Falling Leaves...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 1!

November Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, November 3rd at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the OvenDepartment at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday 11/2 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

Today is Halloween, and I have a "treat" for you! It's the first day of Release Week for Taylored Expressions and I am so thankful for all the fun I have had being a part of the Baker's Dozen. My project today features Labels of Love II -- the first in this series is one of my all-time favorites and I was so excited to see another from Taylor herself! I made a card to show how I feel about each and every one of my DT teammates.

The perfect sentiment fit inside one of the seven included frames and I strung some happy orange ribbon through. I paired it with bright, colorful patterned paper and stitched a fun border across one of the panels. Do you see those cool die-cut leaves? Those are made from 3 of 4 of the soon-to-be-released Mini Leaves Taylored Dies! I just love autumn -- it's the perfect time to sit back and take stock of everything that makes our lives so much better.
Labels of Love II is a fitting new addition to Taylor's Giving Tree program. The TE Giving Tree is a program designed to raise funds for a different charity each quarter.  For the months of November, December and January, Taylored Expressions will donate $5 from the sale of each Labels of Love II stamp set to the Union Rescue Mission. Visit the Union Rescue Mission website at http://urm.org/

In part the URM's Mission Statement reads:

We embrace people experiencing homelessness with the compassion of Christ – giving hope and healing for a changed life – helping them find their way home.

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Labels of Love II (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Campfire (October Afternoon)
Ink: Pacific Point (SU!)
Cardstock: Choice Buttercream (TE); Pacific Point; Dusty Durango, More Mustard, Pear Pizazz (Stampin' Up!)
Fibers: Terra Cotta Tile Grosgrain (PTI); Orange Embroidery Floss (generic)
Dies: Ribbon Tags Trio (Spellbinders); Mini Leaves Taylored Dies (TE)

Hope you have a wonderful Halloween! Don't forget to check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen for more Release Week fun!

• Charmaine Ikach

  Danielle Lounds

  Jennifer Shults

  Jodi Collins

  Karen Giron

  Melissa Sauls

  Melody Rupple

  Regina Mangum

  Sankari Wegman

  Taylor VanBruggen

  Tori Wild

  Wanda Guess

Ghoulish Good Times...

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Halloween is literally just around the corner and it's "Anything Goes" over at Simon Says Stamp! My son's school is hosting a Halloween Fair to raise money for the school and I wanted to make something to donate for the event's raffle. I saw this cool bottle of wine at Trader Joe's and thought it would be fun to pair it with a gift card in case the lucky winner wants a couple more bottles!

To make it extra spooky, I decorated the gift card envelope with some boo-worthy patterned paper from Echo Park and created a little sign using the spookalicious Spooky Wreath from Taylored Expressions as well as a Take Note die. I finished off with a great ribbon and some Liquid Pearls for dimension and now I was all set to contribute my ghoulish good time treat for a good cause!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Spooky Wreath (Taylored Expressions); Times New Roman 50pt Font (JustRite Stampers)
Patterned Paper: Apothecary Emporium (Echo Park) from Spooky Project Pantry (TE)
Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accents: Pewter Liquid Pearls (Ranger)
Fibers: Ribbon from Spooky Project Pantry (TE)
Dies: Classic Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Take Note 2 Taylored Die (TE)

Miss You...

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My darling husband had to go away for a 10-day business trip all the way across the pond in Europe, leaving me and the rugrat behind to hold the fort. Unfortunately, both the kiddo and I had a raging bout of Hand-Foot-Mouth (so NOT fun!) Lucky for his dad, he was nowhere near the outbreak zone, but boy, did we miss him!

Every time he goes away, I try to make something for my hubby to take with him to let him know that we will be thinking of him. I was inspired by this week's Our Creative Corner: Fabulous Faces Challenge to make something with photographs; he always asks for photos, so I thought I would make him a special little "album" that he could easily fit into his alrady overstuffed briefcase. I used this really cool Mini Acrylic Accordion Album from Taylored Expressions, pairing it with the big, bold sentiment from Bugabee and there were exactly 10 spaces!

I used some really fun patterned paper from Echo Park's Walk in the Park collection and tied it all off with a bright, fun ribbon and a mini clothespin to hold on my tag that said everything we had to say to let daddy know that he would be both loved and missed!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Bugabee (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Walk in the Park (Echo Park)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Choice Snow (TE)
Fibers: Bermuda Bay Grosgrain (SU!)
Accents: Mini Clothespin (generic)
Alterable: Mini Accordion Album (TE)
Tools: Corner Chomper (We-R-Memory)
Other: Photographs

Who's Thoughtful?...

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I still LOVE making thank you cards best of all. It's such a win-win situation: someone does something nice for me and I get to send them a card to say thanks for being so wonderful! When I saw this week's Pals Paper Arts Fall-themed challenge, I was inspired to make an autumnal thank you card in anticipation of the next sweet thing someone does for me (and I don't think I'm being presumptive since I know so many nice people!)

I used some cute patterned paper to suggest a woodland scene and stamped this adorable little owl from Woodland Winter by Taylored Expressions. To make it "fall," I simply used some autumn colors (I just love it when I find many uses for a stamp!) I punched out a hole in the "tree" for the wise little guy to nest in and added some ribbon and the perfect "thank you" sentiment. I popped out the tree to give the card a bit of perspective and dimension and now this little card will wait in the standby line to get sent to my next favorite person!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: owl from Woodland Winter (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Finally Fall (Bella Blvd)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!); Choice Buttercream (TE)
Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
Fibers: Pear Pizazz ribbon (SU!)
Tools: Large Oval Punch (EK Success)

Spooky & Sweet...

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Halloween in definitely in the air with all the pumpkins I've been seeing at the grocery store! We'll be heading to the pumpkin patch soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to get going on creating some Halloween cards for friends and family. I was so glad that this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge is Halloween themed...it was the perfect push in the right direction!
I wanted to make a card for my very stylish sister-in-law and when I saw this darling chick-witch from Taylored Expressions, I knew I had just the right thing! I colored her in with Copics, stamped the cute sentiment and bats and sponged in some fun Halloween-y colors. After pairing everything with some spooky patterned paper from Echo Park, I finished off with a purple ribbon and a sparkly button and I was all done!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Moka Tabitha (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Apothecary Emporium (Echo Park) - from Spooky Project Pantry
Cardstock: Concord Crush (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait (SU!)
Fibers: Purple Satin Ribbon (Kate's Paperie)
Accents: Button (American Crafts)
Dies: Wonky Rectangles (Spellbinders)
Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)

Christmas Joy and a Season of Wishes...Taylored Expressions Release Day!

TE Release Day!

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
• More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you.  Just follow the link list below.
• Did you win one of the Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaways? Find the list of winners on Taylor's Blog.
• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - you can help support the Susan G. Komen Foundation through the purchase of Moka Hope (insert direct link to stamp set). Plus you can donate cards to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center through Hope You Can Cling to at SCS.

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It's Release Day for Taylored Expressions! Today I get to share a card I created using the new Banner Holiday set. If you've been checking out the Baker's Dozen this week, you will have seen this set as it coordinates with the other It's a Banner Day series of stamps and dies. I wanted to do something a little different with several of the fifteen holiday sentiments included in the set and create my own patterned paper.

I started by simply lining a few of my favorites from the set and stamped them across some cardstock in alternating green and red. Then, after trimming the panel, I ran it through with the new Trim the Tree Taylored die and adhered some fun patterned paper behind each tree section. I topped it off with some Baker's twine and I was left with a fun, simple card to put away until Christmas!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Banner Holiday (Taylored Expressions)

Ink: Memento Ladybug and Bamboo Leaves (Tsukineko)

Fibers: Baker's Twine (TE)

All cardstock and patterned paper on card from 12 Days Project Pantry Kit.

The TE store is now open! Don't forget to visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen for more release day fun! Happy EVERYTHING! 

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
  and friends Jen Shults (Guest Designer!)
  and Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator) 

EEK! (PPA Celebrity Guest Artist!)...

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I am so thrilled and honored to be this week's Pals Paper Arts Celebrity Guest Artist! (I'm still blushing at the word "celebrity"!) This week it's a Color Challenge, and how perfectly perfect are these colors for a bright, fun Halloween card?
I used these darling little dies to create some cute critters and set them against a dry embossed background and some fun patterned paper. Along with a few Liquid Pearls, I completed the card with a spooky fence and spelled out exactly what I scream whenever I see a spider (though I suppose I might not if it were as sweet as this eight-legged little guy!) I hope you play along this week and thank you to the gang at PPA for inviting me to participate in such a fabulous challenge!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Halloween Treats and Sweets (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Matilda (Cosmo Cricket)

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizazz, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)

Dies: Spooky Fence Border (Taylored Expressions); Bitty Halloween Treats and Sweets (PTI); Labels Four Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

Templates: Spiderweb/Harlequin Impressions Plate (TE)

Stickers: Alphabet stickers (Pink Paiselee)

Ink: Alabaster Chalk Ink (Colorbox); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)

Accents: Liquid Dimensionals (Adirondack); Black Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Rejoice!...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day Three!

October Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday 10/5 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

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Happy Wednesday! Today is the third day of sneak peeks for Taylored Expressions and I have a very fun set to share with you today. It's called Glad Tidings and, like all of Taylor's stamps, it comes on high quality pink rubber, cut and ready to use with your acrylic blocks. I got to play with this darling and fun set from the Appledoodle Ink line and created a sweet nativity scene to help celebrate my favorite season!

The set comes with a very cute donkey, which paired up perfectly with previously-released animal images from Green Acres  and the sweet lambs from Hello Spring. Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are all on hand, along with a manger and a terrific palm tree that could be used on non-Christmas inspired projects! This card was actually very simple to make. I used a circle die to cut a window and simply filled it with all this adorable images!
I used the new Holiday Wonder Pantry kit on this card and Taylored Expressions is offering a Basic Recipe Kit along with optional Spice it Up Ingredients that you can pick and choose from to build the kit just the way you want it.

Holiday Wonder Project Pantry - Basic Recipe Kit and Spice it Up Optional Ingredients

The Holiday Wonder Project Pantry Basic Recipe Kit includes:

Authentique Wonder 6x6 pad

10 sheets of 8.5" x 11" cardstock in coordinating colors

6 yards of ribbon (2 yards each of 3 different styles)

Optional Spice it Up Ingredients (choose any or all) are:

• Decorative Brad Mix
• Red/Green Paper Roses
• Christmas Glitter Assortment
• Red Pearls
• Coordinating Copic Markers
• Additional Cardstock Pack
• Additional Ribbon Bundle

BEAN NOTES

Rejoice! Card

Stamps: Glad Tidings, Hello Spring, Green Acres (Taylored Expressions)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Dies: Grand Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)

All cardstock, patterned paper, and embellishments from Holiday Wonder Project Pantry unless otherwise noted.

I hope you could "rejoice" in today's project and I really hope you head over to the rest of the Baker's Dozen to check out all the fabulous inspiration and more sneaks! Tomorrow is release day, so come back and I'll have a very easy-to-create card featuring some perfect sentiments for the holidays!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
  and friends Jen Shults (Guest Designer!)
  and Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator) 

Totally Holiday Tags!...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day Two!

October Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the OvenDepartment at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday 10/5 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

Merry October Christmas, Everyone! It's the second day of sneak peeks for Taylored Expressions and today I have a fun set to share with you. It's never too early to get a jump start on all those holiday tags and so here is the perfect set to get going: Totally Tags Holiday. Illustrated by the fab Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line, I was able to put together 9 tags lickity split! And, guess what? There is a coordinating set of dies that really make these tags easy to create!

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I was going for a bit of a more rustic look and so stamped and colored on mostly kraft cardstock. I added a little fun Christmas cheer with a clear glitter pen and some baker's twine from the TE store. Then, I decided they would make a cute gift for someone who may not have much time to make their own tags this year and so I decorated a little tin using papers and ribbon from the new 12 Days Project Pantry kit! Taylored Expressions is offering a Basic Recipe Kit along with optional Spice it Up Ingredients that you can pick and choose from to build the kit just the way you want it.

12 Days Project Pantry - Basic Recipe Kit and Spice it Up Optional Ingredients

The 12 Days Project Pantry Basic Recipe Kit includes:

My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 pad

12 sheets of 8.5" x 11" cardstock in coordinating colors

6 yards of ribbon (2 yards each of 3 different styles)

Optional Spice it Up Ingredients (choose any or all) are:

• Christmas Button Mix
• Doodlebug Holiday Brads
• Rockin' Pink Sparkly Fluff
• Rhinestones (Red, Split Pea, Island Lagoon)
• Coordinating Copic Markers
• Additional Cardstock Pack
• Additional Ribbon Bundle

BEAN NOTES

Totally Holiday Tags Tin

Stamps: Totally Tags Holiday (Taylored Expressions)

Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)

Fibers: Baker's Twine (TE)

Dies: Totally Tags Taylored Dies (TE)

Accents: Rouge Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

All patterned paper, cardstock, and ribbon from 12 Days Project Pantry unless otherwise noted.

I hope you enjoyed my little taggy project today. Check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen for more fun ideas and sneak peeks! Come back tomorrow for a little "nativity" happiness!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
  and friends Jen Shults (Guest Designer!)
  and Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator) 

Winter Hope...Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day One!

October Release At a Glance

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the OvenDepartment at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Mystery Baker's Dozen Blog Giveaway: Each day, one lucky blog commenter will be chosen by random draw to win a $10 TE Gift Certificate.  Winners will be chosen from a different Baker's Dozen blog each day and will be announced on Taylor's blog on Release Day!  Be sure to hop around to see all the sneak peeks and leave comments on each and every blog for more chances to win. Limit one comment per blog per day, please.  Comments close Wednesday 10/5 at 7pm PST for the drawings.

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Your eyes to do not deceive you! It's Christmas in October and Day One of Sneak Peeks for Taylored Expressions! This week is filled with tons of terrific holiday inspiration and I am so glad you are joining me here today. I've got two projects, the first featuring a darling new set, Woodland Winter. I absolutely jumped at the chance to use this sweet set to make a scrapbook page for my little rugrat (yep, I'm that far behind, but it was worth the wait!)

After stamping and coloring all these cute little winter critters from Doug Applegate for the Apple Doodle Ink Collection, I fussy cut them out and adhered them to my snowy scene. Do you see those layered trees? I made those with the new Trim the Tree Taylored Die (you'll see more of it below and later this week!)

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Moka line from TE brings out Moka Hope (illustrated by Nancy McKinney,) just in time for the Splitcoast Stampers Hope You Can Cling To Card Drive, for which TE is a proud sponsor and featuring some great challenges. Plus, for every set sold, Taylor will be donating $1 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. And, though the set was designed with breast cancer in mind, Moka Hope's ribbon can be colored to suit whatever cause you would like to highlight.

Since this is a Christmas week, it got me thinking about how holidays can be a difficult time for someone going through something as potentially devastating as breast cancer. My own mom is a cancer survivor (colon cancer) and holidays are now especially precious. I chose to make a holiday-inspired Hope card featuring sweet Moka Hope draped in a pink ribbon. I added a trimmed tree using the Trim the Tree die and embellishments and paper from the popular Angel Kisses Project Pantry kit. Christmas is a time for joy and more than anything...hope.

BEAN NOTES

All I Want Layout

Stamps: Woodland Winter (Tayored Expressions)

Cardstock: 12x12 Cardstock (American Crafts); Fresh Snow (TE); Ivy, Parakeet (Bazzil)

Patterned Paper: "frozen lake" cut from Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey); Cottage Christmas (Imaginisce)

Stickers: Thickers Glossy Letter Stickers (American Crafts)

Dies: Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Trim the Tree Taylored Die (TE)

Accents: Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)

Christmas Hope Card

Stamps: Moka Hope

Tools: Double Loop Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)

All cardstock, embellishments, and patterned paper from Angel Kisses Project Pantry kit (TE)

 

Now, don't forget to visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen for some spectacular inspiration. There are tons of new sets releasing this week, so sit back, relax, and let the winter wonderland into your home! Thanks for dropping by!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess
  and friends Jen Shults (Guest Designer!)
  and Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)