Hi friends! How's it going? I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get my Christmas cards all organized and then I started the addressing process…and I do mean process! Whew. What a task…it's a task done with love though. Are you done? Have you started? I always say every year "I'm going to start really early this year" but I never do! Why is that? Oh well…It always gets done somehow right? I have a busy and fun week ahead. Looking forward to seeing some co-workers I don't see all the time, and also to seeing some friends and stamping mid-week. Yay!

The card I'm sharing today was inspired by an Ann Taylor advertisement in a magazine! Just goes to show you that inspiration can come from anywhere. It was this gorgeous, wintery scene, and I loved it. I'm not sure I 100% love my card, but I do like the conept. I wish I had a better pine/bough punch. Anyone know of a good one? 

 

 

 

Here is the ad that I cut out of the magazine…Isn't it gorgeous? It's just green, white and gold…and tons of fluffy snow! I chose some burnished gold paper and a nice forest green paper for contrast. I ended up using glitter paper for the ornaments. I improvised my pine boughs with a fern punch!

 

I cut out two shades of green for my branches and layered the punches starting from the left corner. I used cream paper as my base.

 

I drew in the ornament hangers with a ruler. I can't draw a straight line by hand! The sentiment is stamped in a rich brown distress ink.

 

Now…for the snow! I put two layers on. I let the first layer dry and then went back over it a second time with more glue and more glitter.

 

 

Here is a snap I took of the lovely ladies of Paper Garden Boutique! I had the best time with them on Saturday and wanted to take a Christmas photo for them. Just an FYI for the local folks…Stephanie is moving the store in January – over to Pavillions Shopping Center! Aren't they pretty? So much fun, too.

Have a great week!

Hi everybody! I'm sitting here in the craft room, kicking off the first weekend of December madness! My to do list for the weekend is actually a grid chart with columns for what has to get done each day! OMG. We just got home from the grocery store and I'm doing laundry and it's 9:00…and I forgot to eat dinner. Sheesh…It's the holidays! I made this card on Monday and I have been dying to share it with you! I was surfing around on blogs Monday morning and checked in on my sweet friend Audrey who made this amazing creation for her guest designer spot for Shabby Tea Room. I zipped over to Shabby Tea Room and saw the inspiration image… Well…the paper and glitter started flying! You know how sometimes you just can't stop yourself? This was one of those times!

 

 

The inspiration image is so pretty, don't you think? I love the icy coolness of it and all the texture. It's amazing how much texture there can be with white and cream. I love this! I never would have combined white and cream together! It's beautiful.

These ice skates are a personal favorite stamp set of mine from Papertrey Ink! I added some pretty grey socks and some little silver bells… Then I coated the skates in prisma glitter and the blades with Silver Stickles. In this photo you can see the cream/white combo pretty good.  

 

Another favorite winter stamp…from Amuse! I stamped the snowflakes in grey ink on white paper for the background. In the foreground, I used shimmery Versamark (Champagne) on cream paper!

The sentiment is from Denami, and was stamped in the same gray ink.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for coming by to see me today! I hope that you have all kinds of fun things planned for the weekend! I'll see you soon!

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 at the bottom of my post below.
• PETITE-A-PALOOZA SPECIAL: Purchase any 6 Petite Stamp Sets (new or old) through Friday December 9th and receive a Petite Storage Case absolutely FREE!

 

I am so excited to introduce the new Fly Your Flag sets today! There are three different flag stamps with matching dies. I'm using Fly Your Flag 3 which has 7 stamp images and one die. It's from the *te* Collection by Taylor Van Bruggen herself! You are going to love these – so versatile!  They are a unique take on pennants! Fold them together and string along a piece of baker’s twine or on a toothpick or decorative pin, cut in half and create a banner…lots of ways to fly your flag! Coordinates with the previously released You’re My Type Upper and Lower alpha sets.

Here is my first card for today using Fly Your Flag 3 (with die) and more goodies from the October Afternoon Card kit….

 

 

How cute are these flags?? ACK! The die cuts a double flag…you just fold it over and adhere them together! LOVE. I put my flags onto some long pearl pins. The dashed line is one stamp, and the sentiment is another stamp. You can see in the background the adorable TE Clouds Impression Plate. Love that too! This card kit has to be my all time favorite from Taylor.  

I made some pretty scallops on my card using the TE Medium Scallop die. Then I cut out pieces of the blue patterned paper to make some accents on my flag and the bottom of my card. I think this would be the nicest card to send to a girlfriend!  

 

 

 

The second card I have to share today is made with the brand new Snowflake Wreath – which is a set of 7 for $7.95 – and it's perfect throughout the Winter months as well as another great option for Christmas cards and decorations! 

I made a smaller card with this set – maybe for a gift enclosure card or a tag. My finished card is 3×3 square and I used a CAS layout. The wreath is one stamp and then there is a matching snowflake (which I used to make background paper) and then the nice sentiment. I like just the small pops of red for winter… 

 

 

Well….I guess that's it for Release Week! I have so enjoyed sharing with you this week, as I know everyone else has. After you pop over to the TE Store, won't you go check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen projects for today? We also have Jami and Nancy joining us for Release day! I am so loving the concept this month of all these great small sets!  

 December Release at a Glance:

• It's Petite-a-Palooza as we introduce A DOZEN new Petite stamp sets, plus one new A la Carte, from every stamp collection available at Taylored Expressions.
• Yesterday was Calendar Day as we showcased FOUR new TE calendar products – all perfect for gift giving!
• Today is Card Kit Day as we introduce FOUR new Taylored Card Kits available just in time for the holidays!
• All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, December 1st 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.

 

Today I'm excited to share with you the super cute new stamp set called Polar Pete! He is from the Apple Doodle Ink by Doug Applegate Collection and is a set of 5 for $7.95. This little guy will warm your heart. I love what some of the other Baker's Dozen team members did with him too…he's just not for Winter!  I'm also using the October Afternoon Sidewalks Card Kit for my project for today. Here's the 4-1-1 on the card kits:

Taylored Card Kits

Each kit includes: 10 solid colored cardstock card bases,10 neutral cardstock image panels, envelopes, patterned paper, ribbon, KaiserCraft rhinestones or pearls – all packaged in a Petite Storage Case. Kits are $14.95 each. There are 4 new kits to choose from!!

 

 

He comes with different sentiments…but this one was my favorite! I punched out a red heart to add some more emphasis to the saying. This cute sparkly ribbon is included in the card kit, as are all the papers you see here.

 

Here is my Copic color palette for this card…. 

 

Isn't he adorable? I love it!

Taylor is introducing Petite Storage Cases – that will hold 6 Petite sets! This size works along side your regular Mini Binder Boxes and how cool is it that you get one free with each card kit?? 

The card kits also made great Gift Ideas - one of the new card kits would make a great holiday gift for either a seasoned stamper or someone just getting started. An even better gift would be the combination of one of the card kits with any of the new Petite stamp sets. Or a Petite set would be a great little stocking stuffer.

Hello! How are you? How has your week been going so far? Is all your shopping done for Thanksgiving!? I hope all is well at your house! The DH is feeling so much better but I'm not sure if he will be able to eat everything on the Thanksgiving plate…but I know he's gonna make a good effort! We love Thanksgiving at our house. Can't wait!

I have a bunch o' cards to share tonight. I was totally inspired by the December Hero Arts Contest! The themes this month were 1) tags, or 2) Bling, or 3) A very pretty pastel color palette. Well…you guys know me by now, so you know I combined all three themes into my entries! Hahaha. I went to Paper Garden and got the most beautiful shades of Stardream papers and came home…and let it all fly! Snowflakes and punches and glitter, oh my! I had a fun time with this one!

 

 

I made three cards with this look…combining all the colors in the challenge palette. White snowflakes stamped onto the Stardream paper is so pretty!

 

 

 

 

Pretty Martha Stewart Punch snowflakes…

 

Trying to decide which colors to put where…

 

I think the pink card is my favorite. I am LOVING pink for Christmas this year!

 

Next I got out my fun mitten punch and put some snowflakes on them! I added some silver Stickles for more pop! I just bought that giant snowflake punch!!!

 

 

 

One last one…I really just couldn't stop myself with that paper!!!

 

I snapped this quick pic to show the holiday crafty mess I have going on here in the stamping room! It's overflowing everywhere…even on the floor! Yikes! Also, you will note one giant kitty cat planted right in front of the space heater! That's how he rolls….

Thank you for coming by today! In case I don't see ya before…Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am very thankful for your kindness and warmth!

 

Hi! How are you doing? I hope you had a great weekend!  I'm just winding down the weekend in my crafty space and thought I would post a card I made with the super-duper cute new Poppystamps for Winter 2011! I hope you have been over to check out all the new stuff! Dave did an amazing job with new stamps and gorgeous new dies…It's all just so adorable and fun. I've been making some cards to post over there in the coming few weeks and I really just wanted to show you this one!

All the stamps, paper, and dies are from Memory Box and Poppystamps…

That tree die is the cutest thing ever! The trees are actually in a straight line…so I cut out little snippets of the die into pieces and then glued them onto the back of my snowy hill to match the curve. The stamp is crazy cute and has a matching die! (woot woot!) I colored the image with my Copic Markers and added little pops of glitter. The patterned papers are from Memory Box.

 

 

Thank you so much for coming by today! Happy Thanksgiving Week! The Holidaze have officially started! Hugs.

Hello! Happy Friday friends! The hubs and I are off to my college football game tomorrow. Hopefully we aren't going to get killed too badly. The other team is ranked #8 in the country, and they're favored by 20 points! OUCH. Oh well…we will have a good time anyway. I haven't missed a Big Game in 30 years and I'm not going to miss this one! GO Bears!

Today's card is my contribution to Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #150! WOW – 150 sketches? Right on Taylor! Jami designed the great sketch for this one, and so I had to join in. There's still time….click on over (here) to see the rules and enter your own card!

The Sketch image:

 

In the side view you can see all the pretty snow on the branch! The paper is MME Lost and Found 2 Breeze Collection.  The dies for the branch and the birds are the Birds and Branch Dies  and I use those all the time! The background is the SUPER pretty Musical Swirls Impression Plate.The Banner was stamped with the Banner Holidays set and I also used the Banner Day 1 set! The scallop border is the Small Scallop Die!  Everything is available at the Taylored Expressions store!

 

Here I go again with the Perfect Pearls Mist! (I blame Richele for this!) I embossed my image with the Swirls side of the Impression plate on cream cardstock. Then I generously misted it with the Pearl sheen. I adore this effect!  

 

Look…it's snowing! In order to get the depth on the glitter snow, I used white enamel accents instead of plain clear glue.  

 

 

Thanks for coming by and spending part of your day here with me! Have a super weekend! See you soon. 

 

Greetings! One week from tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Holy guacamole where did this year go? Christmas will be here asap!  Yesterday I holed up in the crafty cave and made our Thanksgiving cards for 2011. I have made this a tradition for at least 10 years now…pretty cards for family. I love doing this. I love the colors of Fall, the leaves and, most of all, the meaning of Thanksgiving. It's a perfect holiday in my book. I was inspired this year by an unlikely source – some floral paper! I don't know why, but the colors just said Thanksgiving to me. It's a bit non-traditional, but I like it anyway! I distressed and inked, and sewed…oh my!

Here's the final creation:  

 

 

 

It took me FOREVER to figure out how to get my machine to zig zag! ACK. It was worth it though! I love the look of this. You should see all the scraps I shredded before making the good ones!

 

The leaves were punched out of a rust colored (white core) paper and then sanded to show some texture. Then I sprayed them with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Mist. YUM! I tried to get it kind of splotchy on purpose. Aren't they so pretty?

 

For the words, I stamped them in brown ink on cream paper and cut them into banners. Then I crumpled them with my hands and inked them with Antique Linen distress ink so they would look aged.

 

I did the same technique on the yellow leaves as I did on the bigger leaves. In this picture you can really see the pearl mist. I also turned the corners of the leaves up.

 

I inked and distressed the background layer and mounted it to a kraft card base.

 

Here's my little stack of pretties…all ready to be finished. This was a multi-step process and I always do all the steps for every card…assembly line style…

 

Here is the inside: I combined two clear stamp sentiments onto one clear block. Then I added another leaf in a butterscotch color.

 

I had to show you the back too! Hello Kitty Pilgrim! Are you freaking' kidding me??? LOVE her!

I hope you are having fun preparing for a big feast and getting excited about welcoming friends and family. And I am wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving a little early, for I am thankful for you my bloggy friends! Have a great day today!

Hi bloggy friends! This past few days I have noticed the beautiful Fall leaves here in Northern California. Our neighborhood is full of trees, big giant trees. In fact, we have two 80 foot maples in our backyard (but that part isn't so much fun). We finally had a cold snap and all the color is blooming. I love it! There is this one red tree in particular that is in our neighbor's front yard…I can look right at it out the kitchen window. Wonderful. Today, I decided to make the first Thanksgiving card today to share. I guess I'd better pick up the pace, since Thanksgiving is next week! Ack!

Thank you to everyone who has sent the nicest notes and wishes and prayers for the hubs' surgery last Friday. The surgery went well. We had to wait around until 5:30 pm until he finally went in. The doctor said that his tonsils (both together) were the size of a tennis ball (!!!) and were the biggest he'd ever seen. Oy. No wonder he's been so sick. Anyway…enough graphic details. Yesterday I think was his worst day and today he seems to be feeling much better. SO thankful for that! Anyhoo, just wanted to say how wonderful it has been to receive your encouragement.

The main focal stamp is from Waltzingmouse…love this set…it's called Peace and Plenty. I colored the image with my Copics and kept the layout clean and simple.

 

Here's my color choices…The other two greens are YG63 and YG67.  

I've seen this technique on a few blogs lately and I love it! Score your paper each half inch and you have a pretty quilted pattern!

 

The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkadoo… I added some blings at the very last minute! I couldn't help myself. 

 

 

This makes me happy and thankful! This is a picture of my crazy cute nephews in their front yard! OMG this is the perfect Fall photo in my book. I even have it as my phone screen saver right now! How can you not smile??  {photo credit}

And, it's been a while since I let you know how Mr. Buddy is doing… As I mentioned earlier, we've had a cold snap…. Oh, did someone else want some heat too? I didn't realize! Hahaha.

I hope you have a wonderful week!