the sweetest thing...

August 6, 2011

Sweet Sunday Sketch Winner

Hello, hello! I'm late getting this week's winner posted, so let's not delay any longer - random.org has chosen....

#5 - Kelly S!

I love the color combo Kelly used - so sweet and summery and the way the image is straight while the panel is tilted is clever! LOVE the added accents along the edges too! Congrats Kelly! You can see more of Kelly's beautiful work on her blog, Kelly's Craftin' Corner.

See you back soon for the next challenge!
Karen

August 4, 2011

Taylored Expressions Release Party

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!
More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you. Just follow the link list below.
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 August 6th at 6 pm PST to enter to win.

I have another fun card for you today using Bugabee - Can't get enough of these cute little bugs! I started with Taylor's TESC143 and some lovely Lime Twist Life of the Party paper from MME. This set is perfect for the Fluid Chalk Inks - I used Charcoal and Warm Red on my card and then ran the lady bug and wings through the Big Shot with the Bugabee Bugs dies. The Grass Border Die is also available starting today and I used it with 2 different patterns of green paper - love layering my grass up!

The rest of the Baker's Dozen are wrapping up release week with different projects from different sets, so be sure to stop on by and see:

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: bugabee (taylored expressions)
paper: aqua mist (pti), real red (su!), choice snow white (taylored expressions) cardstock, lime twist life of the party (my mind's eye)
ink: colorbox fluid ink charcoal & warm red
accessories: bugabee bugs dies (taylored expressions), grass border die (taylored expressions), red/white polkadot grosgrain ribbon, ribbon tags trio 3 die (spellbinders), circle/lacey circle nestabilities (spellbinders)

August 3, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek | Day 3

August 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, August 4th at 8AM 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 6PM PST.
Angel Bundle Prize Drawing: We're very excited to be supporting the Angel Tree with Joy to the World, the newest set in the TE Giving Tree Program. If you'd like to be entered to win our Angel Bundle Prize Pack (Joy to the World Full Sized Stamp Set, Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, and the Musical Swirls Taylored Impression Plate), simply click over to the Angel Tree Website and find the answer to this question: "Nave the founder of Angel Tree." (You'll want to read the touching story of how Angel Tree got started while you're there!). E-mail Taylored Expressions with the answer in the subject line of your e-mail by Wednesday at 6PM PST. The winner will be announced on Taylor's blog at approximately 10PM PST Wednesday night.

New Mokas are in the house! Woot! TE is releasing 3 new Mokas this month - Moka Angel, Moka Jesse, and Moka Jane! I'm working with Moka Jane today along with a new set illustrated by the fabulous Nancy McKinney, called Wild West. Wild West is a perfect set of all things out west (hey, that's my neighborhood!) and I just adore all the fun elements and sentiments!

Isn't Moka Jane just the cutest!? I had to give her some pink cowgirl-wear, it just goes without saying! I'm using Jodi's layout for the Dare to Get Dirty challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. The cute little guitar is from Wild West, a full-sized set of 16 images and sentiments that will have you giggling, for sure! I stamped both images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copics. The papers are a new 6x6 pack I picked up called Odds & Ends from Cosmo Cricket.

Stop on by to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen have whipped up for you today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: wild west (taylored expressions), moka jane (taylored expressions)
paper: kraft, hershey canvas textured (bazzill), choice buttercream (taylored expressions), odds & ends (cosmo cricket)
ink: memento tuxedo black, memento rich cocoa (for sponging)
accessories: circle/scallop & large oval nestabilities (spellbinders), vintage brads, copic markers, foam tape

August 2, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek | Day 2

August 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, August 4th at 8AM 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 6PM PST.
Angel Bundle Prize Drawing: We're very excited to be supporting the Angel Tree with Joy to the World, the newest set in the TE Giving Tree Program. If you'd like to be entered to win our Angel Bundle Prize Pack (Joy to the World Full Sized Stamp Set, Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, and the Musical Swirls Taylored Impression Plate), simply click over to the Angel Tree Website and find the answer to this question: "Nave the founder of Angel Tree." (You'll want to read the touching story of how Angel Tree got started while you're there!). E-mail Taylored Expressions with the answer in the subject line of your e-mail by Wednesday at 6PM PST. The winner will be announced on Taylor's blog at approximately 10PM PST Wednesday night.

The Baker's Dozen is showcasing 2 new sets today, Bugabee and Embrace Beauty. I'm giving you a little peek at Bugabee this morning, which is a completely adorable set concepted by our very own Oodabug, Charmaine Ikach! Taylor illustrated this cute set of 27 images and sentiments for the *TE* collection, as well as the 2 coordinating Taylored Dies sets: Bugabee Bugs and Bugabee Flowers.

What I absolutely love about this set is its versatility - the ladybugs and bees coordinate with the same dies and you can stamp the images and cut them out with the dies, or just cut cardstock with the dies to create your bug! So much fun! I wanted to use the bee image today and I stamped the bee in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Crushed Curry cardstock - then I ran it throught my Big Shot with the Bugabee Bug die. I used Taylor's alternative method to cut out the image. I also ran a piece of white vellum with the 2 different wing dies through the Big Shot and then sewed the wings onto the bees. Super cute!

I added some of the blue Baker's Twine around the panel as well. The layout is Sweet Stop's SSS119.

Did you notice the polkadot embossing? It's the new Lots of Dots Impression Plate - it has 2 patterns, one small polkadots and one bigger polkadots and I used both on this card. The impression plate is double sided, so you get 2 different options with each plate - it's so fantastic! I used the larger polkadots for the blue cardstock and then the small polkadots are the cream cardstock underneath my bees. Taylor has a wonderful tutorial on how the impression plates work {scroll down past the die tutorial}.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the Baker's Dozen blogs and catch a peek at Bugabee and Embrace Beauty!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: bugabee (taylored expressions)
paper: kraft, sea water textured (bazzill), jacaranda textured (bazzill), choice buttercream (taylored expressions) cardstock, white vellum, stella & rose gertie (my mind's eye)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: baker's twine, square/scallop & scallop circle nestabilities (spellbinders), lots of dots impression plate (taylored expressions), bubabee bugs dies (taylored expressions), sewing machine/white thread, foam tape

August 1, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek | Day 1

August 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, August 4th at 8AM 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 6PM PST.
Angel Bundle Prize Drawing: We're very excited to be supporting the Angel Tree with Joy to the World, the newest set in the TE Giving Tree Program. If you'd like to be entered to win our Angel Bundle Prize Pack (Joy to the World Full Sized Stamp Set, Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, and the Musical Swirls Taylored Impression Plate), simply click over to the Angel Tree Website and find the answer to this question: "Nave the founder of Angel Tree." (You'll want to read the touching story of how Angel Tree got started while you're there!). E-mail Taylored Expressions with the answer in the subject line of your e-mail by Wednesday at 6PM PST. The winner will be announced on Taylor's blog at approximately 10PM PST Wednesday night.

Good morning! I am so excited to share with you a little peek at TE's latest Giving Tree charity stamp set - Joy to the World. This gorgeous set of 21 images & sentiments is illustrated by Nancy McKinney as part of the Whimsical Wishes line and is full of beautiful images which are perfect for Christmas cards, projects, and gifts. It's also versitile enough to use througout the year as well!

Taylor chose Angel Tree as the charity to support this quarter because it's something she has been involved with for many years through churches she has attended. Angel Tree is a program administered by Prison Fellowship whose Mission is to seek the transformation of prisoners and their reconciliation to God, family and community through the power of Jesus Christ. Angel Tree invites churches to provide Christmas gifts to the children of inmates across the country. Their website says :

"It starts with a gift. But it's so much more.

Every child has a story. For 1.7 million American children, that story is filled with the abandonment, loneliness, and shame that comes from having a mom or dad in prison. At Angel Tree, we find ways to reach out to these children, by sharing Christ's love with them at Christmas and by developing year-round relationships. In the end, it's so much more than giving Christmas gifts-it's about restoring families."

We'd love to have you learn more about this wonderful charity and even possibly how you might get involved. So we have a special prize drawing planned! . If you'd like to be entered to win our Angel Bundle Prize Pack (Joy to the World Full Sized Stamp Set, Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, and the Musical Swirls Taylored Impression Plate) simply click over to the Angel Tree website and find the answer to this question: "Name the founder of Angel Tree." (You'll want to read the touching story of how Angel Tree got started while you're there!) E-mail Taylored Expressions with the answer in the subject line of your e-mail by Wednesday at 6pm PST. The winner will be announced on Taylor's blog at approximately 10 pm PST Wednesday night.

Giving Tree sets now come PRE-TRIMMED, just like the rest of our sets, so no more cutting and trimming is needed. How cool is that?! $5 from the sale of each Joy to the World stamp set will be donated to Angel Tree from August 4th - October 31st.

Taylor challenged us to make a Christmas card that could be easily mass produced and on the Clean & Simple side for our post today. I am definitely a mass producer with my Christmas cards, so I love a simple layout with minimal fuss so I can crank out 50+ cards in November. For this card, I used the Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, which I'll talk a little more about in a second. All of the papers and embellishments you see in this post are from that kit. I started by stamping the angel in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and then colored it with Copics. Since I'll be mass producing this card, I didn't want to spend a lot of time shading with the Copics, so I colored her hair all one color (E23) and then accented her dress in W1. I'll list the rest of the Copic colors in my recipe at the bottom of this post. I used the Small Scallop Border Die for the scallop edges and made the bow with the Bow Easy. Just a couple of pearls at the bottom and I stamped the sentiment inside (which I forgot to take a picture of, so I'll add that photo in a bit...) which says May Peace be your gift at Christmas.

Taylor grouped the Baker's Dozen for a second challenge, and mine was to make a coordinating card set using the Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit.

This kit is an exceptional value at only $16.95! Here is what you'll get in this amazing kit:

24 A2 Cream Envelopes
24 Choice Buttercream A2 Card Bases
24 Choice Buttercream Image Panels 4.25" x 5.5"
24 pieces of coordinating cardstock 4.25" x 5.5" (4 colors, 6 sheets each color)
24 pieces of Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses patterned paper 4" x 6"
6 yards of twill (2 yards each of Wine, Artichoke, Carnation)
1 package of Want to Scrap Maroon Pearls
1 package of Want to Scrap Green Pearls
AND there will be a downloadable inspiration sheet that will include 10 easy to re-create samples by the Baker's Dozen. There will also be additional ribbon bundles available for separate purchase as well as a coordinating Copics kit.

Here is a peek at my card set:

I used the same layout, but switched up the patterned papers, colors and angel stamps. Here are the individual cards - you can click on them to see the enlarged image:

All the cards are stamped with the same sentiment inside, which still leaves room for a personalized note to your friends and loved ones.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen for more Christmas inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by and see you back tomorrow for another fun day of TE peeks!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: joy to the world (taylored expressions)
paper: angel kisses taylored card kit (taylored expressions)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: copic markers (R20, E00, E23, W1, V95, YR21, B52), small oval nestabilities (spellbinders), angel kisses taylored card kit (ribbon, pearls), small scallop border die (taylored expressions), bow easy, foam tape