Happy Birthday, TE!

Just one more week of summer holidays before school starts! My family has kept me so busy that I haven't had any crafting time. I hope to squeeze some in this week after full days at Ontario Place and Canada's Wonderland, but the kids will probably be putting me to bed! 

I wanted to wish Taylored Expressions a very happy 3rd birthday and certainly won't miss all of the inspiring creations we're sure to see this week from the Baker's Dozen! 


Just for fun, here are some Whimsical Wishes cards I've posted before to celebrate...

Have a cupcake-filled day!
~Nancy

Release Day for August at Taylored Expressions!

It's release day and everything you've seen this week is now available at Taylored Expressions. Visit Taylor's blog for all of the details. I have a few more cards to share using two of the Whimsical Wishes sets I illustrated for this release: Joy to the Word and Embrace Beauty. I haven't even had a chance to ink up Moka Jane yet and her groovy boots inspired by Melissa's so I'll have more to share next week!

I'll start with my favourite, a paper-pieced angel with birds perched on her outstretched arms...

I stamped her on Gina K pure luxury cardstock and coloured her hair, wings, halo and birds with copics, then stamped her again on patterned paper.

Here's a quick one for colouring. I stamped the bold dragonfly image and loaded the copic colour on. The coordinating background image is from Discover Your Wings stamped in Memento tuxedo black.

And finally, here's the bold butterfly stamped with versafine on patterned paper and dusted with glamour dust.

Enjoy the last day of sneak peeks for this release!

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Melody Rupple,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess 

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, 

Jami Sibley

Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy

Day 3 of TE Sneak Peeks for August!

I'm fixin' to show you some Day 3 sneaks for Taylored Expressions today! {Did I get that right, Melissa?} We've got Western Mokas, Jesse and Jane, and a fun coordinating set, Wild West. I also illustrated a few other Whimsical Wishes goodies that some of the Baker's Dozen will be showing too. I had one of those creative nights when my cards just turned out the way I imagined them! Here they are...

First, I went totally clean & simple with one layer and I LOVE IT! 

I stamped the prickly saguaro cactus image and sentiment directly on my kraft card base and coloured with prismacolors and gamsol. The rattlesnake is stamped on Gina K pure luxury and coloured with copics and prismacolours, cut out and popped up. I teased my husband that I could just have this card ready to give and re-give him when needed. 

Although my layout is simple on this next one, there's more going on. 

I stamped the saloon doors and Jesse on Gina K pure luxury cardstock and had lots of fun colouring with copics and prismacolors. I cut away the door opening and stamped 'Howdy' and 'Partner' on patterned paper, then popped the scene in front. I used baker's twine to create a lasso embellishment. This would be a great boy birthday or any day card, don't you think? Here's another view of the door open and Jesse sporting his Sheriff's star:

Can't wait to see what the Baker's Dozen dreams is fixin' to do today!

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Melody Rupple,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess 

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, 

Jami Sibley

Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy

Day 2 of TE Sneak Peeks for August!

Today's day 2 of sneak peeks at Taylored Expressions and the Baker's Dozen is showcasing another Whimsical Wishes set, Embrace Beauty, along with other stamp sets and goodies. Embrace Beauty combines images from nature framed in bold circles (sized to cut using nestabilities) with elegant sentiments. 

I played with the same layout and images to create two very different clean & simple cards. 

For this first one, I stamped the focal image in VersaFine onyx black ink. I find VersaFine gives the best detail and boldness when I don't want to use copics or gamsol. I thought I'd try ink 'debossing' for my background using the new Musical Swirls Taylored Impressions Plate. Instead of using a brayer, I just smudged the white pigment ink lightly on the impression plate before running the layered sandwich through my Big Shot. I've used my Forest Branches Cuttlebug embossing folder to repeat the tree/bark theme and used my Martha Stewart woodland branch edge punch for the bottom edge. This card just seems so peaceful to me.

Here's essentially the same layout in a different colour scheme. I used Tim Holtz distress ink in walnut stain for a rich, bold brown image and sentiment.

Check out what Taylor's talented team is up to today!

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Melody Rupple,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess 

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild, 

Jami Sibley

Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy

Day 1 of TE Sneak Peeks for August!

Today Taylor's Baker's Dozen is sneaking peeks of a very special Giving Tree set benefiting Angel Tree—Joy to the World. This is my new favourite Whimsical Wishes set that I've illustrated and I see so many possibilities for cards, tooth fairy pillows, ornaments,.... I have two cards today, which feature the same sweet angel. 

First, here she is with her pocket of hearts. 

I stamped and masked the pocket before stamping the angel on patterned paper. Her head and halo were stamped on Gina K pure luxury cardstock and coloured with copics. The blue panel is dry embossed with the new Musical Swirls impression plate, which has whimsical swirls on one side and a musical score on the reverse. I've also used my Taylored medium scallop and hearts border dies but kept the overall card simple.

Well, here's the same precious angel but this time she's holding the wreath heat embossed in silver. 

I used a versamarker to heat emboss her halo after colouring her with copics. I also used a trick I learned from Taylor and coloured white half pearls with copics to match my colour scheme.

Can't wait to see what Taylor's talented team has created with these precious angels...

Charmaine Ikach,

Danielle Lounds,

Melody Rupple,

Jodi Collins,

Karen Giron,

Melissa Sauls,

Regina Mangum,

Sankari Wegman,

Wanda Guess 

Taylor VanBruggen,

Tori Wild

Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy