Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrating You

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Mitchell and here’s what I did with it!

 

I've had this masking stencil and the diagonal stitch square that fit inside in my not-yet-used stash for a while.  I recently got the butterflies. (All from Taylored Expressions.) I was thrilled when I realized all of them could come out to play with this sketch!

I love the "rough" look of the butterflies - the outline stamp is deliberately missing chunks, the filler stamp doesn't quite line up and they are kind of chunky looking.  It's such a different look from many other butterfly stamps. There are many other butterflies in the set -you can see some of them from the die cuts I used to decorate my photo. I already had way too many butterfly stamps/dies (along with leaf and snowflake stamps/dies) but these cuties managed to find a home in my stash!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Social Butterflies and coordinating dies

Dies: Taylored Expressions Diagonal Stitch Square Stacklets

Ink: Taylored Expressions Candy Corn, Lemon Meringue, Confetti Cake

Other: Taylored Expressions Scalloped Squares Masking Stencils

Color Hues: The First Challenge!

There's a new challenge out there. It's called Color Hues. The idea is they give colors and you can use any hues of those colors.  The design team is amazing - and it's going to be popular because the gallery has a huge response.  It's the last day of the first challenge and I had to play along (because someday I'll be reminiscing about being part of the first!)

I adore unique sentiments and fonts. The "happy birthday" is brand new from Taylored Expressions. I love the way the "happy" has a dimensional look.  It also stacks well simply by moving the paper 1" for each new "happy".  The birthday is from one of their Building Block sets that has a variety of add-on words and one giant die that cuts them all at once. 

This is a funny post.  I don't love yellow yet I went pretty much straight yellow for this challenge (vs. a golden yellow which I do like).  I've often wondered about people's preferences since I know other people who pick yellow as their favorite.  I also don't love purple, but while I had the new "happy" stamp out, I decided it would be fun for a workmate whose birthday is today and she does love purple.

I had a busy day yesterday so I had to take these photos earlier than usual when the natural light was flat.  You have to look closely but there's confetti embossing sprinkling down under the banners.  Also that top banner isn't really black, it's eggplant!

Congrats to Color Hues on their first challenge - I'm looking forward to many more!

SUPPLY LIST

Green/Yellow

Stamps: Taylored Expressions On the Block - Happy, Building Blocks - Happy Additions, Fall Florals

Dies: Taylored Expressions Building Blocks and Fall Florals

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Peapod and Pineapple

Ink: Taylored Expressions Peapod, Granny Apple Green, Pineapple, Lemon Meringue

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream Gems

Purple

Stamps: Taylored Expressions On the Block - Happy, Building Blocks - Happy Additions

Dies: Taylored Expressions Building Blocks, Skinny Mini Party Borders

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Jelly Donut, Lavender Glaze, Eggplant

Ink: Taylored Expressions Jelly Donut, Lavender Glaze, Eggplant

Other: Taylored Expressions Sprinkles Embossing Folder, Simon Says Stamp Orchid sequins

CAS Christmas Nativity: Blessed Christmas

I can't pass up a Christian Christmas challenge so I knew I would play along with the CAS Christmas Nativity Challenge. I have a lot of options in my stash but in keeping with the CAS part of the challenge, I pulled out the Taylored Expressions Nativity Cutting Plate so I would get lots of great detail with just one die.

Usually my nativity cards are elegant and subtle, but I didn't want to do subtle today - I wanted bright and bold. Temperatures above 90 make me feel tropical. When I thought of the Nativity Cutting Plate and saw that it included palm trees, I was certain I was going with bright colors.   I got the colors all sponged on and I decided not to do any of reactive techniques that Distress Oxides are so good at (splotches of water, etc.) because I loved the gradient of solid color. 

Thank you to the CAS Christmas Challenge for inspiring me to create this Nativity card.

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Taylored Expressions The Very Best Gift
Dies: Taylored Expressions Nativity Cutting Plate
Ink: Distress Oxide Mustard Seed, Pickled Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans

Over It

My poor son sat on my sofa yesterday and declared he was "over it".  Covid (which BTW he had in January before it was a thing along with many, many other college kids), its impact on his on his college career, a school-owned apartment that is flooding but there are so few maintenance men working that it's been three times without being fixed, nor is anybody in housing to get him into a new apartment, and a car breakdown that has potential to be very expensive. "Adulting" is not going well for him.  He moved out of the apartment into a friend's house near our home (his school is 90 miles north). He emailed the school strongly recommending that they have someone check on the apartment daily until its fixed.  It will be interesting.

Anyway...I recently saw a post by Gayatri using unique and wonderful rainbow colors and this same die set and it got me thinking that I could pull out some masculine colors and do a very different sort of rainbow.


I had to use "over it" for the sentiment.  These letters are from Sizzix and they had just the right look.  I added some rain by TE in the background.

Edited: the car cost $630, the school is claiming they have their top people fixing the flooding but they aren't moving him, but the impact of a pandemic on his final year of school has yet to be seen.

SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Taylored Expression Over the Rainbow and Rainbow Cloud Duo, Sizzix Alphanumeric Cut-Out Lower
Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Poblano Pepper, Sprinkles, Dijon, Honey, Sea Salt, Mushroom
Other: Taylored Expressions Raindrops Embossing Folder, Studio Katia Raindrops

Addicted to CAS: Sunshine & Rainbows

I am so loving the many rainbow cards I'm seeing on blogs and Instagram - I think we are all trying to do our part to brighten somebody's day with a card and rainbows are perfect for that!  Addicted to CAS has a rainbow challenge right now and I got the Taylored Expressions Over the Rainbow kit before it was sold out (the components are going to be sold separately soon) - so I'm definitely playing with rainbows. I posted a rainbow card yesterday doing using the stencil from the kit - today I'm using the rainbow dies and one of the arched sentiments.


I'm not going to have a lot of cardmaking time this weekend which usually would make me sad.  But my oldest son came home for the weekend - my youngest has been home with college shut-downs.  So we are all here. It's supposed to be a cloudy, stormy day and it's not like much is open - but my family loves games! So my oldest brought Catan to teach us, but I'm sure there will also be classics like Sorry, Sequence, and Scrabble and a deck of cards will probably come out too.  It's going to be a great weekend!
Sending sunshine and rainbows to all of you!
SUPPLY LIST
Taylored Expressions Somewhere Over the Rainbow Kit
Other stamps: TE Star Fall Background
Other dies: TE Build a Scene-Rolling Clouds
Cardstock: TE Confetti Cake, Grape Jelly, Lemon Meringue, Candy Corn, Watermelon
Ink: TE Sugar Cube, Oreo, Sprinkles
Other: Heat & Stick Powder, Glitter

The Paper Players: Shine Bright

I don't normally order kits.  I usually like part of them and not other parts so kits aren't always worth it for me.  But the instant I saw the Somewhere Over the Rainbow kit by Taylored Expressions and especially the inspiration from their design team, I had it ordered and on my way to me before it was gone. (FYI - it is gone now, but Taylor has announced they will soon be selling the individual parts.)  For today's card I used the stencils, the stamps and the die cut clouds.  I have another card I'll post in the next few days when I know that the recipient has received it that includes the dies and a different set of stamps.


Besides the fabulous stamps and dies, the kit includes colorful envelopes (I mailed this card in bright orange) and envelope seals that coordinate with the rainbow.  This one went to my niece who is an early teen.  She will love the bright colors starting with the envelope and seal, the funky little patterns on the rainbow and I used a sprinkling of bling just for her.
I was inspired by the sketch at The Paper Players. The smaller inside panel made me think of letting the rainbow go off the edge. Thank you to TPP for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST Taylored Expressions Somewhere Over the Rainbow kit (sold out, but the components will eventually be sold individually)
Other dies: TE Mini Strips - Assymetrical
Cardstock: TE Oreo and Lemon Meringue
Ink: TE Oreo, Guava, Candy Corn, Lemon Meringue, Lime Zest, Salt Water Taffy (edges of the clous)
Other: TE Diagonal Stripe embossing folder, Pretty Pink Posh Marigold and Sparkling Clear Gems

Less is More with Christmas Throwdown Silhouettes

First I saw the challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown: Silhouettes.  I have collected so many different Christian silhouettes from Taylored Expressions - I love them all so had to play along.  I had a silhouette cut in a traditional black, then I started seeing white and cream cards in my feed - that's the current challenge at Less is More.  That wouldn't be a go-to combo for me, but the elegance of the design team cards and the gallery inspired me.


These border dies made it such an easy card.  The only extra step that I took was embossing the bottom strip hoping it would look like sand.  Otherwise, it was cut and adhere!  It was a truly awful card to photograph.  To see the dimension, I needed light - but light made my gems look dark.  In regular light those gems are exactly the color of the Buttercream cardstock (which is amusing given that even though they are from an entirely different company, they are also called Buttercream!)

Thanks to both challenges for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Simple Strips - Christmas
Dies: Taylored Expressions Follow the Star, Build a Scene - Snow Drifts
Cardstock: White and TE Buttercream
Other: TE Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder, Stampin' Up Subtles Embossing Folder, Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream gems

Tic Tac Hippity Hop

I had a Taylored Expressions set from last year picked out for an Easter card for one of my college-aged sons.  It's not necessarily an Easter set although it does have bunnies - but I added a few Easter eggs and I'll use an Easter-focused inside sentiment.  I think it turned out just quirky enough that my son will tolerate the fact that it's cute.


I had the set out but I was a little unsure how to do the card - especially with the requirement of quirky, not cutesy.  I've been oblivious to a fun challenge out there, but now that it has caught my eye I'll be playing along more often. I had a wonderful timing scrolling through their past challenges including the inspiration from an amazing design team. Here's this week's Tic Tac Toe Challenge.

I saw the bunny option.  I couldn't go sideways because that would require flowers, but when I looked down the column, I saw stencil and yellow. I thought bright yellow ink and a fun stencil would also help to make it quirky.

Whichever son gets this card will definitely roll their eyes but they will still know I was thinking of them!

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Hip Hop Bunny
Dies: Taylored Expressions Hip Hop Bunny, Little Bits Easter Confetti (retired)
Ink: Taylored Expressions Potato Chip and Lemon Meringue
Cardstock: Lemon Meringue, Confetti Cake, Granny Smith, Candy Corn
Stencil: Confetti Toss

The Card Concept: 'Tis the Season

I am down to needing three more Christmas cards. The inspiration at The Card Concept was exactly what I needed for one of them.

I have a workmate who is retiring very soon so she just bought a "farm".  (I guess for her retirement doesn't mean being lazy!) I even heard her on the phone last week buying a tractor!!  You have to understand - I work with accountants and auditors, so this farm thing is unique.  I don't know if she has a little red truck, but the inspiration this graphic gave me was just right for her card.


This card is somewhere between their definition of CAS and of Clean and Layered.  I'd call it CAS but it doesn't have one main image and it's not particularly easy to recreate due to the fiddly little pieces.  So I guess it's probably Clean and Layered. Interestingly, I would have said I was CAS cardmaker until years ago when I read the definitions at The Card Concept, I realized I was totally a Clean and Layered person!!
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Simply Stamped - Christmas Tree (the sentiment) and Buffalo Plaid Background
Dies: Taylored Expressions Transportation (retired) and all of the following Little Bits: 'Tis the Season (the tree), Holiday Bloomers, Bows, Snowflake Confetti
Cardstock: Cherry Pop, Sweet Basil, Oreo, Sugar Cube

Taylored Expressions Release: The Very Best Gift and a Vintage Sled

It's release day at Taylored Expressions.  Everything you have seen this week is not available.  I'll keep this post short so you can go shopping but be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

This release includes a clear stamp set in the Clearly Crafty line named The Very Best Gift.

I...LOVE...THIS....SET!!!

Let me show you how much I love this set - - - six cards!!!


Now let's look at each one.  For all of them, I used the new background Boughs & Berries. It's a wonderfully delicate stamp and I did it tone-on-tone just as a simple accent.  I used three different colors for the gift on the manger.  This one is Pineapple.  On each of these, first I die-cut the present (without stamping) and I used my Blender Brushes to brush the same color ink in from the edges to give it a little dimension.  Finally I white-embossed the gift, manger, two sentiments and the star.


The next card is done in Gumball.  I used a different sentiment inside the gift.

The last one is done in Spearmint.  This bigger stamp on the inside shows you how the set got its name.  BTW - there is also a version of this sentiment in reverse as a solid stamp - so you could do this on white cardstock and add the color with the sentiment block.  

This is a wonderful set!!

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling because I have one more card that might even be my favorite!!

SUPPLY LIST


There are a large number of new die sets in this release; I've only shown you a few this week.  But I couldn't let release week go by without showing you Vintage Sled. 

I love the detail in this sled.  I layered up the Toffee pieces three times to add some dimension.  Then I decorated it with another new die set - Winter Greens.  The Little Bits - Snowflake Confetti and the Noel were released previously.  (FYI - "Noel" comes with the two little dots over the "e" for a traditional spelling, but I did not notice until I was writing this post that I never added the two little dots.)

 

This sled will definitely get more attention from me.  I definitely want to do it in classic Christmas colors.  Or with some of the Christmas Little Bits in my collection - like the ice skates.  Or I'm even thinking it would be fun with any of the wonderful Christmas critters in the TE store!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Have fun shopping and an early Merry Christmas to you!!

SUPPLY LIST

Taylored Expressions Day 3: Rejoice and Adore

It's day 3 of sneak peeks for the October release from Taylored Expressions and today it's about the true meaning of Christmas.  Everything you see today will be available on Thursday, October 3rd.  Be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have two cards today.  First I want to show you another new series of dies.  I had a series yesterday that built wintery outdoor scenes.  Today's dies build nativity scenes.

I used the two dies in A Savior is Born on this card.  But there's another set with two dies called Follow the Star (the star on my card is part of that set).  I cut the two in the other set just as samples for you to see.  All four can layer up for an amazing scene - you will definitely have to pop over to the TE blog and the rest of the creative team for inspiration on all of the options.

Also new on this card is the Label Stacklets 12 set - a set of dies in various sizes that are creche-shaped!! 

I kept the card very neutral, except for the burst of light in the background that I created using the previously released Here Comes the Sun stencil and Pineapple Ink.  I used Blender Brushes to brush it on heavily through the stencil, then a lighter amount over the entire piece.  I also wanted to a bit more sparkle so I added clear glitter to the inner label/frame and to the sun.  And, of course, another sentiment from Simple Strips - Christmas!

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling to see a second card and for all the fun and prizes with this release!

SUPPLY LIST
Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.


Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Now for a stunning Nativity Background that along with Simple Strips - Christmas make gorgeous but easy Christmas cards.


Another brand new color in this release is Poblano Pepper.  Not really a color name that I associate with Christmas (!) but I think it worked very well on this one-color card.

The background is lovely and can stand alone but to give it just a bit more dimension, after I stamped it, I cut out a frame with the previously released Stitched Frame Stacklet.  That frame also gave me the perfect place to highlight a sentiment from Simple Strips - Christmas below the Rejoice that is already part of the background stamp.

One of the things I like about this stamp is that it's not 100% solid - it has little open spots to give a textured, vintage look.  But what I really like about that is it makes it much easier to stamp - I don't have to get 100% perfect coverage and it still looks great!!  In fact I like this stamp so much (and there are other sentiments in Simple Strips that work below the "rejoice" that I made a set of four!)

There's not a company out there that does nativity scenes better than Taylored Expressions.  If you don't believe me, go to their store and search on "nativity" (and these two new items won't even be there until Thursday!

And for even more fun and prizes, Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with a giveaway during each day of sneak peeks! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor’s Question of the Day for a chance to win one of the latest products before you can buy it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow - it's still Christmas around here and tomorrow I have two of my favorites from this release.  One set I loved so much, I made six Christmas cards!!  The other is truly stunning die set.

SUPPLY LIST

Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.

Taylored Expression Day 2: A Snowy Day

It's day 2 of sneak peeks for the October release from Taylored Expressions and it's a snow day!!  Everything you see today will be available on Thursday, October 3rd.  Be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have two cards today.  First I want to show you  new series of dies that work together to create winter scenes - plus an addition to the beloved series of Simple Strips stamps.  (Guess what?  There's a new Mini Strip - Holiday too!!)

For my first card I'm using Border Builders - Snowflake and Border Builders - Evergreens and two sentiments from Simple Strips - Christmas.

I love the way those two soft colors - Salt Water Taffy and Spearmint - pop on the Toffee.  I put the top panel on a background embossed with the Corrugated Embossing Folder just for a bit of texture.  Then to finish my scene I went looking for a deer that would sized appropriate and happily I found it in the older die set Sitting Pretty Holiday Accessories.  (As a total side-track - there are a wide range of seasonal and holiday dies in the Sitting Pretty series.  They were designed to decorate a "shelf" and the "wall" behind it on your cards - a fabulous look.  But if you don't want to do that type of card, the icons in them are fabulous on other cards like this.  The Holiday set has this deer, a Santa, a snowman and others - all of which fit perfectly.)

There's another die that's part of this group that I did not use.  It's Border Builders - Home Sweet Home.  Plus the Border Builders - Evergreen die actually has a second die with trees to the right.  You can layer them all up and it's gorgeous.

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling to see a second card and for all the fun and prizes with this release!

SUPPLY LIST
Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.



Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Now for a new set in the "Flip the..." series.  This is Flip the Snowflake.  I used it directly on my card, but there's also a coordinating die to pop it.

My whole card is done with Blueberry; it's a gorgeous blue.  To get the sparkle, I used my Misti to stamp the blue, then I stamped over it with Versamark and applied Diamond Fine Detail Embossing Powder.

 You might notice in my supply list that I used the previously released Notepaper Background and I doubt you are seeing any notepaper on my card!  I was thrilled when I saw that Sentiment Stacker 2 fit the sentiment, but the piece in the back seemed a little dull with all of the sparkle going on in the card.  I thought about just glittering the whole thing, but instead I used just the striped part of the Notepaper Background at an angle to get a thin little stripe and then I used embossing powder on that too.

And for even more fun and prizes, Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with a giveaway during each day of sneak peeks! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor’s Question of the Day for a chance to win one of the latest products before you can buy it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow - it's still Christmas around here and tomorrow is the reason for the season!!

SUPPLY LIST

Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.

Taylored Expressions Day 1: Bright Lights and Inky Fingers

It's day 1 of sneak peeks for the October release from Taylored Expressions and 'tis the season!!!  We have so many new holiday products - and such a variety from cute to elegant, vintage to trendy, stencils to dies!  Everything you see today will be available on Thursday, October 3rd.  Be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have two cards today.  First I want to show you the Bright Lights Background, a fabulous background the perfectly frames most sentiments including the brand new Handlettered Holidays 2!

This card was amazingly simple.  The background comes with a little stamp to add the lights, then I took my Blender Brushes and brushed on a light glow.  The Handlettered Holidays 2 fit very nicely inside, but I used their coordinating dies to pop them up for a little more emphasis.

I got that card all done and then I started looking through the rest of the new holiday release and saw the Pine Clippings die set.  I thought it would be fun to do the same background but sprinkle in some pine branches.

I put some of the pines right over the lights; but I fussy cut other lights and put them on top of the pines.  I was going for that random look of lights on a tree.

I like how both of these turned out - same stamps, same sentiment, same colors, but a different look. 

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling to see a second card and for all the fun and prizes with this release!

SUPPLY LIST
Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.

Glowing Lights

Pine Boughs

Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

If you browse any of the social media posts by Taylored Expressions, you'll see a lot of people asking for more Inky Fingers and here it is!!  Inky Fingers - Christmas.  And all the little Christmas elements and creatures are absolutely charming!

I picked three of the cute little characters and added them on tags.  Santa isn't actually red (or Cherry Pop) because I kept getting blobs of red that covered up his details too much.  (I must just have a heavy touch when I'm fingerprinting.)  Although this card doesn't show it off well - I'm using the brand new Watermelon Ink.  We've had the cardstock for a long time, but now there's an ink to match.  It's been one of my go-to cardstocks so I'm thrilled to have this toned-down red in cardstock and ink.  

And for even more fun and prizes, Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with a giveaway during each day of sneak peeks! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor’s Question of the Day for a chance to win one of the latest products before you can buy it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow - it's still Christmas around here and tomorrow is a snow day (and just maybe it includes a new addition or two to a very popular stamp series)!

SUPPLY LIST

Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.