Hello! Well….the Christmas train keeps rolling…and I need to jump on or get out of the way! Yikes, I am so NOT prepared this year! I need to hit the "pause" button for about two weeks, catch up, and then come right back to this day. (Don't you wish life was like a DVR?) Anyhoo…I digressed. Today I have a fun and cheery card to share made with the cute December Stamp of the Month stamp set and dies from Taylored Expressions! I wanted to take the stamp set and make something Christmas with it! 

I stamped my bikes in red and green and then cut them out with the matching die…Then I just had fun adding snowflakes and those adorable birdies! 

 

 

 

I popped my bikes up on some foam tape, after making my background paper with the snowflake stamp. I colored the birdies with a few Copic Markers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a wonderful day!

 

 

Hi everyone! I could not wait to get home from work tonight and share this card with you! Whew, what a crazy week! I'm happy it's Friday, and I have a three day weekend. Hope all is well in your little corner of the world. Merry Christmas time! Have a great weekend! 

Today's card was made with two gorgeous Tim Holtz Dies and some pretty new paper from my friend Stephanie's store (Kraft Damask – are you kidding me???) I bought this paper last weekend at her store Christmas party and I knew I wanted to make something vintagey and fabulous. This ice skate die from Tim Holtz has been sitting on my work desk unused for far too long – time to remedy that! The holly leaf die is also from Tim Holtz. The sentiment is a stamp from Avery Elle…so pretty… 

 

 

These pretty silver bells came all the way from my friend Holly in The Netherlands!! The ice skate blades were cut from American Crafts glitter paper…. The skates are laced with twine (using a needle). Love the feel of this. Doesn't it make you nostalgic? I used to ice skate when I was little…now I think I would shatter into a million pieces!! LOL. 

 

 

 

I cut the holly leaves from kraft core paper and sanded the edges before inking them…and don't you love those red goosebumps blings??? 

 

 

 

 Here are my die pieces all cut out and ready to assemble…

 

 

 

I used some linen distress ink to make the boots look like aged white leather….

 

 

 

Here's a side view of my layers. The card base is wood grain paper…

 

  

 

 

 

  

Thanks for coming by! I'm getting SOOOO close to my goal of 500,000 blog hits! Maybe you will be number 500,000? (picture balloons falling from the sky)! CHA countdown is on! Four weeks until I'm in Anaheim with my crafty friends! I cannot wait!!  Take care – XO

Hello! Shazam! Kapow! BAM! Today's card is a birthday card I made for my Super Hero husband! His birthday was yesterday and I made him this fun Captain America card! My husband is a huge comic book fan (See this post for more on that) (THIS is a good story too), and for his birthday I got him a new iPhone and some very cool Captain America headphones and iPhone cover. So, it's kind of a theme birthday this year! He is my Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk all rolled into one. (Only Marvel, ya know)  Love you honey! XO

Here's his fun and bright card: 

 

 

I copied the Captain America shield by using my Circle Nestabilities and my stars dies from Papertrey Ink! The banner die is from Simon Says Stamp. The inside (photo later) is made with stamps from Papertrey Ink also. I love how graphic this is. POW! You can never go wrong with red, white and blue. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a peek at the inside! 

 

 

 

 

Hope you're having a great week! Thank you for stopping by to see what I'm up to over here! 

 

It's time again for the Taylored Expressions Stamp of the Month blog hop! Wooot Woot! Yep, well, I thought last month's SOTM was my favorite…until I saw December's! LOOOOOOVE it. Love the Key Ingredients Kit too – it's right up my creative alley. I know you will love it too. Please CLICK HERE for all the deets about the wonderful kits that Taylored Expressions offers. 

Here is the stamp set: 

 

 

Here is my card! I used the Key Ingredients Kit, which has the most beautiful papers and ribbons…swoon. This is one of my all time favorite color combinations and this new Webster's Pages paper is divine. 

 

 

 

All the new dies from Taylored Expressions are the kind that are open in the middle, so you can line up your stamped images. You guys know I'm a little (okay a lot) OCD and the dies cut out PERFECTLY the first time. See the edge around the bike? 

 

 

 

I made a little rolling hill out of the green and white striped paper… Isn't that a cute sentiment? 

 

 

 

You know me and gingham…. The cloud dies are sooo sooo cute! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you've enjoyed my little showcase of the new Stamp of the Month and Key Ingredients Kits! I love this monthly hop because we get to play with the TE Key Ingredients team too! Here is your link list for today. Have fun! 

Amy Crockett

Cassie Trask

Charmaine Ikach

Courtney Kelley

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Monika Davis

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tracy Clemente

Wanda Guess

 

Happy Saturday my crafty, bloggy friends! How was your week? Whatcha doing this weekend? Lots going on, right? Whew….2013 is almost a memory. Last night here in Sacramento we were up late waiting for it to SNOW! It never really happened though. It snowed about 15-20 miles east of us, but not here. Darn it! It's been so (weirdly) cold here the past week. I was so super busy at work this week and it feels nice to just be sitting in the craft room having some coffee for a moment and writing a post. 

I have a card to share with you that I made last weekend…and it's proof that you can find crafty inspiration anywhere and everywhere. This card was 100% inspired by the Old Navy Black Friday print ad! We were going through the paper looking at all the ads and the Old Navy ad JUMPED out at me. So fun and funky and pretty…. I said to the hubs "set that one aside, I'm going to make a card" and I'm pretty sure he gave me an eye roll. Who's laughing now?! 

 

 

 

 

The letter dies are from Memory Box and the snowflakes are two different Martha Stewart punches. I used the Doodlebug textured cardstock and some gems in the centers… I layered some stripes of paper to mimic the different tones in the ad. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My finished card is 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 – to make room for the word Christmas. As you can see, I barely squeezed it all in there! The Merry die is from Stampin' Up. LOVE it. 

 

 

 

Here is my work table…in progress. See the cool ad!? At first I added some navy too, but it didn't look right to me, so I left that out. I loved the combination of the bold font with the more flowing font…and of course the colors! 

 

 

 

And there you have it! 

 

I hope you have a delightful weekend doing whatever makes you happy. Thanks for your support all year, and thanks for coming by today. My goal for the year was to get to 500,000 blog hits. If you look in my left side bar, you'll see I'm at 496,981. Do you think I'm going to make it? 

Well, all good things must come to an end…unfortunately… Today is the last day of fun and projects for Taylored Expressions Release Week for December. I've so enjoyed sharing the new stamp sets with you this week. Did you pick up anything new in the store yet? What is your favorite thing? 

I made a card to share today using the new set called "Light as a Feather" for today. Feathers are all the rage in crafting right now. I always think of nature, and natural colors when I see pretty feathers….so for my card I kept it very 'green' and serene. I stamped my feathers on watercolor paper – and my tag too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite, time tested, methods for using solid images. Watercolor! I colored directly on my stamps with my Distress Markers… Then I misted the stamped image with my water bottle, and then stamped onto watercolor paper. Easy and so pretty! 

 

 

 

I stamped a bunch of them and then chose my favorites. You can usually get two stampings out of one inking/misting. They all look totally different. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, signing off for this release week! Thank you for joining me and the rest of the Baker's Dozen! Here is your Spotlight Day link list: 

 

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess 

 

Hi there! It's officially RELEASE DAY at TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS! You can now purchase all the new items for December in the store! So many cute petite sets to choose from. I know you will find something that strikes your fancy! 

My card for today features the new stamp set called "Watson," and he is an adorable little puppy! This set has the best sentiments too! I made a card to tuck away for when I know someone needs a little cheer. 

 

 

 

I feel the need to point out again just how great the matching dies are for these sets. See how perfect my white border is around the pup? First try with the die in my cutting machine. TE dies are now open in the center so you can line 'em up! Thanks Taylor! 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are your links for RELEASE DAY! Be sure to come back tomorrow because we have MORE projects to share! 

 

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

 

Welcome back for day two of the Taylored Expressions December Product Release for December! Did you love looking at all the cool projects yesterday on everyone's blogs? I hope so! Petite-a-Palooza is in full swing this week, and all the new stuff will be available for purchase tomorrow morning in the TE Store! Yeah! 

Today I'm sharing two more projects using new sets for this month. First up is a clean and simple birthday card made with the set called "Shine Bright." This set features beautiful and classy chandelier images…always a favorite. My card is a different size/shape. When closed it measures 3×6 inches. I wanted lots of open space on this one. I stamped the images in dark black ink and then added a few blings. Super easy and good for mailing. 

 

 

 

My top panel was layered on some crisp black and then a nice beige paper. That whole piece was mounted onto cream cardstock with foam tape. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next project is a sweet gift card pillow box made with the "Big Delivery" stamp set and matching dies! How fun is that giant cupcake in the back of a truck? Love it! I made my pillow box out of kraft paper and then had lots of fun coloring my images with Copic Markers…. Finished it off with some fun twine. This little number has a birthday Starbucks card inside! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baker's Dozen has so many fun projects to share with you! Here is the hop list for today! Have a great one, and be sure to stop back by tomorrow! XO

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Hello crafty friends! It's WHAT???? December!? And that means it's time for another fun release from Taylored Expressions! Taylor is doing her super cool Petite-a-Palooza again this year. What is that? It's an extravaganza of mini stamp sets with matching dies! There is so much to choose from, and something for everyone. Be sure to check out all the designers' blogs for inspiration all week. The new stamps and dies are available for purchase on Thursday morning. 

Today I have two cards to share. First up is a friendship card made with a new coffee set called "Joe to Go." I LOVE the little coffee cup die cut! Perfection, really. I used the Basic Grey Hipster paper pack for a retro look.  

 

 

 

I told you!! How cute is that coffe cup? And the matching coffee cozy? Over the top! These petite sets make is easy to creat fast and simple cards. The matching dies from Taylor are now open in the center so they are easy to line up too. See how the edges are so even? Perfect for this OCD stamper girl. 

 

 

 

A fun layout and some foam tape, and you're good to go. Good Coffee is ALWAYS a good thing, especially with friends! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, on the total opposite side of the color spectrum, I have a bright and cheery card! When I first saw this stamp set (called Oh Happy Day) I had a Mary Engelbreit moment! So that's what I did, made a card using black and red and yellow, just like one of my craft idols. SO fun to color these flowers. 

 

 

 

The picket fence border die is just the right touch for these whimsical images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for popping in today! Hop around to everyone's blogs to see all the other new sets! Here's the list for you! 

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! It's BLACK FRIDAY! Are you out shopping?  I am!  The hubs and I have our tradition of going shopping all day on this day of homage to capitalism! We like to be out in the crowd in the hustle and bustle…drinking coffee and people watching and trying to check some things off our lists…  We never get too stressed out or crabby, just try to take it all in stride.  Personally, I think the mall should be open late all year….just sayin'.   Whatever you're doing today – I hope you are having a good time! I can't wait for leftovers later! 

My card for today is kinda funky! I kept playing with it and looking at it…and then just decided to post it and see what you guys think! LOL. It's definitely not my normal style, but I guess that's good sometimes.  I wanted to use some cool new products and GOLD!!!  So – whaddaya think? 

 

 

 

So, this dear head punch is seriously the COOLEST thing ever! I snatched up the last one at my local Joann's store. It's from EK Success! LOVE!! I combined some shimmery soft gold paper with these awesome chunky glitter letters from Crate Paper (thanks to May, my enabling friend). I also picked up a new Cuttlebug folder and thought – hey why not use that too!?  Throw on some sequins?  Why not!? 

 

 

 

 

These letters are THE BOMB!!! Yeah, I bought two packs! Can I put them on EVERYTHING???