Taylored Expressions Release Day: YUM!

It's Release Day at Taylored Expressions! I got the chance to play along with my buddies over at TE for this fun release, which was all about summertime fun. For my project, I used the newly released Pockets & Pages Fab Frames - Summer and some really darling new dies in a new collection called 'Little Bits' to create a fun and happy summertime card.

By pairing the Fab Frame with the previously released Pockets & Pages 3x4 Essentials die, I was able to cut out this cool frame. I just love it and know I'll be doing this for scrapbooking by placing a photo behind the frame! I used the new Little Bits Ice Cream Cone to create the yummy cone -- doesn't it just scream 'summer?!' These sweet little dies are so adorable and are affordable, too -- each set costs just $5 or $6 so I'm pretty sure I am going to want them all!

I hope you enjoyed by little card today. Be sure to check out the rest of the designers who are showing off their awesome projects today. New products are now available in the TE Store!

Pockets & Pages - Fab Frames - Summer

Little Bits - Ice Cream Cone

Little Bits of Summer

*doodlebug 6x6 pad - springtime

*memento tuxedo black full pad

*doodlebug sprinkles - tangerine

InLinkz.com

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Danielle Lounds
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kendra Wietstock
• Kerri Michaud
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen

Water Fight!

Today I have the honor of being spotlighted over on the Imaginisce blog. We're focusing on fun summer projects and our favorite Imaginisce tools, so I thought I would create a summertime layout using the i-Rock.

I came across some photos of my son having his first "water fight" in a paddling pool and I thought it would make for a fun, summer layout. I had a lot of photos to choose from, but for my main photo I went with one where he was getting sprayed by a hose. I immediately thought of adding some hot rocks using my i-Rock tool, and when I saw the Flourishes Stencil, I knew that I could create a fun splash of "water."

The stencil made the placement of the hot rocks easy. I held the stencil in place with some removable tape so that it wand then they were on there permanently! 

The stencil made the placement of the hot rocks easy. I held the stencil in place with some removable tape so that it wouldn't move while I used the i-Rock to adhere each gemstone in place. I gave each rock about 7 seconds -- and then they were on there permanently! 

The die-cut pieces from Endless Summer were just about perfect for my title and the hose "sprayed" the bejeweled water right at my son!

I hope you enjoyed my summer project. Please visit the Imaginisce blog all month long to see more summer inspiration from my teammates! 

BEAN NOTES

(patterned paper, die-cuts from Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; (stencil, hot rocks, i-Rock tool) Imaginisce; (card stock) American Crafts; (spray mist) Studio Calico

Life is More Fun in Flipflops: Shaped Cards for Summer

I always think there is something extra special for someone when they get something that's a little quirky or unusual, so I love making shaped cards. For my summertime shape, I decided to create a little flip flop card.

 I simply trimmed a shape from the colorful patterned paper from the Childhood Memories collection (I also created a matching brad for the Bitty Blossom flower with my trusty i-Top!) I had some perfect "ready-made" straps made from trimming the striped patterned paper from the Endless Summer collection, which also gave me my chipboard sentiment! 

I hope you enjoyed my shaped card. For more shaped card inspiration, please visit the Imaginisce blog!

BEAN NOTES

(patterned paper, chipboard sticker from Endless Summer and Childhood Memories collections) Imaginisce; (Bitty Blossom) Imaginisce; (card stock) American Crafts; (i-Top & brad daddy) Imaginisce

Beach Bum...Imaginisce & Tombow Summer Isn't a Bummer Blog Hop!

Welcome! I am so excited to be participating in a fun blog hop with  my Imaginisce teammates. We got to play with some wonderful products from Tombow (makers of my favorite glue, ever!) and create a summer project. 

I created a desktop photo frame using a combination of two summery Imaginisce collections, Makin' Waves and Endless Summer. I have had these photos from our last trip to the beach and have been wanting to make a project with them, so this was just perfect! I used the Tombow Mono Adhesive on my die-cut title: the precision tip made adhering the letters so easy!

I was lucky enough to get to play with Dual Brush Pen set in Jellybean. The brush end was so great for adding some shading to my stamped images!

BEAN NOTES:

(patterned paper, stamps from Makin' Waves and Endless Summer collections ) Imaginisce; (dies) Taylored Expressions; (adhesive, makers) Tombow; (card stock) Stampin' Up!

I hope you enjoyed my summertime project. Visit and "like" both Tombow and Imaginisce on Facebook! Make sure you hop along and leave some love for all the designers and you could win these nifty prizes:

** Marie Browning

**Michelle 

Guiseppa Gubler

Monique Liedtke
Regina, Mangum (that's me!)

Jennie McGarvey

**Tombow Designers

Good Times with TE and Doodlebug

I had the recent pleasure of getting to play along with the Baker's Dozen at Taylored Expressions and work with some fun new products from Doodlebug Design. I used the fresh and colorful collection, Fruit Stand, to create a happy little card. I loved the juicy red apple in the patterned paper and so I got out my Falling for You set from TE and paper-pieced the wheelbarrow and apple images. I also used one of my favorite dies, Label Stacklets 3, for a pretty frame, which I threaded with Doodlebug ribbon.

This card is going to a friend of mine who is just an all around nice person. I think she'll be nicely surprised and isn't that what card-making is all about?

Be sure to visit Taylor's blog for more Doodlebug and Taylored Expressions inspiration!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Falling For You (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper, Stickers, Ribbon, Pearls: Fruit Stand collection (Doodlebug)

Cardstock: white, pink, red, green (Stampin' Up!)

Accents: liquid pearls (Adirondak)

Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic), white gel pen (Sakura)

Dies: Label Stacklets 3

Endless Summer

My Imaginisce teammates and I are having a ball this week celebrating the new collection, Endless Summer! I have two projects to share today and I hope they have you dreaming of summer sunshine!

It's been such a cold winter for so many of my friends, I was especially glad to see the warm, bright, happy colors in the Endless Summer collection. I thought I would create a card for one of my good friends still weathering the winter in the northeast to help warm her up and get her dreaming about summer. 

I adore the darling sun Snag 'Em stamp and thought it would make the perfect focal point for a happy card. I stamped the image twice, once on yellow and again on orange cardstock. To get more dimension, I used foam tape to pop up the smiling face and snipped in between all the rays before bending the solid ones forward. Adding the "sunshine" sentiment stamp and some glitter made the whole thing pop off the patterned paper!

My little rugrat has been learning how to swim and I've been waiting for the perfect collection to use to help me capture his experience. The wave paper from Endless Summer was just the ticket. 

I had a great underwater photo as well as one of him earning a ribbon. It was tricky using two such different photos, but I solved my dilemma by placing the swimming photo behind vellum. I also placed some of the patterned wave paper behind vellum as well, which gave the otherwise simple layout some interesting design elements. 

I love the chipboard stickers from this collection and the words "Live, Love, Swim" made for a terrific title. For a final accent to the page, I used the one of my i-Top punches to create these little elements, which reminded me of "paddle wheels." 

BEAN NOTES

Snag 'Em Sunshine Card

Patterend Paper: (Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Cardstock: (orange, yellow, white) Stampin' Up!; Stamps: (sun and "sunshine" from Endless Summer); Dies: Cloud Border, Cloud Duo (Taylored Expressions), label die (Stampin' Up!); Accents: (stickles, liquid pearls) Ranger; Ink: (white hybrid) PTI

Live Love Swim Layout

Patterend Paper: (Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Cardstock: (green, orange red) American Crafts; Dies: (alphabet) Lifestyle Crafts; Tools: (i-Top Paper Punch) Imaginisce; Stickers: (chipboard stickers from Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Specialty Paper: (vellum) PTI; Fibers: (embroider floss) generic; Accents: (Mister Huey) Studio Calico

I hope you enjoyed my projects today! Be sure to visit the Imaginisce blog this week for lots of Endless Summer eye candy!

There's More Than One Way to Use a Die

Hey there, Crafty Friends! Lifestyle Crafts just released its Pool Party Collection of dies and I am delighted to get to share some of them with you today. Plus, as an Affiliate, I get to offer readers an exclusive 20% discount code for use in the LC Store (details below.) Also, there is a great sale going on right now on special Core Collection favorites...think 55% off with discount code!

I know that sometimes I'm hesitant to buy a die because I'm not sure how often I will use it. So, I'm always really happy when I find more than one way to use my dies. Today, I thought I would show how I used a few of the same dies to create two very different projects.

I love the new Umbrella Die and the Cloud Border Die (which is long enough to use on a scrapbook page) and I used both on two cards.

The first card is a bright, happy summer beach card. The umbrella is super cute and I created a little scene with it as the centerpiece.

I die-cut some light, fluffy clouds and also added the new Waves Border Die (one of two) and the sweet little Sun Die.

Next, I decided the umbrella would be just perfect for a shower (either for a baby or a wedding) and I changed up my colors accordingly.

The Cloud Border Die (which also includes the Sun Border Die) was perfect here, but I used some patterned paper instead of plain white cardstock.

To make this a shower card, I took my sweet sentiment quite literally and punched out a multitude of hearts. I also flipped the handle of the umbrella to give it a more finished look than from the one in my beach scene card.

So there you have it. Two very different cards using the same dies!

BEAN NOTES
Relax Card
Stamps: sentiments from Coconut Grove set (Taylored Expressions); Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko); Patterned Paper: Splash (Echo Park); Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah), Pool Party, Delightful Daffodil (Stampin' Up!); Dies: Cloud Border Die, Sun Die, Umbrella Die, Waves Border Die (Lifestyle Crafts)

Showered With Love Card
Stamps: sentiments from It's in the Bag set (Taylored Expressions); Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko); Patterned Paper: Sweet Day, Dots & Stripes (Echo Park); Cardstock: Classic Cream (Neenah), Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!); Punch: Hearts (Martha Stewart); Dies: Cloud Border Die, Umbrella Die (Lifestyle Crafts)

I hope you enjoyed my cards today -- if you do any shopping in the Lifestyle Crafts Store, be sure to enter Promo Code: BEAN for a 20% discount. 

Plus, the dies shown below are currently on sale for 35% off...get an additional 20% off (total of 55%!) with Code: BEAN! Have a wonderful day!