Day 1 Sneak Peek: Taylored Expressions is Branching Out!

I'm so excited to share the new sets Branching Out & Branching Out Coordinates by the Leave a Lasting Impression Whimsical Wishes line of stamps which will be released this Thursday by Taylored Expressions!

These two sets will also mark the beginning of a new Taylored Expressions quarterly charitable release. A portion of the proceeds from each of these sets will be donated to Eden Projects. Eden Projects' slogan is Plant Trees - Save Lives. It is an organization that recreates healthy forest systems in order to restore hope, alleviate suffering, empower people, and build local economies in impoverished communities. Their projects take place throughout Aftrica and also in Haiti. The tree theme serves a dual purpose in that it matches with the mission of Eden Projects and the name of the set "Branching Out" signifies TE's branching out with a new designer and a new collection of rubber stamps! I just love this idea, we are all aware what a vital role trees play in our lives and I know I may take them for granted at times, however it was one of the deciding factors when we found our land, it has an abundance of trees that make it so peaceful! Living in newer construction neighborhoods is usually a sacrifice of nice trees because most are cleared out so the land can be prepped for building and we no longer wanted to live in those areas!

Here are some quick facts about trees taken from the Trees are Good website

1. Did you know that trees are the longest living organisms on earth?
2. Trees keep our air supply fresh by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.
3. In one year, an acre of trees can absorb as much carbon as is produced by a car driven up to 8700 miles.
4. Trees provide shade and shelter, reducing yearly heating and cooling costs by 2.1 billion dollars.
5. Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves.
6. The average tree in metropolitan area survives only about 8 years!
7. A tree does not reach its most productive stage of carbon storage for about 10 years.
8. Trees cut down noise pollution by acting as sound barriers.
9. Tree roots stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.
10. Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water as well as protecting aquifers and watersheds.
11. Trees provide protection from downward fall of rain, sleet, and hail as well as reduce storm run-off and the possibility of flooding
12. Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife.
13. Trees located along streets act as a glare and reflection control.
14. The death of one 70-year old tree would return over three tons of carbon to the atmosphere.

Now back to my card; I paired one of the 2 tree branches in the Branching Out set along with a 'Just Because' sentiment and one of the 2 flowers from Branching Out Coordinates to make a cherry blossom tree! Both of these sets with a combination of 10 sentiments lend themselves to making cards from Thank You to Thinking of You & everthing in between! There are literally so many FUN additions in the Branching Out set to make lots of scenes with your trees and many images can stand alone on a card (think inchies). I stamped & colored on kraft cardstock with prismacolor pencils and painted each one of those cherry blossoms & cut them out (it's therapeutic). I just adore how this card turned out (I stamped with these sets first & was having so much fun I created several cards to share over the weeks with you, and implored the help of my DH John to help me pick a favorite to share with you today) - this is it!

Be sure to check out the samples the Baker's Dozen has to share with you and come back tomorrow & Thursday to see more!!

Taylor Van Bruggen
Ana Wohlfahrt
Charmaine Ikach
Dawn Easton
Denise Marzec
Jen del Muro
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Laura Fredrickson
Laurie Schmidlin
Sankari Wegman