Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 2

July Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Wednesday and Thursday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, July 1st 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 GIVEAWAY, on Thursday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day! Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please. Comments close Thursday 7/30 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

Hello again and welcome to Day 2 of sneaks for the big release tomorrow!!!! Today we have two very lovely sneaks and, as usual, let's just dive right in, shall we??

This lovely little number features the new set, Birds of a Feather. This is another set illustrated by the very talented illustrator, Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps. I just looooove this set, with all the birds, the branch, and MANY different styles of birdcages. :) Of course, there are dies to match!!! You will just have to get the Bird and Branch Dies!! Check it out and you will agree!!

So cute, riiiiight?!

Well the cuteness doesn't stop there my friends!

Aaaaahhhhh! It's Moka Taylor!!! Yet another addition to the Moka line of stamps, also illustrated by Ms. Nancy McKinney!!! This is a Petite Stamp set and features dressed up Taylor all ready for the party. Isn't she sooo cute?? This was Taylor's favorite Moka girl, so Nancy decided to aptly name her Taylor. How sweet is that?? :)

Now I am betting there are many more fabulous creations to be shared with you featuring two other sets AND a Moka Justin. :) Any Bieber fans out there??

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
  
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney

We're Two Birds by Melissa Sauls
Stamps: Birds of a Feather
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Olive Pastel Colorbox Chalk, Warm Red Colorbox Chalk, Creamy Brown Colorbox Chalk
Cardstock: Choice Snow White, Lily Bee Picket Fence
Accessories: Take Note Die 2, Favor Frame Die, Birds and Branch die set, Purple crochet trim, Red Felt, Pearls, Buttons

Moka Taylor by Melissa Sauls
Stamps: Moka Taylor
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Choice Snow White, Classic Red, October Afternoon 5 and Dime
Accessories: Copics, White Crochet Trim, White Taffeta ribbon, Oval Nestabilities, Scalloped Oval Nestabilities

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 1

July Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Wednesday and Thursday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, July 1st 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 GIVEAWAY, on Thursday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day! Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please. Comments close Thursday 7/30 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

And to get everything started today, we are busting out the doors with sneaks of TWO brand new stamp sets along with fabulous dies and the Clouds Impression plate! Let's me show you my first project and we'll chat. :)

The adorable set featured here is the brand new In the Clouds stamp set. This is a full sized stamp set on its own sturdy panel ready for easy storage and features 25 images/sentiment of high quality deeply-etched rubber! It was illustrated by our very lovely and and talented illustrator, Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps. The sky's the limit in this stamp set and you will find lots of fun whimsical blimps AND coordinating Blimp die set to match!! And what is a blimp without a message trailing behind it?? I love it! There are flags/banners in this set, and they ALSO coordinate with sentiments from the previously released It's a Banner Day 1 and It's a Banner Day 3 stamps sets! I'm betting you can find other sentiments that will work perfectly in these banners and flags. :) Just have a looksie...


And now I get to "clown around" a little...

Ack! How cute is this??! This is the new stamp set entitled, Life is a Circus. This adorable set features 17 super cute images and sentiments appropriate for all ages!!! This set is illustrated by the super talented illustrator of all those adorable penguins, Doug Applegate, for Apple Doodle Ink. There are two fun coordinating dies to match, and I used the Star Border Die here. Of course, it will be great on many other different projects...stars always make a fun embellishment!


And now let's check out what the rest of the Bakers have in store for you!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
  
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney

Fly Away With Me by Melissa Sauls
Stamps: In the Clouds
Ink: Aquamarine Colorbox Chalk, Alabaster Colorbox Chalk, Chestnut Roan Colorbox Chalk, Memento Rich Cocoa
Cardstock: Kraft, Choice Snow White, Soft Sky, Girls' Paperie
Accessories: Blimps and Banners die, Clouds Duo Die, Maya Road Pink Trim, Pearls, Pink Baker's Twine, Chocolate Taffeta ribbon, Lotus Little Whimsies

Take Time by Melissa Sauls
Stamps: Life is a Circus
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black,Yellow Ochre Colorbox Chalk
Cardstock: Intense Yellow, Choice Snow White, October Afternoon Campfire, Jetstream Canvas
Accessories: Star Border die, Scalloped Ovals, Multi Color Twinkles, Copic Markers, Stardust Stickles

Enjoy Life!

Hello everyone!!! Are you all enjoying your summer so far? My goodness it has been sooo hot here. I wanted to make a card that just looking at would instantly cool me off!! :) I pulled out Taylored Expression's Hangin' Out - At the Beach set and paired it with Echo Park Splash paper and whipped this little number up. Doesn't it look fun?? I thought it would be neato to use Maya Road's Sky Blue Zipper trim as just a straight trim and I think it looks fun..just like the card!! Now if I could only fit into a little polka dot bikini like that! Yeah...I'm going to work on that right now!! :)

Thanks for looking!

Technique Tuesday and Coloring With Crayons...sort of!

Hello everyone!!! I have a fun card to show you today featuring one of my new favorite stamp sets from Technique Tuesday and featuring a product they just recently begun carrying...Crayons...for adults!! :) Check it...

I went kind of Clean and Simple with this card and let the large gorgeous image do all the work!! This set is the Pocket Full of Posies set...and it was just sitting there begging me to color it all up pretty! So I got out a few of the new Crayons available in the store and got to work. Now, these Crayons are available to be purchased one by one, and at a great price of $1.99!! Traditionally, you can use these to watercolor with, but I chose to instead use a nib and Odorless mineral spirits. Here's kind of a visual of how I colored...

See how I very conservatively added color with the crayons and then used the stump to blend with? Oh my goodness, everything spread just so creamy like butter!!! I used two different shades of pinks to allow for some shading. Soooo easy!! You will love it if you try it and be sooo pleased with the result. What do you think?? I am definitely doing this again soon!

Thanks so much for visiting!!

Very exciting news!!!

I'm sooooo excited to finally be able to share with you all...

I am on the Maya Road Design Team!!! Can you see my huge smile from here?? :)

Check out the announcement HERE
AND...
My first project, as well as my fellow new design team members, is up on the blog HERE! Be sure to stop by and check it out and leave a comment to have a chance to win a fabby prize pack of Maya Mists!


Off I go to continue floating on Cloud 9..... :)

At the Beach Configurations

Last month, the fam and I had the pleasure of taking a nice weekend excursion in our RV to Lake Whitney for a quick weekend getaway. It was absolutely lovely there! All of the campsites completely surround the lake and our campsite was a beautiful shaded area with a great view of the lake. After settling in and getting the kiddos fed, we immediately headed to the "beach" for some fun in the sun and sand! Oh my, the kids absolutely loved every second. They mainly played in the sand but they made sure to stay close enough to get their feet in the water. I knew I had to keep and capture this moment....of course we brought home a huge bagful of shells and I threw a little sand in there for good measure. I'm glad I did!! Check it out. :)


The moment I saw Taylored Expressions latest release set, A Day in Paradise, I knew it was perfect for my project of capturing the fun at Lake Whitney. I started with a raw Tim Holtz Configurations box and grabbed the latest paper pack from Echo Park, Splash and quickly got to work.


I rearranged the little compartments to my liking and then worked on each, one by one. I used the new Wave Border die and created a sparkly fish scene....created two actually! I used the clouds and sun chipboard from How's the Weather mini chipboard set by Maya Road for further embellishing.


I stamped the sentiment, "Soak up the Sun" from the stamp set and made it a center title for my entire project...that's exactly what my boy did!


I also created another scene from the stamp set using the sand castle stamp and coloring in with Copics. I adhered some shells collected from the beach and used the Clouds Duo die for a nice background and foreground for my castle. And you can also see the picture I used of Harrison from the beach there. The 20 and 11 are from Maya Road's Wood Bingo Calendar Numbers...so fun to use!

Finally, I covered the entire front of the box with Tim Holtz tissue tape and then used Broken China Ink stain generously all over the tape. For a little more "beachy" effect, I adhered some rope (ok the proper name of this kind of twine escapes me!) right to the top.

Harrison LOVES this project I've created for him. Most all of my projects have been for more girl, Catie, so he is so excited to be able to have this in his room and remember one of his first trips to the "beach." I look forward to making another one! Maybe more girlie this time? :)

Thanks so much for your visit!!

Birthday Party Across the Miles

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Fantasy Birthday Tour for our very sweet friend, Taylor Van Bruggen! A few friends have gathered today to celebrate Taylor's special day and I am so excited to be a part of it! So what is the fantasy about, you ask? Well, we have the ability to get Taylor any gift we want with money not being an object. Check out what I'm getting Taylor...

You know she kind of has a thing for cupcakes right? Well, I am a HUGE fan of Betsey Johnson (who isn't?!) :) and when I first saw this Sweet Treats Large Tote bag, I knew it had to be Taylor's! And with a baby girl on the way...why not double as the trendiest and cutest diaper bag known to man?!?! :) Perfect gift for Taylor, right?! I hope you love it girlie!!


And I couldn't NOT make a card especially for Taylor...just a little something to express how much she means to me..."sew happy" :)


Happy Birthday Taylor!! I hope you have a wonderful celebration of a new and exciting year ahead. You deserve nothing but the best for the sweetest person I know!

And since this is a hop, you probably came here from Monika Davis' blog. Your next stop up is Melody Rupple! If you began on my blog, please start at Jami Sibley's blog, and be sure and stop by birthday girl's blog for a happy birthday wish!!!

Thanks for the visit...and...

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!!!!!

More projects for the GASC

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA. Things have been so hectic around here. We are in the midst of planning our family vacation...National Lampoon style. Watch out folks! The Griswalds are back on the road again, LOL! Anyway, I've been really busy trying to get ahead of my projects so I'll have scheduled posts while I'm gone. :)

I have some cards to share that I created last month for the Great American Scrapbooking Convention in The Crafty Scrapper booth. All the paper is from the Girls Paperie.



The stamps are also the Girls Paperie Vintage Whimsy clear stamps.

And finally, I couldn't resist getting out my Technique Tuesday stamps...


I used Mama = Love for this one


And finally, Love Always Wins for this last one. I used plenty of of my favorite embellishments on these...trim, Prima flowers, and chipboard and flowers from Maya Road.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend! I have much more to share later. Thank you so much for your visit!

Taylored Expressions June Release - Time to dig in!

Release Day!

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven category and Taylor's Blog for all the deets!
• Did you win one of the Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaways? Find the list of winners on Taylor's Blog
• Another chance to win... head on over to our forum and tell us your favorite stamp set from this release. We'll be choosing one person to win their favorite set FREE! You have until Saturday June 4th at 6 pm PST to enter to win.

Can you believe we are finally here to Release Day for June?!?! My goodness, the months are literally just flying by! Do I say that every month? :) Well, this was a wonderful release as always, and I just wanted to re-share with you my favorite project I created for it!


Ahhh, I just adore this clean and simple style but I looove the message sent. :) I used the new set A Day in Paradise, and I have a special 3D project using this exact set in the works...can't wait to share it! :) I also used the new Wave Border die, which looks equally as wonderful all layered up! So what has your favorite project been from all the sneaks? Probably hard to decide...there have been so many wonderful creations!! Well, I definitely won't keep ya! There are more favorites and new creations to be seen so be sure to stop by and see all the blogs! We also have our special guest, Amber Hight, sharing a creation with us. Happy shopping!! :)

• Amber Hight - Guest Designer
• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
  
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
  
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

PS. Don't forget to stop by the TE forum on THIS thread to leave a comment stating your favorite new release set...you could WIN IT!!! Good luck! :)

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 3

June Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, June 3rd at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department in the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets on Thursday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Special Early Bird Offer on Release Day for the first 15 orders over $100. It's TOTALLY SWEET!
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and all will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day! Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please. Comments close Thursday 6/2 at 7pm for the drawings.

Hello everyone and welcome back for Day 3 of sneaks leading to the big day tomorrow morning, June 3rd at 8 AM PST! Today the team is sneaking Green Acres, Patriotic Wreath, Uncle Sam, and the Chicken Wire/Woodgrain Impression plate. I have a couple of projects to share with you today....

First up is a project using the latest series in the line of Wreath seasonal stamps, called the 4th of July Wreath.


I went clean and simple on this one...skipped out on the wreath and went right for that patriotic banner...just LOVE IT!! I stamped the image 3 times and then colored in with R29 and B39 Copics. Embellished it up with some twine, buttons, and rhinestones and stamped the perfect sentiment right at the bottom and called it done!! I will definitely be sending this card to my dad...he is one of the most patriotic men you will ever meet...retired USAF! :) Don't forget though, there is the wreath included in this Petite set that features 7 images and sentiments...and still coordinates with the Seasonal Wreath die.

Next up is a suuuuuper adorable farm set entitled, Green Acres. Check it out...

Green Acres is a full sized stamp set featuring 24 images...and let me tell you, there are some really witty sentiments in this one! It was illustrated by Doug Applegate with the Apple Doodle Ink line of stamps....same illustrator that creates those adorable penguins! :) I used the Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety (on sale for only $2.95!!!!) paper pack on my card because the adorable images just called for adorable paper. :) I also used the new Chicken Wire/Woodgrain Impression plate (on my white layer) and I can't wait to use this plate more!!! Although it's difficult to see in the photo, the impression is nice and deep and defined...looks great! I also couldn't resist adding the cow from the KI Memories Puffies - Farm to my card! Because...if you party till the cows come home, surely you will see one flying, LOL!!! Seriously though, I just love this card (I totally am stamping a happy birthday greeting inside) and I know the kids are going to LOVE playing with this set.

Speaking of the kids....

Taylor has put together another fun and jam packed kit for the little Chefs in our lives!! This kit actually features a mini book, fun and bright patterned papers, coordinating cardstock, ribbon, and brads, and envelopes. My little Chef Harrison (7 years old) wanted to create 2 projects. We are heading to the beach this summer for a little vacation so he just HAD to use the new set A Day in Paradise! Here he is coloring the chairs with one of his favorite multi-colored pens on the card he made.


He was thrilled about putting his own minibook together. He cut out pieces of the patterned paper and made his book a "doodle book." He drew on some pages and wrote random thoughts on it. How creative he was doing this and he just loved every single second of it!!

And I can't leave out my other Tiny Chef Catie of the house! She created a GREAT card using the Kid at Heart set. And to be fair, I split the minibook in two and let her create her own little "scrapbook" for our trip to the beach. She did a LOT of stamping in that one, LOL! Here's her hard at work....

And both of them proudly displaying their finished projects. :)











Could those smiles be any bigger...seriously?! :) Well, except Catie's smirky smile....so much like her momma! ;)


I hope you have been thoroughly enjoying what you've seen so far!! There is plenty more to see though!! Please have a peek at the following blogs for even more inspiration!! (Also more Tiny Chefs...YAY!!!)

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
  
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Nancy McKinney <-----fabby illustrator!
  
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 2

June Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, June 3rd at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department in the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets on Thursday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Special Early Bird Offer on Release Day for the first 15 orders over $100. It's TOTALLY SWEET!
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and all will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day! Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please. Comments close Thursday 6/2 at 7pm for the drawings.

Hello again! Thanks so much for stopping back by today for Day 2 of sneaks leading up to the big June release this Friday! Today we are sharing 4 wedding themed stamps...Sweet Bliss, Moka Charlotte, Moka Jack, and You're Engaged a la Carte.

Cuppie has taken a wife in the adorable Sweet Bliss set that features images perfect for wedding, engagement, and anniversary celebrations. This set is illustrated by Cuppie artist extraordinaire, Jessie Olson, and comes on a 5.75" x 8.5" fully colored storage panel. As always, the images are on deeply etched rubber (in a cute shade of pink!) and are pre-trimmed on EZ mount ready for you to use on your acrylic blocks!


Awww....enter collective sigh here. :) I stamped Cuppies chapel on my card, and the inside of the card is just perfect to show off the happily married couple/cuppie! Hah! I stamped all the images with Rich Cocoa Memento and then colored in with my little stash of Copics. I also worked in It's a Banner Day 3 with the coordinating Banner Day 3 die....I love these banners!! The Congratulations sentiment comes from the Sweet Bliss set, and I just lightly curved it to fit in my banner...just FYI, you can slightly bend your rubber to fit it in these banners too!

Ok! The next set I get to share with you is a male addition to the Moka line!!! All of the Moka's are illustrated by the extremely talented, Nancy McKinney. This little guy was made for wedding day/princess Moka Charlotte, and he is named Moka Jack. Check him out...

Oh what a handsome fella!!! This guy comes on a 3" x 5.5" sturdy panel with 3 additional sentiments for you to use. My goodness I just love this card...so cool and collected. I, personally, think this makes a great all-around man card, right?? I stamped him with Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored him in with various shades of Copics in the Cool Gray family. I thought the paper from the new Echo Park - Dots & Stripes Metropolitan Collection worked perfectly for this card, and well, yeah, I'm patting myself on the back...it looks great! :)

Now the Bakers and Taylor have much more to share with you, so I hope you will hop around and see all the wonderful samples we have to share. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for even MORE sneaks! ;)

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
• Nancy McKinney <------Super fly illustrator