Cards, Stamping, Die Cutting, Paper Crafting, Digital Cutting & More!

Author Archives:

TE59

6a0120a7861a18970b016768b38663970b-800wi

It’s time for the Baker’s Dozen Studio Challenge.  This is a monthly opportunity for the Taylored Expressions team to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we  have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

The question for May is:

What is your favorite time of the year?  Some of us love the sunshine and heat and summer, while some of us long for the crisp cool air of fall.  Do spring flowers make your heart sing or is it snow and the smell of pine needles that makes you jolly?

Tell us about your favorite month or season and also tell us about your favorite time of year to stamp.

My favorite time of the year?  All year round, I love all the seasons!  But if we’re talking about when I feel most inspired then I would have to say during the summer and fall.  Winters here in MN can be rather long…ahem…and this year we actually had snow several times in the beginning of May!  Now that is nuts.  So, when summer finally shows up we are more than ready for it!  

TE60

For my calendar project I used From my Window because it reminds me of when we lived in Jersey.  It was just the two of us then, without kids, and we’d take long weekend drives, to see the Amish country, shops, and visiting historical sights.  We still take drives as a family, but they are unfortunately cut short as I have a child who gets car sick.  I love taking pictures and I always had my camera with me, scoping out the best places to stop.  The Arched Window is one of my favorite dies and I cut the “panes” out of it so I’d have a full view.   I love this sentiment from Moka Skylar and have used it more than once for different occasions! I finished it with Mini Toppers.  The  Mini Tear Off Calendar is so cute and easy to change once the month is over and of course, you can change the background to match the season you’re in with the Desktop Calendar Case.  

TE58

My second favorite time to stamp is in the fall.  For as long as the winters are here, we have gorgeous colors and foliage in the fall. There’s no better feeling than getting cozied up by the fireplace with a mug of steaming cocoa and something yummy in the crockpot.  I love the scenes in Made In the Shade and they fit my 6×6 calendar page perfectly!  I did a little paper piecing for the grass and kept it simple with blue skies and colorful pumpkins.   Frame Your Imagination is such a cool stand and can hold a lot of pages, calendar pages, scrap pages or recipe pages!   These stands are also wonderful for gift giving and are fun to customize.  Be sure to check out the full Calendar section to get you started!  

TE57

Check out what inspires the rest of the Baker’s Dozen!  Thanks for stopping by!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 


SOTMmay2

Hi everyone!  The weather is finally starting to get warm here and it will actually be in the 90s today!  Yaahoooo!!!  It’s been a chilly and snowy Spring and the warmer air is so very welcome!

My card today definitely reflects my mood…bright, cheery, and ready to wear a summer dress!  How cute are these dresses?  They are from May’s SOTM (Stamp of the Month), Cutie Pie, and they are adorable!  I took it a step further and did a little paper piecing for the dresses by using the Key Ingredients kit for May.  The KI kit  includes Echo Park Sweet Girl paper pad and coordinating Bazzill card stock and ribbon.  I LOVE this combination!  OR, you can subscribe to the Deluxe Kit and receive BOTH the stamp set and card stock, paper and ribbon.  What I also love are the coordinating dies, how sweet is this banner die?  Of course, the sentiments fit perfectly inside and the score lines are already there for you to fold.

SOTMmay1

Do you want to see more from this month’s adorable kit?  The projects will knock your socks off!  Thanks for stopping by!


Bazzill6

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend and Mother’s Day!  I had a wonderful day with family and was lucky enough to spend the day with my mom, dad, brothers and one of my sisters.

I know we barely finished Mother’s Day but I’m back today to share some Father’s Day cards using Bazzill Mac and Bazzill Two Scoops Card Shoppe.  Some of the Baker’s Dozen partnered up with Bazzill to show off some Father’s Day projects using Bazzill Mac and Two Scoops Card Shoppe Cardstock.  If you’re a paper crafter, then you most likely already know about and use Bazzill card stock and papers.   Bazzill is one of my favorite suppliers in card stock and patterned papers…the weight, texture, and selection is gorgeous!

Bazzill1

For this card I used Bazzill Mac and Two Scoops Card Shoppe and sanded it,  Banner Stacklets 1 die for the sentiment, and Boys Will Be Boys.  I love this stamp set because it has a nice variety of images in it, a little something for everyone.  It’s especially perfect for the men in your life, your husband, father, brother and in-laws.  

Bazzill7

For my next card I used Bazzill Mac and Card Shoppe Two Scoops collection…don’t you  love the versatility of this patterned paper?  I’m loving this shade of red and gray.  My husband is a drummer and although he’ll always be a drummer, he’s started to play guitar as well.  This card is perfect for him for Father’s Day!  You’re My Hero and Boys Will Be Boys were used and coordinated well together.  

Bazzill5

The guitar was embossed in silver and black and I used Ranger Distress Markers for the image.  I love the Two Scoops paper pack, the option to sand the card stock makes the card look masculine.  

Bazzill3

Get started early on those Father’s Day cards…it’s right around the corner, lol!  Thanks for stopping by!


TE54

Hi, everyone, I hope you all are having a great start to the weekend! I, unfortunately, have come down with a bad cold and somehow scratched my cornea. It’s a big enough scratch that I can see it on my iris. Ouch! I needed to pick up some medication and my little guy (who just turned 4 months!) waited so patiently. With the sweet smiles he gave me, I was able to forget about the pain in my eye and throat. Here he is in the cart, being his sweet little self!

photo-32

Okay, on to my card!  Today I’m using a few new dies, Birch Tree Cutting Plate, Birch Tree Border, and Birch Tree Accessories.  I’m so excited about these dies, they coordinate so well together and are also wonderful on their own!   My dad is a nature lover and loves to sit outside and write.  The scripture verse is from In The Word (stamped on Label Stacklets 2) and reminds me of him, sitting outside, enjoying the view.   He has a birthday coming up and I think this will be perfect for him.

TE53

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a great Mother’s Day tomorrow!  Thanks for stopping by!


ShellyDamaskFri1

Happy Friday! I hope you all have had fun seeing all the wonderful new releases! Today we’re spotlighting some of the new product and I’m spotlighting Damask Flourishes.  This is a gorgeous die and does double duty as you can also use the negative!

ShellyDamaskFri2

The sentiment is from Greetings For Him…don’t you love the font?  This set coordinates with the Band It die (one of my favorites!) and has a nice variety of sentiments in it.  The background paper is Simple Stories Snap Color Vibe and of course, I had to add a few sequins to it.  :)

Be sure to checkout the rest of the Baker’s Dozen’s spotlights!  Thanks for stopping by!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess


ShellyMrMrsThurs1

WooHoooo! It’s release day and I can’t wait to show you today’s projects!  All of the products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven department.  I have had so much fun with this month’s release and know you will too!  

I’m using a gorgeous cutting plate called Mr. & Mrs. and it’s a stunner!  It’s perfect for all those upcoming summer weddings.  I used a Viva Decor pen to make the Mr. & Mrs. and border stand out a little.  I also added some sequins  to the center of the flowers.

ShellyMrMrsThurs2

Our challenge was to use the same die twice, in a different way.  For my 2nd card I kept the colors more traditional and used dark gray (Bazzill Two Scoops) and white.  I couldn’t help myself and used sequins on this one too.  The sequins are matte and a great way to add a little bling.  

ShellyMrMrsThurs4

ShellyMrMrsThurs3

Check out what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen has whipped up for you!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

 


ShellyHappilyEverWed1

Hi, everyone! Do you like the Sneak Peeks you’ve seen so far?  I’m back today with two more Sneak Peeks…this one is from a set called Happily Ever After.  This is a gorgeous set, perfect for weddings!  I embossed the flowers and popped two of them up for some added dimension.  I am a lover of white cards, can you tell?  :)

ShellyHappilyEverWed2

Happily Ever After has some beautiful blooms and sentiments.  It’s really pretty in monotones and also in color!  I also used two new dies, Band It and Curly Swirlies (see below for more Curly Swirlies).  Band It is so awesome!  I love that you can use it vertically or horizontally…centered or off to the side.  There are so many sentiments that will fit perfectly on it, you’ll see this one a lot around here!

ShellyCurlySwirliesWed1

My next Sneak Peek uses Curly Swirlies.  This die has some gorgeous flourishes that are wonderful together or in this case, on its own.  I loved the simplicity of this swirly by itself.  A few pearls and I had the clean and elegant look I was going for.  As you can see with the first card, these flourishes are also wonderful as an accent.  The sentiment is from another new set, Going To The Chapel.  See a theme here?  *grin*

ShellyCurlySwirliesWed2

If you want to see the full sets, be sure to join the Facebook Preview Party tonight at 6pm, PST!  Be sure to see what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen came up with.

Joan Ervin (Guest Designer)

ShellyGGDadTues1

Hi, everyone! It’s release week and time for Sneak Peeks! If you’re interested in seeing the sets in full then you’ll want to join the Facebook Preview Party tomorrow (Wed) night at 6pm PST.

Today I’m sharing Graphic Greetings Dad and it’s full of wonderful words that describe Dad.  If you’re familiar with the Graphic Greetings series then you already know how wonderful these stamps are.  Did you also know that these are perfect for fast and easy cards?  Be sure to check out the Gallery for more ideas and inspiration on how to use these stamps.  

ShellyGGDadTues2

For my card I used MME Dilly Dally DP and a little embossing and distressing.  I stamped and cut out the I Love You Very Much banner and popped it up to make it stand out.  I didn’t want to do too much to this card (to keep it masculine) but I couldn’t help but a sew the border a bit.  

Do you want to see more sneak peeks?  Check out what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen whipped up for you!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin - Guest Designer

Kerri Michaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess
 


TE52

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s my day to share and I thought it’d be fun to make a card to encourage anyone who’s in school or even graduating.  I used two sets, Dream Big and Spectacular.  I love Seeing Stars and it was perfect for this card.  

TE51

The image was colored with Copics and cut out.  Initially I wasn’t sure where I wanted to place my books, but I like how they seem to pop a little more being cut out.  Cutting out the books also eliminated any bleeding from the Copics onto the inside of the card.  

Hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!


ShellyAprilChallenge2

6a0120a7861a18970b016768b38663970b-800wi

It’s time for the Baker’s Dozen Studio Challenge.  This is a monthly opportunity for the Taylored Expressions team to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we  have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

 The theme for April is:

Mix & Match!  TE stamp sets are designed with plenty of images and sentiments so they are “self-contained” for lots of creativity, but sometimes it’s fun to mix and match several different sets for even more possibilities.

Your challenge is to create a project using three or more TE stamp sets.

Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner and with it comes Mother’s Day, Graduations, birthdays and weddings.  I wanted to make a card that felt fresh for one of these occasions.  I used Lavender Bouquet, Make It Amazing, and Make It Memorable (March SOTM) for the sentiment.   I also used the Picket Fence Border die and Flower Box Sprigs and Flowers to help create my scene.    

When I combine stamp sets I first look for a main image and follow it up with accents and sentiments.   I think the butterflies in Make It Amazing are really pretty and perfect for the background.    I realize that the sentiment in Make It Memorable was only available as the SOTM in March (see why you should subscribe? lol!) but I love how it fit my card.  It would be easy to replace the sentiment with one that fits your occasion.

ShellyAprilChallenge3

Be sure to see what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen came up with!

 

Broni Holcombe  (Guest Designer)

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Kerri Mchaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado (that’s me!)

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by!



Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 209 other followers