Taylored Expressions Release Day: Happy Happy Easter!

Happy, happy day to you, crafty friends! Today it feels like spring (at least for lucky me in SoCal -- I'm feeling for my friends buried in snow.) It's Release Day for Taylored Expressions and I got to play along and create two fun projects.

My first project uses the newly released Tag a Long Easter stamp set. How sweet is that little bunny? I've nestled this pink cutie among some eggs from Little Bits - Easter Confetti and inside the new Little Bits - Easter Basket.

I put the whole thing on a tag I created with the new Build a Tag 3 and Dotted Lace Embossing Folder. This month, TE is also releasing some darling new patterned paper, For Peep's Sake, just perfect for Easter!

My second card is a pretty springtime card that features the new You've Been Framed - Spring. 

I used stamps from Tag a Long Easter to create a stamped background and for my perfect sentiment.

I LOVE the new Leafy Vine Embossing Folder. It makes for such a lovely bit of texture. Below is a close-up of the die I used. I die-cut it 3-4 times and layered the cuts together to create an almost chipboard effect. 

I hope you enjoyed my projects today! Be sure to visit the TE Blog to get connected to the TE Design Teams for more inspiration!

Tag-a-long Easter Tag-a-long Easter Dies Skinny Mini Borders 2 Build a Tag 3 Embossing Folder - Dotted Lattice You've Been Framed - Spring Embossing Folder - Leafy Vine Matched Kit - For Peep's Sake

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions February Sneak Peek: You're My Type of Chick

 

Happy Wednesday! I'm playing all this week with the new release products from Taylored Expressions and today I am showing off a new cutting plate and border die that I just love! For my first project, I am working with the soon-to-be-released Proud as a Peakcock Cutting Plate. 

I'm a little behind on my Valentin's Day cards, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to create something for my sweet husband. He knows me so well and lets me basically do anything I want (within reason) like buy an old fashioned typewriter for my craft space. Now that's love! This cutting plate let me create the type of cool and funky background that he thinks takes me hours -- but it only takes minutes!

My second card is one I created for my fun-loving sister-in-law for Easter. I used an old favorite set, Hello Spring, and had those little chicks hopping along a border of flowers I created with the new Floral Eyelet Border. Cute, huh?

To create the two-toned effect, I simple used the negative from the die and colored in the turquoise background before placing the border over it, adding some fun embellishments to top off this simple, yet fun card.

BEAN NOTES

In addition to the supplies listed below, I also used the following products from Taylored Expressions, available on Thursday, February 6, 2014.

Dies: Retro Cutting Plate, Floral Eyelet Cutting Plate

*vintage dreamer	*hello spring	*choice snow white cardstock	*mini glossy accents
*doodlebug sprinkles - lily white

InLinkz.com

Be sure to visit the Baker's Dozen for more Release Week fun! New products will be available from Taylored Expressions this Thursday!

Charmaine Ikach

Courtney Kelley

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Imaginisce & Xyron Easter Hop!...and a Giveaway!

My teammates at Imaginisce had the fun chance to create Easter projects using some cool products from Xyron. Easter is such a fun holiday to create things for and I wanted to create a special card for my little guy. He is big on the hunt for Easter eggs, so I wanted to make him a card that featured an Easter basket. 

There were a lot of little pieces involved, so I was glad to have the Xyron glue stick on hand and the Mega Runner was so great for putting together larger pieces without the mess of traditional glue. 

I used B-side patterned paper from the Childhood Memories collection, plus a wee bit of Hippity Hop that I was hoarding. I also took the darling carrot, bunny, and chick from some Sticker Stackers and added them to my "hoppy" little scene.

BEAN NOTES

Patterned Paper: (from Childhood Memories and Hippity Hop collections) Imaginisce; Accents: (Hippity Hop Sticker Stackers) Imaginisce, (Stickles) Ranger; Dies: (Doily Frame) Lifestyle Crafts, (A Tisket a Tasket, Whimsy Alpha) Taylored Expressions; Fibers: (gingham) May Arts; Cardstock: (green, pink, cream) Stampin' Up!

I hope you enjoyed my Easter project! Be sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog for more Easter inspiration from our team and Xyron -- we're giving away 2 collections (Endless Summer and Childhood Memories)! 

A Button-Full of Posies

I have had a sweet little vase sitting on my desk for years just waiting for something to fill it with, so when I had the chance to create some buttons with my i-Top tool for a Imaginisce i-Top Button Feature, I thought it would be fun to create a springtime button bouquet! (Plus, Imaginisce is doing a nifty giveaway, so keep reading!)

I used the Medium Button Daddies and covered them with some bright, happy fabric. They were the perfect size and I changed them into "blooms" by threading some florist wire through each, which I wrapped in ribbon. They made just the right posies to brighten up my craft table!

I created a little photo tutorial for you to see how easy it is to make covered fabric buttons...

First, I cut fabric into rough squares and got my Button Daddies ready.

After placing the Button top into the i-Top, I centered the fabric square over it.

Give it a good squeeze!

Now the Button top is 'caught' inside the other side of the i-Top. Flip the whole thing over so that you can fold the edges of the fabric into the Button top.

After the folding is finished.

Flip the i-Top back over and put the Button bottom in place. One more squeeze!

The finished Button!

BEAN NOTES

Tools & Accessories: (i-Top, Medium Button Daddies); Fibers: (green wired ribbon) Kate's Paperie; Other: (floral wire) Jo-Ann; Dies: Blossom Party Originals (Sizzix); Fabric: (Honeydew) Charms

I hope you enjoyed by button posies today! Please visit the Imaginisce Blog for more inspiration on how you can use you i-Top buttons to create some sunshine and to find out how you can win a fun and fab prize!

A Birthday Surprise Just for Mom

My sweet Mom celebrated her 70th birthday last month and both my brother and I paid her a birthday visit with our families for a fun party. I also wanted to give her something that I made -- she's always been my biggest fan when it comes to crafting and I really wanted to create something special for her big day.

I began with the idea of making her a shadowbox frame filled with photos of her children and grandchildren. My mom has the greenest thumb I know and she adores flowers and her garden (she lives in Las Vegas and has managed to grow a gorgeous backyard despite the dry heat!) So I came up with this idea of a window box filled with bright blooms.

Using my electronic cutting machine, I made some pretty three-dimensional flowers and assembled them with pearl and glitter brads. I love the petite little pattern on the paper!

What garden is complete without a couple of flittering butterflies?

The look on my mom's face when she opened her gift was well-worth all the work (plus the worry of carrying it onboard the airplane!) I just loved filling this frame with all of her "favorite" things!

BEAN NOTES

Patterned Paper: Petite Prints, Snips & Snails (Doodlebug Design), Walk in the Park (American Crafts); Dies: Label (Lifestyle Crafts); Accents: Pearl and Glitter Brads (Pebbles); Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Electronic Files: 3-dimensional Flowers (Lori Whitlock, Country Window Box (Sarah Bailey), Window Card (Alaa ' K), Butterfly (Jamie Koay); Alterable: Shadowbox Frame (generic)