Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #57

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! Are you ready for another sketch challenge? I'll tell you what I'm ready for... another weekend! My whole family (mom, dad, me, Jon, and my two sisters) have a getaway planned this weekend. We're heading down to Del Mar beach (near San Diego). The weather is a little chilly for the beach this time of year, but at least it's not supposed to rain this weekend! It will just be nice to get away for a few days. I decided to pull out the Sweet Celebration set to create a birthday party scene. I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic markers. I used my Stampamajig to stamp the sentiment one word on top of the other. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye from the Just Dreamy 2 collection. I used the Fiskars threading water punch on the side of my border, added some Stampin' Up decorative brads, and Zva crystal swirls in the background. I also added a couple Tiny Twinkles to the party hats. And now I'm so excited to introduce you to our Featured Cupcake Sampler this week! Dana White caught my eye with her adorable "Let's Hang Out" card last week and she's created something special for us again this week. She used another sweet Bella image and I love all the little details she added like the piercing around each layer and the Tiny Twinkles on the outfit and hat! You can check out all of the details on this card and more of Dana's beautiful work on her blog: Dana's House of Cards. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Dana! Now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions this weekend to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler next week. Your design and blog will be featured on my blog during Cupcake Friday. You're not required to use cupcakes for the challenge, but if you got 'em why not use 'em!? If you're uploading to Splitcoast use keyword TECC57 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 57). Leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so I can check it out! You must have your cards uploaded by Monday, March 2nd at 8am PST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler. Announcements and sneak peeks for the new release also begin on March 2nd... you don't want to miss it!


Don't forget to check out the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew! Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Jackie Pedro, Vicki Chrisman, Stephanie Hargis, Ana Wohlfahrt, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens, and Lynn Mercurio!

Enjoy the Cupcakes

Can you handle cupcakes two days in a row!? We all know tomorrow is Cupcake Friday, but I couldn't resist inking up this cute Kim Hughes cupcake today. The cupcake and sentiment are from the Baked with Love set at Cornish Heritage Farms. I paper pieced the frosting with a some scraps of Heidi Swapp patterned paper leftover from the Valentine project I made for Jon. The cupcake bottoms are colored with Copic markers and I added Soft Pink rhinestones for the cherries. The images and sentiment are popped up on 1/8" foam tape over the last of the remaining Heidi Swapp patterned paper scrap. I used my Fiskars threading water punch along the bottom and tied some wide organdy polka dot layered with American Crafts red polka dot ribbon. I've been hoarding this adorable cupcake charm that my friend Bevie Pearl gave me a long time ago. I finally found the perfect card to use it on! Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you again tomorrow for some more cupcakes and another sketch challenge. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Sweet Baby Madelyn

Our friends from Michigan had a sweet baby girl, Madelyn a few months ago (yes... I am way behind with the gift!). This little one was a long time coming for them making the moment that much sweeter. I paper pieced the onesie from Stampin' Up By Ones & By Twos with patterned paper from Pebbles, Inc. I cut the image out with Spellbinders rectangle dies, adhered it with foam tape, and tied some white polka dot organdy around the card. I wanted to use the new Large Taylored Expressions Perfect Package for the gift. I have so many ideas for these cool boxes I just can't get them out fast enough! They ship flat and come together really easily with a magnetic closure to keep your goodies inside. There's a special over at The Store right now where you can buy a half dozen of these boxes (they come in 2 different sizes) for a reduced price! Click here to check out all the details. I nestled two little onesies inside and decorated the box with more of the Pebbles, Inc. patterned paper. I used the new JustRite lowercase alphabet to spell out "Sweet Baby Madelyn" around the 2 5/8" block with an 'm' monogram in the middle. I tied a bow around the lid of the box with light pink grosgrain and brown polka dot organdy and added a little 'made with love' heart charm. Sweet and simple presentation for this baby gift! Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #56

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! My little St. Patrick's Day cuppie from A Year of Sweets 1 has been begging to be inked and today's sketch provided the perfect opportunity to ink my stamp and use some of my glittery St. Patrick's Day paper. I decided to color the image with Prismacolor pencils since they've been gathering dust in the corner lately. I covered the rainbow with Crystal Stickles, added some Tiny Twinkles to the pot of gold, and some of the glittered foam clovers I picked up at Michael's. The Happy St. Patrick's Day sentiment fit perfectly underneath my image. I used the horizontal slot punch to make room for the Apple Green polka dot ribbon. The image was cut out with the oval classic and scalloped Spellbinders dies and popped up on foam tape. I picked up the pre-glittered Best Creations patterned paper at my LSS. Pam Varnell, our Featured Cupcake Sampler this week, caught my eye with her cute valentine last week! Pam decided to flip the sketch for her adorable sample this week. I love the color combination and all the little details she added... check out the pearly necklace, the paper pieced hat, and the little rhinestones adorning each scallop in the background! You can check out all of the details on this card and more of Pam's beautiful work on her blog: The Stamping Addict. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Pam! Now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions this weekend to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler next week. Your design and blog will be featured on my blog during Cupcake Friday. You're not required to use cupcakes for the challenge, but if you got 'em why not use 'em!? If you're uploading to Splitcoast use keyword TECC56 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 56). Leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so I can check it out! You must have your cards uploaded by Monday, February 23rd at 8am PST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler.


I have one more announcement today! I've uploaded tons of new products to the store. If you subscribe to our newsletter, you'll be receiving all the details soon. If not, go sign up and then head over to the store and check out the new Swiss Dot ribbon collection, Saddle Stitch bundles in Bright & Natural, polyester twill bundle, accordion stretch ribbon, houndstooth ribbon, new trims, and the super cool Taylored Expressions Perfect Package! We also have a special limited time offer for you: Now through February 28th - All orders for any product at Taylored Expressions over $30 (before shipping and tax) will receive a FREE BUNDLE of 1/4" Solid Grosgrain Ribbon (colors of our choice). Simply type "Free Ribbon Please" in the comments section of your order. The Ribbon Bundle will NOT show up in your shopping cart, but rest assured our awesome shipping team will be sure to include it in your order! Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Shopping!


Don't forget to check out the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew! Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Jackie Pedro, Vicki Chrisman, Stephanie Hargis, Ana Wohlfahrt, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens. We're also welcoming a familiar face back to the Cupcake Crew... Lynn Mercurio! Don't forget to stop by her blog and see her fabulous sample!

JulieAnn's Wedding Invitation

My friend JulieAnn is getting married in June which is coming up super fast! I've decided to stop doing wedding invitations for hire as I just don't have time with all the new stuff going on at Taylored Expressions. But I'd do just about anything for JulieAnn so I told her I'd design an invitation if she would help print, cut, and assemble! So last night I sat down to create something special. I knew she wanted this pocket fold flap closure invitation. I used my Scor Pal to score an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock at 1.5" and 6.5" along the long side. For the pocket, I cut a piece at 5" by 3.5" and scored it at 1/4" on three sides. I folded on the score lines, cut off the overlap on the bottom corners, and use Sticky Tape to adhere the pocket to the invitation base. I added a strip of patterned paper along the front flap and you can see that the invitation closes with a Basic Grey magnet. You'll notice some discrepancies on the inside of the invitation. I used this invitation wording for another coworker's wedding in March so that's why the invite doesn't say JulieAnn on it yet. We haven't finalized her wording, but I wanted to get a sample made. I cut each of the inserts inside the pocket at varying lengths so you can see each of the titles easily. There's an insert for directions to the ceremony and reception, accommodations, and the reply card. I also used my JustRite 1 5/8" stamper with the Trompe Font and a border from the Special Occasions Deluxe Kit. For the mid-section of the invitation, I used a pre-scored and pre-punched yellow base. I added the patterned paper and invitation details and tied it all together with a piece of coral grosgrain (my bow got messed up before I took the picture... I hate it when that happens! lol). All of the paper goods (with the exception of the Snow White cardstock) were purchased at Paper Source. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Feeling Inspired!

I didn't make a trip to Target last night, but I was feeling inspired anyway by the bright colors in this Kaiser Craft patterned paper and the cute Whipper Snapper presents image. I stamped the image onto Choice Snow White cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored the image with Copic markers to match the patterned paper. I added a Stampin' Up decorative flower brad to the flower on the top of the stack of presents. I wanted the card to look like a wrapped present so I used the horizontal slot punch in the top, popped it up with foam tape, threaded the Bubblegum twill around the back of the image, and tied a bow on the top. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages. I added Tiny Twinkles to some of the packages and underneath the sentiment. You know what I just realized I never told you about!? The heavenly present I got from Jon for Valentine's Day. We went and got massages together at a spa last weekend! Have you ever had one of those hot stone massages? I hadn't had a stone massage before... it was so relaxing! I would highly recommend it! :)That's it for me today...thanks for stopping by! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Creatively Exhausted & Top Chef Reminder

So.... where have I been lately? For one thing we're preparing for another (super exciting!) release at Taylored Expressions! You'll definitely want to mark March 2nd on your calendar... that's when all the fun will begin with lots of new announcements and sneak peeks from the design team! Amidst all the preparations for another release I've been feeling creatively exhausted. I figure I can't be the only one who feels this way from time to time so I thought I'd enlist your help. What do you do when you're feeling creatively exhausted? I have a few things to throw out there (although I haven't gotten around to doing them yet!). One of the first things I'll do is head to Target. It's chock full of fun alterable containers, cute color combinations (love the children's clothing section!), and lots of home decor ideas. I'll also sit down with some of my favorite magazines (Real Simple, Domino, Martha Stewart Living) and pore over the pages for trendy themes in color and design. Anyway, that's what I'm going to try... what do you do?

For those of you who aren't feeling creatively exhausted, I wanted to give you one last reminder about the Taylored Expressions Top Chef contest! All you have to do is create a card or project using any of the January 2nd releases (A Year of Sweets 1, A Year of Sweets 2, A Year of Sweets 3, Love is Sweet) and e-mail a photo to me at tayloredexpressions@gmail.com on or before February 20th (that's this Friday) to be entered into the contest. Please use Top Chef in your e-mail subject line. I will pick the cutest, most creative entry to choose one FREE STAMP SET from the next Taylored Expressions release!!! Free rubber! WooHoo!!!! Your creation will also be featured on the Stamp a Sweet Impression blog for all to see!

After a little creative rejuvenation tonight, I hope to be back tomorrow with something to share! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #55

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Do you have any plans? Jon and I went out for our Valentine's Day dinner last night so we don't have to fight the crowds on Saturday. He says he has a special activity planned, but I guess it's a surprise since we won't tell me anything about it. I love surprises! *grin* So today and tomorrow are my last chances to use my lovey dovey stamps and papers! I picked up these Doodlebug patterned papers at my LSS. The hearts on these Doodlebug papers are already flocked and glittered... so fun! I decided to use cuppie surrounded by chocolates from the Love is Sweet set. You know the line of chocolate candies included in the set? I markers a single chocolate and used it to add even more chocolates around cuppie. The image is colored with Copic markers and I added Espresso Dimensional Pearls to some of the chocolates. I get to check a couple more things off my list of things to use before Valentine's Day! I've had these Making Memories Jelly Labels as long as I can remember and I finally used one (the 'love' sentiment). I also have a ton of epoxy stickers that I found on a Target clearance several years ago. I punched a little hole in one of the stickers and tied it to the ribbon as a charm. I know the bow is hard to see in the picture, but it's white polka dot organdy from May Arts. Jodi Collins, our Featured Cupcake Sampler this week, caught my eye with her sweet cuppie Valentine creation last week! Jodi's images are always colored with such fun, vibrant colors and she's created another piece of eye candy for us this week! I love all the little details she's added... the double ribbon bow, the brads in the corner, and all the piercings on each layer! You can check out all of the details on this card and more of Jodi's beautiful work on her blog: Stamping A Latte. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Jodi! Now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions this weekend to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler next week. Your design and blog will be featured on my blog during Cupcake Friday. You're not required to use cupcakes for the challenge, but if you got 'em why not use 'em!? If you're uploading to Splitcoast use keyword TECC55 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 55). Leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so I can check it out! You must have your cards uploaded by Monday, February 16th at 8am PST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to check out the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew: Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Jackie Pedro, Vicki Chrisman, Monika Davis, Stephanie Hargis

JustRite Masculine Thank You

Masculine cards are tough for me and I'm sure many of you would agree. We all like pretty things like velvet ribbon, satin flowers, and sparkly bling! These things just don't look quite right on masculine cards. The other night Jon asked me to make him a thank you card to send to a banquet in honor of one of his high school coaches back in Iowa. Obviously living in California he won't be able to attend the banquet, but wanted to show his appreciation by participating in the card shower. He doesn't ask me to make cards for him very often so I always jump at the opportunity when he does ask. I think it's pretty obvious that this was a 10 minute card... gotta love those! The card base is Stampin' Up Going Grey. The patterned paper is from Pebbles, Inc. I separated the two patterns with a strip of ric-rac (not too girly, right?). Then I stamped the 'Thanks' sentiment from the JustRite Harmony Classic Circle II Ensemble in Versamagic Aegean Blue ink and punched it out with a 1 3/4" circle punch. The sentiment is layered on a scalloped circle cut out from a Spellbinders dies and popped up on foam tape over the ric rac. That's it... like I said, 10 minutes start to finish! I think I'll go ahead and make a whole set of these while I have all the supplies out so Jon will have masculine thank you cards to last him for a while! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

The Epley Book

The other day I was chatting with one of my friends about my weekend agenda. I quickly said "Oh... and I have to make this Epley book." Her 20 questions started from there... "What's an Epley book?"... "How do you make an Epley book?" I assured her that I hadn't discovered a new technique and explained that Epley is the last name of a soon to be married couple. I was asked to make the "Epley Book" as a gift for the bride at her bridal shower. Each letter of their last name is stapled to a separate page in the book. All of the guests at the shower were asked to write a word describing the happy couple on each page and starting with the letter cooresponding to that page (i.e. Loving on the 'L' page). The last page of the book has a title "Advice for the Epley's" where everyone wrote their advice for a happy marriage. I started by stamping the letters of their last name with the JustRite Brayton Font in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I punched each letter with the 1 1/4" circle punch and layered it onto 1 3/8" circle punch. I cut up and glued down my patterned paper before I remembered to turn it over and check the brand. I've had this piece of paper for a loooong time so I'm sure it's nothing new and exciting. I printed their names (Trent & Giovanna) onto Choice Buttercream cardstock in Susie's Hand font. Then I decorated the front cover with popped up flowers and Zva Crystal Swirls. The front and back cover are heavyweight chipboard and the inside pages are Choice Buttercream cardstock. The finished size of the book is 5" x 7.5" and was bound using the Bind It All. I love the JustRite products because they allow you to make anything you can dream up... including the "Epley Book"! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Divine Design 2008 - February

It's time for another month of Divine Design with Lori, Jami, Angel, and Nancy. Last month I began my project for the year with a 6x6 layout and hanging stand to hold all of my verses throughout the year. I'll be using the same collection of patterned papers for each layout (SEI Dill Blossom) so when the year is over it will all coordinate. I also used Zva Chocolate Rectangle Crystals to dress it up. The passage I chose this month has been on my mind a lot lately:

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:31-34

Sometimes I allow worry to consume my life. The questions of "what if?" are never-ending if I let them in. A few weeks ago at church (we have church in our home every Sunday) we wrote down our worries on paper, shared them with the rest of the community, and went outside to burn the pieces of paper in a bucket and give them over to God. Since that moment I've really made a conscious effort to bring my worries to Him. Another verse, Matthew 6:27, says "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" That sure puts it in perspective for me! I'm not accomplishing anything by worrying so I need to have faith in His control of my life.

We'll be posting our Bible verse creations on the 9th of each month, and we hope that you'll join us in sharing a verse that has meaning for you. There are very few rules to this challenge, but you can read all of them on this thread at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #54

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! I took the day off work today to celebrate Ani's birthday. Ani is one of my coworkers and she and my friend JulieAnn (another coworker) are two of my favorite people to be with! We did happy hour last night and stayed in a hotel and we're hanging out all day today just doing girly things! We're going to see He's Just not that into You, getting massages, manis & pedis, etc. A true pampering day that we all totally needed! I made this cupcake card before I left. I must confess that I designed the sketch a little differently, but as the card was coming together the circle embellishment took a different spin. That is one of the great things about sketches... they're meant for inspiration! If you end up using them exactly the way they are that's great, but if your creation turns out a little differently... that's great too! I've been wanting to use more of the DCWV rub-ons that my friend Latrice gave me and this sketch provided the perfect opportunity to build a "sweet scene." I arranged the yummy treats onto Choice Snow White cardstock and layered it onto a Spellbinders scalloped rectangle. I added Zva clear crystal swirls to the background, a strip of Caribbean polka dot ribbon, and a birthday sentiment from Papertrey. Wendy, our Featured Cupcake Sampler this week, caught my eye with her adorable bunny creation last week! I loved the cute color combination paired with that sweet bunny image and every detail was placed just right! Wendy created another masterpiece for us this week. I love the sweet bear with the 'I heart U' sentiment and the row of brads she added along the side! You can check out all of the details on this card and more of Wendy's beautiful work on her blog: Bond Girl Bliss. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Wendy! Now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions this weekend to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler next week. Your design and blog will be featured on my blog during Cupcake Friday. You're not required to use cupcakes for the challenge, but if you got 'em why not use 'em!? You must upload your creation to Splitcoaststampers using keyword TECC54 to be eligible. Leave your link below using Mr. Linky so I can check it out! You must have your cards uploaded by Monday, February 9th at 8am PST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to check out the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew: Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Jackie Pedro, Vicki Chrisman, Monika Davis, Stephanie Hargis, Sherrie Siemens, and Ana Wohlfahrt

Smooch in the house!

There was a whole lot of smoochin' going on at our house last night! No... not that kind of smooch! *wink* The new Smooch product I ordered at CHA came in yesterday! I thought the Stampin' Up Garden Silhouettes set would be the perfect image to use the Smooch. I started by coloring the image with markers and stamping it onto Choice Buttercream cardstock. Then I painted all of the flowers and berries with Siren Smooch. After letting it dry I layered Pumpkin Smooch around the outside of each flower. I added a few Green Apple Smooch highlights to the leaves and went back to the flowers to add the little details with Moonlight Smooch. You can see how easy it is to be detailed with the fine-tip applicator. I was able to make each of those mini-dots, highlight the leaves, and dot the berries without any extra effort! I embossed the large green scalloped square with my Textile Texture Cuttlebug embossing folder. The sentiment is from Hobby Lobby (I think the Stampabilities brand?) and I added a row of Zva brown crystal strips to the bottom. A touch of May Arts satin ribbon finishes off the super simple card! Here's a closeup of the Smooch in action so you can see just how detailed you can get with it. It's now available at Taylored Expressions in 8 different colors for only $4.50 a bottle. If want all of the Smooch you can get, click here for the I Want It All Smooch item. All 8 bottles for $36.00. Here's another picture of an open Smooch bottle so you can see the fine-tip applicator. The bottles are plastic as well so you don't have to worry about dropping them! Can you tell I love this new product!? I've already made a request to Clearsnap for a true red for Cuppie's cherry! *grin* Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!


Stamps: Garden Silhouettes (Stampin' Up), sentiment (Stampabilities) Cardstock: Suede Brown Dark, Spring Willow Medium, Desert Coral Dark (Prism Papers), Choice Buttercream (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive markers (Stampin' Up), Siren Smooch, Moonlight Smooch, Green Apple Smooch, Pumpkin Smooch, Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Zva brown crystal strips, foam tape, Textile Texture Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders scalloped squares, satin ribbon (May Arts)

For my sweetheart

Good morning! I sat down last night to create a special gift for my sweetheart for Valentine's Day. My stamp room is quite a mess (as usual) and I didn't have anything specific in mind for the gift so I decided to do a little clean up first. Does cleaning give you creative energy? I think most people would probably say no, but there's something about cleaning my stamp room that gives me great ideas! I think it's because I actually take the time to look in all the little nooks and crannies and I always discover something I didn't remember I had. Such was the case with this little project. I found some acetate accordian albums tucked away in the corner of my room along with a bunch of the Provo Craft band-aid tins. Then I got on the computer and printed out a couple of my favorite J&T pics and started on my layout. Here are some closeup shots:

I used Zva Creative black crystal swirls on this panel. The hearts are cut out from some Heidi Swapp Carefree Hearts patterned paper and I used the Papertrey Simple Alphabet to stamp the You & Me sentiment. The 'kiss' word and definition were cut out from a piece of 7 Gypsies patterned paper. This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding (almost 5 years ago... time flies!).




I used the Zva Creative crystal alphabet on these two panels. The letters are adhered to 1 1/4" circle punches and layered over 1 1/2" scalloped punches. The heart borders are from the Heidi Swapp Carefree Hearts patterned paper. All of the scallops are popped up on dimensionals.








And for the last panel I chose an oldie but a goodie... one of the pictures from our session of engagement photos. I used more Zva black crystal swirls, some American Crafts ribbon, and a heart brad to finish off the layout.












Then I needed something to hold my accordian album so I decorated this band-aid tin. I used the same Heidi Swapp Carefree Hearts paper and Zva black crystal swirls. I created a heart out of the parentheses that come with the crystal alphabet package and layered it onto a 1 1/2" scalloped circle. The ribbon tied around the handle is American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Monkey Love

I have to be super speedy today because it's my little sister's 18th birthday today and I'm heading off to meet the whole family for a celebration at Buca di Beppo! I know those of you who are much older than me will roll your eyes, but now that my little sister is turning 18 I'm feeling quite old! I told my mom that the other day and she said "How do you think I feel!?" Hannah (my baby sister) is 8 years younger than me so I'm still picturing the sweet little girl who collected hermit crabs and performed dance shows for the family. She's all grown up now, but still that sweet little girl in my head! Anyhow, all of that has nothing to do with the card I made last night. I pulled out my Stampendous Valentine Changitos for this one. The patterned paper is American Crafts and I used it to paper piece the balloon to match. The image is colored with Copic markers and I used Taylor's Tiny Twinkles to highlight the polka dots on the balloon. The swirly printed grosgrain is also American Crafts from Michael's. I bought the Martha Stewart scalloped heart border punch a few weeks ago and it has been my goal to use it before Valentine's Day had passed... mission accomplished! Well, I must be off to dinner! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have wonderful evening!