Last Post for this Decade! (was that a bit too dramatic :) lol!

Good Morning Everyone!!!

Can you believe that this is the last day of this whole decade and that a whole new decade is opening up tomorrow (or in some parts of the world - it already has!) Well, I am busing writing down my New Year's Resolutions and trying to make sure I can actually do it for the whole year - and maybe a whole decade!

But first - a fun little card that I am giving to a friend of mine for the New Year :) I LOVE this sentiment from the Chillax stamp set from Taylored Expressions that says: "When life gives you limes, make Margaritas :)" - that always brings a smile to my face and I Love the fonts and the images in this cute little stamp set. I used Taylor's sketch from TESC 95 for this card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Prism cardstock and scrap stash

InK: Memento Tuxedo Black and Cottage Ivy

Stamps: Chillax from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: corner rounder, double scallop punch, ribbon from stash, circle punches from CM, and mini scallop punch from EK success and glaze pens from Sakura

Are you getting ready for some New Year's Eve fun? What are your plans? I think we are going to do something simple with some friends and one of my favorite traditions is to re-read my journal entries from the past year and write down all of my resolutions for the new year in my brand new journal :) - its such a great way for some introspection and a great way to wake up tomorrow with a feeling of freshness, newness, hope and gratitude!

Today I am also the hostess for the Stamp a Sweet Impression blog for Taylored Expressions today - where I created a little Framed Fridge magnet - it is one of my New Year's resolution to de-clutter our house - and I thought I would start with our fridge (one of the main places that our clutter seems to be drawn to like magnets ;).

Here is a little peek of my project:

Please stop by the

Stamp a Sweet Impression blog

to see more!!!!

Thank you dear friends for visiting my blog today!

Before you head out into cyberspace - I just wanted to wish each of you the happiest of New Year's and that it is filled with love, laughter, joy, bliss, fulfilled dreams, being with your loved ones, prosperity and deep contentment!!!!

Cheers to an amazing New Decade!!!!!!!

2010 - here we comeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Hugs!

Sankari :)

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura's #42 - A Year of Blessings

Good Morning Everyone!

Hope you had a wonderful and safe holiday! We are finally home and even though I have unpacked most things - there is still so much more to do before finally settling into our routine. Can't believe this is the last Monday of 2009! Well to celebrate - Laura and Kazan of 2 Sketches 4 You have a wonderful new sketch for you and a color challenge: to create a card with the sketch with the colors: Red, Sliver and Black to welcome in the new year! Our sponsor this week is Creative Cuts & More - which offers exclusive die cuts to make crafting easy and quick. This cute little purse is from their collection and I thought would be a really cute little gift card holder to match the card (which is flipped around horizontally):

Card Ingredients:

Paper: ANW wine red cardstock, Bazzil basics silver and black paper, Doodlebug Designs

Stamps: Wishing You and Seeing Stars from Verve

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: circle punch, scalloped oval punch, corner rounder, EK success punches, Bazzil ribbon, dimensionals, bling from Kaiser, Sakura black and white pens

I had a lot of fun making this card and the whole time I was thinking about all of my New Year's Resolutions for next year - and how to make them last longer than 4 days!!! lol! I hope you all have a chance to play along with this totally fun challenge! And stop by 2 Sketches 4 You for more details and to see all the amazing creations from the Design Team!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!!

Big hugs to all!!!

Sankari :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Happy Merry Christmas!

Hope you are all cozy and tucked away with your loved ones on this Christmas day! We are with spending time with family and are enjoying a White Christmas as the snow still falls and the piles up outside! Perfect for hot cocoa and sugar cookies ;) and to build snowmen later!

Here is a Christmas card with one of my fave sets: Holiday Wonder from Taylored Expressions - I was inspired by all the snow we were having and decided for a white on white kind of card with some glitter (can't go wrong with glitter :) Can you see all the snow falling outside?

Here is a closer peek at the snowflakes both big and small and the litter one the curtains....

I love this stamp of Santa and the reindeers (and btw - our kids were totally excited when they saw that the plate of cookies that they left out for Santa last night was empty - and just had crumbs on it.... and then they saw all the stockings hung on the chimney with care and were amazed that Santa brought them what they really wanted: Legos and a Cinderella cup :)

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Choice Buttercream cardstock from Taylored Expressions

Ink: Ladybug and Tuxedo black Memento

Stamps: Holiday Wonder from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: snowflake punch from Martha, pearls from Kaiser, stickles, ribbon from stash, corner rounder/chomper and copics.

I hope that you are all enjoying time with family and loved ones! Wishing you all joy and love!!

Thanks so much for visiting!!!

Big hugs to all!!!

Merry Christmas!

Sankari :)

2sketches 4 you - Noel Tag

Good Morning Everyone,

Hope you are having a relaxing and wonderful start to your Monday!

We are heading out for some family fun with our nephew and the kids are so excited to see their cousin after a very long time! But first - here is the awesome sketch from the lovely ladies at 2S4Y! This week's challenge is to make a tag and tag it up! I love making tags - they can be simple or complicated - but they are just little bits of beauty to me. This week's sponsor is Starving Artists and I used the stamp of the three wise men from the Nativity stamp set for this tag that I made for my FIL:

Here is the tag when it is closed -

And here is the tag when it is opened:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: SEI and SEI accessories pack

Stamps: Starving Artists: The Nativity

Ink: Stazon Black

Accessories: dimensionals, Martha Stewart punch, bling from stash, ribbon from stash.

You can either write a sentiment in the pocket on the inside or even insert a little gift card there - I think I will do both :) Check out all the fabulous tag creations from the 2S4Y DT and then join in on the fun!!!

Can't wait to see your tagged creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by this morning!

Big hugs to all!!!

Sankari :)

December 20th Key Ingredients are Here!!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!

Its December 20th! and that means its time for a new release of Taylor's Key Ingredients kits! For those of you who are not familliar with these kits, every month, Taylor creates an awesome kit - full of Designer paper, coordinating cardstock, ribbon and embellishments - its such a great way to make cards and projects - because everything you need is in one kit and it all coordinates! Taylored Expressions is now offering a monthly charge prgram - so that menas that instead of paying for either the 3 month or 6 month option upfront, now there will be a charge every 15th of the month of their subscription - so for example the 6 month program is $14.95 a month plus shipping! Now that is alot of DP, cardstock and embellies all in one amazing kit! This December's Key Ingredient's are so versatile - they can be used for the holidays or birthdays, thank you's, congratulations, anything really!

Since the holidays are right around the corner, today half of the Baker's Dozen will be showing some quick holiday gift wrapping ideas with this super versatile December Key Ingredient's Kit that can be for the holidays but can be holiday neutral as well. Check out all the amazing things that are in this kit:

- 12 sheets of 8.5" x 11"cardstock (2 of each color pictured with a Buttercream neutral)

- 20 sheets of 6" x 6" patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Ooh La La collection

- 5 yards of coordinating ribbon (1 yard each of 5 different styles)

- an assortment of coordinating paper flowers

- and a package of Raspberry Candy Dots (which I had a HARD time resisting eating!!!! they look sooooo much like the candy dots that I grew up eating! and the are just the perfect embellies!

I made four different holiday wrapped up projects. The first is a super quick one using the favor boxes that are in the Taylored Expressions store - I absolutely LOVE all of these boxes and it is so nice to have them on hand for a quick and easy project! This one uses the flap lid box and I used the beautiful image from the Wings of Joy stamp set to make this cute little gift set. I love this stamp set because it is simply so easy to use - just color, cut and adhere to your project :)

I filled it up with some chocolates and added just a wee bit of liquid pearls ;) here is a closer peek at the card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: December 20th Key Ingredients Kit

Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento

Stamps: Wings of Joy from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Everything is from the Dec 20th KI kit, except for liquid pearls and dimensionals :)

The second project is a Box in a Bag project (tutorial here on Splitcoaststampers by one of my sweet blogging buddies Diana Gibbs). I love how absolutely quick and fast this project was and how easy it was to embellish with the paper flowers that are in this kit. I punched out a little snowflake to go in the flower's center in the card - to kinda make it a "winter flower" ;) I used sketch #95 from the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge for this project:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: December 20th Key Ingredients Kit

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Aquamarine

Stamps: Wings of Joy from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Ribbon and candy dots are from the Dec 20th KI kit, cuttlebug embossing folder, spellbinders, EK success punch, Cropadile and eyelets, Sakrua Glaze pens and Fiskars threading punch.

Here is a SUPER quick Gift tag holder: I left the inside blank - it was so pretty with the snowflake stamps (stamped in silver ink) from the Wings of Joy stamp set that I couldn't put anything on top of it! lol! But I think I might just add a little gift card right in the middle and write a short little note on the back. I LOVE these papers and love the fact that they are double sided because then when you fold them like in this gift card - you have both sides in one project! I stamped the Santa image/sentiment from the Holiday Wonder stamp set - its such a great silhouette image :)

Card Ingredients:

Paper: December 20th Key Ingredients Kit

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Aquamarine

Stamps: Wings of Joy and Holiday Wonder from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Ribbon and candy dots are from the Dec 20th KI kit, cuttlebug embossing folder, spellbinders, EK success punch, Cropadile and eyelets, Sakrua Glaze pens and Fiskars threading punch.

And the last project is a super quick one as well using the bag from the Cricut - I love how easy it was to make and filled it up with candy canes for a quick and simple gift to our neighbors. I don't know what it is but I absolutely LOVE making pink holiday cards! I had so many snowflake chipboard pieces so I thought I would cover them in some red glitter and add it the card/bag for a quick embellishment. The sentiment is from the Home Sweet Home set:

Here is closer look at the card - I just love all of the pinks and reds (its a very Legally Blonde kinda card - love that movie! :) and the snowflake is super glittery!

And here is a closer look at the bag

Card Ingredients:

Paper: December 20th Key Ingredients Kit

Ink: Memento Lilac Posies

Stamps: Home Sweet Home stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Ribbon and candy dots are from the Dec 20th KI kit, Cricut cut bag, spellbinders, EK success punch, Sakrua Glaze pens, corner chomper and Fiskars threading punch.

After making these projects, I STILL have soooo much papers and ingredients leftover in the kit! And I love the fact that these papers can be used for holiday projects but are also holiday neutral so can easily be used for bdays, thankyous etc!

Check out all the amazinggggggg creations by these awesome Baker's from the Baker's Dozen! I know they have cooked up some beautiful holiday wonderness!!!!

Dawn Easton

Karen Motz

Laurie Schmidlin

Jackie Pedro

and of course - the amazing Taylor VanBruggen!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by here today!

And for all of you on the East Coast - I hope you are staying warm and cozy in the winter's storm!

Big hugs to all!!!

Sankari :)

Tech Talk Blog Hop

Happy Friday Everyone!

I am so happy to be part of the Tech Talk blog hop tonight where we are featuring the super cute and uber hip Tech Talk stamp set by Gina K. Senior DT & Illustrator: Melanie Muenchinger! I love the versatility of this stamp set - you can use it for so many different occasions! So I created four cards for four different occasions: friendship/thinking of you card, love/Valentine's Day card, Get Well soon card and a Thank You card:

---------Friendship Card----------

GinaK is now offering a CardKits that comes with a sketch and papers for the different stamp sets. This card is based on the sketch that Jessica created with THIS card for the Tech Talk stamp set. I CASED Jess's card with the cute little coffee cups and changed the sentiment. I love these sweet little mugs and they are the perfect size for paper piecing. I can't wait to give this to my coffee buddy :) the next time we meet up for a cup o' joe :). You can check out more about this card kit on this link on Jessica's blog or at Gina's store.

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Pure Luxury white cardstock, Rocket Red textured base and Cosmo Cricket (Early Sunrise)

Ink: Memento: Tuxedo Black and LadyBug Red

Stamps: Tech Talk by Melanie Meunchinger for Gina K.

Accessories: Sakura black glaze pen, spellbinders and dimensionals, corner chomper, and ribbon from stash

---------Valentine's Day Card--------

This is for my DH - who is a total computer nut! I used to joke with him that he was already married when we met......to his MAC computer! So I was so excited to make this Valentine's day card for him (I can't believe that I made a Vday card in December!!) I stamped the computer image in metallic silver paper and then stamped the sentiments including the cute little heart stamp :). I matted everything in black for a more "manly" look (lol!) - I love all the different sentiments that are possible all on one screen!

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Pure Luxury white cardstock, Silver Lining paper american crafts, bazzil basics and scrap stash,

Ink: Memento: Tuxedo Black and Aquamarine

Stamps: Tech Talk by Melanie Meunchinger for Gina K.

Accessories: Martha Stewart heart punch, Sakura black glaze pen, EK success punch, spellbinders and dimensionals

---------Get Well Soon Card--------

This next card is inspired by this awesome card by Melanie. I love how she created a little desk by splitting the image on a piece of DP. This one is for one of our uncles who is a little sick right now and so I was trying to make the card a bit more man-ish. The sentiment: "Sorry to hear you got a virus" is so perfect for the little computer screen (and I would love it if my computer were an olive green color!). The mug is paper pieced and the scalloped edging is from the DP.

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Pure Luxury white cardstock and Cosmo Cricket Early Sunrise

Ink: Memento: Tuxedo Pear Tart

Stamps: Tech Talk by Melanie Meunchinger for Gina K.

Accessories: ribbon from stash and copics

--------Thank You Card-------

This next card is for a dear blogging friend of mine who just sent me some amazing goodies in the mail! I was in such shock and awe and gratitude and was so happy that I could make her a card using sentiments that we use while blogging - like TTYS (talk to you soon)!. I stamped this cute little envelope in different colors and then created a little pocket for a tagged sentiment to go into - so that it looks like you are pulling out a message:

And When you pull it out - it reads: Thank You! ((((HUGS)))), iloveyou! and TTYS! I love that you can create a little message with all the different sentiments!. I punched an opening for the tags with half of a circle punch and then created the tags by matting them and then attaching little eyelets with ribbon tied to them that you can pull out:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: american crafts, bazzil basics and scrap stash, Pure Luxury white cardstock

Ink: Memento: Tuxedo Black, Cottage Ivy, Rosebud, LadyBug and Aquamarine

Stamps: Tech Talk by Melanie Meunchinger for Gina K.

Accessories:Stickles crystal, Martha Stewart mini scallop circle punch, Sakura black glaze pen, eyelets and cropadile, corner chomper and dimensionals

I had a total blast playing along with this super cute stamp set and check out these amazing artistes for more inspiration with the Tech Talk stamp set tonight:

Melanie Muenchinger {Illustrator}

Jessica Fick

Donna Baker

Lee Murphy

Lynn Mercurio

Nina Brackett

Theresa Momber

Melissa Shultz {CSS Designer}

Peggy Wainman {CSS Designer}

Tina Gilliland {Guest Designer}

Karen Knegten {Guest Designer}

The Tech Talk discussion on the StampTV Idea Center is a valuable resource filled with tips, sample projects, and tutorials. Melanie's tip sheet, free PDF template as well as the Card Kit is available in the discussion as well.

If you haven't already, stop by GinaK's blog today to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win today's featured stamp set or any other stamp set valued at $23.95 of your choice!

Thanks so much for stopping by tonight!

Hope the start to your weekend is a beautiful one!!!

And all of those of you on the East Coast - stay safe in the snowstorm!

Big hugs to all!

Sankari :)

TESC #94 - A housewarming card and scrapbook page :)

Good Morning Everyone,

I don't know if you are feeling the holiday crunch - but things have definitely been busy in our household and I feel like a chicken running around, forgetting her lists of things to do and then adding more things on the list. I was in some major need of some stamp therapy last night and so I was so grateful that I had a chance to sit down at my craft corner and make some special things for my loved ones.

I used Taylor's awesome sketch #94 for these projects. I loved the simplicity of this sketch and found that it was perfect for both a card and a scrapbook page.

I made this scrapbook page for my children. Some of you might know that this last week has been a rough one for our family - we have been dealing with some issues that my son has been having to deal with and I wanted to make something for them, so I made a little 6x6 scrapbook page that I loved to display in our calendar stand. I absolutely LOVE this stand - and they love to see themselves displayed at the house too :)

I got a little weepy making this page - I absolutely love love love this picture of my kids (and it always melts my heart when they are giving each other hugs and kisses and doing special things for each other - such a nice change from sibling rivalry!).

I love this moment that I captured of them laughing together at a joke. And I love the quote from Helen Keller which is in the Discover Your Wings stamp set that simply describes this moment perfectly: " The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

I wanted to write to them something special - It is hard to see them growing up and knowing that I can't always protect them. As they grow up - its almost like each day - I am slowly letting go and watching them learn to sail by themselves... and its both heartbreaking and heart fulfilling... sigh...

Here is what I wrote for them on the page - I hope you don't mind me sharing :)

To the dearest loves of my heart: "As I felt you grow inside, my heart was filled with gratitude and wonder, you both are the sweetest blessings, the apples of my eye. You are what makes me try to be the best mom I can be. Whether near or far, I am always with you - always loving you - always praying for you - always cheering you on. I feel our hearts are one. Always know that I am here - loving you!"

Page Ingredients:
Paper: MME (Oooh La La) and Cosmo Cricket, Girl Friday
Ink: Memento Black
Stamps: Discover Your Wings Stamp set from Taylored Expressions
Accessories: corner rounder, flowers from Making Memories, bling and ribbon from stash, Sakura yellow gel pen, calendar stand and EK success punch

It always amazes me how therapeutic it is to stamp and create something - especially when it is for those whom you love! I loved showing them this page this morning and I love displaying it in our house. I think that's one of my most favorite features of this calendar stand - that it can display your pages and they don't have to hide away in a book somewhere on the shelves :) Also, my kids LOVE pages about them! I think I want to paint the stand and decorate it up - but I am still filling it up right now - so I think I am going to wait till its all done and I can figure out what I want for a color scheme!

This next project is a card that I made using the Sweet Occasions stamp set that was Jami's orginal idea! My dear friends are having a housewarming party this weekend and I wanted to give them something special. I love that this stamp set has so many multiple uses stamp set - it makes it so versatile! LOVE that!!! I used the congratulations stamp set with the cute house on it and then underneath I used the sentiment: on your sweet new home - and I LOVED that it fit perfectly underneath the house image!

And my favorite part of the card was creating a little patterned paper out of the stamps in this set - like this mini cupcake or mini sundae set! So cute! I loved coloring them in!

And it was so much fun to decorate and color this house - I added a little sun for a bit of whimsy :)

Card Ingredients:
Paper: MME buttercream and snow white choice cardstock from Taylored Expressions
Stamps: Sweet Occasions stamp set from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Memento Brown
Accessories: Corner rounder, sponger, threading punch from Fiskars, dimensionals, ribbon from stash and tombow, Martha punch, sakura gel pens.

I loved making these projects and feel so grateful for my family and my friends - both IRL and in blogland - you guys have no idea how much you mean to me - your support, love and sweetness always makes me feel not alone!

Thank you for all of your sweet words! And thank you so much for letting me share this with you today!

Sending each of lots of sunshine!!!

Hugs!

Sankari :)