Love is in the Air

Whew... it has been super busy at TE these past couple days! My mother-in-law has been in town helping prepare our October Key Ingredients kits as well as the new releases we'll be introducing next week. It's always wonderful to have her here... she comes all dressed in her TE uniform (a pink-sleeved cuppie TE-shirt) and she doesn't quit until everything is finished! Love it! So while I haven't had a lot of time to create new projects (at least nothing I can show you until our sneak peeks begin on Monday!), I have this one that I've been saving for a while. I decided to pull out my Love Everywhere set and create a scene using the hot air balloon image. I started by using my air compressor to airbrush the cloudy background behind the balloons. Then I stamped the hot air balloons over the top using Colorbox Lime Pastel and Wisteria inks. I stamped each balloon twice, cut out one of the images, and popped it up over the original. The patterned paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious Mini Deck and the ribbon is from May Arts. I also used a Taylored Die along the bottom...the Scalloped Eyelet Border Die. To finish off the card I added a Pixie-Licious button and a heart rhinestone to each of the balloons.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all have a wonderful day! See you back here in the morning for another Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge!

Welcome Sweet Little One

Yesterday a special friend (and one of our Baker's Dozen design team members), Jodi Collins, welcomed a new little girl into the world! Congratulations to the Collins family...such an exciting time! I've had this card planned in my head for what feels like an eternity. I bought a onesie this summer with the most adorable little turtles on it. The colors in the onesie inspired the colors of my card and I paired them with the Turtles in Love image. I started by paper piecing the turtle shell with polka dot patterned paper. Then I used the balloon die to cut the balloon shape from pink cardstock. I popped up the balloon on foam tape, added a little piece of Baker's Twine, and hand-drew the string down to the turtle tail. I cut out the image with Spellbinders Labels 8 and the sentiment is from the original Hangin' Out stamp set. It was a fun little challenge to use images that aren't considered "baby" to make a baby card! I finished it off by creating my own patterned paper with the Bubbles Background stamp and added a touch of polka dot patterned paper to match the turtle along with a little bit of pink scalloped ribbon.

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

Taylored Expressions Survey & TESC128 Top Crops

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! A weekend must be just what I needed because I'm actually feeling human this week. I'm ready to put this cold behind me and hope it doesn't pop up again until this time next year...do you think I'll get that lucky!?

Those of you who subscribe to our newsletter know that we recently released a survey. Your feedback is important to us as we strive to bring you more of what you love so thank you for taking the time to complete it!

If you'd like to provide your feedback, the survey is still open! It only takes about 5-10 minutes of your time and there's a special gift waiting for you at the end. We look forward to hearing from you and continuing to discover ways to improve! Click the link below to be take to the survey:

Taylored Expressions Survey

And now for the Top Crops from TESC128! There was more fabulous eye candy last week and here are the five cards I selected as our Top Crops:








Congratulations (from left to right): Cassie, Wanda, Kim, Heather, and Christi!

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 TESC129 challenge for your chance to be featured as one of the TESC Top Crops next week. Click HERE to see the sketch and get started!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #129

Good morning! This week hasn't been what I was planning as I came down with a cold on Monday. So I'm currently on Day 5 of the 7-day miserable-ness. I've discovered it's hard to get a card completed in between sneezes and a drippy nose, but I'll stop there with the symptoms...it's not pretty! :) Luckily we have the rest of the fabulous sketch crew to share their inspiration with you today! Here's the sketch:


Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration. You're not required to use TE Stamps in your sample, but I love it when you do! Link your creation below by Friday, October 1st 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!

Created by Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme

Created by Rosie Hughes: Love My Craft Room

Created by Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery

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

Created by Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode

Created by Lori Craig: Make a Difference

Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

Created by Alice Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland

Make a Wish

I have another Make a Wish card to share with you today! If you missed out on this new stamp set during our recent release, then perhaps you missed the announcement that for each Make a Wish stamp set sold, Taylored Expressions will be donating $7.00 to a national charity that fulfills the wishes of children with life threatening illnesses. It's a great way to support a worthy cause by doing something you love... stamping! This card came together quickly using patterned paper and cardstock from the Make a Wish Project Pantry. I started by stamping the image onto Choice Snow White cardstock and coloring the letters with the Make a Wish Copic Kit. I cut out the image with Spellbinders Labels 17 and then cut off the right side of the label for a straight edge. I tucked the label underneath the candle patterned paper and cut two small pennants from the patterned paper to go over the top of the label. I added a small present popped up on foam tape and covered the letters with Glossy Accents to finish it off. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

September Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Good morning! Thanks for joining us for another Blast from the Past customer blog hop at Taylored Expressions. Today we've invited our creative customers to join in a blog hop using TE Stamps released prior to June 2010. Our Baker's Dozen design team member Sankari Wegman has provided us with this totally inspiring (yet optional) sketch as a starting point. I always feel so inspired after the hop so I'm planning a day in my stamp studio when I'm done here! Although my plans could change if I don't get to feeling better. It might be a day on the couch instead! The silly weather change makes me sick every year. Before I share my Blast from the Past project with you I have a special sale announcement: Taylored Expressions is offering a Blast from the Past sale in order to help you prepare for our next customer blog hop! Our October blog hop is all about Christmas and we'll be featuring past Christmas stamps from Taylored Expressions in our creations. The following select Christmas sets are 20% off through Sunday, September 26th (or while supplies last) so it's a great time to pick one up and join us on the hop next month! You can find all the details on the TE Blog Hop HERE.

Christmas Blessings
Season's Sweetings
Home Sweet Home
Holiday Wonder
Wings of Joy
Tag Treats

I decided to use this little snowman Cuppie from our Home Sweet Home set for my card. This guy just makes me smile! I started by stamping the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloring him with Copics. I also paper pieced his scarf and hat with patterned paper from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather collection to match the rest of the card. The snowflake was cut from a Spellbinders die and I airbrushed the openings with red Copic marker while the die was still in place. Then I decorated the snowflake with Crystal Twinkles and popped it up over my image. I love the scallop part of Sankari's sketch and I decided that it would be perfect to add some white liquid applique for a snowy hill effect. To finish it off I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added the crochet baby pom trim to the bottom.

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Blast from the Past blog hop! I hope you'll check out what the rest of our hoppers have created and come join us next month! You can find the signup details here!

TESC127 - Top Crops

How in the world did Monday come and go so quickly!? I returned home from ScrapFest yesterday and promptly back to work this morning which was all good until I started sneezing and realized I had a sore throat. I'm blaming my cold on my ScrapFest roomie...this is all your fault, Amy! I'm sure it had nothing to do with staying up late or neglecting to wear a coat in less than 50 degree weather over the weekend. *wink* So I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I'm late with my blog post today, but better late than never, right?

I took a peek through all of the TESC127 entries tonight and they are fabulous! So much pretty eye candy to choose from, but I was able to narrow it down to the following Top Crops:








Congratulations (from left to right): Jose, Jean, Stasia, Christi, and Katie!

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 TESC128 challenge for your chance to be featured as one of the TESC Top Crops next week. Click HERE to see the sketch and get started!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #128

Good morning and Happy Friday! I'm on my way to ScrapFest at the Mall of America this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! I'm meeting a college friend in Minneapolis and we're attending a crop hosted by The Girl's Paperie tonight! And then more shopping and crafting and hopefully a trip to IKEA!

So here's the sketch for this week. Jami pointed out that it looks like a big screen at the movie theater so I'm looking forward to seeing what's playing in your theater when you create with this sketch!



Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration. You're not required to use TE Stamps in your sample, but I love it when you do! Link your creation below by Friday, September 24th 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!

Created by Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions

Created by Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme

Created by Rosie Hughes: Love My Craftroom

Created by Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery

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

Created by Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode

Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Crafts Meow

Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

Created by Alice Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland

TESC128 - Wildly Wicked

Good morning! I'm on the road to ScrapFest as you're reading this...so exciting! But at the moment I'm typing this, I haven't packed my tote for the crop or my suitcase! It takes me forever to make packing decisions, especially for a crop! How do you pack an entire stamp room into one tote!? I better make this one quick so I can actually sleep at some point! When Jami told me that the sketch reminded her of a big screen at a movie theater I automatically envisioned curtains pulled back to reveal the stage. I stamped images from the Hangin' Out Wicked Wardrobe set in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored them with Copic markers. Then I cut curtains from the patterned paper in the Fright Night Project Pantry kit, added small black gingham bows, and popped up the curtain on foam tape. I think that covers it for this card. I hope you'll play with the sketch too... I always love to see what you create!

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

Key Ingredients Frame & Card

Good morning! Before I get into the details of my project today, I wanted to remind you all that our Blast from the Past customer blog hop is coming up on Tuesday, September 21st! If you have Taylored Expressions stamps and a blog then we'd love to have you join us! It's a fun way to meet fellow TE lovers and there's a free stamp set up for grabs just for participating. Today is the deadline to sign up and you can find all the details HERE. Hope to be hopping with you next week!

Now on to my project! All of the supplies from our September Key Ingredients kit were still scattered across my desk so I decided to continue with the restoration challenge from yesterday and make an old frame new again! I painted the frame with a coat of Mod Podge and covered each of the segments with patterned paper. I sanded the edges and chalked them with Dark Brown Chalk ink and then added a coat of Mod Podge over everything. I've been having so much fun with Mod Podge lately! Although I learned something new today. It's MOD Podge...not MODGE Podge. I've been calling it Modge Podge for years and I like that better so I think I'll just keep calling it that! Then I punched out several scalloped circles from patterned papers and crinkled them to create the flower embellishments. The buttons are from my stash. I had fun last night sorting through old photos to find something to put in my new frame. I came across this one of Jon and I at our wedding. Thinking about that day makes me so happy. I thought this would be the perfect addition to his office decor (which is currently very minimal)! *grin* I made a quick non-occasion card to go along with it so I could write a sweet little message to go along with the frame. I think that's it for this project. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Key Ingredients Kit Club - September Now Available!

Thank you for giving such a warm welcome to our new Key Ingredients design team yesterday! I know we're all excited to share our projects using the September Key Ingredients kit so let's get to it! This month's kit features the Restoration Collection of patterned paper by Crate. I just love the beautiful patterns and unique color combination! In keeping with the name of this collection, I've issued the girls a challenge to restore, re-use, recycle, or re-purpose ANYTHING using the ingredients in this month's kit.

I decided to head out to our garage and take a look around to see what items I could find for the challenge and I hit the jackpot! I've told you all before that I love to go to garage sales. My mom and I have so much fun hunting for bargains and turning trash to treasure! When I saw this wrought iron shelf at a garage sale I immediately picked it up... it was a steal for just $3.00. It looked like it should hold DVD's or CD's, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the time. (A little aside... Jon hates it when I bring home things that I don't know what I'm going to do with!) Well, I'm excited to report that after sharing my restored shelf with him he was a happy camper! When I brought the shelf home, it had no "shelves"... does that make sense? It has iron bars going across to act as shelves, but any trinket type items would fall between the cracks. So I started by cutting pieces of heavyweight chipboard to sit on top of the bars. Then I cut 2" squares from all of the different patterns in the kit and sponged around them with Dark Brown Chalk Ink. I arranged the squares onto the chipboard shelves and adhered them with Mod Podge. Then to finish it off I added a coat of Mod Podge over everything. Now I just need to find trinkets to adorn my new shelves! *grin*

I know you don't want to miss what the rest of the Key Ingredients design team has to share with you: Jen, Jessica, Lisa, Lynn, Melody, and Rosie!

If you're already a Key Ingredients subscriber then you know these papercrafting goodies are on their way to your doorstep. If you're not a current subscriber then we'd love to have you join us! We strive to bring you the latest patterned paper collections paired with unique embellishments at a great value. This month's kit includes the following supplies pictured on the left:

20 sheets of double-sided patterned papers from the Crate Paper Restoration Collection

12 sheets of 8.5" x 11" cardstock (2 each of 6 colors)

5 yards of ribbon (1 yard each of 5 different styles)

25 decorative brads

Doily Transparencies

Each kit comes with a full-color supply list for reference and a plastic case to store all of your supplies! And if that's not enough, our subscribers also enjoy 10% off everything at the TE Store during our monthly discount period as well as free shipping for US & Canada customers on your additional purchases! The price of our subscriptions break down as follows:

6 month subscription: $16.95 + $7.00 shipping = $23.95 charged monthly

3 month subscription: $18.95 + $7.00 shipping = $25.95 charged monthly

If you're interested, go to our store by clicking HERE or check out even more details about our Key Ingredients subscription on our Key Ingredients blog! Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!