Verve's Good Buy SALE

Hi Verve fans!  Just wanted to pop in and remind you that Verve's BIG SALE ends tonight!!  So, if you haven't checked it out. . .head on over!

Just a reminder that everything is still on sale 10 - 50% off during Verve's Good Buy 2012 sale {through 11:59pm Mountain Time tonight, 12/31/12}! Plus enter gift code SHOPHOP in the gift code box at checkout to receive an extra 10% off your order! Combine that with the free shipping promotion for orders over $50 to the US & Canada and you've got yourself a bargain! 

Ornaments

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!  We did!  Very busy with a touch of chaos, but good!  :)  I haven't been able to post for a while with all of the holiday activities and the kids all being home, so I have a little post that was something I created before Christmas.  I was helping with my oldest daughter's Christmas party at school and I was in charge of the craft.  They all created these adorable little mitten ornaments. 

I used the mitten die from Spellbinders along with some chipboard. . .a.k.a. cereal and cracker boxes from the kitchen to create the mitten.  The gingerbread and sentiment are from the Holiday Button Bits set along with the Holiday Button Bits Die Set from Papertrey Ink.  I was inspired by the card I made HERE.  I used Pure Poppy cardstock and some patterned papers from the Handmade Holiday Collection from Simple Stories. 

The ivy leaves were created with the Holly Jolly Die Collection.  I strung some jingle bells onto the jute and added some buttons to the gingerbread.  The kids LOVED making the ornaments.  I ended up making a few extras to use as tags on gifts.  They really dressed up little bags of sweets! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you're getting some crafty time in as well as LOTS of family time!  I'll check in again soon!

Tick Tock

Time has just been flying by lately.  I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!  My kids are so excited they can barely contain themselves.  :)  I have a fun little card today that uses the new Tick Tock with coordinating die set from Taylored Expressions.  I stamped and die cut the clock on black cardstock (in white ink and embossed it) and then mounted it with foam tape onto a red circle. 

On the edge, I used some Trendy Tapes in Green Mega Dot and Black Polka Dot.  It took me a while to become part of the washi tape trend, but I'm really liking it!  It's nice to add them to clean and simple cards.  It adds interest without a lot of fuss.  Above the clock I stamped "tick tock" twice in red and green ink. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  If I'm not able to check back in tomorrow, have a VERY MERRY Christmas!! 

TE December Studio Challenge

It's time for this month's Studio Challenge at Taylored Expressions! This is a fun challenge where the Baker's Dozen answers the challenge and also provides a tip or trick related to that challenge. 

The question for December is:
Inpsiration is all around us. Many of us learned to stamp by CASEing other stampers we admired. (CASE = Copy and Share Everything) We want everyone to know that, not only is CASEing perfectly OK, it's actually pretty flattering and a lot of fun! And it can be especially helpful in the midst of the busy holiday season when it's hard to think straight! So take some inspiration from your fellow Baker's Dozen Teammates, and show us how you can turn any great inspiration into a fabulous holiday card!

I had the pleasure of CASEing Wanda for this challenge! There was so much beautiful eye candy to choose from, but the card I decided on was this sweet little number! 

I thought Wanda's card was an ADORABLE birthday card.  I loved the layout and decided it would make a great holiday card too!!  Instead of using patterned paper, I used the Holly Cutting Plate to create my "background".  After diecutting, I adhered the holly piece to a pink cardstock piece and then die cut the circle opening.  Next I die cut the circle opening from the red cardstock matte.  I used the Merry Little Cocktail set from TE.  I stamped and colored the merry drink and added some Stardust Stickles to give it some holiday sparkle. 

Once the card was all put together, I added holly with a red pearl pen and embossed the sentiment in white onto black cardstock.  That was die cut with the Bracket Frame Die.  So, to CASE Wanda's adorable card, I kept the layout the same but changed the papers/colors and the theme to holiday!  Simple, right?  Well, we'd LOVE to see what you CASE from the TE Gallery!! 

Use a card that you like as a "blueprint" for your card.  If you like the layout, use that as your guideline and change the stamps and/or colors to make your version.  If you like elements of a card, use those as your guideline. . .maybe the designer you chose uses buttons with twine as her "signature" or stitching.  Find what you like about a card and use that as your starting point.  It's a lot of fun, I promise!  Check out what the rest of the Baker's Dozen CASEd today!  :)

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

A "Pin-spired" Christmas

My sweet friend Kendra has been celebrating the season on her blog by posting creations that were "Pin-spired". . .inspired by pins on Pinterest!  I wanted to play along and haven't really had time until now.  I found this beautiful card on Pinterest by Mary Brown and just LOVED it!  I was inspired to create a "wintery" version of this card.

Source: stampercamper.com via Kathy on Pinterest

My card uses an oldie from Verve called Winter Wonder Remixed along with a sentiment from Snowflake Splendor.  I used the Mitten Die set from Spellbinders to sponge the mitten onto the card and then stamped the snowflakes in white craft ink and embossed them in white.  I also added a little dashed, embossed border with my ScorBug.  The finishing touch was the rhinestones in the centers of the snowflakes. 

I had a lot of fun playing along in Kendra's Celebration and I'm hoping to find more time this week to play again!  Maybe you'll find some time too!  :)  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

Here are some other friends playing along today:
Daisy
Debbie

Crafty Friends Challenge #13 Make a Splash

It's Sunday and time for another Crafty Friends Challenge!  This week is my turn to host and my challenge to you is to Make a Splash!!  Create a "white" card with a "splash" of color.  The card doesn't necessarily have to be white. . .any neutral will do.  For my card, I did use white but that's a norm for me.  :)  I used the Joyous Noel set from Verve along with an embossing folder from Stampin' Up.  The flowers were stamped, hand cut and then gold Stickles were added to the middle layer.  I finished the card off with some twine and pearls.

For more details on how to play along and more inspiration, please visit the Crafty Friends Challenge Blog! We hope you'll play along! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Sunday! SUPPLIES USED:  Stamps- Joyous Noel (Verve Stamps); Ink- Onyx Black (Versafine); Paper- Choice Snow White (Taylored Expressions), Pure Poppy (PTI); Accessories- embossing folder (SU), twine (Doodlebug), pearls (Want2Scrap), Gold Stickles; 

Beate Johns
Jenn Balcer
Linda Lucas
Nina Brackett

VLV Love Is Long

It's Friday and time for another Viva la Verve Challenge!  This week, I am hosting and I'd LOVE to see what you create!  I started with patterned papers from the Times and Seasons Collection from Echo Park.  The sentiment is from the Stronger Love set from Verve. 

I stamped the sentiment in Frost White craft ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I die cut a heart out of Kraft cardstock using the Jotted Heart Die.   The smaller hearts were die cut out of patterned paper using the From the Heart Die Set.  I also stamped a polka dot pattern on the large heart with a stamp from the Bountiful Backgrounds set. 

I'd love to see what you create using this sketch!  Come play along!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Make It Monday - Layered Glitter Shapes

 

It has been a LONG while since I've played along with the Make It Monday Challenge.  I had a little time this week, so I decided to participate in this week's Layered Glitter Shapes Challenge.  I loved the technique.  I don't know about you, but I have actually tried attaching embellishments, etc on top of glitter and it's tough!  :)  I love how this technique looks.

I decided to make a mitten card using the Shape Up Series: Mitten Die.  I started by diecutting the mitten out of Pure Poppy cardstock and running through my Xyron.  Next I die cut some rick rack using the RickRack Border Die.  I decided to use the Holiday Button Bits set for my card.   I die cut and stamped the gingerbread man and stamped the sentiment.  Once I peeled off the backing from the Xyron, I attached the rick rack borders to the mitten as well as the gingerbread man and sentiment.  Once everything was attached to the card, I poured glitter over the card.  I die cut a mitten card base, attached my glittered mitten and there ya go! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a great day!  SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Holiday Button Bits (PTI); Ink- Early Espresso (SU); Paper- Pure Poppy, Kraft (PTI); Accessories- Shape Up Series: Mitten Die, RickRack Border Die, button, button twine (PTI), glitter (Martha Stewart), Black Pearl Pen (Viva); 

Brighter Skies

I have a happy card today.  :)  I used one of the latest releases from Taylored Expressions, Sunny Days with coordinating dies.   Is this not just the happiest little stamp set?  I just LOVE the little sun and little rainbow.  So, so cute! 

I started with a smaller card base than normal.  The card is 4.75"x5.5".  I'm just really loving the "skinny" cards lately.  I trimmed a Kraft piece of cardstock to 3"x4.75" and stamped the sentiment.  The cloud and rainbow were die cut using Choice Snow White cardstock.  TIP:  I used Copic markers to color each arch of the rainbow rather than die cutting the rainbow 6 times in different colored cardstock.  The sun was die cut in yellow and then stamped and then the center was die cut in orange and stamped with the little face.  I mounted the sun and cloud onto the card with foam tape.  To finish the card, I added a piece of Black Polka Dot Trendy Tape and some faux stitching with a white gel pen. 

I hope this card made you smile!  Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day! 

TE December Petite-a-Palooza Whimsical Wishes

Hello and welcome back!  Today I have a project that uses one of the new sets that are NOW AVAILABLE at Taylored Expressions! You can find all of the new products in the Fresh Out of the Oven Category!  Today I am featuring the Bonjour Couture set.  Bonjour Couture was illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line.  It comes with two coordinating dies. 

If you like a more delicate or shabby chic look instead of "cute", this set is perfect!  I usually gravitate toward the "cute" or "whimsical" stamps, but I really love this set because I don't have a lot of these kind of stamps.  It is a perfect set to make cards/gifts for someone like my mom or grandma. . .or even a crafty friend.  :) 

For my project today, I made a calendar page.  I used the Frame Your Imagination Stand along with the coordinating 6x6 Page Protectors and Dated Calendar Download.  You can find these and other calendar products in the Calendar Product Category in the TE Store.  The papers I used are from the Lost & Found 3 Oliver Collection from My Mind's Eye.  I stamped and die cut the images and then stamped the sentiment and die cut it with the small oval die in the Label Stacklets 3 Die Set.  To give the page a little more interest, I scored a line on each side of "January" so there was an "embossed bar" running across the page. 

Please stop to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has to show you today!  Thanks for joining us this week and have a wonderful weekend!

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Kerri Michaud

TE December Petite-a-Palooza Embracing Grace

I'm back today with a card that uses one of the new sets that are NOW AVAILABLE at Taylored Expressions!  You can find all of the new products in the Fresh Out of the Oven Category!  Today I am featuring the Splish Splash set.  Splish Splash is an ADORABLE new set that was illustrated by Emily Burger for the Embracing Grace line.  It has two coordinating dies.  This set would make anybody smile!  :)

For my card I created a Clean and Simple (CAS) card.  I started with a white card base made from Choice Snow White cardstock.  I stamped, die cut and colored the images to create my scene.  I finished the card with some Beetle Black Doodle Twine and some Black Polka Dot Trendy Tape.  The little embossed dashed line next to the trendy tape edge was created using my ScorBuddy and ScorBug.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has to show you today!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Jen Shults

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Melody Rupple

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess