Moments with Madelyn

Good afternoon! I'm sure y'all know just how much time and energy goes into caring for a newborn so it's probably no surprise that I haven't been around my blog much this week. We're all doing well though and Jon and I are enjoying every precious moment with Madelyn (even the poopy moments)!

I hope you don't mind me sharing a little of my sweet girl today! We were so lucky to welcome the amazingly talented Tori Wild into our home last week for a newborn photo session. You may recognize Tori as one of the members of the Baker's Dozen, but you'll see from the amazing photos below that she's a 'wildly' talented photographer! Here are a few of the moments she captured with Madelyn:

Thanks so much, Tori! We will treasure these photos forever! You can find more of Tori's beautiful work (and more pictures of Madelyn) on her Facebook page or her Wild Photography website.

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

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #147

Good morning and Happy Friday! It's amazing how much life can change in just a few short weeks! Now I can't imagine life without our little Madelyn. And I'm also having a hard time imagining what life was like when I got more sleep! But some things haven't changed around here and one of them is the TE Sketch Challenge! Today the Sketch Crew and I have another sketch for you to try out... here it is:

Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration. You're not required to use TE stamps to play, but there's a bonus prize if you do! To be entered into the prize drawing you must upload your card to Splitcoaststampers using   keyword TESC147 by Thursday, September 22nd. And here's the prize that's up for grabs:

1. I will randomly select one person from all of the challenge uploads to receive a $10 gift certificate to the TE Store!

2. If you used predominantly TE Stamps on your project you’ll receive an extra $10 bonus for a total $20 gift certificate!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the TESC146 sketch! Once again there are lots of pretty entries! You can see all of the entries HERE. The winner of a $10 gift certificate to the TE Store is:


passioknitgirl! Check out the fun Halloween card she created HERE!

Just like always, the fabulous sketch crew is back at it again with beautiful samples to inspire you!

 Created by Cassie Trask: A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mom

 Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

 Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

 Created by Lori Craig: Make a Difference

 Created by Margie Cortina: Oh Bumble is Me

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

 Created by Tracy Clemente: Eat, Sleep, Stamp

And last, but certainly not least, when I was searching for new members of the sketch crew there were so many fabulous entries so I decided to invite all of the participants to join us as Guest Designers on the sketch crew over the next several months. This week I'm so excited to welcome Bonnie (raduse) and Michelle (eliotstamps)! Here are their fabulous cards:

 Created by Bonnie: Stamping in the Light

Created by Michelle: The Crafty Cat

September Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Good morning and happy hump day! I have to keep reminding myself which day it is since all of the days run together with the lack of sleep lately! *wink* Today I'm excited to be participating in the September Blast from the Past Blog Hop. Each month we issue a theme and a sketch to all of our customers along with a challenge to get crafty with TE stamps released more than three months ago. It's such a great way to get inspiration for the stamps that may already be in your collection or perhaps you'll find a new must-have favorite along the way! We'd love to have you join us and you can find all of the hop details (including sign up details) on this page. I hope you'll come play with us next month!

This month we have a dual theme... Birthday or Birth Day and the challenge is to create a card to celebrate a birthday or the birth of a baby. As always, Sankari has provided us with a fabulous sketch to get started. I decided to pull out my Make a Wish stamp set and the fun Echo Park Happy Days 6x6 Pad to create my card. I started by stamping the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloring it with Copics. I also added Stardust Stickles, Glossy Accents, and Espresso Dimensional Pearls to decorate my cake. I cut the cake out and matted it on a Wonky Rectangle. Then I used the Seeing Stars die set to create the circular embellishment from the sketch. I popped up the image panel and then added a bit of ribbon and some glittered brads to finish it off.   

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll all hop around to see the fabulous inspiration from our customers!

September Key Ingredients Blog Hop

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Today the Key Ingredients Design Team is blog hoppin' to share some super fun projects using our September Key Ingredients kit!

Our kit of the month takes the guesswork out of your papercrafting by delivering perfectly coordinated embellishments, patterned papers, and cardstock packaged together in a perfect storage case. There are several extra benefits for our subscribers including a gallery packed with samples from our design team and an extra 10% off plus free shipping every month during our subscriber discount period!

You can read more about the benefits of becoming a subscriber HERE. And when you subscribe to the kit of the month before September 30th you'll receive this kit as your first installment. It's filled with fabulous fall colors and fun embellishments!

I hope you'll hop along to see the cute projects from our talented design team! And as always, you can find inspiration for our past and present kits in the Key Ingredients Gallery! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

• Corinna McGregor
• Jessica Diedrich
• Lea Lawson
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Stephanie Kraft

Introducing Madelyn Grace VanBruggen!

Just wanted to pop in today to introduce our new bundle of joy, Madelyn Grace VanBruggen! We welcomed her into the world on Tuesday, September 13th at 9:46pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 20.25" long. We're all doing well and getting adjusted to our new routine!

Thank you to all who have left messages on Facebook and sent your congratulations! We feel truly blessed by this new addition and the support of our family and friends as we dive into parenthood!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #146

Good morning and Happy Friday! It's another beautiful day here and we're supposed to have a gorgeous weekend ahead! We get one fabulous week of weather in Iowa each year so we really have to make the most of it! *grin* Today the Sketch Crew and I have another sketch challenge for you to try out and I made it an easy one with lots of possibilities for images! Here's this week's sketch:

Just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration. You're not required to use TE stamps to play, but there's a bonus prize if you do! To be entered into the prize drawing you must upload your card to Splitcoaststampers using keyword TESC146 by Thursday, September 22nd. And here's the prize that's up for grabs:

1. I will randomly select one person from all of the challenge uploads to receive a $10 gift certificate to the TE Store!

2. If you used predominantly TE Stamps on your project you’ll receive an extra $10 bonus for a total $20 gift certificate!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the TESC145 sketch! Once again there are lots of pretty entries! You can see all of the entries HERE. The winner of a $10 gift certificate to the TE Store is:

Kathy D.! Check out the adorable card she created HERE!

Just like always, the fabulous sketch crew is back at it again with beautiful samples to inspire you!

Created by Cassie Trask: A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mom

 Created by Margie Cortina: Oh Bumble is Me

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

Created by Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions

Created by Tracy Clemente: Eat, Sleep, Stamp

 Created by Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

 Created by Jami Sibley: More is More

And last, but certainly not least, when I was searching for new members of the sketch crew there were so many fabulous entries so I decided to invite all of the participants to join us as Guest Designers on the sketch crew over the next several months. This week I'm so excited to welcome Chris (cveneruso) and Jessica (JWill795)! Here are their fabulous cards:

 Created by Chris Veneruso: Easily Amused

 Created by Jessica Willison: Farm Fresh Designs

Halloween Treats

Good morning! It's a beautiful day here...a perfect day for a baby to arrive! C'mon little girl, we're ready to meet you! And I'm soooo ready to be the only person occupying my body!

While I'm waiting for our little bundle to make her grand entrance, I've been working ahead on some Halloween treats and I thought I'd share them with you today. I am a total candy monster! I love just about every kind of candy (just nothing with peanuts...ick!) and the Halloween candy has already hit the shelves at Target! I picked up a few things to make these projects and after eating what I wanted for myself I think I'll be making another trip back to the store to get more candy to complete my treats! *wink*

For my first Halloween treat I started off with Jelly Bellies and one of our plastic potion bottles. I thought the potion bottles in the new Toil & Trouble stamp set would be perfect for decorating the actual potion bottles. It all came together pretty simply! I just stamped the frame in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and added the potion bottle inside. I colored the liquid with orange Copic, covered it with Crystal Stickles, and then covered the entire potion bottle image with Glossy Accents. To finish it off I decorated the cap with the skull and crossbones and added an orange and black polka dot bow around the neck of the bottle.

Potion Bottles
Toil & Trouble Stamp Set

I showed this treat box during our sneak peeks last week, but it wasn't finished because I didn't have the candy for the inside. So on my latest trip around town I went in search of foil-wrapped mint patties. Apparently York Peppermint Patties don't come wrapped in foil anymore but I finally found what I was looking for at Walgreens! I stamped several of the small images from the Fangtastic set to decorate the mint patties. I know they're just going to be ripped open and devoured so I didn't want to spend a ton of time. This was super simple... easy stamping, minimal coloring, and lots of punching!

Silver Take Out Box
Fangtastic Stamp Set

And my last project is one that I created last year using our Test Tubes and Fright Night Favors stamp set. I stamped the labels onto sticker paper, trimmed them out with the Favor Frame die and chose different sentiments and images for the inside of each label. And of course more Jelly Bellies inside each tube!

Test Tubes
Fright Night Favors
Favor Frame Die


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

Build A Treat & A Birthday

Good morning (or I guess it's afternoon already)! I hope you're all enjoying a nice long weekend. It happens to be pouring rain here, so that means time indoors to stamp! Today someone very special is having her birthday! Nope... it's not our little girl yet. She's decided she's very happy staying where she's at right now. Today is Sankari's birthday! I'm sure you all know what a beautiful person Sankari is and I thought it'd be appropriate to wish her a happy birthday using the Build a Treat stamp set that she concepted. I paired the stamp set with patterned paper from the Doodlebug Cake & Ice Cream collection. The frosting was cut out with the Build a Treat Tops & Bottoms and the cherry is from the Tiny Toppers die set. I couldn't pass up the chance to use my Tiny Twinkles so I added a few around the image and one to each scallop at the bottom. I finished it off with a little ribbon and a Bow Easy bow.

Sankari, I hope you have a birthday that's just as sweet as you are! Sending lots of love to you and your family! Please eat some extra cupcakes for me... at least 2!

Taylored Expressions September Release Day!

TE Release Day!

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department for all the goodies!
• More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you!  Just follow the link list below.
• FREE Party Favor with every order! Every order placed between Thursday, September 1st at 8 am PST and Monday, September 5th at 10 pm PST will receive a FREE Party Favor ranging in value from $2.50 - $10.00.  We'll chose a favor for you based on the amount of your order.  If your order total is over $100 (before shipping and tax) you will also receive the Sweet Party Petite stamp set as our FREE gift to you!  The set will NOT appear on your order, but we promise to include it in your shipment!
• One more chance to win... head on over to our forum on SCS and tell us your favorite stamp set from this release. We'll be choosing one person to win their favorite set FREE!  You have until Sunday, September 4th at 6 pm PST to enter to win.

As you know, there's always so much to see and do on release day so make sure you read the above details about this release before you head over to the TE Store to do your shopping!

The winner of the $25 gift certificate for posting our Birthday Bash badge on her blog sidebar is Amy C from Scrapping Mom!

The winners of our Facebook Preview Party have been announced on our Facebook page!

Check out even more inspiration from the Baker's Dozen by following the links below, or click here to head over to the TE Gallery!

To celebrate our Birthday Bash, I decided to use the It's Your Birthday A la Carte along with the Build a Treat Borders set. I stamped the image in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored it with Copics. Then I cut it out using Labels Seventeen and leaving the die in place, I airbrushed the background with BG11 Copic. Then I stamped the cupcake border, colored it with Copics, and cut it out using the Build a Treat Border die. And to finish it off I thought the Pennant Border die would be the perfect party complement! I added Stardust Stickles to the pennant and cupcake frosting, hot pink rhinestones to the cherries, and Glossy Accents on the 'birthday' letters. Here are the dies I used on my projects:

I'm so glad you all joined us for our Birthday Bash! Thank you for the most fabulous three years and we look forward to satisfying your creative sweet tooth for many more years to come! And don't forget... more eye candy for the inspiring Baker's Dozen design team!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jami Sibley
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

Happy Shopping & Happy Stamping!