Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween with the VanBruggens

Happy Halloween! Last night was jam-packed with trick-or-treaters even though the weather ended up being uncooperative. It was cold, rainy, and windy, but that certainly didn't stop Mario and Luigi, several ghosts, a myriad of superheros, and even a grape juice box from stopping by our house. Hope you enjoy these pictures from our Halloween:















Jon and I dressed up as pirates. My costume was called Radiant Ruby...Jewel of the Seven Seas. LOL! I walked around all night saying "I am Radiant Ruby, Jewel of the Seven Seas....Arrrrr!" *grin*












Skitters was supposed to be a pumpkin, but as you can see he wasn't much for his costume. I got one picture of him and then he ran off to conquer the pumpkin. After he wrestled it off of himself he stood next to it for several minutes, paced around it, and sniffed it like it might jump back onto him at any moment!


















Morris started off the evening as a bumble bee! He's my sweet kitty who will happily wear anything I put on him! I think he actually enjoyed prancing around the house in his bumble bee costume (he even wore the antennae around his head!). When Skitters refused to wear his costume I decided to put it on Morris so it wouldn't be a complete waste. So which do you like better? Bumble Bee or Pumpkin?
I hope you all have a Happy Halloween! I'd love to see pics of your little ones in costume... kiddos, feline, or canine! Leave me a link here if you have pictures posted on your blog!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #89

Happy Friday! I hope you're ready for another sketch challenge! I'm already looking forward to seeing what you come up with this week! So....here it is!


Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration! Link your creation using Mr. Linky below by Friday, November 6th at 8am PST. I'll be choosing the most clever and creative cards to be included in the TESC Top Crops on my blog! And you definitely don't want to miss the Sketch Crew inspiration below...you can click on any of these cards to read more about the details of these creations!
Created By: Taylor VanBruggen - Taylored Expressions

Created By: Alice Wertz - Alice's Little Wonderland

Created By: Lynn Mercurio - Stamperosity

Created By: Jami Sibley - More is More

Created By: Rachel Sztonyk - Gingerbread Gallery

Created By: Melissa Sauls - In Stamping Mode

Created By: Sherrie Siemens - Card Creme

Created By: Monika Davis - M.A.D. Stamper

Created By: Lisa Hjulberg - The Craft's Meow

Created By: Jackie Pedro - The Scalloped Edge



Cupcake Birthday Wishes - TESC89

Good morning! Happy *almost* Halloween! We found out that in our area trick or treating takes place tonight, the night before Halloween. That's about the strangest thing I've ever heard, but we don't get much say in the matter so we're going with it! Jon and I are dressing up as pirates and yes, we have costumes for our cats too! You'll have to wait 'til tomorrow so see the pictures! *grin* We also have a 9 ft. tall blow up spider that we're putting over our walkway so everyone has to walk underneath it on their way to our door. I can hardly wait! I'm just hoping the rain holds off! Today I needed a birthday card so I grabbed my sweet Penny Black cupcake girl. She's stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. I added a Doodlebug Sew Easy rub-on to the bottom of the image and used a sentiment from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set. The patterned paper is from the My Mind's Eye Be Loved collection and I finished the whole thing off with a Caribbean satin bow and some Crystal Stickles. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Making Memories Giggle Kids Cards

Thank you all so much for your comforting words regarding Muffin's passing. She was a special part of our family and I'm happy to have so many wonderful memories of her! I have a couple cards to share today that I created when my friend Amy came to visit earlier this month. We took a trip to Archiver's while she was here so I was feeling inspired to create something with the new goodies I picked up. I fell in love with this Making Memories Giggle Kids patterned paper so naturally I had to have all the cutie coordinating embellishments too! I picked up the patterned paper, puff stickers, and mini clothespins to match. I used one of Amy's Sassafras clear stamps for the flower stems, and that's the only stamping I did on this card! I cut the flowers from the patterned paper and used the puff stickers for the flower centers. The butterfly and sentiment are a rub-on from an old SU Love & Happiness pack. And I used a Doodlebug Sew Easy rub-on to dot the flower stems. When we moved this summer my Janome Sew Mini had to be taken apart in order to pack it up. And then I never figured out how to thread the needle again and all that stuff. I know it's not hard... it was just a matter of doing it! So when Amy was here she got my sewing machine all set up again so you're likely to see much more stitching on my cards now... it's addicting!

I used the same Making Memories patterned paper on the second card along with the puff stickers and a mega rhinestone for the flower centers. Oh...and the little birdie is a puff sticker too! The 'hello' sentiment is from a Heidi Grace clear stamp set. The cardstock colors for both of these cards are Classic Red and Vibrant Teal. The ribbon is 5/8" black polka dot and I used the same Martha Stewart border punch on each of these cards. I'm seriously addicted to this punch! Amy brought it along with her and I think I used it on every card I made while she was here! She took the punch home with her (I know...the nerve! *wink*) so I've been scouring Michael's and Archiver's for my own punch like this, but I haven't had any luck finding it. But it won't be able to elude me much longer the way I'm going with this obsession! *grin* Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Monday, October 26, 2009

TESC87 Top Crops

Good morning! I had fun checking out all the creations from last week's TESC87 sketch challenge and now you can check out the Top Crops below! Just click on any of the crops and you'll be taken to see the full card and all the details on the creator's blog. And there's still time to participate in TESC88 and maybe you'll see your card on next week's Top Crops!

I have some cards I could share today, but I'd rather share a few family things from our busy weekend. Our nephew, Tyson, turns two this week so we celebrated his birthday on Saturday. I'd say this little Cars couch was among his favorite gifts although about anything that made a noise or was train themed got his attention! And the day couldn't have ended better than it did with a win for the Hawkeyes! Go Hawks!

On a more solemn note, our family cat Muffin was laid to rest today. I'm such a softy and just typing those words brings more tears to my eyes. We picked Muffin out at the Humane Society when she was about 2 years old and she's been with our family for the last 18 years. When we were kids we used to drag Muffin everywhere we went! It's a miracle she endured "swimming lessons" and rides through the neighborhood in the baby buggy. She made the trip out to California with the family and back to Iowa when we all moved again this summer. Now she's old and tired and her body is failing her. Yesterday was Muffin's farewell party and I snapped one last picture of her. My heart is heavy today...we'll miss you, Muffin!










Friday, October 23, 2009

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #88

Are you ready for another Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge! I'm especially excited to welcome four fresh faces to the Sketch Crew for their first week! Here's the sketch inspiration this week:
Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration! Link your creation using Mr. Linky below by Friday, October 30th at 8am PST. I'll be choosing the most clever and creative cards to be included in the TESC Top Crops on my blog! We're starting another little something new this week by including all of the sketch inspiration in one place! You can click on any of these cards to read more about the details of these fabulous Sketch Crew creations!

Created by: Alice Wertz - Alice's Little Wonderland

Created By: Sherrie Siemens - Card Creme

Created By: Lisa Hjulberg - The Craft's Meow

Created By: Taylor VanBruggen - Taylored Expressions
Created By: Jackie Pedro - The Scalloped Edge
Created By: Lynn Mercurio - Stamperosity

Created By: Monika Davis - M.A.D. Stamper

Created By: Melissa Sauls - In Stamping Mode

Created By: Rachel Sztonyk - Gingerbread Gallery

Created By: Jami Sibley - More is More

Trick or Sweet - TESC88

Good morning! Happy Friday! We're doing the sketch challenge a little bit differently today so you had to scroll down to see my post. I thought it was time that we have all the sketch inspiration right in one post! What do you think? I'm seeing so many Christmas cards out in blogland lately and I feel as if I'm moving backwards in time by posting a Halloween card today. But Halloween is almost here and I'm sooooo stoked! Have I told that I bought our cat, Morris, a Halloween costume!? You'll have to wait until next Friday for pictures of that! So for today's sketch I pulled out the Trick or Sweet stamp set. The images were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. I cut out the image with the Spellbinders Labels 1 die and used my sewing maching to stitch on each corner. Then I added a Zva crystal swirl and three bat brads to finish off the sketch creation.

In honor of Halloween, we have a Fright Night Special just for YOU!

All of our Halloween stamp sets AND the Halloween Key Ingredients are ON SALE for 20% OFF Friday, October 23rd through Sunday, October 25th ONLY! So don't miss out on this last minute holiday deal!

Trick or Sweet
Trick or Sweet II
Punchy Potions
Spooky Expressions
Frightful Night
Halloween Key Ingredients (final quantities...will not be restocked)

Plus you'll want to check out the What's the Deal Department for some incredible deals like JustRite Stampers products at 40-50% OFF! These JustRite products will not be re-stocked, so grab them while you can!

We're also excited to begin offering the Stampendous Storage Solutions today! If you are a Subscriber to our Key Ingredients program, then you are familiar with these cases as the exclusive storage system you receive your KI in on the 20th of each month. And even better, the Storage Solutions are available for 3 days only at our Introductory Price of $2.99 each - that's 15% OFF the suggested retail price of $3.49! This special price is good through Sunday October 25th. Limit of 3 cases per order. Click here to shop now!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Guest Designer

Good morning! Today I'm so excited to announce that I'm the guest designer for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ blog! The wonderful women who keep this blog post a new challenge each week to get inspired by words from the Bible or other Christian themes. This week Taylored Expressions is sponsoring the challenge and there's still time to play and get in the running to win the new Christmas Blessings stamp set. The challenge is to make a card or project featuring the nativity or other religious theme about Christ's birth. I used the wise men image from the Christmas Blessings set along with Christmas Mint patterned paper and the Christmas Mint cardstock collection. I started by stamping the image on Kraft paper in Sepia ink and embossing it with clear embossing powder. Then I used Sage Shadow ink and a sponge to pull ink from the bottom of the image toward the top. I punched out my sentiment with the SU label punch and finished off the card with Fudge Poly-twill and a few Crystal Tiny Twinkles. Thanks for stopping by today and make sure you head over to the Stampin' Sisters in Christ blog to participate in the challenge! And I hope to see you here tomorrow for the TESC88 sketch challenge!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

October 20th Key Ingredients Now Available!

From the second I saw the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love papers at CHA I was in love! I knew I had to use it for one of our Key Ingredients subscriptions and I've been waiting patiently for October 20th to arrive! If you’re one of our Key Ingredients subscribers then you’ve probably already received your kit…just one of the benefits of becoming a subscriber! I issued a challenge to the Baker's Dozen girls and today we're sharing our creations using the October 20th Key Ingredients kit, available at the TE Store today! Once you receive your Key Ingredients kit, we'd love to have you play right along with us so here's the challenge:

Focus: Use the elements of the October 20th Key Ingredients kit to make a card, 3D project, or scrapbook layout.

Required Element: Dimension (anything that adds a little pop to your creation...foam tape, pearls, rhinestones, etc.)

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! You know what? I can't even remember the last time I scrapbooked! Amy, my friend who visited over the weekend, created 5 layouts while she was here and I found myself in the mood to scrapbook! I have lots of pictures of our nephews including this sweet photo of the newest addition. This month's kit includes coordinating cardstock, patterned paper, and ribbon along with a package of Maya Road chipboard birds and a mini spritzer of Avocado Metallic Maya Mist. You can see the chipboard bird covered with the Avocado mist in the bottom corner of my layout. I also added some Kaisercraft Pearl Pearls and American Crafts Thickers for my 'sweet' title. I wanted to show off the fun chipboard bird pieces again so I decided to mist another bird. The birds and wings are separate so this time I spritzed the bird with Avocado Metallic Mist and the wing with Lime Metallic Mist. I added an old Stampin' Up rub-on and sentiment, colored the flowers with Copic marker, and added a few pearls and a satin bow. And last, but not least, I thought the Earth Love collection would be perfect with our Beary Special stamp set. So I grabbed my October Copic Kit plus the E74 Cocoa Brown marker to color the teddy bear image. The image was cut out with Spellbinders Labels 1 die and then I hand-cut the 1/8" brown layer behind. I added some more buttercup satin ribbon and a string of pearls as an accent.

And here’s a picture of all of the contents included in the October 20th Key Ingredients! We’re proud to offer the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love collection of patterned paper along with coordinating cardstock, ribbon, chipboard birds/cages, and Avocado Metallic Maya Mist spritzer! If you’re not currently 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. And the best part is that your credit card will be charged each month instead of paying for the entire subscription upfront. We're making it easy to get crafty on a budget!

ยบ 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 October 25th, you'll receive the October 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 November 20th KI.
Don't forget to check out the October 2oth Key Ingredients inspiration from the Baker's Dozen: Jackie Pedro, Sankari Wegman, Dawn Easton, Laurie Schmidlin, Karen Motz, Denise Marzec

Monday, October 19, 2009

TESC Sketch Crew Announcement

Good morning! I hope you all had an awesome weekend! I had such a great time with my college friend and I even got a bunch of cards made...gotta love that! The TESC Sketch Crew and I also had some big decisions to make this weekend. There were so many amazing submissions to the TESC86 challenge making the decision incredibly difficult! Thank you to everyone who participated and I'm so excited to introduce you to the four newest members of the TESC Sketch Crew:

Melissa Sauls won my heart with both of her adorable creations for the sketch challenge. This spooky creation put me over the edge. Stop by and say hi to Melissa on her blog In Stamping Mode.

Rachel Sztonyk submitted several cards including an adorable fireplace interpretation of the sketch as well as this cute snow'cake' card. Stop by and visit Rachel on her blog Gingerbread Gallery.

Alice Wertz caught my eye with her gorgeous coloring and her super sweet style with these two creations. You'll definitely want to check out the rest of her beautiful work on her blog: Alice's Little Wonderland.

And last, but certainly not least, Lisa Hjulberg created this beautiful Cuppie Christmas card for the sketch. Every last detail on this sweet card put me right into a sugar high! Stop by and see Lisa on her blog The Craft's Meow.

We're also starting a new tradition with TESC Top Crops! Each week I'll choose 5-10 creative cards and show a tiny crop of the card with a link to the creator's blog. Below are the TESC86 Top Crops...do you see one of your cards!? You can click on any of these pictures to see the full card and all the details. There's still time to participate in TESC87 and maybe you'll see your card in next week's Top Crops! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!