Happy BIRD Day!...

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Yay! Oh, how I have missed all of you! Now that I'm settled, I couldn't wait to get back to crafting and, lucky for me, there are a ton of birthdays this month and next, which gives me such a perfect excuse to get inky. Now that I'm back in California, I was thinking about all my friends who live here, including my lovely friend, Natali, who has a birthday in a couple weeks! I thought I'd make her a sweet card as she is a sweet gal, and I used the whimsical set, Birds of a Feather, from Taylored Expressions to help me out.
For this card, I let the colors of the pretty patterned paper lead the way, and I created a very simple design to go with it. The birdcage was popped up with some foam tape (Enabler Alert: if you love foam tape as much as I do, head over to Taylored Expressions for 20% off plus other sale goodies on through this Sunday!) Finally, I broke out some Liquid Pearls to add just a final touch of happy to a card for a good friend.

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Birds of a Feather (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper: Lime Twist Life of the Party (MME)

Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)

Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko); Groovy Guava (SU!)

Fibers: Wild Wasabi Stitched Grosgrain (SU!)

Accents: Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Templates: Clouds Impression Plate (TE)

Wreathed in Love...Taylored Epxressions Sneak Peek Day Two...

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Today is the second day of sneaky peekies for Taylored Expressions Release Week, and I have a sweet little project to share. When I saw the pretty heart wreath from the soon-to-be-released Petite set, Wreath of Love (with coordinating dies!) and the cute birds, I just knew I had to make a birdhouse.

My mom-in-law, Susan, adores birdhouses. She has a wonderful collection, and I thought I would make one for her to hang in her window. I adapted a die-cut from my Cricut to make the house, punching a hole to make room for the nest of love birds. For the walls, I used the new Heart Impressions Plate and added rows of the Heart Border along the edge of the roof for a bit more detail. As it is still winter, I considered adding in some snow, but then I thought, why not give these birds a bit of a spring break?

SPILLING THE BEANS

1. Die-cut house and roof using machine and cartridge.
2. Emboss house with Impression Plate. Punch circle and assemble.
3. Die-cut heart border and adhere to roof. Adhere roof to house.
4. Stamp wreath twice. Color with markers and die-cut. Apply stickles. Adhere with foam tape.
5. Stamp birds and color with markers. Fussy cut and adhere.
6. Die-cut ribbon and adhere.
7. Stamp sentiment and hearts. Trim. Color hearts and adhere with foam tape. Adhere to birdhouse.

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Wreath of Love (Taylored Expressions)
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
• Cardstock: Pink Textured (ProvoCraft); Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!); Choice Buttercream (TE)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Templates: Hearts Impression Plate (TE)
• Dies: Heart Border (TE); Seasonal Wreath and Basic Bow (TE); Winter Woodland Cricut Cartridge (ProvoCraft)
• Accents: Cotton Candy and DiamondStickles (Ranger Ink)

Spring is coming..really! I hope you enjoyed my little bit of it, and please be sure to visit my fellow Baker's Dozen teammates to see more of these nifty little petite sets (pssst! some adorable V-Day inspiration) and I hope you'll join me tomorrow for a "poppin'" good time.

• 
  

  Charmaine Ikach

  Danielle Lounds

  Donna Baker

  Jackie Pedro

  Jami Sibley

  Jodi Collins

  Karen Giron

  Karen Motz

  Melissa Sauls

  Nancy McKinney

  Regina Mangum

  Sankari Wegman

  Taylor VanBruggen
  Tori Wild
  
  

Happy Birthday, darling Jodi!...

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My lovely fellow Baker's Dozen Design Team member, Jodi Collins, is celebrating a birthday, and a whole big bunch of us are helping her party with a birthday blog hop! Jodi is one of the most talented, creative, prolific, and sweetest women I've ever had the honor of knowing, and I hope she has a wonderful, fabulous, day.
For my card for Jodi, I decided to use the perfect b-day cake from the Make a Wish set from Taylored Expressions. I thought Jodi might need a little friend to help her blow out the candles on this topsy-turvy cake, so I added a tweety little birdie, drawing in a ladder for her to reach those sparklers. Now keep the party going by heading over to the wonderful Danielle Lounds's Fat Cat Stamper. If you get off-track, just head over to the uber-terrific Karen Motz's Paper Playhouse for the full list, and be sure to leave Jodi some birthday good wishes when you are through!

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Make a Wish and Belated Birthday: Stand Out (Taylored Expressions)
• Cardstock: Razzleberry Light (Bazzil); Choice Buttercream (TE); Aqua Mist (PTI)
• Accents: Bisque Liquid Pearls (Ranger Ink); Satin Ribbon (generic)
• Tools: Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz)
• Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Dies: Big Scalloped Circle and Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

HAPPY BEANS

• Templates: Square Lattice Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!)

Two Tweets...

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I'm in a springtime mood today, despite the brisk autumn air. So, when I saw the color combo over at the Play Date Cafe Challenge, I thought I'd try to bring a little spring into the air today. I took out my favorite Tweethearts set from Taylored Expressions and got stampin'.

SPILLING THE BEANS

1. Make card from card stock.
2. Die-cut scallop square and adhere.
3. Stamp sentiment.
4. On white card stock, sponge sky, stamp branch and hearts. Die cut.
5. Stamp birds and leaves with gradient technique. Fussy cut and adhere with foam tape.
6. Apply gemstones.
7. Tie ribbon.

BEAN NOTES:

• Stamps: Tweethearts (Taylored Expressions)
• Card Stock: Choice Snow (TE); Marina Mist (Stampin' Up!)
• Chalk Ink: Gingerbread, Key Lime, Aloe Vera, Aquatic Splash, Turquoise Gem, Malted mauve, Pixie Dust, Red Brick, Tea Leaves, Spanish Olive VersaMagik (Tuskineko)
• Specialty Ink: Cosmic Copper, Pearlescent Orchid Brillance Pigment (Tsukineko)
• Dye Ink: Marina Mist (SU!)
• Fibers: Marina Mist Satin Ribbon (SU!)
• Dies: Labels One, Big Scallop Squares Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

HAPPY BEANS

• Accents: Tiny Twinkles gemstones (TE)

So Tweet...

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It's a happy Monday, which means it's time for another sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. This week's the lovely Laura has come up with a really fun one and I hope you will all play along. If you haven't checked it out, you should know that there are some pretty terrific prizes in store for a talented paper-crafter selected as Card of the Week!

I decided I wanted to make a card to send to my mom-in-law, Susan. I usually wax poetic about how fabulous she is, so this time I thought I'd let my card do it for me. Susan LOVES birdhouses, so this digi-stamp from this week's sponsor was just perfect! Here are the details:

SPILLING THE BEANS

1. Make card from card stock. Trim along bottom edge. Border punch card stock and adhere.
2. Print dig-stamp, color, and trim. Re-print twice; color bird and wing. Fussy cut bird and adhere with foam tape.
3. Trim blue card stock. Adhere bird panel. Attach ribbon and button. Adhere to card.
4. Stamp sentiment. Punch and trim. Adhere with foam tape.

I hope you all have a "tweet" week!

BEAN NOTES

• Digi-Stamp: Waking Up Birdie (Robin's Fetish)
• Stamps (sentiment): Tweethearts (Taylored Expressions)
• Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
• Ink: Fresh Snow Hybrid (Papertrey Ink)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Tools: Border Punch (SU!); Designer Label Punch (SU!)

HAPPY BEANS

• Fibers: Real Red Taffeta Ribbon (SU!); Hemp Twine (generic)
• Accents: Pure Poppy Button (PTI)

Love Bird...

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The fab Design Team over at the Pals Paper Arts Challenge got their color groove on with this week's shades: Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, and Old Olive. I thought I'd give it a whirl and play with one of my new "toys." This week is also the amazing Kim Kesti's birthday, and I know she loves hand-made flowers. If you read TSB regularly, you know that I love paper roses, too. Alas, they are terribly time-consuming and, well, time is simply at a premium right now! So, I got myself a die and thought I'd use it on my card today.

I made the roses first, running some So Saffron through with the very cool die. Next, I stamped this pretty bird in white hybrid ink onto some Tempting Turquoise so that the elegant little filigree could show through. I punched the bird out with the (oh, how convenient is this?) coordinating punch and punched out the leaves as well. I die cut the shaped panel in two sizes and decided to leave it as a shaped card, adding a portion of a rub-on (I am just all about easy-peezy today) and then finished off with some liquid dimensionals. My sweet little "love bird" looked cozy and nested among the roses.

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Punch Potpourri (Stampin' Up!)
• Ink: Fresh Snow Hybrid (Papertrey Ink)
• Paper: Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, and Old Olive Card Stock (SU!)
• Dies: Labels Six Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
• Accessories: Stream Liquid Dimensionals (Adirondack); Lemon Yellow Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Chit-Chat Rub-On (SU!); Foam Tape

HAPPY BEANS

• Tools: 3-D Flower Bigz Die (Sizzix); XL Bird Punch (SU!)