Sketch Saturday – Classic Car

I just realized Father’s Day is right around the corner and I need a few more cards!  I was so excited to finally ink up the Father’s Day A La Carte Real Classic Car from Taylored Expressions!  It was fun to color (although John said he wasn’t too keen on my color choice at first but said it actually turned out good!) guess he had to see the pattern paper I chose to coordinate with it.  The papers are from the Garden Critters Project Pantry Kit: We R Memory Keepers 72 & Sunny collection, I just love ‘em especially for a fun masculine card like this!  The layout is from the Sketch Saturday blog – it’s their birthday sketch!  One thing I did that was old school to me, was pull out my decorative edge scissors, remember how popular those were at one time?  Seems they were replaced with edge punches, which I love too, but scissors are quick & fun to use too!  Plus, I don’t have any ‘masculine’ type edge punches so this edge fit the card perfectly to me!  I also added some screw brads as an embellishment.  

Here’s a close up of the sparkle from my Copic atyou spica pens; pitch black, silver & gold.  Guess what?  Sneak peeks for the June release start on Tuesday at 10 a.m. central time on Taylor’s blog as well as the rest of the Bakers Dozen design team – you will be blown away once again with the sets & other offerings!   So excited to share them with you!

Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you have a beautiful yet relaxing holiday weekend! 

Gina K. Release Day: Fine Furnishings/Fine Furnishings Additions

The day is finally here!!  All the new release stamp sets will be available for purchase on Thursday, May 27th at 10 pm in the Gina K. store!!

This time I am sharing a card I made using 2 of Nina’s newly illustrated sets, Fine Furnishings and Fine Furnishings Additions!  I made a semi-elegant living room scene with elements in the set.  I just adore the dog silhouette and coordinating sentiment.  I drew in my wood floor and the paper-piecing was done with the Basic Grey origins stack, which are a perfect compliment to Creme de Menthe and Chocolate Brown pure luxury cardstock!  I can’t wait to make more ‘scenes’ using these sets!

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky *Friends are Forever designer
• Nina Brackett *Fine Furnishings and Fine Furnishings Additions designer
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Sankari Wegman
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!*

Hope you have plans to attend our Release party Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

See ya there! 

Gina K. Preview Day 3: Enjoy the Sunshine STV kit and Stars

Welcome to Day 3 of Gina K. previews!!  Aren’t you just loving all the wonderful samples by the designers?  Tonight we are sharing creations made using the new Enjoy the Sunshine Stamp TV kit which is chock-full of Summertime images and sentiments which you will have a great time mix & matching over the months to come!  I made a crisp & clean Summertime yellow daisy card using one of our new cardstock colors, Wild Dandelion, a deep yellow that will coordinate nicely with a lot of other GKD cardstock in addition to other colors you may have in your stash!  On my card, I paired it with pure luxury white and Green Apple cardstock and then topping it off with the gorgeous yellow & white gingham ribbon just made the card pop!  You get a TON of yummy cardstock, ribbons, silver easy set eyelets and silver brads (which I also used on my card) in this kit!  I colored the stamp in with markers and used a gel pen on the centers and cut it out with a Large Long Deckled Rectangle Nestability die. 

Next up is a fun Stars set illustrated by Tami Mayberry!  I kept my design clean and simple, in true Tami-style (and one style which I personally love too).  I used all elements from the stamptv kit as well; Rocket Red, In the Navy and white pure luxury cardstock and silver brads.  I just love the sentiments in this set and I bet you will too!!

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky *Enjoy the Sunshine StampTV kit designer
• Tami Mayberry *Stars designer
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Nina Brackett
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Colleen Schaan
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!*

Don’t forget, the Release party is this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV!  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

Gina K. Preview Day 2: Candles on Your Cake

Hi there!   It’s Day 2 of previews for Gina K. Designs’ May release!!  I am showing a few samples using Melanie’s new set called Candles on Your Cake, a fabulous birthday set with a TON of images and sentiments, like only Melanie jam packs in a set!  You Melanie fans will not be disappointed!!  I paired images from the new set with Hip to be Square for a fun and fresh birthday party card!  I love the colors I used on here too, Turquoise Sea, Sweet Mango and Chocolate Brown!  I used some soft white ribbon from the new StampTV kit too, in addition to some star dust stickles as accents.  I just realized this card reminds me a lot of the one I shared yesterday using Botanicals.  I can’t even tell you which card I made first! 

My next card incorporates the kangaroo from Just so Hoppy and the baby kangaroo from Hip Hop Accessories!  This card was so fun to make; the images from the new set are the smaller cake, candle, baby cakes sentiment on the cake and happy birthday sentiment.  I used the new Sweet Mango and Grass Green (I LOVE these colors!!), and the ribbon is in the new StampTV kit too!!  The colors coordinate really well with the new Basic Grey Green at Heart papers, which I used on this card.  I also used the fun Big Scalloped Rectangles Small Spellbinders Nestabilities. 

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Theresa Momber * illustrator of Hope Grows
• Melanie Muenchinger * illustrator of Candles on Your Cake
• Jessica Fick
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!*

Mark your Calendars!  Our Release party is scheduled for this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

Gina K. Preview Day 1: Botanicals

Welcome to the first day of previews for Gina K. Designs!  Just like every month, all you Gina K. fans will NOT be disappointed with the selections of offerings, 9 sets including a new StampTV kit!!

I am sharing a very bright sample I made using Botanicals, a beautiful floral set with a vertical background stamp and several sentiments illustrated by Gina K.  This stamp set will include a free card kit too! I adore the script background, which I used for all the squares on my card; it is one of my favorite Scriptures in the Bible 1 Corinthians 13 which I have tattooed on my left ankle {Faith Hope Love}.  I used Pure luxury white, Passionate Pink, Black Onyx and a new color Sweet Mango aren’t they gorgeous together?  I stamped over the background stamp with the flowers in the set using Raspberry and Butterscotch Vivid inks.  I also used the leafy branch cuttlebug embossing folder on the sweet mango layer. 

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Nina Brackett
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Sankari Wegman
• Suzanne Dean
• Valerie Stangle
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!*

I hope you make plans to attend our Release party this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

FS172: Life is short…

So Cuppie says, “eat dessert first”  and I do too!  I made this cute little matchbox treat for today’s SCS Featured Stamper challenge {FS172} using the new set Cuppie in the Kitchen by Taylored Expressions.  Here is the matchbook treat I cased by Nikki.  I used fun Green at Heart papers by Basic Grey, saddlestitch neutral ribbon and a fun open button as an embellishment.  This was also made for Friday’s Free For All challenge {F4A13} to use buttons & bows in a new unique way so I did!!

Here’s the inside of the matchbook treat; I put a Ghirardelli square inside, covered with the pattern paper and punched a sentiment from the set onto it.  The chocolate is super yummy, dark with a caramel filling…hmmmm. 

Thanks for stopping by - hpe you enjoyed!  I will be back later tonight (10 pm CDT) for day 1 previews of Gina K. Designs May release!!

SFYTT and the Red Dress

I am so happy to have my evenings and weekends back since school is over!  One thing I’ve missed is doing challenges on a regular basis so last Saturday I checked out Jen’s sketch for you to try and am finally able to share my card with you.  The evenings have been filled with relaxing and helping John keep records of the house stuff.  Things are moving along!  Be sure to check out his latest blog post to see that it is really looking like a house now *it’s the first time I’ve heard him say he’s getting excited about it because of it* – it really IS hard work to build a house.  It’s quite an undertaking and will definitely be worth ALL the waiting, saving and hard work, there’s no doubt in my mind about that!! 

I digress so about my card - I used the new Hangin’ Out set in the Whimsical Wishes line for Taylored Expressions, I just love the LRD (little red dress) and it was perfect to present the Heart Truth* red dress pin that I snagged from a geocache container last year!!  I love mixing neutrals but I don’t always think of doing it, but I did on this card – kraft and choice buttercream cardstock that was sponged with antique linen distress inks.  Oh I also used the little heart ‘steam’ from the CreativiTEA set for the kraft panel behind the dress.  The papers I used are part of the In the Kitchen Project Pantry kit (and I didn’t even use it with a food themed stamp set – it’s so versatile and the papers are great from the My Mind's Eye So Sophie Clever Collection. 

*Heart Disease doesn’t care what you wear.  It’s the #1 killer of American women.  Click on the link above to find out how to reduce your risk.

TE: Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Today is the day for Taylored Expressions customer blog hop!  We have over 50 participants - how fun!!  I can't wait to hop around to look at all the great cards/projects using one of the many sets released in 2008 and 2009 by TE! 

For my card, I chose to use one of the first sets in the Stamp a Sweet Impression line, illustrated by the cuppie  (Cakespy) creator herself, Jessie Oleson!  The set is Sweet Celebration and indeed it is; I just adore cuppie blowing out the candles on her cake and we are celebrating TE stamps too!  Here is a link to the gallery featuring creations makde with this set. 

I used the fun (optional) sketch that was designed by the lovely Sankari Wegman, especially for the hop and pulled out the fun papers by My Mind's Eye (So Sophie Savvy collection) from the In the Kitchen Project Pantry collection, I just love it!! 

Another sweet thing about this hop today is that one random participants in the hop (Baker's Dozen design team memebers excluded) will be selected to win a stamp set of their choice from Taylored Expressions!

Here is a list of all those playing today; I hope you will take some time to show some love along the way and take a gander at all the sweet eye candy! Thanks for stopping by!

Exciting News to share: the Home & School…

Well here we are!  For those of you who have ever heard me mention that 3 1/2 years ago we made the decision to build a house on 2 1/2 acres we bought out in the country, we are finally under way with the building!  The project officially started on April 26 with site clearing, concrete poured on May 6 and the framing this past Tuesday!!  I wanted to share the progress with y’all here and also share my husband John’s blog with you (it is not a public blog) so you can see/get updates if you’d like to watch the progress.  He posts pictures to it every trip he makes out there, including photos.  Here is the rough sketch of the floor plan, and here is a link to the outside elevations.  John would be so appreciative if you would take a few moments to leave a comment on his blog to let him know what you think about the project  and/or let him know he’s doing a great job as general contractor!  It is quite a big undertaking but it is allowing us to save quite a bit of money to manage the project ourselves (but we do have a consultant to help along the way).  We have a close date of October 15 – wow!  I have attached a few photos of progress and a video of the concrete being smoothed out!  I was able to be at the property when they poured the concrete but had to go to work so he videotaped the smoothing of it so I could see! It’s exciting!!  I’d love to hear your thoughts on our house design, which was 99% OUR OWN, a gathering of our wants and needs that we’ve pondered over the years after living in 3 other homes during our marriage!  One thing missing in this design is the outdoor shower right off the master bath (John’s idea) – which I really think will turn out to be neat idea especially when we get the hot tub in the future and have friends over who may want to shower off afterward! *snicker*  In addition to that, I wanted to share a few details you may not get from the sketch.  The fireplace in the living room will have 2 window seats with side bookshelves; I have always wanted a window seat in my home because I love to read (and envision myself sitting there and reading).  The kitchen will not have upper cabinets for several reasons.  #1 because I don’t like when doors are slammed (I know you can get quite closure doors) and #2 I wanted as much natural light and openness as possible in the house so we will have 6 windows and side open shelves on the kitchen sink side.   Another thing that you may see in the framing photos, is that the ceilings in the living/kitchen/master are 16’ and 10’ in other areas.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!

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Yesterday we went out to see the framing progress with DMIL & our dog Shelby.  The bigger structure on the left is the main house and the smaller structure on the right will be DMIL’s casita.  Shelby had a BALL out there being a dog, splashing in the standing water and getting her paws all muddy – it was great!  We all had to wash off our feet when we got home!  We also explored the town of Cedar Creek and I took pictures there I will save for a future post because this one is SO long already!

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In other exciting news – Spring semester is over and I made it through finals! I am happy to report I got a B in both of my classes and managed to get a 90% on my anatomy/physiology final which was a HUGE improvement from the 69% I got on the first test!  I was determined to bring that grade up and I worked HARD at it!  It’s hard to believe I made it; the past 3 1/2 months working full-time and going to school 4 nights a week in addition to my design team work was brutal and downright exhausting at times!  I am happy to report I made a decision to postpone school for now, it’s just too much to do in addition to working at a job I am really enjoying and is necessary for us!!  I am looking forward to getting my life back with weekends I can enjoy; spending time with friends and family, blurfing again, stamping when I want, instead of spending all my time studying and stamping just when I have to!  Thank you everyone for your support during this time!! 

Sketch & Free For All Butterflies

I have a pretty butterfly card to share with you today using 2 SCS challenges; he sketch from this week {SC280} and Free For All from last week {F4A11: Just Gellin’} using the current Gina K. StampTV kit Spring Mix!

I adore the Basic Grey Origins paper, they are a beautiful complement to Creme de Menthe and Black Onyx cardstock by Gina K, in addition to some other colors but those are the ones I chose to go with these pattern papers which I LOVE!  I added black gel pen faux stitches to the layers, this is definitely not a sketch I would pull out of my head, but it is a great one, nonetheless! 

I hope you have a beautiful day; stay tuned, I have that special post coming next, promise!  We need to go get a few errands done and then I can devote some time to sharing a few things with you, my loyal readers!

TE May Key Ingredient Subscription

I bet all you TE key ingredient subscribers will be excited when you get this May kit in your hot little hands!!  I bet you will LOVE it like we do!  For all you who are NOT subscribers, remember these kits are EXCLUSIVE to subscribers (meaning you can’t buy them in the store even if you adore it) there are other perks to being a subscriber too but I’ll get to that in a bit. 

First of all, Taylor is challenging subscribers (click to see the challenge) and part of the Baker’s Dozen to make a card using ONLY the elements in the kit and NO STAMPING – oh my word, that’s hard at times but because this kit is so cute and you get rub ons, chipboard, ribbon and of course all the cardstock and pattern paper, you will not be hard pressed to make cute cards & projects without stamping!  On my first card, I covered the owl chipboard with the Pebbles Treehouse paper in the kit and put a few rub ons on the card (sweet butterfly) and the ‘darling’ rub on was placed on a piece of choice snow cardstock, cut out and popped up for dimension!  My favorite part is the green ribbon on the girl owl’s ear! 

Card #2 adds a little stamping to it along with the other elements and I reached for my new Garden Party Critters set with the snail and snail mail sentiment.  I thought it went nicely with the row of flower rub ons and {hi} rub on!  This card was quick to make and I think is pretty cute too! 
 
3D Project #1 is a newly covered pencil cup on the right!  I had some ancient SU! papers on it, so I figured it was time to freshen it up a bit and these papers were PERFECT for the new look!  I bought this pencil cup years ago at Target for a few bucks, it is such a great practical accent on my craft desk!  3D Project #2 on the left is a dollar store frame find!  I just slipped in the pattern paper but to 4x6 size after it was decorated with a few rub ons.  I also put a rub on on the base of the stand – how cute is that?!  Did you know you can use rub ons on a lot of different surfaces?  Glass, wood, paper and more!!
Remember those subscriber benefits I mentioned at the beginning of my post?  Well you can read all about them here.

Here is a link to the May Key Ingredients gallery so you can see all the projects the design team have uploaded.

Be sure to go around and give some love to the team who has poured their amazing creativity into sharing projects with us today:

Charmaine Ikach
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Melissa Sauls
Taylor Van Bruggen

TE Release Day: Father’s Day A La Carte and more Cuppie in the kitchen!

It’s release day at Taylored Expressions!  Today the Baker’s Dozen and I are sharing creations made with 2 new stamps in our Apple Doodle Ink line; Father’s Day A La Carte images!!  The one I am sharing is a fun way to display a man’s tools – in the form of the word Dad – how cool is this?!? It’s called Dad Tools and there is also Real Classic with a cool classic car!  They each come with an image and 2 sentiments for just  I used the Garden Party Project Pantry kit for my card, in addition to some screw brads (how PERFECT are these for this image?) and hemp twine (the manly ribbon).  The image was colored with prismacolor pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits.

Next up is Cuppie in the Kitchen again!  I just love these images!  This one has cuppie wearing a stylish apron (paper-pieced with the In the Kitchen Project Pantry kit (you can see this post of Taylor’s with complete details and a picture!).  I also added some lime green stickles to cuppie that also comes in the kit.  I had a lot of fun making this card and stitching with some red thread (sometimes white gets a little boring to me).  I even tried my hand at stitching in a circle (not too bad but I messed up a little of the right – oh well!)

All the products are available for purchase now; remember the specials (project pantry and coordinating stamp set bundles are available at a discount for just 3 days).  Also don’t forget when you go shopping, you can see all the NEW products that are FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN all in one place. 

Here are links to all the inspiration the design team have to share with us today, be sure to check it all out and leave some love for us all (especially our guest designer, Sandra)!

Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor Van Bruggen

also joining us today are:
Sandra MacLean – our guest designer for May and June!
Jami Sibley

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! 

I will have a special post/news after my finals next week (I have tests on Mon, Tues and Weds evening); please bear with me while I take about a week’s break from posting to crash – HA!  I can hardly believe I made it through the semester working full-time, going to school 4 nights a week, studying and keeping up with my design team work for almost 4 months!   Thank you to EVERYONE for your support, prayers and for continuing to visit my blog when I haven’t had much time to leave y’all some love *smile*

TE Sneak Peek Day 2: Hangin’ Out and Cuppie in the Kitchen!

Welcome to day 2 sneak peeks with Taylored Expressions!  I bet you will LOVE the set concepted by incredibly beautiful and talented Sankari called Hangin’ Out! and illustrated by Nancy Kinney for the Whimsical Wishes line!  On my card I combined it with the new Cloudy Background for an outdoor clothesline scene.  I used some of the Cuppie in the kitchen Project Pantry papers that will be available this Friday May 7th!!  I had so much fun paper-piecing all the underclothes hangin’ out…I used papers from the In the Kitchen Project Pantry kit for that, and also to make the rolling hills.   All the images in the set are so cute and can definitely stand on their own too as I’m sure you will see with the Baker’s Dozen sneak peeks!

Next up is another fun Cuppie set; this time he’s in the kitchen whipping up some delicious treats for us!!  Illustrator Jessie Oleson never disappoints with her Cuppie ideas and execution of the sets!  I used one of the apron invitations from the store to create a fun card to include a recipe card to share my recipe for my favorite granola bars I made.  Yum.  I also stuffed a bunch of them in a kraft bakery bag and topped it with a cute tag.  In the Kitchen Project Pantry kit includes the mini version of the kraft bakery bag that I used on my project. 

Here’s a close up of the tag I made – isn’t cuppie so cute oogling the chocolate chip cookies on the baking sheet?  I just adore that sentiment!!  This is me when I get my granola bars out of the oven waiting for them to cool down.  They are BEST when they sit overnight, refrigerate and/or freeze them!  I used some lime green stickles on cuppie which is an element that comes in this project pantry kit!  Be sure to check out Taylor’s blog for complete details on what comes in the kit – but note that the Project Pantry kit will be available for purchase separately and is separate from the Key Ingredients Subscription.  It will be $22.95
OR WITH the Cuppie in the Kitchen Stamp Set for $41.50!  What a sweet deal!

Here is a close up of the ‘sweet chef’ cuppie on the recipe card I made.  I paper-pieced this one, so fun!  Here is my recipe so you can see how delicious these are!  Please let me know if you make them and what you think about them (and what combination of added ingredients you put in them).  I didn’t have any chocolate chips (white chocolate chips, walnuts and craisins is my favorite combination!)

Preheat oven to 350°
Cream together:
¾ C. Butter or Margarine
2 C. Brown Sugar
1 Egg
½ t. Vanilla 

 then combine in a separate bowl:
3 C. Uncooked Oats
1 C. All-Purpose Flour
½ t. Baking Soda

Optional Add:
½ C. chopped nuts
½ - ¼ C. raisins
Chocolate Chips
Cranberries

Mix ingredients together well and press down firmly into 9x13 greased pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Note:  looks soft & wiggly at first but will harden pretty quickly or you can let it set overnight - either way the longer you let it sit the easier it is to cut cleanly)

Here are links to the Baker’s Dozen blogs so you can drool over all their fabulous creations:

Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor Van Bruggen

and playing along with us today are: 

Jami Sibley
Nancy McKinney

TE Sneak Peek Day 1: Garden Party & Garden Party Critters

Welcome to sneak peeks for May’s Taylored Expressions release!  I’m so excited to share 2 brand new things  with you today! 

First: Taylor is adding stamp illustrator to her stamping resume with the launch of *te* stamps, designed and illustrated wholly by her!! Her first sets are what we are sharing with you today and will be available for purchase on Friday May 7th 10:00 a.m. CDT!  They are fun and whimsical coordinating sets called Garden Party Blooms and Garden Party Critters and our first ever Big Background Stamp, Cloudy Days!  I just adore these stamps that will provide us with endless combinations for all our cardmaking, scrapbooking and gift-giving projects!!! 

On my first card, I used Garden Party Blooms for a bright and cheerful Spring/Summer card using the Basic Grey Green at Heart pattern papers.  I placed some of the smaller bold blooms and a larger open bloom and layered on top of a spellbinders blossom nestability.  In the center of the blooms, I used my cool new Embellie Jellie to place my Tiny Twinkles – have you seen this product in action?  Taylor made a great video you can watch-what a smart tool this is!!  I used some fun pom pom trim over a border punch and I love how this card turned out!

Second: Where do you go when you are looking for ingredients for your recipes?  Well, the pantry of course!  Introducing the Project Pantry!  Taylored Expressions is introducing a new line of kits called the Project Pantry with just the right ingredients for your cardmaking and paper crafting projects. These kits will be a variation on our Key Ingredients and Taylored Card Kits and will be introduced for the release.  Additionally, you will have the option to purchase them with the coordinating stamp sets or separately!!

The kit I have to show you today is the Garden Party Project Pantry. I used it on my second card along with the Garden Party Critters stamp set!  This card was so fun to make – I love the bee hive and little bee, I just wish I had taken a picture so you could see the sparkle from the glitter pens I used.  The big sun is a cardstock sticker you will get in the kit that’s so cute!!

See Taylor’s blog for more details on what you will receive in the kit; but I want to let you know there is going to be a deal for  $59.95 you get the Project Pantry kit PLUS THE TWO NEW STAMP SETS illustrated by Taylor at a 10% savings!!

Be sure to check out all the fabulous creations the Baker’s Dozen Design Team have to share with us:
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor Van Bruggen

and see ya tomorrow for Day 2 – more exciting things to share! 

CPS Sponsor sketch – Taylored Expressions and an award!

Happy Sunday everyone!  I have a special post today to share the CPS blog sketch 165 which is sponsored by Taylored Expressions!  For all you sketch fans – be sure to play so you can have your chance at winning some TE stamps!    Be sure to post your creation using the sketch to this link by Saturday May 8 at 8pm CDT!

Now onto a few details on my card; I used the new CreativiTEA set from April’s release, I just adore the sentiment in this set ‘oh my darjeeling’ and I had not used it yet.  I used some yummy items from the TE store to make this a vintage style card.  The pattern papers are Basic Grey Origins (paper-pieced the teapot) and the black delicious silk ribbon and crochet trim and Kaisercraft pearls are from the store too.  This card came together pretty quickly, maybe I’m getting a little better at the vintage style, huh??  Hope you make time to play along and also, I need to let you know the sneak peeks will start for the May TE release on Wednesday on Taylor’s blog & the rest of the Baker’s Dozen design team at 10:00 a.m. CDT!  You are going to LOVE all the offerings and a few surprise reveals too *wink*

Next I’d like to share an award I received from the sweet Adela Rossol – thank you so much for this honor!  Here are the rules that go along with it:

1. Put the Sunshine Award on your blog and or within your post.
2. Pass the award to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

I’d like to give this award to all my fellow Baker’s Dozen Design Team and our Apr/May guest designer Amy Sheffer!  Every month they amaze me with their creativity and talent in showcasing TE creations!  I had the pleasure of meeting nearly all of them at CHA in January – we all had a great time! 

Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor Van Bruggen

Hope you have a beautiful day!  John and I are planning on going to a 10-yr anniversary event for Geocaching in Round Rock, TX!  He went to one in Smithville (home of the Hope Floats movie) and won a few great prizes – one was a $150 pair of Oakley sunglasses!!  wow!