• Catching up…

    Hi friends! WOOT WOOT! It's Friday night! Yippeeeeee! I have some fun stamping things going on this weekend! My friend Stephanie is celebrating the grand re-opening of her stamp store in it's new location, so it's gonna be a party over at Paper Garden tomorrow! There will be free make-n-takes and the entire store is 20% off! Also, Dave Brethauer from Memory Box   and Poppystamps is going to be teaching classes at the store. Lots of fun, friends and stamping…and probably some snacks too. Perfect day if you ask me.

    It's always nice to see Dave in person and learn some of his awesome tricks. Lots of you know that I help Dave out with the Poppystamps and Memory Box blogs, Twitter and Facebook. I really enjoy being a part of his creative team. SOOO many wonderful products! I thought in honor of Dave coming to visit us in Sac-town this weekend, that I would share some of my Memory Box and Poppystamps projects that haven't been posted here on my blog yet!

     

    IMG_1103

     

     

     

    By the Lake 2

     

     

     

    A1

     

     

     

    IMG_0811

     

     

    1

     

     

     

    1 copy

    Have a super fun fantabulous weekend! I hope to see some (or lots) of you at Paper Garden tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by today! XO

    Birdie signature!

  • Slow Mojo Wednesday…

    Well hello there! It's Wednesday already! How the heck did that happen? Dang it this week is flying by! My  new job is great and I'm tired from learning and meeting people and having a new routine. But it's not a bad tired. Just an overwhelmed tired. It's all good!  I came home from work tonight thinking "I need/want to make a card and get a post up before American Idol." Well…I sat in the craft room and stared at the wall. Then I emptied the trash. Then I put away some stuff. And no idea came to me. Then I went on Pinterest. Then I started blog hopping. And no idea came. Then I made a card. I totally didn't like it. I put it aside. Then kitty came in and sat on my table and said "Momma Idol's on now!" But I perservered….and came up with a creation using a new Lawn Fawn set that hasn't been inky yet. I rather like this one! Hee hee. So I thought I was going to have NO mojo, but it just turned out to be SLOW mojo. Hope you are having a great week!! Thanks so much for coming by to see me today. I'm sending a little love your way…

     

    1

     

    I made a bunch of little letters to come spilling out of the mailbox. Easy-peasy to cut them out. I stamped them all and then put little hearts on them with my Copic marker.

    2

     

    Here are my supplies:

    IMG_2682

     

    My Copics – just three this time around…

    IMG_2685

     

    My little letters all ready to cut out.

    IMG_2681

     

    This is where Mr. Buddy came in and plopped himself right into the middle of the mess!! You can see Ryan Seacrest in the background! Buddy likes me to sit on the couch so he can sit on me…didn't want me to stamp any more tonight! What a character.

    IMG_2680

     

    I popped some of the letters up on foam tape and put others directly onto the paper. I cut a slit in the mailbox with my exacto knife and put the two letters in the top part.

    IMG_2688

     

    There you have it….sending love your way tonight!

    IMG_2689

    Birdie signature!

  • It’s been a circus around here!

    Hi everybody! It truly has been a circus around here the past couple of weeks, so today's card is perfect! It's my day to post for Taylored Expressions! I'm using the super cute stamp set called Life is a Circus. Did you have a great weekend? Mine was busy busy busy and now it's off to work again on Monday. The Rubber Stamp Convention was Saturday all day and I love working the show. For the past few years I have been at the front table doing admissions and it's the perfect way to see EVERYONE and say hi! There were over 700 people there on Saturday! It was so great to see so many of you. The mood was happy and it was a beautiful day outside too. It's also time for me to visit with my friends from A Stamp in the Hand – they put on the RSC… LOVE those gals!!! XOXO.

    My card for today also uses TESC #156. There's still lots of time to join in on the fun. CLICK HERE for deets. I combined the stamp set with some of my favorite border dies. Hope you like it.

     

    1

     

     

    Here's this week's sketch:

     

    TESC156

     

    I adore this Reach for the Stars Border Die and combined it with the Medium Scallop Die… And, then I had to add some bling! This paper collection is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Collection.

    2

     

     

     Here are my supplies…

    3

     

     

    And my Copic color palette…

    4

     

     

    I cut the circus tent and the seal out separately to add dimension to my project. I thought about paper piecing the tent, but decided to color it instead. It looks great either way! Please CLICK HERE to go to the TE Gallery for this stamp set!  

    5

     

     

     

    6
    Hope you've enjoyed this crazy little project! Best wishes for a great week ahead. Thank you for coming by to say hello!  

    Birdie signature!

     

  • Rain or Shine!

    Hi Friends!! Happpppyyyyyy Fridaaaayyyyyy! We made it to the weekend! Yay! In Sac-town this weekend, we are having our annual Rubber Stamp Convention and I'll be working all day on Saturday there. Maybe taking tickets, maybe demo'ing. Not sure yet. If you're local, please come by – all day at the Scottish Rite Center by Sac-State! I'd love to see you there!

    This week was a whirlwind – the first week at my new job. It was awesome! I'm so happy and excited to be getting back in the swing of things. My commute is much better and it's been so wonderful to see old friends. I am tired though, from all the excitement and major allergies this week.

    When I sat down to make a card last night, I didn't have a whole lot of time and I knew I wanted to make a CAS card. It was POURING rain and hail when I jumped in the craft room and that inspired my card. I wanted to make something before the power went out! We don't really get hail and thunder like that here in my neck of the woods. So, here's my card…

     

    1

     

    I absolutely adore this cute rain boots image from Savvy Stamps!! It's super adorable, and perfect for Spring cards! The rain shower stamp is from Amuse and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

    2

     

    I made the rain boots glossy by heat embossing them with clear embossing powder. I used two coats of embossing and then cut the image out and popped it up on some foam tape.

    3

     

     

    4

     

     

    5

    There you have it! I hope that your weekend is fun filled and happy. Thanks for coming by! Also, thank you for all the very nice comments about my Palm Springs photos! Love ya rain or shine….

     

    Birdie signature!

  • Palm Springs Getaway Photos!

    Hi there! What’s new? How are ya? Hope that your week is going along nicely. We are having rain…again…but I guess it gets the pollen out of the air so I’ll take it! I started my new job this week and so far it’s going really well. It was nice to have those couple of weeks off, but it also feels nice to be back into a routine. My new commute is wonderful too. It’s all good. As promised, I’m here today to share some (well, a lot) of pictures from our vacation in Palm Springs last week.

    The hubs and I have never gone on a vacation that wasn’t at the ocean! It was weird, to be honest, to be in the desert and no where near the sea. I kinda liked it though. It felt so good to be warm and to be outside at night in just a t-shirt and dipping our toes in the pool at midnight. I got myself a weentsy bit of a tan…but alas that’s already gone and I’m back to E000 (a little Copic humor).

    The desert has it’s own kind of beauty, especially Palm Springs. The variety and sheer volume of plants was staggering and so pretty. Lots of cactus and palm trees and tons of flowers. It’s very dry, so you don’t feel as warm as if it were humid. There are giant mountains right next to the valley floor with snow on them! There are a bazillion golf courses. All in all a really neat place. We are already talking about returning one day. It is almost exactly 500 miles from our house and the drive took 9 hours including stops. Okay, so enough yammering…here are the pix.

    First up – FLOWERS, PLANTS and BUGS:

    These photos were taken at our hotel, at the Sunnylands Visitor Center, or at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Enjoy!  

     

    5

     

     

    2

     

     

    Isn’t it weird that this soft pretty flower grows out of that hard prickly cactus? It’s magical!

    29

     

     

    I have no idea what these are, but they were the softest shade of green….

    11

     

     

     

    13

     

     

     

     

    3

     

     

     

    15

     

     

     

    7

     

     

    One of the reflecting pools at Sunnylands…

    10

     

     

     

     

    4

     

     

    OUCH!

    9

     

    12

     

    Next up – ARCHITECTURE:

    Palm Springs has the coolest vibe. There are no tall buildings, no skyscrapers. Everything is low and mod and interesting. Mid Century Modern is the style. Mostly built during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Some of the landscapes made me thing of the Flintstones! I wonder if the creater of the cartoon came here and was inspired? We drove all around taking pictures of houses one day!

     

    20

     

     

     

    21

     

     

    23

     

     

     

    31

     

     

     

    22

     

     

     

    32

     

    This is the Sunnylands Visitors Center. It’s new, but was built in that Mid-Century style… 

    36

     

     

     

    35

     

    Next – BIRDS and ANIMALS:

    These little doves were at our hotel just hanging out. The rest of the pictures were taken at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens.

     

    17

     

    This picture came out cool! That little tiny hummingbird stopped to rest and I was able to capture him quickly before he flew away!

    14

     

     

     

    27

     

     

     

    28

     

     

    One unhappy Mountain Lion. Yikes.  

    6

     

     

    Two Cheetahs chillin’ on a hot day. Aren’t they gorgeous!?  

    8

     

    And Finally – EVERYTHING ELSE!

    These first few pics are our hotel! The Miramonte Resort and Spa. OMG. We scored an amazing deal through the website called Snique Away! We never would have been able to afford to stay here in a million years. The place was practically empty! It was absolutely beautiful. Just like a roman villa plopped down in the middle of the desert.

     

    18

     

     

    The hotel at night…. 

    19

     

     

    34

     

     

    This is the entrance to one of the golf courses… 

    26

     

     

    25

     

     

    Shopping on El Paseo. My favorite store was Kate Spade!

    30

     

     

    16

     

     

     

    33

     

    On the freeway on the way into Palm Springs there are thousands of wind turbines! They are interesting and actually kind of pretty, especially when they are all turning at the same time. It’s sort of mesmerizing. Hard to get a good picture of them though…

    24

     

    Taking pictures in the desert in the very bright and very harsh light presented a whole new photography challenge for me. There was never a good time to take pictures…it’s always full on sun with no clouds there! Normally I would not even try to take pix in this light. But, it tells the story of the place and I tried to test out different things to get the best images. I hope you’ve enjoyed my photo show! Thanks for looking! Have a fabulous day. XO 

    Birdie signature!

  • You Lift Me Up!

    Hi everybody! How are you today? How was your weekend? I hope you had a nice time with your family and friends. We had a very nice Easter weekend. Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions and I have a bright, happy card to share with you. It's because all of you lift me up! So, this one's for you!

     

    1

     

     

    I used the current TESC #155 – isn't this an awesome sketch? Love it! Click here for details on how to enter your card into the challenge.  

    1a

     

     

     

    2

     

     

     

    Here are my Copic colors for this project…they just scream SPRING!!

    2a

     

     

     

    I used this paper pack for my project:

    2b

     

     

    Here is the image of the stamp set I used! CLICK here to see it in the store.

    LoveScenes

     

     

     

    4

     

     

     

    6

    Thank you for stopping by today to see what I'm up to! Have a great day!  

    Birdie signature!

     

  • Happy Easter!

     HAPPY EASTER TO YOUR FAMILY

    FROM OUR FAMILY!

    5445

    Happy Easter! He is Risen! What a glorious day! I love Easter and love to celebrate all that Easter means. I hope you are having a wonderful day today. I have an Easter card to share today and I hope it brings you cheer and happiness. Thank you for coming by my blog today – have a blessed day.

    My card today features pretty, soft spring colors. I chose a mid level pink and then paired it with a light aqua and some softer brown. I was inspired by the patterned paper. SO pretty. That is from the London Market Collection from Pink Paislee…one of the things I was drooling over at CHA!

     

    1

     

    The felt and the die for the flower are from Papertrey Ink (PTI). The letter dies are also from PTI. Those letters are the perfect size for cards.

    2

     

     

    This cross stamp I've had forever, and it's from Anna Griffin. I stamped it in distress ink and then used more of the ink around the edges of all the papers.

    IMG_2017

     

     

    Lots and lots of layers on this one!!

    IMG_2018

     

     

     

    IMG_2020
    Have a great week!

    Birdie signature!

  • My favorite peeps!

    Hi peeps! If you're reading this, you are one of my favorite peeps, so this card today is for YOU! Hee hee. We are back from a super relaxing road trip to Palm Springs and ready for Good Friday and Easter now. Then, I start my new job on Monday. I will get my photos together from Palm Springs and share them soon!

    My card today is super silly and happy and cheerful! I saw this little peep die at Paper Garden and had to have it and then I just made a super clean and simple design/card to go with it. Lots of color – perfect for Spring. I didn't really get around to making too many Easter projects this year…the time sort of got away from me.

     

    1

     

     

    I cut one inch strips of the jelly bean paper (Doodlebug) and then added a bright green grassy border (grass border from Taylored Expressions). Three little peeps poking out of the grass! Makes me smile. The sentiment I've had for years, and that's from Amuse.

    2

     

     

    Here are my supplies…that was a whole mess o' peeps to cut out!  

    3

     

     

     

    4

     

     

    The bright yellow and pink papers are from American Crafts' Primary paper collection.

    5

     

     

     

    6

     

     

     

    7

    Thank you so much for coming by! I hope your Easter preparations are coming along well,  and that you have some fun time with family. We will go to church tonight and again on Sunday. Maybe some brunch too. Enjoy!

    Birdie signature!

      

  • Taylored Expressions April Release Day!

     BloggraphicApril2012
    TE Release Day!

    • All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
    • More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you. Just follow the link list below.
    • FREE A la Carte Stamp – Order the London Market Project Pantry and any Full-size stamp set and you will receive the Mom A la Carte stamp absolutely FREE. Please note that the stamp will not show up in your cart, but we will be sure to include it with your order.
    • Did you win one of the Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaways? Find the list of winners on Taylor's Blog.

    Today I'm sharing another project made with "my" stamp set – Fruity Friends!! I can't stop stamping with these fun little guys! As a reminder, Fruity Friends is part of the Embracing Grace Collection by Emily Burger, and is a full size set of 20 images and sentiments) You can't help but grin when you look at these darling little fruity faces! And the sweet punny sentiments just push this set over the top!

    My project for today is a note card set I made and then put in one of the Perfect Package Card Boxes available in the TE Store.  These boxes are really sturdy and they are fun to decorate and give as a gift! You'll see…. 

     

    IMG_2042 copy

     

     

    Here is a close up of the top of my card box! I used the TE Medium Scallop die to make that pretty scallop on the bottom.

    IMG_2043

     

     

    When you open it up, there are five mini notes inside! I kept it really clean and simple and graphic with these. I think these notes would be fun to tuck into lunch boxes or just to give a friend for a quick note.

    IMG_2045

     

     

     

    IMG_2046

     

     

    My finished notes are 3.5 inches square…

    IMG_2047

     

     

     

    IMG_2050

     

     

    I think this is my favorite sentiment from all of them…Which one do you like best? Tooooo much fun, seriously!

    IMG_2051

     

    Well…that's is for yet another amazing release week for Taylored Expressions! I sure do have so much fun working with this team and sharing with all of you. I hope you have found something to tickle your fancy and now it's time to get over to the store and START SHOPPING!!! Thank you for all the nice comments all week – I hope your week has been wonderful.

    Here's one last link list for the week:  

     

     Birdie signature!

     

     

  • Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks – Day 3!

    BloggraphicApril2012

    April Release At a Glance

    • We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, April 5th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
    • Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
    • Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate. Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day! Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please. Comments for the drawings close Wednesday 4/4 at 7pm PST.

     

    Hello again! Day three of Sneak Peeks is here! Today's card features a cute new baby set of stamps and coordinating dies! Onesie Twosie is  from the Whimsical Wishes Collection by Nancy McKinney.  Onesie Twosie is a Mini set of 19 images and sentiments. You can use this set with the coordinating Onesie Die to create adorable baby cards and shower decorations. This is the perfect little baby set for
    everyone to have in their stamping arsenal with plenty of variety for girls. boys and even twins!

    I kept my card for today clean and simple. I used the TE Clouds Impression Plate to make s blue sky background for that adorable onesie stamp!  

     

    10

     

     

    If you use the impression plate on cardstock that has a white center, you can gently sand the blue away to make the clouds pop! I love this technique! I used some Doodlebug Twine and a cute little clothespin. The stamp set comes with all kinds of fun images to put on the front of the onesie!

    11

     

     

    12

     

     

    13

    Onesie

    That's it for me today….Please check out the other designers' projects…and tomorrow is RELEASE DAY!!! Be sure to "Like" Taylored Expressions on Facebook so you can see the stamp set reveal early! Have a wonderful day!

     Birdie signature!