A Baker's Dozen Announcement

Good morning! We're gearing up for another Taylored Expressions stamp release this week and sneak peeks start tomorrow! But first I have an announcement to share with you before the festivities begin:

I'm always sad to announce when one of the Baker's Dozen steps down from the design team and it's no different today. I know you've all enjoyed the bright, sunny creations from Ana Wohlfahrt during the past year. Her gorgeous coloring and unique layouts set her creations apart! Ana has decided to step down from the Baker's Dozen in order to spend more time with her family, but I know you'll still want to stop by her blog to check out her beautiful creations in the future: Inkastamp. Thank you, Ana, for inspiring us with your talent and best wishes on your future paper crafting endeavors!

Sharon Harnist filled in for Ana on the Baker's Dozen last month and I'm so excited to announce that she'll be joining the team more permanently! Sharon is known for her beautiful Copic marker coloring and she always has a unique spin even with the most ordinary images! I know you'll find her creations inspirational and I hope you'll stop by her blog: Paperfections, and give her a big, warm welcome!

Hope to see you here tomorrow at 8am PST for sneak peeks! The cool fall air is putting me in the mood to go stamp some more Christmas cards...*hint hint*

Superwoman to the Rescue

Good morning! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I had so much fun stamping with my sweet, fabulous friend Sankari this weekend! She lives just a few hours from me so she drove up on Saturday morning and we stamped and chatted and shopped and we even got a little bit of sleep! And then Jon made his specialty pancakes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Sunday morning. We had all of our stamps out for the next TE release that's happening this Saturday, October 3rd! Sneak peeks start on Thursday so make sure you're tuned in! Today I wanted to show you a little different look using the Trick or Sweet II set. I started with Jen's SFYTT for the layout. I just love the Super Cuppie image in this set. I have some serious Superwomen in my life so I decided to make my Super Cuppie wearing pretty pinks and yummy girly bling. I colored the image with my Cuppie Copic Kit. Then I paper pieced the cape with Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper and popped them up with 1/16" foam tape. I added a clear dew drop to the cherry and some pink Tiny Twinkles to the "S". It just wouldn't be complete without Super Cuppie flying in on some swirly pink bling and a touch of pink ribbon. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #84

Happy Friday! It's been another one of those weeks for me! My lower back pain came again early this week and by Tuesday I couldn't move from the couch. I was able to get in to see the chiropractor yesterday for an adjustment and I'm feeling much better today. Still pretty stiff, but at least not as painful! So that's why you haven't seen me here at all this week. I couldn't sit in my chair long enough to make anything decent! But today I'm back with a sketch challenge to inspire you in your weekend stamping. Before I get to the sketch, I have some good news! The Berries & Cherries stamp set that I used in this sample is now back in stock at the store. It's been super popular and I know a lot of you have been on the lookout for it so I wanted to make special mention. Today's sketch is simple, with lots of room for embellishing. You'll see I used the Spellbinders Labels 3 shape instead of a circle for my image panel. And then I added some Bay Blue poly-twill along the side with a sweet little cherry charm dangling from the bow. This sketch was inspired by these JustRite Christmas cards which show another option for panel that peeks out from behind the image. I also used my new Stitch Doodle Dot template for the scalloped piercing and faux stitching along the left hand side. The patterned paper is from the Berries & Cherries Key Ingredients kit.

To participate in the sketch challenge, just create a card with this layout and upload it to your blog or to an online gallery. If you're uploading to an online gallery, use the keyword TESC84. Then come back here and add a direct link to your card with Mr. Linky below. I'm looking forwrad to checking out what you all come up with! Hope you have a fabulously crafty weekend!

To see samples made with this sketch, check out the Sketch Crew blogs:

Donna Baker, Jami Sibley, Lynn Mercurio, Sherrie Siemens

September 20th Key Ingredients Now Available!

Today marks the release of our September Key Ingredients Kit! If you’re already one of our subscribers then you’ve probably already received your kit…just one of the benefits of becoming a subscriber! I've issued another challenge to the Baker’s Dozen using this month’s kit and today we’re sharing our creations. I’ve heard from many of you that you’re interested in participating in the same challenge that I’ve issued to the design team so here it is:

Focus: Get inspired by the name of the patterned paper collection, Kitchen Spice, with kitchen themed cards or creations (magnets for the fridge, grocery list pad, message center, décor, etc.) or something incorporating spice (sugar & spice & everything nice, etc.)

Required Element: Paper distressing

If you choose to take our challenge, just link your creation with Mr. Linky below and you’ll be entered into a random drawing to receive our monthly prize! In the house where I grew up my mom had a plaque on the wall in the kitchen that read “Sit Long, Talk Much”. I love that saying and wanted something that would match the kitchen décor in our home. So I went out to Michael’s and bought some 2” wood blocks and some rust colored paint. I stamped each letter using JustRite Brayton font onto different pieces of patterned paper and punched them out with a square punch. Then I used some of the chipboard included in the kit to replace the ‘o’ in long and as an added block on the other side.

And here’s a picture of the September 20th Key Ingredients! We’re proud to offer the Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice collection of patterned paper along with coordinating cardstock, ribbon, buttons, and chipboard flowers! If you’re not one of our kit subscribers, this kit is available for purchase today for $16.95. But you might want to consider joining our hundreds of satisfied subscribers by purchasing a 3 month or 6 month subscription. As a subscriber you'll receive a ton of great benefits in addition to your monthly kit shipment! You can read all about the subscriber benefits HERE. Your credit card will be charged monthly instead of paying for the entire subscription upfront. We're making it easy to get crafty on a budget!

º Key Ingredients savings

- 3 Month Subscription price = $15.95 per kit + shipping ($22.95 charged to your credit card on the 14th of each month for 3 months)

- 6 Month Subscription best value price = $14.95 per kit + shipping ($21.95 charged to your credit card on the 14th of each month for 6 months).

If you haven’t enrolled in our Key Ingredients Subscription Service, you can do so at any time! If you purchase your subscription on or before September 25th, you'll receive the September 20th Key Ingredients kit featured today as the first KI in your series. If you purchase your subscription after the 25th your first shipment will be for the October 20th KI.

Don't forget to check out the September 2oth Key Ingredients inspiration from the Baker's Dozen: Donna Baker, Laura Fredrickson, Karen Giron, Jodi Collins, Charmaine Ikach, Sharon Harnist

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

JustRite Font Blog Hop & TE Sketch Challenge #83

Welcome to Day 2 of the JustRite Font Blog Hop! Yep, I said Day 2 so I hope you didn't miss all the fabulous projects from Day 1! For this month's JustRite blog hop we have 54 designers sharing our creative projects using JustRite Font. The JustRite font is such a versatile product that every stamper should have in their arsenal. I love being able to customize a project to say exactly what I want. And if you're looking to add font to your collection, then you're in luck because JustRite is offering 30% off all font as well as the Horizontal & Vertical font stampers. For my project I decided to create a hot cocoa gift using the new Potion Bottles from the TE Store. I filled one bottle with marshmallows, one with crushed peppermint candies, and one with hot cocoa mix. I spelled out each saying on my oval stamper using Brayton font and stamped it onto sticker paper in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. Then I cut the oval out using a Spellbinders large oval template. The hot cocoa mug is from the Baking Ensemble. I colored each image, cut it out, and popped it up with foam tape. Then I added red crystal strips and clear crystal strips around the outside of the oval and tied ribbon around the neck of each bottle. Now what would a cocoa gift be without a card to go with it? I created this card based on today's TE sketch challenge (scroll down for more on that). I used the Brayton font again to spell out Be Merry on the front of the card. Then I misted some snowflake chipboard with Lime Metallic Mist and Cherry Metallic Mist and added those to the open spaces. I used patterned paper from the Bo Bunny Tis the Season collection as well as Prism Classic Red and Suede Brown Dark cardstock. Some of the spaces are popped up on foam tape while others are glued directly to the brown layer. I designed this sketch as a challenge to use different shapes on your card front while still having 9 distinct spaces to fill. It will definitely make you think outside the box and I hope you'll play along! Just use this sketch to create a card and then link it up with Mr. Linky below. I'm keeping my eye on the sketch challenge participants over the next few weeks as we make some changes to the prizes. You never know what you might win if you play along! Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

And you definitely don't want to miss the fabulous creations from the rest of the JustRite Font Blog Hop participants:

Debbie Olson, Jerri Kay Jimenez, Holly Simoni, Barb Schram, Terre Frye, Michelle Kovack, Kim Moreno, Catherine Doucette, Kellie Fortin, Kimberly Crawford, Kathy Jones, Michelle Giraud, Angela Barkhouse, Heather Pulvirenti, Tami Mayberry, Jennifer Buck, Keri Lee Serika, Jami Bova, Laura Davis, Stacey Kingman, Bonnie Sharp, Stephanie Severin, Janine Orchard, Debbie Seyer, Margie Higuchi, Lauren Bergold, Anja Curvers, AJ Otto

And the inspiration from the TE Sketch Challenge Crew: Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jami Sibley, Lynn Mercurio, Sherrie Siemens, Monika Davis

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - Smooch

Today the Baker's Dozen and I are beginning a new monthly tradition that we're calling the Center of Attention Product Spotlight! On the 16th of each month we'll be showing you our projects using a specific product from the TE Store and each product spotlight will be accompanied by a sale! Our first product in the Center of Attention is Smooch! Smooch is a pearlized accent ink that Clearsnap debuted at CHA Winter. The first release included 8 colors and during CHA Summer we were so excited to find that 8 more colors were being released! The colors in the latest Smooch release are pictured above. I picked out my three favorite colors - Taffy, Pool, & Grape Soda - and sat down to Smooch it up yesterday. I'll start backwards by showing you the card I created first. I started by coloring my cupcake images (from For the Love of Cupcakes) with Copic markers and then using the Smooch to highlight the coloring. I took a few closeup pictures to show you the difference between Copic marker only (on the left), Smooch only (on the right), and Copic plus Smooch (in the middle). The Smooch accents give the colored image a smooth shimmery look on the highlighted portions. And I love that you can layer different colors of Smooch. I added the purple Smooch sprinkles over the top of the pink Smooch frosting...after the pink layer dried of course! As I was coloring my only Smooch image I realized that if I colored over the stamped lines it made my image look less "crisp". So I wondered if I could stamp on top of the Smooch to avoid that which is what created my next little show and tell item. I used the long part of the foam tipped brush to create a color-washed background with the three colors. Then I stamped the image over the top of the Smooch with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, cut out the cupcake lining, and paper pieced it over my original image. I thought that was kinda fun and I can already see using it with other images. And last but not least, my favorite thing about Smooch is the fine tip foam applicator. I took this closeup picture of my card to show you how easy it is to make teeny-tiny details. I used it to create the small heart border along the bottom of my card. And even I was surprised when I tried the coloring my heart brads with Smooch! I just heat set it for a couple seconds and "voila"... instant two-color brads! If there was one suggestion I could give to the makers of Smooch is would be "make more colors!"

I hope you've learned something you didn't already know about Smooch today! And I hope you'll stop by these Baker's Dozen blogs to see what fabulous projects the rest of the girls have to share:


Denise Marzec
Jackie Pedro
Dawn Easton
Sankari Wegman
Laurie Schmidlin
Karen Motz

SMOOCH SALE: In honor of our Center of Attention, the I Want it All New Smooch item is 15% off through tomorrow, September 17th! That's 8 new colors for just $30.60. Or if you'd rather purchase individual bottles, you can find all 16 of the Smooch colors HERE.

What's Brewing?

Whew... I survived the weekend! My cheeks still hurt from laughing so hard at the Brian Regan comedy show that we went to on Friday, but that's a small price to pay for an hour of non-stop laughs. After catching up on work yesterday I'm getting back into the swing of things and you'll never guess what I have to show you today... another Halloween card! *grin* I know I've mentioned that I love Halloween and I just can't stop creating with these new sets we just released! Spooky Expressions was still sitting out on my desk (who am I kidding? my whole stamp studio is sitting out on my desk!) so decided to ink up the cute cauldron image. It's stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers (BV25, YG13, YR07, YR16). I cut out the image with the Spellbinders Labels 1 die template and then hand-cut the 1/8" black mat around the outside. For the background I started by embossing the creepy border from Spooky Expressions with Starry Night embossing powder. The cardstock, patterned paper, and polka dot button are from the Halloween Key Ingredients. I also added a bat brad from the our latest bundle deal as well as a little bit of black swirly bling.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll check back tomorrow morning as the Baker's Dozen and I have something new to share with you! We're debuting the Center of Attention Product Spotlight tomorrow. What does that mean? The girls will be sharing their fabulous creations using one of our most popular products. Each of our Product Spotlights will be accompanied by a sale so you don't want to miss it! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #82

Good morning and Happy Friday! Today is an exciting day because Jon and I are heading down to Kansas City with my sister-in-law and her husband to see our favorite comedian perform. Do you know Brian Regan? We have seen him several times and even though I've heard many of the jokes before it's no less funny the 10th time I hear it! He's hilarious and his comedy is completely clean...no dirty jokes or foul language. He makes the mundane details of our lives incredibly funny! Now that's a talent! Of course I couldn't miss the sketch challenge so here I am with a quick post before we head out on the road to Kansas City. I was inspired by so many of your challenge cards during our birthday bash last weekend, but the paper piecing on Alex's adorable teddy bear card made me pull my Beary Special set off the shelf and try some paper piecing myself! I used elements from the August 20th Key Ingredients kit for the card. Many of you have requested to purchase extra rub-ons and paper from this super popular kit so we also have those available for purchase separately: rub-ons, patterned paper, rhinestones. I wanted to paper piece the entire bear, but the combination just wasn't working out for me so I paper pieced the paws, belly, and ears and colored the rest with Copic marker. The image was cut out using the Spellbinders Curved Rectangles die template. I added some fudge poly-twill, vintage flower trim, and a portion of rub-on to the bottom of the image panel. Now it's your turn to the try the sketch! Just use this sketch as inspiration for your card, scrapbook, or 3D projects and get busy creating anything your heart desires! I'd love to see what you create so make sure you link it up with Mr. Linky below! We won't be featuring a sketch sampler for the next few weeks (read below for exciting changes on the way!), but I hope you'll continue to play the sketch challenge. You just never know what you might win! Thanks for stopping by today... hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the sketch challenge crew: Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Lynn Mercurio, Jami Sibley, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens

A Couple Announcements:

1. Are you wondering what happened to the Featured Sketch Sampler? We've had some amazing creations by all of our past Featured Sketch Samplers, but it's time to bring on some new adventures with bigger and better prizes! I'm excited to announce these changes in the next couple weeks!

2. Thank you to everyone who participated in our Birthday Bash celebration on the SASI blog this past weekend! I know the Baker's Dozen girls had a great time hosting the challenges and looking at all of the amazing cards you created! Stop by the SASI Blog today for the winner announcement! Did you win the grand prize!?

Divine Design - September 2009

Today it's time for another Divine Design Challenge with my fellow Scripture Chicks: Nancy, Angel, Lori, and Jami. These women inspire me each month with their love for the Lord and their beautiful creations so make sure you stop by their blogs to be inspired today as well! I also 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.

You know how sometimes God feels far away? Lately I've been feeling this way, but I take hope in His promise, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." I also find myself listening to one of my favorite songs. The song is called Psalm 13 by Shane and Shane. If you're not familiar with it, you can listen to it here on YouTube. The song is based on the thirteenth Psalm and it's a true message of hope. The first verses say "How long Lord will you forget me? How long will you hide your face from me?", but the Psalm (and song) ends with the verses I chose for my creation today:

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."

So whether He feels near or far I will continue to trust in his unfailing love and I'm gonna keep on singin' my song! You can stop there if you want or you can keep on reading for some of the details on my card:

The verse for the card was computer generated and printed onto Choice Buttercream cardstock. The cardstock and patterned paper I used are part of the August 20th Key Ingredients kit. I was also super excited to use some of the new products that just arrived from the orders we placed at CHA. The brown vine climbing up the side is a piece of lasercut chipboard from the Retro Vine collection. First, I misted it with Brown Maya Mist and then added a layer of Copper Maya Mist over the top. The Blush Denim Flowers I used won the most innovative new product at the Summer CHA show. They come in 3 colors of denim and 6 colors of corduroy and they're super fun for papercrafting and fabric projects. You can check out all of our new Buzz and Bloom products here. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Release Recap

Did you all have a nice Labor Day weekend? Several of us worked all day on Monday getting orders packed and ready to ship out the door today. We're happy to say that many of you should be receiving your orders soon! There was so much going on this week with our Birthday Bash, TE Giving Tree, Halloween stamps, bundles, and potions OH MY! So I wanted to give you a little release recap today with some of my favorite creations that I didn't get to show you during the release:

The Places You'll Go

The Places You'll Go has been soooo popular and I'm so excited to see it start popping up in blogland as you all begin to get your stamp sets and start creating. Isn't Dr. Seuss great? The quotes included in this set put a smile on my face. And your support of the TE Giving Tree also puts a smile on my face as a portion of the proceeds from this set are being donated to the Books for Kids Foundation. For this card I pulled out my Spellbinders Labels 7 die templates that happen to mimic the shape of an open book! How perfect for this set! I'm already envisioning a little mini book with quotes and several other projects, but I had to get this one out of my head first! I cut out several of the largest die from the set and layered them on top of each other with foam tape in between each layer. Then I bent the corners up just a tad for a more realistic looking book. The image is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored with Copic markers. The patterned paper, cardstock, and ABC twill are from the Places You'll Go Key Ingredients which is sold separately from the stamp set. I also cut the bottom of the patterned paper using the same Labels 7 die and then added a lineup of orange crystals.

Trick or Sweet II & Spooky Expressions
These two stamp sets and bundles have proven to be a favorite during this release! We only have a few bundles left so snatch one up while you can! Once the bundle quanties are gone, some of the items may be available for individual purchase, but others will be retired for good. Click here to check out the Trick or Sweet II Bundle or click here for the Spooky Expressions Bundle. One of the things I love most about the new Trick or Sweet II set is the versatility! Many of these Cuppies in costume can be used for other occasions along with the variety of sentiments included! This was one of the first ideas that popped into my head! I stamped two frogs directly onto the Choice Snow White cardstock layer and then I stamped a third frog and popped it up over the top of the others. This was my alternative to another tricky masking card! I also managed to find my googlie eyes for this card...I think they're so perfect for dressing up Cuppie's frog costume!

Punchy Potions

These unique potion bottles were also a hit along with our Punchy Potions stamp set! A lot of you shared that you'd be giving these treats to your family, friends, and coworkers this Halloween and I think that's a great idea! I already have them made up for the first 20 kids who come trick or treating! We'll see if I have time to make more because judging by the number of kids I see tearing around our neighborhood on their bikes, we're going to have a lot more than 20 trick or treaters this year!

And last but not least, I wanted to give you a heads up that you still have until Wednesday night at 11:59 pm to participate in our Birthday Bash challenges on the SASI Blog. The Baker's Dozen will be selecting their favorite creation for each challenge to win the challenge sample and a gift certificate to the TE Store!

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Are you ready to party!? Hang on to your seats because we've got a TON of fun planned for our Birthday Bash in celebration of Cuppie's 1st year in rubber! First, I am so excited to show you everything we're releasing this month all in one place. When you click on the underlined words in this post it will take you directly to that product over at the TE Store for easy shopping!

First up is The Places You'll Go stamp set! This newest addition to the TE Giving Tree program supports the Books for Kids Foundation. When you purchase this stamp set, Taylored Expressions will donate $7.00 to the Foundation to promote literacy among children. We're also offering The Places You'll Go Key Ingredients to help coordinate all of your projects! Our Key Ingredients kits include enough supplies to make at least 16 cards including patterned paper from the Stomp and Round & Round collections by My Mind's Eye, coordinating cardstock, ribbon, and buttons as well as an alterable chipboard book. It's perfect for those back to school photos of your little one! Or check out Sharon's fun project (with a free download) for a practical use for the chipboard book.

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We're excited to bring you something unique with this release, Punchy Potions. This stamp set was designed specifically to coordinate with the Spellbinders Classic Ovals Large and our brand new potion bottles. I stamped the oval labels onto sticker paper, colored them with Copic markers, ran them through my die cut machine, and stuck them on my potion bottles! They were so fast and easy to create and they really make a statement when it comes to Halloween treats! The small circular icons in the set 3/4" in diameter and sized to fit perfectly on the top of the cork stopper so no part of your treat is left undecorated! I used the same small icons to create a quick card. I colored the icons with Copics and embellished them with Gold Lame Smooch and Spica glitter pens. Each circle is popped up inside a square defined by black crystal strips. I filled my potion bottles with Halloween M&M's, jelly beans, and candy corn. If you love these potion bottles as much as I do then you're probably wondering how you can get everything you need in order to make them yourself! We're offering the Punchy Potion Bundle just for you! You can see all the products included in the Bundle in the picture below. For the list-makers among us, you can see a list of all the products included in the graphic below (just click on it to make it larger). Everything you need to make our Punchy Potions for only $43.95. And don't forget to pick up some additional Potion Bottles! They're a steal at just $3.75 for three of potion bottles!

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Our third release this month is for our Cuppie fans! If you were among the many who purchased our original Trick or Sweet stamp set then your costumed Cuppies will have more guests at the party this Halloween when you purchase our Trick or Sweet II stamp set! Cuppie looks so cute in costume that it was hard to narrow it down, but we know you'll love him in everything from Superman to Mr. Pig! This set is toad-ally awesome and I know I'll be reaching for it not only during Halloween, but for many other occasions too! To help you out with your Halloween projects I've hand-selected products for our Halloween Key Ingredients. The brand-spankin' new patterned paper from the Basic Grey Eerie Collection totally make this kit! With already coordinated cardstock, ribbon, and embellishments you have quick and easy cards in your future! And if you're looking to stretch you Cuppie Halloween crafting even further we have the Trick or Sweet II Bundle chock full of even more coordinating products! In addition to the Key Ingredients you'll receive the Trick or Sweet II stamp set, chipboard letters, brads, mesh ribbon, and black sparkly fluff all for the discounted price of $45.95! You can see all the products included in the Bundle in the photograph and for the list-makers among us, you can see a list of all the products included in the graphic.

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Last, but certainly not least, we're proud to offer Spooky Expressions! This set is full of creepy images in Nancy McKinney's signature whimsical style! I've only been working with this set for a week and the possibilities are endless! For this card I embossed the scary tree in Black EP and then sponged on the cloudy background and the moon. I love how it turned out! This set also coordinates well with the rest of our other Halloween stamp sets and the Halloween Key Ingredients! We never want to disappoint so we've got a third bundle for lovers of our Whimsical Wishes stamps, the Spooky Expressions Bundle. This bundle includes all of the same items as our Trick or Sweet II bundle except for the stamp set. Chipboard letters, sparkly fluff, brads, Key Ingredients, mesh ribbon, and a stamp set all for the discounted price of $45.95! You can see all the products included in the Bundle in the photograph and for the list-makers among us, you can see a list of all the products included in the graphic.

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I know this post is getting super long, and I think that wraps up the release info! Now it's finally time to par-tay! In honor of Cuppie's 1st year in rubber we're throwing a big Birthday Bash. All three of our original Cuppie stamp sets (Trick or Sweet, Frightful Night, & Sweet Celebration) are 40% off through Monday, September 7th! And the Baker's Dozen will be posting card challenges on the SASI blog all day today. We have a ton of party prizes so we hope you'll join us there!

Thank you to those of you who helped get the party started this week by posting our Birthday Bash Blinkie on your blog!The winner of her choice of on free stamp set from our new release is Vera Ling! Vera, just use this contact form to send me your choice of one free stamp set from our new release (Punchy Potions, Spooky Expressions, Trick or Sweet II, and The Places You'll Go)!

We also have lots of party guests that you don't want to miss:

The current Baker's Dozen design team has Punchy Potions projects to show you today:

Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sharon Harnist, Sankari Wegman

The Baker's Dozen alumni are back to share projects using our three original release stamp sets:

Stephanie Hargis, Monika Davis, Jen del Muro, Jami Sibley

And the following amazingly talented women have been wonderful friends to me and to Taylored Expressions during our first year so we asked them to join us as special party guests! They're posting projects using The Places You'll Go:

Bonnie Sharp, Cambria Turnbow, Carolina Buchting, Debbie Olson, Jenn Balcer, Joy Kennedy, Lori Craig, Sherrie Siemens

Let the shopping, blog hopping, challenge playing, and PARTYING begin!

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of sneak peeks for the latest Taylored Expressions stamp release! Did you know that Halloween is my favorite holiday? I have the fondest memories of Halloween as a child. My mom is an excellent seamstress and I would always have the most elaborate handmade costumes... everything from Garfield to a Mermaid! I loved to get dressed up and troll around the neighborhood to find the houses with the best treats! And now that I'm "too old" to go trick or treating, I want to be the house with the best treats!

Now that you know about my love for Halloween, it won't surprise you that Taylored Expressions is releasing THREE new Halloween sets this season! Today, the Baker's Dozen and I are sneaking peeks of our Halloween Key Ingredients along with two of the three stamp sets (we have to save something for tomorrow!). First up... Cuppie is back and ready to party! The original Trick or Sweet (our favorite little cupcake dressed in costume) is our most popular stamp set to date! This year Cuppie wanted to try on even more costumes and we wanted to bring you more of what you love so I'm proud to introduce Trick or Sweet II! After attending the Iowa State Fair last month I developed a fondness for pigs and Cuppie dressed up as a pig was calling to me! I happened upon a Taste of Home recipe book at Michael's and right on the front cover were the most adorable cookies made to look like pigs. Well, you know how much I love cupcakes so I had to translate the cookie into cupcake and decorate them to match my piggie card. The "we're all little piggies on Halloween" sentiment totally cracks me up! Maybe it should include "before, on, & after Halloween" because my Halloween candy eating starts now and continues well into November! *grin* The card was easy to stamp (with masking), but time-consuming to color. Just like the cupcakes were easy to bake, but time-consuming to decorate. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored the images with Copics. I get the same question alot... what Copics do you use to color Cuppie in his traditional pink and grey? We're now offering a Cuppie Copic Kit which includes the five colors I use to color Cuppie in his traditional pink and grey. Hopefully this takes the guesswork out of your Cuppie coloring! ___________________________________________________________________

In addition to the Trick or Sweet II stamp set, we're also offering a Trick or Sweet II Bundle of coordinating products to stretch your Halloween crafting even further! The bundle includes the following items pictured all together here:

Trick or Sweet II Stamp Set

Halloween Key Ingredients

Glittered Chipboard Letters (2 sheets)

Mesh Ribbon (4 yards)

Black Sparkly Fluff

Bat/Spider/Frog Brads (12)

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You didn't think I'd let Nancy get away without designing a Halloween set, did you? Uh uh... no siree! The second set we're featuring today is called Spooky Expressions and it's part of our Whimsical Wishes collection! It's an amazingly versatile set for any kind of Halloween project. This was another one I just couldn't put down so I'm up to my eyeballs in Halloween cards! I pulled out another one of those items I've been hoarding for a long time, an alterable house by Doodlebug. I'm not going to lie... this house took over 4 hours to finish! Those are four hours I can never get back, but it was worth it! Now I'll have this fun piece of decor to display every Halloween! Using the templates provided with the house I cut out each piece from cardstock and patterned paper from the Halloween Key Ingredients. Before adhering the cardstock to the house, I stamped it with the spiderweb from the Spooky Expressions set in white pigment ink. My very last step on the house was tracing each and every spiderweb with Quickie Glue Pen and sprinkling Starfire glitter over the top! I also added buttons to the roofline, shutters on the window, a bat brad on the chimney, and the little ghost in the front window. After finishing up this massive project I needed something quick and easy! Here's a closeup of the "boo" card I created using lots of elements from the Spooky Expressions Bundle. I started by cutting a piece of Choice Snow White with the Spellbinders Labels 4 die. I stamped the spiderweb onto the label and sponged the edges with black ink. Then I added the glittered chipboard letters to spell out 'boo'. For the background I used black mesh ribbon along with some Basic Grey Eerie patterned paper (that's part of the Halloween Key Ingredients). I added a white felt spiderweb in the corner and a few spider brads to finish it off.

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For all of our Whimsical Wishes lovers, we're offering the Spooky Expressions Bundle which includes all of the same products as the Trick or Sweet II Bundle with the exception of the stamp set. The bundle includes the following items pictured all together here:
Spooky Expressions Stamp Set

Halloween Key Ingredients

Glittered Chipboard Letters (2 sheets)

Mesh Ribbon (4 yards)

Black Sparkly Fluff

Bat/Spider/Frog Brads (12)

Thanks for stopping by for our second day of sneak peeks! All of the products I've shared during the sneak peeks will be available to purchase beginning at 8am PST tomorrow morning at the TE Store! But don't forget to check in here first because we have one more stamp set to show you (unlike anything you've seen before!) and lots of Birthday Bash information!

And don't miss the Baker's Dozen treats today! They are yuuummmmy: Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sharon Harnist, Sankari Wegman

P.S. If you're here for the weekly TE Sketch Challenge, scroll down! Hope you'll come play with us!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #81

Good morning! Happy Friday! Because my sneak peek post was just a couple sentences short of a novel, I think I'll keep this one a little more abbreviated! I was feeling in the party mood last night so I grabbed my Sweet Celebration stamp set from the shelf and inked up this cutie. I colored the image with Copic markers and cut it out with the Spellbinders Labels 9 die. After my card was all finished I decided it would be a nice touch to have the "sweet friend" sentiment below my image. I've messed up one too many card trying to stamp onto an already finished and popped up image. So instead I punched out the sentiment with my Word Window punch and I like the plaque effect it gives! I adhered some red stitched ribbon that I pulled out of my stash and layered blue Zva rhinestones over the top. I had so much fun making a card without using patterned paper! I've become dependent on it when I create cards so it was nice to get back to the basics with a cardstock only card. Due to all the Birthday Bash and new release festivities this week I just couldn't connect with a Featured Sketch Sampler. But the Sketch Crew has lots of inspiration to show you so don't forget to check it out! The links to their blogs are at the bottom of this post. Now it's your turn to try the sketch! Just create a card using this sketch and link your creation below with Mr. Linky by Friday, September 11th. I'll choose the cutest creation from the submissions to be the Featured Sketch Sampler. Your design and blog will be featured on my blog during the sketch challenge on Friday. If you're uploading to an online gallery use keyword TESC81 (for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 81). Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Lynn Mercurio, Monika Davis, Sherrie Siemens

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks Day 1

It’s release week here at Taylored Expressions and we’ll have a ton of new products including four new stamp sets and two Key Ingredients kits available for purchase on Saturday, September 5th at 8AM PST! Of course we can’t wait that long to start showing you what’s coming so sneak peeks start today!

One of the things I get most excited about is the opportunity to introduce a new stamp in The TE Giving Tree series. The TE Giving Tree is a program designed to raise funds for charity through proceeds from a special stamp set. I am so proud to bring you the next set in this series, The Places You'll Go! This set includes 9 fun storybook quotations - many of them from the loveable Dr. Seuss - along with 6 whimsical images designed by Nancy McKinney. You'll find this set to be something you want to play with again and again for so many different occasions. I can’t wait to see *the places you'll go* with your creativity! I've had these Kaisercraft mini books and bookshelf in my "items to alter" pile and I finally found the perfect papers to use! The selection of patterned papers come from the new Stomp and Round & Round collections by My Mind's Eye and they're part of our soon to be released The Places You'll Go Key Ingredients kit! I started by painting the bookshelf with Making Memories Sea Foam acrylic paint. Once that was dry, the bookshelf assembles easily without any need for adhesive. I added patterned paper to the sides and the top of each shelf. I have three little nephews so I'm thinking this decorative shelf will be a gift for the newest addition to the family. Nolan's nursery decor is jungle themed and I'm hoping this will fit in perfectly! I stamped the jungle image in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored it with Copics. Then I masked the image and used a cloud template to create the background. The whole scene was cut out using the Spellbinders Labels 1 die (because it matches the top of the bookshelf!). Then I added some "sand" to the bottom of the image with Brown Sugar Sparkly Fluff. I always have a hard time stopping with just one project. In fact, I just kept going and going and going with this one that I actually had to put it in a drawer in order to finish my other sneak peeks! I'll have several more projects to share after the release, but I'm going to sneak one more in today! While I was unpacking from our move I found these alterable binder clips that I had been hoarding forever. Well, no more hoarding! I colored a portion of the images from this set, punched it out, adhered it to the binder clip, and added the clear epoxy sticker over the top. I thought these would make cute little bookmarks!

Those are the sneak peeks I have to show you today! When you're shopping at the store on Saturday, remember that when you purchase this set during the months of September, October and November, Taylored Expressions will donate $7.00 to support the Books for Kids Foundation! Their mission is to promote literacy among all children with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children. Books for Kids creates libraries, donates books, and partners with literacy programs to develop the critical early foundation and skills which young children need to be successful in life. Books were such a huge part of my life as a kid. I still remember poring over the adventures of the Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew! I chose this charity because I think it's important to foster young imaginations by giving all children access to books! I hope you agree and will consider helping us support this cause with your stamping dollars!

As Taylored Expressions continues to grow we have new customers each month who are unfamiliar with our stamps. So I'd like to take a minute to share a little more about our stamp sets. Taylored Expressions stamps are made from high quality pink rubber and mounted on EZ Mount cling cushion for use with an acrylic block. Most of our stamp sets are already die cut for you so they're ready for you to start stamping just as soon as they arrive on your doorstep! However, the stamps sets we release as a part of the TE Giving Tree program are the exception. These stamp sets will need to be trimmed from a sheet of rubber before they're ready to be used. We made this decision in order to save on manufacturing costs, allowing us to maximize the amount we're able to donate to charity. We feel it's worth the little bit of extra effort and we hope you'll agree! To help you with the trimming of your Giving Tree stamp sets I have some tips:

1. Here's a picture of how the stamp set will arrive. You'll need to pull the sheet of rubber from the sturdy plastic panel in order to begin cutting out the images. You'll also need a good scissors. My personal favorite is the Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors. This pair of scissors has cut out more stamp sets than I can count and it still cuts the rubber like butter!

2.Start trimming each image by making straight cuts around the lines of the image. You don't want to leave too much space around the outside because your ink can get on the excess and leave a mark when stamping. You also want to be sure not to trim too closely to the lines as it will affect how the image stamps. The sturdy plastic index that comes with your stamp set serves several purposes. First, it shows you exactly how many images are in the stamp set so you know how many you should have when you're finished trimming. It can also be your color inspiration as you begin to create. And it comes with binder holes already cut and sized to fit exactly into our Mini Binder Box for storage.

3. After all of your images have been trimmed you can place them on the back of your panel for storage. The EZ Mount cling cushion allows them to stick to the back of the laminated surface.

I hope this has been informative for you! Thanks for stopping by for our first day of sneak peeks! I can guarantee you don't want to miss what the Baker's Dozen has in store for you so you better hop around:

Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Denise Marzec, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Sharon Harnist, Sankari Wegman

A Farewell, An Announcement, and a "Welcome Back"

I'm glad many of you are planning to join us for the Birthday Bash on Saturday! What Birthday Bash? You can read all about our birthday celebration here in honor of Taylored Expressions 1st year as a stamp company! Sneak peeks for our upcoming release start tomorrow, but today I have a few bits of news, some happy news... and some sad news. We'll start on the sad note and end on a happy one:

A FAREWELL

You all know Jen del Muro, right? If you know Jen then you know how sweet and thoughtful she is! I still remember her response to my email asking her if she'd like to be part of the design team for our new stamp company. She said "yes", but she said more than that. She told me how wonderful it was to see me going after my dreams and how she'd love to be a part of that. It doesn't get much sweeter than that! Jen has been a big reason for the success of Taylored Expressions and I'm sad to see her go. We've all come to love her simple style, impeccable embellishing, and all around creative genius! Jen is expecting Baby #2 in January and I'm sure many exciting papercrafting adventures await her in the future! Thank you, Jen!

AN ANNOUNCEMENT

While Jen leaves big shoes to fill, I'm certain our newest member of the Baker's Dozen is up for the challenge. Please join me in welcoming Jackie Pedro! If you stop by the weekly Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge then Jackie's beautiful creations are no stranger to you. She has been sampling the sketch every Friday for several months. Jackie blogs at The Scalloped Edge and I'm so happy to welcome her bright, fun, and funky style to the Baker's Dozen!

WELCOME BACK

We're also excited to welcome back Sharon Harnist to the Baker's Dozen for the month of September! Sharon started on the Baker's Dozen last September and she'll be filling in for Ana Wohlfahrt who is taking the month off. I know you'll be in awe of Sharon's gorgeous creations this month. Welcome back, Sharon!

That's all I have for announcements today! Hope to see you here tomorrow as we start sneak peeks for our 4 new stamp sets!