You & Me...Back 2 School!

My little guy started kindergarten last week, which was a huge step for him. What I came to realize was what a huge step it was for his dad and I, too! I created a card to give to my husband to celebrate this big moment in all our lives. 

I used my new stamp set, A Classy View and stamped it inside the Blackboard & Accessories die. Using VersaMark and white embossing powder, I heat embossed the image and sentiment, along with one from the set, Chalkboard Elements. So far, our little guy loves school and we have many, many "back to school" moments ahead of us!

BEAN NOTES

(kraft, black, grey card stock) Stampin' Up!; (VersaMark) Tsukineko; (white embossing powder) Stampin' Up!; (button) generic; (twine) The Twinery; (ribbon) TE key ingredients kit

I also used these products to create this card:

Back 2 School with Imaginisce

The team at Imaginisce is hoping to provide some Back 2 School inspiration as the kiddos gear up to go back to school. Here's a project I wanted to share with you...

My little guy is starting kindergarten this week! I wanted to create some extra special notes to slip into his lunchbox and so I created these 3 x 3 inch cards so that I could include a photo from a special thing we did this summer, which included hiking, flying a kite, outdoor parties, and lots of time at the beach. 

I used four different collections, but focused on one for each note, which made coordinating them a breeze. The sticker stackers were terrific. (Tip: you can carefully peel off the dimensional pieces of the stickers and move them around to suit your needs, which I did on a couple of these notes.)

I thought the pics from our various summertime adventures would ease a little of the anxiety he might be feeling over being away from us for so much of the day...I had a good time reliving these adventures as I created these, too!

I hope you enjoyed my lunchbox memory notes! For more Back 2 School inspiration, visit the Imaginisce blog all this week for some great ideas from my team mates

BEAN NOTES

(patterned paper, Sticker Stackers from Outdoor Adventure, Childhood Memories, Makin' Waves, and Endless Summer collections) Imaginisce; (scalloped notecard die) Taylored Expressions; (kraft, green, orange, yellow, grey card stock) Stampin' Up! 

Making the Grade

It's Back 2 School Week at Imaginisce and I have a very special project to share with you today!

My mother-in-law has these wonderful frames in her home that show off her children's school pictures year by year and I've long admired them. I wanted to create one for my own little rugrat, who just finished his second year of school.

Using my electronic die-cutter, I cut this mat with 16 windows, one for each year of school. Now, since my lil' guy has only 2 photos, I wanted to still be able to put up the frame so I filled it with the fun patterned paper from the Geek is Chic collection.

I cut out some of the darling school elements from the paper and popped them up in each frame window.  I printed out the name of each grade on the computer and then die-cut each out to mark each window.

(Bean Tip: be sure to adhere this mat frame with removable adhesive so that you can take it out of the shadow box to insert new photos!)

I wanted some large brads but couldn't find any that really matched, so I decided to make my own! I used the i-Top and Brad Daddies to make these cute, coordinating brads. I put the whole page into a shadowbox frame I found at a local store.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my grade-by-grade shadow box! 

I will love seeing my little man grow each year.

BEAN NOTES

Patterned Paper: Geek is Chic collection (Imaginisce)

Cardstock: textured (American Crafts)

Tools: i-Top (Imaginisce)

Accents: Brad Daddies (Imaginisce)

Dies: Itty-Bitty Framelits (Stampin' Up!)

Electronic File: Love Page Layout (Alaa'K for Silhouette)

Be sure to check out the rest of my teammates' projects on the Imaginisce blog all week!

Work Hard and Have Fun...TE Spotlight Day!

It's been a blast all week featuring all the fun new stamps and dies from Taylored Expressions and I've got one more project to share with you featuring some of the newly released goodies -- Library Card a la Carte and the cool Notepaper and Clipboard Die.

I decided to make a fun interactive card for a hardworking student. I stamped the library card image and die-cut it out using the Notepaper Die. 

I assembled the Clipboard and attached the notepaper to it. I stamped several of the sentiments from the new set, Doodle Notes, and also paper-pieced one of the arrows from that set.

With a simple mechanism, the clipboard lifts and stands up and the arrow moves from "Work Hard" to "Have Fun" -- neat, yes? 

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Library Card a la Carte, Doodle Notes (Illustrated by Nancy McKinney for Taylored Expressions); Patterned Paper: This & That (Echo Park); Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko); Cardstock: Silver Smooth (The Paper Co.), Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Dies: Notepaper & Clipboard Dies (Taylored Expressions)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! The TE Store is now open and these and all the other products we've been featuring this week are for sale, plus, there are a few fun specials. For more spotlight inspiration, check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen. Have a great day!

BAKER'S DOZEN DESIGN TEAM

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley (Guest Designer)
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Live Wires & Happy Camping...TE Release Day!

It's Release Day at Taylored Expressions! I have two fun projects to share with you today featuring some of TE's newest products and I can't wait to get started.

I created these projects using the new Happy Trails, Little Schoolhouse (both from the brilliant mind of Jami Sibley, our fabulous Design Team Coordinator!), and the cool Mark Your Spot Bookmark Die.

First up is a card I made to kick off the fast-approaching school year. My little guy is starting transitional kindergarten this year and his teachers at his school are terrific. 

This set, which is part of the Adorable Abodes line, is absolutely darling. 

I made a little ribbon using one of the sentiments. I love the big quote, too! (The apple is stamped from one from a cute apple tree included in the set.)

The schoolhouse is so sweet! I added the Welcome banner from the set and fussy cut it out, popping it up over the doorway, too. 

Next is a card and bookmark set I made for a friend of mine who is embarking on a fun road trip. She's a reader and I thought the bookmark would be a fun little send off for her.

I created this little scene by masking and stamping with images from Happy Trails. 

After coloring and sponging, I die-cut an off-set frame in some woodsy patterned paper.

Then, I added one of the cute critters and the wooden sign (stamping one of the sentiments within.) 

For the bookmark, I kept the wood paper theme and stamped a simple scene with the bear and trees -- isn't he cute? I left things flat so that she could use the bookmark to mark her place in her book.

BEAN NOTES

Schoolhouse Card

Stamps: Little Schoolhouse (Illustrated by Doug Applegate for Taylored Expressions); Patterned Paper: So Happy Together (Echo Park); Ink: Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Island Indigo, Delightful Daffodil (Stampin' Up!), Solar White (Neenah); Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic); Dies: Inverted Scallop Circles (Spellbinders); Tools: Circle Punches (EK Success)

Happy Camper Card & Bookmark

Stamps: Happy Trails (Illustrated by Doug Applegate for Taylored Expressions), sentiment from Mark Your Spot (Illustrated by Nancy McKinney for Taylored Expressions); Patterned Paper: 9 to 5 (October Afternoon); Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko); Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss (Stampin' Up!); Classic Cream (Neenah); Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic); Fibers: Rope (Canvas Corp); Accents: Eyelets (We R Memory); Tools: Crop-a-Dile (We R Memory); Dies: Mark Your Spot Bookmark (Taylored Expressions), Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

I hope you enjoyed my projects today. The TE Store is now open and these and all the other products we've been featuring this week are for sale, plus, there are a few fun specials. Don't forget to visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen for more Release Day goodness!

BAKER'S DOZEN DESIGN TEAM

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley (Guest Designer)
• Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess