A Blog Called Wanda

A Downton Abbey Valentine!

Hi Bloggy Friends! How is your week going? Mine is going a bit rough....still recovering from the horrible flu bug. Oh my. Completely knocked me on my keester. I haven't been sick like this in ages. I'm back at work and muddling through, trying to get my strength back. Trying to give myself a break and slow down, too. Thank you to everyone who has sent me get well wishes! I'm quite sure they're helping! While I was down and out, and lying in bed for five days straight, I watched a TON of television. My new secret guilty pleasure is this show called "Catfish." Have you seen it? It's done semi-documentary style and the premise is to have people meet in person, when they have only been online Facebook friends, and it's so intriguing. I kind of have a little crush on the main guy, Nev. Don't tell anyone.

My other television obsession is Downton Abbey! This is one of my all time favorite shows! Do you watch? My friend in the Netherlands (Hi Holly!) and my friend in New York (Hi Molly!) have both already seen all of Season 3. I can't stand it! I'm dying to know what happens, but at the same time, I don't want the season to end either.  This show is so beautiful and charming and smart. My favorite couple is Mary and Matthew, but I also love Lady Cora.

Well, I sat down to craft up something and I came across my cool new Tim Holtz Mini Silhouettes Dies...and the idea came to me... Bam! I'll make a Downton Abbey inspired Valentine card in honor of Mary and Matthew! So that's what happened here. I had this pretty red and cream damask paper from my friend Stephanie's paper line, and it all came together... Vintage, Shabby, Romantic, Shabby goodness. I hope you guys like this one!

 

 

 

 

This was some ribbon and flower pins I had in my stash. The charm is from an old Brenda Walton collection for K & Company from some time ago. I'm loving the polka dots with the damask...very old world.

 

 

 

Here are my two vintage silhouette cameos. I put them on cream instead of stark white. I added some teeny pearls for a necklace...

 

 

 

Some of my bits and pieces in progress, while I was deciding on my layout....

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my layers. The bottom piece is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

 

 

 

This pretty red border die is from Papertrey Ink - so intricate and pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so it looks like Valentine crafting is in full swing now! I got some other things on my crafty table that I need to find time to play with. As always, so many toys, so little time! Have a fabulous day everybody! :-)

 

Taylored Expressions January 2013 Studio Challenge!

It's time once again for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge!  This is a monthly opportunity for the Baker's Dozen to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month Taylor and Jami give us  a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorite products, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

The question for January is:

Helping out a newbie stamper!  It's so exciting when a friend discovers the joys of stamping. But do you remember how overwhelming it was to decide what to get when you were new to the craft?

You have a friend who started stamping less than a year ago and she is loving it!  She has some Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket, and she has seen the fabulous TE creations, so  she is asking for your advice on what stamping supplies to purchase. So let's hear your sage advice!

 

Well...I think this is just an excellent topic! I get emails fairly often from newbie stampers asking what should they buy, and how to get started. It's hard for me to remember when I started...since it was so long ago! LOL. I've almost been stamping for 20 years now! In all honesty, I remember when I started stamping it was completely overwhelming - and there wasn't even close to as much cool stuff back then! Our hobby can be costly, so it's important to build your collection to be versatile and to get enough items so that you can feel that wonderful sense of accomplishment from mailing out a handmade card...

I think that sometimes we get so carried away with all the layers and embellishments and techniques that we forget how hard that would be if you are a new stamper. I think if there were blogs around when I was new, I would have given up!

 

With the above in mind...I chose some products for my friend that would be enough of a good assortment to make all kinds of cards! She has $100 to spend so I picked her out a two big stamp sets, some beautiful dies, a pretty paper pad and some ink. She can use whatever markers or pencils she already has on hand to color these cute images!

Some of the reasons I chose the items I did are: The images and paper are versatile - can be used for either masculine or feminine cards, the sentiments are separate from the images so you can stamp the saying wherever you like, and they give you an image for every occasion and holiday!

I used the same supplies to make three different card layouts - each one looks a little different, and all are quick and easy, yet look polished and finished! Perfect for newbie stampers! Lemme tell ya, my first cards did not look anything like these! I wish I had some advice back then! LOL. My very first card was white glossy paper, with black embossed sunflowers on it, colored with Marvy Markers! No paper, no layers, nothing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe the one key piece of advice I can give a newbie stamper is to just relax and have fun! Stamping shouldn't be stressful! Enjoy yourself, and give yourself a break. I think we all tend to be so critical of ourselves, and that's not what this is about! Everyone started out somewhere and if you love stamping, your confidence and your crafty mojo will come in time....

 

You really could make a bazillion cards from just these supplies! The two stamp sets are perfect basics for any stamper's collection, and the dies will be used for so many different things.

Here is my full supply list for today's challenge:

Oh What a Day Stamp Set

Oh What a Holiday Stamp Set

TE Small Scallop Border Die

TE Medium Scallop Border Die

 

TE Label Stacklets 2 Dies

Simple Stories Snap Color Vibe Paper

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

 

Here's your linky list for today's Studio Challenge! Have Fun! I know I can't wait to see what advice everyone else came up with! :-)

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Purr-fect Valentine!

Hi everyone.... I'm going to start this post off with a warning... Get a flu shot. OMG I have been so sick the past 48 hours with the flu. It's been awful. I cannot even remember the last time I was this sick and felt this bad. I've never actually been run over by a bus, but I'm pretty sure this is what it would feel like afterwards. Yuck. Bad news. I must have caught some cooties at CHA because I started feeling bad on Tuesday and then by Wednesday night I had a fever of 102! I hope that this blog post finds you feeling well and healthy!! If I owe you an email, be patient with me for a couple of days...

Tonight I thought I would post a valentine I made last week using this adorable new stamp set from Simon Says Stamp - it's a Simon's exclusive - called Furry Kisses! TOTALLY adorable! It was designed by one of my stampy idols - Kristina Werner. I actually met Kristina at CHA!! I'm quite sure I came across as a stalker, or maybe just as a dork. I'm such a fan. Hopefully, she took my gushing in the right way! :-) LOVE her stuff that she does for SSS.

Here's my fun little "Buddy" Valentine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I'm keeping it short tonight... Time to get back on the couch with my IV of orange juice and back under the blankets. UGH. Send me some get well vibes - I could sure use 'em. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Hero Arts January Contest! Plus, my CHA wrap-up!

Hello my crafty friends! I've missed you here on the bloggy blog the past few days! I have been on a crazy CHA adventure! Whew...what a whirlwind of good times, good people, good creativity... I had the most wonderful time at the convention! I think the best part this time was seeing all my crafty friends. Lots of us from the Baker's Dozen were there and it was nice to have time to talk and get to know each other better. Those gals are THE BEST! I ran into several of my online bloggy friends, met some new friends and also met some crafty celebrities! Such a great time. I feel like I have so much creative energy right now - so many ideas going through my head. I need time to stamp! But, alas, today it was back to work for me (have to earn money for more supplies!) More on CHA later in this post....

First, I want to share this card I made for the current January Hero Arts Contest! The great thing about the Hero Arts contest is that there are usually several themes and variations on it. This time I used two of the contest themes. One was to use something "new" to you. I used all new Hero Arts stamps that I hadn't inked up before. The other theme was to make an ATC. I made my ATC, and then turned it into a card! I love doing that. (Here's another one I made in 2011).

Here is my ATC mounted onto the finished card...

 

 

 

 

Here is my ATC by itself....

 

 

 

And here is the card by itself. I matched the maps up on both pieces to make it look nice and polished. I love that air mail Washi Tape! I guess sometimes it pays to hoard craft supplies!

 

 

 

For my sentiment, I crinkled my piece of paper and then inked the edges to look like it was old. The tiny red heart is right over California!

 

 

 

This is an adorable new stamp I just bought! I stamped it a bunch of times and then cut out a stack of tiny letters to go on my ATC!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is some sort of creative process??? I just dumped out all these stamps and tried to see what would come to me!

 

 

 

Here is what I ended up using on my project....

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so now, more about CHA! I drove down on Friday to Anaheim. It's about 425 miles from my house. As I crossed over the grapevine, which is the Tejon Mountain Pass, it was snowing!! But, not to worry, the road was clear. (Actually I was a little worried.) It was extremely cold the entire time in LA, which is odd. Last year it was in the 70's and this year it was in the 40's! Brrrrr. I went to the show floor on Saturday and Sunday with Taylor and the crew, and then drove home yesterday. Crazy, right? It truly was a whirlwind of good times! The Baker's Dozen was well represented: Taylor, Jami, Regina, Carole, Tammie, Shannon and I hung out together. It was wonderful! It was my first time meeting Carole, Tammie and Shannon - they ROCK! :-) Giant thanks to Taylor for bringing us along for the adventure!

I posted about 75 pictures or so, on my facebook page throughout the show, and many of you were following along with me! I didn't ever get my camera out - took only iPhone photos this time. It was just too hectic and we were moving too fast to get out the gear! Here are some of my favorite things: We R Memory Keepers had two great new gadgets that I will buy for sure - a Washi Tape Dispenser, and a new Envelope Maker. I saw beautiful new products from Sizzix - including a whole line of dies from Brenda Walton - love her! New papers from Simple Stories and Echo Park, and new stamps from Paper Smooches...it's so hard to choose a favorite this time! Doodlebug has new paper lines that all have matching Washi Tape! Yipppeeee! One of them has tiny fruits on it! I am so buying that! The big color theme I kept seeing was aqua. I don't know if that's because it's my favorite color, or because it really is 'hot' right now! LOL. Prima has a new line that is bright yellow, orange and turquoise. Love that too. I saw Tim Holtz doing his thing - demonstrating at the Ranger booth. I met and talked with my crafty idol Brenda Walton. Saw Theresa Collins, and Shari Carroll and Kim Hughes, and Amy Tan, and Kristina Werner...too many sweet and talented people to name them all! I love this community of crafty women so much! It makes me happy inside - to be a part of it all. Saturday night the TE gals had a lovely dinner in Downtown Disney and we gabbed forever. Sunday night there were 50 people at dinner at PF Changs! Such good times!

I made a video on my iPhone to share all my photos with you! I don't really get the whole thing with using music on your videos on YouTube, etc...so I had to leave the music off. (sad face) Cuz this video really needs some happy music! So, put on some tunes that make you happy and have a look!! You can watch below or CLICK ON THIS LINK to watch it bigger on YouTube!

 

 

 

 

 

CHA 2013!!!!

Hi sweet crafty friends! When you read this, I will be in Anaheim at the CHA Convention! I went last year and had the BEST TIME EVER! I'm SO lucky to be able to go this year again with Taylor! Here is a link to my wrap up post from last year's CHA with a video of my favorite things!  This time I won't feel like a newbie and I will relax and have even more fun! A bunch of us from the Baker's Dozen Design Team are going with Taylor to pick out new products for her store! Lots of pretty things for kits and individual sale. CHA is also such a great time to meet up with bloggy friends and get inspired by all the creativity out there. I'm so excited! Can you tell? LOL.

Last year I posted blog updates at night on my iPad. Oy. That was such a pain and took forever. I can't figure out why Typepad doesn't work on iDevices... So this year, what I thought I would do, is post updates and photos throughout the weekend on my FACEBOOK PAGE. That way, if you like (pun intended), you can get real time updates and product sneaks and feel like you're right there with me! How does that sound? If you look on my left blog sidebar, you'll see the link to A Blog Called Wanda facebook page! Click there and join me at CHA!

In honor of CHA, and spending time with the lovely Taylor, I'm posting a Moka Wanda card today! Remember her? Crafty girl, named after me! :-)  Seems fitting for this post!

 

 

 

I used a bunch of crafty stamp sets for this card! Here they are: Crafty Cuppie, Moka Wanda, and Crafty Expressions! The paper is the Lavender pad from MME. The two dies used are the Banner Stacklets 1 and the Pennant Border Die!

 

 

Now, Moka Wanda usually has a heat gun in her hand! I cut out the little ink pad from the other set and put that in her hand instead! I love that all these crafty sets go together. The circular saying at the top is from yet another set. Don't be afraid to get all your sets out and see what works together. That's a big part of the fun with these stamps! I love putting all kinds of things together. Give that a try!

 

Here are my supplies...

 

 

And my Copic colors....

 

 

I got this great card layout from one of Jodi's cards in our TE gallers! I made it my own by adding the little circle part here. I really do {heart} stamping!

I hope you have a fabulous day! Don't forget to like my page on facebook to follow along with me at CHA! Mwah! See ya right here when I get home!

Taylored Expressions January 2013 Release Week - final day!

Hi Friends! One final day of Taylored Expressions projects to end out this super-fab January release week! Everything is already available in the Taylored Expressions Store! Check it out! My card for today I'm affectionately calling my "Phantom of the Opera" card!  Roses, music notes, lace... When I was pulling stuff out to make my card it just said Phantom to me! What do you think?

I used the new "Rose Bouquet" stamp set along with the Valentine 2013 Project Pantry Kit papers for a romantic feel. I used the gorgeous new Designer Mini Tags Die for my sentiment. LOVE that. Gonna use it tons!  

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my mini tag and sentiment. You can also see that pretty PP paper...

 

 

 

My bouquet image was stamped and embossed on watercolor paper! I have been wanting to use my watercolor pencils (it's been while) and thought this would be a nice image to watercolor. I like how it came out! I used some distress ink around the edges and put some black speckles on it too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for spending part of your week with me! Lovely having you along on this adventure!

For those of you who have been following along with me for a while, you might have noticed that this week's Release posts were a bit different than in the past. Taylor started a new format this year, which allows us to have a bit more freedom to use our personal style. What do you think? I love it! I hope you do too. If you have a minute, take some time to give Taylor some feedback!

One last linky list to the Baker's Dozen blogs for our final projects for the week!  

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Anna Wight (Guest Designer) 

Taylored Expressions January 2013 Release Week continues!

EEEEEEEEEK! Are you loving this Release Week?? Remember, even though we're still posting projects, all the new goodies are already available for purchase at the Taylored Expressions Store! Have you seen some of the FABulous projects in the Gallery?  Today, I'm posting two projects. One is a sweet little card and the other project is a set of holiday notes made with an awesome new scallop note die! Love.

I think this first card for today might be my favorite project of the week??! I adore the "Valentine Doodles" stamp set - it's from the Whimsical Wishes line. And I also LOVE the new Banner Stacklets dies. Can't go wrong with that combo!  

 

 

 

 

I'm FREAKING out over the new banner dies, because you can make them into this! ACK! All the papers for this card are from the Simple Stories paper pad. So fresh and happy. Makes me think of an ice cream shoppe! (not shop, shoppe!) ;-)

 

 

 

Here's a close up of that yummy ice cream cone. I colored it with Copics and added some glitter! When I mount an image on foam tape, I usually stamp the image underneath too, for some depth. Try it! Um, yeah, I added more glitter to the frame too!

 

 

 

Here are my Copic pens I used for this card...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took my fingers and gently curled my flags up from the paper, to look like they are waving in the breeze...

 

 

 

The next project for today is a set of note cards using the new "Oh What a Holiday" stamp set from the Embracing Grace collection. The card bases are actually a brand new die - 3x3 Scallop Notecard! Yippeeeeee. You can crank out a bunch of these little cards easy as can be. The die is the perfect size for present tags or sweet little love notes.

 

 

 

I colored each one with my Copics and added some glittery accents... This would make a wonderful gift set for a busy mom...

 

 

 

The process...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Link list for today's fun!

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions January 2013 Release Day!

It's RELEASE DAY today for Taylored Expressions! WOO HOOOO! This means that all the new products for January are available for purchase TODAY! (Click here for the Fresh out of the Oven Section where you'll find everything new in one place).  There are so many great things this month...I think you need to buy it all!

Today I'm featuring the Valentine 2013 Project Pantry Kit and some of the new dies. I also used the sentiment from the "Hugs and Kisses" stamp set.  I went a little bit crazy Shabby Chic with this one, as I have been known to do! I always think of Valentine's Day as so romantic, with lace, and hearts and roses. So as soon as I saw the PP kit, I knew I had to make a sweet Valentine.

 

 

 

 

The papers and ribbon are all from the PP kit. I added a doily, some crochet ribbon and some pearls... Ooh la la! I just kept adding layers to my center focal piece and here's how it turned out. I distressed it and crinkled it a bit to look old. I think that polka dot ribbon is divine...

 

 

 

Here are all the die pieces from the "Cupid Arrow Dies" set and the "Key to my Heart" set. My little hearts are actually the centers of some of the keys! How much fun are we going to have with these?

 

 

 

I hung my little lock and key from a jump ring on my center piece. This way it dangles and gives the card some movement. This is one of my favorite tricks.

 

 

 

 

Okay, here's your linky list for Release Day. The whole Baker's Dozen Team has great things for you to look at to get ideas for your new products! Have a fabulous day! 

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)
• Anna Wight (Guest Designer)

 

Taylored Expressions January 2013 Sneak Peeks! Bless Your Nest and Valentine Graphic Greeting!

Hi there! Today is Sneak Peeks Day at Taylored Expressions! Yipppeeee! This month it's all about hearts, and love and Valentine's! SO many cute new products, great new dies (I mean great), adorable stamps, and an awesome Project Pantry Kit! Tomorrow is release day and then two MORE days of projects after that! Wow!

We have FOUR new designers on the Baker's Dozen Design Team starting this month. How very cool is that? I'm excited to stamp with the new gals and see their fun creations. I don't know how it happened, but now I'm one of the 'old' girls on the team! I do so love being a part of this great team!

I'm sharing two projects today... A Clean and Simple birthday card, and a bright, cheery Valentine card, both using all new stamps and dies.

First up, my Birthday card, using the new set called "Bless Your Nest." This is a full size stamp set from the Whimsical Wishes stamp line.  I can already tell it's going to be a fav, because I love nature and bird stamps. It has a great branch image, with a separate leaf stamp to go on the branch - you'll see.

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the branch and leaves. The branch image is stamped in brown ink, and then I put the green ink on with the separate leaf stamp. I used my stamp positioner to do this!  Since I used distress ink (Shabby Shutters) for my leaves, I was able to go back with my Shabby Shutters Distress Pen and add wee accents to the leaves. Squeee! And, do you LOVE the font?? Adorable.

 

 

 

Here are the inks and markers I used for this project. In the background is a true 'sneak peek' of the stamp set!

 

 

 

I chose some gingham paper from the MME Tangerine paper pack. Birds and nests always feel sort of old fashioned to me, and remind me of a simpler time...  

 

 

 

 This sweet little bird is just hanging out waiting to wish someone a Happy Birthday!

 

 

 

Okay, now put on your sunglasses....cuz this next card is BRIGHT! I made this cute and cheery Valentine - complete with an adorable hedgie, using all kinds of new products! Red and cream = perfection.

 

 

 

The hedgie is from the new "Stuck on You" stamp set! The larger image is the new "Valentine Graphic Greeting" stamp from the TE line. AWESOME new hearts cutting plate in the background....

 

 

 

One of the added bonuses of this cutting plate is that if you need a TON of cute little hearts, you can make them all at once! Lemme tell ya, this thing cuts like a DREAM!  And it makes heart-fetti!

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project:

 

 

 

One last look at the stamps. OH! I almost forgot....Taylor has a new set of dies for cutting banners!!!!! YEAH! I used one for my sentiment! The pretty red and cream papers are part of the 2013 Valentine Project Pantry Kit.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for popping by today! PLEASE take some time to look around at everyone else's projects! (I've seen them all in our gallery and these girls aren't messing around!) Here are your links for today:

• Carol  Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Anna Wight (Guest Designer) 

What's the Buzzzzz?

Hi friends! Happy first Friday of 2013! (Technically it's Thursday night...shhhhh) Hope you had a fantastic week! I've been gettin' crafty this week making my projects for TE release next week. I also wanted to enter the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge for this week, so I made a fun coffee card for that!

Now, I LOVE me some java!  coffee, cafe, joe, java, latte, mocha, macchiatto! Call it what you want, I love it all!  And, I adore all the cute coffee stamps from Paper Smooches! Today's card is made with the set called Cyber Cafe. Totally, I mean totally, adorable. Whenever I make cards with Kim's stamps I keep it real clean and simple and graphic.

 

 

So, what's the buzzzzzz?

 

 

 

Little gingham coffee cups??? ACK!!!

 

 

 

I stacked 'em up high and added the sentiment, and some steam on the top. I chose some gingham scraps for my background and did some paper piecing. Easy peasy.

 

 

 

Here's how I built my tower o' cups....

 

 

 

Mask off the first one with a post it note....

 

 

 

And keep going....as high as you like!

 

 

 

I chose some complimentary Copic colors to color in the handles. I wasn't about to try to paper piece those! Can you blame me?

 

 

 

Here's a link to the stamp set! And here's the inside of my card. Isn't that TOOOO fun!

I can't wait to send this one out to a friend! I hope you have a fantastic weekend! Next week is going to be BIZZZZZY here on the blog! And then I leave on Friday for Anaheim and the CHA convention. But more about that later.  Thanks for stopping by! XOXO

HAPPY NEW YEAR - WELCOME 2013!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

Hi there! Did you celebrate yesterday? Are you drinking bloody mary's right now? LOL! We are usually a pretty low key couple when it comes to New Year's Eve. Sometimes we go out for dinner, and sometimes we'll go to a party, or downtown to watch fireworks. This year, we stayed home and just relaxed. We both had to work on New Year's Eve so there wasn't much time to get all dolled up and ready to go out. I hope that you are ready for the possibilites of a new year! Best wishes for a happy, healthy, crafty and prosperous 2013! Thank you very very much for all the blog-love on my last post! Wow, so many sweet and kind comments. Make a girl blush....

Here are my New Year's cards for this year:

 

 

 

I can't explain it...this bright lime green caught my eye. It seems fresh and bright, like starting a new year! I cut the numbers out of my Papertrey Ink numbers dies (the DH came in with an assist on the Big Shot).

 

 

 

Lemme tell ya, it was not much fun putting foam tape on all those numbers! The stamps are fireworks! I think of fireworks for new year's. Do you? I picked out some bright citrus colors and a pretty aqua for my images. This is so non traditional, but I like the feel of it.

 

 

 

Yes, that is a 4th of July stamp set!!! It's from Stampin' Up! Perfect size and shape of fireworks for my cards.

 

 

 

The assembly line in process on the work table...

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes from me to you for a FABULOUS NEW YEAR!

Christmas Thank You cards 2012!

Hello! Happy-day-after-Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your friends and family! We had a very nice day together. Peaceful and calm. I got a beautiful new Fossil Watch from the hubs and I love it! Did you get something fun? Anything crafty?

Now it's time to clean up and get re-organized. Whew. Saturday I spent the day in my crafty cave putting away and sorting through my Christmas stuff and then I made my 2012 Thank You cards too! It was a rainy day and perfect for hanging out. While sorting through my stuff, I came across a great Stampin' Up set from 2004 and I used that for my cards! It's kind of funky and retro and I still love it, after so many years.

 

 

 

 

Don't you always love kraft, white and red? I do! I stamped the snowflakes in white ink and let them dry while I cut out my funky sweaters and hats. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

 

 

 

Here's the set....LOVE! It's called "Bundle Up!" I stamped the mittens on the back of my card and the ice skate is on the inside. I wanted to use every image!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have much to be thankful for.....

 

 

 

And here is my "assistant" who somehow managed to find a sparkly snowflake in all the mess. I don't suppose that would taste very good??!! Silly cat!

Best wishes for lots of good times to come as we finish out the holidays! Thank YOU for coming by to see me here today!  

Merry & Bright!

Hi there! Happy Saturday! Hope you had a wonderful week! It's getting close to time to settle in and be done with the craziness of the season...and relax a bit... Each year, one of my MOST favorite things to do during the holidays is to have the DH drive us around in his big truck and go look at Christmas lights! Usually we get a hot chocolate or a latte first and then we put on the Christmas tunes and just spend some time together. In fact, that might actually be my favorite holiday thing to do! So, that's what inspired today's card.

Today's post is my last Taylored Expressions post for 2012! I'm happy to say that I renewed my contract with Taylor and I'm looking forward to more crafty fun with the Baker's Dozen in the new year...and CHA in three weeks! WOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!

Here's my Merry & Bright card!

 

 

 

 

I used the beautiful new Stacklets 3 dies for my focal part of my card. Then I got out the retro Tall and Skinny Alpha dies for the word 'merry.' The stamp set is called, appropriately, Very Merry! And the lights, of course are pretty dies from this set.  

 

 

 

I used a white pencil to color in my highlights on my light bulbs. Then I took some pretty Doodlebug twine and made it my string... Popped up the lights on some foam tape. I like the graphic nature of this one. So happy!

 

Here are my Taylored Expressions Supplies:

 

 

TE December Studio Challenge!

 

Hi Friends! It's that time again...time for another Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge! I really look forward to this each month, because I love it when the whole design team does the same theme. I love seeing everyone's creativity. Each month, Taylor comes up with a new crafty question for us.

The question/theme for December is: "Inspiration is all around us. Many of us learned to stamp by CASEing other stampers we admired. (CASE = Copy and Share Everything) We want everyone to know that not only is CASEing perfectly okay, it's actually pretty flattering and lots of fun! It can also be helpful in the midst of the busy holiday season when it's hard to think straight! So, take some inspiration from your fellow Baker's Dozen team-mates, and show us how you can turn a great inspiration into a fabulous holiday card!"

I am drawing my inspiration from Taylor for this challenge! Taylor has always inspired me with her bright and cheery color choices and her AMAZING card layouts! Her style is just like her - happy and pretty! I scoped out her gallery and found so much to CASE!

Taylor's cards are always bright and fun, and full of color. She almost always uses pink and is a master with the patterned paper. The other thing I noted is that she makes lots of fun shaped cards. SO... I tried to CASE her overall style with my color choices and my cheery mood of my card. I found THIS CARD on Taylor's blog and it got the ideas flowing... So I turned that card into a Christmas card!

 

 

 

I used the SUPER fun Woodland Winter Stamp Set and the Trim the Tree Dies!! A perfect, cheerful Winter combination!  

 

 

 

My card base was cut from a giant scallop circle Nestability!

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project...

 

 

 

Taylor loves blings and Copics....so I had to use those too! 

 

 

And here is a picture of Taylor's card that inspired me! The link is above. 
Some thoughts on inspiration... There are so many ways to get inspired when you're feeling low on mojo! The TE gallery has sections by designer or by stamp set! Check it out! Sometimes for me it's a color combination, or a certain stamp used a unique way, or a die I haven't gotten out in a long time. Or, if you're a new stamper you can copy exactly until you get your confidence up! Here's the main Gallery Page...and here's my Gallery Page! Have fun!

Here are the product photos for today's card:

 

Here are today's FUN LINKS to the rest of the Baker's Dozen!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

My attempt at "chalkboard" stamping!

Well, hello there my crafty friends! How was your week? I hope you had a fabulous one! Another week is long gone and my to-do list is just long! I have more to-dos than I have time left before Christmas comes! I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the season, but who has time for that!? LOL. This weekend is time for friends and visiting and maybe some stamping too. What do you have planned?

Today I'm posting a card made with a new technique I discovered on Pinterest! It's called chalkboard stamping! I'm not quite sure if I love my card or not, but it might grow on me. CLICK HERE for an awesome tutorial by the amazing Betsy Veldman. She gives a nice walk through of her technique and her cards are wonderful (aren't they always wonderful?) She inspires me. A lot.

So here's my take on it....

 

 

 

 

The trick is to make it look like a little chalkboard! I stamped and embossed in white, and then stamped again a bit off center to look like a shadow. Then you smear some ink on it to look like something was erased!

 

 

 

I used my stamp positioner for this project. The Merry Christmas and happy new year stamps are two separate stamps. The pretty holly branch is from Penny Black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first I didn't put on enough smeared ink. After I added more, I thought it looked better. I also kind of smooshed it around with my finger. That's a hard task for this OCD stamper!!

 

 

 

Here's a good side view. I kept my color palette sort of vintage - by adding a pop of light aqua and some silver snowflakes.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so what do you think? Have you tried this? Are you going to? Lemme know. Have a super weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

 

The BIG 5-0!

NO! Not me! Hahaha. Today is my wonderful husband's 50th birthday! Wooot Wooot! Hey, how did I get married to an old guy? All kidding aside, I met the hubs when he was 30 and now, here we are, 20 years later! He's a good man and I'm very lucky to have him. For his birthday he got a new laptop and some clothes, which is just what he wanted. And, we spent the day on Saturday in San Francisco shopping and taking pictures. The hubs was born in San Francisco, so it was a perfect place to spend his birthday weekend. I thought I would share his birthday card today. Do you guys remember his 49er card from last year? 

We all know I'm a total girlie girl, so masculine cards are sometimes hard for me! My card for the DH was inspired by this cool camera paper. It's kind of retro and funky and cool...and the hubs loves photography... I went around the craft room picking up things to put together and came up with this!  

 

 

 

The number dies are from PTI, the swirl die is from Lifestyle Crafts and the hearts are dies from Tim Holtz for Ranger. I picked out a nice sage green and used lots of distress ink and black to pop the contrast.

 

 

 

I had to put some hearts on there - to represent us! The birthday sentiment is one I've had for AGES! I used my edger distresser thingee on the papers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots and lots of layers on this one! Check out that cool camera brad!

 

 

Saturday was my first time trying out my new camera. It was a hard photography kind of day, filled with all sorts of lighting challenges...indoors, flourescent, outside at night....whew. I want to share my favorite shots from the day with you!

Life is like a box of chocolates.... 

 

 

 

San Francisco Centre Mall

 

 

 

Bloomingdales

 

 

 

Dome at San Francisco Centre Mall...They were projecting different colors and snowflakes onto the dome and it was gorgeous! My favorite was this blue/purple combination!

 

 

 

My new camera has some cool creative filters that you can use directly while shooting. Yay! One of them is this neato star filter. This is a Christmas ornament on a tree in Bloomingdales.

 

 

 

Flags on Market Street

 

 

 

Carolers in front of Nieman Marcus

 

 

 

This is truly the contrast between old San Francisco and new San Francisco!

 

 

 

Flowers for sale on the street. I love these fresh bright tulips...pops of color on a foggy day!

 

 

Christmas window beauty!

 

 

 

Look at these delicious clouds! It was foggy all day and then right before sunset the sky cleared. This was taken from the 8th floor of Macy's at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant up there.

 

 

 

Our table for dinner was right by the glass partition. LOVE this reflection of the clouds in the glass!

 

 

 

My absolute favorite time of day is right before it gets dark, when the sky is blue, and the lights come on. Here's a view down onto Union Square, with the ice skating rink, and the giant tree. Can you spot the famous Transamerica pyramid in the background?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always have to have at least one cable car shot!

 

 

 

Here's the view back towards the City from Treasure Island. GORGEOUS night! The Bay Bridge is to the left. The four lit up buildings are the Embarcadero Center. The Pyramid had a bright blue light on it...

 

 

 

Here's my cool star effect again!

 

Thanks for coming by to check out what's up today! Hope you are enjoying everything great about the season! XO

The reason for the season...

Hi bloggy friends! It's only a couple weeks until Christmas now! Wow-this year is gonna be gone in a flash. Tomorrow is the DH's 50th birthday! Whew. I'll be back tomorrow to share his card and some of the pictures we took on his birthday outing. Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions. Ever since this beautiful Nativity Die came out I have wanted to make something with it. It's amazing - so pretty and it cuts perfectly. I kept my card simple, to feature the scene. I combined it with a couple of my favorite stamp sets too.

 

 

 

 

I used a pretty cream paper for my card base. The layer and the die are cut from a metallic, burnished gold Stardream paper. It's hard to photo the exact color of it. It's very rich. Isn't this die wonderful?

 

 

 

This sentiment is from the stamp set called "Rejoice." It's a nice big font that I use a lot. It's the best choice for this card, dontcha think?

 

 

 

I used the little sunburst stamp from the "In the Word" stamp set! I wanted something behind the Nativity scene for just a pop of color, and this worked great! I used my stamp positioner to get it just in the right spot.

 

 

Here are my supplies...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rejoice indeed! Have a beautiful day!  

 

TE December Petite-a-Palooza Release - Whimsical Wishes!

 

Remember that all the products are now available in the TE STORE! Today's spotlight day features stamp sets from Nancy McKinney's stamp line called Whimsical Wishes.

My final project for the week uses my other favorite stamp set from this release! It's called Bonjour Couture (with matching dies) and it's so pretty and feminine! I just HAD to make something shabby chic as soon as I saw the stamps! I used the new MME Paper pack called Lavender too.... OH! And my fav new border die...the Lace Chain Border!

 

 

 

 

 

The seniments for this set are so pretty! You can see the close up of the border die and the papers I used. I also added some paper roses.

 

 

 

I could totally picture using this set for bridal shower invitations or Mother's Day cards...all kinds of girly things!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends, that's it for December 2012 Petite-a-Palooza! What is your favorite new stamp set? Did you buy them all? LOL! Leave me a note and let me know which ones you love. Have a fabulous weekend bloggy friends! XO

Here are your links for today:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer)
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions December 2012 Release Day!

Taylored Expressions December Release Day!

All of the new Taylored Expressions products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department! YEAH! Be sure to go and check out all the new goodies and don't forget that we are having more inspiration the rest of the week. Are you loving Petite-a-Palooza? I am!

My new card for today features Plane Awesome and the matching dies. These dies are so perfect and crisp. These images are small, and every detail comes out perfectly. Taylor really knocked it out of the park...you'll see in my close up photos! Plane Awesome is from the Apple Doodle Ink line of stamps drawn by Doug Applegate. This one is just plane  F-U-N!

 

 

 

 

See what I mean about the matching die? This cut out on the first attempt - and it's perfection! The banner die is from the Blimps and Banners die set. Taylor made it so the sentiments fit inside.

 

 

 

To make the cloud background for my little red plane, I cut out the Cloud Border Die from a piece of scrap cardstock. Then I carefully sponged light blue ink in layers using the border as my template. Easy peasy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this card is just the right thing for a cheery birthday greeting!

 

  

 

 

 

There's more exciting news....because the "You Take the Cake" stamp set is now available to everyone! When it was released, it was only available with a qualifying purchase. Now you can get your crafty hands on it! LOVE this set. Here's a card I made back when it was released...

 

 

Here's your link list for today's projects!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions December 2012 Release Week - Day 1!

 

It’s sneak peek time at Taylored Expressions! Do you remember last year when we did our first Petite-a-Palooza?! Well, we're doing it again! Taylor is releasing TWELVE new petite stamp sets and nine of them come with matching dies! Wooot wooooot! Taylor is also releasing a new Stacklets die set and the "You Take the Cake" stamp set which was formerly available only in September! Lots of great stuff this week.

Petite-a-Palooza - featuring sets from all our illustrators, they make great gifts for crafty friends, and are a great way to get started with TE if you're new. They are also a great way to add to your collection if you're already a fan!

We have inspiration to share Wednesday through Saturday this week and all of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, December 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.

Today I have two projects to share, using two of the new Petite sets - Sunny Days (which I think is my favorite) and Splish Splash! Sunny Days is from the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps drawn by Nancy McKinney and Splish Splash is from Emily Burger's Embracing Grace stamp line! Both are simply delightful!

 

 

 

 

I have always wanted a little rainbow die....and this one is PERFECTION! Yep, I cut out six rainbows and very carefully put them together into one...and then drenched the whole thing in superfine glitter! YUM! Rainbows have to sparkle!

 

 

 

Isn't this font the sweetest?

 

 

 

A perfect little cloud... The Notepaper die and matching stamp are from Taylored Expressions too - remember these?  

 

 

 

I'm telling you...you are going to want this one!! SOOO happy and fun. :-)

 

 

 

My second project for today uses Splish Splash and matching dies! I made one of my calendar pages using all the TE Calendar supplies...and made a sunny page for May. These little birdies are so tweet!

 

 

 

AWWWWWW....

 

 

 

These little guys make me happy...and I love the sentiments with this set...

 

 

 

 

That's it for me today! I hope you will hop around and see what everyone else made...and come back tomorrow for more TE release fun! Here is your linky list for today....

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer)
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Snowman Greetings!

Hi everyone! Today I'm happy to share cheery snowman greetings made with some ULTRA cute Paper Smooches winter stamp sets. Oh, man, how I love Paper Smooches! These snow peeps are the happiest creatures ever! They make me smile, and what a joy to work with such fun stamps. I used the sets called Swanky Snowdudes and Warm Hearts. Love. Sigh. Got out my Copics and cool new paper from Simple Stories...and went to it! Hope your week is off to a good start!

 

 

 

 

Love this color combo for Winter - red and green, with just a pop of an aqua blue - for snow. Went a little crazy with the Stickles...

 

 

 

Lots of dimension on this one - each piece is mounted on some foam tape!  

 

 

 

Adorable sentiment....

 

 

 

I hand cut a little snow hill for my snowman to stand on. I adhered the white paper to the polka dot paper before cutting out the circle with my Nestabilities.

 

 

 

This new paper pack is AWESOME! So bright!

 

 

Um, do you s'pose I have a problem with Stickles???? LOL.

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project...

 

 

 

My card bases, waiting for the other pieces to dry...I had to walk away....because I ALWAYS touch the Stickles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for popping in today! Be sure to come back later in the week, since Taylored Expressions Release starts sooooon! XO

 

Icy Snowflakes....

Hi friends! How are you? What's up? Did you shop-til-you-drop this weekend? Are you tired of leftovers? The answers for me are yes, and yes! We finally finished up the last of the turkey last night and although it was delish, it was time to move on....LOL. Every meal since Thursday was turkey! Friday we went out shopping most of the day and I finished all my Christmas shopping! I don't really have too many gifts to buy, so that's not as impressive as it might first sound. We had a nice day being out in the buzz of the season. Lots to see.

So, it's officially time to start Christmas crafty projects! Today's card is made using this super cool new snowflake rosette die from Tim Holtz! I picked it up last week at Paper Garden and could not wait to make a snowflake!! It came out so beautifully...and then I sprayed (no exaggeration) half a bottle of shimmer smooches on it! It's realllllllly spark-a-lay!

 

 

 

All the papers are from the pretty My Mind's Eye paper collection called Merry and Bright!! It's hip and vintage and so so nice. I am obsessed with Rhonna Farrer right now....

 

 

Here's that snowflake rosette up close! Bam! Are you wearing your sunglasses? Can you tell how much smooch spritz is on there?! The brads are all from that same collection from My Mind's Eye... The velvet ribbon was in my stash already.

 

 

 

 

 

These are some Martha Stewart punched out snowflakes with brads in the center. I put some distress ink on them so they wouldn't be stark white  - more vintage.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so that's what I got for ya today! Hope you likey! Did you notice my new blog header? There's snow on the ground! I had fun doing that picture. Have a wonderful week everybody! XO

 

 

Taylored Expressions November Studio Challenge - Tags!

Hi Friends! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!! Now...it’s Black Friday and it's time for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge and a BIG Black Friday Sale at Taylored Expressions! Taylor is releasing a brand new set of Stacklets today - Labels Stacklets 3 and you can get them now - one week before December Release Week! Woo Woo!

Have you been joining along with us every month on our Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge? It's been such a fun new thing that we're doing. Each month, Taylor challenges us with a crafty question...

The question for November is:

"As crafters, we often talk about a hand-crafted Christmas. How much stamping do you do for the holidays?  Do you mail hand-stamped cards, make gift packaging, tags, handmade gifts?  Or do you stamp year-round, but not so much for Christmas?  Please show us some handmade tags and share a tip or two on how to keep stamping fun for the holidays."

I do a lot of stamping for the holidays!! Each year I hand make about 75 Christmas and Holiday cards for our friends and family. I also write a corny Christmas letter too! I love to make tags for packages, and even make my own stamped wrapping paper! You can buy plain wrapping paper at the craft store and make it customized! Sometimes I make treat wrappers or boxes for co-workers and gal pals too. It seems that I have more ideas than time....isn't that the way? 

This was a fun challenge today....because I love making TAGS! Here are my creations for our blog hop today... Snow people in fun bright colors!  

 

 

 

 

The snow peeps and the tiny stamped snowflakes are from the set called 'The Cool Crowd' and the sentiment is from 'Peppermint Place.' I used tons of dies for this project, and they're all listed with photos at the bottom of my post. I think the colors made the whold vibe kind of whimsical and Suessian!  

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my festive scallops and the adorable sentiment. I added sparkles of superfine glitter all over the place.

 

 

 

I hand made my own tags out of kraft paper and then embossed them with the 'Musical/Swirls' Impression plate. After I embossed them, I went over the swirls with a sponge and some white pigment ink to make them look snowy. This is a cool trick to "pop" the embossed parts of cards - use ink over them!

 

 

 

Here are all my dies and tags ready to rock-n-roll!

 

 

 

I stamped my snow people in black ink onto circles and then added a couple of snowflakes. I later edged the circles with light blue ink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the swirled background and the beautiful 'Make a Snowflake' dies... For the top of the tags I combined some ribbon with twine and a button, for a homey feeling. I used the green paper to make a grommet...

 

 

 

My Copic Palette for this project - yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay...so when I was done with my fun and bright snow peeps tags, I still had all my TE Christmas supplies on my desk, so I decided to make another tag! This time I made a very traditional and vintage tag using red and green. This has a completely different feeling to it.

 

 

 

The die cut word Merry comes along with the 'Very Merry' stamp set! The holly dies are from the 'Very Merry' outlines die set.

 

 

I used the music side of the same impression plate I used for my snowman tags! It's very cool that it is double sided. (Musical/Swirls Impression Plate) This time, instead of using white ink, like above, I went over the impression with some brown distress ink. LOVE this technique! So versatile.

 

 

 

This was the fun part....lots of chunky white snowy glitter!!! Feels so vintage!

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure to head on over to the TE Store for the amazing Black Friday Sale!!! You won't be disappointed! The prices are awesome...especially for the early birds!  

 

 

That was a long post! Lots and lots to share today. I know that the other Design Team Members have AMAZING tags to share with you too! Won't you please hop around? Here's the link list:  

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer) 

 

Happy Thanksgiving Bloggy Friends!!

Hi friends! Popping in with a post and BIG wishes for a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you, your friends and your families! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you have had a blessed year. I love Thanksgiving...of course, because it's in Fall! LOL. It's such a pure holiday. No presents, no hype, just loved ones and gratitude. Doesn't get much better than that. I'll be cooking the whole shebang at my house - can't wait. Mostly I can't wait for Friday and leftovers. Isn't that really the best part? Once a year I make these jumbo yeast rolls that take four hours to make. They have to rise three times. That's what we use for our sammiches the next days.....mmmmm.

I want to take a minute to say how thankful I am that I have this amazing opportunity to be a crafty girl blogger and to know all of you out there. It brings me so much joy and happiness to interact with you and to know that I have the support and love of kind people I never even met!  It's so amazing and positive and wonderful. Thank you for always popping in and checking out what I"m up to.

I didn't have a lot of time this week to get my craft on, so I made a couple of super simple CAS Thanksgiving cards using some supplies that have been on my table. New stuff from PTI and Stampin' Up that just never got inky this season. Hope you like 'em. 

 

 

This card cracks me up! How silly is that little turkey!? The stamps and dies for this card are all from PTI. I love those word dies - so nice and crisp. This just screams Thanksgiving right? I used brown Memento ink for the sentiment and the turkey.

 

Now this took a while....I popped the 'thankful' die up with foam tape... 

 

This next card is a little corny! Hahahaha. The stamps and dies for this card are from the new Stampin' Up set called Perfectly Preserved. That little corn is toooo cute! It's kind of retro too, which you know I like.  

 

 

The banner dies are from MFT and they're called Fishtail Flags...

 

 

Yep...again with the foam tape...

 

 

Here's a picture of my supplies for these two cards, in case you want to check them out further. LOVE matching dies and stamps....awesome!!

Enjoy your holiday everyone! I'll be out shopping til I drop on Friday with the DH, but be sure to come by my blog because we're doing a Taylored Expressions Blog Hop for our November Studio Challenge. The theme is tags and I made some cool snowman tags I want you to see. Also, there is a Black Friday sale at the TE Store you don't want to miss!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Falling....

Hello! Happy Saturday! I'm here today with probably my last fall card (sad face) before we move on into Christmas crafting! It's one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions and I used some awesome new dies in my project. And, my favorite paper collection for this season - Authentique's Thankful. The colors of the paper kind of inspired my whole card. I used kind of a different mustardy yellow color for my card base too!

 

 

 

 

These Mega Leaves Dies are wonderful. In this close up, you can see the veins in the leaves embossed at the same time you cut it. The acorn is from the Falling For You dies set.

 

 

 

I'm mad for this plaid! The sentiment is from the Falling For You stamp set specially released this season!

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are some images of the dies:

 

 

 

I have some other TE news that I thought I would share today too! On the TE Splitcoaststampers page, we are doing a feature that is a designer spotlight on each of the Baker's Dozen Design Team members...and I got to be first! CLICK HERE to see my bio/profile page! Stay tuned to learn more about a new designer every month!

Also...there is always tons going on over at the TE Facebook page...contests and giveaways, and preview parties. All kinds of good stuff. I would love it if you would like TE on Facebook!

 

 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!  

 

Autumn Apples!

Hi peeps! What's shakin'? How is your week going? Have you had your 'freak-out-because-next-week-is-Thanksgiving-moment' yet? Mine came on Monday! How does that happen? We're going along, enjoying Fall, and then BAM Thanksgiving is here and we have to go grocery shopping! And, I just know that after next week it's full on Christmas coming at us like a freight train! I'm not ready! LOL.

I was inspired to create an Autumn apple card when I went to the grocery store on Monday and saw all the beautiful shiny apples all in a row. See how inspiration can come at the weirdest times? I got out my Fiskars Apple Punch and some trusty gingham paper and had a go....This is what I came up with!

 

 

 

 

I started out with three small manila tags that I had in my stash. I stamped the Hero Arts Friends words background in Linen Distress Ink and then also inked the edges of the tags. Then I punched out my cute apples.

 

 

 

I went through and dug up some doo dads in my stash, some twine, a clip, some safety pins...just to see what worked... Stamped my sentiment on green paper with brown ink.

 

 

 

Here's the picture I snapped at the grocery store with my iPhone - my inspiration image!

 

 

 

I lined my tags up before stamping them so the words would match all the way across...

 

 

 

Here's a side view. The tags are mounted on foam tape to add dimension.

 

 

 

I think this card is cheery and happy! I sure had fun creating it in some fresh colors and a new layout design for me. We'll be Christmas crafting soon - before we know it!

 

Have a wonderful day!!! 

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger - Fall Card!

Hi there friends! How is your weekend going? Hope you are having a great weekend so far. It's Sunday, and I made some pancakes for breakfast and then I've been hiding out in my crafty cave ever since. It's a crazy mess in here, but I managed to find some space to make something. Isn't that the never ending battle? How do you keep your stamp space clean!? I just have too much stuff. That's the bottom line. Oh well...that's a good problem to have!

I was looking around for inspiration and found it at my first stop - at Moxie Fab World!  I saw the Tuesday Trigger Image from last week...and it hooked me right in! CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE IMAGE - you have until 11-18 to enter too! The image is called Fall Fantasy!

I was mostly inspired by the beautiful color palette and that's what I went with. I would not have thought to combine the pretty celadon green with the fall colors, but I love it. I was also inspired by the cream background and the little 'balls' on the wreath. I set out to make something....

 

 

 

 

Here is the Tuesday Trigger Image that inspired me...

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the leaves...this turned out to be a fifty step process and took forever! But, I finally got them to look the way I wanted!

 

 

 

I used my Stampin' Up Woodgrain embossing folder for the background. I have a tip to share here. The first two times I embossed this, my paper cracked and even tore!! I went online and found a tutorial with the tip to place a sheet of vellum in between the paper and the embossing folder...It worked like a charm - and this one came out perfect!

 

 

 

I used Tim Holtz Grungeboard for my leaves and a Tim Holtz die. In order to put ink on the grungeboard, I painted them with cream acrylic paint first...

 

 

 

After the cream paint was dry, I sponged these three ink colors onto the leaves and let that dry...

 

 

 

SOOOO pretty, these colors together!

 

 

 

Okay, so here's where my project went wonky on me... I had envisioned pretty crackled leaves...but when I put on the Distress Crackle Paint...it just smeared my ink!! NOT happy! But, what can you do? Sometimes these crafty accidents turn out okay...

 

 

 

Here are my leaves after they dried. Hmmmmm.... I decided to put some pretty chunky glitter on them to jazz 'em up. Are you starting to see why this took so long!? LOL.

 

 

 

Now that's looking good!

 

 

 

I wanted my 'balls' to match my project, so I colored some pearl pins with my Copic markers...

 

 

 

Here's everything, all ready to assemble.... 

 

 

 

My supplies....

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving! The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps and the banner die is from Simon Says Stamp - one of the Stamptember dies.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for spending part of your day with me! I got a bunch of new subscribers last week, so a big welcome to all of you! So happy you're here. Did you enjoy the TE Release last week? Lots of new things to play with. Have a nice afternoon - and a great week ahead! XO

 

Taylored Expression November Spotlight Day!

 

It's Taylored Expressions November 2012 Spotlight Day! This is where we take one last chance to showcase each of the new stamp sets and dies...What a week! Today I have something really fun to share!

All of the new Taylored Expressions products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department. Everything is just so cute and happy this month!

Be sure to check the TE Current Specials page to find out how you can get your very own  Crafty Expressions stamp set for FREE!

 

There is a new addition to the Moka collection by Nancy McKinney...and her name is...Wanda! SO FUN! It was my idea that we needed a stamping and crafting girl Moka so I told Taylor. And, Taylor named her after me. Coolest thing ever, right? She has on her crafting apron and has all her tools ready to go.  

 

 

 

Here is the LINK TO THE SCS TUTORIAL for this card! It's called a center step card. It was very easy to follow the directions and I really like how it came out. Give some room to add different papers and showcase your sentiment on the bottom.

 

 

 

Here is how it folds down for mailing...

 

 

 

This is my Copic palette for this card...

 

 

 

I used the beautiful new MME Paper pad called Tangerine. I also used one of our new TE dies from the Handmade Charms die set!! I put the little scissors on with a jump ring to hang off my main image.  

 

 

 

Stamping friends REALLY are the best!

 

 

 

One last look at another Signature stamp from the 'Signature Style' set!

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends, one last linky list for you for the week! Hope you've had a good time here with the Baker's Dozen this week!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney (Illustrator) 

 

Taylored Expressions November 2012 Sneak Peeks, Day 2!

It's day two of November sneaks! Tomorrow you will be able to see EVERYTHING! But today, I have some more peeks for you!  Are you ready!?

• Today I'm featuring TWO new stamp sets! The first one is called 'Spectacular'  it's from the Whimsical Wishes stamp line by Nancy McKinney. This one is truly spectacular! It's cute glasses and sayings! EEP! So fun. Perfect for funny and light cards.  
• The second set for today is called 'Signature Style' and this one was my idea! YAY! I have been wanting a Taylored Expressions set for the back of my TE creations. Well, this one is a sampler of all the different designers. There is a signature stamp for any mood or creation. I'm very excited about this one! I hope you will love it too.
• We have inspiration to share Tuesday through Friday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, November 8th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Readers can 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 beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.

 

Here is my card using the 'Spectacular' set! I kept it very graphic and clean and simple. I chose a bright fun color to match the mood. I found the perfect matching Doodlebug twine... You know me, sometimes I like lots of white space and a POP of an image!

 

 

 

 

My very first pair of eyeglasses were baby blue cat eye numbers with blue rhinestones! This is what made me have this idea! It was the sixties after all...

 

 

 

I used one of my Circle Nestabilities to cut out a piece of my white paper, then mounted that piece on some foam tape. This would be a nice layout to use to make a whole set of notecards.

 

 

 

Here's one of the Signature Style images! Isn't he cute!?

 

 

 

I was trying to think of something to make using all the 'Signature Style' images....so I came up with this! It's a gift bag full of pre-made signatures for the back of cards. It's the perfect gift for a stamping pal. I used the gorgeous new Stacklets Dies to make the topper!

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the top....

 

 

 

Here are my individual signature pieces...see...truly something for every kind of card!

 

 

 

On the back I put a strip of double sided tape so that my friend can just pop them on the back of her cards. Voila! Ready to go.

 

 

 

I used my scoring board to score the Stacklets Die pieces in half for the top of my gift bag...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the list of players for today! Please hop on around and see all the neat projects! Thank you for stopping by.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer)
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney (Illustrator) 

Taylored Expressions November 2012 Sneak Peeks, Day 1!

 

Yep, It's that FUN time again! Time for November's Sneak Peeks for Taylored Expressions! WOOOOHOOOOO! Get ready for lots of inspiration this week!  

Joining us this week is the winner of our Last Card Standing contest...the talented Kerri Michaud! She won a spot on the Baker's Dozen and I just know her work will wow you! Welcome Kerri! So glad to have you stamp with us in November and December!

• Today I'm featuring the GORGEOUS new stamp set from the Lasting Impressions collection called In the Word - When Mark Your Spot and the Bookmark die were released, Jami  immediately thought a set of Bible verses would be perfect to go with them, and I agree! This set will allow you to create beautiful bookmarks, as well as cards, tags, framed art, and more! I like this stamp set because it can be used for encouragement cards. Sometimes you just want to send a nice thought to someone to uplift them. 
• We have inspiration to share Tuesday through Friday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, November 8th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Readers can 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 beginning at approximately 6 pm PST. That really is a ton of fun, if you've never joined us, you should!

 

Here is my card for today. I used all the pretty background stamps to make sort of a collage effect for my card, then framed out the sentiment using the brand new Stacklets Dies. I am over the moon thrilled that Taylor started doing frame dies!! I know I will use these all the time.

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my layers....All the inks are Tim Holtz Distress Inks that are available in the TE Store!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my card in progress...Yes, I'm a messy stamper! You can see my color swatches of inks - from when I was trying to figure out what colors best matched my patterned paper. The paper I used for this card are from the Authentique 'Thankful' collection. So pretty.

 

 

 

Here is what my base layer looks like. I have fun putting different colors and shapes down on my cream base. I think I like the soft words the best...or maybe those big swirls...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a sneak peek at another new set...that I designed! It's called Signature Style! Yipppeeeee! I will show you all about it tomorrow!

Here is our fun filled link list for today! We have our contest winner guest blogger Kerri Michaud joining with us! Welcome to Kerri!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)
• Jen Shults
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney (Illustrator)

Happy Anniversary to TE Designer Emily!

 

Happy Anniversary to our awesome designer Emily! This month marks the One Year Anniversary of the Embracing Grace collection of stamps illustrated by Emily Burger.  To celebrate, the Baker's Dozen is highlighting Emily's very own set Love Grows Here. I love Emily's work, and this set in particular. I use it all the time! We are all featuring it today on our blogs to give Emily a big shout out! All three of my cards for today are from this set. You've maybe seen them before?

Emily has donated two sets of mirror cards from her etsy store to go to one lucky winner (so you can keep one and give one as a gift.)  The winner will be chosen by a random drawing from all of the comments left on all the posts in today's blog hop (One comment per blog, please.) and will be announced in Taylor's blog post tomorrow morning. So, leave a comment to win! Thanks for coming by today! And don't forget - Release Week starts tomorrow! WOOO HOOOO! 

This first one was for my former boss's retirement. I thought it made a nice masculine card so I chose a soft celery green and brown as my accents...

 

 

 

 

This next card is a pretty Autum Thank you card! You know I love Autumn...oh and cute owls too! This card features the TE Mini Leaves and Scallop Dies.

 

 

 

Last, but not least, Here's fun all-occasion card with some sweet honey bees!

 

Here are the links for today. Have a great time looking at everyone's cards and don't forget to comment to win! XOXO 

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jami Sibley
• Jen Shults
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions November Calendar Challenge!

Today it's time again for our cool new calendar projects from Taylored Expressions and I have had such a good time making my pages each month this year! The Baker's Dozen Design Team has been sharing calendar goodies and ideas with you throughout the year, and we are winding down to the last two months.

Refer over to Taylor's blog to get all the info to play along with us each month. There will be a linky at the bottom of Taylor's post and it will remain open all year, so you have the option to go back and catch up if you start playing late. For everyone who plays in 10 or more of these monthly calendar challenges in 2012, there will be a random draw for a TE prize pack valued at over $150!!! Click here to go to the TE Calendar Department and see all the goodies.

I chose to make the "Frame Your Imagination" calendar and use Cuppie as my theme! The stand for the calendar comes in raw wood and then you can paint it whatever color you choose. I painted mine kind of an antique white and then speckled some brown onto it to give it some character.

CLICK here for the calendar stand...CLICK here for the page protectors and CLICK here for the page inserts. I like this a lot because the finished pages are 6x6 and that gives a lot of room to stamp!

Well, I might be biased, but I think November is the BEST month! Oh, might be because my birthday is this month! LOL. Seriously, how cute is Cuppie out in the pumpkin patch?? I used the adorable fence die and some pretty leaves to make an Autumn scene.... 

 

 

 

 

I cut the fence out of kraft paper! Colored in my cute pumpkins and Cuppie. I cut out a few extra pumpkins to place around my calendar page.

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project...

 

 

 

Here are my supplies....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our list of calendar players for today! Take a look! Thank you for coming by my blog today! And, hello to all my new subscribers! Have a fabulous day. XOXO

• Charmaine Ikach
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Batty for You!

Wow! It's Halloween week already...and my birthday is coming up this week too! Woohoooo! Now, if I didn't have this stupid sinus-cold-congestion thing happening....life would be perfect! Ugh. Spent the weekend in the house downing Airborne and Dayquil like nobody's business. But, I did drag myself into the craft room to whip up one last Halloween project to share. It's a clean and simple card with a SUPER cute bat from Paper Smooches! I used the tree branch image from an OLD Kim Hughes set I got years ago and that set is called Landing Pad.

 

 

 

 

 

I combined two sentiments to make it say 'batty for you.' One of the great things about clear stamps is that you can do that with the sentiments and get them lined up perfectly.

 

 

 

The branch and bat were colored with my Copics. Isn't he silly??

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have the best week ever! Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen! Take care everyone!  

 

Crazy for Washi Tape!!!

Hi sweet bloggy friends! Grab a drink and settle in because this is a LONG post! LOL. Lots of pictures and cards and everything to share today. I'm going to talk about my current obsession with Washi Tape! Are you on the washi bandwagon yet? I got it bad! It started with buying just a couple of rolls here and there and then grew into a big bucket full of pretty tapes! Sunday it was a cloudy day perfect for hanging out in the craft room all day. I decided to make it a fun washi project day!

First I got inspired and pinned lots of new pins to my WASHI PINTEREST BOARD. That got my creative juices flowing. I love looking at Pinterest! I found so many pretty pictures of washi tape and decided to take some of my own pictures of the tapes. I love the graphic nature of the circles and all the colors together. This first collage picture I did with my iPhone so I could post it on Instagram! That's a whole other obsession!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's my whole collection...but it seems like there's room in that bucket! (Maybe I need more?)  

 

 

 

After I had fun taking photos, it was time to come up with some projects! I used these tapes for my first card...

 

 

 

Those fun hearts are made from washi tape!

 

 

 

One of the cool things to do with washi tape is to layer them over each other so you can combine the patterns and colors....

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my washi hearts!  

 

 

 

To make the hearts I got out the red and white chevron washi and put down several strips of it on a piece of the back of an old notepad. It was thick like chipboard, and white, which was perfect.

 

 

 

Next I ran the sheet of washi through my Big Shot with some pretty heart dies from Tim Holtz...

 

 

 

Aren't they cute?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this an adorable little fabric tag from Basic Grey?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my next project, I got out the crazy 80's neon washi tape! And that black and white chevron? ACK! So perfect for bright projects!

 

 

 

I just got this adorable Oh Snap! stamp set from There She Goes. I LOVEEEEE this!! I colored my fun camera in with bright funky Copic colors. Rich black is the perfect touch to ground all this neon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the card base. I snipped the ends with my scissors to make little flag/banners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Snap!

 

 

 

This last card is a clean and simple washi project. I used a simple manila square tag and some pretty colors. I made the little tape and pearl pennant. I like how the striped washi made gingham when crossed over itself! (an added bonus to any project!). I used some pink ink in my blo-pen to add some spatters. Nice and easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smile! :-)

 

 

 

Okay, hope you haven't given up on me yet...one more project...

 

 

 

Some cool tags! Not sure what to do with these yet...maybe attach them to the front of a card, or tie them on a present. I'll think of something!  

 

Thank you so much for coming by my blog and for sharing in my fondness for the washi. Do you have some tapes? What do you make with them? Do you have a favorite kind of craft you like to make with your tapes? I'd love some more ideas! Best wishes for a blessed day! XOXO

Taylored Expressions October Studio Challenge!

 

 

It's time for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge for September!! This is our monthly opportunity for us to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we will have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorite stamps and dies, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more. This has been such a fun thing to do!

The challenge that Taylor gave us for October is:

Good things come in small packages!  The holiday season is upon us and between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukah, and Christmas there are a ton of opportunities to create and give little treats, gifts, and party favors.  Please show us something you'll be giving this year!

For my project, I decided to make some card gifts for my girlfriends for Thanksgiving! Kind of a card and little treat/gift all in one. This Autumn I have been obsessed with the new Pumpkin Flavor Via Coffee packs from Starbucks. Have you tried this? OMG - so delicious and perfect for a cool morning. I built my treat project around giving some packets of coffee to my friends. You could put a Starbucks card in there too...and I may do just that! 

 

 

 

These library pockets are PERFECT for gift giving - gift cards, money, gift certificates, coffee, etc. 

 

 

I used the pretty mini leaves and cut them out of patterned papers to match my card. Can you see the gorgeous houndstooth pattern on the golden paper? 

 

 

Work in progress....

 

 

Here's a good tip for you! I wanted to use the Banner Day Die for my sentiment, but the sentiment is straight. Hmmmm...what to do? Well, I used the pattern for the die (comes with it) and mounted my sentiment onto it in a curve! It worked! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here area all my building blocks for this fun treat project....

 

 

Here's a close up of the Houndstooth Impression Plate pattern. LOVE. 

 

 

 

Here is the object of my obsession...

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, the inside of my Thanksgiving treat card...

You can find all the supplies in the Taylored Expressions Store! Here are photos of all the dies and stamp sets I used. Yup, I love Autumn!  

 

 

 

 

Here are all the links for the rest of the crew! I'm so excited to see all the posts for today! I hope you will hop around and have some fun with us. I just know you will find some great treat ideas for the upcoming holidays! Have a great day everybody! 

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Carolyn King - Guest Designer!

 

 

Halloween Fry Boxes!

Hi Friends! Hanging out tonight in the crafty cave, getting some Halloween cards addressed and ready to mail and eating a snack. Buddy is by my side.... It's been a busy week (what week isn't anymore?) and I'm relaxing a little bit. You know that I am always looking for quick and cute treats to bring to work or share with friends... Well, tonight I'm sharing a fun treat project made with one of my go-to dies. This is one of the projects we made at my classes at Paper Garden in August. I thought you guys might like to see it too.

The die is called "Fry Box" and is from Lifestyle Crafts - it's so cute - you've probably seen it here on my blog before. This time I was going for a vintage vibe, with the gingham and an old fashioned image. AND...there's candy involved! Score! LOL. I'll be bringing these to the office on Halloween.

 

 

 

 

Totally fun, right?

 

 

 

Here's a side view so you can see the die shape...Two of the dies cut on one piece of cardstock perfectly. Two pieces of tape, and that's that!

 

 

 

The little pennants were made by punching out triangles and gluing them onto pearl pins. You can buy these pearl pins in the wedding section at the craft store, or at the sewing store. I make these all the time.  

 

 

 

Here's my big bucket of boxes all ready to be filled!

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you like this project. Do you make Halloween goodies? Let me know your favorite treat to make! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

Hope - in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hi there friends! I'm here tonight in the craft room with a post about some cards I made in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer has touched all of our lives. One of my sweet stamping friends has been fighting breast cancer for the past year and another friend at work has a sister fighting the fight also. I wanted to make some cards to send to these special gals. It's my day to post for Taylored Expressions and I found some great supplies to work with for the occasion. if any of you out there are dealing with breast cancer in your life, please accept my admiration for your courage and strength and determination. Keep on fighting. XO

 

 

 

 

I took the tall and skinny alpha set of dies and cut out the word hope...then I die cut a bunch of Curly Dies in a slightly darker shade of pink....

 

 

 

I thought that these Curly Die pieces looked like a bunch of pink ribbons all hooked together! What do you think? Can you visualize that?

 

 

 

Here is the inside of the cards....

 

 

 

My supplies....

 

 

 

 

I cut out two of the Stacklets Dies in white and layered them on foam tape. I made a pretty pink ribbon and put it underneath the white layers.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are pictures of all the dies and stamps:

 

  

   

 

Thank you for stopping by today!
  Wanda

Trick or Treat - Halloween Chevrons!

Hi crafty friends! How is your week going?! I hope it's been great so far! I'm enjoying Fall crafting and the nice chill in the air that's starting to come at night... Been spending a lot of time doing Fall projects since October seems to go by in a whirl wind of activities! The hubs and I had a lovely day trip to Lake Tahoe last Saturday and we saw some Fall color up in the mountains and stopped for some apple cider on the way home. I have some pictures to share - and I'll try to get those posted soon.

Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions! I made a bright, graphic Halloween card to share with you, using some of my favorite TE products. I love the way these colors are so powerful together, especially against that crisp black.

 

 

 

 

I incorporate lime green into my Halloween projects a lot. Can't seem to stay away! Here, I clear embossed my main image with lime ink. I stamped another of the images in orange and cut out just the circle part and mounted it on foam tape.  

 

 

 

AHHHHH- Chevrons! So graphic! LOVE this die.... I cut out a bunch of Chevron strips using the TE Chevron Dies and then played with them until I got a look I liked. At first I had white space in between them all...

 

 

I used three different Halloween stamp sets from TE for this project. The main Trick or Treat image is from Totally Tags Halloween, the bats are from the Moka Tabitha set, and the sentiment I put on the inside is from the awesome Toil and Trouble set from last year! LOVE them all!

 

 

 

Here are my cool chevrons all ready to go...

 

 

 

Here is my assistant walking through....while I'm trying to take a picture....

 

 

 

I just started gluing them all down and then I trimmed the paper afterwards so the edges would be nice and clean.

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the stamp sets and dies...

 

 

 

And here's the inside of my card....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your week! Thank you so much for popping by today!

Hey Pumpkin!

Hi friends! There is a lot going on this weekend! Happy World Card Making Day! Are you stamping today? Getting together with friends? I hope you have a great day ahead. The hubs and I are headed out to take a nice long drive and hang out together...headed up to Lake Tahoe. This past Wednesday was our wedding anniversary and it's so hectic to try to do something special during the work week. When we were dating we always used to go for long drives and talk and talk, so DH decided that's what we should do, and I can't wait! We'll take some pictures (see if we can find some Fall foliage) and have a nice dinner....Yay! The weather FINALLY turned today and it was the most glorious day.

Do you ever buy new stamping stuff and you can't wait to use it...and it sits on your desk...and you're so excited when you get to make something with it? Well, that's what happened with the things I used for today's project! I bought the new PTI pumpkin dies last month and wanted to make something cute for Fall...so here it is! A pumpkin card!

 

 

 

 

How can you go wrong with orange gingham? The sentiment stamp is from PTI also. The pretty leaves are the mini leaves dies from Taylored Expressions...It all works together so nicely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think these would make such nice Thanksgiving invitations or place cards for an Autumn table. I wish I had time to make a bunch more! Maybe I'll find some time here in the next few weeks....

 

 

 

Here's how the die comes out of your cutting machine...all in perfect sections.

 

 

 

The solid die folds into a card base (A2) and then you cut one more to mount your sections onto...

 

 

 

I used some distress ink on the edges of my sections to give more dimension. The center section was mounted onto some foam tape. At the last minute I changed my mind and made the stem brown instead of green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed...that's how I feel today!

 

In honor of World Card Making Day (and month), Taylored Expressions is having some very fun challenges! CLICK HERE for more details and join in on the festivities! Have a great day everyone!

 

 

Taylored Expressions October 2012 Release Spotlight Day!

 

Hey everyone! I'm kind of sad to see this release week come to a close! It's been a Holiday-palooza of fun things for Christmas... But I guess I'd better get back on track with my Fall crafting! LOL. I have one last card to share today. It's super clean and simple and silly and fun. Hope you like it!  Everything is available now in the TE Store...so get shopping! LOL!

I used the new mini set called Reindeer Food! It's from the Embracing Grace Collection drawn by Emily Burger. So cute! Jami concepted this one and it's a set of nine adorable reindeer images and sentiments. It's great for cards and little treats. I picked out the cute little reindeer face - because I love his hat!

 

 

 

I also used the papers from the Carta Bella Merry and Bright Project Pantry Kit - the light blue and green was perfect. I used this card as my opportunity to cut out the PRETTY new Snowflake Border Die too!

 

 

The little pearl for his nose is a white pearl colored red with a Copic Marker. I used my Copics for the rest of the image too. Easy-peasy card. You could make a bunch of these in no time. Sometimes less is more?!

 

 

 

 

Here's your last link list for the week! Hasn't this been so fun?!

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley - DT Coordinator

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Nancy McKinney - Illustrator

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions October 2012 Release Day!

 

TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS OCTOBER 2012 RELEASE DAY!

Hi friends! It's been such a fun week already...and today is Release Day! What do you think of all the new goodies in the TE store? Aren't they wonderful!? All of the new Taylored Expressions products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department. AND Be sure to check the TE Current Specials page! 

Today I have a trio of note cards to share made with the new Graphic Greetings Christmas stamp. Taylor is continuing this Graphic Greetings series and I'm so glad. This look is so on trend right now in the craft world. The Baker's Dozen gals have come up with some great ideas for this stamp...so many possibilities!

 

 

I wanted to show you guys how this card could look in different colors. Christmas doesn't have to always be red and green! LOL. I think these would be great gal pal Christmas cards, because they're fun and feminine. I kept them flat for mailing too.

 

 

The snowflakes were made using a new TE Die set called Make a Snowflake...and there are six snowflakes included. You can layer them endlessly and they coordinate perfectly with the new Snowflake Border Die too.

 

First I stamped my image in Versamark ink and clear embossed it. Then I colored my image with Distress inks and a sponge in the pretty colors. Next, I went back around and distressed the edges with a touch of brown ink. This adds just a touch of depth. Then I had fun layering on pretty cream snowflakes!

 

 

The background solid color paper was first embossed with the Swirls side of the TE Swirls and Music impression plate which was released last year for Christmas. I use that all the time!

 

 

 

 

 

Do you like these pretty pastels for Winter?

 

 

 

 

Here are our links for Release Day!

Carolyn King - Guest Designer

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Taylored Expressions Sneaks for October Day 2!

 

Hi Everyone! It's sneak peeks week at Taylored Expressions! Let the fun begin!  We have inspiration to share Tuesday through Friday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 4th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.You also can 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 beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.  

Okay, so like yesterday, there's a whole LOT of Christmas going on here! I have two more projects to share today using more new October release items. I'm so excited about this release - it's wonderful. I hope you find something (or many things) this week to inspire you for your winter crafting!

The first card for today is so happy and bright. I used the new 'Carta Bella Merry and Bright' Project Pantry Kit which has the prettiest shade of pink in it. Love this one. I used every color! LOL. The papers are 6x6 so the scale is just perfect.

The stamp set is called Very Merry, and it is indeed! Very Merry is a full size set from the Whimsical Wishes Collection. This stamp set comes WITH A DIE of the word "merry" which combines with the sentiments. (I used the merry die yesterday). The cute solid images are great for stampers who prefer not to do a lot of coloring.

 

 

I also used the Very Merry Outlines and Scallops TE Dies to cut out the super fun mittens on my card. There is a die to coordinate with all the images, and you can buy the solid image, the scallop layer image or both! Check it out!

 

My teeny sentiment is from the Many Minis Holiday new stamp set. This set coordinates perfectly with our Mini Tags, but you can see it isn't just for that! This card was just too much fun to make!

 

 

 

My second card for today uses all dies! I don't know if you're a "die-aholic" like me, but man, I love 'em. For my background I used the GORGEOUS new Holly Cutting Plate. I layered it over some cream cardstock for a purely Christmas look. Like the Quatrefoil Cutting Plate, the Holly plate cuts a perfect A2 card layer. No trimming needed.

 

 

For the word "Peace" I used a new Alphabet Die set released this month. It's called Poster Graphic Alpha Die Set and it's a good size for either cards or scrapbook pages. It would also make pretty monograms. Love all the detail in each letter. I'm going to use this one a lot.

 

I layered my letters onto a strip of vellum for just a touch of interest...and then I couldn't help but add some clear blings! The papers I used are from the Handmade Holidays Project Pantry Kit (which I used yesterday too!)

 

 

 

 

Please hop around and see what the rest of the crew has for you today!

Carolyn King - Guest Designer

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions Sneaks for October Day 1!

 

Hi Everyone! It's sneak peeks week at Taylored Expressions! Let the fun begin!  We have inspiration to share Tuesday through Friday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 4th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.You also can 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 beginning at approximately 6 pm PST. 

October's release is all about Christmas and Winter! So many great items this month. Whew. I didn't even know where to start - it's all so pretty. I have two cards to share today. Both are very traditional Christmas with red and green. Later in the week I'll pop some other colors in the mix!

The first card is made with the GORGEOUS new Quatrefoil Cutting Plate. Cutting Plates are new this month at TE and I am totally psyched with this development. This Quatrefoil plate cut like 'buttah' in my Big Shot and it's so pretty! The plate is designed to cut a perfect A2 card layer...the finished size is 4" x 5.25". WOW.

I kept the color scheme strictly to red and white. It's so crisp and just says holiday to me. I added some pearl accents but kept the rest classy and clean. This would be a great card to mass produce for your holiday cards - because it can mail flat. I could also see this with a bright green behind the quatrefoil too.

 

 

In addition to the beautiful new cutting plates, Taylor released a new layering die set called Label Stacklets 1. I used that too! The dies coordinate perfectly with the new stamp set I used in this first card.

 

The stamp set is called Rejoice - and is from the Lasting Impressions Collection. It is a full size set of 13 Christmas and Holiday sentiments in a beautiful font combination that is so elegant. Jami concepted this set to match with the Stacklets and it's just a general all-around perfect Christmas sentiments set. I stamped my words in a bright red to match the paper.

 

My second project for today uses the brand new Poinsettia Bouquet stamp set from the Whimsical Wishes collection by Nancy McKinney. This is the next installment in our Petite Bouquet series....just in time for the holidays. This set has one main image and several sentiments to match.

 

 

 

 

I used a new word die called Merry! Wait until you see how this die matches with the Very Merry stamp set! When you order the stamps, the die comes with it. LOVE. I cut the word out of pretty dark burgundy paper from one of our new Project Pantry Kits. This kit is called Handmade Holidays from Simple Stories - and it's very homey and warm. Love the plaid paper!

I colored my image using watercolor pencils and my aqua brush. Then I distressed the edges with some Antique Linen ink.

 

 

 

 

Here is the link list for the rest of the Baker's Dozen (and friends!) for today: 

Carolyn King - Guest Designer

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley - DT Coordinator

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Nancy McKinney - Illustrator

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Pumpkin Latte Anya!!

Hi everybody! It's late Thursday night...but I'm just gonna call it Friday! So...happy Friday! Another week has come and gone and it was our first week of Fall. It's been hot here still but the nights are cooling off and I'm in the mood for Fall things....like a pumpkin latte! This past weekend at the stamp convention, one of my purchases was the adorable new Latte Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm! I have been wanting her for a few weeks and was so happy to snap it up at the show. It's been on my mind all week. So....tonight I came home from work and got her inked up.

I thought she needed to be a Fall girl...so I have named her Pumpkin Latte Anya and I chose some of my favorite Autumn colors for the papers.

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite sentiment stamps for Fall. I like the happy font! I cut out some leaves from a Tim Holtz die to put on the card...

 

 

I haven't colored an Anya for a while and it's sooooo much fun to color these girls! The next one I want is this cute little witch on her broom. I need to find that one now!

 

 

I wanted her hat to be herringbone so I used this orange chevron paper and paper pieced it! I paper pieced the accents on her hat too. :-)

 

 

Here are my supplies...

 

 

And my Copic color palette...

 

 

Of course she had to have pretty chestnut hair!

 

 

 

Thank you so much for coming by my blog today! I hope you had a nice week. My company gives us one day a year off work to do community service so tomorrow all day I'm working at the Red Cross office. Should be a very nice and positive day - and a great way to start the weekend. Take care everyone!

 

Taylored Expressions September Studio Challenge!



 

It's time for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge for September!!  This is our monthly opportunity for us to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we will have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more. 

The question that Taylor gave us for September is:

Within Arm's Reach - What do you keep within arm's reach at your stamp table?  Show us what you have access to without leaving your seat.  What organization methods do you use?  Tell us which ones you love and which ones you'd like to change. So, the Baker's Dozen girls are going to share our stamping spaces today! I can't wait to see everyone's spot.

Here is my desk! This is where I sit for hours and hours stamping and dreaming my creative dreams! It's not super fancy, but it works! I am a neat-nik by nature and I always have to keep my main table clean. It seems like I can't think if it's crazy and cluttered. The rest of my room can look like a tornado went through (and it often does) but my main table gets cleared off at the end of every stamping session...

Here is a LINK to a blog post I did a while ago with pictures of my entire stamp room....check it out if you're interested!

You can see that I have my TV/DVD player right there, and my little drawers full of necessities, and then my paper trimmer and baby wipes close by.

 

 

 

 

I just got this pretty pink craft mat from Joann's a couple of months ago! It makes me happy...cuz it's pink!

 

 

 

My TV stand is actually paper drawers! LOL! I keep lots of kraft, cream and white cardstock handy so I can just grab what I need. The two binders have card layouts and there's my trusty Ott lite too...

 

 

 

My ink stash is in it's own five drawer rolling cart. I keep the ones I use the most on top where I can just reach over and grab 'em...

 

 

 

Here are my go-to drawers.... One is entirely full of scissors, and one has glue, adhesives and pens. Another one is all embossing powders. You know, the things we use all the time!

 

 

 

Here's a glimpse of my bulletin board...

 

 

 

Here is my cutting station... I keep my Nestabilities and TE Dies in DVD cases in that rack on the wall. I have my Big Shot and My Cricut right next to my ginormous paper cutter. I keep my scoring board here too...

 

 

 

COPICS!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Doesn't this make you happy? It does me!

 

 

 

This is my computer work station. I have my laptop and my printer set up so I can do all my blog posts and print out what I need.

 

 

If you have an iPhone and you've upgraded to iOS6....you can now make panorama shots from your phone!!!!! AHHHHH! How cool is that? This is my first try at it. You can see my whole room practically! The baskets on the table on the right have all my design team goodies in them so I can keep my projects straight. There are some very nice Taylored Expressions goodies in there for October! (Top Secret!)

 

 

 

This is my FAVORITE thing that is almost always on my stamping desk....A big furry orange cat waiting to be loved!

 

Here are all the links for the rest of the crew! I'm so excited to see all the posts for today! I hope you will hop around and have some fun with us. Even our guest designer Carolyn is joining in the fun! Have a great day everybody!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Carolyn King (Guest Designer)

 

Apple Spice cake in the house today!

Hi everyone! So much to share today from my house. Where to start?.... Had a most fabulous time yesterday at the Stamp Convention here in Sac-town. Saw lots and lots of my stamping friends (which is always the best part of the show) and maybe even made some new friends? I met some crazy gals from the bay area and maybe have a girl crush on them. We had such a good time laughing. The show was crowded and it was a really positive day. I didn't buy too much - I finally got my mitts on Latte Anya from The Greeting Farm and I'll be inking her up soon. A couple of other small things. I showed restraint.

It was kind of a bust football weekend... My Bears lost yesterday to USC and then the 49ers lots today. So, we won't talk football right now. Sigh.

I have had a recipe saved on my phone for about a week and thought I would try it out and share it with you. It's a recipe for apple spice cake and it was really easy to make! AND...so delicious! It tastes like Fall on a plate! (HERE IS THE RECIPE LINK)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added just a dollop of cool whip with some nutmeg sprinkled on top! Made it just a bit sweeter and richer. Give this one a try for sure! You make it in a 9x13 pan so it's easy to cut into squares to share with a group.  

 

I also made a quick and simple card for today...a cute litle Hero Arts Owl and an adorable new thought bubble die from Kristina Werner's collection. I resisted the urge to add more to this one. I just like the cheerful green...and I left it the way it was!

 

 

 

I colored my little owl with my Copics and colored his tummy a few shades lighter to add some contrast. Isn't he fun?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now it's time for the Emmy Red Carpet to start and I'm going to hunker down and start working on my TE projects for October. You guys are going to love the new stuff next month. I think first I need to move a big orange cat off my work space! Toodles everyone! Have a great week!!

Batty!

Hi there! Today I've gone batty! More Halloween fun here on my blog this week. I have so many ideas and I'm going to run out of time! LOL. Today's card is a slightly different variation of one of the cards I did in my classes at Paper Garden last month. I had left over supplies so I made the extra cards - now I have instant Halloween cards for people. This one was a favorite. Looks complex, but couldn't be easier - you'll see.

 

 

 

This card is very traditional...just orange and black. Such nice contrast! Usually when I cut out the super fab Tessatina Die I cut it in white. Well, here in black it takes on a very gothic and vintage look, especially against the orange. I rather like it in black too! The bats are from a giant EK Success punch, so making those is easy-peasy. The sentiment is brand new this season from Memory Box. Love it!

 

 

 

In case you haven't figured out...I'm crazy for those bumpy blings!

 

 

Once you get everything cut out, this card comes together pretty easily. I popped the bats up on foam tape. This is a great card layout too. Instead of bats, you can use butterflies, flowers, birds, or anything else!

 

It's getting closer to the weekend! Yippppeeeeee! My awesome friends from LA are coming up and puttin' on a big stamp show here in my town this weekend and I'll be working the show. If you're local, come on out...Saturday all day at the Scottish Rite Center by Sac State! Yahooooooo! Have a marvelous day bloggy peeps!

 

Trick or Treat...TE Style!

Hi bloggy friends! It's never too early to start the holiday crafting season, right? I have slowly started making Halloween cards so that it doesn't sneak up on me next month! You know how that goes!! As soon as September comes, it seems like ten days until it's Christmas! Have you started Fall crafting? I saw the Martha Stewart Halloween goodies at Michael's last week - that makes me happy! Our weather hasn't changed yet, though. Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions and I wanted to ink up this cute Trick or Treat A La Carte stamp and use some fun accessories too!

 

 

 

 

I cut out the image with my oval Nestabilities and popped it up on some foam tape. I edged the white part with a funky lime green ink. Isn't that bat silly? Love that!

 

 

 

Here are my supplies for this project. I LOVE the Spooky Impression plate with the Spiderweb Border Die for Halloween. One side of the impression plate is spiderwebs and the other side is this cool harlequin pattern. It's fun and kind of retro at the same time.

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the harlequin pattern from the impression plate. I very lightly went over it with a sponge and some black ink, just to make the diamonds stand out a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an image of the impression plate:

 

Have a GREAT day and THANK YOU for coming by my blog today! :-)

 

Fall Saturday in the Studio....

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! I'm in the studio today watching college football and gettin' my Fall craft on! I love everything leaves, pumpkins, owls....and the pretty colors of Autumn. I wanted to make a card for the current Hero Arts Contest, so that's just what I did! In the background, my team is playing the #12 Buckeyes on ABC national TV and they are NOT getting killed! LOL. We are making a good showing. I don't really have hope that we'll win...but it's nice that we're not getting creamed! Buddy is in here with me enjoying the day with mom.

My card features the pretty Maple Leaf Die from Memory Box, some yummy Distress Inks, Watercolor paper and Hero Arts stamps. Take a gander...

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the leaves...I'll show the steps later on in my post...

 

 

 

I curled the edges up after adhering them to the paper with foam tape...

 

 

 

I love how this word stamp has all kinds of different "gratitude" words on it. I used different parts of the stamp for each leaf, then used the entire stamp for my background.  

 

 

 

Both the leaves and the background layer are watercolor paper. It's thicker and holds up well to lots of inking. Here are my plain die cut leaves...

 

 

 

I added at least three colors to each leaf. Aren't these soooooo delicious!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I stamped the words onto the leaves in dark brown ink...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here'a picture of 'what's on my desk' today! LOL.

 

Best wishes to everyone for a WONDERFUL weekend! The DH and I are headed out for dinner together later and a trip to the mall. XOXO

Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge...and an AWESOME new contest!

Today it's time again for our cool new calendar projects from Taylored Expressions and I am having such a good time making my pages each month! The Baker's Dozen Design Team will be sharing calendar goodies and ideas with you throughout the rest of the year, so be sure to check out everyone else's projects too.

Refer over to Taylor's blog to get all the info to play along with us each month. There will be a linky at the bottom of Taylor's post and it will remain open all year, so you have the option to go back and catch up if you start playing late. For everyone who plays in 10 or more of these monthly calendar challenges in 2012, there will be a random draw for a TE prize pack valued at over $150!!! Click here to go to the TE Calendar Department and see all the goodies.

I chose to make the "Frame Your Imagination" calendar and use Cuppie as my theme! The stand for the calendar comes in raw wood and then you can paint it whatever color you choose. I painted mine kind of an antique white and then speckled some brown onto it to give it some character.

CLICK here for the calendar stand...CLICK here for the page protectors and CLICK here for the page inserts. I like this a lot because the finished pages are 6x6 and that gives a lot of room to stamp!

Here is my September Calendar page....Cuppie is going back to school!

 

 

 

 

This little guy is smiling away...

 

 

 

My supplies for this project: Fruity Friends, Year of Sweets 3, Moka Gwen, and the great new Chevron Border Dies!

 

 

 

Here is my Copic palette....

 

 

 

Awwwww....Cuppie even has an apple for his teacher!

 

 

AMAZING, AWESOME, FUN, FABULOUS

NEW CONTEST FROM 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!

The competition begins today with the 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. GOOD LUCK! I would be so thrilled is one of my cool blog followers won!  Cuz you know you guys are the coolest, right? Yup.

Here is our list of calendar players for today! Take a look!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess