Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #111

Happy Friday! Can you believe it's the last Friday in April? I really don't know what happened to April! This week has been absolutely gorgeous and I think that makes the days go by even faster. The beautiful weather should continue into the weekend which is good news because tomorrow we'll walking as part of Team Darrin in the Des Moines CureSearch walk. If you haven't read about Darrin, you can see my original post here. I think this will be a beautiful remembrance of his courageous battle and another big step toward finding a cure. I'll have some pictures to share with you on Monday! In the meantime, here's this week's sketch challenge. I hope you'll all have time to participate:


Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration (you're not required to use TE Stamps in your sample)! Link your creation below by Friday, May 7th at 8am PST. I'll choose the most clever and creative cards to be included in the TESC Top Crops on my blog! Each of our Top Crops receives a blog badge to proudly display on your blog sidebar and a link on the TE blog for all to marvel at your beautiful creation!

And here's the inspiration from the fabulous Sketch Crew this week:

Created by Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme

Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

Created by Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity

Created by Alice Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland

Created by Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions

Created by Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode

Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Created by Lori Craig: Make A Difference

Created by Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery

Created by Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

TESC111 - Congrats on Your Retirement

Good morning and Happy Friday! Actually, I'm having a little bit of a sad Friday. Yesterday I was walking past our cat Morris and he yawned (nothing new there... he's always yawning!). But I thought I glimpsed a little blood inside his mouth so I opened his mouth and discovered that one of his large canine teeth was cracked and only hanging on by a thread. Poor kitty! He hadn't been acting like he was in pain, but I have no idea how long it had been like that. So we called the vet who fit him in for an appointment right away. It turns out that Morris lost a canine tooth and his nerves were completely exposed inside his mouth. *OUCH* They sent us home with 'kitty morphine' and an appointment for surgery to extract the tooth. So our little Morris is having surgery this morning and I can't help but be a little anxious. I know he's in capable hands!

On another note, I found out yesterday that one of our favorite postal workers is retiring today. I actually think that I see our local postal workers more often than my immediate family! I thought it would be fun to bring in a little card and gift to wish him well on his last day. So I scoured my collection of TE stamps and thought this beer mug from the Chillax set would make a great retirement card. I colored the mugs with Copic markers, added white liquid applique for the foam, and some Glossy Accents to complete the glass mug effect. And whenever I need to make a "man card" I always reach for my Cosmo Cricket Lil' Man papers. The sentiment was computer generated. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!





Stamps: Chillax (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Blush Red Dark, Intense Teal (Prism Papers), Choice Buttercream (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Lil' Man
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: Copic markers (YR21, YR23, YR24, W1), Glitter brads, foam squares, white liquid applique, Glossy Accents

CreativiTEA Gift Set

I've been looking forward to creating this project since we released the CreativiTEA stamp set and I finally got a chance to sit down and play tonight! I was at Target about a month ago and found this gorgeous tea cup (I also bought the photo frame, scarf, and umbrella in the same pattern). I love these delicate flowers and the beautiful spring color combination! I wanted something simple to coordinate with the cup so I started with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge. I stamped small strips of cardstock with the delicate flower from CreativiTEA in Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I also stamped and embossed the Labels 9 frame and created a patterned teapot with the flower and white embossing powder. I wanted to use one of our beautiful apple blossoms, but I couldn't find one that matched perfectly. So it was my Copic airbrush system to the rescue! I took one of the white apple blossoms and airbrushed it with a YR21 Copic marker. I packaged up some individual tea bags inside the tea cup and tied the cellophane bag with some ribbon. My mom loves tea and I hope she loves this gift for Mother's Day!











Since I had a few leftover strips of embossed cardstock (and I didn't want them to go to waste!), I decided to create a single tea bag folio. It was super quick and simple and I think it'll be a fun little gift for my tea-loving friends! I used my Copic airbrush system again... this time on a pink & white apple blossom. I airbrushed the center of the flower (the white part) with yellow Copic marker. Well, that's it for today...thanks for stopping by!

Pssst.... Just wanted to make quick mention that our Shadow Box Card Kits are now back in stock! I know lots of you have been waiting to get these in time for Mother's Day!





Stamps: CreativiTEA
Cardstock: Sunflowers Medium, Frosted Azalea (Prism Papers), Choice Snow White (Taylored Expressions), Aqua Mist, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Versamark, Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: White apple blossom, Pink/White apple blossom, white embossing powder, ribbon, foam tape, Labels 9, pearl

TESC109 Top Crops & A Blast from the Past

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's Monday already! It was such a dreary, rainy weekend here so we stayed inside. We watched the movie Julie and Julia this weekend. Anyone who has a blog *must* see this movie! It brought back fond memories of when I began this blog several years ago. And it also made me appreciate my husband even more. He knows more about ribbon, cardstock, and embellishments than is probably healthy and most days he's eager to talk about my latest creation or crazy idea. So if you like warm fuzzies, go rent Julie and Julia!

So now for the TESC109 Top Crops! It was fun to see how each of you incorporated the circles on the sketch into your card. Here are this week's winners:








Congratulations (from left to right): Dawne, Silvia, Kerry, Krystal, and Cassie!

You can click on each of the snippets above and you'll be taken to the designer's blog to see the full card and all the details! This week's Top Crops will soon receive a blog badge to display on your blog! There's also still time to participate in this week's TESC110 challenge for your chance to be featured as one of the TESC Top Crops! You have until Friday, April 30th at 8am PST to play along. Check out the sketch here!

If you subscribe to the TE Newsletter, then you may have already seen the news of our Blast from the Past blog hop! If you're wondering, what's the Blast from the Past Blog Hop? Well, it's Taylored Expressions first customer blog hop and I want you to come play with us!

We've been designing and producing rubber stamps for about a year and a half now! I know how much I enjoy getting caught up in each month's new releases, but that means I have some stamp sets that haven't been touched in months! *gasp* So for this blog hop, we're challenging you to grab one of your 'older' TE stamp sets and create a card. One lucky participant will be randomly selected to win a free stamp set from the TE Store! Here are the Hop Rules:

--Hop Rules: Create a card featuring Taylored Expressions stamps released in 2008 or 2009. We will provide a sketch for inspiration, but using the sketch is optional. Post that card on your blog on May 18th at 8am PST and include links to all participants in your blog post.

--Sign up to play by sending an e-mail to bloghop@tayloredexpressions.com with the subject line "May 18 Hop". In your e-mail simply list the following info: your first and last name, the name of your blog, your blog address. By sending this e-mail you are committing to posting a creation on your blog at 8am PST on May 18th according to the Hop Rules.

--You will receive an e-mail confirming your spot in the hop. That e-mail will also include the optional inspiration sketch, a list of excluded stamp sets (released in 2010) and a recap of the Rules.

--You will receive another e-mail 2 days prior to the Hop with a list of all participants and links to include in your post along with the Hop badge.

--One random participant will be selected to win the stamp set of your choice from Taylored Expressions!

-- Deadline to sign up for the Blast From the Past Blog Hop is May 13th.

I decided to blast all the way back to the beginning of TE with the card I'm sharing today! I used the stamp set that started it all, Sweet Celebration paired with some paper from the KI Memories Sweet Life collection (and one of those adorable gummi stickers too!). I used Sketch 50 on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog! I love this fun sketch and I had so much fun using an image that hadn't seen ink in a while! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day!





Stamps: Sweet Celebration
Cardstock: Suede Brown Dark, Razzleberry Light, Intense Pink, Choice Snow White
Patterned Paper: Sweet Life (KI Memories)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: Sweet Life Softies (KI Memories), white gel pen, apron lace punch, Copic markers, foam tape, brown polka dot grosgrain, Spellbinders Labels 8, scalloped circle punch

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #110

Happy Friday! I was looking forward to spending time outside this weekend until I checked the forecast this morning and discovered a weekend filled with rain. Oh well... I do love the spring thunderstorms in the Midwest! And I suppose this would be the perfect time for a little indoor spring cleaning... maybe some time for another take on this week's sketch challenge! I hope you'll play along too:


Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration (you're not required to use TE Stamps in your sample)! Link your creation below by Friday, April 29th at 8am PST. I'll choose the most clever and creative cards to be included in the TESC Top Crops on my blog! Each of our Top Crops receives a blog badge to proudly display on your blog sidebar and a link on the TE blog for all to marvel at your beautiful creation!

Don't miss the Sketch Crew inspiration below! Just click on any of these cards to read more about the details of the card:

Created by Alice Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland

Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Created by Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity

Created by Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode

Created by Monika Davis: M.A.D Stamper

Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

Created by Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery

Created by Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme

Created by Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions

TESC110 - Two Takes

Good morning! Are you all ready for the weekend? Jon's parents are heading to town this weekend. We'll see if I can put 'em to work picking and packing all of your orders! *wink* Just kiddin' Marv and Jan! I know they both read my blog so they're probably wondering what they've gotten themselves into this weekend! I was feeling inspired by this sketch (and having fun using up small scraps of patterned paper!) so I created two cards. The first card uses patterned paper from the Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride collection and some of the stickers from the coordinating sheet of cardstock stickers.






Stamps: Branching Out Coordinates (for the clouds)
Cardstock: Wizard Dark, Candle Glow Medium
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride
Accessories: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride cardstock stickers, foam tape, Crystal Stickles

I grabbed some school-themed patterned paper for the second card... it's from the October Afternoon Report Card collection. I paired it with the globe image image from our Make the Grade stamp set and the 'Thanks...for opening up the world to me' from the same set. I think I had the most fun deciding on the combination of patterned squares and what I was going to use to separate the squares. I decided on border stickers for the top card and ric rac on the bottom card. Both cards were super quick and easy! Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!





Stamps: Make the Grade
Cardstock: Nautical Blue Dark, Classic Red (Bazzill Prismatics), Choice Buttercream (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon Report Card
Accessories: Copic markers, ribbon, ric rac, foam tape, Spellbinders Labels 9

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - Thickers

It has been a super busy week around here and I hope you've enjoyed the video tutorials and blog hops! Today the Baker's Dozen and I have our monthly Center of Attention Product Spotlight which happens to be one of my favorite embellishments....Thickers! And as always, our Center of Attention product is 15% off through the weekend (April 22-25). Click here to check out our selection of Thickers

If you're not familiar with Thickers, let me introduce you! Thickers are self-adhesive dimensional letters that come in hundreds of styles and colors! They're super easy to use and they really add a special pop to all sorts of projects. The size of the letters makes them great for large sentiments or monograms on cards. They're also perfect for scrapbook pages of all sizes, which is what I decided to created with my glossy green Thickers today.

It's a good thing I have cute nephews to scrapbook because I have a feeling Morris and Skitters (our cats) wouldn't have turned out nearly as cute on this page! When I left Stampin' Up a few years ago I got rid of most of my designer papers, but I just couldn't part with the patterns that I used today. I knew they'd be perfect for a little boy project someday... and now 'someday' is here! I had two photos of Nolan that worked perfectly with this patterned paper. I laid them out on an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock and started to build around them and this is the layout that I came up with...quick and simple! I love the clean lines and patterns because they help put the focus on the pictures which is what's most important in scrapbooking.
















I also wanted to show you some of the cards I've created using Thickers as a sentiment (you can click on each one to make it bigger). I used the Patchwork Aqua Thickers on each of these cards. Sometimes I prefer having a big sentiment on the card. It's a great way to create some quick cards with patterned paper and minimal stamping!

Taylored Expressions currently has several styles of Thickers including polka dot chipboard, fabric covered chipboard, glossy finish puffy, and glitter puffy in a variety of colors. There are literally hundreds of styles and colors of Thickers and we'd love to offer more at the TE Store! But first, we thought we'd try a little poll to see what you think of Thickers! I'm looking forward to seeing your response!



Don't forget...All Thickers are on sale for 15% OFF through April 25th. Each package includes approximately 125 letters, numbers and symbols at the sale price of ONLY $4.24!

And don't miss the creative inspiration from the Baker's Dozen girls:

Karen G.
Jodi
Melissa
Charmaine
Donna

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