Clowns & Clouds...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day One!

July Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Wednesday and Thursday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Friday, July 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 GIVEAWAY, on Thursday 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 close Thursday 7/30 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

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Holy Cow, it's nearly July! This means fireworks, picnics, fun in the sun, and best of all, another Taylored Expressions Release Week! Is this going to be a fun few days, or what? Today I have two super cute sets to sneak peek. First up though, a big welcome to our new Baker's Dozen member, Melody Rupple! You can catch Melody's amazing work on her blog, A Paper Melody.
My first project features the soon-to-be released Life is a Circus (illustrated by the talented Doug Applegate for the Apple Doodle Ink line of stamps) and is chock-full of circus fun. For my card today, I decided to do a variation on a tent card, bringing to life a juggling clown balanced carefully atop an elephant on a tightrope! To give the illusion that the clown is really juggling some pretty heavy items, I used a thin strip of acetate to hold the sentiment ball up in the air. The "tightrope" is some baker's twine hooked between two posts (these are from Hangin' Out, which many of you are familiar with)!

Next up is a really darling set called In the Clouds, which is another in the wonderful Whimsical Wishes line illustrated by Nancy McKinney. I love hot air balloons *hint*--check in tomorrow for a twist on a new set -- but how clever and original are these blimps? Plus, the coordinating Blimps & Banners Die set makes cutting these babies out a breeze.

My mom-in-law actually gave me this idea when she saw this set (a perk of letting my family stay with her!) and so I made her a set of luggage tags! I purchased a very inexpensive set of self-laminating clear luggage tags and created these little cuties by just printing the text on my computer. The new Lime Twist MME patterned paper was picture perfect (or, you can try out the fabulously huge Cloudy Background Stamp) and these are such an easy way to create a gift for someone you know who travels.

BEAN NOTES

Tightrope Birthday Card

• Stamps: Life is a Circus; pole from Hangin' Out (Taylored Expressions)
• Cardstock: Choice Snow (TE); Bermuda Bay, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Patterned Paper: Lime Twist Fly a Kite (My Mind's Eye)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Dies: Star Border Taylored Die (TE)
• Fibers: Baker's Twine (The Twinery)
• Accents: Clear Accetate (generic)

Fly Away With Me Luggage Tags

• Stamps: In the Clouds (Taylored Expressions)
• Cardstock: Choice Buttercream (TE) 
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Patterned Paper: Lime Twist Fly a Kite (My Mind's Eye)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Dies: Blimps & Banners Taylored Die (TE)
• Alterable: Clear Luggage Tags (generic)

I hope you enjoyed today's sneak peeks. Tune in tomorrow for some birds and boys, but in the meantime, don't forget to check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen for some spectacular inspiration!

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