Taylored Expressions March Sneaks - Day 1

Good morning and welcome to the first day of sneak peeks for the March release at Taylored Expressions! I know we haven't officially turned our calendars to the month of March, but I didn't think you'd mind starting the peeks a day early, right!? All of our new products will be available for purchase at 8am PST on Thursday, March 3rd! We've had some fabulous weather here lately and it's making me 'think spring'! Spring is a beautiful time when everything comes to life again (including me!). I enjoy going for walks and riding my bike, just drinking in the fresh air. And the bright colors return not only to the landscape, but to my stamp room too! As I pulled out all of our new spring stamps and colorful papers to create projects for this release I had a big 'ol smile on my face! Here are some peeks of the fresh spring collection at TE:

First, we have Spring Wreath, a new petite set illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes collection. If you've picked up our previous Wreath of Love and Wreath of Luck sets you know just how much fun these sets are, especially when paired with the coordinating Seasonal Wreath die. And this one die is going to get a lot of use as we continue to release seasonal wreaths stamp sets to coordinate! I stamped the wreath and flower border in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copics. Then I added a little Yellow Bloom Puffie and the sentiment. The card still need something so I thought "Why not do a little piercing around the image panel?" After the piercing it still needed "something" so I decided to try hand-stitching the border with a needle and thread.... crazy me! That's what sewing machines are for! It took forever to do the stitching, but I love how it turned out!

I'm especially excited to introduce the next stamp set in our popular Banner Day series, It's a Banner Day - 2! The concept for these images comes from the fabulous Iwona Palamountain and if you missed our first Banner Day 1 set you'll definitely want to snatch it up too! These banners stamps and coordinating sentiments are so versatile and each comes with a coordinating die to make cutting quick and easy. Today the Baker's Dozen and I are pairing It's a Banner Day -2 with previously released spring stamp sets. I pulled out last year's Favorite Peeps stamp set and the frame from New Beginnings to create the scene. I started by stamping the frame in Colorbox Rouge ink and the birdie on the branch in Memento Tuxedo Black. Then I masked the outside of the frame and the bird/branch and sponged the cloudy pattern in the background. The sentiment and polka dot banner are from the Banner Day 2 stamp set. The patterned paper collection is the new Springtime from Echo Park and I finished it all off with a little ribbon, a few brads, and a purple picket fence!

And now I have one more project to share with you that uses the adorable Spring A la Carte stamp! I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. Then I cut it out with the Spellbinders Labels 17 die and airbrushed the background. I also added glitter to jazz it up, but it's hard to see in the picture. I decided to try out my new 3/8" ribbon slot border punch along the bottom. I just punched the border and then threaded the ribbon through the holes. To finish it off I added a few glittered brads on the right side of the image and a yellow polka dot Puffie bloom. All of the cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, and glitter brads are from our new Spring Project Pantry kit that we're also releasing this month! It includes the following:

• 20 sheets of 6x6 double-sided patterned paper from the We R Memory Hippity Hoppity collection
• 12 sheets of 8.5x11 cardstock
• 5 yards of ribbon (1 yard each of 5 different styles)
• Package of 50 glitter brads
• Package of Kaisercraft Ice Blue rhinestones
• Package of Kaisercraft Hot Pink pearls

Everything you need to make a batch of happy spring cards! The rest of the Baker's Dozen has lots of fabulous projects to share with you, many of which also use the Spring Project Pantry ingredients so hippity hop along and check 'em out!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Iwona Palamountain
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Tori Wild

Psst... one more thing! We'd love to have you join us on Facebook! Our Facebook fans receive special promotional codes, sneak peeks at new stamps, and once we reach 1,500 fans we'll be giving away our ENTIRE March release to one lucky fan! So head over to our Facebook page and click "like" at the top!

Baker's Dozen Announcements

Are you ready for sneak peeks of our March release!? Before the Baker's Dozen and I get started with our sneak peeks tomorrow, I have a few announcements to share with you. Each month our amazing design team brings Taylored Expressions to life with their cute and clever ideas! These girls are like family to me and so it's always sad to say farewell.

Donna has been with Taylored Expressions since we began our journey more than two years ago! Not only have I enjoyed seeing Donna's beautiful work month after month, but I've been blessed to get to know Donna and call her a friend. I know she will continue to share her beautiful work on her blog, Stamping Serenity, and I hope you'll all keep up with her there! Stop by Donna's blog to wish her the best in all her future endeavors!

Donna leaves big shoes to fill on the design team, and we'll be introducing you to a new Baker's Dozen team member during our April release! In the meantime, we have a new guest designer this month! But first, I must say a huge thank you to our January/February Guest Designer Lea Lawson! I have totally enjoyed seeing her bright, fresh projects! They always have that little something extra to make you say "Wow!". You can find all of her creations right here in the TE Gallery. Thank you for sharing your talents with us, Lea!

So... without further adieu, I'm excited to introduce our March/April Guest Designer Cindy Lawrence! I've been a long-time admirer of  Cindy's beautiful projects on her blog: The Creative Closet! And she is such a joy to meet in person as well. Her bright smile speaks volumes! I can hardly wait to see what Cindy has in store for us during the next two months. She'll be joining the Baker's Dozen with a March release day post so we don't have much longer to wait! Welcome, Cindy!

February Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Are you here for the Blast from the Past Blog Hop today? Well, even if you have no idea what the Blast from the Past Blog Hop is, come on in, grab a cuppa, and get ready to be inspired by all of the creativity from our fabulous customers! And if you'd like to join us on the hop next month you can find all of the details at the end of this post! As always, the wonderful Sankari Wegman has given us a jump start with another fun sketch. It's optional for hop participants to use the sketch and once I again I started off with the best intentions of replicating the sketch. My card turned out a bit different, but I love it all the same. The theme for our February hop is Going Green so hopefully you'll catch glimpses of green and maybe even a few recycled embellishments as you hop around. Here's the green card I created!

ETA: OMGosh... I am the dork of the century! I just now realized that my card is not a Blast from the Past (and I set the very RULES for the Blast from the Past!). Could someone find my brain for me? I'm so glad all of our amazing participants can follow the rules that I can't. Thanks for doing as I say and not as I do!

I started off with the new Home Sweet Home Puffies by KI Memories. Really... how adorable are these!? I love all of the new Puffies! For the image panel I stamped the frame from New Beginnings in Rouge Chalk Ink and cut it out with the Frame it Up 1 die. Each of the Puffies is self-adhesive so I simply arranged them onto the frame and added some grass with Copics. The patterned paper is from the Welcome Home collection by Doodlebug and seemed to fit right in with the house embellishments. I used the 'congratulations' sentiment and banner from It's a Banner Day 1 and cut it out with the coordinating Banner Day 1 die. I finished it off with some clouds cut from the Cloud Duo die and the picket fence border. And you know I can't leave the bling alone so I added a frame of Crystal Twinkles with the help of my Embellie Gellie.

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! We'd love to have you join us for the blog hop next month too! You can find all the details here.

Win FREE Goodies - Join us on Facebook!

Want to win some great prizes from Taylored Expressions!? 

We are so excited to be over 800 fans/likes on FaceBook and we want you to come join us! We'll be drawing for the following prizes from our entire fan club:

1. When we reach 1000 fans we'll draw one name to win the adorable Favorite Peeps spring stamp set!

2. When we reach 1250 fans we'll give away It's a Banner Day 2 and the coordinating Banner Day 2 die (not yet released to anyone!)


3. When we reach 1500 fans we'll draw one name to win the ENTIRE MARCH RELEASE package (7 stamp sets and 2 new dies!)


Our current Facebook fans enjoy special coupon codes and sales only available on Facebook, giveaways, sneak peeks at new stamp sets, and you'll be the first to know about new products at the TE Store! As the products begin rolling in from CHA you'll definitely want to be among the first to know!


So how do you become a Facebook Fan? 


Visit our Facebook page here and click "Like" at the top of the page! 


If you're already a Facebook fan, help us spread the word by sharing with your Facebook friends!

New Aprons now available at the TE Store!

It's that time of the month again... six new one-of-a-kind handmade aprons are now available at the TE Store! Check 'em all out HERE! Can you guess which one is my favorite!? Mmmm.... cupcakes!

Reminder: Blast from the Past Blog Hop!

It's almost time for our next Blast from the Past customer blog hop and I'd love to have you join us! If you have a blog and any TE stamps released prior to December 2010 then you're all set! It's a great opportunity to get out your TE Stamps and get inspired by the creations of your fellow TE lovers! We have a fun sketch to get you started on your creation and at the end of the hop one lucky participant will receive a FREE TE stamp set!

All the details for signing up for the Blast from the Past blog hop are below! Hope to see you there and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-- February Hop Rules: Create a card featuring any Taylored Expressions Stamps released prior to December 2010! The theme for our February hop is "Going Green". You may choose to use the color green in your project or "Go Green" and incorporate a recycled element into your creation.

We will provide a sketch challenge to give you a jump start on your card, but the challenge is optional. Then just post the card on your blog on February 24th at 8am PST and include links to all participants in your blog post. We'll provide you with an easy stretch of code to copy and paste into your blog post so you don't have to spend hours linking to everyone! 

-- Sign up to play by sending an email to bloghop@tayloredexpressions.com with the subject line "February 24 Hop". In your email simply list the following info: your first and last name and a link to your blog. By sending this email you are committing to posting a creation on your blog at 8am PST on February 24th according to the Hop Rules above.

-- You will receive an email confirming your spot in the hop. That email will also include the optional sketch challenge, a list of excluded stamp sets (released after November 2010) and a recap of the rules.

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

And I hope you'll help us spread the word about the hop by posting our blog badge on your sidebar! Just copy and paste the code below!

Want this badge?

<center><a href="http://www.tayloredexpressions.com/content.php?content_id=1015" _fcksavedurl="http://www.tayloredexpressions.com/content.php?content_id=1015" target="_blank"><img alt="Blast from the Past Blog Hop" src="http://sites.google.com/site/tayloredexpressionsimages/blast-from-the-past/BlogHopButton.png" _fcksavedurl="http://sites.google.com/site/tayloredexpressionsimages/blast-from-the-past/BlogHopButton.png" /></a></center>

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

February Key Ingredients Inspiration

Good morning! Have you been tuning in to the Key Ingredients blog lately!? Our amazing KI Design Team girls have been creating the most fabulous projects using the February Key Ingredients. Here are a few peeks, but you'll want to head over to the KI Blog to check out all the details about our latest kit club release!

Day 1 - Sympathy Card Set by Taylor

Day 2 - Mini Notecards by Lisa

Day 3 - Nugget Tin Tags by Barbara

Day 4 - Quilted Notecards by Jen

Day 5 - Perfect Package Notes by Melody

Day 6 - Perfect Package Valentine by Jessica

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

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all have a day filled with love and lots of Valentine candy! These are a few of my favorites.... of course, chocolate.... Valentine candy corn.... and conversation hearts (only the orange and yellow ones though... the white mint flavored ones remind me of Rolaids. Ick).



We'll be spending the day packing orders for our Key Ingredients subscribers and then playing in a volleyball league together tonight (perhaps followed up by dinner at Panda Express. lol). Should be fun! I thought I'd leave you with a few Valentine cards I made and wishes for a fabulous day!

Introducing the February Key Ingredients

Today I'm excited to share our February Key Ingredients kit with you! If you're not familiar with our kit club, then let me explain...

Each month we take the guesswork out of your papercrafting by delivering perfectly coordinated embellishments, patterns, and colors packaged together in a perfect little kit. The unique patterns and colors chosen each month will help you step outside your comfort zone. The kit is a huge time-saver and allows you to try the latest in papercrafting products while sticking to a budget! Our February kit includes fabulous flocked papers from the Lush Collection along with coordinating cardstock, ribbon, decorative brads, and paper flowers!

The Key Ingredients design team is kicking off another week of inspiration over on the Key Ingredients blog and I'm up today sharing a quick and simple set of cards using supplies from the February Key Ingredients kit.. Here's a little sneak peek of one of my projects, but you'll want to head over to the KI Blog for more pictures and all the details!

If you're not yet a subscriber, I'd love to have you join us! Click here to learn more about subscribing or click here for our FAQ page!

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

February Release Roundup

It's time for my favorite part of the release! I know I'm biased, but I think we have one of the most amazing design teams in the industry. I love seeing all of the projects they've created for the release and picking out my favorites. There are some that make me say "Why didn't I think of that!?" and others that make me say "I never would have thought of that!"... each designer so clever and unique in her personal style. I hope you enjoy my favorite picks from the Baker's Dozen and friends:



Jackie created the most adorable framed teddy bear using our previously released Beary Special set paired with the new It's a Banner Day 1. I love the soft gray and pink color combination and the adorable paper pieced bear! Karen G. also used the new It's a Banner Day 1 along with previously released Friendship Blooms stamp set and a much bright color combination. The textured look she achieved by stamping the solid flowers onto textured cardstock is so unique!



I love every little detail on Karen M.'s Cozy Cottages card... the bright colors, the fun picket fence border, the adorable clouds and impressed background, and of course her fabulous coloring! Our Guest Designer Lea took a more simple approach with the same set of stamps by stamping the images in colored ink and leaving them un-colored. I love this idea and will definitely be using it to make some quick and cute cards in the future!


Danielle showed off the Wreath of Luck petite set with this adorable four-square design! I just love how you did the sentiment! And our Wreath of Luck illustrator Nancy was super clever with her creation. She created an actual button and incorporated it into her card to create a gift that keeps on giving!



Jodi must be a true fashionista herself to create such a cute card with the new Fashionista set. I love the pink and black combo and her coloring is spot on! Donna paired the Fashionista set with the previously released Window Shopping set to create this fun scene. Don't you love all the possibilities for a paper pieced dress!



Melissa went sweet and simple with her card using both Cozy Cottages and It's a Banner Day 1. I love the sweet little buttons in the tree and the banner die looks amazing in vellum! And now from simple to complex, Sankari created this gorgeous scene using Cozy Cottages. It's filled with amazing detail (I think those shutters are flapping in the wind!) and it wouldn't be Sankari without hundreds of pearly dots!



Both Charmaine and Regina got creative with the new Darcie's Acrylic Frames and the Cozy Cottages set. Charmaine's project is totally dripping with sweetness... I love the pretty papers and that yummy cupcake house! Regina thought of every detail in her beautiful project and even included a real gravel walkway using pebbles she collected from her home!



Our special friend Iwona joined us this month using the new set that she concepted, It's a Banner Day 1. She paired it with the beautiful CreativiTEA set and lovely vintage embellishments! Another TE friend, Jami, used the same It's a Banner Day 1 set to create a totally yummy card when paired with For the Love of Cupcakes!



Last, but certainly not least, Tori created the most adorable card using Cozy Cottages! She even incorporated all three of the coordinating dies: picket fence, whimsy tree, and the cloud duo out of felt! And just to even it out I thought I'd include my own favorite from the projects that I created for the release. Of course, it had to be the cupcake house! *grin*

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