More is More

Happy Halloween!  I have to admit, I am totally NOT into Halloween.  That being said, there are two things I enjoy about it: first is making cards with fun Halloween stamps and second, and by far the most, is dressing Tessa up in Halloween costumes.  This year she’s a SHARK! (click photos to view them larger.)

Isn’t she FIERCE??!!  LOL!  Our friends, David and Audrey,  go all out on their haunted house deocrations, so I’ll take Tessa treak-or-treating over to their house tonight.

I didn’t get a new card made to share as I’ve been prepping for the Taylored Expressions Release this week (I’ll be joining in on the sneal peeks tomorrow.)  But here’s my favorite card from last year. You can get all the details in the original post.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a fun evening!

Happy Friday!  My post today is doing double duty as I am hosting the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge over ta Splitcoaststampers and I’m participating with the Sketch Crew in Taylor’s TESC149.  I hope you’ll join in both challenges. 

My challenge is to create a Christmas or Winter card using any shade of pink as a primary color in your design.

If you’re not familiar with Hope You Can Cling To, it is an annual card drive held during the month of October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) to benefit the UT MD Cancer Center in Texas.  You make cards and mail them to the Cancer Center to be used for breast cancer patients and their families.  There are tons of sponsors (TE is one of them) and lots of prizes up for grabs.  There have been  new challenges posted every day for the month of October, so surely you can find a few that grab you and make you want to stamp!  Check it out!

My card today features Penguin Pals and Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas 6×6 papers along with cardstock in Espresso, Wasabi and Pixie Pink.

I’ve embellished with some Liquid Pearls in 2 colors, some Sugar Sparkly Fluff, Smooch Paint, pink pom pom trim, a piece of a doily and some faux stitching.

Here’s the sketch I started with:

Let’s check out what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store today.

Don’t forget that you have 2 weeks to play in the TESC and there’s a prize drawing just for entering!  You can get all the details on Taylor’s blog.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Wednesday!  I cannot believe that October is almost over.  It’s been a crazy busy month here full of lots of good stuff.  I’ll share more about that later, but for now I want to share the projects we made in my class last week.  Our focus was Christmas and Winter and each customer got an Echo Park Seasson’s Greetings 6×6 pad with their class enrollment. Having such cute paper and so many awesome TE Christmas sets made it hard to narrow it down to just 3 projects.  We might have to do a little more Christmas next month too.

The first card features Wreaths of Joy and the Seasonal Wreath die. The bird was stamped separately, cut out and popped up on a foam square. Cardstock colors are Buttercream and Artichoke.

The second card features the Trim the Tree Taylored Die along with the Frame It Up 1 Die.  The sentiment was punched with the SU Modern Label punch.  The scallop was created with the Medium Scallop Taylored Die. Cardstock colors are Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler and Buttercream.

And for the 3rd project everyone had the choice of using “JOY” from Wings of Joy or the “SNOW” A la Carte.  This card was inspired by a beauty made by Karen Motz.  Love this pair!  Cardstock colors are Real Red and Choice Snow White.  Images were colored with Copics and finished off with Spica Glitter pens.

I don’t think these cards need much explanation, but if you have any questions please let me know.  My November class is scheduled for Thursday evening the 17th.  Registration is $15.  E-mail me if you’d like to attend. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you’re having a great week!

Taylored Expressions is hosting a Holiday Hoopla today and I’m excited to be a part of it. You should have arrived here from Margie’s blog.  If you didn’t (or if you get lost along the way) you can head back to the beginning at Taylor’s blog for the full list of participants. There are 22 designers showcasing Christmas/Winter/Holiday stamps sets from TE with samples that include all sorts of projects from cards to gifts and beyond!  We want to inspire you to get your holiday crafting and card making into high gear!  Be sure to stick with me all the way to the end of the post to get a coupon code for 25% off holiday stamp sets at Taylored Expressions! 

The set I’m showcasing is Christmas Blessings.  This set is gorgeous and I used it for the bulk of my Christmas cards year before last.  I was more than happy to have the opportunity to showcase it again. 

Since I’m way behind on my Christmas card making, I decided to make a set of 4 simple cards using elements from the TE Angel Kisses Card Kit.  The cardstock, patterned paper and ribbon are from the kit.  I added some white KaiserCraft pearls and some Pool Party cardstock to coordinate with the little bits of blue in the patterned paper.  The layout is TESC148.  I really missed out on playing and the sketch was perfect for the rectangular image I wanted to use.

The image was stamped in white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder on Pool Party cardstock.  I sponged Blushing Bride pink ink over part of the sky.  The image was die cut with a Spellbinders Rectangle die and then matted onto cardstock cut with a Deckled Rectangle die.

I had little strips of the patterned paper left over and they were the perfect touch for the inside of the card.

Are you getting in the mood to stamp for Christmas?  Be sure to check out Taylor’s 12 Days of a Handmade Christmas video series for lots of easy gift ideas.  One of my favorite projects from the series is the acrylic accordion album.  Here’s one we made in one of my classes last year.  It features Winter Wonderland on this side.  You can check out the original blog post to see the Autumn side.  This is a super fun and really easy project with limitless possibilities!

Now, who loves a SALE?  Use Coupon Code HOOPLA2011 to get 25% off the following holiday stamp sets (released in 2009 and 2010) at Taylored Expressions now through November 2:

 Christmas Blessings, Enjoy!, From the Heart, Hangin’ Out –  At the North Pole, Holiday Wonder, Home Sweet Home, Keeping Tabs, Merry Little Cocktail, Penguin Pals, Season’s Sweetings, Sparkle & Cheer, Tag Treats , Tag You’re It, Take Note – Holidays , Wings of Joy, Winter Wonderland.

The coupon code is case sensitive. Follow these instructions to apply the discount to your order:

1. Add the desired stamp sets from the above list to your shopping cart.

2. Insert the coupon code into the Promotional Code box.

3. Click the Update Cart button.  Your discount should now be applied.

4. Proceed to checkout to finalize and submit your order

Now it’s time to hop over to Jen’s blog to see what she’s created with Glad Tidings.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Friday!  It’s been a busy week around here and I’m looking forward to the weekend.  I have a couple quick cards to share with you this morning.  I mentioned earlier in the week that when I first picked up the TE Trim the Tree die, I just couldn’t stop playing with it.  I want to show you two of the first cards I made with it.

I pulled out a pad of SU Hostess designer paper to just test the die out with.  I ended up making several trees right away.  This one was mounted on a frame die cut from the Frame It Up 1 Taylored Die. I added some texture with a snowflake Cuttlebug folder.  I love the simplicity of this card.

For this second card I didn’t use any of the layers, but rather simply the entire tree die cut.  This time I layered onto the Take Note 3 Taylored Die.  Colors used here are Pear and Poppy with a little black.  Sentiment is from the new Banner Holidays set.  The curve of the sentiment is perfect.  I love the bold graphic look of this card!  It’s very different from my usual style.  This would easily be mass-producible and mail-able.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

TE Release Day!

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
• More projects from the Baker’s Dozen to inspire you.  Just follow the link list below.
• Did you win one of the Mystery Baker’s Dozen Blog Giveaways? Find the list of winners on Taylor’s Blog.
• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – you can help support the Susan G. Komen Foundation through the purchase of Moka Hope. Plus you can donate cards to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center through Hope You Can Cling to at SCS.

Release Day is here, so it’s time to shop!  The Baker’s Dozen has one more round of samples to highlight all the new products and provide even more inspiration for your holiday creating!  My sample today features Glad Tidings – a build your own natitvity scene set illustrated by Doug Applegate for the Apple Doodle Ink collection.  It’s a mini set on a 4.75″ sqaure CD sized panel with 10 images/sentiments for only $12.95.

I used the Angel Kisses Card Kit (cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, pearls), along with Spellbinders Labels Five for my sample. The scallop border was created with the Large Scallop Taylored Die.  I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of ivory cardstock and punched it with a 1″ circle punch.  I die cut the medium poinsettia shape from the Poinsettia Taylored Die set using the same paper that was used for the scallop border.  I inked the edges with dark red ink and layered the sentiment circle on top.  The donkey was stamped on a scrap and colored with Copics and cut out.  I popped him up on foam tape.  Just a sweet and simple card.

Let’s see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up for today:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Nancy McKinney
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
• Jen Shults – Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you’ve enjoyed all the peeks this week.  Happy shopping and happy stamping!

October Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 6th at 8 am PST. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night (tonight) beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker’s Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker’s Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor’s blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday (tonight) 10/5 at 7pm PST for the drawings.



Welcome to Day 3 of Sneak Peeks for the TE Holiday Release!  So, have you liked what you’ve seen so far?  I know I sure did a lot of oohing and aahing as I hopped around the past couple of days!  Today we are featuring two Mini Stamp Sets.  Mini sets come on a sturdy 4.75″ square (CD sized) full color panel.  My sample was created with Wreaths of Joy.  It’s been so fun all year to see the different wreaths Nancy McKinney has illustrated from my original seasonal wreath concept.  Well, when it came to Christmas wreaths, we just couldn’t stop at one.  So instead of a Petite set like all the other wreath sets, we included two for Christmas along with some beautiful sentiment combos and are bringing you a Mini set instead.  It’s especially cool because one of the wreaths leans a little more to the fun and modern side (the one I’m showing today) and the other is a little more elegant and traditional.  And the Mini sets retail for just $12.95, so you are getting an awesome deal on this double wreath set!

I truly love the way this card turned out and it would really be do-able for mass production.  I used the 12 Days Project Pantry Basic Recipe Kit (cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon) and added some Kaisercraft Lippy Red Rhinestones (one of my very favorite colors!)  I colored the wreath with copics before die cutting with the Seasonal Wreath Die and then I covered the ornaments with Glossy Accents (super duper shiny and dimensional.)  The bird was stamped, colored and fussy cut by hand and then popped up on some foam tape.  The border was created with the Scalloped Eyelet Border Taylored Die and the image is layered onto Spellbinders Labels 4 and Labels 4 Small (I so love having the two coordinating sets for layering!)

Let’s see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up today:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
• Jen Shults – Guest Designer

If you want to see all the sets early, be sure to join the party on the TE Facebook page starting tonight at 6 pm PST!  Products will all be available tomorrow morning at 8 am PST and we’ll be back with one more round of samples too!

Thanks for stopping by!