Peeps Last Forever...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1!

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I love Spring. And, though you can't smell it in the air just yet (there are a lot of other, less happy smells to be had in Manhattan!) I know it's coming soon. Today is Sneak Peek Day 1 for Taylored Expressions, and we a ton of fun projects to share that will get you thinking of all things Spring.

My first project features the second in the wonderful It's a Banner Day stamps and coordinating dies (there are 3 banners and 6 sentiments in this month's set). I paired them in my card with some cute little chick-a-dees from Favorite Peeps -- and do you see that darling patterned paper? That's from the new Spring Project Pantry kit and everything new you see today will be available this Thursday, March 3.

Now, I don't know about you, but I have a nostalgic fondness for those sugary, marshmallowy Peeps -- they look like they would taste heavenly, but I'm afraid I've outgrown them. However, I thought they would make an adorable decoration for spring, and I thought the adorable new Spring a la Carte stamp from TE would be perfect. I put two on because these yellow cuties reminded me of a pair of love birds. When summer hits, I'll put this away and I'm pretty sure that in ten years, those Peeps will still be exactly as they are today!

BEAN NOTES

Sending You Sunshine Card
Stamps: It's a Banner Day -2 and Favorite Peeps (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Patterned Paper: Hippity Hoppity (We-R-Memory Keepers) from Spring Project Pantry
Cardstock: from Spring Project Pantry
Dies: Banner Day 2, Picket Fence (TE); Classic Circle and Lacey Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Tools: Grass Border Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)


Spring Peeps Hang
Stamps: Spring a la Carte (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: from Spring Project Pantry
Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
Dies: Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Accents: Glittered brads from Spring Project Pantry
Fibers: Ribbon from Spring Project Pantry; Crumb Cake grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!)
Other: Straw; Peeps

By the way, did you know that you could WIN THE ENTIRE MARCH RELEASE by becoming a fan of Taylored Expressions on Facebook? Once TE reaches 1500 fans, one lucky crafter will receive exactly that! Visit this page and "like" TE for a chance to win! Now, don't forget to check out the rest of the TE Baker's Dozen for more springtime goodness. Join me again tomorrow for some "wooly" fun and I hope you have a lovely day!

• Charmaine Ikach

  Danielle Lounds

  Jackie Pedro

  Jodi Collins

  Karen Giron

  Karen Motz

  Melissa Sauls

  Regina Mangum

  Sankari Wegman

  Taylor VanBruggen

  Tori Wild

  and friends

  Iwona Palamountain (It's a Banner Day concept designer!)

  Jami Sibley

Scrumptious Wishes...

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Our cousin, Katy, has a birthday in March and is also celebrating her husband's new job that will take their little family to Missouri. I thought I'd combine some good wishes for them with a card, and what better way than with a cupcake house from the Cozy Cottages set from Taylored Expressions? After stamping and coloring in the sweet abode, I was all ready to assemble my card and I thought it was missing something. Lucky for me, this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge was to use scallops -- a scalloped circle was exactly what I was looking for and I had a cute card to send to our on-the-move cousins!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Cozy Cottages and sentiment from It's a Banner Day-1 (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Parakeet (Bazzill) ; Textured from January Key Ingredients Kit (TE)
Patterned Paper: Cupcake Love (Little Yellow Bicycle)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
Tools: 2" Scallop Circle Punch (EK Success)
Accents: Glossy Accents (Ranger); Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
Fibers: Ribbon from January Key Ingredients (TE)

Hope Your Birthday Rocks!...

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It's another Blast From the Past Blog Hop with Taylored Expressions, and this month we are "Going Green." I chose to recycle materials from other projects and use the color green in today's project! With the exception of the gemstones, I took all the elements from older "reject" projects that I keep in a box of discards, and came up with this new birthday card for my brother-in-law's "rockin'" girlfriend. I used the fab set, You're My Hero, from Taylored Expressions. Go ahead...rummage through your scraps and see what you can refresh!

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: You're My Hero (Taylored Expressions)
• Patterned Paper: Playdate Designer Series (Stampin' Up!)
• Ink: Wild Wasabi Classic Dye (Stampin' Up!)
• Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Parakeet Textured (Bazzil)
• Accents: Tiny Twinkles (TE)

Now, hop away and see what other "green" projects will inspire you today! Next stop: Kimberly Stouffer's Faerie Tales with Paper...Have a lovely day!

Roses Fade, but Thank You is Forever...

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It's Monday of Presidents' Week, which means the rugrat is not in school and I'm tearing my hair out trying to entertain him! To decompress, I made a card, my favorite kind, which is Thank You. I brought out two of my go-to sets from Taylored Expressions, New Beginnings and Banner Day 1 to create a simple card (no time means quick card!)
I took on of the cute butterfly images and stamped it several times, fully inked, then again in an adjoining pattern by de-inking it once between stamping. It's a great way to create some patterned background paper. Next, I stamped and shaded the sentiment banner and rose, also shading the edges of my card base. After popping them up with foam tape, I was ready to get back to amusing a very bored three year old!

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: New Beginnings and Banner Day 1 (Taylored Expressions)
• Ink: Real Red Classic Dye (Stampin' Up!)
• Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Sage Shadow (SU!)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Dies: Banner 1 (TE)

A Little Something for Lizz...

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My super stylish and gorgeous sister-in-law is a big fan of MAC makeup. We wanted to get her a special gift and I thought I'd make it extra fun with some special packaging and I was inspired by the Make Your Own Embellishment Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and for the colors, the Scrappy Saturday Source of Inspiration Challenge. This challenge asked for a project inspired by something seen in the pages of a stamping magazine -- how fun is that? I was actually inspired by two pages from the current Go-To Sketches from Papercrafts, pages 8 and 9. I love the colors on Natasha Trupp's gorgeous card, but I also really LOVED how it went with Teri Anderson's (she's so sweet!) happy orange shirt!

I had picked up a plain make-up case at a local store a couple weeks back and created my own embellishments to decorate it. Felt is always an easy way to dress something up, so I ran some dies though my die cutting machine, sewed them on the bag, and, voila!, a much more personal gift. I simply tucked a gift card in the front pocket and I was good to go!

BEAN NOTES

• Dies: Beautiful Blooms II (PTI)
• Accents: Buttons (Generic); Felt (PTI)
• Other: Make-up bag (Bed Bath and Beyond)

Welcome Home...

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It has been so nice getting a chance to make cards again (though I am feeling more than a bit guilty that I am neglecting the old scrapbook!) This week, Moxie Fab is hosting a Stamping with Markers Challenge, and I thought I would try my hand. I wanted to see if I could use the same markers on the same image stamped several times and see if I could make them look different. I chose to use the cute townhouse from the Cozy Cottages set from Taylored Expressions, keeping the rest of the card very simple to really focus on the colored images.

I used the colorless blender from Copic to create three different rooftops, lighting up the middle house's windows and lamps to suggest a cozy home full of warmth and good cheer. I used a slightly darker gray on the facade of the townhouses to suggest some added texture and simply dotted along the sides. With some shading on the awnings, I tried to create a sense of roundness. A simple, fitting sentiment, and I had a card that brought back the pleasures of coloring!

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Cozy Cottages (Taylored Expressions)
• Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Dies: Labels 17 Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
• Tools: Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)

Go Confidently...

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I don't usually enter more than one entry in a challenge, but the Scrappy Saturday Challenge on Live, Laugh, Love, speaks to some of my favorite themes. I made a Love card earlier, and so I thought I'd make a Live card. Taking the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday Challenge, I decided to further challenge myself to create a monochromatic WHITE card, which is always an interesting process.

I took my absolute favorite quote of all time from Taylored Expressions's New Beginnings set as a jumping off point. One of my kind commenters asked me how I made this shaped card from a single sheet of cardstock with a die, and I've posted photos below and I hope they show how easy it is. Today's card uses the same technique and employs a number of dies to create texture and visual interest. Plus, who can resist a little bit of bling to get us heading off in the direction of all our dreams?

with card folded, line up the die along the fold, just over the edge

be sure to align so a portion of the fold remains intact

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: New Beginnings (Taylored Expressions)
• Cardstock: Classic Solar White (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Specialty Cardstock: Vellum (PTI)
• Dies: Beaded Circle and Labels 17 Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Basic Bow (TE)
• Accents: Tiny Twinkles (TE)

Love is in the Air...

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The Grand Calibur made it easy to make a fun shaped card

So, three days of layouts and I just had to get back to cardmaking! Valentine's Day is tomorrow and the Live, Laugh, Love theme at the Scrappy Saturday Challenge gave me one last chance to make something about L-O-V-E, and I have been wanting to make a card with this adorable little airplane from Taylored Expressions's Kid at Heart set ever since I laid eyes on it. I was inspired by the great sketch at my fellow Baker's Dozen team member Karen Giron's fabulous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. For a little added detail, I penned in some tiny red hearts in the seats of the background airplanes. Have a wonderful, spectacular week!

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Kid at Heart (Taylored Expressions)
• Patterned Paper: Little Boy (Echo Park)
• Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Aqua Mist (PTI)
• Ink: Brocade Blue Classic Dye (Stampin' Up!)
• Coloring Medium: Orange Metallic Marker (Sakura); Red Multiliner SP (Copic)
• Dies: Cloud Duo (TE); Grand Labels 1 and Labels 1 Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
• Tools: Small Heart Punch (SU!); Grand Calibur (Spellbinders); Heart Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)

A Little Experimentation...

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Yep, it's another layout and as I think I may be reaching a tipping point and have to switch back to cards pretty soon, I thought I would experiment a little to keep the mojo flowing. This may be the earliest moment of those that I still have to scrap, and it is my son's pre-nursery school days (he's now almost 3.5!) Again, I had a ton of photos, as this page would span almost 10 months, and so I thought I'd try a layout that was very contemporary and modern. I turned most of the pics black & white and faded out the class photo and three of the rugrat in a toy car. I played a little with the photo placement and added some sticker word accents. I kept the school's brochure, which I thought would be a fun keepsake, and I created a little slit pocket to hold it to the page and made the name of the school serve as the title. What seems like a simple concept actually took a while to create, but it turned out to be an interesting page!

BEAN NOTES

• Cardstock: Textured (American Crafts); Riding Hood Red (Stampin' Up!)
• Accents: Cherry  Hill Stickers (October Afternoon)
• Font: Typical Writer (fonts.com)
• Other: Photographs

Touch a Truck!...

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Trying to keep the momentum going on the old scrapbook -- this page is for an event that happened in MAY of last year! I am afraid my scrapbooking energies are waning, so the challenge at Simon Says Stamp to create Anything BUT a Card is helping me out. Also, it's another chance to use my favorite new tool, the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, which has become my go-to way of attaching my journaling to my pages.

My son's pre-school hosts a street fair where kids can climb all over a bunch of different vehicles, and he had a blast, especially on the UPS truck (shhhh! I enjoyed it, too!) I tried to use something in my stash that I haven't used in a while and I was so happy to find my Inchies. They gave me just the right amount of dimension and fit in perfectly with the clean lines I was going for. I was also inspired by the 2Peas Stretch Your Sketch Challenge -- this time, I mirrored the photos to suit my needs. I hope you are all having wonderful days!

BEAN NOTES

• Patterned Paper: Night Light: Jack (October Afternoon); Little Boy (Echo Park)
• Cardstock: Textured (American Crafts)
• Specialty Paper: Vellum (PTI)
• Accents: Letter Stickers (OA); Inchies (Inchie Arts); Brad (generic); Tiny Attacher Staples (Tim Holtz)
• Other: Photographs

Good Things Come in Three...

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Oh boy, am I still way behind on the rugrat's scrapbook! With a big trip and a day at the aquarium, the list is getting longer. So, I decided to bite the bullet and work on his birthday page, and I have to admit, it was more fun than work! I started with my big focal image and figured that with all those fun images from the party, the best thing to do would be to create a collage of them in miniature. I also broke out my new Grand Calibur from Spellbinders and the Grand Circle Nestabilities to die-cut the big photo, which made life a lot easier. If I'm lucky, I'll be caught up with the scrapbook by his next birthday!

BEAN NOTES

• Patterned Paper: Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper (Stampin' Up!)
• Cardstock: Textured (American Crafts)
• Specialty Paper: Vellum (PTI)
• Font: Bookman Old Style (microsoft)
• Tools: Sir-Cuts-a-Lot 2; 1-1/4" Square Punch (EK Success); Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)
• Dies: Grand Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
• Accents: Buttons (generic); White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger Ink)
• Other: Photographs

A Little Birthday Note...

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I just found out that the rugrat's adored pre-school teacher's birthday is today! She is such a terrific educator and such a wonderful and loving person. My little guy has been very interested in rainbows of late, and so I was delighted to see this darling free download from Papertrey Ink (Happy Anniversary, PTI!) and thought it would make for a perfect focal point for a card to help her celebrate. I thought an embossed alphabet in the background was a fitting touch, and I chose bright, happy colors as she always brightens my wee man's day whenever he goes to school.

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
• Downloads: 4th Anniversary Tags Download (PTI)
• Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist (PTI); So Saffron (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
• Ink: Baby Blue Opaque (Staz-On)
• Dies: Inverted Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cloud 1 & 2 Collection, Spiral Notebook Page, (PTI)
• Templates: Book Print Impression Plate (PTI)
• Fibers: Pure Poppy Saddle Stitch Ribbon (PTI)
• Accents: Ruby Red Liquid Pearls (Ranger Ink)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)