keyword in the keyword box during the upload process. After the deadline (noon Eastern on Tuesday) we randomly choose a winner from that week's entries and the winner will receive a $15 gift voucher. If the winning card uses MFT stamps, the participant will earn a $5 bonus, for a total of a $20 gift voucher!

For this week's sketch I used Better Get Better to make a card for my mom. She slipped on some ice and broke her wrist last week so this should cheer her up. The bright side of it all is that she broke her left wrist and she's right-handed, and this all happened after the Christmas rush so no home cooking was affected. Aren't I just the most sympathetic daughter ever! LOL!!!

She's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. The patterned papers are October Afternoon Thrift Shop. I used my jumbo ric rac die-namic on the darker blue and finished it with three blue rhinestone brads. I kept this card quite flat for mailing because the Christmas card I sent my parents...long before Christmas I might add...just arrived last week. C'mon Canada Post! LOL!!!

Be sure to head over to Kim's Blog to view the entire list of design team participants...there's plenty of inspiration for you!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Masculine Birthday

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC99. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

I went with a masculine birthday card today because, well, hubby's birthday is later this month so I thought I'd knock off his card a little early. My MFT order from this past Wednesday's release arrived yesterday...holy super fast shipping Batman...and I was dying to start using my newest dies (pun intended! sorry, I just couldn't resist that one!). I used my 1/4"  rosette die-namic (which is currently out of stock) to create the pleated medallion for the main circle panel. I needed a big medallion so I cut out three strips, joined them together then formed the pleated medallion. I layered it onto some white that I cut out with the largest of the large classic circle Nestabilities.

Then I used my layered label die-namics for the sentiment panel...LOVE how versatile these are! The sentiment is from More Essential Sentiments and the patterned papers are Basic Grey Marjolaine. The stacking star die-namics are a perfect accent for masculine cards and I covered the stars with glitter. I couldn't resist adding the most perfect pompom trim from my stash.

Then I added a star border and another sentiment from More Essential Sentiments to the inside...it cracks me up! We're not the 'mushy card' kinda couple so this will be perfect. I know he's going to belly laugh when he opens it. And he doesn't read my blog so there's no chance of ruining the surprise.

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

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

The Baker's Dozen is sharing a recap of all the new sets that are being released today. In fact, the new stamps, dies, card kit and project pantry are available now at Taylored Expressions. Click on the Fresh Out of the Oven tab to view all these new products and more!

Before you head off to shop, I have a sweet little notecard set that I created with S.W.A.K.

I wanted a more graphic look so I went with a black and white colour combo with a pop of pink. The new Echo Park Be Mine papers were a perfect fit!

I also wanted to show you how to get a completely different look with this darling penguin image so for two of the cards I inked only the mailbox...that's where the Memento Dew Drops come in super handy with the pointed end! On the other card I stamped the envelope image three times. I cut out the image with square Nestabilities and layered it onto a pink lacey square Nestability. I used my corner chomper to round two of the corners on each card. Then I added a little heart detail by using my heart border die to cut some pink felt. I divided the hearts into groups of three and adhered them with the Best Glue Ever. Then I used the tiny heart centers and added two in the corner of each card.

In addition to all the fab new products with this release, Taylored Expressions is offering a Valentine Bundle that's chock full of Valentine goodies. Just for purchasing the Valentine Bundle you'll receive the Love Everywhere set for FREE!!! Now that's a sweet deal!!!

Let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created today!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Lea Lawson-Guest designer for Jan-Feb
• Melissa Sauls
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 3

Today the Baker's Dozen has three new sets to share: Kid at Heart, Sweet Friends, and A Little Love. All the new products will be available at Taylored Expressions tomorrow, Friday, January 7th at 8am PST.

Let's start with Kid at Heart, shall we? This is a fun set with sweet little images that remind me of childhood toys. All Taylored Expressions stamp sets are made of high quality rubber so these bold images stamp beautifully. There's also a frame image that coordinates with the Take Note Die 3.

As soon as I saw the set I knew I had to use the airplane...and I'm pretty sure that came as no surprise to the rest of the Baker's Dozen! LOL!! I decided to whip up a little Valentine treat box for hubby and I knew the test tubes would be the perfect starting point.

All I did was make a box to fit around 5 test tubes, using papers and embellishments from the Valentine Project Pantry. I stamped the frame image with Colorbox pink pastel and cut it out with the Take Note die 3. Then I used my stamp-a-majig to place the sentiment and stamped the airplane with Colorbox Warm Red. The plane is cut out and popped on foam tape. My medium scallop border die came in handy to create the decorative scallop edge and I added clear rhinestones (from my stash) for a little bling. Finally I finished the box with a perfect little bow, thanks to my bow easy, and a heart pin from the Valentine Project Pantry.

Next up is Sweet Friends. This set is full of sweet little friends for Cuppie to hang out with in the bake shop. And the sentiments are perfectly adorable too!

I used my Make a Wish project pantry to create a fun birthday card to add to my stash. I started by stamping the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black onto orange cardstock then cut it out with my new Frame It Up die. I adore the size and shape of this die...it's so versatile!!! Then I stamped the cake, coloured it with copics and cut it out. The flower is popped for a little dimension and I added a Twinkle to the center, then gave the icing some sparkle with a little glitter. The patterned paper is pretty busy so I opted not to add other embellishments, aside from the pleated ribbon.

Now let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created with these new sets.

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Donna Baker

Jackie Pedro

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Taylor VanBruggen

Tori Wild

See you tomorrow for release day!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Little Announcement and Getting Sketchy with MFT

I have some super happy news to announce!!! It was announced on the MFT blog yesterday but in case you missed it, I'm now a member of the MFT Challenge Team!!! Woooo Hooooo!!!! Lucky me!!!! I {heart} my MFT stamps so there was no way I was going to say no to an opportunity to use them more often!

This all happened pretty quickly though and I ran out of hours in the day to be 'on time' with my card for this week's Wednesday Stamp Club...so here I am...24 hours later...but better late than never, eh? :-)

The other big change to the MFT WSC is that it's going to be a weekly sketch now. Hooray!!!!! Here are a few details you'll want to know:

MFT is super excited to announce that Wednesday Stamp Club will now be centered around a weekly sketch.  We know your stamping time is precious, and we want you to maintain as much creative freedom as possible.  Sketches are the perfect starting point to a card.  Use it as a blueprint, and create a card using the stamp set and supplies that strike your fancy.  You can turn to the sketches time and again for creative inspiration.

A new sketch will be posted each Wednesday at midnight on the MFT blog.  You'll also find the sketch in the MFT forum on Splitcoast on Wednesday morning, as well as in the weekly newsletter.  Our talented Challenge and Design Teams will be on hand to provide plenty of inspiration to get you started.

We encourage you all to play along, and to enter your card in the weekly draw for a $15 gift voucher to the MFT Boutique.  Simply follow the sketch and create a card or other paper creation.  You may use any stamps and supplies that you wish.  Each week, a keyword is assigned to the sketch.  All you need to do to enter, is upload your card to the gallery at SCS, and enter the given keyword in the keyword box, during the upload process.  After the deadline, we randomly choose a winner from that week's entries and the winner will receive a $15 gift voucher.  If the winning card uses MFT stamps, the participant will earn a $5 bonus, for a total of a $20 gift voucher!  That is up to $100 per month in prizes, JUST for playing along.  We hope you'll join us in 2011. This week's keyword is MFTWSC1, so get stamping and join the fun!!!

Here's the card I made using one of the newest A la Modes, Cheers. The card actually turned out to be way more 'romantic' than I'd intended but I just LOVE the result. I wasn't trying for romantic, and I don't think I could have done it any better if I did try!

The patterned papers are October Afternoon Cherry Hill. I gave the champagne glass a couple coats of clear glaze pen to make it look glassy. I used my jumbo scallop die-namic on the polka dot strips across the top and added an off white felt rolled rose (the rolled rose die-namic is currently out of stock) to finish the details. 

To view the entire list of design team participants, please head over to Kim's blog. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen