All Tucked In For Christmas!

Hey there, crafty Christmas friends! I am just popping in with a fun little project I created for my office Christmas Party. I created these fun little treat boxes using the new All Tucked In die from Taylored Expressions and I love how they turned out!

I die-cut each box out of bright, Cherry Pop cardstock, which was easy peasy. I love the little scalloped detail on the front of each box! I added a little Enamel Shape -- it looks like a button and is just too cute. Before assembling, I added some metallic striped wash tape.

I stamped this fun sentiment with Sugar Cube ink. I could have used embossing powder to have a really bright impression, but I wanted a 'frosty' look and it dried exactly how I wanted. I added some Wink of Stella in green and Nuvo drops in red to the little holly plant. Super festive!

Next, I assembled each box and I topped each with a Mini Mix & Match Bow in Cookie Monster for a bit of non-traditional color. These darling little boxes are going to be filled with a wee treat -- I can't say what because it's still a surprise!

Hope you have a super happy and merry day!

You're Simply Fabulous

Happy Friday! I cannot wait for this weekend, can you? I am happy that I got a chance to get into my craft space to create a thank you card for a really nice woman who surprised me with a little gift the other day. She's very chic and stylish, so I reached for the new Mandala Cutting Plate from Taylored Expressions to create a thank you card for her.

After die-cutting the plate from Cookie Monster Cardstock, I selectively removed only some of the pieces, leaving the rest intact. I liked the contrast of the solid piece to the outer petals of the mandala. I also added some clear Nuvo Drops for some pretty texture.

If you are curious about mandalas, check out the Taylored Expressions Blog for some interesting information and examples of more cards created with this very pleasing symbol of the universe. And have a wonderful weekend!

Dear Santa...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek!

It's a Merry Monday, crafty friends! Today I get to help Taylored Expressions introduce its holiday and Christmas Release of new products and I'm definitely in a festive mood. I will be sharing two fun card projects today and I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I have enjoyed making them!

My first card features the soon-to-be-released Santa & Friends and I think it might be my new favorite go-too stamp set for the holidays. It was designed to be used with Mini Wobble springs and it makes some seriously adorable characters.

I colored up the Santa and added the wobble spring -- it makes the head into a bobble head! 

When I saw the included sentiment, I had a mischievous idea. I stamped just the bottom of the cute reindeer and turned him upside down in the Build a Scene Rolling Hills snow mounds that I die cut from Sugar Cube cardstock. I also stamped and colored a full reindeer, coloring his nose like Rudolph. (Maybe Rudolph was finally getting some revenge for being excluded from those reindeer games?) Wink! Wink!

My second card also uses the Santa & Friends set, but this time I colored up the sweet little elf.

I also used the new, exclusive Christmas Tree Shaker to create this fun shaker. I used the included dies to cut TE Adhesive Sheets and it made creating the shaker so much easier! I filled it up with some sequins and a few crystals for shine. 

I love the shine on this tree, which was die-cut from new TE Silver Foil Sheets. They are stiff like cardstock, so perfect for shakers!

I had a lot of fun coloring up this little elf and couldn't help adding some fun pattern with my Copics and a bit of glitter with a glitter marker.

I hope you will visit the TE Blog for tons of eye candy from their fabulous Creative Team. There is A LOT of newness going on this week and now I can't wait for Christmas!

P is for PRESENT!

Happy Monday, crafty friends! It's a special Labor Day today because this month marks my fifth year working for an incredible company that also happens to be marking its NINTH Birthday -- Taylored Expressions! I have enjoyed being a part of the TE journey nearly from the beginning, when I started as a designer.  The team at TE is one of the best groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with! All this week the TE team is partying with party games, prizes, and more --  I got to play along today with one of TE's soon-to-be-released stamp sets, B is for Birthday and I can't wait to show you my project.

So this card follows a terrific sketch that is part of the birthday festivities -- it's a cool challenge that could win an awesome prize. You can help Taylored Expressions celebrate nine years of sharing joy by creating a card using this fabulous sketch! Then be sure to enter for a chance to win one of nine amazing prize packs of Taylor’s nine favorite crafty things each valued at over $115. Best of all, one lucky winner will be chosen by Taylor to join the Creative Team as a Guest Designer for the October Release and will receive an incredible prize package of the newest TE goodies! Click HERE for all the details!

I stamped and paper-pieced the adorable P is for PRESENT image. I loosely represented the green strip in the sketch with a row of presents...LOTS of presents! With just a bit of glitter, the bows and polka dots on the "P" really shine. I added a bit of festive texture with the Sprinkles Embossing Folder and added a few of TE's Enamel Shapes as suggested by the sketch. I had so much fun putting this project together!

I hope you will enter for your chance to become a Guest Designer for TE. Designing for TE was one of the best experiences of my life. Be is for Birthday will be available for purchase this Thursday. Be sure to visit the TE Blog for more birthday fun and eye candy from the talented Creative Team!

B is for Birthday All Wrapped Up Embossing Folder - Sprinkles Stitched Bracket Stacklets TE Enamel Shapes TE Premium Cardstock - Plum Punch TE Premium Cardstock - Strawberry Milkshake TE Premium Cardstock - Granny Smith TE Premium Cardstock - Pumpkin TE Premium Cardstock - Lemon Meringue TE 6x6 Paper Pack - Playful Patterns - Haunted Copic Markers

Happy Flowers Birthday! -- TE August Release Day!

Hey there, friends! I hope you are enjoying your summer. It's super hot here in SoCal, so I was glad to get into my craft space to design a card for Taylored Expressions' August Release! I had a lot of fun creating this pretty birthday card. I got to use the new Happy Flowers Background Stamp. I love the pretty design of this stamp. I know that I'll be able to use it to watercolor, sponge, color -- today I thought I'd emboss it.

I embossed the image with pewter colored embossing powder onto watercolor paper. I knew I wanted to experiment with some Distress Ink, so I first sponged on the different colors, shading from blue to teal and then back out again. I wet the whole panel and let dry a little before going over with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink again -- the colors turned very bold and vibrant and gave the card an exotic, rich look! I stamped this fun image from Big Bold Birthday in the same ink color and placed in a Frame in Frame 2 die-cut frame cut from Metallic Neutral yardstick. A few little embellishments and I was done!

I hope you will check out the TE Store to see what other goodies are releasing today. And head over to the TE Blog for more eye candy!

Happy Flowers Background	Big Bold Birthday	tim holtz distress mini ink - tumbled glass	tim holtz distress mini ink - shabby shutters
tim holtz distress mini ink - peacock feathers	TE Premium Cardstock - Metallic Neutrals	TE Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube	Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool

LinkDeli.com

Let's Play Peek-a-Boo

Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a fun week this week. I certainly am! I got to create a couple of baby cards and play along with the team at Taylored Expressions for their newest release of Clearly Planned photopolymer stamps and coordinating dies. FUN!

This is definitely a year of babies. I know tons of moms-to-be, so this was the perfect excuse to create some baby cuteness. I used TE's new Hinged Insta-frames die set for this fun peek-a-book card. I created two matching ones. The first for a girl and the second that was more gender neutral. 

I stamped using the Sneak a Peek stamp set and the newly released Cheery Banners to add a festive accent. I also added some sweet Enamel Shapes. Love those!

The Hinged Insta-Frames are my new favorite thing to add a little interactive surprise. I stamped "Welcome Baby" from the Hippo Birdy set and now I have two cards for two new little ones!

Be sure to visit the TE Blog for more Release information. Or visit the TE Store today!

Hippo Birdy TE Enamel Shapes Clearly Planned - Cheery Banners Clearly Planned - Sneak a Peek TE 6x6 Paper Pack - Hello Happiness