Taylored Expressions: November Sneak Peeks: 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.

HI Everyone, 

Today we are kicking off the November Sneak Peeks from Taylored Expressions -Woohoo! Taylor will be releasing a set of 4 miniature leaf dies (Mini Leaves Taylored Die) designed by Nancy McKinneythat have impressed veins in them for more detail and are seriously the perfect set of leaves for everything from fall cards to spring cards to adding a little leaf accent with your flower embellishment - all around awesomeness! And today we are also showing samples from the Labels of Love II stamp set that will be available on Thursday (release day!) which follows up with the popular Labels of Love stamp set - both of which fit perfectly with the Spellbinders: Ribbon Tags Trio 3 dies! This stamp set is also part of the Taylored Expressions Giving Tree program where every quarter a portion of the sales of a different stamp set go towards a different charity or organization. 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. 

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.

By Embrace we mean to welcome, to encircle with our arms.
By Compassion we mean to love and touch others, as Christ loved us.
By Hope we mean providing encouragement and resources for a new start.
By Healing we mean being restored in body, mind, and spirit through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
By Changed Life we mean going in a new direction and to realize our God-given purpose.
By Home we mean having the opportunity to earn a living, secure housing, and be a healthy family again.

The Union Rescue Mission (URM) was founded in 1891 and is one of the largest missions of its kind in America--bringing help and hope to men, women, and children experiencing homelessness in Downtown Los Angeles. Taylor's husband, Jon, served at the Union Rescue Mission when they lived in California and saw first hand the impact it had on the lives of the homeless.  Visit the Union Rescue Mission website at http://urm.org/

This Labels of Love II stamp set has an amazing array of different sentiments - I loved the Happy Hannukkah  sentiment and created a little menorah image to go with it. I created the menorah with triangle for the base and added the candles by cutting strips of paper and coloring them with copics (inspired by this card that I saw on the web). The flames are little hearts that have been punched out and then cut in half - I added a little bit of stickles on alternating candles and then finished it with a ribbon and pennant from the pennant border die from Taylored Expressions. I stamped the sentiment in blue and weaved my ribbon through the label die and finished it off with a pin. I love this ribbon - I think I got it almost 2 years ago and was so happy to use it today (see, it is good to stash things away - you never know when you might need it! :)

I loved creating a card out of my scrap papers and can't wait to make more Happy Hannukkah cards for my friends to give out this year (Dec. 20-28th!) And I can't wait to see all the creations using all of the different labels of love from the awesome DT:

• • Charmaine Ikach
  • Danielle Lounds
  • Jen Shults
  • Jodi Collins
  • Karen Giron
  • Melissa Sauls
  • Melody Rupple
  • Regina Mangum
  • Sankari Wegman
  • Taylor VanBruggen
  • Tori Wild
  • Wanda Guess

Thanks so much for stopping by today - please stop by tomorrow for more release peeks!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

JustRite stamps: Fleur De Lis Labels Twenty!

Hi Everyone,

Today is the last day of hops showing samples from the newest JustRite release! I absolutely love this stamp set - seriously beautiful - it is called Fleur De Lis Labels Twenty and it coordinates perfectly with the Labels Twenty nestabilities from Stellbinders. I love the the different frames and the patterns on them - they are instantly awesome frames - just add ink! The smallest frame has a tag in it for sentiment labels and all of the sentiments are so sweet - esp the fonts and the sizes are perfectly cute and lovely. I used the DP from Timeless Seasons (EP) and stamped the circle frame in Olive (Chalk) ink - the rose was rolled from DP using a technique from Joanne Basile and I added this to the center of the frame. I love this sentiment's font size and thought it was perfect to put the word "love" right at the bottom of the frame and then stamped some butterflies to fly around the card that I later cut out and matted onto a MS butterfly. I added some pennants to the top of the card and wrapped some twine around the card instead of ribbon. I cut out the leaves using Foliage dies and the pennants were cut using the Banner Basics Three dies. 

I absolutely loved making this card - I love  the versatility of the frames and the sweet little butterflies are so cute to stamp:

Before we start the November Release,  JustRite would like to say thank you to all of our loyal blog and facebook fans!!  JustRite appreciates each and everyone who visits and reads our blog posts.  As their way of saying thank you the blog team has an exclusive coupon code for our blog readers and facebook fans. Simply use this code JRBLOGTEAM (use all CAPS) during check out to receive 20% off your entire order  including sale items.  Coupon Code expires October 31st and can not be combined with any other Coupon Code offers.  

Please check out all the awesome creations using this beautiful stamp set!

JustRite Inspiration

Becca Feeken 

Kellie Fortin 

Heidi Blankenship

Sankari Wegman

Angela Barkhouse

Michele Kovack 

Eva Dobilas

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

JustRite Stamps: Topsy Turvey Cakes!

HI everyone!

Today is the third day of peeks from the JustRite DT showing all of the new November release of stamps from JustRite stampers - and we are showing creations from the newest birthday stamp set called Topsy Turvy Cakes, which features three different cakes with the coolest designs, beautiful sentiments a lovely cupcake and embellishments. I loved this pattern on this cake and was initially going to make a birthday tag - but I just kept going and my tag turned into a card (lol!). I stamped and cut the cut out with my wonky nesties and then adhered it onto a tag punch from CM and then onto a larger manilla tag. The cake was stamped again and colored in with copics  and cut it out and paper pieced it over the stamped image. I embellished with stickles and liquid pearls (and I learned again that its good to be patient and let your stickles and liquid pearls dry - because the first time I didn't do that and ended up with a glittery pearly mess!). I wasn't sure which color palette to go with for the cake, but then thought of a red velvet chocolate cake (YUM!) and so went with a burgandy/brown combo. I aded a line of pearls to the side and finished the tag with a grommet and tied some ribbon from the center of it. I used all my scrap paper for this card - and it felt good to use punch out a border and use papers from scrap pieces from even a year ago! I love that all of the JustRite stamps coordinate with Spellbinders nestabilites - so that it is the perfect dimension to cut them out of the oval shapes, the wonky shapes etc - love that!

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Scraps of DP from the scrap pile :)

Stamps:Topsy Turvy Cakes from JustRite Stampers

INks: Memento Rich Cocao and Berrylicious Chalk inks and copics

Accessories: pearls, liquid pearls, stickles, tag punch from CM, manilla tags, crimper, Spellbinders, sponger, grommet and ribbon

Before we start the November Release,  JustRite would like to say thank you to all of our loyal blog and facebook fans!!  JustRite appreciates each and everyone who visits and reads our blog posts.  As their way of saying thank you the blog team has an exclusive coupon code for our blog readers and facebook fans. Simply use this code JRBLOGTEAM (use all CAPS) during check out to receive 20% off your entire order  including sale items.  Coupon Code expires October 31st and can not be combined with any other Coupon Code offers.  

I loved creating this card - can't wait to color in more of these fun cakes! ANd I can't wait to see all of the rest of the creations from the design team! Please hop along with me and check them out:

JustRite InspirationBecca Feeken 
Sharon Harnist 
Sankari Wegman
Kazan Clark
Kellie Fortin 
Angela Barkhouse
Eva Dobilas
Kathy Jones 
Michele Kovack
Barb Schram

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Please stop by tomorrow for one more fun peek :)

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

JustRite Stamps: Musical Notes Label Twenty

HI everyone!




The November release from JustRite is so lovely and one of the sets being released is called Musical Notes (Label Twenty) which coordinates perfectly with the Spellbinder's Labels Twenty Nestabilities. This stamp set has so many lovely frames and beautiful sentiments - and I love the way they are designed are perfect for a vintage look or a modern twist! I used the Victorian Garden papers from Echo Park because of their beautiful notesheet and paired up the pastel colors with some black.


I created a little frame with the wonky nesties and then crimped and added some white chalk ink to distress it a little and then laid it over a vellum paper. I used the musical note sheet as a diagonal element in the card and then stamped the sentiment: "Music washes awayf rom my soul the dust of everyday life" (I LOVE that!!!)


The sentiment was stamped in black over a green stamped frame and then I cut it out and paired it with some DP and black paper that I crimped. I added a chipboard musical note from Maya Road and distressed it a bit and finished it with some stickles and a little bow :) I love how this turned out - and that sentiment is so inspiring! I can't tell you how many times I have come home from a long day at work and just turned up the music! It's amazing how quickly my mood changes and I get charged up again! While I was making this card, I was listening to all of my favorite 90's songs - it was so much fun to make this card and use this beautiful stamp set!

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Echo Park (Victorian Garden)

Stamps: Musical Notes Label Twenty from JustRite Stampers

INks: Bamboo Leaves from Memento and Tuxedo Black

Accessories: big bling from Want2Scrap, liquid pearls, musical note chipboard from MayaRoad, ribbon, EK success scallop punch, vellum paper, nesties.

Before we start the November Release,  JustRite  would like to say thank you to all of our loyal blog and facebook fans!!  JustRite appreciates each and everyone who visits and reads our blog posts.  As their way of saying thank you the blog team has an exclusive coupon code for our blog readers and facebook fans. Simply use this code JRBLOGTEAM (use all CAPS) during check out to receive 20% off your entire order  including sale items.  Coupon Code expires October 31st and can not be combined with any other Coupon Code offers.  

I can't wait to see what the lovely design team has created with this awesome stamp set - please hop over with me and check them out!!

JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken 
Debbie Olson 
Heidi Blankenship 
Kellie Fortin 
Michele Kovack 
Sankari Wegman
Angela Barkhouse
Barb Schram

Thanks so much for stopping by today - please stop by tomorrow for day 3 of the JustRite November release party! 

Big hugs,

Sankari

Taylored Expressions: Holiday Hoopla

HI Everyone!

Taylored Expressions is hosting a Holiday Hoopla today and I'm excited to be a part of it. You should have arrived here from the awesomest blog of Jodi Collins.  If you didn't (or if you get lost along the way) you can head back to the beginning at Taylor's blog for the full list of participants. There are 22 designers showcasing Christmas/Winter/Holiday stamps sets from TE with samples that include all sorts of projects from cards to gifts and beyond!  We want to inspire you to get your holiday crafting and card making into high gear!  Be sure to stick with me all the way to the end of the post to get a coupon code for 25% off holiday stamp sets at Taylored Expressions! 

The set I'm showcasing is Sparkle and Cheer  and I love it because it is so easy and quick to stamp and create! The images are solid so all you have to do is stamp the image and you are done - makes it really easy to create more than one card - perfect for the holidays!!
Here is a picture of the Sparkle and Cheer Stamp set:

And here are my samples using this set:

 Here is a picture of the individual card - I wanted to create a warm white/cream card - so I stamped the reindeer onto the buttercream cardstock and then sponged around it - and then created a trim using some lace with the sentiment: Happy Holidays. I finished by creating layered snowflakes using two Martha Stewart punches and the Winter Wonderland snowflake dies:

Creating for this hop caused to me to go back and look at some of my previous creations and I wanted to share one of those with you today too.  I LOVE the Hangin' Out at the North Pole stamp set - seriously perfect for the holidays and filled to the brim with SOOO many awesome stamp sets!!! Here is what this stamp set looks like:

And here is a card that I made with it - love those stockings :) - more details here - and you can check out the whole gallery of this wonderful stamp set HERE

Are you getting in the mood to stamp?  Be sure to check out Taylor's 12 Days of A Handmade Christmas Video Series for lots of easy gift ideas. I especially love ....

Now, who loves a SALE?  Use Coupon Code HOOPLA2011 to get 25% off the following holiday stamp sets(released in 2009 and 2010) at Taylored Expressions now through November 2:

Christmas Blessings, Enjoy!, From the Heart, Hangin' Out - At the North Pole, Holiday Wonder, Home Sweet Home, Keeping Tabs, Merry Little Cocktail, Penguin Pals, Season's Sweetings, Sparkle & Cheer,Tag Treats, Tag You're It, Take Note - Holidays, Wings of Joy, and Winter Wonderland.

The coupon code is case sensitive. Follow these instructions to apply the discount to your order:

1. Add the desired stamp sets from the above list to your shopping cart.

2. Insert the coupon code into the Promotional Code box.

3. Click the Update Cart button.  Your discount should now be applied.

4. Proceed to checkout to finalize and submit your order.

I hope that you are enjoying this hop! It's making me want to get a hot cup of cocoa and start stamping!!!
Next on the hop is the awesomeest ever BEATE!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari :)

Blast From the Past Blog Hop #16: Happy Halloween!

Hi Everyone!


Every month Taylored Expressions hosts a customer based blog hop called "Blast from the Past" - where all TE fans can play along with previously released stamp sets - and this month we have the option of a double challenge - to use both the given sketch and/or use the theme of Trick or Sweet! I decided for today's project to try to use both challenges -  but I hang my head in shame for not following my own sketch - LOL!

I used one of my favorite stamp sets: Frightful Night and stamped the tree and sponged around it and cut it out with the oval die - and then popped up the house on top of the scene and then added some green glitter to the beaded oval die and cut out a little moon to the top of trees. I used some papers from the Spooky Project Pantry from Taylored Expressions for the card base and to cut out some spooky pennants using the Pennant Border die from Taylored Expressions for the top of the card - I finished it off with a ribbon on the side and a small line of liquid pearls on the top edge:

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Echo Park - Apothecary Emporium and cardstock from the Spooky Project Pnatry
Stamps: Frightful Night from Taylored Expressions along with the sentiment from: Trick or Sweet from Taylored Expressions
Inks: Memento Inks: Black Tuxedo, Cantaloupe and copics
Accessories: Oval/Beaded Oval nesties and flag label from Spellbinders, Pennant Border from Taylored Expressions, green glittter from Martha Stewart and corner chomper

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please check out all of these wonderful designers who are hopping along today - and check out more details on Taylor's Blog for how you can join in the fun on the next hop (one random hopper who joins in on the fun will receive a free Taylored Expressions stamp set of their choice and another hopper's card will be featured in the monthly newsletter!) !

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari :)

Mojo Monday #211 - Joy for the Journey

Hi Everyone!

Hope your monday is off to a good start! This morning, I woke up early and decided to kick start my monday morning with a little mojo inspiration from Julee's awesome sketch from the MojoMonday Sketch Challenge - using this week's MojoSketch #211. I used the sweet sentiment: "Joy for the Journey" from the 4x3 stamp set Joy for the Journey stamp set (set of 6 stamps) along with the smallest flower from the Many Blessings stamp set.

I used some of my favorite papers from KaiserCraft - I have been secretly hoarding this collection and this morning decided I really need to start actually crafting with my favorite papers :) The photo corner was created with a Spellbinder's corner die and then I punched out some hearts for the bottom part of the sketch. I don't know why I went a bit twine crazy - but it was fun to loop some thread around the sentiment a couple of times - love how everything turned out - and love that I got some stamping time in before the kids went off to school! It was so nice to enjoy some craft time in the early morning - and especially awesome to play along with this week's sketch!

Card Ingredients:
Paper: KaiserKraft and PTI Aquamist
Stamps: Many Blessings  (flower) and Joy for the Journey (sentiment) from Verve Stamps
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: EK success border punch, heart punches from MS, dimensionals, liquid pearls, Spellbinders, copics, eyelets and twine

I am hoping that the rest of October is less busy and crazy then the first half! Hard to believe how fast this year is flying by!
Hope your monday is wonderful!
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Big hugs,
Sankari :)

Happy Holidays!

Hi Everyone,

This week has been so full of activity, drama and general craziness - hoping that everything settles down a bit - I haven't had a moment to craft - I was so happy that last night I had a minute to just be alone in my craft corner after a week of crazy activity! I haven't had a chance to stamp with the beautiful Peaceful Poinsettias stamp set from Taylored Expressions - and so I happy to pull it out and use the coordinating Poinsettia Dies (set of 5) that coordinate with this stamp set.

I tried to keep the design very simple so that this card could be duplicated for the holidays. I still had some paper left over from the Angel Kisses Card Kit and so I used some of the papers and mixed up the greens a bit - I die cut the poinsettia flowers using the dies and layering them up with dimensionals and then used a Spellbinders corner die for the leaves and some distressed stickles to the center flower along with a button and twine. I really love this beautiful sentiment - so perfect for wishing a happy holidays and happy new year all in one:



Card Ingredients:
Paper: Eskimo Kisses from the 
Stamps: Peaceful Poinsettias from Taylored Expressions
Inks: Bamboo Leaves and Ladybug Red
Accessories:Poinsettia Dies (set of 5) from Taylored Expressions, ribbon from American Craft, liquid pearls (white opal), Spellbinders and button/twine from scrap

There are so many possibilities with these dies and coordinating stamp set - you can stamp and die cut it out (both open and closed poinsettia stamps for coloring in or solid stamping), or just layer the die cuts out of patterned paper - really excited to try some more combinations!

Hope your weekend is going well!
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Ciao for now :)
Sankari

Operation Julie's Smile

Hi Everyone,

I am so glad that you joined us on this amazing blog hop for Operation Julie's Smile. If you came here from the super talented Tami Mayberry's blog, then you are in the right spot. If not, you may want to start from the beginning at the Sweet Stamp Shop's blog and take your time. You have all weekend to hop with us and win prizes!

The creative blogging community is coming together this weekend to help one of our friends, Julie Ranae.  You may know her as the Design Team Coordinator for many wonderful companies from bakers twine, die cuts, rubber stamps and more.  Last summer, Julie asked me to be a Guest Designer for the PlayDate Cafe and I was so excited to be part of this fun crafty challenge and as I chatted back and forth with Julie about the challenge, I was so charmed by her sweetness, kindness and positivity - she is just one of the sweetest people. 

What many people don’t know about Julie Ranae is that she has had some pretty major dental surgeries in her lifetime due to medication she had to take as a child.  It was in her plans to think about having all of her teeth  replaced at some point in the next 5 years, a decision that was pretty easy to plan out.  But then it happened…she chipped her front teeth on a weekend a month ago. The dentist told her there was no way to save them and that it was his recommendation that she give in and have them all her teeth removed soon, but for that day, they needed to get her front teeth done so her gums could begin to heal. He said he would 'work out payments with her to have ALL this work done...but when she called to make her appt for the first step of impressions, they told her the amount of money that was needed and that the 'payments' applied only to the two teeth that were extracted that day. Her husband Paul was with her and that too, was his understanding as well. So this is how she has found herself in this situation… Needing at least $4000 to get started and another $3000 to finish the process…a total of $7000. 

Nicole Rixon, owner of Sweet Stamp Shop put together this benefit after finding out about this situation and before Julie Ranae knew it, it took flight! Because Julie is an event organizer by trade, she has taken on the job of organizing all of the blogs in this hop as her way of ‘working overtime’ for what she needs, the same as if she were able to work overtime at an outside job to pay for the work to be done. It is the goal of all of these generous friends and sponsors to help make this situation more do-able for our friend so that she can share a brand new smile with all of us soon.

If there is anything you can do to help with a financial donation, there is a donation button ready for you to click.  Any amount is appreciated and ALL DONATIONS will be eligible for prizes from our sponsor pool of over $2500. 


Prizes from all of the wonderful sponsors from today's hop are available in two ways:

• from Blog comments that are left on all of the people on today's blog hop
• from the PayPal Donation list

For today's post, I wanted to create a special card for dear Julie - I know that these past few months have been rough for her and wanted to send her some sunshine. I used this sweet image from Unity Stamps: Silver Lining (Bella Blvd). I stamped the clouds and created a silver lining with my liquid pearls which I also used on the frame for the sentiment with my nesties. I popped up a side panel that I wrapped around with twine and then slipped some red hearts in between the twine.

Card Ingredients:
Paper: Aunthentique Blissful
Stamps: Unity Stamps: Silver Lining (Bella Blvd)
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Rich Cocoa ink
Accessories: May Arts twine, ribbon from stash, mini heart puncher, EK success border punch, dimensionals, Spellbinders, liquid pearls, red button from stash and red bling Kaiser

Julie is such a beautiful individual, and I hope that this blog hop will help her smile bright with full confidence! I know that Julie has been feeling shy and vulnerable to share this with everyone and I hope she knows that she is very much loved and appreciated by all those around her. I hope you have enjoyed your stop here on the hop! The next stop is at Emily Lamham's wonderful blog.

Make sure you leave a comment here before you go so that you can have a chance at the amazing prizes up for grabs and if you can, please make a donation so we can help bring back a new smile for our friend.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
hugs,
Sankari