STV Challenges–Mrs. Snowman

Here is a card I made using this week’s challenges at STV!  Monday’s sketch {STVSKSP6} and Friday’s color challenge {STVCSP6} which is Bubblegum Pink, Black Onyx and White pure luxury cardstock!  I thought it was a fun combo to make a Christmas card for one of our little cousins who loves pink!

Here is the sketch so you can see how I pretty much stuck to it – ha!  I rarely deviate *snicker* although I finagled the placement of my sentiment because Mrs. Snowman took up most of the room on the oval nestability I cut!  I used a stamp set from last year’s Christmas release illustrated by Rupa called Winter Friends.  I used the snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder.  The snowflakes I used around her in Angel Pink ink are from the Funky Christmas set.

I hope y’all are enjoying time with your family & friends during this time and you take some time for yourself and try not to stress. Take one day at a time and remember to count your blessings!

Merry Christmas Snowman

Hi there – I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, needless to say it’s just a busy time of year and on top of that, our office building is getting ready to move!!  It has been SO hectic there, it’s crazy but once we move and get settled, it’s going to be SO awesome!  I will share more soon about that. 

In the meantime, here is a fun one-layer card I made using Hangin’ Out - at the Northpole (Whimsical Wishes line) for Taylored Expressions.   This would be a great card for mass producing, as the snowman was quick & easy to color and the glitter from the stardust stickles really packs a big holiday punch, don’t ya think? I also used the smaller snowflakes from Winter Wonderland to make it look like the snowman threw them in the air!  I colored the snowman with copic markers.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

MFT Fab Friend!!

I am so honored today to be featured on the MFT Blog as their Fab Friend!  I was so excited to have finally met Kim 11 months ago at CHA in Anaheim, she is so nice!  I have been a fan of MFT for about 2 1/2 years now, and continue to adore their stuff!  I would love it if you would go check it out! 

So in honor of this, I made a scrapbook page to send to my niece (*to go along with what I am sharing on the MFT blog*).  This picture was taken last month during their visit to Texas one night.  After we got back from the zoo and running around and having dinner, Gabby & Joey changed into their pajamas and brought out ALL the books they travelled with for me to read them!  As you can see, Gabby was paying full attention to my reading and Joey, well he wanted to ‘read’ all on his (aka look at all the pictures!) Shortly after I read about 5 books and Joey left to do something else, Gabby laid out across my legs and fell asleep.  I just wished this moment lasted forever-sniff.  That’s why I chose this sentiment for my pages – it brought tears to my eyes since I miss them so much and wish I was there to read to them every night!

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in my fun news!!

Supplies
Stamps: MFT Wendy alpha
Cardstock: GKD Pure Luxury White, Grass Green, Wild Dandelion, Passionate Pink, Cosmo Cricket De—Lovely
Accessories: Hearts a Plenty Die-namics, Bling

MFT Flurry of Love

I had a great time yesterday stamping ALL day so I have some things to share with you!  Here is one, using Flurry of Love Pure Innocence set for the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club – Winter Wonderland!   I loved using Xmas Red stickles for her clothes, and paper-piecing them with Girls Paperie Tinsel & Twig papers.  You should play along – you can win $15 gc for the MFT store and/or be featured in the MFT favorite finds for the week! 

Hope you have a great week!!  Thanks for stopping by!

**Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a fun announcement!

FTL90 Blooms

I just love the clean & simple style especially when I am on a time crunch and the mojo may be lacking a little!  I always love a good sketch too, so for my card today I went to the Fall-to-Layout blog and grabbed my TE stamps Garden Party Blooms and made this card using the FTL90. 

Supplies: Garden Party Blooms; Cardstock: Parakeet & Lagoon (Bazzill Basics); Inks: Palette; Accessories: Caribbean Swirl organdy; Moonlight, Siren, Gold Lame, Green Apple,  and Taffy Smooch

Gina K sketch challenge& picture share!

Here is a card I whipped up as a thank you for those who came to our holiday/housewarming party on Saturday that gave us gifts (although John told them not to).  We had John’s co-workers over to see the house – expected up to 22 and 12 came, but we had a great time!  Easier to visit with everyone when there’s less people. 

Here is a copy of the sketch and link to the challenge if you’d like to play along this week for your chance to win some free GKD stamps!  You get your name in the drawing 2 times if you use GKD stamps, but you don’t have to!  I flipped the sketch to accommodate my labels 10 die, with the poinsettia border from A Year of Borders and instead of putting the sentiment on the side, I put it directly on the focal image and used my ribbon in place of it on the sketch.  I really love how the card turned out and hope the recipients enjoy it too!  They will understand more of what I do now that they saw my craft room in person! 

Supplies:
Stamps: A Year of Borders, A Beautiful Life (sentiment); Cardstock: Lipstick Red, Fresh Asparagus, Good as Gold, White
Accessories: Labels 10, White organdy ribbon,  Leafy Branches cuttlebug folder, metallic rub on paste, copic markers.

Personal Stuff:
Here are a few pictures from the party – I wish I had more but you know it’s hard when you’re the hostess and the host (John) was not very cooperative with taking pictures!!  But I guess 4 pictures are better than none…

Holiday House-warming Party VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Gearing up for our holiday party!!

I am busy preparing for a house full of up to 25 guests – combined holiday party/housewarming since we have not had time to do a housewarming party since we moved in!  This is just for John’s co-workers who are like family; we always do stuff together like go to the movies, celebrate birthdays, watch the fights, etc but I realized we never get together during Christmas outside of their work shindig (which I haven’t been able to go to since I went back to work) so we are having them over here!  I am so excited (but already exhausted since we entertained at the house last weekend too!) oh well…it will just make this year that much more memorable.  Here is a picture of our decorated tree and hearth.  This is my first time to get a Noble Fir tree, I just LOVE it.  Decorated in red, white & silver with white lights.  The poinsettias are real.  I just noticed I had moved the little chest and reindeer from the right side because we took a picture and I forgot to move them back.  duh. 

I will be back in a few days after I recover from the madness and have some pictures to share.  Hope you have a great weekend! 

TE Release Day! Time to Dig In!!

So today is the day – all the fabulous sets (full and petites), dies and impression plate are available for purchase!  I hope you have had fun hopping around all the designer’s blogs for all the eye candy & fabulous ideas using the offerings!


For my project today, I have a card to share with you using one of the Crafty Petites sets, Sew Happy illustrated by Nancy McKinney!  I used almost all the same supplies as I did yesterday for my mini sewing kit: Crate Paper Restoration pattern paper, Choice Buttercream and grey cardstock.  I die cut a large scallop border from the pattern paper then layered some Ivory crochet trim and red ric rac over that.  Then added a Jenni Bowlin vintage cream button with ivory thread to make my card vintage, a style I love and aspire to do well!  I used 3 of the small images and they are all punched out with a 1” square punch so they are perfect for inchies!!  Since I used the sentiment ‘sewing mends the soul’, I decided to sew with some ivory thread and sewed crooked (a little hard to do since it's more natural to sew straight!)  Makes me realize I want to branch out and sew more than just on my cards *wink*  I colored the images with copic markers and added some silver half back pearls to the straight pins on the pin cushion. 
So now be sure to hop around the rest of the Baker’s Dozen designer’s blogs to be inspired and then have fun shopping!  Be sure to check out the Fresh Out of the Oven catergory where you will see all the new stuff added in one area so you don't miss anything!
Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Jackie Pedro
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen *she will have full color photos of all the sets as well as the bundles available this release*
Tori Wild
Jami Sibley
Nancy McKinney (our Whimsical Wishes line illustrator!)
Mona Pendleton (our guest designer!)

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

TE Sneak Peek Day 2: Crafty Petites

We have a new offering at Taylored Expressions called Crafty Petites illustrated by the talented Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps!   They come with a full color panel like our larger sets {3” x 5.5”}  but with smaller images that are too cute to believe!  There are 7-8 per images per set complete with coordinating sentiments!  You may just have to pick up a set or two for yourself and a crafty friend too (makes great stocking stuffer for just $7.95!)

For my first card, I used the Kitschy Kitchen set with the little toaster and toast poppin’ up!  I used Prism cardstock in Baby Pink Medium, red cardstock from Cottage Christmas, Choice Snow White and Walk in the Park pattern paper by Echo Park.  Ribbon is Carnation Pink Poly Twill, cotton thread from my stash and Basic Grey button.

My next project is a little cover for a portable emergency sewing kit!  I used the Sew Happy craft petite set which is so fun for anyone who loves to sew!  I used Crate Paper Restoration pattern paper and,Choice Snow White and Classic Red Prism paper.  I cut the thread image out with my 1 1/4” to give you an idea of the size of the image.  I made a belly band to keep the kit closed.  

Here is a picture of the contents of the sewing kit with the belly band pulled off.  This would make a cute little gift for any gal who always wants to be prepared!!
Here is a list of all the blogs to go check out now for crafty petite goodness! Hope to see you back tomorrow when all 4 petites, full size set and 5 dies and 1 impression plate will be available for purchase – set your reminder for Friday, Dec 3 at 10:00 a.m. CST!



Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Nancy McKinney
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen (*Click to see a comparison in size with the other sets we sell*)
Tori Wild

TE Sneak Peek Day 1: Friendship Blooms

Welcome to our first day of sneak peeks for Taylored Expressions!  Today we have Friendship Blooms, a pretty all-occasion set illustrated by Nancy McKinney as part of the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps.  We also have 2 sets of Taylored Dies to coordinate with this set to make the versatility even greater!
For my card, I used Basic Grey Curio paper, Sunflowers Medium Prism and Choice Snow White cardstock.  I stamped and die cut the leafy branch (pictured below) and put the bloom in the center over a Labels 10. I also used one of our other new Taylored Dies, the large scallop (pictured below).  I couldn’t help but make this a shabby chic card by adding some white crochet trim, Sunshine Yellow silk ribbon and in the center is a Webster’s Pages scalloped clear sparkler. 

Be sure to check out all the wonderful inspiration by The Baker’s Dozen & our fabulous illustrator and hope to see you back tomorrow for Day 2! 
Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Jackie Pedro
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen
Tori Wild
Nancy McKinney

Gina K. Preview: Block Greetings & Mugs and Kisses

I am so glad you joined me in sharing the first day of previews for GKD December stamp release!  What I have to share first is a set of cards made with Tami’s newly illustrated set called Block Greetings.  It is a set of 3 square decorative blocks and 10 different all occasion greetings to place inside.  

My first card was made with Crème de Menthe, All Spruced Up and White pure luxury cardstock.  On all the cards, I used 2 different inks for the block; on this one I used New Sprout and Cottage Ivy.  I also used different cuttlebug folders for the top layers, Leafy Branches here.  On all the cards, I used gold lined organdy ribbon.

On my second card I used:
Wild Dandelion, Pumpkin Spice and White pure luxury cardstock.  Inks are Dandelion and Potter’s Clay.  Cuttlebug folder is Textile.

My last card is made with Bubblegum and Passionate Pink and white pure luxury cardstock.  Inks are Rose Bud and Angel Pink.  Cuttlebug folder is Victoria.

 

 

 

Next up for my preview is Melanie’s new set, Mugs and Kisses.  She has done it again with a cute set with so many possibilities and variety!  She hand drew 2 mugs and many smaller images and sentiments to put on the mugs or as sentiments.  The possibilities will be endless (especially when you pair it with other sets!  I made a coffee lover’s gift, even stamping and making my own gift bag out of kraft paper.  The tag I made has a little tree from her Have a Cookie set!

Here are the contents in the bag – small Coffee Talk book with Scripture and coffee information, it is a good read between friends!  On the left is a notepad I covered with chocolate & green apple cardstock and also added a few stamps from another of Melanie’s sets to (& God from The Best Things in Life).  I also put a few Gina K buttons on the notebook.  I love what I personalized the mug with, ‘ Start each day with a smile’

Lastly, I made a small magnetic bookmark using more words from The Best Things in life and combined it with a few from this new set (coffee and xoxo).  I cut the bottom of the bookmark with Labels 14 for a fun border!

Here is a list of all those participating in previews using these 2 fabulous new sets – be sure to check them all out:

• AJ Otto
• Asela Hopkins
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Colleen Schaan
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (that’s me!)
• Emily Giovanni
• Gina K
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Valerie Stangle
• Vicki Dutcher

and mark your calendars to join us this Thursday evening 7:00-10:00 pm CST for our release party at StampTV!  There will be contests, challenges announced where you can have your chance at winning some free stamps, full reveals of the stamp sets being released, awesome samples from the design team and a whirlwind of chat!!  Hope you can make it!!

Gina K. Thankful For You Shopping Special!!

I know y’all love a good sale, right?  Especially those of you who are die-hard Black Friday early bird shoppers – it’s so not for me!  I remember one year my oldest sister and I got out early to Michael’s but that was not before 7:00, ha!  Today I have a Gina K. card for some challenges this week to share with you, along with her Black Friday special which runs through Sunday 11:59 pm CST. 

My card is for this week’s sketch STVSKSP3 and today’s color spotlight challenge STVCSP3 to use Green Apple, Ivory and Ocean Mist.  I cheated a little and didn’t use the Ocean Mist cardstock because I wanted my card to be clean & simple and used aqua vivid ink instead.  I used the butterfly from the Hope is Faith set and sentiment from Inside & Out. I used some turquoise mix buttons and stardust stickles on the butterfly.  This card came together so quickly & I love it!!

Have fun shopping! 

Happy Thanksgiving & TE Blowout and pictures of our home finally!

Today I am thankful for family & my beautiful new home.  Here are a few quick 6x6 scrapbook pages I made this morning with some pictures from when my niece & nephew visited a few weeks ago.  We had craft night one night, it was so fun – I had the kids make hand turkeys and you can tell they were proud of their work (especially Joey, who loved using his glue – he’s even still holding it in his picture!)  I used the TE set Gobble, Gobble in the Stamp a Sweet Impression line of stamps. 

Black Friday through Cyber Monday Taylored Expressions has some fantastic deals for you! Visit our Black Friday Blowout Department to see them all in one place. Here is just a sampling of what you'll see when you get there:
Stamp Sets - Purchase any 5 full sized Stamp Sets and GET ONE FREE!
Taylored Expressions T-shirts (3 styles to choose from) at 25% off!
Twinkles Special - Buy 2 Multi Colored Twinkles and get a Free Package of Crystal Twinkles.
Stickers and Tags - Purchase either the Sweet Season or Waiting for Santa sticker sheet and receive a set of 10 coordinating die cut tags free.
Key Ingredients Subscription - TE is lowering the monthly subscription fee for a 3 Month KI Subscription from $25.95 per month to $23.95 per month just for this 4 day sale. Normally you would need to subscribe for 6 months to get that monthly rate. This is a great time to give Key Ingredients a try!
A la Carte Stamps - Purchase any 3 Animals in Love A la Carte stamps and GET ONE FREE!
AND SO MUCH MORE!!!! Click over to the Black Friday Blowout Department now through Tuesday at 12:01am CST to take advantage of these incredible deals. Some quantities are limited, so for best selection shop early!

So here are some long awaited pictures of the inside of our home which we moved into Sept 25.  As any homeowner knows, it’s always a work in progress and since I took these pictures, things have even changed since!  I will update once I decorate for Christmas too, which will be soon!

Kitchen stove (convection, LOVE it!) new coffeemaker, over range microwave.

Right of the sink (ADORE my open shelves) – crystal, stemware, blendtec, kitchenaid mixer and new toaster.

 

Left of the sink – tea stuff, everyday glasses from IKEA, my favorite new pressure cooker and vegetables

 

Our fabulous new stainless steel side by side fridge with ice/water dispenser!  I got those cute ceramic pumpkins at GardenRidge – my only decoration on the island.

Our dining table we found on Craigslist – mission style which we love.  It’s in great condition 8 chairs.

 

 

Our comfy couch we got from DMIL, which she’s had since John was a baby.  It is a sleeper sofa.  Shelby’s hanging out spot complete with her food/water bowl so she doesn’t have to wear her shoes!

Open shelves, to the left of fireplace we have DVD’s and on the right we have books.  A few decorative items on the hearth.  Since taking the picture, I brought in some firewood for the other side.

 

 

Hall bath – pretty much minimally decorated in all bathroom spaces!

Master bedroom – simple! We have been w/out a headboard for years and recently got a king bedroom set but we still need to get a mattress set.  Can’t wait to show you that soon!  

Here is my favorite picture – my little Elsie sitting on the bed!  I love these pillows I got at Gardenridge! 

I hope you like the pictures!  I’d love to know what you think!  Holiday pictures soon!!  Can’t wait!

Hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving & thank you for your friendship and visiting my blog!!

Only 5 weeks until Christmas and a card making tip for you!

Yikes!  I am so behind making cards this year – my stash is so small!  So I pulled out my new GKD stamps from the last release and made 2 clean & simple cards that had the same format.  I love CAS – they are less time consuming (30 mins vs 90 for a more involved card for me) so why don’t I do them more often?!  My first card uses Melanie’s A Year of Borders – I love how the border of poinsettias looks as a real border!  I used Red Hot, All Spruced Up and White Pure Luxury cardstock and grabbed a sentiment from Festive Frame and used an oval nestability for interest around it.  Then I topped it off with a few silver brads and I was done!  One card down many more to go!

For my 2nd card, I brought out the new Snow Much Fun set which has the cutest chubby snowmen!  I love this one with the sign that says Happy Winter!  I used the colors from Gina’s first color challenge at STV {STVCSP1} Turquoise Sea, Red Hot and White.  I added a scallop border at the bottom of this one, a scallop nestability around the snowman, red w/ white polka dot ribbon and a turquoise button and red brads this time! 

I hope you are inspired, if you feel like you need an idea about how to make some clean & simple cards and how to make 2 different yet similar cards, that this post helped you!  If you decide to make something based on this tip – I’d love to see what you make! 

Today we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving today with some of the Baker family (John’s dad Cecil & Stepmom Shirley, his sister, brother & his family too).  Here are a few pictures from my sister’s visit: 

This is Cecil – when Gabby was about to leave, she accidentally called him Grandpa Seahorse, it cracked us up!  She has never met anyone with the name Cecil – so that’s what she heard when we introduced them.  She is holding her new Grinch stuffed animal they gave her. 

 

And here is Gabby (I love her smile in this picture, it’s so natural) with Auntie Shmirley which cracked us up EVEN MORE!  She called her that when we were all playing catch in the backyard-Gabby, Shirley, Joey and me.  I almost peed my pants, it was SO funny!   My sister said that she really liked her, which is why she has a special name and by the looks of this picture I took, I would say it’s true. 

I got this super cute picture of Joey; he was so tired after playing so hard at the Dino Park that day, he fell asleep in the car and slept while we ate lunch.  He got a reindeer stuffed animal from Cecil & Shirley and when my sister gave it to him, he grabbed it and put his arm around it and went back to sleep.  SO sweet!!

Shirley also made a cake for John since his birthday was 2 days away (pineapple upside down cake yum) so here is a picture of Nino John & Gabby being silly.  I love it!!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!!

TE Blog Hop: Thankful for You

Hi there and welcome to this month’s TE customer blog hop!  Our theme this month {since Thanksgiving is fast approaching} is Autumn or Thankfulness. 

This month I am thankful for family.  Two weeks ago my oldest sister and her family came to visit us and we had such a wonderful time!  I miss them so much and am so blessed to have them in my lives.  My niece and nephew are so adorable – and I am thinking of sending this to my niece some day, I bet it will put a big smile on her face and she will say in such a high-pitched voice, "oh how cute" - I can just hear her now!  Here is a picture of them showing off their pretty Fall wreaths they made us - they BOTH love to do crafts (they are surely related to me, huh?) in fact we had craft night on Sat night where I showed them how to make hand turkeys - that was fun!  I will share those pictures soon (perhaps on Turkey Day next week, that would be fitting!)

I wanted to use one of my favorite TE sets, Beary Special/Accessories and paired 2 of the bears (head & arms of one and legs/feet of another and took the pumpkin from the Celebrate Life set for the bear’s pumpkin body – I just adore how this turned out!!  The papers and buttons I used are Basic Grey Pyrus – perfect for an Autumn card, and the ribbon is my all-time favorite brown w/cream dot!  I used the beautiful & talented Sankari's sketch for my card, I just adore her & her style! she creates magic with her creations all the time!


We'll be drawing one random winner to receive a FREE Taylored Expressions stamp set of their choice from all the participants in the blog hop below and we'll also be choosing another creation to be featured in an upcoming TE newsletter.  So, if you're not participating this time, you can next month, when we hop again so take out your TE stamps (or buy some now so you can play next month!)