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!

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

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

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 128

Good morning - It's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here is the deal: make a card with this layout and use the InLinkz button down at the very end of this post to enter your card. The links will close on Friday at 10 PM (Mountain Time), and I'll randomly select one card to feature on my blog on Saturday. So, as long as your card is linked by 10 PM Friday, your card will be in the drawing. Be sure to link directly to the blog post or gallery image which features your card. You may post a picture of the sketch on your blog, but please save the image to your computer first. Use the keyword SSSC128 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

I stopped by the My Favorite Things booth at CHA last week and picked up a "few" more stamp sets and this Little Loveosaurus is the lucky one to be inked up first.  Isn't he cute?  I've been eyeballing him for a looong time and he practically jumped into my hand when I was browsing.  I stamped him in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored him with Copics.  I kept the layout simple and didn't add any extra layers (not counting the scallops).  Just a super sweet and simple card for a super sweet boy.

The Sweet Sunday Stampers have amazing sketch samples to show you today, so stop on by to see:

• Dana White
• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz  - she's off this week
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Thanks for taking on the challenge this week!

Karen

recipe -
stamps: little loveosaurus (my favorite things)
paper: kraft, choice snow white (taylored expressions) cardstock, lime twist fly a kite (my mind's eye)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: copic markers, seeing stars die (taylored expressions), square/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), foam tape

Sweet Sunday Sketch Winner

Happy Saturday!  It's time to announce this week's SSSC winner!  Random.org has chosen.....

#14 - Stef Perry!

Congrats Stef!  I love the colors and masculine feel and the touch of baker's twine is perfect.  Please hop on over to Stef's SCS gallery for more of her wonderful work.

See you back soon for the next challenge -
Karen

Bee Happy

Hey, it's Friday!  This week has absolutely flown by and I am SO ready for the weekend, how about you?  Today I'm using a couple of sets from Taylored Expressions that I haven't used in quite some time, but seeing them in the TE booth at CHA made me itch to get them inky!  I started by stamping the bees and beehive from Garden Party Critters in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic markers.  The circle accents is a flower from Garden Party Blooms and I stamped it in Yellow Ochre Fluid Chalk Ink.  I used both the Medium Scallop Border and Scalloped Eyelet Border dies for the scallops along the edges and added the branch from the Birds & Branch die set so my bee hive didn't look like it was just floating there.  The papers are Stella & Rose Gertie by My Mind's Eye.  I used Jen's Deconstructed Sketch 11 for the layout, which is so super cute!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: garden party blooms (taylored expressions), garden party critters (taylored expressions)
paper: pear & lakeshore canvas textured cardstock (bazzill), choice buttercream (taylored expressions), stella & rose gertie (my mind's eye)
ink: memento tuxedo black, colorbox yellow ochre fluid chalk ink
accessories: copic markers, medium scallop border die (taylored expressions), scalloped eyelet border die (taylored expressions), birds & branch die (taylored expressions, foam tape

There She Goes Preview | Day THREE

Welcome back to day three of TSG sneaks!  It's an exciting week here for There She Goes and the Trendsetters have a fun little blog hop to kick off the new release - PLUS you have a chance to win some goodies, so keep reading and find out the details. The hop started off at There She Goes, but if you came to my blog from Jessie's, then you're at the right stop.

Peacocks, and hippos and snakes, oh my! Judy Rozema was our lucky winner from this year’s Mother Of All Blog Hops and one of her prizes was the chance to work with TSG to design a stamp set in a theme of her choice. She said that she would like a fun zoo stamp set that incorporated some animals that are different than you might find in other stamp sets and we knew just who the perfect illustrator would be for this! Melyssa’s adorably whimsical zoo animals will have you going wild!

Zoo-pendous is a 6x8 set that will sell for $24.

Hee hee!!!  You are seriously going to LOVE this set - it's so cute!  There is a little something in there for everyone!  I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with copics - I've never seen a snake look so cute!  I used a Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities to cut out the background.  The kraft paper is embossed with the polka dot embossing folder by Quickutz.  I used my corner rounder on the sentiment to make it look like a little tab tucked in between the cardstock layers.  I used more Lime Twist Fly a Kite paper from My Mind's Eye and the sketch is Sweet Stops's SSS116.

Would you like a chance to win the Zoo-pendous stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their Zoo-pendous Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own Zoo-pendous stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday July 30th during the Release Party Chat.

Next on the blog hop is the super fabulous Melyssa!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: zoo-pendous (there she goes)
paper: kraft, choice snow white (taylored expressions), ivy (bazzill) cardstock, lime twist fly a kite (my mind's eye)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: copic markers, wonky rectangles nestabilities (spellbinders), leafy branch die (taylored expressions), multi-color twinkles (taylored expressions), polka dot embossing folder (quickutz), corner rounder, foam tape