Summer Fun-Day 1 of TE Sneak Peeks for June!

Aloha! Today's the first day of TE sneak peeks for June and I'm playing along with some of the stamps I illustrated for this release: A Day in Paradise and a new Moka girl, Lani.

First I've used the Muskoka chairs from A Day in Paradise (or Adirondack chairs if you like) arranged on a dock made of embossed kraft cardstock and facing some fairly wild waves for the cottage! The waves are cut with the new wave border die. I did highlight and shade the chairs with copics and prismacolors but wanted them to be mostly white. The picture might not fully show the embossed woodgrain on the dock using the new Impressions Plate that you'll see more of later this week.

And here's one of the new Mokas for June. Inspired after our fabulous trip to the Big Island and Maui in March, I've called her Lani, which I thought suited her when I learned the name is Hawaiian for "heaven." 

My Lani today looks like she has a bit of a dirty tan...maybe she has been at the luau too long! I'm planning to watch more 'colouring hair and skin videos' on YouTube!! I masked her before stamping a palm tree from Hangin' Out-At the Beach in the background and used the new palm tree die to cut another for my frame. Lani and her palm trees are coloured with copics and prismacolors with gamsol.

I won't likely get back to Hawaii soon but I'll be spending lots of time at the family cottage this summer! 

Can't wait to see what Taylor's team has dreamed up for summer with these sets:

Charmaine Ikach, 

Danielle Lounds,

Jackie Pedro,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Karen Motz,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, 
Wanda Guess, and

Jami Sibley.

Thanks for looking.

~Nancy

TE May Blast from the Past Blog Hop Today

I've got two cards to share for today's TE Blast from the Past blog hop using two of my favourite Whimsical Wishes sets and inspiration from Sankari's sketch. Our challenge this month was to make our cards masculine. When I'm aiming for more masculine designs, I either bring out the grunge or add distress ink and minimal embellishments. Having said that, Steven Tyler redefines all of those notions, doesn't he? Bring on the psychedelic prints, layers, ribbon, feathers, sheer fabric...really anything goes!

I've gone with more traditional 'masculine' with this one though and took only the guitar (from You're My Hero) as inspiration from Tyler. 

I shellacked the guitar and inked up the splatter in the background with two colours of ink. I've used shabby shutters distress and SU not quite navy inks together with SU cajun craze cardstock and basic grey wander paper. For my second card, I used the tree, the swinging tire and two sentiments from In the Park:

I've coloured the tree with copics and prismacolors and paired frayed burlap distress ink with SU soft suede cardstock and basic grey marjolaine paper.

Thanks for stopping by along the way!
~Nancy

Release Day for May at Taylored Expressions!

Release day for May has arrived at Taylored Expressions and you can fill your carts with all of the goodies that Taylor and her team have teased you with this week! I have another card using Moka Jenn, her carriage from Bringing Home Baby and Karen's sweet Sunday sketch (SSSC114).

I've paper-pieced the buggy and coloured the rest of the image with copics and prismacolors with gamsol. I created masks with a sticky note for the carriage and right wheel and stamped with Momento tuxedo black. Because I ran out of adhesive when I was creating this card, I cranked the panels and smaller pieces through my Xyron. So when I added a little glamour dust, I got more than I wanted!! I'm hoping this gives a better closeup of Jenn and her baby buggy:

Indulge your cravings and check out this talent:
Charmaine Ikach,
Danielle Lounds,
Jackie Pedro,

Jodi Collins,
Karen Giron,
Karen Motz,
Melissa Sauls,
Regina Mangum,
Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess,
Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild,
Jami Sibley, and Guest Designer Amber Hight

Thanks for stopping by!
~Nancy

Little Shopper-Day 3 TE Sneaks

I thought I was excited about yesterday's sneak peeks (well, I was)...but today's stamps that Taylor's Bakers Dozen has to share are quite a thrill for me!! A few months ago I sent Taylor a collection of characters I had been playing with that started with my daughter Morgana. This month Taylor is releasing two of them, Olivia, the little shopper, and Jenn, the mommy-to-be. We've named these characters the Moka Collection and the logo features my Morgana Moka (Mo for Morgana and Ka for Katie who you'll meet sometime soon). Morgana loves to dance but has a mom who isn't so good with the required buns, so she always went off to class with a bit of a mop top. I've made it a pretty one for the Mokas though...it just wouldn't pass at Juilliard! Here are some recent photos of my girl and inspiration:

Another Whimsical Wishes set being featured today, It's in the Bag, is also one I REALLY wanted to see in rubber. It started with the bag and the concept for a shopping bag die and went from there with bag labels and cute images for every occasion. Finally to my card! I've used something from both sets—Olivia from the Olivia Petite set and the label and happy birthday sentiment from It's in the Bag. The layout is loosely based on another one of Karen's fabulous and sweet Sunday sketches (SSSC115) and I like the card both ways—with and without the bag:

I stamped the sentiment Enjoy a Fabulous Day! inside and love the look of the Moka girl stamped black on kraft...

I followed Karen M's steps for paper-piecing, which really add dimension, and coloured Olivia's hair and skin with copics and prismacolors. I find shading the paper pieces with French grey 70% creates the look I want. I love this SU rich razzleberry and have teamed it with scraps of purple and blue from basic grey's kioshi paper pad and Bo-Bunny's a gift of love sophie dot paper. The tissue in the bag is really just a scrap of fabric.


I couldn't get to the Summer Wreath today, but I'll be back tomorrow with more. Time to check out the Baker’s Dozen talent...

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Jackie Pedro,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Karen Motz,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess,

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, and

Jami Sibley.

Thanks for looking! 
~Nancy

Bringing Home Baby-Day 2 TE Sneaks!

I'm so excited about the Whimsical Wishes set Taylor's team is showcasing today—Bringing Home Baby! Taylor and I designed this set to build baby-themed scenes, but the images work well on their own too. My first card shows the diaper bag and sentiment, It's A Boy! (that's my guess on Taylor's challenge). I kept my layout basic and focused on the image, which I coloured with copics and prismacolors with gamsol.

This line-up of baby cuteness is one image plus the sentiment WELCOME HOME BABY:

Again, I coloured with copics and prismacolors and sponged with chalk ink around the edge while the panel was still in the nestabilities frame. I added half pearls to the knobs for dimension.


Two more! For these I wanted to show how to use two of the miniature image collections. When I was illustrating this set, I intended for these ocean-themed creatures and adorable sheep to hang from the mobile but they can also be framed or used on the quilt in the set (I'll be showing that tomorrow). 

Enjoy what the Baker’s Dozen has to show today...

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Jackie Pedro,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Karen Motz,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess,

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, and

Jami Sibley.

Thanks for stopping by on your way...
~Nancy

The lulu-Day 1 of TE Sneak Peeks for May!

Today I'm sharing a new à la carte image I illustrated for the Whimsical Wishes line...welcome BABY. This is a HUGE release (maybe they'll just keep getting bigger as Taylor's belly grows *WINK*), so I'm sure the Baker's Dozen has LOTS to show today. I have one simple card that combines paper piecing, colouring with copics and a modifed Sweet Sunday sketch (SSSC113):

I added crystal effects to and popped up the 'lulu' (that's what we called it). Imagine a clean, shiny soother out of the package and ready for baby...not the kind that has been sucked, chewed, dropped and used to probe the world around!! I thought I'd share a few favourite pictures of my Henri when he was smaller with his lulu...

He loved that thing and only parted with it last summer when we launched it on a rocket at the cottage! Here are the Taylored impression plates and dies I've used on my card today:

Can't wait to see what the TEDT has created for today...

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Jackie Pedro,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Karen Motz,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess, (Congrats, Wanda!!)

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, and

Jami Sibley.


Thanks for stopping by on your way...
~Nancy