Saturday, November 7, 2009

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #57 - My Big Fat Greek Wedding


Good Morning Everyone!! Today over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge are so excited to feature the totally fun and sweet Oscar nominated movie from 2002: My Big Fat Greek Wedding!!!! This movie was the sleeper hit of the year and it was nominated for best original screenplay. This love story is all about family, love, culture and coming into your own.

I absolutely LOVED this movie from the very first moment that I saw it!!! You could replace the word "Indian" with "Greek" and it would fit perfectly! I related to so many things in this movie - like her desire to want to fit in when she was younger (I remember my mom packed me curry sandwiches to school - when everyone around me had PBnJ sandwiches but the real fun started when my DH and I got married - it was definitely a "cultural experience" for his family to meet my loud, huge family :) I love each character in this movie, from the way the mother and father interact with each other, to her aunt, to all the cousins, to the main characters as they fell in love with each other. I love how they would celebrate the moment in the movie with the greek word: "Opa!" which can be understood as an exclamation of joy!


So for my card today, I used Julee's awesome sketch from Julee's awesome Mojo Monday Sketch #111 and I created a little wedding card with the colors from the Greek flag - with two lovebirds from Verve and the sentiment Opa! on the side ( this was printed on the shimmery paper at a 1" size and then punched out with my 1" circle punch):




Card Ingredients:
Paper: Imagience
Ink: Memento Navy blue
Accessories: Charms, ribbon, liquid pearls, pearls from Kaiser, dimensionals, spellbinders, corner chomper, circle punches (1" thru 1 and 3/4")

It was so much fun to watch this movie as I made this card! Made me want to call my whole family and tell them how much I LOVE them!!!

Please check out the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog for more details and to see some awesome inspiration cards from Brooke and Samara!!
Big hugs!
Sankari :)

Friday, November 6, 2009

Sweet n' Sassy Digi Stamp blog hop :)

Good Morning Everyone,

I couldn't be more excited to bring you a wonderful challenge from Sweet n' Sassy stamps who have wonderful Digi images that makes it super easy to create a card! Today the Paper Craft Planet SuperNovas are showing you their sweet n sassy digital creations! I used the Merry Christmas Candle DIGI stamp to create this card:


I love the poinsettia around the candle and printed it twice on Choice Buttercream cardstock from Taylored Expressions and then colored it with Copics. I like the fact that you can resize the digi stamps and make it bigger or smaller to fit the project that you have in mind :)

So what is the challenge??! Well, create a card with this sketch (I actually forgot to use this sketch for my card today because my brain is holes for cheese right now - but I can't wait to play along with this awesome sketch!!)


and then upload your card to the Paper Craft Planet photo gallery, and use the tag "SNSS1" -- all caps, please. (Here is a tutorial on adding pictures to the gallery, if you need it.) Sweet n' Sassy Stamps has generously offered a chance to win this adorable stamp for one of our lucky challenge players (you have to use the above sketch to be eligible for the stamp:)

I had a lot of fun playing with this sweet digi stamp - every Thursday Sweet n' Sassy releases new digi stamps and they even have a freebie on Thursdays!! Check out all of their Sweet n' Sassy yumminess here and also hop on over to see what all of the SuperNovas came up with:

Thanks so much for visiting me today!!!
I hope you have a chance to play along with us!
Happy Friday Everyone!!!
Big hugs!!
Sankari :)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

RELEASE DAY -at Taylored Expressions!!!!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!!!

It's release day over at Taylored Expressions and the Baker's Dozen and I will be showing sneak peeks from the stamp set called Celebrate Life which is one of three sets that are being released today! Also, today I am excited to be the featured designer for the Taylored Expressions newsletter !!! YAY!!! (you can subscribe by going over to the store link and join the mailing list which will give you the inside scoop and deals over at Taylored Expressions) And so for today's newsletter project, I created a gratitude journal using the elegant Celebrate Life stamp set. I ADORE this stamps set and love all the stamps and the variety of possibilities of what you can make have my head spinning :) I wanted to start a journal that we can use as a family to write down through the year all of the things that we are grateful for - from big things to little things - and then create another journal the next year. It would be fun for the kids to see what they had written down when they were small.

and here is a close up of the beautiful silhouette that I sparkled up with chunky glitter and stickles and bling and buttons .

I loved creating this journal and can't wait to sit down as a family and make this our family gratitude journal. Here is a peek at the inside of the card and I created a little folder inside the card for holding little pictures, notes, etc.:

Can't wait to get started journaling as a family! The dandelion image reminded me of the papers in the October Key Ingredients kits and so I used the dandelion paper in the kit to create a 6x6 layout using the same stamp set with the sentiment: "Thankful for You." I love this picture of my daughter - I love the way her nose crinkles as she smiles her "sunshine" smile as we call it :)

This readily slips into the calendar stand over at Taylored Expressions and is perfect to display around the house - my kids love the fact that its all about them! I love that the pages can be displayed and not covered in a book and the kids always love looking at them and then demand more scrapbook pages about themselves!!! :)

I love the pumpkin image in this stamp set and created a card with the paper piecing technique using some My Mind's Eye paper: I wanted to create a card to give to our hostess for Thanksgiving - and love this sentiment: "Thankful for You".

The other reason that I love this stamp set is for its versatility. It has stamps that can be autumnal but also has so many sentiments and images that are all year round. I created a bright spring-ish card using the fun mini circle stamps (that can also be easily punch out with a mini circle punch) and created a ONE LAYER 8 MINUTE CARD!!! (I put that in capitals because I have never made a one layer card before) I wanted to keep this very very very simple - so not dots, ribbon, or layers - just a teeny bit of bling, inks and sponging :) I love the versatility of this stamp set!!!

I hope you have enjoyed all the yummy peeks so far and you won't want to miss all the amazing creations that the Baker's Dozen has created today - so make sure to hop on over and check out the yumminess:


and of course!: Taylor VanBruggen

Thank you so much for visiting me today!!!!
I am off to the Taylored Expressions store to get shopping!!! See you there (and join the newsletter mailing list while you are there - for all of the news and scoops!!!)
Hugs!
Sankari :)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks - Day 2


Good Morning Everyone,

Its another day of sneak peeks over at Taylored Expressions and today the Baker's Dozen and I are featuring the stamp set: Sweet Indulgence that Taylor will be releasing tomorrow!!! I LOVE the name of this stamp set and every single image is all about indulging and pampering - and who doesn't need that!!! Taylor is also releasing Spa Ingredients to coordinate with this set - which has 5 different Prism cardstock colors (Intense Mint, Intense Pink, Frosted Kiwi, Razzleberry Light, Frosted Teal) with coordinating Designer Paper, ribbon and the cutest brads and embellishments!!! These stamps coordinate perfectly with the stamp set that we peeked yesterday's stamp set called Luxurious Labels.

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Cuppie goes to the Beauty Salon:
For my first card - I had to make this one of Cuppie at the Beauty Salon!!! I started out using Mercy's sketch #46 - but it kinda started to become a whole other kind of sketch card :) LOVE this image and these fun colors and ribbon and hair dryer embellishments that come with the Spa Key Ingredients kit are beyond cute!


Card Ingredients:
Paper: Spa Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Rose Bud Memento
Stamps: Sweet Indulgence from Taylored Expressions
Accessories: Martha Lattice punch, spellbinders, liquid pearls, glitter, circle punches, dimensionals

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Cuppie's Pep Talk:

The second card that I made had me giggling the whole time I was making it because it is just the cutest sentiment!!! Do you remember Stewart Smalley from SNL?? And his pep talks to the mirror for increasing his self-esteem??!! Well, look at Cuppie giving himself a pep talk in the mirror!!!! LOL!!! I adore this stamp and sentiment!!!!

After paper piecing cuppie - I colored that portion over with B00 andC3 copic markers for a blue- gray mirror look - I had fun adorning Cuppie's mirror with bling and the sentiment: "I;m good enough, I'm sweet enough and doggone it, people love me!" is just still giving me the giggles :)

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Spa Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Rose Bud Memento
Stamps: Sweet Indulgence from Taylored Expressions
Accessories: spellbinders, stickles, bling, liquid pearls, glitter, corner rounder, dimensionals


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Cuppie's Bath Time Soak:
The last project that I made is a little mini gift set for pampering and the gable box contains some dead sea salts to add to the bath: (isn't Cuppie adorable soaking in the bath :) !!!)

Here is a closer look at the card using Taylor's sketch #89: I love these flowers that come with the Spa Ingredients kit - it adds just the perfect finishing touch:

and here is a closer look at another stamp from this set that can be punched out with a 1 and 3/4 circle punch: there are other smaller stamps that can then fit inside the circle!!! LOVE the versatility that this provides!!

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Spa Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Aquamarine from Memento
Stamps: Luxurious Labels stamp set and Sweet Indulgence from Taylored Expressions
Accessories: spellbinders, stickles, dew drops, liquid pearls, glitter, corner rounder, dimensionals

I had sooo much fun making all these fun cards and can't wait to give them to my friends and family!!! Its so nice to be able to make some pampering gifts and cards for them to let them know how much they mean to me :) AND speaking of pampering -- CHECK OUT what all is in this yummy bundle that Taylor is releasing tomorrow!!!

That's right - a Chenille Gel Neck Wrap - that you can keep for yourself while you craft away or of course can give as a gift set combo!!! LOVE it!!! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog - and make sure to check out all the indulgent and yummy cardmaking genius from the lovely ladies on the Baker's Dozen :)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks - Day 1

Good Morning Everyone!!!

Its release week over at Taylored Expressions!!! And I guarantee that you are going to love these awesome sets that Taylor is releasing with this Thursday November 5th!!!!!! I am simply SO excited about all the things that Taylor is coming out with!!!! Today the Baker's Dozen and I are sneaking peeks from the set called Luxurious Labels Stamp set from Taylored Expressions along with these awesome Spa Bottles that Taylor has which makes it easy to create your own homemade lotions and potions to give this holiday season, birthday's, etc. (or keep a few for yourself ;). This is just the best set of stamps for me because my whole family is potions and lotions CRAZY so I can't wait to make some homemade gifts for this holiday season with these awesome sets, papers, labels, sentiments and ribbon and more ;) in this release!!! One of the things that Taylor will be releasing is the awesome Spa Key Ingredients which feature the yummiest groupings of paper, embellies and ribbon (but more about that tomorrow) - I used the paper in the Spa Key Ingredients for today's projects:

I created a little gift set caddy for today's sneak peek and had so much fun creating it as well as filling it up:


Here is a card that I made to go along with my gift set - I love this particular label in the stamp set which is made up of lovely bubbles - how wonderful is that?!!! I cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals and then featured the cutest tub and bubbles and stamped the leaves and the sentiment "Pamper Yourself" and the dew dropped it up :)


And a closer peek at the label: don't you love the bubble label!!!! Isn't that tub just the cutest - I paper pieced it and shaded it a bit:

Here is another angle of the card - and of course some liquid pearl :)


This treat box is made from the tutorial over at SCS by Beate and was really simple to make - you can check out all the details here - This "caddy" allows for 4 compartments to fill so how did I fill them (that is the fun part too!)

The first compartment I filled with these yummy potion bottles that Taylor has - one has bath salts and the other lotion: NOTE that this stamp set has a mini circle stamp that can go right over the bottle cork too!!!!!! I stamped the sentiment: Relax for the compartment for the bottles - I love the font of these sentiments - so gor-ge-ous!

Here is another angle of the potions and lotions - bath salts and lotion customized with the stamp set and this awesome label!!! A little bling, a little ribbon a little liquid pearls - and voila:

Another compartment was used with this sentiment Soothing and a facial cream and washcloth. I know that for me there is nothing more soothing than taking off the make up at night with a warm washcloth and then applying my night moisturizing face cream - somehow it feels like the day is done and washed away! :) I love this sentiment Soothing


Another compartment was filled with the sentiment: Pamper Yourself and a facial mask and pedicure foot scrubby thing - I totally love face masks at the end of the day - and part of me wonders if I didn't secretly make this gift set for myself :) hee!!! :)

And the last compartment was filled with the sentiment Luxurious Lathering and was filled with a loooooofa for shower lathering fun (isn't loofa a fun word :)

Project Ingredients:
Paper: Spa Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions and one pink 12x12 cardstock
Ink: Memento New Sprout, Tuxedo Black ink, Lilac ink, and Brilliance Platinum ink
Stamps: Luxurious Labels from Taylored Expressions (releasing on Thursday!!)
Accessories: metal ring, dimensionals, dew drops, liquid pearls, cuttlebug wave embossing folder, spellbinders, mini circle punch, corner rounder, ribbon from the Spa Key Ingredients set and also from stash, bling and Sakura Pens (silver metallic)

Hope you enjoyed peeking at my sneek peeks!!! I had a blast making these projects and you won't believe all the things that Taylor is coming out with this week - so make sure to stop in tomorrow and Thursday!!!!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! Please make sure you hop on over and check out the beautiful Spa Creations and works of art from the Baker's Dozen!!!


and of course!: Taylor VanBruggen

And stop by tomorrow for Day 2 of sneak peeks!!! I can't wait!!!!
Hugs!
Sankari :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura's sketch #38 - Friends 4 Ever

Good Morning Everyone!!!

Happy Monday!! Phew! Its been a wee bit since I blogged! I was over at the East Coast to attend the wedding of an old and dear friend of mine and visit my family! I took some craft stuff to do while there - but never had a chance. My mother is the type of person who organizes and structures everything - so as soon as I came home - she already had a packed calendar of all the things that we were going to and see and have fun doing :) I totally enjoyed being at home and having a bit of a vacation
from blogging - but it is nice to be back and get some mojo flowing :)

What better way to start of the week then a YUMM-a-licious sketch from the fabulous Laura from 2 Sketches 4 You!!! I adored this sketch and for my card - I actually turned the sketch 90 degrees counterclockwise to create this friendship card - which is being sent to one of my friends back east who I have known since highschool and had a chance to meet up with while we were there. I wanted to make something special for them - so here is a forever friendship card to one of my forever friends and her 5 amazing children (that's why I had to put 5 cute owlies :).

This week the sponsor over at 2 Sketches 4 You is the awesome Sakura of America who really have to coolest pens ever!!! I colored me owlies with the metallic, glaze and sparkly pens and it made all the Owls just pop out more. I also used the pens for some faux stitching across the top of the different layers. I love how easily these pens glide - nice and smooooth :)

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Cosmo Cricket (Kitchen Spice) and Prism cardstock and the owls are from American Crafts paper
Ink: Potter's Clay Memento Ink
Accessories: Sakrua Gel pens: Metallic, Glaze pens, Sparkle pens, Marvy Heart punch, buttons from stash, bling, dimensionals, corner rounder, Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder, cosmic wave stencil, chalk

I had a lot of fun making this card and love playing around with this lovely sketch!!! And you have to check out all the lovely cards for this sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You because..... drim roll....... there are 4 NEW DESIGNERS joining Cheryl and myself for the 2 Sketches 4 You Winter Design Team so hope on over to the 2S4U blog and check out our 4 awesome new designers and the awesome sketch and play along with us!

Thanks for visiting me this monday!!! hope you have a lovely Monday!!
Happy November!!! (isn't that crazy!)
Hugs!
Sankari :)