Black Friday Blowout @ the TE Store!

It's almost time for turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie! Mmmm...mmm... I can almost taste it! As we prepare for Thanksgiving I'm reminded that I have so much to be thankful for... not only for the yummy food we'll eat, but the wonderful family and friends who surround us with support, encouragement, and love. I'm also thankful for you, our amazing customers, who make Taylored Expressions a reality! Thank you for your thoughtful emails with words of encouragement and for inspiring us as we strive to satisfy your creative sweet tooth!

So... are you a big Black Friday shopper? Will you be out at the stores at 4am? I'm more of a "stay in my PJ's and shop online" kinda girl! If you're there with me, then you'll definitely want to add Taylored Expressions to your online shopping stops! Today we're excited to announce our Black Friday Blowout! Lots of fabulous products with fabulous discounts! Don't forget about gifts for the crafty gals on your list!


Starting TODAY through Cyber Monday Taylored Expressions has some fantastic deals for you! Visit our Black Friday Blowout Department to see them all in one place. Here is just a sampling of what you'll find when you get there:

Stamp Sets - Purchase any 5 full sized Stamp Sets and GET ONE FREE!

Taylored Expressions T-shirts (3 styles to choose from) at 25% off!

Twinkles Special - Buy 2 Multi Colored Twinkles and get a Free Package of Crystal Twinkles.

Stickers and Tags - Purchase either the Sweet Season or Waiting for Santa sticker sheet and receive a set of 10 coordinating die cut tags free.

Key Ingredients Subscription - TE is lowering the monthly subscription fee for a 3 Month KI Subscription from $25.95 per month to $23.95 per month just for our Black Friday sale. Normally you would need to subscribe for 6 months to get this low monthly rate. This is a great time to give Key Ingredients a try!


A la Carte Stamps - Purchase any 3 Animals in Love A la Carte stamps and GET ONE FREE!

AND SO MUCH MORE!!!! Click over to the Black Friday Blowout Department right now to take advantage of these incredible deals. Some quantities are limited, so for best selection shop early!

Introducing Kid's Card Kit & Shadow Box Card Kits!

Good morning! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Have you started your grocery shopping for Thanksgiving yet? We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and I'm so excited to say that we finished our grocery shopping this weekend. I love being ahead of the game (it doesn't happen very often!).

Today I have some exciting new things to share with you! I've been looking forward to introducing our latest Shadow Box Card Kits along with something special for the creative kids in your life! I made this video for you to see our new items, and you can scroll down just a tad to read more about them:



Shadow Box Card Kits
We've given our popular Shadow Box Card Kits a new look for the holidays! There are so many possibilities for these kits... altered art, home decor, photo display! As you saw in the video, they go together quickly and easily with a little bit of liquid adhesive or Sticky Tape. We have two different styles to choose from, a vertical and horizontal version, both using patterned papers from the Tinsel & Twig Collection by The Girls Paperie along with coordinating cardstock and embellishments.

Each card kit comes with the patterned paper and cardstock pieces you'll need to create the samples shown above. You might also want to pick up the Christmas Blessings and Sparkle & Cheer stamp sets I used to create the projects above.

Kid's Holiday Card Kit
We also have something special for the kid's this holiday season! I came across a quote recently that said "Creativity is contagious... pass it on!" Our Kid's Holiday Card Kit was designed just for that purpose. So we can pass on our love for creativity to the little ones in our lives! The following coordinating supplies are packaged together in a cute lunch box tin:

• 8 card bases (2 each, 4 colors)
• 8 white envelopes
• 8 sheets of patterned paper (Doodlebug Winter Wonderland Collection)
• 8 image panels
• 8 white snowflake brads
• 8 colored round brads (4 green, 4 red)
• 3 yards of ribbon (1 yard each, 3 styles)
• 1 package of clear rhinestones

The only thing you need to provide are the stamped images and a coloring medium. I created this set of simple cards using the Season's Sweetings set... a perfect choice for our little Cuppie fans!

I hope these new products and ideas get you in the crafty mood! Thanks for stopping by today!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #134

Good morning & Happy Friday! It has been a busy week around here and I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'll be grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner (we're hosting this year!), and hopefully hanging Christmas lights if the weather cooperates. It is certainly getting cold here, but we've been lucky to hold off snow so far! So if you find yourself in a winter wonderland this weekend (and even if not), I hope you'll have some time to participate in the sketch challenge. Here it is:

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, November 26th 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 will receive 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!

Now here's the inspiration from our fabulous Sketch Crew:

 Created by Alice Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland

 Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

 Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

 Created by Lori Craig: Make a Difference

 Created by Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode

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

 Created by Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery

 Created by Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme

Created by Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions

TESC134 - Sorry I'm Late...

I had the strangest dream last night and woke up thinking about the stamps in our Pet's Place set (although I couldn't remember much of my dream!) so I decided to go with it and use that set to create my sketch card today. I started by stamped the scene of animals/birds in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I colored them with Copics to match the patterned papers in our Pet's Place Project Pantry kit. I just love pulling out these coordinating kits...they make it so easy! I can't say this was a "quick" card, but it was definitely easier having all the coordinated supplies together! After coloring the image I cut it out with an oval Spellbinders die. I layered all of my papers together and then began adding the details...button/brad embellishments, a border sticker, and a bow (all from the kit). The card was essentially finished, but I still needed a spot for the sentiment. There just didn't seem to be a good place for it without ruining the balance of the card. I toyed with the idea of just stamping the sentiment on the inside and then it came to me! I used a horizontal slot punch to create a hole for the sentiment to slip behind the image panel. Then I stapled a small scrap of ribbon onto the sentiment and the recipient can just pull on the ribbon to reveal the message.And I was still able to decorate the inside with a Happy Birthday sentiment!

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

November Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Thanks for joining us for our Blast from the Past Blog Hop! Each month we invite our amazing customers to participate in a blog hop by posting a Taylored Expressions creation on their personal blog. This month's theme for the hop is Autumn/Thankful so we're sharing projects using beautiful fall colors, images, and/or thank you sentiments. As usual, our Baker's Dozen design team member Sankari Wegman has provided us with another inspiring sketch as a starting point. I am often asked "What's your favorite stamp set?" Well, I can never answer that question because I have way too many favorites for different reasons! But, if you ask me "What's your go-to stamp set?" (which is an entirely different question in my mind!), I would say Discover Your Wings. The images are both intricate and simple at the same time. They're easy to stamp and create a beautiful masterpiece every time! So as I sat down to create this card it made sense that I reached right for my Discover Your Wings set.

I started by cutting strips of patterned paper from the Walk in the Park collection by Echo Park and adhering them to the card base. I stamped the images in Dark Brown Chalk Ink and used Tangerine Chalk Ink and a sponge dauber to create the graduated background. The butterfly is stamped is Lime Pastel Chalk Ink, cut out, and embellished with Teal Pearls. To finish off the card, I spelled out the word 'thankful' with the coordinating Walk in the Park alphabet stickers, added Chocolate Pearls to the flowers, and a bow using brown with cream dot ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Blast from the Past blog hop! I hope you'll click through the links below and check out what the rest of our hoppers have created! Are you beginning to feel the pressure of holiday busyness? Well, I am! We're going to be taking next month off from the Blast from the Past blog hop, but stay tuned for details on how you can join in the blog hop fun in January!

Wishing You a Special Day

Today I'm joining together with several of Nancy's friends to celebrate her birthday with a special blog hop! I've known Nancy for almost two years now and I have the pleasure of working with her and seeing the magic she creates as an illustrator for Taylored Expressions. Today I chose to use the Make a Wish set for a few reasons. First, the images in this set are perfect for birthday and it was illustrated by Nancy so I thought it'd be a perfect tribute! And second, a portion of the proceeds for each Make a Wish stamp set sold are being donated to a charity with special meaning for Nancy and her family. Nancy, I hope you have a fabulous birthday celebrating with all the people and things you love! Now here are a few details on the card... I started by stamping the balloons in Colorbox Chalk Ink (Warm Red, Butterscotch, Lime Pastel) and popping them up on foam tape over the top of the balloon strings. I embellished each of the balloons with rhinestones. The dots along the bottom of the image panel are from the coordinating Borderlicious set. All of the cardstock and patterned paper is from the Make a Wish Project Pantry. To finish it off, I added a scalloped eyelet border punch and a little polka dot ribbon.

Now hop along and check out Carolina's birthday creation! And when you're finished with the hop, head over and wish the birthday girl a happy day! Thanks for stopping by today!

November Key Ingredients Now Available!

Good morning and Happy Monday! We're back from our trip to California and we had a wonderful time! I enjoyed seeing many of our So Cal stampers at the two classes I taught as well as catching up with friends and family in the area. But as always, it's good to be home and sleep in our own bed!

Today we're excited to introduce our November Key Ingredients kit! This month's kit features the October Afternoon Modern Homemaker collection, which happens to be my personal favorite from the new collections debuted at the previous CHA trade show. I love the fun kitchen icons and the pretty patterns will work for lots of occasions! This month I've challenged the team to get inspired by the modern homemaker inside. We all have a modern homemaker in there somewhere, right!? *grin* So we've created projects inspired by the kitchen using elements from the November Key Ingredients kit.

I started by stamping my own background with the small cherry image from the What's Cookin' set. I colored the cherries with Copic markers and then started on the image panel. I think I've mentioned before how much I love my Kitchen Aid mixer. The only thing I'd change about it is the color... I'd love red instead! I stamped the images in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored them with Copics. Then I added a little bit of Glossy Accents to the glass mixing bowl. I decided to create something like a tablecloth with patterned paper and a little bit of cream ruffle trim. I also added a polymer clay button to match the cherries background and finish off the card. Since I've been traveling, I haven't had a lot of chance to play with this month's Key Ingredients, but you can bet you'll be seeing more projects using these fun papers in the future! You'll also want to check out what our talented team has created with this month's kit:

Lynn Put, Jessica Diedrich, Melody Rupple, Rosie Hughes, Jen Tapler, and Lisa Hjulberg

If you're already a Key Ingredients subscriber then you know these paper-crafting 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 offer the latest patterned paper collections paired with unique embellishments and bring them right to your doorstep each month 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 October Afternoon Modern Homemaker 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)

Mini Market Alphabet Stickers

What's Cookin' Chipboard

Each kit also 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 enjoy 10% off everything at the TE Store during our monthly discount period as well as free shipping on your additional purchases (for U.S. customers)! 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 Sew Much

Happy Friday! I always have the best intentions of blogging while I’m traveling, but other things always seem to creep up instead. I ran out of time to create a sketch this week so the Sketch Crew will be back next Friday with a new sketch. But I did get a chance to make a few projects before I left so I do have something to share today! I love the little icons in the From the Heart set and decided to pair the cute sewing machine with a sentiment from the coordinating Funnies set. I started by stamping the image in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and coloring it with Copics. I punched it out with a 1 3/8” circle punch and popped it up over the top of four squares cut from October Afternoon Thrift Shop patterned paper. I sponged around each of the squares with Dark Brown chalk ink before adhering them to the panel. Then I started searching through my ribbon and trim for something sewing appropriate and found a scrap of mini rose trim. I love using up scraps! In order to hold the ruffle trim down a little better, I pierced a pattern onto the card front and used colored floss to hand-stitch the detailing. To finish it off I stamped the sentiment, punched it out with the word window punch, and popped it up underneath the sewing machine.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I’m excited to meet those of you who are attending our Dinner & Card Class event tonight. Should be lots of fun!

He's making a list...

He's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's naughty or nice! I've been singing/humming this holiday tune since I created this card and I'm happy to pass it along to all of you! *grin* I'm on an airplane to Los Angeles right now to teach a couple classes and enjoy some warmer weather! But I created a few projects to share with you while I'm traveling and this is one of them. The Take Note Holidays set was designed to create journals and lists to help keep you organized during the busy holiday season, but the set also includes some images that are perfect for cards. I started by stamping Santa in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and coloring him with Copics. I added white liquid applique detailing to his hat and outfit and paper pieced the list with patterned paper. The patterned paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6 pad. The sentiment is punched out with a 1 3/4" circle punch and popped up on foam tape. I added a little bow and some purple rhinestones to finish it off. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

TESC132 Top Crops

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I have some fabulous Top Crops to share with you today! I had such a good time checking out the beautiful entries into the TESC132 sketch challenge. Here are the winners:

        

Congratulations (from left to right): Lee-Anne, Makiko, Corinna, Stephanie, and Jan!

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 TESC133 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

November Release Roundup

Happy Saturday! I hope your weekend is off to a great start! And it's only going to get better because we get an extra hour of sleep tonight with daylight savings! We just introduced our November goodies and today I'm going to share my favorite project created that each of our amazing design team created during the release!



Both Regina and Danielle designed incredibly clever gift card packaging using the Enjoy stamp set. Regina's coffee cup is the perfect presentation for a gift we all love to give! And Danielle has been kind enough to share the wrench template she created for this amazing gift card holder as a FREE download!



Jami and Jackie took a more traditional approach to the Enjoy set by creating gift card packaging using a clear top hinged tin and a small hinged tin. Jami's tin is the perfect solution for packaging up a pair of movie tickets. I love the simplistic approach she took by embossing the images in white. And Jackie's beautiful coffee gift card tin includes all of her signature details: beautiful color and paper combinations and a sweet flag tag!



Charmaine combined two different images from From the Heart to create this adorable paint set for her kids. Wouldn't it make a great birthday party favor!? And Donna showed how the small icons from Enjoy could be used to create a fun card too! Love all the purple and the pretty rose trim!




Tori and Jodi created beautiful cards using images from From the Heart and sentiments from the companion set, From the Heart Funnies. I love the contrast of the vintage colors on Jodi's card with the bright sunshiney colors on Tori's card. Jodi's card has inspired me to use more Baker's Twine (one trip around the card is not enough!) and Tori's card has inspired me to get out my sewing machine again (look at all that beautiful stitching!).



Sankari and Karen G. both channeled the same theme using teapots from What's Cookin' and From the Heart. Sankari's tea jar and card are so bright and made perfect with ever little dot of liquid pearls! Karen G. went sweet and simple, her signature style. I love the beautiful satin bow too!



Melissa and our Guest Designer Mona Pendleton both decided to dress up the apron from What's Cookin'. I love all of the shabby chic details on Melissa's card like the ruffled trim and the resin heart pocket! Mona's sweet simplicity is made perfect by the big loopy bow and the embossed apron detail!



Karen M. and our Whimsical Wishes Illustrator Nancy used What's Cookin' to create the last two fabulous creations I'll be sharing today! I love how Karen used the smaller icons as the focal images on her card. And Nancy's paper pieced apron is absolutely gorgeous with the pretty pattern and sweet ribbon detailing!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Don't forget about the sketch challenge...just scroll down a tad to find it or click on the "Sketch" tab at the top of the blog.