A Blog Called Wanda

Taylored Expressions July Release Party, part 2!

 

TE Release Party Continues, and it's our Final Day! I certainly hope you've been enjoying the party for our July release! Thank you so much for coming by each day to see what I've been working on. I Hope you've been hopping around all week looking at the inspiration presented by the Baker's Dozen featuring everything that is Fresh Out of the Oven from Taylored Expressions! Everything is now available for purchase!

Today, for my last card of Release Week, I'm featuring a cute new stamp set called Life Saver - from the imagination of Nancy McKinney, for her Whimsical Wishes line of stamps. This set coordinates with Under the Sea and comes with it's own dies - an anchor and a life preserver.  It will also work well with several other sets this month. I combined it with the new Waves/Bubbles Impression Plate and our Wave Border Die, and some crisp red, white and blue!

I always love an easel card...and so today I am showing you a scallop circle easel card! I just thought that circles were the perfect thing for this life preserver image!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the side view so you can see the construction. The whole thing folds flat for mailing (see last photo).

 

 

 

Cute saying right? I added just a touch of bright yellow to pop off that blue... 

 

 

 

 

To make your card, you need to cut one big scallop circle, and then cut a second one that is still folded at the top and attached together. Then you just make the card the same way you would any other easel card!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How adorable is that dolphin!? I think this could also be cute for kids cards! I cut him out of a different image and then put his tail below to look like he's hanging on! See the yummy swirls behind him from the impression plate?

 

 

 

Here's the final card, folded and ready to mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last link list of release week!

Charmaine Ikach

Courtney Kelley - Guest Designer

Jami Sibley - DT Coordinator

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions July Release Party!

 

Release week continues! Did you see all the great new things in the TE Store yet? Come join the party!  Please hop around to find more inspiration presented by the Baker's Dozen featuring everything that is Fresh Out of the Oven from Taylored Expressions! Everything I'm showing is now available for purchase! 

Today is my day to feature the Adventure Land stamp set from the Apple Doodle Ink line by Doug Applegate. This one was concepted by Sankari Wegman! Everyone wants to visit a fair or amusement park during the Summer!  Doug's Adventure Land promises all-day FUN!  This set coordinates great with the Star Impression Plate and all of the Star TE Dies...and I think it works with the Life is a Circus stamp set too!

For my card, I wanted a girly, retro look using my favorite image from the set - the ferris wheel. I was inspired by the Simple Stories "Fabulous" papers (see photo below) and used the TE Cloud Border die to add some interest at the top of my card.

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my clouds... I made two layers of them to make it pop! My color scheme is cream with a shabby pink and a pretty blue. I used brown ink for my image and sentiment.

 

 

 

Here are my Copic color choices for this project.

 

 

 

I added just some tiny bits of glitter....

 

 

Here is the paper pack I used...

 

 

 

One last view. I added a pretty pink button and some twine to add some extra vintage touches. Reminds me of an old time summer fair....ahhhh...Now I just need some cotton candy!

 

 

 

Here's the link list for today!

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 July Release Day!

 

It's officially release day! ALL of the new  Taylored Expressions products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department. Release week continues, but we're showing you all the great new stuff today! Don't you love that? Yay!

Today I'm showcasing TWO projects made with TWO new stamp sets! The first one is called Under the Sea, and it's from the Whimsical Wishes by Nancy McKinney line of TE stamps. Super adorable undersea creatures and punny sentiments.  Nancy worked her magic on this fun set and I can hardly wait to see all the underwater scenes everyone comes up with.  This set coordinates with the Life Saver Petite set and can also be combined with several other sets from this release. I combined it with a saying from the Moka Pearl set!

Here's my fun little underwater scene...

 

 

 

 

 

I used a clear acetate card base and then added my blue sea and waves. Then I stamped a bunch of my little sea creatures onto white paper, colored them with Copics, and cut them out.... The fun part was putting them all together!  

 

 

 

I used only bright, vivid, fun colors!

 

 

 

 

Here's how I made my waves...by using the Scallop Border Die!

 

 

 

Here's a cute little pink seahorse swimming by, and don't those fish look exactly like goldfish crackers? I had to make them orange! The seahorse and the little yellow blowfish are mounted on top of the card. The rest of the pieces are attached to the blue ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My second card for today features the Bon Voyage stamp set, from the Embracing Grace collection by Emily Burger.  Nancy's stamp set went under the sea and now Emily has us sailing on the sea!  I'm just loving all the ships and boats she's created and I know you will too! I used the adorable little sailboat and the anchor image.  I made a CAS graphic card using two of my favorite colors....

 

 

 

 

I kept the lines really clean and crisp on this one. I tried at first mounting my images onto a white card base but it seemed too much. I think the kraft base grounds the rest of the color.  

 

 

 

I made my own background paper by stamping the anchor image onto white cardstock using, what else, Nautical Blue ink! This is another one of the brand new Memento colors. It's the absolute perfect shade of navy. Ahoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wouldn't you like to go sailing today? Let's go!  

 

 

 

 

Here's your list of links for this fun release day!

 

Charmaine Ikach

Courtney Kelley - Guest Designer

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 July Sneak Peeks!

 

 

It's TE Release Week for July! We are doing the release a little early this month since next week is the 4th of July holiday and everyone will be out celebrating! Today we are going to show you ALL the new stamp sets, dies and impression plates, so make sure to hop around to all the Baker's Dozen blogs! Also, did you hear the news? We have two new members of our design team! YAY!

Today I'm taking you away to Coconut Cove... Coconut Cove stamp set is from the Apple Doodle Ink line by Doug Applegate! Doug's Adorable Abodes #7  was concepted by Jami Sibley! Who wouldn't want to hang out on the beach in this hut and drink out of a coconut? I love this set because it's perfect for summer scrapbook pages and can also be made into masculine or feminine cards. It has great sayings and accent pieces!

I'm also going to be showing you a new Impression Plate - The Waves/Bubbles Impression Plate - this double-sided plate will work so well with all of the sets in this release!  Have fun with it. I'm using it in two projects this week! Here's my card for today...shabby beach...

 

 

 

 

Here's a peek at all my layers and distressing! This was fun! All the papers are from the Paradise Beach Collection from Echo Park...and they're yummy! I love the blue together with that rusty orange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that all TE stamps are high quality red rubber - not clear - for a great impression every time. The sets all come on a full color storage panel and are packed with images and sentiments. Here's my process for distressing this cute image. I started with brown ink on cream cardstock.  

 

 

 

Next I frayed the edges, spritzed the whole thing with water, and crumpled it into a ball!

 

 

 

 

After unfolding it carefully, I let it dry and then added distress ink around the edges and on the wrinkled parts. I kinda think it looks like part of a treasure map now! :-) I mounted the main image onto the brown paper - with foam tape.

 

 

 

This is one of the BRAND NEW ink colors from Memento! There are 12 new colors...and I just got them all from the TE store! Check 'em out. This orange is the perfect color for this project.

 

 

 

Here you can see the waves side of the new impression plate - perfect swirls for summer waves... 

 

 

 

TE July Release details:

• The Baker's Dozen has 4 days of inspiration, today through Saturday, featuring all the July Release products.
• All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, June 28th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for a look at the stamp sets and a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, tonight (Wednesday) at 6 pm PST.
• Blog Giveaway - TODAY ONLY - Two lucky commenters will be randomly chosen to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Hop around to see the sneak peeks and leave comments on each blog for more chances to win. Winners will be announced on Taylor's blog on Thursday morning.

 

Here's your link list for today!

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 

 

 

The Gingham Bow Project...

Hi blog friends! Happy Sunday afternoon...it's quiet around here and it's just what I needed. Busy day yesterday stamping and chatting with good friends and lots of driving. Today, it's a little time in the crafty cave and a silent house. The DH is off helping his brothers with some stuff. It's been a great day getting caught up on craft projects and laundry. Next I have to tackle my overflowing email inbox! I just can't seem to catch up on that!

I've been seeing lots of paper bows everywhere lately. The first one was on the cover of the current Stampin' Up catalog. Then on some other blogs...  I love the technique and wanted to try my own take on it. After some trial and error, I came up with some gingham paper bows that I really like! I hope you like them too. Thanks for coming by today!

Here are the final bows...and I'm going to go step by step for you so you can make some too!

 

 

 

 

I ended up making five in all...once I got the swing of it, they didn't take too long.

 

 

 

Start with strips of paper one inch by six inches....then fold then in half....

 

 

 

You're going to free hand cut them into bow tie looking shapes. I made a rough template out of a piece of green cardstock (sort of a leaf shape) and then layed it on top of my fold and cut them out. The fold is the thinnest part as you can see in the picture. Don't worry about being too perfect with this. It will work out.

 

 

 

I cut the tails out using my MFT Flag Stax dies....Two for each bow. You can adjust the length to your liking.  

 

 

 

Helping hands!

 

 

 

Before gluing down my bows, I gently curved the paper with my fingers. This way, you will get a round shape instead of a crease when you glue the ends down in the center. I hope this makes sense...

 

 

 

Here are the bows glued in the center with a glue dot.

 

 

 

Add your tails underneath using some more glue dots...

 

 

 

The fun part is picking what you want for the center! I tried buttons, brads, flowers, rosettes, everything you could think of. I ended up liking these resin flowers the best.

 

 

 

 

No, Buddy, it's okay, I don't need more than three inches of space on my giant work table! LOL! He always has to be part of the action.

 

 

 

Pretty bows, all in a row....

 

 

 

 

 

So, now the question is...what to do with these bows!? I could put them on a package, or on a card, or on an envelope. I think they might be cute on place cards for a shower. What do you think? What would you do with them? And...will you try and make some too!? Have a fantastic week ahead. Love ya my bloggy friends!  

Sweet yellow flowers...

Hi peeps! OMG where did this week go? I think I saw it whiz by me in a flash, and I still don't know what the heck happened! How are you? Happy Friday! It's actually late Thursday night, so we'll go ahead and call it Friday! You don't mind, right? Hope you had a wonderful week!

I had every intention of blogging all week and never got around to it. But, here I am! Just in time to share something for the weekend. I'm very happy because tomorrow I will be spending the entire day with one of my besties as well as my crazy gang of stampers that I've known for years and years....and I cannot wait! Yipppeeeee!

The card I have to share today was made with some brand new Memory Box goodness. YUM. It's a birthday card I made for a co-worker last week and she's already opened it, so it's safe to post now. I used one of my favorite techniques to create a sweet, natural looking card. Hope ya like it.

 

 

 

 

You can see the text stamped on the left side in very light ink. I used watercolor paper and lots of distress ink and some speckles from my blow pen. That adorable little tag is from a die set from Taylored Expressions, and the clip was in my stash!

 

 

 

Here's a close up...The flowers and the text are from Memory Box. I am sorry to say I don't know who makes the happy birthday stamp - I've had that one for years. I used my watercolor spritz technique to make the flowers blend into the paper.

 

 

 

My set of supplies.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really just can't say enough how much I am enjoying these Tim Holtz Distress Markers...they are the perfect colors that I love and so nice to work with.  

 

 

 

 

I was able to stamp twice from each time I inked up the stamp. These new stamps are AWESOME! A bit of twine and a button just finished it all off...

 

 

 

 

I must say, that at the end of this crazy week, this is EXACTLY how I am feeling!! I just want to pass out and take a nap! LOL. Hmmm, I wonder why sometimes I don't really get that much stamping done?

 

Thank you so much for coming on by to see what I'm up to! I'm happy you're here. Have a blessed day and a fantastic weekend! XO.

 

Longing for a cool breeze....

This weekend the DH and I went in search of a cool breeze and a respite from the heat here in Sac-town. It was going to be 108 degrees at our house on Saturday - so in order to escape, we got in the car, got a Starbucks, and headed west! When we pulled out of the driveway just before 7am it was already 78 degrees here. Oy. We had no plan, nothing to do, no time schedule....just one goal...beat the heat!

At first we headed to Berkeley...still hot there...next on to San Francisco...still hot there too...so we kept on driving west and south. We stopped in Pacifica to visit with one of my dearest friends for a little while and then went on to our end destination - Half Moon Bay! Where, as the afternoon went on, it reached a lovely 55 degrees! Goal achieved! I love the smell and feel of the ocean and the fog. (As a follow up note, when we got home around midnight it was STILL 90 degrees...blah!)

I used to live in Half Moon Bay right after I graduated from college and I love that little town. It has a lot of memories for me. They had built a Ritz Carlton Hotel right on the ocean's edge a few years back and I really wanted to see it. So we pulled in there and walked the grounds for a while. Oh My! That is how the other half (not our half) lives! It was gorgeous and the setting was magnificent! I thought I would share some of my photos with you from Saturday - maybe you need a little cool off too? Hope you enjoy them!

This first picture is looking south on Highway 1 right before Pacifica 

 

 

 

 

This is part of the golf course and grounds that are part of the Ritz Carlton. I think this might be my favorite shot from the day. Those crashing waves never get old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look closely in this photo you can see a flock of pelicans (isn't that a band? LOL)... They kind of freaked me out. They came swooping down right over us! I'd never even seen a pelican fly before! They're huge too.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the pretty flowers on the grounds. 

 

 

 

Some native California iceplant baking in the sun...

 

 

 

The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay...so majestic up on the bluff like that.

 

 

 

This was so random...a bagpiper! I'm not sure if he was getting ready for a wedding or if he's there every day??? What the heck? The music was so haunting and beautiful though. That was neat!

 

 

 

Nope, that's not Tiger Woods! He was down the road about 20 miles at the Olympic Club that day! Hahaha. The golf course is amazing here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so the sun sets on our beautiful day... 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking! Sometimes it's nice to post some photos instead of a card! Have a wonderful day everyone!

 

 

A Special sweet birthday treat for a special gal!

Hi friends!! How was your weekend? It was H-O-T here in Sactown this weekend. Yowza! We escaped to the ocean on Saturday to get away from it and I'll have some nice, cool oceany pictures to share tomorrow or Wednesday. Did you do anything fun? Dad's Day, grads, weddings? Summer is fully upon us now and time for all kinds of happy celebrations! - Birthdays too!

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a special gal - Taylor! Last week was Taylor's birthday and so I just HAD to make her a cuppie birthday card, right? Of course! Her fav color is pink, and so you know how this turned out! A sweet pink card confection for a sweet lady!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added some pops of black to ground all that pink. It doesn't take much and it frames the image nicely. Some tiny black brads and some gingham ribbon...

 

 

 

 

I kept my Copic coloring very simple - just pinks, light browns and light red. I used my Nestabilities for the frame cut out. The stamp set is called Sweet Party! 

 

 

 

Can you see the little pops of fine glitter on the card? YUM! Makes it extra sweet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, Taylor, may you be surrounded by sweetness on your birthday....and every day! This one's for you, with love.

 

Thanks for stopping by the bloggy blog today! Have a super-fun-fantastic week!

 

 

 

I'm berry happy it's Friday!

Hello there blog friends! Happy Friday from me to you! I'm berry happy it's Friday and berry happy to share this post with you today! Have you had enough of my berry silly humor yet? Okay, I'll stop. But I was cracking myself up right there! LOL. Summer means strawberries and also cute crafty and tasty treats made with strawberries! I have both a card and a treat to share with you today. 

I made a card using some awesome Papertrey Ink products, and then I'm also sharing my way of making chocolate covered strawberries - I made some this week for a co-worker's birthday.  I hope you have a super fun weekend of Summer stuff planned. Whatever you do, make it memorable!

Here's my card, using Papertrey Ink's Strawberry Patch stamp set and the ultra favorite Quatrefoil Die. All the paper is cream cardstock, not white, for an antique feeling. 

 

 

 

I went through ALL my flower doo dads and couldn't find one I liked for this project, so I made my own out of some gingham paper and a punch. I scrunched it up to make it vintage and then added a brad and a pearl. The brad was colored with my Copics to match exactly to my other coloring. The sentiment is also PTI. 

 

 

Here is a close up of my layers - cream + cream + cream = yummo! I like how this looks and I'll probably do this again.  

 

 

 

Here is my Copic palette:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the snack section of our blog post today! Yay! I wanted to make my friend KS some strawberries for her birthday on Wednesday. Hadn't made them in a while and it just sounded so good. Strawberries are in season and there were some beauties at the store...Here they are all washed and ready to go.

Tip #1 - make sure the berries are 100% dry before dipping them in chocolate! If there is any moisture, the chocolate won't stick and the chocolate may seize on you.

 

 

 

Here they are after their first dip into some semi-sweet melted chocolate. Tip #2 - use good chocolate and add a smidge of Crisco to the melting chocolate - it makes them shiny!

 

 

And here they are after a little white chocolate drizzle... Tip #3 - let them cool in the fridge completely before adding another layer or a drizzle. Otherwise it all oozes together.

 

 

Yup, they were just as delicious as they look!!! You know I had to eat the ugly ones.... Only the best survived the process! Hee hee. (Kinda like eating the rough edges off the rice krispies treats - yeah, you know what I'm sayin')

 

 

To package them up for work, I used my trusty cupcake carrier. I put the berries into some pretty, small size cupcake liners so people could pick them up and have some way to hold them.... 

 

 

 

 

Thanks berry much for coming by today - you're berry sweet to do so! Okay, I'm done now. Have a great weekend!  

 

Happy Birdie Birthday! More KI Kit Goodness!

Hellloooooooo! What's Up? How is your week going? Thanks for stopping in and hope it's all good in your corner of the world today! Today's post features some more love from the Taylored Expressions June KI Kit! You saw this on my blog on Sunday and I have one more happy project to share from this great kit. It's (sort of) clean and simple...I really wanted to keep it sweet with those little birdies and that adorable cloud paper. Hope you like it

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped and cut out those adorable birdies and colored them with my Copic Markers. I stamped them again and cut the wings out and popped them on some foam tape to give them some more depth. I ADORE the sentiments and the word bubbles that come with the exclusive stamp set that matches the paper. I know I'll be using them a lot - probably with Mr. Cuppie!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a side view so you can see my layers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are photos of the KI Kit, and what's included, and also the EXCLUSIVE stamp set that matches! Yay!  

 

 

 

 

Here are all the deets on the KI Kit - The Key Ingredients monthly subscription helps you plan your crafty pursuits AND you enjoy a 10% discount on everything the TE Store has to offer! Shipping is included in the price of the monthly subscription and if you're within the U.S. then shipping on additional items is FREE! Another bonus is that all of the kit supplies are packaged together in an 8.5" x 11" plastic storage case! It's a great organizational tool to keep all of your coordinating supplies together and then once you're finished with the kit ingredients the cases can be used to organize lots of crafty items! The plastic storage case (a $3.25 value) is passed on to our subscribers absolutely FREE!

For some more inspiration using this amazing June Key Ingredients Kit, check out my friends here: Sankari and Melissa! For all the details on this fabulous value, and how you can get the exclusive (and adorable) Delightful Day stamp set, check out The Key Ingredients Blog!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!

 

 

New stuff from Poppystamps!!

Hi everyone! Did you have a nice weekend? I sure hope you did! Mine was a very productive weekend and fun too. I like it when I get a lot done around the house and still have time for some fun. Saturday we worked out in the front yard planting and pruning and fertilizing (and getting a sunburn). Then we made a run to Home Depot and out for lunch together. Sunday I re-did part of my craft studio with some Elfa shelving that a friend gave me when she moved (YAY Elfa), and then I stamped the rest of the day... Lastly I made one of my favorite dinners - taco salad! Whew, I'm tired just typing all that! LOL. It was great to get some things done. Back to work so I can rest today!

Many of you know that I am the blog mistress for Poppystamps. Well....brand new dies are out from both Poppystamps and Memory Box, and lemme tell ya, they are awesome! I have two cards to share today made with the new PS dies. Hope you like 'em.

First up is a card using "Clever Owl" and a new leaf die, along with some Memory Box papers and sentiment. Isn't he a hoooooooot?!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the little owl. I mounted him onto watercolor paper and distressed the edges a bit. I know I will use this die a million times...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to post a picture of the die and the little pieces. Isn't this cool? Only Dave could invent this! If I looked at that die, I would have no idea what it made! SO creative. I adore this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second card has more of a vintage vibe to it. The big bird die is called "Serene Bird" and could be used for so many things. I combined it with another new PS die and Memory Box papers from the Valise collection.

 

 

 

I distressed my edges and stamped the sentiment in brown so it looked like part of the paper. My layering piece is chocolate brown, but it came out really dark in the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a photo of Buddy helping with the Elfa project....

Thank you for coming by to see what I'm up to! I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you get to be creative and have some fun! XOXO

 

Key Ingredients Blog Hop - A Delightful Deal!

    

TE June 2012 KI Release Blog Hop!

 

*   Key Ingredients Information and Inspiration! June 10-15, learn all about this fantastic club and see samples from the Key Ingredients Design Team and the Baker's Dozen! Click  here for all the info and start at Taylor's blog each day for all the inspiration!

*   June Key Ingredients - featuring Echo Park Hello Summer 6x6 papers begins shipping on June 15th! Click here to  Enroll now!

*   Exclusive Delightful Day Stamp Set! Find out how you can get your crafty hands on this adorable new set for 50% off - only for a limited time! (see photos below!) This is the second exclusive KI stamp set from Taylor...remember Vintage Dreamer? Oh Yeah!

Today's blog hop teams up the Baker's Dozen and the Key Ingredients team to bring you fun projects made out of the Key Ingredients June Kit and the Delightful Day stamp set! Here are my projects to share today! First up is a fun/joy fold card made with the super cheery papers in the kit.  

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the Petal Pop Ups Dies....they worked so nicely with the buttons and blings from the KI Kit to make pretty flowers...

 

 

 

Here is my card after the ribbon is removed and it's half open so you can see the concept of the card. You can now also see the entire sentiment.

 

 

 

 

This truly is the cheeriest set....look at these buttons and blings - all included! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are photos of the kit, the stamps and the dies....

 

 

 

 

After I made my first card, I couldn't help myself and had to make more! I decided to make a clean and simple designed card really featuring the stamps and stamping...So that's what this card is all about! 

 

 

 

 

 

The quality and value of the Key Ingredients is awesome - you get enough products to make 16 or more cards each month. The kits are fun and easy to use if you're in a hurry and need everything ready to go. Also, you get cool exclusives! If you enroll in the Key Ingredients Subscription program you can take advantage of the opportunity to purchase Delightful Day at 50% off!  

I hope you've had fun here on this gorgeous Summer Sunday! Please take your time and click around to see what the rest of our crew has cooked up for you! Thanks for coming by! Have a great week! XOXO

Link List for today:  

• Debbie Carriere
• Jessica Diedrich
• Jessie Rone
• Monika Davis
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Lea Lawson
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

 

Taylored Expressions June 2012 Release Day!

TE RELEASE DAY! 

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
• More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you. Just follow the link list below.
• Be sure to check the TE Current Specials page to find out how you can get FREE 4th of July Stamps with your purchase.

 

Today is our release day and also day 2 of Hydrangea projects! YAY! Today's card features a set from the Whimsical Wishes Collection by Nancy McKinney and it's called Hydrangea Bouquet - It is a Petite set of 6...and it is the 3rd in our little Bouquet series. Coordinates with Forever in Bloom. Customers are loving these bouquets and so am I!  They are so versatile and make such pretty cards so easily! Also coordinates with the Mini Tags Taylored Dies.

Here is my card project for today... It's called a Recessed Window Card! There is more information below about how you can make one yourself! It's a nice card/gift for someone to put on their desk or table. I used a piece of striped paper from the MME Rosy 6x6 paper pack on the front and the popular Medium Scallop TE Die too! 

 

 

 

 
Here is a close up of those yummy scallops and my coloring....

 

 

 

Once again, Taylor knocks it out of the park with the perfect sentiments.... This is a good side view so you can see the recessed window. My finished card is 5 1/4 inch square.

 

 

 

Another side view of the window so you can see exactly what it looks like...

 

 

 

Here is the LINK TO THE FULL TUTORIAL FROM SCS so you can go step by step on this one. I love it! It just takes a little time and some patience. It wasn't that hard, but you get a great result!

 

 

This is how you make your window....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an awesome image to color! Here are my color choices for the flowers....

 

 

 

When I went to put on my adhesive I turned my project over and this is what it looked like! I thought it was kind of neat, so I snapped a photo of it too!

 

Here's the Medium Scallop Die....

 

  

 

 

Thank you, everyone, for another fabulous release week! I hope you've had fun and found some inspiration this week, and I hope you found some new stamps you want to ink up! Have a wonderful day!

One last link list for the week: 

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Melody Rupple

Michele Boyer - Guest Designer

Nancy McKinney - Illustrator

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Taylored Expressions June 2012 Sneak Peeks - Day 3!

JUNE RELEASE AT A GLANCE

 

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, June 7th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.

 

I am so excited for today's and tomorrow's stamp sets....because they are all about HYDRANGEAS!! You are going to flip out over these new sets and dies too! You know how much I love hydrangeas!

Today I'm featuring a new set from the Whimsical Wishes by Nancy McKinney collection called Forever in Bloom - It is a Full size set of 16 images/sentiments. There are open line images to color plus solid images to ink up, rock'n'roll,  color with markers, and so many other stamping techniques to try. And of course we have a set of matching dies. Hydrangea Blooms -
set of 4 dies to coordinate with
Forever in Bloom
. I used the stamps and dies together to make this card to share:

 

 

 

See how perfectly the dies cut around the images!? This was so fun to make. I loved layering all those gorgeous flowers together with the bright green leaves...

 

 

 

The sentiments in this set are beautiful....I mounted mine onto a pearl pin. Can you see the Musical Swirls Impression Plate I used for my background? That's a favorite TE product from last Christmas and it's so classy.

 

 

Here are photos of the dies and the impression plate....

 

 

 

 

I put one flower directly onto the background, popped the next one up on one layer of foam tape, and the third one is popped up on two layers of foam tape...Gives so much dimension!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So while I was in the craft room putting this post together...an idea struck me...so I grabbed my camera and headed out to my front yard to take some photos to share with you! As you see, I really am crazy about hydrangeas!! These are my prized Nikko Blues... Hope you enjoy a few pictures along with your card post today! hee hee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have already seen everyone else's projects for today....and I'm telling you that you need to get going and take a gander! Wow! Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping in!

 

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Melody Rupple

Michele Boyer - Guest Designer

Nancy McKinney - Illustrator

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Taylored Expressions June 2012 Sneak Peeks - Day 2!

June Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, June 7th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.

 

Today I'm featuring a new set from the Embracing Grace Collection by Emily Burger...and it's called Bikes & Trikes - It is a full size set of 20 images/sentiments This set was Jami's concept and Emily took her ideas for images and sentiments and knocked it out of the park with her quirky style! I'm sure you'll find a ton of reasons and occasions to use this cute set! The Tall & Skinny Alpha Taylored Die Set coordinates with the font used here. And I used the dies in my card - love!!

I wanted my card to have that LA-sixties-endless-summer-beach kind of vibe! I used the pretty paper from the Neapolitan 6x6 paper pack from Dear Lizzy,  which is available in the TE Store. It's fab. I made some groovy flowers using new dies and then topped it off with an awesome new alphabet die set.

 

 

 

I know I keep saying it...but I'm crazy for this alphabet! It's the perfect size for cards OR scrapbook pages! It's fresh and fun and happy -

 

 

 

Here is a close up of my fun flowers made using the new Petal Pop Ups 2 Dies:

 

New Dies for today:

Tall & Skinny Alpha -
set of 26 - coordinates with
 Bikes & Trikes.
 (I'm crazy for this die set!)

Petal Pop-Ups 1, 2, & 3 -
three unique sets (each set has 3 dies) to create fun 3 dimensional flowers. The inner portions of the flower will not cut all the way out, but will remain as part of the larger flower and can be popped out to easily create dimension. I used the small flower from #2 on my card today!

 

 

 

Happy SUMMMMMMMMMER!

I'm ready for Summer now...and we're just getting started! Here are the links to the rest of the projects for today's release festivities: 

 

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Melody Rupple

Michele Boyer - Guest Designer

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions June 2012 Sneak Peeks - Day 1!

JUNE RELEASE AT A GLANCE:

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, June 7th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook
• GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.

 

We are introducing and featuring lots of patriotic stamps and supplies for all of your 4th of July projects! Today's cards are all about the red, white and blue! I love the two stamp sets that I'm featuring so much. The Project Pantry for June is amazing!! I've used the 4th of July Project Pantry papers and ribbons for my cards today.

From the *te* by Taylor VanBruggen collection, we have some 4th of July Word A la cartes – There is a new one this year and it joins our ever-growing series of Word A la Carte stamps which are perfect for cards, invitations, scrapbook pages, party decor and so much more. We are also bringing back 3 previously released A la Carte stamps: Happy 4th, Celebrate Freedom, and God Bless America.  These stamps will be available for purchase and will also be part of the Release promo - choose one free for every $50 spent (before shipping and tax.) Details will be on the Specials Page.

 

 

 

I used the Project Pantry papers for this one...and that red is so rich and beautiful! I borrowed the little stars stamp from the Yankee Doodle Homestead stamp set (featured below) and stamped it all around in Versamark ink to make my own background paper!

 

 

 

I colored the stamp using the new Distress Markers from Tim Holtz! Taylor has them ALL in the store now! These are fantastic...and these two colors are the perfect Americana colors, don't you think?

 

 

 

Here is the Border Die featured above in kraft paper...

 

 

  

 

  

The next set I'm featuring today is called Yankee Doodle Homestead! It's from the Apple Doodle Ink by Doug Applegate Collection. This is Doug's Adorable Abodes #6 -concepted by Jami Sibley - Celebrate our country's freedom in style! Who wouldn't want to come to a party here? This set is for everyone who loves Americana! It's perfect for July calendar pages too! 

 

 

It was super fun to create this little 4th of July scene to share with you! Again, all the papers and the ribbon are from the 4th of July Project Pantry for this month!

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project....

 

 

 

After I colored my home, I mounted it on some foam tape. I stamped some fireworks in gold on that beautiful dark blue paper...

 

 

I love the font on the sentiments for this set - seems sort of Colonial or something to me - it's great! It's the same font on the card at the top of this post so it all works really well together. Love that about Taylored Expressions!

 

 

There are more stamp sets for today too! Be sure to check out everyone else's projects (link list below). These sets would also be great for our "Cards for the Troops" projects, dontcha think?

The 4th of July Project Pantry 411: 

 
Remember that our TE Sets come on a full color panel and store perfectly in our Mini Binder Boxes (4 sets to a box). Full size set panels are 5.75" x 8.5" and jam packed with images. Mini set panels are 4.75" square (CD size). Petite panels are 3" x 5" for $7.95. (6 Petite sets fit into a Petite Storage case). We offer more rubber images in a set than most companies at a comparable price, and TE stamps are RUBBER and are of amazing quality - not clear stamps!

Here's your Link List for today! WAHOOOOOO - look at all our special guests!!!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Christine Okken - Special Guest
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz - Special Guest
• Kerry Johnson - Special Guest
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Michele Boyer - Guest Designer
• Nancy McKinney - Illustrator
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Sherrie Siemens - Special Guest
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

I'm teaching at Paper Garden in August! Hope you can come!

Hi everyone! Just a quick post here on a busy Saturday to let you know that I'm going to be teaching classes at The Paper Garden Boutique in August! Paper Garden is my friend Stephanie's awesome stamp store here in Sacramento. It's a happy place, where all the very cool girls go to stamp and hang out.

Here is the LINK TO THE CLASS NEWSLETTER for all the details!

Call the store at (916)48-PAPER to sign up!

I'll be teaching over a weekend. Two classes on each day. One class is Halloween and Fall and one class is Winter and Christmas projects. I'm hoping to use brand new 2012 Memory Box stamps and Dies if they're ready in time. One thing for sure, we will have a good time! Hope you can make it!

 

WHEN: SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AUGUST 11 - 12

WHERE: PAPER GARDEN BOUTIQUE - SACRAMENTO

WHO: YOU AND ME!