A Pair of Phones and a Great Opportunity for You!

September 16th, 2012

 

Would you like a spot as a Guest Designer for two months with Taylored Expressions?

Taylored Expressions is proud to announce the premiere of a new and exciting stamping talent competition, Last Card Standing. Based in part on very popular reality competitions such as Last Comic Standing, Project Runway, and Chopped, TE is looking for the very best and creative card-makers to stamp their way to the top. Each week, finalists will be challenged to create a themed card for a panel of celebrity judges in hope of avoiding elimination. Finally, the Top 5 Finalists will be voted on by the public, with the stamper receiving the most votes to win the title of Last Card Standing!

What’s at stake? An amazing prize package that includes a 3 month subscription to the Key Ingredients kit club plus 2 full size stamp sets of the winner’s choice and a coveted Guest Designer spot for the November/December Release!

Going on now:  Open Casting Round. To enter, simply upload your best cards to your Splitcoaststampers Gallery using keyword: TELASTCARD. For this round, ANYTHING GOES — Birthday, Thank You, Holidays, Get Well, Congratulations…the sky’s the limit! The only requirement is that you use at least 1 stamped image from Taylored Expressions. Do you have a card that you think could get you a callback to the next round? Go for it — submissions do NOT have to be a new creation for the Open Casting Round and you may enter as many cards as you want! Both new and old projects will be considered.

Deadline for submission to Open Casting Round: Thursday, September 20, 2012 by 11:59 pm PST.

For contest details, visit the Taylored Expressions Member Company Forum at Splitcoaststampers. They even have free digital images you can use!  Good luck!

I made a pair of cards featuring TE Let’s Chat, Circles Big Background and dies Take Note 1 and 3 with SU Melon Mambo cardstock.  With all these similar elements, each of these cards has it’s own personality.

For the first card I stamped the Circles BG in Melon Mambo ink on white cardstock.  I kept this card pretty simple and straighforward, adding the Curly Border Die and some Goosbumps sparklers for some fun finishing touches. I used a black layer of cardstock to tie in with the black candlestick phone.

For the second card I stamped the Circles with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder onto shimmery white cardstock.  Then I watercolored over that with ink from SU markers.  I just scribbled them onto a cd and picked up the ink with an aquapainter.  I love the ombre effect it produced.  The payphone was also watercolored and then cut with the coordinating die and popped up on foam tape. I didn’t want to add an extra layer like I did on the first card, so I just rounded the corners for a little extra interest.  I added some rhinestone sparkle and a fun flower brad from my stash.

These were really fun to create!  I’m looking forward to playing with this set some more!  I apologize for the quality of the photos.  I took these indoors with my phone.  A little moment of honesty here – I love making cards, but I don’t so much enjoy photographing and editing the photos.  In this case, it was a choice between sharing less-than-great photos, or not sharing these cards at all.  Of course, they are so much cuter in person and a better photo would be awesome, but for now I’d rather share than not.  I hope you get where I’m coming from on that.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

Posted by jami Filed in Announcements, Stamped Stuff, Taylored Expressions
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Mixed Blooms

September 15th, 2012

 

Happy Saturday! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  It was 107 degrees in SoCal yesterday and today is supposed to be about the same.  YUCK!  I feel very blessed to live here – what I consider to be the best location on earth – so I don’t want to sound whiny, but I get grumpy in any heat over 90.  When it’s over 100…well…let’s just say YUCK!

To counteract the grumpies, I have a beautiful card to share today.  (Is it ok if I call my own card beautiful?  I just love the way this one turned out!)  This card features the new Petite set from TE, Mixed Blooms.  I adore this set and could hardly wait to color it up.  I actually had this card done during release week, but didn’t get a chance to show it.

The little sentiment on the front is from Daisy Bouquet and die cut with TE Mini Tags.  I love that the fonts in these little bouquet sets coordinate.  I colored the bouquet with Copics and added some stickles.  The pitcher was covered in Crackle Accents. I fussy cut around the image and popped it up on foam tape squares. Patterned papers are from Echo Park.  The bottom detail was created with the TE Scalloped Eyelet Border Die (I love that this die doesn’t cut the bottom edge.)  Cardstock and ribbon are from SU.

 

On the inside I used a sentiment from the Mixed Blooms set.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope your day blooms with happiness!

Posted by jami Filed in Stamped Stuff, Taylored Expressions
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Taylored Expressions September Spotlight

September 7th, 2012

  • At Taylored Expressions we are celebrating our 4th Birthday and you’re invited to our Birthday Bash!
  • All of the new products are NOW available for purchase. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department.
  • Lots of inspiration from the Baker’s Dozen – just follow the link list at the end of this post.
  • Check out the Current Specials to find out how you can earn a FREE Belated Birthday A la Carte Stamp or a FREE You Take the Cake Full-size Stamp Set.   Birthday Bash Specials will award you FREE stamps with purchases over $50 and over $150.
    Today is the final day of the TE Birthday Bash.  The Baker’s Dozen has put together samples of ALL the new products to share today!  I love this release so much, I just couldn’t stop stamping.  I have even more samples to share than I planned for!
I couldn’t let the release go by without showcasing Up a Tree.  This is the latest set in Doug’s Adorable Abode collection for Apple Doodle Ink.  When I originally submitted the concept for a series of little houses/abodes I had no idea just how much fun this would be!
I have to say that I just love how this card turned out.  I paper-pieced the tree with some polka dots!  The sentiment is one I specifically requested because I always like to make a card for whoever housesits (really bird sits) for us when we go on a trip – thus “thanks for holding down the fort”.  I used TE dies for the Picket Fence, Grass Border , Cloud Duo, and the Scalloped Eyelet Border too.
My second project for today features the Bake Me a Cake Die set.  This is another super super fun die!  Just like my little phones yesterday, I created a little note card with this die, but this time I mounted by notecard onto a flat panel die cut with Spellbinders Curvy Rectangles.
What fun to decorate this sweet cake.  You’ll see that I did it a little different than the picture on the package, but that’s part of the fun, doing it how you like!  I added lots of stickles and pearls and I also added Ranger Crackle Accents (love that stuff!) to the cake plate.  The little cherry on top is from the Tiny Topper Die set.  And here it is with the little card opened.
The sentiment is from the new You Take the Cake stamp set!  Here’s what the die set looks like.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the TE Birthday Bash this week.  I sure have enjoyed playing along and getting in stamping mode again!  Let’s see what the rest of the Team has cooked up:
Thanks so much for stopping and Happy Friday!  I have more new release samples that I haven’t even posted yet, so check back with me next week!
Posted by jami Filed in Taylored Expressions
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Taylored Expressions September Release Day!

September 6th, 2012

  • At Taylored Expressions we are celebrating our 4th Birthday and you’re invited to our Birthday Bash!
  • All of the new products are NOW available for purchase. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department.
  • Lots of inspiration from the Baker’s Dozen – just follow the link list at the end of this post.
  • Check out the Current Specials to find out how you can earn a FREE Belated Birthday A la Carte Stamp or a FREE You Take the Cake Full-size Stamp Set.   Birthday Bash Specials will award you FREE stamps with purchases over $50 and over $150.
Yes!  It’s time to shop!  But before you go, we have even MORE new sets to show you!  I adore everything we are featuring today and I actualy made samples for all of them: Let’s Chat, Up a Tree, Mixed Blooms, plus new dies.  But I can’t show them all in one post, so I have 2 samples for now.
I’m pretty partial to Let’s Chat, since it’s a set illustrated by Emily Burger from one of my concepts. *HUGE GRIN*  It’s a super fun full-size set all about keeping in touch!  AND it has a cute little die set to match – Let’s Chat Phone Dies. Here’s my first project with this set.
Acckk!  I had so much fun making this card!  And the new Curly Border Die is so perfect too!  I matched up my Copics to some Kaisercraft rhinestones.
And next up I have a fun little project featuring the Dial in Style in Die Set.
Are these just about the cutest little note cards you have ever seen?  For the insides I used sentiments from the Let’s Chat stamp set.  These were so easy to make!  I just folded cardstock and placed the die just above the fold so the top wouldn’t cut through.  Using SU cardstock I ran it through my Big Shot 2 passes.  Easy Peasy!  I added some Liquid Pearls and a rhinestone to each dial.  Honestly the hardest part of this project was just trying to get a decent photo!  LOL!
Before you head off to shop, you’ll want to check out all the inspiration from the Baker’s Dozen.  And remember, you can always see their work organized by designer OR by stamp set in the Taylored Expressions Gallery too!
Thanks so much for stopping by.  We have one more day tomorrow, where we will finish up the Birthday Bash by showcasing all of the new products.  Please join us!
Posted by jami Filed in Taylored Expressions
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Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash – Day 2

September 4th, 2012

  • At Taylored Expressions we are celebrating our 4th Birthday and you’re invited to our Birthday Bash!
  • All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, September 6th at 8am PST. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department.
  • Sneak peeks Monday through Wednesday and the party continues with spotlights Thursday and Friday – lots of inspiration!
  • Check the Current Specials on Thursday morning to find out how you can earn a FREE Belated Birthday A la Carte stamp or a FREE You Take the Cake full-size stamp set. Birthday Bash Specials will award you FREE stamps with purchases over $50 and over $150.
  • 2 WAYS TO WIN!
1. You Take the Cake Contest Go to Taylor’s blog to get all the details on how you can win two stamp sets of your choice by guessing which illustrator contributed each image in our You Take the Cake Sampler Set.
2.  Join us on Facebook for an early reveal of all the new stamp sets Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST. Leave comments during the party for a chance to win one of the gift certificates we’ll be giving away!
It’s Day 2 and the Birthday Bash continues as we preview Party Monsters, Moka Madelyn, It’s a Party Word A la Carte, Graphic Greetings Birthday, and two super fun new dies Bake Me a Cake and Dial in Style.  I have two samples to share with you today.  I mentioned a couple of days ago that last week we had a staff lunch that was a combo going away party for one pastor and surprise birthday party for another.  I want to share the cards I made for them from me.
First up is the birthday card featuring the new Party Monsters set illustrated by Emily Burger for the Embracing Grace line.  The Love Monsters set has been so popular that we just had to follow up with these little party guys!
This card was for my boss, Pastor Jeff.  He has a little “thing” about ice cream and not sharing from the same bowl with anyone, not even his wife.  It’s something he gets teased about quite often, so this ice cream sentiment just seemed perfect for him. 😉 I used some white Liquid Pearls to give the eye some extra dimension.
My second project is the going away card I made for Pastor Alvin.  A couple of days ago I posted the card I made for the whole staff to sign, but this is the one from just me.
We have this awesome new die set called Dial in Style. I have another project using it later this week.  It’s a retro-style phone and it’s the perfect size for the focal point on a card front, but you can also make little note cards with it, which I’ll show you later.  For this card I die cut the phone from red csrdstock and used the negative cut backed with some text patterned paper.  The sentiment is from a set we’ll be showing off Thursday.  I kept this card simple and graphic with the bold red, black and cream color scheme.  I am seriously in love with this die and am having so much fun playing with it.  Do you love that curly cord, or what?Once I started playing with this, I just couldn’t put it down!
Now let’s go see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up:
Posted by jami Filed in Taylored Expressions
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Party Favors

September 4th, 2012

Happy Wednesday. The Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash continues today, but in all the stamping I was doing, I never got to the Halloween sets that are being featured today.  I thought I’d pop in quickly to show you the little favors I created for the staff lunch last week.

The question was how do you combine a going away for one guy with a surprise birthday party for another?  Well in this case, the birthday boy is an avid surfer and the going away theme was “Bon Voyage” so it worked out perfectly!  Surf board is from TE Hangin’ Out at the Beach.  Sailboat is from TE Bon Voyage.  Wave die is from TE also.  I purchased the Boxes from Pick Your Plum recently.  I love getting their daily e-mail and every once in awhile I find a deal I just can’t pass up, like these favor boxes.

 

I was super thankful to my two great friends and co-workers, Darla and Lisa, for coming over the night before the lunch and helping me put these together!  We were in such a hurry that I forgot to take pictures and just snapped this one with my phone right before the party began.  There was a balloon tied to each box and a few of them ended up at the ceiling of the restaurant!  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by.  I’ll be back tomorrow with TE Release Day and a sample from a set I’m SUPER excited about it!

-Jami

Posted by jami Filed in Projects, Taylored Expressions
1 Comment »

Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash – Day 1

September 3rd, 2012

  • At Taylored Expressions we are celebrating our 4th Birthday and you’re invited to our Birthday Bash!
  • All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, September 6th at 8am PST. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department.
  • Sneak peeks Monday through Wednesday and the party continues with spotlights Thursday and Friday – lots of inspiration!
  • Check the Current Specials on Thursday morning to find out how you can earn a FREE Belated Birthday A la Carte stamp or a FREE You Take the Cake full-size stamp set. Birthday Bash Specials will award you FREE stamps with purchases over $50 and over $150.
  • 2 WAYS TO WIN!
1. You Take the Cake Contest Go to Taylor’s blog  to get all the details on how you can win two stamp sets of your choice by guessing which illustrator contributed each image in our You Take the Cake Sampler Set.
2.  Join us on Facebook for an early reveal of all the new stamp sets Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST. Leave comments during the party for a chance to win one of the gift certificates we’ll be giving away!
We have quite the week ahead as this is the biggest TE Release EVER!  With 17 new stamps/stamp sets and 7 new dies/die sets, we’ve extended the fun into 5 days!  I’ve been stamping like crazy and I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the new goodies!  Today the Baker’s Dozen will be featuring all the stamps that are part of the FREE stamps Promo mentioned above.
I have a sample showcasing Belated Birthday A la Carte – Oh Rats!
Oh Rats!   And the inside – Sorry I missed your birthday!
I added Ranger Glossy Accents and some of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles to the frosting.  I also added some stickles to the candle and balloon.  Spellbinders Labels 1 and Labels 1 Small were used to cut and mat the image and I sponged some Daffodil Delight ink around the image while it was still in the die.  I colored the image with Copics, using my colorless blender pen to dot onto the rats (let’s say “mice” ’cause it sounds nicer) to create a fur effect.
I don’t often forget a birthday, but I can never get a card mailed on time!  UGH!  I don’t know why that it is, but it spurred me to present this concept to Taylor back in 2010 and she handed it over to Doug for his fun illustrations.  We released seven of the A la Cartes at the Birthday Bash that year (click here to see the gallery), but I had plenty more.  😉  So I was thrilled when Taylor said she wanted to continue the series this year.  Curt was especially excited when he saw that “Oh Carp” was coming out.  That one was his idea when I was originally putting the concept sheet together.  He was so disappointed when it wasn’t in the first release. Now I’m trying to get him to actually create a card with it!
We’ve got 4 new Belated Birthday A la Cartes coming out on Thursday.  Each comes with a main image plus two sentiments (outside and inside), so it’s everything you need to create a cute and funny late wish!  You can purchase them individually -OR- you can get one FREE with a $50 order!  Here they are – both new and previously released –
These images are so much fun to color.  You need several of these in your stamping arsenal.  You can stamp some and get them colored up and then when you realize you didn’t get that birthday card out, you can can put a card together quickly and get it in the mail!
The rest of the team is also previewing a new full-size set called You Take the Cake. It’s the first time TE has ever presented a sampler set with illustrations from all of our artists.  It’s a great birthday set and there’s a little contest where you can win a nifty prize, so be sure to hop over to Taylor’s blog and play!
Let’s see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up today!  We’re super excited to welcome Guest Designer Cammie King to play along!
    Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Labor Day.  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful long weekend!
Posted by jami Filed in Announcements, Taylored Expressions
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