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

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

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

Sweet Sunday Hammock

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC74. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

Yesterday when I sat down to make this card the weather was absolutely gorgeous...sunny, hot, nice breeze but not humid...a perfect day. All I wanted to do was get outside, so as soon as I was done making this card I sat out on the deck to type up this post. I love having a laptop and wireless internet! :)

Given the beautiful weather, I reached for my Hangin' Out at the Beach set from Taylored Expressions. The hammock is paper pieced and the tree was already coloured (leftover from a previous project) so I don't have a photo of copic markers...sorry. But I did use Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp the hammock and the sentiment. I used my June Key Ingredients for all the supplies on the card except the three gold Tiny Twinkles and the border punch I used is the open scallop.

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

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

June Key Ingredients Kit from Taylored Expressions

It's time for the June Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions and let me tell you, it's a fabulous kit, like all the kits Taylor puts together. This month there's an amazing promotion on the the Key Ingredients Subscriptions...

From June 15th - 19th, anyone who purchases a 6 month subscription, renews a 6 month subscription, or extends their current subscription for 6 months will receive a FREE stamp set designed by Taylor!!! The stamp set (a $21.95 value) will be exclusive to subscribers and sent out upon completion of your 6 month subscription. A 6 month subscription costs just $23.95 per month (and that includes shipping).

Here's the project I created with the June Key Ingredients. Taylor challenged us to create flower embellishments and I did that with both the die cut flowers from the kit and rolled paper flowers using patterned papers and solid cardstocks from the June Key Ingredients.

I created a flower patch message board with custom floral push pins. I used the flower die cuts, paper flowers and buttons from the June KI to create the focal image, along with my grass punch. I didn't even use stamps on this project!

For the cutest push pins ever (if I do say so myself...LOL!), I rolled up patterned paper into tight little buds and hand cut green gingham leaves. The flowers and leaves are glued onto flat push pins. Because I kept the flowers rolled tight, the push pins are nice and sturdy and easy to grab onto. They turned out better than I'd imagined!!!

Another bonus to Key Ingredients Subscribers is that you receive 10% off and free shipping in the TE Store when you order products to be shipped with your monthly key ingredients kit. Taylor's super organized and you'll even receive a reminder email!

Subscribe today and your kit will be shipped out immediately!!! And, you're invited to play along in the KI challenge each month...how fun!!! What I love most is that I've never once been able to completely use up a Key Ingredients kit...and trust me...I've tried! There's just so many supplies in each kit, they seem to be never ending! LOL!!!

But you'll be able to hear directly from a few key ingredients subscribers because we're lucky to have them joining us today to share projects. So let's go see what everyone created!!!
Rosie Hughes
Candace Mitchell
Lisa Hjulberg
Stacey Schafer
Cassandra Trask
Colleen Begley
JoAnn Valderama
Tracy Clemente
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy Birthday Janet!!!!

Today we're doing a fun little hop to celebrate my friend Janet's birthday! If it wasn't for stamping I never would have met Janet...so glad you're a stamper my friend!!!

Janet loves all things music so I just naturally pulled out my You're my Hero set from Taylored Expressions along with my Rock Star patterned paper. I used TESC112 for the layout. The circle background is stamped with three different colours, brocade blue, kiwi kiss and more mustard then I stamped the people with Brilliance Graphite Black. The sentiment was inked with really rust and black. The little Glitter brads below the sentiment were lost on that fun patterned background so I placed them on black circles that I punched with my 1/4" circle punch to make them pop. Then the left corner seemed a little empty so I added more brads and punched stars.

Janet, I hope you have a rockin' birthday!!! And by the way...this card is gonna be late arriving to a mailbox near you! Really though, did you expect me to be on time?!? I pride myself on extending the birthday wishes/celebrations!!! Hugs!!!  :)

Now it's time to hop on over to Joan's blog to see what she's created. And don't forget to pop over the Janet's blog at the end and wish her a BIG happy birthday!!!

Here's the entire list of hoppers:

Karen: http://paperplayhouse.blogspot.com/

Joan: http://scrapmum.blogspot.com/

Dana: http://danashouseofcards.blogspot.com/

Mary: http://mbryt1.blogspot.com/

Nancy: http://cardworthy.blogspot.com/

Anita: http://www.hoveyhut.blogspot.com/

Michelle: http://micheldesigns.blogspot.com/

Anne: http://stargrovesblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions April Key Ingredients

It's time for the April Key Ingredients subscription kit from Taylored Expressions. The monthly subscription kits are exclusive each month JUST for subscribers...you lucky ducks!!! Who wouldn't love to receive a perfectly coordinated package of crafting supplies each month?!? Seriously, the Key Ingredients kits are a fabulous value, full of fun embellishments and ribbons, and take all the guess-work out of pulling a look together.

This month Taylor challenged us to include stitching in our project. It makes sense...the patterned papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl collection. If you follow my blog at all, you already know that I {heart} sewing on my cards...woo hooo!!! This challenge was totally made for me!!! Oh, and the second part of the challenge was to create a card other than the standard A2 size. I opted for square...and I used the Splitcoast sketch SC276 for the layout. (just between you and me...I was working on another shaped card but there's something wonky about it and I can't figure it out...but I'll persevere and maybe it'll show up in a future post)

I decided to work with Make the Grade...I think it goes nicely with the colours and embellishments in this kit. The entire school building is paper pieced using four of the five solid cardstocks in the April KI. I coated the windows with my clear Glaze pen and added a black Tiny Twinkle for the door handle. The buttercream main panel was cut out with rectangle Nestabilities and layered onto a blue piece cut out with my Big Scallop Rectangle Nesatabilities (love the big scallops!).

There are some fun sewing themed chipboard in the April KI but the scissors work well with my school themed card too. I coloured the scissors with my R29 copic marker then used the blue ric-rac from the kit to tie it onto one of the large buttons. If you look closely you'll see that I added some machine stitching on every layer.  :)

If you're already a Key Ingredients Subscriber then you already know about the benefits beyond just the monthly kit, like the store discount, the storage container, and the challenges and inspiration. Read more about all the benefits of being a Key Ingredients Subscriber on the Key Ingredients web page.

Now let's go see what the other Baker's Dozen gals cooked up with the April Key Ingredients.
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Easter Basket and the Rockies

My vacation with my BFF is over today and I'm headed home.  :(

I really lucked out with the weather in Calgary though...it was beautiful the entire week, which was both good and bad. Good because we were out and about doing things, seeing people, taking day trips...bad because we really didn't do much stamping at all. We only spent one afternoon in the stamp room and I created this Easter card.

I used Taylor's Sketch Challenge, TESC104, for the layout and reached for my Favourite Peeps stamp set, along with my Easter Key Ingredients.

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copic markers. I added a little shimmer with my Stardust pen then coated the basket with my clear Glaze pen to give it some shine. The patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Kioshi line (included in the Easter Key Ingredients). My center panel ended up larger than I originally thought it would be so my card doesn't really follow the sketch but that's ok...sketches are for inspiration, right?!? I added a gorgeous flower from the Kioshi Bloomers pack to finish my card.

One of our day trips was to Banff. I'd never been there so it was a real treat to get up close and personal with the majestic Rocky Mountains. Here are a couple of photos...

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2-Easter EGGstravaganza

In case you didn't figure it out from my post title, today the Baker's Dozen is sharing samples using two new Easter sets and an Easter digital download. First up I'd like to share the card I made with Easter Blessings and the Easter Key Ingredients.

Easter Blessings is the newest set in the Lasting Impressions line from Taylored Expressions. This set is full of wonderful Easter sentiments, quotes and bible verses along with a beautiful selection of images. I used this week's Splitcoast sketch, SC270, for the layout. Although I realized as I was photographing my card that I didn't exactly follow the sketch for the bottom part...oh well...I still like how it turned out. The sentiment is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and the cross is stamped with Memento Lulu Lavender.  I ran the patterned papers (Basic Grey Kioshi from the Easter Key Ingredients) through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder then sanded them lightly to add textures. A few embellishements from the Easter Key Ingredients finish the card nicely.

Next up I have a card using the adorably sweet Favourite Peeps set. I had such trouble deciding which image and sentiment to use...they're all so wonderful! And as you can see from my card, Favourite Peeps  can be used for "other-than-Easter" cards.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black  and coloured it with copics. I added a little glitter to the black lines for sparkle and sponged Memento Desert Sand around the image (I left my circle Nestabilitie in place while sponging to conserve the white border). I paired the circles with Labels Three for an eye pleasing layer. The lavender ribbon from the Easter Key Ingredients has a sparkle to it...I hope you can see it in the photo...it's sooooo pretty! The pink rhinestones I used as "O's" in the sentiment are from the Spring Sampler...it's chock full of fabulous supplies to coordinate with the Easter Key Ingredients.

The flower embellishment was completely inspired by one of the papers from the Kioshi line. I looked at the paper and saw layers cut out and popped on foam tape to create a gorgeous floral embellishment. It was super easy to do and I topped it with one of the mini flowers from the Easter Key Ingredients.

Last but not least I want to share a tea light holder I created using the Eggstra Special Image Sheet Download and the Easter Key Ingredients (along with some vellum from my stash).

When I saw all the gorgeous patterned eggs in this download I immediately thought of light glowing through the patterns. I used my laser printer to print the download sheet onto vellum cardstock (I printed it using my ink jet first but the ink bled on the vellum paper). Then I simply constructed a box for the base, added the punched corner strips and adhered the vellum eggs to the insides of the corners. I jazzed up the bottom of the box with striped "grass" and a pretty bow. Finally I added a battery operated tea light, took it into a dark room (my washroom...LOL!) and ooohed and aaaaahed.

There's so much you can do with the Eggstra Special Image Sheet Download and the eggs are sized to work with the Limited edition nested Egg Dies from Spellbinders.

It's time to hop over to the rest of the Baker's Dozen to see what egg-citing creations they have to share today!   :)

Alex Maldonado

Carolina Butching

Charmaine Ikach

Donna Baker

Jackie Pedro

Jeanie Witmer

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Nancy McKinney (stamp designer extraordinaire!)

Sankari Wegman

and Taylor Van Bruggen

Tomorrow is release day and I'll have something else new to share so be sure to check back!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1-You're My Hero

Let the sneak peeks begin!!! I'm super excited about the new set, You're My Hero, the Baker's Dozen is showcasing today. I think it'll Rock Your World!!! It's fresh & fun and it's also the new charitable set for the TE Giving Tree Program. The new products will be available at Taylored Expressions from 8am Friday, March 5th.

You're My Hero was inspired by and designed in honour of Taylor's 10 year old neighbour, Darrin Zimmerman, who passed away last fall from cancer. Please visit Taylor's blog for the full story. $7 from the sale of each You're My Hero set will be donated to CureSearch. CureSearch unites the world's largest childhood cancer research organization, the Children's Oncology Group, and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation through their mission to cure childhood cancer. Research is the key to the cure.

The possibilities are endless for this set. Next week I'll be in Calgary visiting my BFF (5 more sleeps!) and I have a nephew there who's birthday is next week, so I used You're My Hero and the Rock Star Key Ingredients to create his birthday card and a fun altered composition book. I used sketch SC269 from Splitcoast for the layout on my card.

The guitar is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics. I used my orange Spica glitter pen to add a smidge of sparkle to the flames, which ties in nicely with the orange glitter brads from the Rock Star Key Ingredients. I used my stamp positioner to line up the handle and the guitar head. There are actually four different guitar heads included in You're My Hero, but I thought Carter would get a kick out of the flames. He's turning 12 and actually appreciates hand-made cards, so I know he'll love this one.

The patterned papers in the Rock Star Key Ingredients are from the We R Memory Keepers Teen Angst collection and they're so cool! The piece I used on my card has a silver foil line running through it. I also love how the sentiments in You're My Hero have a bit of a grunge feel with letters that have a scratched up look.

Next I decided to alter a composition book using the Rock Star Key Ingredients and You're My Hero. I stamped the three guitars with Memento Cantaloupe, Bamboo Leaves and Summer Sky then added the rock star shadow with Memento Tuxedo Black. The image is cut out with Labels One Nestabilities and for the black mat I simply traced around the outside of the same nestie then cut it out with scissors.

I love the tone on tone effect of stamping the circle splatter and the star with Versamark onto the green and yellow papers. The star border punch was a logical choice for this project then I stitched everything together before adhering it to the book. I think the edges of the ribbon will look even more cool once they fray a little and the stitching will stop it from going too far.

To personalize the book even more I used chipboard letters from my stash. I used the funky Glazed Glitter technique that Jen del Muro shared in this post on her blog. I used Black Diamond Stickles but then to keep with the grunge feel of the stamped words, I covered the letters with Ranger Crackle Accents. It's a little difficult to see the crackle because of the black background but trust me...they look cool and sparkly in a "guy" kinda way!

You're My Hero is the same deeply etched rubber as all the Taylored Expressions sets but it will need to be trimmed when you receive it. This is to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible to maximize the amount donated to CureSearch. The set was designed with teens and tweens in mind, but I see myself using it for both masculine and feminine cards for my brothers, sisters-in-law, and friends. It would be perfect for a scrapbook page too or to wrap up a pair of concert tickets or an iTunes gift card! This set just makes me want to go play Rock Band!!!

I know the rest of the Baker's Dozen will have many more ideas with You're My Hero and the Rock Star Key Ingredients so let's hop over and take a look.
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Melissa Sauls
Nancy McKinney (stamp designer extraordinaire!)
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor Van Bruggen

I'll be back tomorrow with sneak peeks of two more egg-cellent sets!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

February 20th Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions

It's time for the monthly Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions. Are you a KI subscriber? If so then you've probably already received your February 20th Key Ingredients kit. Isn't it gorgeous!!!! All that black and white paper with vibrant colours...the possibilities are endless!!! Taylor challenged us to create a set of cards that's predominently black and white with pops of colour. Well, I couldn't decide which colour to use so my set contains one card with each of the colours.

This first set of cards uses the brand new Monogram download available at Taylored Expressions today.

I tell ya, Taylor knows how to do things right! The Monogram download includes several circular and square monograms for each letter, with four different frame styles for each shape. And, there's a sheet of blank frames too so you can add any image or letter you want. I used the square Monograms and just trimmed them with my scissors, but the circular Monograms are designed to work with the 1 3/4" circle punch. These Monograms are so quick and easy to use!

Here's a close up of one of the cards. I paired the "T" Monogram with a Thank You sentiment from Branching Out.

Do you see the strip of black ribbon? Well, one of the ribbons included in the kit is actually black with white polka dots, but I wanted solid black ribbon for these cards so I simply flipped it over and used the 'wrong' side of the ribbon. I was quite pleased with myself for thinking of that! LOL!!

I just couldn't stop creating with this beautiful Key Ingredients kit so for my next set of cards I paired Discover Your Wings with the February 20th KI to create a set of cards for the Dragonfly Card Drive.

You may have read about the card drive on Taylor's blog yesterday...if not you'll find all the details in this post. Taylor is collecting dragonfly cards to donate to Sanford Medical Center. The dragonfly is a symbol of hope for families who have lost a child during childbirth or in the early stages of life. You may use ANY dragonfly images for your cards...it's not limited to TE images. There are prizes involved too, and you have until March 25th to get your cards sent in. Again...all the details are in this post.

Here's a close up of the dragonfly detail. I layered two dragonflies, adhering only the bodies, so I could bend the wings up for dimension. I also added Diamond Stickles to the swirls on the wings to make them sparkle.

I could have kept on creating with the February 20th Key Ingredients but I simply ran out of time. I think this is my favourite KI to date, and that really surprised me! Who knew I was such a fan of black & white! I did add some sheets of Choice White from my stash because I wanted all the card bases to be white, but other than that, all the supplies are from the KI.

Are you still on the fence about whether to become a Key Ingredients Subscriber? Well here are just a few of the benefits of being a Suscriber:
-Store Discount: save 10% on orders placed between the 10th-14th of the month to be combined with your Key Ingredients shipment at no extra shipping charge.
-Exclusive kits: the monthly Key Ingredients kits are only available to subscribers and are no longer available for purchase in the TE Store.
-Monthly Challenges: On the 20th of each month Taylor posts a challenge on her blog for all KI Subscribers and you're invited to play along with the Baker's Dozen.
Please visit the Key Ingredients website for all the fabulous details on why you should become a Subscriber. Have I told you lately how much I {heart} all my Key Ingredients kits?!?  :)

Now it's time to visit some of the other Baker's Dozen for more inspiration with the February 20th Key Ingredients.
Alex Maldonado
Dawn Easton
Jackie Pedro
Laurie Schmidlin
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

What's black and white and read all over??? A newspaper!!! LOL!!! The joke is better when you say it instead of typing it because you don't see the spelling of the word "read/red".   :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Fishies

It’s time for this week’s Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC55. You’ll find the sketch on Karen Giron’s blog The Sweetest Thing.

I’m still on a bit of a lovey dovey kick and when I saw this week’s sketch I knew I had the perfect image. I chose the fun Fish In Love from the Stamps A la Carte-Animals in Love from Taylored Expressions, along with the coordinating saying from the Animal Love Sentiments set. In case you missed the release of these darling animals, Taylored Expressions is offering a Love ‘em All bundle until Monday, Feb 8th. Click here for all the details. 

I stamped the fish with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured them with copics. They’re cut out with circle Nestabilities then I layered them onto a circle of blue and stamped the sentiment. I covered the entire fish bowl with my clear Glaze pen to make it look glassy. 

To fill in the gap left on the blue circle I added orange Tiny Twinkles. It kinda reminds me of a ship’s port hole with the twinkles around it like that. All the papers, ribbon and button are from my September 20th Key Ingredients. I never thought that I’d be using these papers for a fishy Valentine card but the oranges and blues work perfectly! I used two different Cuttlebug folders to add texture to the base layers then stitched around the striped panel. You can’t tell from the photo or the card but I was running critically low on this gorgeous blue ribbon from the kit so I tied my bow first then cut the remainder into two pieces and adhered them to the card...there’s a gap under the fish image but you’d never know it...shhhh, it’s our secret!

I hope you’ll play along with this week’s sketch and link your creation using the Mr. Linky on Karen Giron’s blog. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers have created so let’s pop over to their blogs now.

Jen Tapler

Laura Fredrickson

Lynn Put

Nancy Riley

Sara-Jane Kale’

Vicki Burdick

and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Hip Hip Hooray!!! It's Release Day!!!! I know you've all been waiting for today to head over and fill your cart at Taylored Expressions, but the Baker's Dozen has a few more samples to share today, using more of the Stamps A la Carte - Animals in Love and Animal Love Sentiments.

My first card uses the sssssssssssssweet Snakes and papers from my August 20th Key Ingredients.

I'm not sure what colour snakes should be (I don't get close enough to them to find out!) but I went with pink for the girl and yellow for the boy...I think they're a cute pair in these colours! The heart is coated with my clear Glaze pen, and I have to say, I opened a new pen and wowzers, is it flowing well!!! This was only one coat! The layout for this card is my go-to layout when I'm stumped for a layout or not feeling particularly creative, but I really like how it works with the Snakes. And the sentiment from Animal Love Sentiments fit perfectly too!

This next card using the adorable Dogs...LOVE them! They totally remind me of my sweet Mini Schnauzer Shadow.

All the papers are from my Valentine's Key Ingredients for this card. The image is coloured with copics and I used my clear Glaze pen again on the heart. I can't seem to put that thing down! I ran the striped paper through my Swis Dots Cuttlebug folder then gave it a light sanding to reveal the white core.

I coloured the two chipboard hearts with copics then covered the red one with glitter before adhering the blue one. Doesn't it look like suede? Three Tiny Twinkles finished the other side of the sentiment perfectly.

Taylored Expressions is offering an "Love 'Em All" special. 

Purchase all 8 Animals in Love rubber stamps and the Animal Love Sentiments set and you'll receive a $10 Gift Certificate toward your next purchase at the TE Store. You will receive the Gift Certificate Code via email within 2 days after your order is placed - no coupon code or comment needed! Please note this offer expires at the end of the day Monday, February 8th, 2010 and cannot be combined with any other coupons or discount offers. Click here to purchase the Love 'Em All special!

Now it's time to hop over to the other Baker's Dozen blogs for more Animal inspiration.

Charmaine Ikach

Dawn Easton

Donna Baker

Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley

Jeanie Witmer-guest designer

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laurie Schmidlin

Melissa Sauls

Sankari Wegman

and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen