Happy Birthday, Dana!

Although Dana is soaking up the sun in Cuba right now, I know she'll return to frostier weather. I wanted to warm her up with a little Flopsey and hot cocoa for her birthday. My daughter Morgana and I have been making pillow ornaments using fabric, stamps and a touch of glitter so I thought I'd make one for Dana too with the same image as the card (actually, it was the other way around--I made the ornament first). Colours are inspired by the Basic Grey urban prairie weather vane paper I used--Sorry Karen, I forgot about the pumpkin...one of Dana's favourite colours. Ooops.

We got on this pillow kick after my entry for the Unity Bachelor final challenge. They're so simple and easy and are both greeting and gift in one, I think.

Have a fabulous birthday, Dana!!

Other friends playing along today...

Karen Motz - http://paperplayhouse.blogspot.com/
Janet Rossi - http://corrosivecreationsbyjanet.blogspot.com/
Wendy Bond - http://www.bondgirlbliss.typepad.com/
Nancy McKinney - http://cardworthy.blogspot.com/ <<--that's me

Charlene Austin - http://willowandpaisley.typepad.com/

Michelle Leishman - http://micheldesigns.blogspot.com/

Joanne Basile - http://stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy

Celebrate BIG!--2nd Day of Sneak Peeks at Taylored Expressions

Today the TE Design Team is sharing their sneaks of a new set called Sweet Occasions concepted by Jami Sibley. I was lucky enough to be involved illustrating this unique addition to the Whimsical Wishes line of stamp sets. Get ready to colour!!! Jami wanted four large images with fun and inspiring words--call this the outie--paired with an innie, additional sentiments with mini images for that special touch on the inside of the card.

I've chosen 'Celebrate' and matched it with 'Happy Birthday with a cherry on top!' and the mini ice cream sundae included in the 14-image set. I used a previous TE sketch (TECC59) to get the juices flowing. I need more colourful cards for the kids occasions in my stash, so this one is perfect. Henri probably talked me into buying this fruit-infused, patterned paper--it's quite a departure from my usual style! I pulled green, purple, pink and black from the paper for my colour scheme and coloured the image with copics to coordinate.

Thanks for dropping by on your way today!

~Nancy

See Beyond Today

Just in case you didn't see this one yesterday, I thought I'd move it up...

A dear friend of mine is struggling with news. One of her 11-year-old twin girls (the twins are my daughter's friends too) has been diagnosed with crohn's disease and is learning how to use a feeding tube at Sick Kids this week. I made this card for my friend and her daughters. I hope they can 'see beyond' the pain and anger right now, recognize it for what it is and focus their energy and faith on healing. Easy to say...but I know a little about the power of the mind and positive healing, I think.



I used the Mojo Monday #114 sketch from last week and many of the same materials and accents as in my earlier sneak peaks--I just love this silhouette image in black! The butterflies are cut with spellbinders, stamped first in versamark and lightly highlighted with pearlescent chalk.



Thanks for looking!
~Nancy

So excited about this sneak peek

Every 3 months TE introduces a new set in the TE Giving Tree Program. Each set supports a different charity for 3 months after release. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this program months before the sets are even released. Discover Your Wings is the newest set that I designed for the TE Giving Tree Program. $7 from the purchase of each set will be donated to the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation at http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation is a charity that administers a network of almost 7000 photographers in the US and 25 other countries who volunteer their time to gently provide a helping hand and healing heart to families who have suffered the loss of an infant by offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner. NILMDTS is there for parents and families to help them in their healing, bring hope to their future, and to honor their child. They believe that it is through remembrance that a family can truly begin to heal. Taylored Expressions is honored to help support the work of this wonderful charity. I encourage you to go to their website and learn more about their wonderful work.

I have two cards today (well, actually three--I just added one in a post below). The first one I created quickly this morning using this week's Mojo Monday #115 sketch and yesterday's Splitcoast colour challenge (black, vanilla and soft suede). I'm not fond of soft suede but it works in this almost monochromatic colour scheme (I think). I added a little pearlescent chalk and basic grey half pearls to the dragonfly's wings.

A little while ago I created a Get Well card for my best friend's mom. She passed away in November just a few weeks ago and this is the card I made for my friend. Again, the silhouette is from Discover Your Wings; the sentiment is one I created just for this purpose. The card is simple--writing inside was not. But I now have the perfect stamp set for difficult times. I also see myself creating cards of encouragement and celebration too, as my kids 'discover their wings,' or just when I need a beautiful card for a gift or thank you. I know I'll be using resist with the silhouette and maybe a little bleaching technique too!! The day I started this set, I couldn't resist the urge to work with butterflies, the symbol for other charities too. I think I can safely say that Taylor was thrilled with the set with a little tweaking and has chosen a worthy charity for this time of year.

Can't wait to see what the talented Design Team has for us! Although you're just getting sneak peeks today, Discover Your Wings will be available for purchase Friday, December 4th at 8:00 am PST.

· Charmaine Ikach
· Dawn Easton
· Donna Baker
· Jackie Pedro
· Jodi Collins
· Karen Giron
· Karen Motz
· Laurie Schmidlin
· Sankari Wegman
· Sharon Harnist
· Taylor VanBruggen
· Jami Sibley

Be sure to leave some love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Discover Your Wings stamp set! How cool is that?All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker's Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Thursday to enter. The winner will be announced Friday morning on Taylor's blog.

Thanks for stopping by on your way! ~Nancy