Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #70

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! Guess what!? I got some new stamps! It's been too long since I've placed an order at my favorite stamp store, Eclectic Paperie. Have you seen their new Our Craft Lounge exclusive set, Hangin' Loose with Kona? It's soooo cute... I'll have a Kona card to show you tomorrow! Today I wanted to use my new Penny Black Party Animals stamp. Do you see the little cupcake in the corner!? So cute! I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. Portions of the image are also highlighted with Crystal Stickles... it just wouldn't be a proper birthday card without some bling! The cardstock, patterned paper, and ribbon are from the Dazzled Key Ingredients kit released yesterday for the Spring Spectacular event at TE. Make sure you scroll down to read all about our newest Key Ingredients kits and how you can get your hands on them at a spectacularly discounted price! The sentiment and little mini cupcake are from Papertrey's Limitless Labels and the little star rhinestones are Tiny Twinkles from the Multi-colored shapes collection. And now I'm so excited to introduce you to another Featured Cupcake Sampler! Gwen Snater caught my eye with her beautifully simple birthday card for TECC68. I loved that picket fence border so much I had to run out to Michael's and buy it for myself! She took a different interpretation of the sketch this week by flipping it vertical. Don't you just love the color combination and all the wonderful flower details? You can check out all of the details on this card and more of Gwen's beautiful work on her blog My Crafty Days Off. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Gwen! Now it's your turn to try the sketch! All you need to do is make a card using the sketch below and upload your link using Mr. Linky by Friday, June 5th. I'll choose the cutest creation from the submissions to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler. 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 TECC70 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 70). I'm also giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to PaperCraftPlanet using the same TECC70 keyword. So while you're uploading your card to SCS and your blog, hop over to PCP and enter yourself in the fun there! I always look forward to seeing what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by today!

For even more sketch challenge inspiration, don't miss the goodies from the Cupcake Crew: Donna Baker, Lynn Mercurio, Sherrie Siemens, Jami Sibley, Vicki Chrisman

Spring Spectacular Event!

I'm so excited to share something new with you! It's the Spring Spectacular event at Taylored Expressions! We're thrilled to bring you four limited edition Spring Spectacular Key Ingredients kits each at the spectacularly discounted price of $12.95 . The four Spring Spectacular kits are Brilliant, Dazzled, Delighted, and Enchanted. Whether you're brand new to our Key Ingredients Kits or already love them, this is a fantastic opportunity to feed your creative sweet tooth with this honey of a deal! Each of the Spring Spectacular kits features a different line of My Mind's Eye patterned papers (20 sheets of 6x6 patterned paper in 10 different patterns) as well as coordinating cardstock die cuts, 5 yards of ribbon, and 12 sheets of coordinating solid cardstock in 5 colors plus a coordinating neutral. You'll also receive a full-color inspiration sheet with samples created by the Baker's Dozen! We have limited quantities of each kit and these will not be re-stocked when we run out, so get 'em while you can! Today my cards feature the Brilliant kit paired with images from the Boys Will Be Boys stamp set. These cards came together so quickly with the help of the Brilliant kit. All of the die cuts, cardstock, patterned paper, and embellishments are from the kit. All I had to do was pick out an image and lay out the design. All of my cards are maculine, but this kit has such bright, fun colors that can be used for any person and any occasion! Some of the ladies from the Baker's Dozen are also showcasing the Spring Spectacular Key Ingredients kits today! Check out what they've created using each of these four kits:

Brilliant: Karen Motz

Delighted: Jodi Collins, Charmaine Ikach

Dazzled: Dawn Easton, Jami Sibley

Enchanted: Laura Fredrickson, Sankari Wegman

Attention SoCal Stampers!

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day and a nice long weekend! I woke up refreshed and ready to start a new week (knowing that it's only a 4-day work week helped!). I wanted to let all of you stampers located in the Southern California area know that I will be doing a trunk show and make and take at Pages from the Heart in Monrovia this Saturday, May 30th from 10am - 1pm. I'll have the full collection of Whimsical Wishes and Stamp a Sweet Impression stamp sets available for purchase (at a discount too!). Kathy, the owner of Pages from the Heart, will also be having a big sale so you'll want to bring some extra moola to shop the wonderful collections of patterned paper, embellishments, and stamps in her store! Click here for the address to Pages... hope to see you there on Saturday!

Stampin' Out Alzheimers Sketch Challenge

Are you enjoying the long weekend!? We are! Yesterday we went on a hike to enjoy the beautiful weather and it was so nice to sleep in this morning knowing I don't have to go in to work today. If you're looking for something to do today, you'll definitely want to check out the Stampin' Out Alzheimers event! Jen Tapler is hosting this special event in honor of her father who has Alzheimers. For a small donation of just $5.00 you can join the Stampin' Out Alzheimers forum where you'll find tons of challenges, freebie downloads, and much more! All proceeds for the event are being donated to the Alzheimers Assosciation. What a great opportunity to support such a worthy cause and do something we love at the same time!

In support of the event, Taylored Expressions is sponsoring 4 challenges and giving away $100 in TE gift certificates! I've designed a special sketch with some bonus challenges just for this event. This is the card I created with the sketch, but you'll have to sign up for the forum in order to see the sketch and participate in the challenge for a chance to win. Make sure you check out these challenges too for even more chances to win a TE gift certificate:

Two by Two Challenge hosted by Jodi Collins and Karen Motz

Scrapbook Layout Challenge hosted by Sankari Wegman

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge hosted by Karen Giron

For my sketch challenge card I pulled out my Branching Out stamp set. The other day when I was at Michael's I found this super cute American Crafts ribbon with pears on it! I thought it would look so cute with the whimsical pears from the Branching Out set. I know pears aren't really brown, blue, orange, and red, but that's part of the fun of stamping... they can be whatever color I say they are!

One more announcement today! Today is the last Monday in May which means this week is the last of our Mondays in May sale. This week, from May 25th - May 31st, all of the Alterables at the TE Store are 15% off! Check out our Alterable Date Stand, Perfect Package, and the popular Frame Your Imagination vertical stand!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #69

Happy Cupcake Day! And TGIF! I am so ready for a three day weekend! We don't have any major plans except a little spring cleaning and a lot of preparation for the June 5th release! We have some super exciting stuff planned for this release... I can hardly wait! You'll only have to wait a few more weeks for the release, but while you're waiting why not create a card for this week's sketch challenge!? I decided to use some of the new JustRite stamps for my creation. I used the bonus cupcake center that comes with the 2 3/8" Stamper, the 1 3/16" wood block for the sentiment, and the Small Letter Set for the sentiment font. I started by stamping the top cupcake and then masked it with Eclipse tape and stamped the two bottom cupcakes side by side. I paper pieced the cupcake lining and frosting and used the Copic trick I told you about last week to highlight the shaded areas. Then I cut out the image with my Spellbinders classic rectangle shape and layered it onto the larger scalloped rectangle. After stamping the sentiment I punched it out, layered it onto a scalloped circle, and added the rhinestone cherries to the center. The patterned paper I used is from the My Mind's Eye Feeling Groovy collection. I just love the bright, springy colors! That's it for my card and now that means it's time to introduce you to the Featured Cupcake Sampler this week! Jessica Diedrich has been catching my eye with her beautiful creations week after week! Her intricate designs always have the just the right little details to pull it all together. Today she showed us the softer side of Downtown Diva with the subtle pastel colors and sweet pearl accents. When it comes to cupcakes "What diet?" is definitely my motto! Jessica's creations are always a treat and you can check out all of the details on this card and more of her beautiful work on her blog The Whimsical Butterfly. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Jessica! Now it's your turn to try the sketch! All you need to do is make a card using the sketch below and upload your link using Mr. Linky by Friday, May 29th. Note: Mr. Linky is being naughty lately!Sometimes he decides to stay hidden. If you're unable to link with Mr. Linky, just add a comment with your link and I'll still consider it for the FCS contest! I'll choose the cutest creation from the submissions to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler. 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 TECC69 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 69). I'm also giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to PaperCraftPlanet using the same TECC69 keyword. So while you're uploading your card to SCS and your blog, hop over to PCP and enter yourself in the fun there! I always look forward to seeing what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

For even more sketch challenge inspiration, don't miss the goodies from the Cupcake Crew: Stephanie Hargis, Donna Baker, Lynn Mercurio, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens, Ana Wohlfahrt, Vicki Chrisman, Jackie Pedro

May 20th Key Ingredients now available!

The May 20th Key Ingredients kit is now available for purchase! Each month we're excited to bring you a brand new set of coordinating patterned paper, cardstock, and embellishments... enough to make at least 16 cards for just $16.95. If you're looking for a better deal, you'll want to check out our Key Ingredients Subscription Service! In addition to getting a price break on our monthly Key Ingredients kits, you'll also receive lot of other great benefits:

º Tons of creativity in a box!

º Key Ingredients savings

Regular KI price = $16.95 per kit

3 month Subscription price = $15.95 per kit + shipping

6 month Subscription price = $14.95 per kit + shipping

º You get them FIRST!

º Participate right along with the Baker's Dozen in a challenge each month. A prize is awarded to one random winner from all the participants!

º Exclusive Storage Solution

º Store Discount. 10% off everything in the TE Store every month!

This is the abbreviated version of the benefits of our subscription service, but you can read all the details by visiting the 3 month and 6 month subscription options at the TE Store.

This month I've given half of the Baker's Dozen another challenge. We all need a stash of cards on hand for those times when we have to get something out in the mail today, but just don't have time to stamp. I challenged the girls to create some versatile all-occasion cards that can be ready to go whenever we need them. To make it a little more interesting, their creations must include some kind of stitching (faux or real) and there shouldn't be any sentiment on the front of the card. The great thing about this month's kit is that it can be elegant, whimsical, and even masculine depending on which papers and colors you combine. To show you the versatility of the kit I decided to make two cards, one using Boys Will Be Boys and the other using Fresh Flowers. For the first card I used the newspaper and coffee image from Boys Will Be Boys. The BWBB stamp set is currently out of stock, but should return to inventory within the next 2 weeks. If you'd like to be notified when it becomes available, go here, and click 'request restock notification' toward the bottom of the the page. Just enter your email address and we'll let you know as soon as it's available. So....do you see my stitching around the outside of the green swirl panel!? I have to give a shout out to my friend Jackie Pedro who pushed me over the edge to finally purchase the Janome Sewing Machine everyone is always raving about. Little did I know that buying it was just the first step! It arrived a few days later and then it sat on the floor of my stamp room, unopened, for months. I finally took time to read the directions a couple nights ago, and everybody is right about this sewing machine... it really is sew easy! I've still got a lot of practice before I could start whipping out my own clothes, but I thought a pillow might be my next project to tackle with my newfound friend. *grin* I gave you a sneak peek of my Fresh Flowers card on Monday so here's the full picture today. I pierced the design in the background and went with the faux stitching on this card. And I used dew drops inside the vase (like those little gems you put inside vases for decoration!). The flower is popped up on foam tape and highlighted with Siren Smooch. Besides the stitching, the other part of this challenge was to omit the sentiment from the front of the card. That was tough for me! When I design a card I'm always considering where to leave room for a sentiment. But now I have two versatile all-occasion cards that I can add a quick birthday, thank you, father's day sentiment too when I need them! We'd love to have you join us for the challenge this month. If you're a subscriber you've probably already received your Key Ingredients kit this month and can jump right in! Just leave a link in the Mr. Linky below to be eligible for the prize drawing. Congratulations to last month's winner Amanda Winkelman whose prize included A Year of Sweets 2 and Tiny Twinkles! If you haven't purchased the May 20th Key Ingredients you can still get in on the fun. We have a 3 month and 6 month subscription option available and you can also purchase the kit individually. Thanks for stopping by today!

Now head over to the Baker's Dozen blogs to see what they've created for our Key Ingredients challenge! I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Charmaine, Donna, Ana, Jodi, Karen G, and Laura

May Key Ingredients Subscription Sneak Peek

It's time for another Key Ingredients Subscription release at Taylored Expressions! If you've purchased our subscription service, you may have already received your May kit. That's just one of the perks of being a subscriber!


I wanted to show you a little sneak peek of one of the cards I made with the May kit. The Fresh Flowers stamp set coordinates wonderfully with the whimsically elegant patterned papers included in the kit. You know those clear gems that you put inside vases for a little extra decoration? I thought I'd try to achieve that same look with the dew drops included in this month's kit.

If you're not familiar with our Key Ingredients Subscription Service, you can read on for all the details. Or if you're already familiar with the subscription service then skip to the bottom to check out the lastest Mondays in May Sale!

Here’s just some of what you’ll LOVE about your Key Ingredients Subscription:

º Tons of creativity in a box! Everything you need to make at least 16 cards (including 6x6 patterned papers, 8.5 x 11 cardstock, ribbon, and various embellishments) in a different color palette each month. The subscription kits will coordinate well with the TE stamp sets, but you can also use them with the many other stamp sets you own. Simply add the stamps, ink and adhesive to cook up a batch of coordinating cards.

º Key Ingredients savings
Regular KI price = $16.95 per kit
3 month Subscription price = $15.95 per kit + shipping
6 month Subscription price = $14.95 per kit + shipping

º You get them FIRST! These kits will debut in the store on the 20th of each month, but they will be shipped out to our Subscribers on the 15th, so in most cases you’ll have the product in your hands before anyone else even sees it!

º Monthly Challenge. Each month there will be a KI Subscriber’s Challenge included in your kit and you will have until the 30th of May to upload your card and link it back to my blog to be entered into the monthly prize drawing. Of course playing is totally optional, but we just can’t wait to see what you come up with!

º Baker’s Dozen Samples. Each month when the KI’s are debuted on the 20th, half of the Baker’s Dozen will share a creation they've made with elements from the KI Subscription kit so you’ll have plenty of project inspiration!

º Storage. Subscriber kits will come in a plastic storage case. This $3.00 value is a FREE and exclusive benefit to Subscribers only. Non-subscribers purchasing the kits on regular orders will receive their Key Ingredients in the acetate envelopes they've always been packaged in. The plastic storage cases will not be available for separate purchase in the store for at least the first 6 months of our subscription program.

º Store Discount. Subscribers will be given a special discount code to save 10% on any order placed between the 10th – 14th of the month to be combined with your KI Subscription auto-ship.

If you purchase the 3 month or 6 month subscription before May 25th you'll receive the May KI Kit on your doorstep soon!

The Mondays in May Sale beginning today, May 18th, is the TE Favor Box Sampler. Taylored Expressions is proud to offer a wide variety of favor boxes and die cuts in your choice of 40 different Prism cardstock colors. Each favor box is offered in a minimum quantity of 10 (same style and same color) for only .50 per box. We know that many of you would like to try several of our most popular favor boxes and just have some fun playing with them, so we've created a sampler of 10 customer favorites in a variety of colors of our choice. This sampler is available this week only at the very special price of only $3.00 - that's an incredible 40% off! Limit 3 Samplers per customer. The offer ends 5/24/09. Samplers will not be available after 5/24/09, so don't delay!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #68

Don't you just love reuniting with your stamps after a long vacation!? It felt so good to get creative in my stamp room this morning. Yes... I had to get up before 6am to make this card, but it was worth it! For today's sketch I decided to pull out my Cuppacakeabella stamp. I stamped the image onto Choice Snow White cardstock. When I'm running low on time I like to paper piece the larger portions of the image and go back in with a Copic marker to darken the cardstock in the areas I want shadowed. That's what I did with the cupcake frosting on this card. I paper pieced it with Frosted Teal cardstock and went back with a BG000 Copic to highlight. I also paper pieced the cupcake lining to match the patterned paper on the side. Then I cut out the image and popped it up over my Labels 1 die cut. The striped patterned paper is SEI that I picked up at Michael's. I also found some glittery flower ribbon that matches the patterned paper perfectly! To finish it off I added a Papertrey sentiment, Prima flowers, and a metal flower charm. I have sad news... I am without a Featured Cupcake Sampler again this week . *sad face* I didn't hear back from the person I asked and since I've been on vacation for a week I didn't get a chance to find a replacement. I promise there will be a Featured Cupcake Sampler next week though! Could it be you!? All you need to do is make a card using the sketch below and upload your link using Mr. Linky by Friday, May 22nd. I'll choose the cutest creation from the submissions to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler. 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 TECC68 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 68). I'm also giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to PaperCraftPlanet using the same TECC68 keyword. So while you're uploading your card to SCS and your blog, hop over to PCP and enter yourself in the fun there! I always look forward to seeing what you come up with!


For more sketch challenge inspiration, don't forget to visit the Cupcake Crew: Stephanie Hargis, Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Lynn Mercurio, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens, Ana Wohlfahrt, Vicki Chrisman, Jackie Pedro

Birthday Wishes Owl

I'm baaaaack! We made it home safely yesterday and I think our cats were happy to see us. Our neighbor was checking in on them while we were away, but they didn't get all the snuggles they're used to! *grin* Do you remember this photo I posted of our cat Morris in his Christmas sweater? This owl image kinda reminds me of that photo. The owl looks completely unamused at the party hat on his head! I stamped the image onto Kraft cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I colored the image with regular old colored pencils... nothing fancy like blending with gamsol. I like to do this from time to time, it brings me back to my childhood when mom would sit me down with my pencils to color in the latest grocery store coloring contest. Anybody else have a mom like that? I cut the image out with the Spellbinders Labels 1 die and sponged around it with Rich Cocoa ink. I started with a sketch challenge for the layout, but it took such a completely different direction that it didn't even resemble the sketch when I finished. The cardstock is Prism Suede Brown Dark and Stampin' Up Cameo Coral. The patterned paper is from the new Linnie Bell collection at Pebbles, Inc. My owl needed a perch so I stamped the solid tree branch from Branching Out, cut it out, covered it with Espresso Liquid Pearls, and added it below the owl. Then I finished it off with some Papertrey polka dot ribbon. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope to see you tomorrow for Cupcake Friday!

Stack 'o Cuppies & a SALE!

We're still on vacation for another few days, but I wanted to tell you about our current "Mondays in May" sale and also show you this card I made before we left. It had been a while since I pulled out my Sweet Celebration stamp set and I needed a quick birthday card. I used elements from the April Key Ingredients kit and added a few extras (the Zva rhinestone frame, red rhinestone cherry, and some Papertrey satin ribbon). I stamped the image in Memento ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. Now for our next "Mondays in May" sale announcement. This week, from May 11th - May 17th, we're having out Embellishing Essentials sale at the TE Store! All brads, glitter, and grosgrain ribbon (solid, polka dot, & striped) is 15% off. You can find all of our sale products in the What's the Deal category on the website. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #67

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! As I'm typing this post I haven't packed anything for our vacation and we're leaving in about 6 hours. Since I'd like to sleep a few of those hours, this post is going to be short and sweet! For today's sketch I used the May calendar image from A Year of Sweets 2. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. I added some blue rhinestone strips to the corners of the scalloped frame and a red gem to the cuppie's cherry. The ribbon is 5/8" satin in Green Apple. The patterned paper is American Crafts and the cardstock is Prism. When I designed this sketch I had no idea how hard it would be for me to offset my image panel. I love it when I see it on other people's cards, but when I do it on my own cards I think it just looks crooked! lol. To finish it off I added the 'sending you sunshine' sentiment from A Year of Sweet Sentiments. You may have noticed last week that I decided to extend the deadline to be eligible for the Featured Cupcake Sampler. The deadline for last week's sketch was this morning at 8am. Because of the extended deadline, there is no Featured Sampler this week. Next week everything will be back to normal! So now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler. 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 TECC67 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 67). I'm also giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to PaperCraftPlanet using the same TECC67 keyword. So while you're uploading your card to SCS and your blog, hop over to PCP and enter yourself in the fun there! Then come back here and leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so I can check it out! You're always welcome to play with any of these sketches at any time, but in order to be eligible for the Featured Cupcake Sampler, please have your cards linked here by Friday, May 15th at 8am PST for consideration for the Featured Cupcake Sampler. Can't wait to see what you all come up with! Thanks for stopping by today!

And you don't want to miss the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew: Stephanie Hargis, Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Lynn Mercurio, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens, Ana Wohlfahrt

JustRite May Blog Hop

The JustRite Blog Team is at it again with another blog hop! JustRite has released six new collections of borders and centers to coordinate with the JustRite products you already own! The new Girl Time Centers & Borders set was calling to me last night as I was craving a late-night martini! If you know me... you know I love my 'tinis! I thought it would be fun to host a 'tini tasting party. I figured it wouldn't be a very good party without personalized charms for everyone's glass so I dug through my stash and un-earthed my polyshrink! I used the Girls Night Out border around the outer ring of my 2" wood stamper. Then I used a polka dot border made for the 1 5/8" stamper to fit around the inner ring on the 2" stamper. Then I added the monogram from the Brayton font to the center. I poked a hole above the monogram and then used my heat gun to melt the charm to its final shape. I added seed beads to a piece of wire to finish off the glass charms. Then I got started on my martini shaped invitation. I began with a piece of cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 12" and folded it in half the long way. Then I sketched a martini onto the folded piece of cardstock and cut it out (leaving the fold at the top of the martini glass intact). I traced the top of the glass onto some martini patterned paper, cut it out, and adhered it to the front of the invitation. I threaded a thin piece of cardstock through the holes in the green button for my "olive" and tied a bit of green organdy polka dot ribbon around the base of the glass. Then for the most important part (the 'tini tasting invite!) I used the martini center from the Girl Time set and the 15pt. Times New Roman font to spell out "You're Invited to a 'Tini Tasting" around the outer ring of my 2" wood stamper. I stamped it all in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored the image with Copics. I added a bit of Crystal Stickles to the martini glass and called it good! Now all I have to do is find some more fun 'tini recipes and invite my girlfriends to my 'tini tasting party! Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to hop around and see what the rest of these talented ladies have created:

JustRite Stampers, Barb Schram, Becca Feeken, Debbie Olson, Heidi Blankenship, Kellie Fortin, Lauren Meader, Lisa Somerville, Michele Kovack, Michelle Wooderson, Sharon Harnist, and Sharon Johnson.

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Today is the BIG day! Our two newest stamps sets are available for purchase at the TE Store right now! My release day posts are always packed with information so read carefully... you don't want to miss a thing!

Without further ado, I'm excited to introduce you...

We're satisfying your creative sweet tooth with the latest addition to our Stamp a Sweet Impression collection, Doctor's Orders. A card or gift created with our get well cuppie is sure to cheer the young and old! And making its debut in the Whimsical Wishes collection is Boys Will Be Boys. You'll find something for every man in your life in this array of masculine images! If you're visiting Taylored Expressions for the first time, click here to learn more about our stamps.

You'll want to keep a few things in mind when you head over to the store to shop! First, don't forget about the Father's Day Key Ingredients! It's a fabulous collection of coordinating masculine papers and embellishments. And if you love our new Boys Will Be Boys stamp set and the Father's Day Key Ingredients then the Boys Will Be Boys Bundle is just for you! The bundle includes the new Boys Will Be Boys stamp set, the Father's Day Key Ingredients, an assortment of five charms to coordinate with the images in the stamp set (you can see these charms on my post yesterday), 8 sheets of metal (perfect for embossing, cutting shapes, and much more), and 10 gift card holders. The total value of these products is $54.85, but when you purchase them as part of the bundle it's only $49.95. In addition, you'll receive a roll of our 1/4" sticky tape (a $7.00 value) FREE!

We're also in the midst of our "Mondays in May" sale. Every Monday during May we'll announce new products for sale at the store. This week, Flower-related products are 15% off....Flower Soft, Felt Flowers, and our recent Fresh Flowers stamp set! You can check out all of the sale products in our What's the Deal Department!

And lastly, Jon and I are taking a little vacation! We're leaving on Friday so if you get your order in by Thursday night, we'll make sure it goes out on Friday! Otherwise, your order will ship on Thursday, May 14th when we return.

And now it's time to show you my release day project! I've been so excited to share my Doctor's Orders gift with you. As soon as I got this stamp set I ran to CVS and roamed the aisles to find little get well gifts I could alter. I picked up a jug of Burt's Bees Bath Soak (I loved the yellow salt and the buttery colored lid), travel tissues, eucalyptus aromatherapy balls, and Halls cough drops. I tell you what... those aromatherapy balls will clear out any stuffy nose! I took a whiff and 'Whew!' my sinuses will be clear for weeks! I started by altering the travel tissues. I used my Scor-Pal to create a cardstock wrap for the package. Then I added some Stampin' Up designer paper, red polka dot ribbon, and the tissue box image. I decorated an altoid tin to store the cough drops. And then I created a wrap for the aromatherapy balls and the bath soak. I just love how this whole set turned out and I can't wait to cheer somebody up with it! Anybody feeling sick? *wink* Thanks for stopping by for our release! I can't wait to see what you all create with these sets!

For even more eye candy check out the special release day projects from the Baker's Dozen: Ana Wohlfahrt, Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jen del Muro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sankari Wegman, Jami Sibley

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks - Day 2

Welcome to the second day of sneak peeks at Taylored Expressions! Mark your calendars for tomorrow, May 5th at 8am PST, when two new stamp sets, a Key Ingredients Kit, and much more will be released at the TE Store! Today the Baker's Dozen and I are sharing sneak peeks using the newest set in the Whimsical Wishes collection, Boys Will Be Boys! All of the creations you'll see from the Baker's Dozen also use elements from the Father's Day Key Ingredients kit being released this month. You'll find something for every man in your life in this one must-have masculine set! I decided to get a head start on my dad's Father's Day gifts with my sneak peek projects. I picked up these wood letters at Michael's and covered them with patterned paper from the Key Ingredients kit. My dad is a big golfer so I decided to decorate the letters with a golf theme. I thought this might be something he could set out on a shelf in his office or on his desk. I tied the taupe satin ribbon around the wood letter and then tied on the golf bag charm (more on how you can get your hands on these cool charms below!) with silver cording. Then I stamped the golf scene onto kraft paper and colored it with Copic markers. I cut it out and adhered it to the wood letter with foam tape. Of course I needed a matching card for my gift and I wanted to do something simple without a lot of embellishment so it was more 'manly' than cutesy. I stamped the same golf scene onto kraft cardstock and colored it with Copics. I cut and embossed the image with a Labels Three die and sponged around the edges with white pigment ink. The patterned paper, cardstock, and ric rac are part of the Father's Day Key Ingredients. I punched the 'par-fect' sentiment with the Stampin' Up large oval punch and hand-cut the teal layer. I could hear the glitter calling from the shelf and it was tough to resist, but in the end I like the simple look and I think my dad will too. If you're reading this, Dad, I hope you like your Father's Day present! That's it for my projects today, but I still have more to tell you about. I want to give you a heads up on the Boys Will Be Boys Bundle we're offering with the release tomorrow. The bundle includes the new Boys Will Be Boys stamp set, the Father's Day Key Ingredients, an assortment of five charms to coordinate with the images in the stamp set (you can see these charms below... aren't they fun!?), 8 sheets of metal (perfect for manly-man cards and gifts), and 10 gift card holders. The total value of these products is $54.85, but when you purchase them as part of the bundle it's only $49.95. In addition, you'll receive a roll of our 1/4" sticky tape (a $7.00 value) FREE! As I said before, the Boys Will Be Boys Bundle will be available with all of our new releases tomorrow, May 5th at 8am PST.













You thought I was done, right? Just stick with me for a few more minutes because you don't want to miss this next announcement! Every Monday in May we'll be offering new products for sale at Taylored Expressions! You'll want to keep checking our What's the Deal category at the TE Store to see what's on sale for that week. During the week of May 4th - May 10th we're having our Flowers for Mom sale. Flower related products are 15% off this week.... Flower Soft, Felt Flowers, and even our new Fresh Flowers stamp set! You'll find it all here!

Thanks for stopping by for the second day of sneak peeks! Make sure you stop by and see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has to share today: Ana Wohlfahrt, Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jen del Muro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sankari Wegman

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks - Day 1

Welcome to the first day of sneak peeks for the next stamp release from Taylored Expressions! I think we have some really awesome images to show you this month and I can hardly wait to share more with you! Today the Baker's Dozen and I are showcasing the newest addition to our Stamp a Sweet Impression collection, Doctor's Orders. The images in this set are sure to cheer anybody who's feeling a bit under the weather! I decided it might be fun to stamp the Dr. and patient image onto lined paper. I used a piece that I've been storing away (a.k.a. hoarding) from the October Afternoon County Fair collection. I colored the image with Copic markers, with the exception of the stethoscope which was colored with silver paint pen. Then I adhered some yummy red gems to top each little cuppie. The polka dot patterned paper is also from the October Afternoon County Fair collection and I used some brown and cream double-edge polka dot ribbon. To finish it off, I stamped the sentiment onto lined paper, popped it up with foam tape, and attached a brown polka dot binder clip to the top.

It's always hard for me to stop at just one card so I kept going! I wanted to create something a little softer this time so I pulled out an old favorite, the Cosmo Cricket Little Girls Collection. I started with Sketch Challenge 225 for inspiration. I stamped the image onto Choice Buttercream cardstock and colored everything but the comforter with Copic markers. Then I paper pieced the comforter with patterned paper. The image was cut out with a Spellbinders rectangle die, layered on the coordinating scalloped rectangle, and popped up on 1/8" foam tape. I added a Red Rain Dot to the cherry and the ribbon is Caribbean Satin from the store. I used my Stampin' Up 1" circle, 1 1/4" circle, and Label punch for the sentiment.

I know a lot of you are new to Taylored Expressions so I wanted to take some time to tell you about our stamps. If you're already a proud owner of TE stamps, then you know the wonderful quality and value coming your way each month! Our stamps are unmounted, deeply-etched rubber in a *cute* shade of pink! You can see just how deeply etched our stamps are in this picture. This means you get a perfect impression the first try...every time! The rubber image is attached to EZ Mount cling cushion allowing you to use our stamps with an acrylic block. Just peel the image from the storage panel, place it on the acrylic block, and stamp. Our EZ Mount has a lifetime guarantee and if any of your images lose their stickiness, we'll replace the EZ Mount absolutely free. Perhaps the most valuable feature of our stamps is that they are already die cut! Each set will come closely trimmed so there is no need to spend your time cutting out the images from a sheet of rubber. Each stamp set is packaged on a heavy-duty laminated storage panel (pictured here... yes, I'm giving you a big sneak peek!)with a full-color index. The stamps stick to the back of the panel that's ready to be stored inside our mini binder box. The binder box will store up to four stamp sets. The front and back cover can be customized in any way you choose, but it also comes with a Taylored Expressions insert for the cover and spine. The cover insert has four spaces for you to write the names of each set you've stored inside. Hopefully this description and these photos will answer most of your questions about our stamps. If you have further questions, please feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post! Thanks for stopping by during our first day of sneak peeks! Hope to see you right back here tomorrow when the Baker's Dozen and I show peeks from the next stamp set in the Whimsical Wishes collection!

You definitely don't want to miss the Doctor's Orders inspiration from the rest of the Baker's Dozen: Ana Wohlfahrt, Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jen del Muro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sankari Wegman

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #66

Happy Friday and Happy Cupcake Day! Once again I'm so relieved that it's Friday! I've had a stressful week at work trying to get March quarterly trust reports out to our clients and I'm ready to relax a little. Although there probably won't be too much relaxing because I'll be preparing for the next TE release! Sneak peeks start on Sunday, for the release on May 5th, so don't forget to stop back and see what the Baker's Dozen has cooked up with our awesome new releases! For today's sketch I decided to pull out an image from my Downtown Diva set. I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and cut it out with the Labels One Spellbinders die. Then I colored the image with Copic markers to match the SEI patterned paper. I added the 5/8" grosgrain across the top of the patterned paper and three buttons in the top left corner to match the sketch. The sentiment is also from the Downtown Diva set. And now I'm so excited to introduce you to the Featured Cupcake Sampler this week! I spent over an hour perusing Jenn Biedermann's blog when I clicked on her link and saw the adorable card she created with last week's sketch! And she's done it again this week with a totally sweet cupcake creation. I love the colors and the patterns and the sweet buttons topping each cupcake! You'll definitly want to check out all of the details on this card and more of Jenn's beautiful work on her blog: Created by JB. Thanks for sampling the sketch this week, Jenn! Now it's your turn to to try the sketch! I'll choose the most clever, creative, and cute creation from the submissions to be the Featured Cupcake Sampler. 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 TECC66 (for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 66). I'm also giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to PaperCraftPlanet using the same TECC66 keyword. So while you're uploading your card to SCS and your blog, hop over to PCP and enter yourself in the fun there! Then come back here and leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so I can check it out! Note: I'm changing the deadline for your submissions. You're always welcome to play with any of these sketches at any time, but now you'll have a week to make a card and link your creation here in order to be eligible for the Featured Cupcake Sampler. Please have your cards linked here by Friday, May 8th at 8am PST for consideration for the Featured Cupcake Sampler. Can't wait to see what you all come up with! Thanks for stopping by today!

And you don't want to miss the sketch challenge inspiration from the Cupcake Crew: Stephanie Hargis, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jami Sibley, Lynn Mercurio, Monika Davis, Vicki Chrisman, Sherrie Siemens, Ana Wohlfahrt