More is More

Welcome to Day #1 of sneak peeks for the Taylored Expressions September Release!  I’m super excited to be playing along with the Baker’s Dozen today as we have peeks for two full sized stamp sets – Make a Wish and Borderlicious, plus a new backgrounder – Bubbles Big Background all illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line.  In addition, we have a fantastic Project Pantry kit (patterned paper, cardstock, ribbon, and more) that is perfect for birthdays and celebrations.  And if all that weren’t enough there are two new sets of Taylored Dies being shown today.  And this is just Day #1!  WOW!!

We’ll have peeks today, Wednesday and Thursday.  Everything will be available for purchase on Friday morning at 8:00 am PST as we celebrate TE’s 2nd birthday with a big Birthday Bash!  You’ll want to check in every day this week so you don’t miss anything!

And now on to my sample for today which features Make a Wish.  I love the show Ace of Cakes and the Food Network Challenge for themed and extreme cakes (I can’t stand the Cake Boss, but I digress) so I was immediately drawn to this topsy-turvey cake image.  Isn’t it fun?  This is the quintessential birthday stamp set that everyone needs!  It also includes balloons and banners and plenty of birthday sentiments.

And to make this set even sweeter, it is the newest in the TE Giving Tree program which donates partial proceeds from a different stamp set each quarter to a chosen charity.  For the months of September, October and November Taylored Expressions will donate $7 from the sale of each Make a Wish stamp set to the Make a Wish Foundation. Their mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.  What could be better than getting super cute new stamps and supporting a wonderful charity all at the same time?

All of the papers, cardstock and ribbon on my card are from the Make a Wish Project Pantry kit.  The cake was colored with Copic markers and then I added lots of stickles so it is super sparkly in person!  I cut my cardbase a little narrower than usual so I would have room for the border piece I punched with the Martha Stewart picket fence punch.  Then I added a boatload of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles to the fence!  Spellbinders die is Curved Rectangle and I added some doodles with a chocolate Spica glitter pen.

I decorated the inside of the card with more images from Make a Wish.

Now it’s time to go for a hop to see what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up for today.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen – get all the details and start the hop here each day this week!

A huge welcome to the new Baker’s Dozen members –

•  Danielle Lounds
• Regina Mangum
• Tori Wild

Also joining today is Whimsical Wishes illustrator

• Nancy McKinney 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll be back tomorrow with something I’m especially excited about!  *GRIN*  Hope to see you tomorrow!

Happy Monday!  It’s been a rough week or so and I wanted to stop in to let you know what’s been going on here as well as to share a card.  The card I have today is actually from one of my classes a month or two ago, but I realized I had never photographed or posted it.  It features the TE stamp set Discover Your Wings and the technique of 3D stamping.

And now to share a little of what has been going on this past week.  Friday before last (the last day I blogged) I taught a stamp class and Curt went for a 20 mile bike ride with some buddies.  He’s been going 3 or 4 times a week as we are both trying to get excerise and lose some weight.  Earlier in the week he had developed a little bump/cyst/boil on his…hmmm…how do I put this…on his “seat”.  He didn’t think much of it until after the Friday night bike ride when it hurt like heck.  Friday night he was exhasuted from the ride and just didn’t recover as he usually does and then he had chills all night.  The next day he had an all day choir rehearsal (they start working on the Christmas musical in August) and a friend and I were scheduled to coordinate the catered lunch.  About an hour into the rehearsal Curt came and found me in the kitchen to tell me he was in so much pain that he couldn’t sit in the rehearsal.  He was white as a sheet and his face felt really hot.  He dediced to go to Urgent Care and insisted he could drive himself so I could stay at church and tend to the lunch.

It turned out that the boil had become infected and had in fact caused a blood infection which is very serious. He had a fever of 102.  The doctor lanced the boil, gave him a shot of antibiotics and a prescription for an oral antibiotic.  He was instructed to return the follow day, but told that he should head straight to the E.R. if his symptoms worsened or his fever didn’t break.  When we returned the next day he was seen by a different doctor who gave him another shot and added another oral antibiotic.  This doctor told us that he would have admitted him to the hospital the day before if it had been up to him.  Again we were instructed in no uncertain terms to head to the E.R. if there was worsened swelling ot if his fever went up again.   On Tuesday we saw our regular doctor and at that point there were some results from the labs done over the weekend.  The infection was staph and our doctor told us that it was the kind of thing that is NOT treated orally – that he should have been in the hospital with an IV.  At that point we did not know whether the infection was antibiotic-resistant or not, but there was a good chance that it might be.  We were scheduled back to see our doctor on Thursday.  Once again we were told that Curt might still need to be admitted and that we should call the doctor any time of day or night if symptoms worsened.  On Thursday we got the good news that the specific bacteria he was fighting was NOT resistant and he seemed to be responding to treatment.  On Friday Curt felt like he had turned a corner and was starting to feel better.  On Sunday we were able to attend church.

Curt went back to the doctor this morning and was given the ok to go to work this afternoon.  He still has some infection and the doctor prescribed additional antibiotics, but he is feeling better for the most part.  For a week we both lived with the knowledge that this situation could become life threatening at any moment.  Sometimes I felt like I was holding my breath.  But I knew the Lord was upholding us and would see us through whatever might come.

For the entire week we were bathed in prayer and were awash in the good wishes we received via phone, e-mail and FaceBook.  I really can’t describe how much that meant to both of us.  When we returned to church on Sunday, the smiles and the hugs and the genuine concern was amazingly sweet and truly warmed my heart.  I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing us through this – so thankful that it wasn’t worse – so thankful that Curt had that horrible pain that motivated him to get medical attention – so thankful for the people God surrounded us with.

It is truly a happy Monday at our house!

Tomorrow begins sneak peeks for the September release at Taylored Expressions and I’ll be playing along.  On Tuesday we’ll be peeking some stamps that I concepted and am especially excited about.  This will be a huge release at TE celebrates its 2nd birthday and it’s an awesome one.  You won’t want to miss a thing!  Hope to see you back tomorrow!

Happy Friday!  It’s time for another fun sketch from Taylor – TESC125.  I hope you’ll play along with us this weekend.  I was in need of a birthday card for a friend of ours of the male persuasion.  I have to admit that *guy cards* are not always my favorites to make, but I got to thinking…why do guy cards so often seem so somber and serious?  This particular friend has an awesome sense of humor – often leans over to say something to make me laugh in church – so I decided to try to create a fun happy birthday card still appropriate for man.  I hope I succeeded…you can be the judge of that.  What do you think?  Too girly?  Well I hope he liked it!

I pulled out some supplies from Taylored Expressions –  Sprinkled With Love stamp set and Summertime Project Pantry kit (cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, scallop sticker, blue candy dots) and added a retired SU sentiment set called Cheery Chat.  My images were colored with Copics and punched out with circle punches.  I added some of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles for a special finishing touch.

On the inside of the card I added a little image from the TE set Sweet Occasions which coordinates perfectly with the images on the front of the card. The sentiment reads:

However you may celebrate,

Whatever you may do – 

hope you day is

filled with love and

wishes that come true!

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And now it’s time to see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store for us.  Let’s go check it out:

• Alice Wertz
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Rosie Hughes
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by.  I am so looking forward to my class tonight.  Lots to do to get ready before then.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Thursday!  Tomorrow night I’m holding my monthly stamp class, but this one is a little different since it’s a Stampin’ Up! New Catty Night.  Even though I’m no longer a Demo, there are still things I want from SU, so I figured I might as well host a Stampin’ Up! Class and take orders as hostess.  *SPOILER ALERT* If you are attending class tomorrow night and don’t want to see the projects we’ll be making, then close this window NOW!  Everyone who wants a peek – stick with me. 🙂

These cards are SUO – something I rarely do anymore.  First up is a pair of samples featuring my favorite stamp set from the new catalog – Aviary.  Card base is Daffodil Delight and dp is Sunny Garden.  I must say that Daffodil Delight really is a very nice yellow and a great replacement for YoYo which was so rarely used because it was just too primary and bright.  These are not *my colors* at all, but I do try to step oustide my comfort zone for classes as I realize not everyone is all about reds and pinks like I am!  LOL!  I do think these cards are cute and fun!

Since I am going to have such a full house tomorrow night I created 2 versions of this card so I could split the images and inks a bit.  Each person will make just one of the two shown above.  Inks are Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz and Daffodil Delight.  Sentiments are from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The next sample features an a la carte stamp called Elizabeth.  I fell in love with this image the moment I saw it.  Here it is paired with Shimmery White cardstock (my fave!) along with Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive for an elegant feel.  Again the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The frame image was stamped in Old Olive and then lightly watercolored with Old Olive ink and an aquapainter.  Satin ribbon in Razzleberry and three SU self-adhesive rhinestones finish off the design.  Can I just say HALLELUJAH that SU finally got with the program on the self-adhesive rhinestones and pearls!!!  I think that was the missing element that drove me the most crazy when I was a Demo and doing all SUO classes.  I cannot live without my bling!  I must say that these rhinestones are top quality and super shiny.  I wonder if they’ll ever add colored ones?  Baby steps…baby steps!  LOL!

My class is 100% full, but if you’re a SoCal local and would like to be on my e-mail list to be notified about future classes – or if you’d like to place an order through my SU class –  just click the *contact me* button in my sidebar and shoot me an e-mail.  Thanks for stopping by.  I’ll see you tomorrow with the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge.

Happy Friday!  Today we have a really fun sketch challenge from Taylor – TESC124. I have to admit that I was a bit scared when I first saw it…and then scared again when I printed it out and took it to my stamp table.  That being said, my card came together fairly easily and I ended up really having fun with this sketch!  I think you will too! It’s much easier than it might look.  Come and play with us!

I made my TE Choice Buttercream card base 9.25″ x 4″ to fit into a #10 envelope. I know some people really like to have measurements when working with a sketch – especially for an unusual card size – so I will give you mine for reference.

Card base – 9.25 x 4

black layer – 9 x 3 3/4

red dp layer – 8 7/8 x 3 5/8

3 black panels – 2 3/4 x  3 3/8

3 cream polka dot panels – 2 1/2 x 3 1/8

circle punch – 1 3/4 (layered onto Blossom nestie in black)

Of course you can tweak the sketch as much as you need to and you might want to try a different sized card altogether. Here’s my sample for the sketch:

That old fashioned phone is from the TE stamp set Weigh to Go!  Isn’t it so cute?!  I think this card is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t go into much detail except to say that the designer paper is an older retired SU line that’s all Real Red and Vanilla.  I’m almost out of this paper and will be so sad to see it gone!  Sentiment “hot line” is spelled out with Thickers and on the inside I will print “you have the hot line to my heart!”  I used an EK Success border punch and crocheted trim from TE.  I just love the way this card turned out!

Now let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store for us today:

• Alice Wertz
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Rosie Hughes
• Sherrie Siemens
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend.  I’m looking forward to spending time with my nieces and my sister-in-law making my oldest niece’s wedding invitations.  I hope to share those with you soon!

I’m back!!!  If you’d like to see my TESC sample featuring Tweet Hearts please scroll down to my previous post.  It’s Release Day at Taylored Expressions so I hope you’ll hop over to the TE Store and check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department where you can see all the new goodies in one place!  But before you go Nancy and I are playing along with the Baker’s Dozen today to showcase the two stamp sets being released.

My sample today is an altered comp book featuring Take Note along with Weigh to Go! (released last month.)  I’ve always loved altering comp books and I keep a stash of them at all times (as though disaster might strike if I ran out of comp books or RSVP pens!), so this was easy to pull together.  I pieced together some Early Bird papers (one of my faves) from a previous Key Ingredients kit.  The frame image was stamped in green chalk ink and die cut with the coordinating frame die – so easy – LOVE IT!  I stamped the frame again in red and the words Food and Exercise in chocolate – then I cut out that square panel and popped it up on top of the green frame and outlined it with some red liquid pearls.  I used another one of the coordinating dies to cut out a piece of vanilla cardstock and stamp the dress from Weigh to Go!  I then paper-pieced the dress with some October Afternoon paper.

Curt and I recently got back on the diet and exercise bandwagon.  We’ve needed to do it for awhile now, but we both especially want to lose some weight before our niece’s wedding in October.  I know from past experience that journaling both food and exercise is a valuable tool in weight loss.  I also know that it can be a really hard thing to be consistent with.   So I thought if I had a pretty book that I could leave out, I might be more motivated to write things down.  To be totally honest I’d like to bling this up a little more, but I just flat ran out of time last night as I was also working on the TE Newsletter.

I hope you are subscribed to the Newsletter.  It generally comes out twice a month and will keep you updated on new products and other store happenings!  It’s time to check out what the rest of the girls have cooked up today:

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Sankari Wegman
• Stacey Schafer – Guest Designer
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please let me know what type of projects you plan to make with Take Note!

Happy Friday!  I have 2 posts today, so I’ll try to keep this one short.  It’s time for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge and for my card today I’m featuring one of the sets being released at 8am PST at the Taylored Expressions store – Tweet Hearts.  I decided to think out of the box and I used 2 of the leaf stamps in the set to create a flower.

Papers are October Afternoon along with SU Real Red and Cool Caribbean.  Spellbinders dies, Bright Smooth Bling, pom pom trim and caribbean ribbon are all from TE. Sentiment and all images are from Tweet Hearts.

Now let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store for us:

• Alice Wertz
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rosie Hughes
• Sherrie Siemens
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by.  My next post will be up very soon with another TE Release Day sample.  I hope you’ll check back and I hope you’ll play along with us in this week’s sketch.