Taylored Expressions March Spotlights: From My Window

Today is Taylored Expressions' March Spotlight Day and I have two cards to share with you today. It is Designer's Choice today, so I chose to work with the newly released stamp set, From My Window, as well as some new TE dies and cutting plates, Arched Window, Chevron Cutting Plate, and Banner Stacklets 2!

For my first card, I really wanted to the arched window to be the focus and I was so taken with the wonderful starry sky view. I wanted to create something dreamy, and so I sponged some white ink over some deep purple cardstock using a cloud border as a stencil.

Good friends of ours just bought a new house and I wanted to make them a card to help them celebrate. 

I deliberately left the stamped image of the neighborhood uncolored as I liked the crisp, clean look of the card created by the Chevron Cutting Plate. 

The new Banner Stacklets 2 just happens to perfectly frame this pretty window, which has quickly become one of my all-time favorite dies!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: From My Window (Taylored Epressions); Cardstock: all cardstock from Stampin' Up!; Dies: Arched Window, Banner Stacklets 2, Chevron Cutting Plate, Cloud Border (Taylored Expressions)

Please be sure to visit the Baker's Dozen and their wonderful blogs for more projects that are sure to inspire you!

Broni Holcombe

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Kerri Mchaud

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Miss You (a Mini Album)!

Whenever my husband goes on an extended business trip, he loves to take photos of our family along with him. He usually has a lot of luggage, so I always try to make him a little mini album that he can easily tuck into his briefcase. Today I'm sharing one with you that I made for him recently. I grabbed some cute stamps from Taylored Expressions, some bright and cheery patterned paper, a hole punch, and some ribbon and I was all set to go!

I printed out 10 or so favorite photos in a small format -- any will do. These around about 3" x 3.5".

I trimmed enough patterned paper pages to frame my photos. (Bean Tip: leave about an inch of patterned paper at the top of each photo to allow for the "spine" of the book. How wide this is will depend on how thick your mini album is.)

As I show below, simply punch holes through each of your sheets. I made the cover of this album by trimming one long sheet that was simply doubled in size from the size of my pages (plus a little extra for the thickness of the pages.) I used a score board to give the album a finished look. With just a length of ribbon, the album was all done and ready to go along for the ride!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Kid at Heart (plane) and sentiment from Bugabee (Taylored Expressions); Patterned Paper: School Daze (My Mind's Eye); Cardstock: Whisper White, Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up!) Fibers: red twill (generic); Tools: Hole Punch (Fiskars)

I'd Be Lost Without You

Today I have a fun sneak peek for you! On Monday, Lifestyle Crafts is releasing its marvelous Maritime line of dies and I am excited to share some projects I created with one of these cool dies. Plus, as an Affiliate, I get to offer readers an exclusive 20% discount code for use in the LC Store (which you can use today!)

When I saw this Compass Die, I was hooked. It's so striking and I thought I could use it with both cards and layouts -- plus, another unexpected use as you'll see below. I created this masculine card to send to my sweet husband because the sentiment is true -- literally; I have a terrible sense of direction!

The Compass Die measures 4.25" x 4.25" when assembled.

I die-cut a window in my patterned paper using the Nesting Circles and popped up the compass for some variation in dimension. Some sponging and a sticker alphabet sentiment had me finding my way to a striking card that I think will surprise my husband when he gets it.

Next, I discovered something that will definitely be coming in handy for the holidays. I absolutely love it when dies have multiple uses, and this Compass one can actually be used to create some very pretty ornaments! 

I had some glittered cardstock that proved perfect for my ornament. I simply die-cut the paper three times and scored down the middle of each, adhering them together to form the ornament shape. I used a small piece of silver glittered paper to die-cut the center star three times as well and added those for a nice little accent.

BEAN NOTES

Lost Without You Card

Patterned Paper: Bon Voyage collection (Imaginisce); Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Stickers: Alphabet (Cosmo Cricket); Dies: Nesting Rings, Compass Maritime Die (Lifestyle Crafts)

Star Ornament

Specialty Paper: Glittered Cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Fibers: Silver Cord (Stampin' Up!); Dies: Compass Maritime Die (Lifestyle Crafts)

I hope you enjoyed my projects today -- the entire Maritime collection will be available for purchase on Monday, July 16. If you do any shopping in the Lifestyle Crafts Store, be sure to enter Promo Code: BEAN for a 20% discount. Have a schnappy weekend!

Balloons & Bears, Oh My!...Taylored Expressions Release Day!

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.
• 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!

It's Release Day at Taylored Expressions! Petite-A-Palooza has been great fun, and I hope you've enjoyed this week's Sneak Peeks. The store is now open, but before you get shopping, I wanted to share two Petite projects I created. 

The first is a pop-up slider card (see the Technique tab above for instructions on how to create your own version) using the newly released Petite, Sky's the Limit and coordinating Taylored Dies! I wanted to make a really happy card, and I love the sentiment words that are included in this set. I used some great patterned paper and paper-pieced the hot air balloons, adding clouds from the Clouds Duo die as well as the sweet little clouds from the new die set! I hope that the person I send this card to sees their troubles just float away.

My second project is a card that uses the set, Polar Pete. This adorable bear comes on a floating block of ice, but I wanted to show off how he can be used year-round. 

I simply stamped him up, colored him in, and fussy cut away the ice floe! I then created a scene around my happy brown bear using patterned paper from the new Happier Card kit and using some of my go-to Taylored dies to create cloud-cover and happy grass. The little tree and bee are from last month's Love Grows Here. 

BEAN NOTES

"Hi Happy Days" Card

Stamps: Sky's the Limit (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper: Away We Go and Fly a Kite (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!); Choice Snow (TE)

Dies: Cloud Duo Taylored Die and Sky's the Limit Taylored Die (TE)

"Can't Bear" Card

All fibers, patterned paper, and cardstock from Happier Card Kit (Taylored Expressions)

Stamps: Polar Pete and Love Grows Here (Taylored Expressions)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Summer Sky (Tsukineko)

Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)

Dies: Grass Border Taylored Die and Cloud Border Die (Taylored Expressions)

I hope you enjoyed this week's projects! For more Release Day fun, check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen. Thank yous so much for stopping by and Happy December!

The Baker's Dozen

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jennifer Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
  and friends
  Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)
  Nancy McKinney (Illustrator) and
  Lori Craig (Guest Designer!)