Happy Easter!

Hi Everyone,

I made a couple of super quick Easter Cards using the super cute new die set from Taylored Expressions called A Tisket A Tasket  which is a set of 4 dies that layer up so sweet to create a fun easter basket! I die cut a few more eggs out of DP that I layered into the basket and then added a ribbon to the top of the basket:

I used the super cute 6x6 DP from MME: On the Bright Side for the grass and backgrounds and added some orange ribbon from my stash on the side and then one larger one on the sentiment from the sweet Moka April stamp set. I loved making this card so much that I had to make another one!

Card Ingredients: 

Paper: MME: On the Bright Side 

Stamps: sentiment from the Moka April stamp set

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa

Accessories: orange buttons from stash, twine, glue dots, dimensionals, grass punch from MS, ribbon from stash and A Tisket A Tasket (set of 4 dies from Taylored Expressions)

I still can't believe that Easter is just around the corner - wasn't it just New Year's last week? Lol! Hope that you all are enjoying the gorgeous weather - can't wait to see the little ones with their Easter baskets soon!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Sankari

Your Friendship

HI Everyone,

I love slipping down to the craft corner and making a quick card - such good therapy! I wanted to make a special friendship card for a dear friend and couldn't wait to use the Rosy Posey stamp set from Taylored Expressions. I love the sweet sentiments and the gorgeous flowers in this stamp set and love that the flowers are both open and closed for coloring in or for color blocking.

I chose the closed flowers and stamped them with some Rouge Chalk ink and cut them out (adding some dimensionals on the little flower bud to sit on top of the larger rose). I cut out the leaves and then nestled them onto the flowers and over the sentiment: "your friendship means the world to me":

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Suede Brown Medium and Choice Buttercream card stock from Taylored Expressions
Stamps; Rosy Posey from Taylored Expressions
Inks: Chalk Inks: Rouge, Dark Brown, Lime Pastel
Accessories: corner chomped, embossing folder from Tim Holtz, spellbinders label die, bling, ribbon from stash, dimensionals and sponger.

I loved making this card - it was fun to keep the color scheme more neutrally and I surprisingly held off on the liquid pearls! I know, crazy!!! Anyhow - this stamp set is just full of possibilities and I can't wait to make more cards with this gorgeous stamp set!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari

Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge January

Hi Everyone,

This new year, Taylored Expressions is kicking off a new monthly challenge called the TE Monthly Calendar Challenge! There are so many wonderful calendar products that Taylor has in her store (Taylored Expressions Calendar Products) and now each month Taylor has a challenge for all customers and readers to play along using the TE Calendar products (TE stamps are not required). Please check out Taylor's blog for all the information - there will a link section at the bottom of Taylor's post that will remain open all year so that you can play anytime!


For my calendar project, I chose to use one of my favorite calendar product - the Perpetual Occasion Calendar - which is the perfect way to keep track of all the important occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). Each month there is an area that you can decorate and I chose to decorate the month of February (**** but to play along - please use the current month January!!) with newest Moka: Moka Cherie using the Layering Doily Die (Large) with the Echo Park Truly Yours papers. 

Here is a closer picture of Moka Cherie - I love her cute little self holding her tight - such the way that we should all be - our hearts open without any walls - always ready to love, give love, share love, receive love - so sweet:

Please check out everyone's gorgeous creations using the Calendar products today:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jodi Collins
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

And hope that you are also able to play along - everyone who plays in 10 or more of the monthly calendar challenges in 2012 - there will be a random draw for a TE prize pack valued at over $150 ! If you have a chance to post it to SCS - the KEYWORD is TECALCHAL


Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari


PS - Here is a pic of the Layering Doily (large) that was used in this project:

Taylored Expressions: Holiday Hoopla

HI Everyone!

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

The set I'm showcasing is Sparkle and Cheer  and I love it because it is so easy and quick to stamp and create! The images are solid so all you have to do is stamp the image and you are done - makes it really easy to create more than one card - perfect for the holidays!!
Here is a picture of the Sparkle and Cheer Stamp set:

And here are my samples using this set:

 Here is a picture of the individual card - I wanted to create a warm white/cream card - so I stamped the reindeer onto the buttercream cardstock and then sponged around it - and then created a trim using some lace with the sentiment: Happy Holidays. I finished by creating layered snowflakes using two Martha Stewart punches and the Winter Wonderland snowflake dies:

Creating for this hop caused to me to go back and look at some of my previous creations and I wanted to share one of those with you today too.  I LOVE the Hangin' Out at the North Pole stamp set - seriously perfect for the holidays and filled to the brim with SOOO many awesome stamp sets!!! Here is what this stamp set looks like:

And here is a card that I made with it - love those stockings :) - more details here - and you can check out the whole gallery of this wonderful stamp set HERE

Are you getting in the mood to stamp?  Be sure to check out Taylor's 12 Days of A Handmade Christmas Video Series for lots of easy gift ideas. I especially love ....

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Proceed to checkout to finalize and submit your order.

I hope that you are enjoying this hop! It's making me want to get a hot cup of cocoa and start stamping!!!
Next on the hop is the awesomeest ever BEATE!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari :)

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks - Day 3!!!

September Birthday Bash and Release

• At Taylored Expressions we are celebrating our 3rd Birthday and you are invited to our Birthday Bash!
• Sneak peeks Monday through Wednesday - lots of fun eye candy and inspiration!
• All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, September 1st at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Every order placed Thursday - Monday will include a FREE Party Favor.  Details coming Thursday morning..
• To celebrate our 3rd Birthday, you have 3 WAYS TO WIN!

      1. Help Spread the Word! Grab our Birthday Badge from Taylor's blog and post it on your blog for the week.  Then come back and    leave a comment with a link to your blog to let us know you're spreading the word. You will be entered into a drawing for a $25 TE gift certificate. 

      2.  Join us on Facebook for an early reveal of all the new stamp sets Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.  You will have until 8 pm PST that night to comment to enter to win each new set.

      3.  Join us in our SCS Forum for a contest that will begin Thursday morning.  In the meantime you can see Baker's Dozen sneak peeks there and chat with us!

Hi Everyone,

Today is day 3 of sneak peeks from Taylored Expressions - and today the design team will be previewing 5 stamp sets both Petite and A La Carte. The sets that you will be seeing today are the: 

- Autumn and Spooky Wreath (these popular seasonal wreath series was concepted by Jami Sibley and illustrated by Nancy McKinney for Whimsical Wishes and they work perfectly with the Seasonal Wreath and Bow Taylored Dies.

- Moka Tabitha - there is another cute little Moka in town for the Moka line by Nancy McKinney - welcome to Moka Tabitha (I will be showing her tomorrow :)

 - There are also two new A La Carte's that we are featuring, both designed by Nancy McKinney: The Spooky A La Carte and the Fall A La Carte which are the perfect size for cards, scrapbooking and homedecor! 

My project today features the Fall A La Carte which is just the cutest little thing - I love the Font of the word Fall and the cute little squirrels around the letters - too cute! Fall is my FAVORITE season - ever! I love the feeling of a chill in the air, the colors turning beautiful colors, hot apple cider, getting into comfortable hoodies and sweats and heading down to the Farmer's Market with a hot cocoa in hand, something about this season always makes me happy! 

So for my card today, I wanted to create a leaf card - so taking a regular A2 size card (horizontal) I drew out a big leaf that I cut out of brown cardstock and then sponged on the sides - this was then adhered to the A2 cardstock that I used some scrap paper on and then cut out the right side of the cardstock falling the leaf pattern. The image was stamped in Black Memento Ink onto Choice Snow White cardstock and then copicfied. I cut it out using the Frame it Up die from Taylored Expressions. I tied some American Crafts ribbon around the leaf and added a little outline of liquid pearls.

Card ingredients:

Paper: Papaya Puree Orange cardstock, scrap DP and Choice Snow White

Stamps: Fall A La Carte

Inks: Copics and Memento Black

Accessories: American Crafts ribbon, liquid pearls, dimensionals and Frame it Up die from Taylored Expressions. 

I really love this cute little A La Carte - so perfectly cute and cozy and Autumnal in every way! I can't wait to see what the Design Team has created using one of the stamp sets listed above! Please hop on over and check them all out with me!

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melissa Sauls

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Taylor VanBruggen

Tori Wild

Wanda Guess

Thanks so much for stopping by today 

And please stop by tomorrow for some release day celebration!

Hugs,

Sankari :) 
PS: Here is a link and pic of the die used in today's project - LOVE this die!
Frame it Up Die 1:

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1!!!!

Hi Everyone,

Guess What - its release week over at Taylored Expressions - and you are not going to believe the sheer amount of awesomeness that will be released this week - from brand new Taylored Dies, to Brand New stamps, to brand new Project Pantrys and more! SO much Yumminess!!! Today on the menu, the Baker's Dozen girls are going to preview 4 new stamp sets: Gobble Gobble, Penguin Pals, Merry Little Cocktails and Hangin' Out at the North Pole!!!! This and more will all be released on Thursday at 8am PST at the Taylored Expressions Store!!! WOO-HOOOOO


Every single one of the stamp sets today is pure awesomeness!!! I was so excited today to be able to play along with the gorgeous stamp set: Hangin' Out: At the North Pole :) You might know that I have a little soft space for all of the Hangin' Out Stamp sets :) - and this one is absolutely amazing - seriously - there are 22 stamps in this one stamp set - it was absolute pure joy to stamp and make cards with this beautiful stamp set!

For the first card, I used supplies from a new project pantry kit that we will be sharing with you tomorrow ;) but I couldn't wait to use today :)))) . I stamped the stockings and mitten, the poles, and birdies and cut them out after coloring. I created some waves for the hills of snow and then embossed the background and then "hung" the stockings with care :). It was so much fun to cut out everything and to then dot it up with some liquid pearls :) I stamped the sentiment onto the Take Note Frame 3 and then cut out the top portion. Everything is popped out onto dimensionals and then after stamping I added a little bit of glaze to the lanterns and to the snow:

I love how this card turned out and couldn't wait to make another card with some cute clothes hangin' out - and what could be cuter than Santa's outfit being hung out to dry before his big trip around the world? I colored and cut out the sweet Santa images and used the same Take Note Die set from Taylored Expressions for the sentiment on the bottom. I added a little bit of liquid pearls to the Santa Suit to give it a little texture and sheen:

Here is a picture of both the Hangin' Out cards:

I know that all of the girls are so excited to show you their creations with all the different stamp sets that are being shown today - so make sure to hop over and check out their gorgeous creations!!!!

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Donna Baker

Jackie Pedro

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Karen Motz

Melissa Sauls

Regina Magnum

Tori Wild
Jami Sibley

Our Awesome Illustrator: Nancy McKinney

and of course!: Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Please stop by tomorrow for more release week fun!!!!

Hugs!

Sankari :)

Loving Memories....

Good Morning Everyone,

Hope you had a lovely weekend, I am always amazed at how fast time flies! Can't believe that its tuesday already! My sweet aunty called me last week to see if I could create a card for a dear friend of hers who had lost her daughter and I felt honored that I could create a card for her.

Its always hard to create a sympathy card - somehow it always feels so sad - but it felt nice at the same time to create something handmade and from the heart. I used two gorgeous and beautiful stamp sets from Taylored Expressions called: Summer Afternoon and Care and Comfort to create this card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper:Choice ButterCream cardstock and MME (So Sophie collection)

Stamps: all from Taylored Expressions: Summer Afternoon & Care and Comfort

Ink: Memento Ink: Rich Cocoa and Summer Sky

Accessories: Best Glue Ever, MS butterfly punch, pearls from Want2Scrap, Adirondacks Liquid Pearls (Terra Cotta), Spellbinders Circle and Scallop Nesties, Flower from Prima and ribbon from May Arts.

The center image is a circle of vines with butterflies and dragonflies is from the Summer Afternoon stamp set. The lovely thing about the Care & Comfort stamp set is that they can perfectly fit into the center of this circle vine (either directly stamping it into the center - or in this case by adding dimensionals to the center circle which allows it to pop up).

I stamped onto Choice ButterCream cardstock the circle vine image in VersaMark and then Memento Rich Cocoa and embossed it in clear EP and then sponged the edges with Memento Summer Sky. The image was cut with the circle nesties and then adhered onto the scalloped nestie and then the center sentiment was popped up with dimensionals. Because I was mailing this to my aunt, I really wanted everything to stick together really well, and so I added just a touch of the Best Glue Ever to everything (it really is the best glue ever! Wow, is it ever sticky!!)

I can't imagine what my aunt's sweet friend has had to go through and I hope that this card brings some comfort. Its always hard to know what to say - but this sentiment is so sweet and uplifting. Check out all the beautiful sentiments in the Care & Comfort set - they really express such beautiful feelings from the heart at such a difficult time.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday!

Hugs,

Sankari :)

Color Inspiration #57 - You Lift Me Up!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Kristina has a color inspiration challenge (#57) up on her blog that has such a yummy grouping of colors! I couldn't wait to play along :)

I used the Love Everywhere stamp set that has this super cute little balloon (I popped the heart out with some dimensionals) and the sentiment is from the Cuppie Love Scenes stamp set - both from the newest release from Taylored Expressions. This card was super quick to make and I had so much fun making it :)

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Prism cardstock and Snow White cardstock

Stamps: Love Everywhere and Cuppie Love Scenes from Taylored Expressions

Ink: LadyBug red from Memento

Accessories: Spellbinders, cuttlebug embossing, liquid pearls, Sakura gel pen, chalk for background, ribbon from stash, EK Success punch, pearls from Kaiser, dimensionals, spica glitter pen.

What an awesome grouping of colors. Kristina got her inspiration from the Joel DewberryCollection - you can read more about it on her blog. The mustard color is the basket for the balloon, the saffron color is in the strip and the yellow behind the balloon, the coral is the background for the card (and the red and blue are in the strip of paper and balloon).

I am so happy its Friday! Hope that you have a great weekend!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!!

Hugs!

Sankari :)

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #60 -Chronicles of Narnia

Good Morning Everyone!!!

I am SOOOO happy that its Saturday!! Not just because its Saturday - but because the Cinema Saturday Challenges have started up again!!! woo-hooo!!! As some of you know, Brooke and I took a little holiday break in December from doing the challenges - but as promised ;) we are back with our 60th Challenge!!! WOOT!!! We wanted to start of with a bang - so we picked an amazing Oscar winning movie (that many of you have been requesting!!!) The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe!). Please check out the Cinema Saturday blog for more links on reading up on this amazing movie!!!

One thing that we are also introducing in the Cinema Saturday blog is a little something know as the Cinema Saturday Inspiration Corner. We have heard back from some of you that sometimes its hard to know where to get started - so we are hoping that this is a starting point to get your mojo flowing! Let me know what you think and if you like the idea of the inspiration corner.

And speaking of mojo - my inspiration came from the fact that when the wardrobe is opened - it takes the children into a different world - beyond their wildest imaginations!!!

So I thought for my card that I would create a little wardrobe that opened up into Narnia :) (this is made for one of my dear friends who adores this series of books - I can't wait till she opens it!!). I knew just the sentiment that I wanted to use - the beautiful sentiment "See Beyond" from the Discover Your Wings Stamp Set from Taylored Expressions! I simply love this sentiment - it is totally something that puts everything in perspective and inspires one to remember the "Bigness" of it all..... For my card, I used Taylor's lovely sketch TESC #96 (love that big circle!)

I was inspired by the colors of the fawn Mr.Tumnus (click on link to see him) as he is in the snow (hence the colors: red, brown and blue (for the snow). I decorated the wardrobe with some punches and when it opens up - you see this picture of Narnia with Aslan and the children - ready for adventure. I love these colors together! And I have to say the image of Mr. Tumnus holding parcels and an umbrella in the falling snow - is one of my favorite images from the movie. (and for those of you who haven't read the book - I didn't read it until this past year! And it is so good! I always feel the book is better than the movie - but in this case - I have to admit - they did an incredible job with the costumes, make up, sets and characters for this movie! Simply beautiful!

The challenge element today was to use someIridescent Sparkle to your card - so I added some crystal stickles to the inside of the card for it to sparkle when the wardrobe gets opened up. It really does sparkle but its hard to capture that in the pic...

Here is a close up of the door (in the movie the Wardrobe has a beautiful tree with swirls in it - but I didn't have a small swirly tree stamp so I just did some quick swirly embossing:

Here is a close up of the beautiful sentiment - I love how versatile it is:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Prism Cardstock Blush Red Dark and Frosted Teal , Bazzil Basics Java

Stamps: Discover Your Wings from Taylored Expressions

Ink: Memento Expresso

Accessories: dimensionals, circle cutters from CM, corner rounder, Sakura Gel Pens, scorer, Bling from K & Co., satin ribbon and EK Success punches

Thanks so much for visiting me today!!!

I really hope that you have a chance to play along with us over at Cinema Saturday- to celebrate both our 60th challenge and our very first challenge for the New year (did I mention that there is BLOG CANDY involved to celebrate this!! The lucky winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to Taylored Expressions!!! :))))

Wishing each of you an amazing New year and a great start to 2010! Wooty Woot!!!!

Can't wait to see your amazing creations!!! You can leave a link on Mr. Linky over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog !!!!

Big hugs and Happy New Year!!!!!

Sankari :)