Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2-From the Heart

Today is another day of sneak peeks at Taylored Expressions. The new stamps will be available in the TE Store starting Thursday, November 4th.

We're sharing a little something From the Heart with you...all kinds of fun images and From the Heart Funnies to coordinate, along with a fabulous coordinating From the Heart Frame die...delish!!!

I decided to use the percolator image and paired it with a big ol' bag of coffee beans. Wouldn't you love to receive a gift like this? It'll keep perking you up for days!!! (sorry...just couldn't resist that one!). Actually though, Perk Up! is one of the sentiment in From the Heart Funnies but I couldn't seem to find space to fit it into my project today.

I stamped the percolator with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics then cut it out. Next I stamped the round sentiment onto one of the patterned papers from KI Memories Paisley Parade and punched it out with my 1 3/4" circle punch. Then I layered everything onto some suede brown dark that I cut out with the new From the Heart Frame die. I pierced around the orange circle and added two Tiny Twinkles for some sparkle. The green borders are punched with my deco scallop border punch then I added some stitching and caribbean satin ribbon. The layout for the card is TESC132.

For the belly band on the coffee bag I simply replicated the card layout, minus a few details, and adhered it directly to the bag of beans. Quick, easy and so much prettier than the coffee label that was on the bag.

Now let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created with From the Heart, From the Heart Funnies and the From the Heart Frame die.

• TTTaylor Van Bruggen
  Charmaine Ikach
  Danielle Lounds
  Donna Baker
  Jackie Pedro
  Jodi Collins
  Karen Giron
  Melissa Sauls
  Regina Mangum
  Sankari Wegman
  Tori Wild
  Jami Sibley

I'll see you back here tomorrow for another day of sneak peeks!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1-Merry Little Cocktail

We have LOTS of new sets to share with you this week at Taylored Expressions. Everything will be available for purchase in the TE store on Thursday, October 7th.

Today as you hop along the Baker's Dozen blogs you'll see sneak peeks of four new sets, Gobble Gobble, Penguin Pals, Merry Little Cocktail, and Hangin' Out at the North Pole. I worked with Merry Little Cocktail for my card today and I used the images in a bit of a less conventional way.

I stamped the peppermint several times with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured it with copics. Then I punched it out with my 7/8" circle punch. I stamped the holly leaves six times, coloured them and cut them out too. Then I arranged all the peppermints in the shape of a wreath and popped the top ones on foam tape for a little dimension. I added red Tiny Twinkles to the centers for a little sparkle and highlighted the berries with my red Spica glitter pen. The layout is TESC127. The patterned papers are from my Basic Grey Jovial 6x6 pad and I paired them with suede brown medium herbal garden medium. A little stitching and some brown glitter candy dots were all the details the card needed.

I know you're going to see lots of fabulous samples as you hop along, so get going!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• and Nancy McKinney, our fabulous Whimsical Wishes Illustrator

I'll see you back here tomorrow for another day of sneak peeks.
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy Birthday To You

I wanted to make another card with the adorable Belated Birthday Birds from the A La Carte images at Taylored Expressions. But I put a little twist on them and used the sentiment from Make a Wish so it's a regular birthday card instead of a belated birthday card.  :)

The layout is Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge from last Friday, TESC129. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured it with copic markers. I used my circle Nestabilities to cut it out and didn't worry too much that I cut off the stamped balloon because I knew I'd be using the smallest Balloon Die on some teal felt from the Winterfresh Trio in place of the stamped image. The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Pixie-licious...the colours are amazing! I paired it with intense teal, frosted kiwi, blush red light and classic purple. I used my Scalloped Eyelet Border die on the teal piece the finished the card with some clear Kaisercraft Rhinestones that I coloured with my BG49 copic marker. I really love how cheery this card is!

It's already time to sign up for the October 22nd Blast from the Past customer blog hop, so I hope you'll join in the fun. You'll find all the details on this page.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Cheery Thank You

I love all the circle elements in this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge, TESC125, so I just had to play along. This morning the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it's a gorgeous day outside so I decided to reflect that in my card today using the utterly cheerful Cosmo Cricket Delovely mini deck. Seriously, you can't help but be happy when you look at this colourful paper!!!!!

I pulled out my Garden Party Critters from Taylored Expressions because I thought the sign post would work nicely in the square element. The center of the sign post is paper pieced and I cut out the image with square Nestabilities. The sweet little ladybug was a leftover from another project a long time ago and I'm happy I saved her. I coloured the dots on her body and antennas with my black glaze pen for dimension and shine, then I coloured her black body with my pitch black Spica glitter pen for just a hint of shimmer.

I used various sizes of circle Nestabilities to cut out the patterned circle then I embossed them and stitched them onto the blue background (it's Frosted Teal and it looks just like the sky outside my window this morning!). I added more sparkle with a Zva crystal swirl and finished the bottom with layers of grass that I punched with my grass punch. I'm so happy with how this card turned out...and hopefully it'll brighten someone's day in the future.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Groovy Birthday

I saw a super fun challenge on the Moxie Fab World blog - Signs of Peace - and I just couldn't resist playing along.

Immediately I thought of my retro Feelin' Groovy set from Taylored Expressions along with the That 70's Project Pantry. Both the stamp set and the project pantry are full of fun peace signs!

I used TESC122 for the layout. I started by stamping the rainbow with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured it brightly with copics. I added white liquid appliquee to the clouds and sprinkled them with glitter before heating the liquid appliquee. I stamped the hearts with Colourbox Warm Red and Colourbox Dark Peony then cut them out and popped them on foam tape for dimension. I added a little sparkle to the hearts with heart shaped Twinkles. A little stitching around the main panel and the stitched ribbon finish the card. I should mention that the sentiment is super fun too...the "Groovy" word can be changed out for  either "Radical" or "Sweet" for a completely different feel to the card.

Don't forget to sign up for the August 24th Blast from the Past Blog Hop with Taylored Expressions. Click here for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - Taylored Originals

Today some of the Baker's Dozen are sharing samples made with fun embellishments from Taylored Expressions. These Taylored Originals products are things that are only available in the TE Store in exclusive configurations designed by Taylored Expressions.

I worked with Candy Crystals...so sparkly and yummy looking! The ones I worked with are from the Orange Creamsicle collection...doesn't that sound delicious!!!! There are several other colour combinations all with equally delicious names like Bubblegum, Cotton Candy, Orange Tootsie Pop and Razzleberry Lime. But these Candy Crystals are guilt free at zero calories! LOL!!!

I used TESC121 for the layout and pulled out my CreativiTEA set. I thought the sparkly Candy Crystals would coordinate nicely with the damask tea pot. The tea pot is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa onto apricot appeal then adhered with foam tape to the Choice Buttercream circle. I added a little sponging with Memento Desert Sand around the edges of all the layers. The patterned papers are from Basic Grey's Kioshi 6x6 pad. I layered the cream ribbon onto some gorgeous brown crochet trim then tucked the Candy Crystals into the bow for plenty of sparkle. I used a few glue dots to adhere the Orange Creamsicle Crystals to the bow but they come on long wire stems so you could easily wrap them around something to secure them in place.

All of the Taylored Originals featured on the Baker's Dozen blogs today will be on sale for 15% off until July 25th. You'll find the Orange Creamsicle Candy Crystals and the rest of the Taylored Originals on sale in the What's the Deal section of the TE store.

Now let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen created using different Taylored Originals.
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Blog Hoppin' with Taylored Expressions

Welcome to this month's Blast from the Past blog hop with Taylored Expressions. Be sure to start the hop at Taylor's Blog so you don't miss any of the eye candy.

For my card today I reached for one of my favourite sets for masculine cards...Boys Will be Boys.

I needed a card for my brother-in-laws birthday recently so I used the ties with the coordinating sentiment then stamped Happy Birthday on the inside. The layout is TESC120. The ties are paper pieced with patterned papers from my In the Kitchen Project Pantry...so fun! I added a little stitching to help define the image then finished the card with two cream brads.

There's plenty more to see along the hop so have fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Taylorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Happy birthday to you!!! Yup, that's right, it's Taylor's big day and we've got a little surprise blog hop to celebrate.

I reached for my Sweet Occasions set and paired it with Taylor's current sketch challenge, TESC117. Doesn't that ice cream sundae look good enough to eat!!!!!!! I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured it with copics. I also stamped it onto patterned paper from October Afternoon's Farm Fresh 8x8 pad so I could paper piece the frame around the image. I added glossy shine to the cherry and letters with my clear Glaze pen and I couldn't resist adding Espresso Dimensional Pearls to make the fudge topping look even more delicious!!!

I layered the image onto blush red dark and backed that with suede brown dark. The edge was punched with my open scallop edger and I added Tiny Twinkles between each scallop. I finished the card with some red glimmer twill for plenty of sparkle.

Taylor, wishing you a day filled with plenty of cupcakes and laughter. Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Here's the list of other friends wishing Taylor a big happy birthday:

• Alice Wertz
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Jen Balcer
• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Sankari Wegman
• Sandra MacLean
• Nancy McKinney
• Sharon Harnist
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Sherrie Siemens
• 
  
• Thanks for stopping by!
• Karen

Sunshine and Sandy Beaches

For my card today I had visions of bathing suits hanging on the line after a fun day at the beach, the sun setting in the background. So I reached for my Hangin' Out-at the Beach set from Taylored Expressions and set to work. I used TESC116.

And this is what I ended up with!!! I'm really happy with the result!!! I used this sunset photo from our recent trip to Hawaii as inspiration for the sunset background.

Here's how I did the sunset background. First I cut out a circle of Choice Snow white with Nestabilities. Then I placed Eclipse tape straight across the circle to create the horizon and I punched a small circle from Eclipse tape for the sun. Then I sponged the sky using sponge daubers and three shades of Memento ink. Starting at the horizon line and working my way up I used Potter's Clay, Cantaloupe, and Dandelion, blending the edges of each colour with the next. Once the sky was all sponged I pulled up the circle of Eclipse tape and added a touch of colour to the sun to tone down the stark white of the paper. Then I moved my Eclipse tape to cover the sky and set to work on the water. I used the same sponging technique for the water, working with three shades of blue, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue, and Bahama Blue.

The rest of the card is pretty basic. I added a piece of hemp for the clothes line and a little cork for the sandy beach, then I paired the sunset with Cosmo Cricket Delovely paper and toned it down again with a little kraft cardstock. The bathing suit is paper pieced and the flowers were stamped with Lilac Posies and popped on foam tape for dimension. I wanted the flowers to look like the ones on the paper so I added clear rhinestones to the centers then coloured them with a yellow copic marker (Y15).

Have you signed up for this month's Blast from the Past blog hop yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Quick...read all the details here and join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2-Udderly Sweet

Today the Baker's Dozen is sharing sneak peeks of a few new sets and I'm lucky to be sharing Cuppie's newest adventure on the farm. This Udderly Sweet set will be available at Taylored Expressions on Friday, June 4th. All the supplies I used are from the Udderly Sweet Project Pantry kit.

I stamped Cuppie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream (included in the Udderly Sweet Project Pantry) a couple of times than again onto the patterned paper so I could paper piece the tractor. The rest of the image is coloured with copics. I added a little shimmer to the side mirror with my clear Spica glitter pen then gave the lights a glassy look with my clear Glaze pen. The image is attached with foam tape to the blue rectangle I cut out with Nestabilities.

I do my best to get cards out on time for birthdays but life sometimes gets in the way so I know this belated birthday card will come in handy one day soon. I used Taylor's Sketch Challenge TESC115 for the layout. The fun shaped brads and colourful ribbons are included in the Udderly Sweet Project Pantry. The only other thing I added was two Crystal Twinkles to dot the exclamation points.

As you hop along today you'll see samples using Udderly Sweet and also samples using two new Whimsical Wishes sets called Summer Afternoon and Care & Comfort. Happy Hopping!
Alex Maldonado

• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Sankari Wegman
• and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Thank You, Teacher

Last month I made a bunch of teather thank you cards and gave them to my friend. Well, as Murphy's Law would have it, my sister-in-law called last week asking if I had a couple of cards her boys could give to their teachers at the end of the year...doh!

Of course I couldn't say no, so I broke out my Make the Grade and Extra Credit sets from Taylored Expressions again.

I used TESC113 for the layout because it gave me a great opportunity to use several of the fun images in these sets. The images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. I used my white gel pen to write the 'thank you' on the black board. The main image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto a Big Scallop Circle of Prism blush red dark.

I cut out the smaller images by hand and popped them using foam tape onto squares of Prism island mist dark. The patterned papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend mini deck and I ran the pencil paper through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder for dimension before stitching it to the Prism classic yellow-green layer. I figured it was ok to add some Crystal Twinkles to the scallops along the bottom because their teachers are women.

Today some of the Baker's Dozen are showcasing the monthly Key Ingredients subscription kit so be sure to pop over to Taylor's blog for all the details!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Garden Party Sneak Peeks

It's day one of sneak peeks from Taylored Expressions. The stamps and supplies you see today will be available in the TE Store starting Friday, May 7th at 8am PST. Today the Baker's Dozen is introducing a brand new stamp line created by Taylor herself, called "TE Stamps"! To kick off this line, Taylor designed and illustrated two sweet coordinating sets, Garden Party Blooms and Garden Party Critters along with our first big background stamp, Cloudy Days. The background stamp is a nice large size, 5.75 inches square so it'll cover even large square cards. The Garden Party sets include a fun mix of whimsical images in both bold and outline style so you can either whip up a quick card with the bold images or take a little more time to colour the outline images.

But wait, there's another new product line to tell you about...Project Pantry! When you're cooking you head to the pantry for the perfect ingredients, right? Well Taylored Expressions is satisfying the ingredient list for your creativity with a new line of kits called the Project Pantry!!! These kits are a variation of the popular Key Ingredients kits and Taylored Card Kits. We'll introduce new Project Pantry kits each month at release time and you'll have the option of purchasing them with or without the stamps.

The first card I'm sharing today is a quick one using the bold images from Garden Party Blooms and the Garden Party Project Pantry.

I used chalk inks in yellow ochre, tangerine, aquamarine and olive pastel to ink the images then stamped them onto Choice Buttercream (included in the Garden Party Project Pantry). I used this week's Card Positioning System sketch, CPS165, for the layout and this week is sponsored by Taylored Expressions! My Big Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities made an appearance on this card...love them! Aren't the colours in the Garden Party Project Pantry so much fun! I added some stitching, a strip of grass punched with my MS grass border punch and two Crystal Twinkles then called it done!

Next I inked up some of the critters from Garden Party Critters with Memento Tuxedo Black and stamped them onto Choice Buttercream. I used my Garden Party Project Pantry again for this card.

The images are coloured with copics and I added some sparkle to the bee's wings with my clear Spica glitter pen. The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities. The layout for this card is TESC111. I used the Cloudy Days background stamp for the strip along the left side to show you that you don't always have to use a background stamp for a background!

The Garden Party Project Pantry is full of wonderful card-making supplies for only $22.95. Taylor will be sharing all the details of today's Project Pantry kit on her blog. Or you can bundle it with Garden Party Blooms and Garden Party Critters for just $59.95 and save about 10%, but only until May 9th...after that the bundle will be the regular price of $66.85. There are so many fun sentiments in these sets that they'll quickly become favourites in your collection for just about any occasion.

Now let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has cooked up with Garden Party Blooms, Garden Party Critters and the Garden Party Project Pantry kit.

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• and Taylor VanBruggen
• 
  
• Sneak peeks continue tomorrow with two more fun sets and another Project Pantry kit.
• Thanks for stopping by!
• Karen

A Hootin' Good Time

Happy Saturday!!! I couldn't resist creating a card with Taylor's Sketch Challenge, TESC110. As soon as I saw the sketch I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Don't you love it when that happens???  :)

So, thanks to my friend Leslie (waves...hi Leslie!) I've become a little obsessed with watching a live streaming webcam of an owl box in California. There are four growing owlets in the box that I've been watching...I didn't start watching early enough to see them hatch, but it's still interesting. The owls are completely wild and they've nested in an owl box that Carlos and Donna (don't I sound like they're my best friends!!! I've never met them of course...oh the wonders of the internet!) set up in their yard two years ago. Well, Carlos and Donna are the sweetest people...they've even gone to the trouble of setting up cameras both inside and outside the owl box and have infared lights so we can watch at night too. Carlos comes online once in a while and gives updates/shares information, does live chats with classrooms that sort of thing. Anywhoooooo...I've gotten so much enjoyment from watching their webcam that I wanted to send a card to say thank you for all their time, energy, and devotion.

Branching Out from Taylored Expressions is the set that popped into my mind when I thought about a card for the "owl people" and of course, Branching Out Coordinates is perfect with the sweet owl image. I pulled out some long retired SU patterned paper, I think it's called Tea Party or something like that, and groovy guava cardstock then set to work.

The branch is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa onto chocolate chip then I cut it out. The tree oval is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa onto one of the patterned papers then I sponged some Desert Sand and Bamboo Leaves ink before crumpling it and distressing it a little. The flowers are punched from another patterned paper and I added a Crystal Twinkle to the center of each. The owl is stamped onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. Each of the squares measures 1.5 inches and I stitched them down to the Groovy Guava. The finished card size is 5.25 inches square.

So yesterday I was skyping with my friend Leslie and we were watching a different webcam of a family of bluebirds and we actually watched one of the little chicks hatch!!! It was SO cool to see, then not long after it was opening it's beak begging for food...my goodness they can open their beaks really wide! I'll be back to watching the owls tonight though...they're nocturnal so it's most interesting at night, but it's definitely not for the squeamish because they're also carnivores. Woot Woot for the owls and the people who share their webcams of animals!  :)

Taylored Expressions is hosting a Blast From the Past blog hop on May 18th and you're invited to participate! We'll be featuring any and all TE stamp sets released in 2008 and 2009. To join the hop simply send an email to bloghop@tayloredexpressions.com. In your email include May 18th blog hop in the subject line then list your first and last name, your blog name and blog address. You must agree to post your TE creation on your blog on May 18th at 8am Pacific time and include links to the rest of the participants in your post, according to the hop rules. One random participant will be chosen to win a stamp set of their choice from Taylored Expressions. The deadline to sign up for the hop is May 13th. I hope you'll hop along with us and have a Blast from the Past on May 18th!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen