Make a Wish...it's time for TE sneak peeks!

The TE Baker’s Dozen is showing sneaks all week and I always love playing along when they feature one of my sets. Today, it’s Make a Wish, which is the newest Whimsical Wishes addition and part of Taylor’s Giving Tree program. For the months of September, October and November when you purchase this set you'll be helping to support the Make a Wish Foundation. Their mission is to grant the wishes of children with high-risk, life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

Having a child who has been through lengthy hospital stays, too many tests to count, surgeries, medication that made him quite ill, chemo and a bone marrow transplant, I know how ‘a wish’ can provide strength and the promise of a brighter future. Planning a trip to Disney can help a child cope with the next poke, round of chemo or scan in the big donut (that would be a CT scan). Henri’s own wish is being granted this year and we’re making that special trip to Disney World in November!! Taylored Expressions will donate $7.00 to the Make a Wish Foundation.

If you’re new to Taylored Expressions stamps and the Giving Tree sets, TE charitable stamp sets are sold as a sheet of rubber and will need to be trimmed before using. This reduces the cost of manufacturing and allows Taylor to donate even more to charity. Taylor gives great tips here.

So what do I have to show you! I’ve got two cards today. I used images from both Make a Wish and Borderlicious (a coordinating set of borders that are also great on their own) for this one:

Masking is kind of my thing! I took the middle tier from the cake to serve up one fabulous slice of dazzling pink cake. Behind the main image, which I coloured in copics and prismacolors/gamsol, I’ve used the argyle, line up of fondant balls and sentiment borders from Borderlicious. If you notice that my bow is better than usual, I used my Bow Easy. I can’t believe how well it works!!

Next, I wanted to use the cake from the set for an anniversary, wedding or other special occasion other than a birthday so I used a grey, silver and blue colour scheme and topped the cake with the heart in the set. I’ve separated the sentiment, using “Wishing you a special day” on the front and “filled with happiness and everything you enjoy!” inside. I used Taylor’s tiny twinkles to highlight the cake and I have to say that embellie gellie is a very good thing!

Can’t wait to see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up with Make a Wish and the coordinating sets, Borderlicious and Birthday Bubbles today...

• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Regina Mangum
• Tori Wild
• Danielle Lounds, and of course
• Taylor Van Bruggen

Welcome to the new girls!

Thanks for looking...

~Nancy

A VERY Sweet Sunday Sketch

Today I’m playing along as a guest stamper for Karen’s Sweet Sunday Sketch. While we were at CHA in Chicago, some of Taylor’s design team and I enjoyed a few laughs after the show over wine and long island iced teas. There are stories to tell, but I won’t go there! Today’s sketch is the product of such an evening. I think it looks much sweeter than it did on a cocktail napkin!

I used a few of the goodies I picked up at the MFT and Papertrey booths. Coming from Canada, I took advantage of the do-it-yourself shipping and walked out of the PTI booth with 4 free CHA-exclusive sets—that gives you an idea of how much I stuffed in my bags!

For my card, I stamped the tree image from MFT's Sheltering Tree and cut it out with the coordinating die-namics die. I also used MFT die-namics for the leaves, which I scored and folded slightly, and the grass border. I cut the circle in PTI's scrumptious Hawaiian Shores wool felt with nesties and stitched the swirl pattern. The squirrel and acorn are coloured with copics, then prismacolors with gamsol. And to help pop the sentiment, I sponged the nestie label with PTI's aqua mist ink and then with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in walnut stain after removing the nestie die.

Be sure to check out the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs today and see their take on the sketch...and don't forget to link your project to Karen's post. She might just spotlight you on her blog next week.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

August Release Day at Taylored Expressions!

I was pleased with myself getting a card ready for yesterday's sneak peeks, but with the kids in camps this week, I was able to stamp in the afternoon too, which is unheard of--I usually start around 11pm. So I have two more cards for you today. The new sets and dies become available to purchase later today at 8am PST!!

First, I had two clever TE customers tell me at the booth during Make 'n Takes at CHA that the pedestal for the bird bath in the new Tweet Hearts set could be used as a dress. You've seen it as intended as a bird bath in Carolina's adorable card, as a cool tree trunk in Charmaine's project, and today Jackie has mushrooms!!! I wanted to run with this idea and create a precious little black dress and Congratulations card. Could be for a stagette, to congratulate a friend who lost those pounds she felt she needed to, for a wedding (although I'm not sure where the groom is hiding!)...the possibilities are endless. I also wanted to show you that although the dies that coordinate with the new Take Note set are to 'DIE' for, if you have to make choices and keep them on a wish list for later, they still look good trimmed with scissors, which is exactly what I've done here. I added half pearls at the neckline and bling along the border folded at the bottom of the card. When my card was finished and photographed, I thought the label would look even better heat embossed...here's that version, which I hope shows the embossing:


Simple, and hopefully, elegant.

My second card turned out exactly how I imagined. I cut the bird base with legs intact and a second, separate striped body layer using my Silhouette, then stamped a wing with the large paisley print in the Tweet Hearts set. Each layer is popped up. I'm loving this Martha Stewart branch edge punch! I thought I'd leave the threads raw to tie in with the whole bird nesting theme. I'm so fond of this sentiment: you make a good day even better. So many of our friends deserve to know this, don't you think?



I also wanted to share three more pictures from CHA that Sankari forwarded to me. It's such a thrill to see myself with Taylor and her talented team in front of my Whimsical Wishes stamps!!!

And these are of Melissa and me, roomies and fast friends (I don't mean speedy...we just feel like we've known each other forever even though we just met).

Can't wait to see what Taylor and her Baker's Dozen have cooked up with all of the goodies available at Taylored Expressions today:

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman

Thanks for having a look!
~Nancy

Tweet Hearts-Day 2 of TE Sneak Peeks

I didn’t want another fabulous Taylored Expressions release to arrive and not play along, so here’s my card using the newest addition to the Whimsical Wishes line I illustrate—Tweet Hearts. This set is full of fun and versatility—I’ve used at least 8 of the images (each leaf, the bird, branch and whimsical nest are separate stamps) and there are still plenty more! I stamped the larger paisley print image in versamark on my PTI Hawaiian shores cardstock base and carried that delicious colour through with the coordinating saddle stitch ribbon and blossom buttons.

When I don't use a sketch, this seems to be my 'go to' square card layout. Late at night, it just happens! I had to laugh at how much the basic layout looks like Karen's birthday card. I've switched up the colour scheme, used my new stash of Basic Grey oliver paper and played with the newest Taylored Expressions stamps though!!

Thought you might want to see pictures of some of the TE girls at CHA Chicago 2010 while you're stopping by (I only had my camera with me on the first morning of the Supershow so I don't have everyone). They are exactly how they sound in their blogs...fun, cheerful and warm not to mention talented. The photos they post are terrific, but let me tell you that their cards are truly incredible in person!!

Karen Giron, the official TE photographer for the show

Carolina in that adorable cupcake apron!

Alex, Sankari and me

Sankari in a Karen sandwich

The Canadians-Karen and me

Can't wait to see what Taylor and her Baker's Dozen have cooked up with Tweet Hearts today:

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman

LIVE * LAUGH * LOVE...
~Nancy

TE Blast from the Past-June

I wasn't able to get stamping time in before today's TE Blast from the Past but I thought I'd repost two of my favourites from 2009 just in case I get a few visitors along the hop. First, here's a happy birthday card using Branching Out from back in May 2009:



I loved how the sentiment weaved through the tire punched out with circle punches in this one. The second is a cupcake tic-tac-toe card using For the Love of Cupcakes from June 2009:




I told all about it here.

I'm looking forward to what everyone participating has to show us today!



Thanks for visiting...
~Nancy

Happy Birthday, Karen!!

It's a weekend of birthdays and today is Karen's! So some of her friends have gotten together to celebrate with a hop and the party starts over at Dana's blog. I was playing with my Silhouette this week and have something special just for Karen.

I created the image first in Illustrator and then converted it to cut. This may give a closer look:

The sentiment is printed on cardstock. I just love this American Crafts paper--it seemed perfect for my friends celebrating birthdays this weekend. I cut three of the gorgeous flowers out and adhered them to the SU melon mambo cardstock before stitching around the edge. I saw the button and half pearls treatment over on Dawn McVey's blog and thought it was perfect for Karen's swirly leafy flourish!

Next stop--Janet. If you didn't start out at Dana's, Karen's hop today goes something like this...

Dana & Leslie

Jodi

Karen G

Jeanie

Paula

Nancy<<--that's me

Janet

Wendy

Joanne B

Karen the birthday girl :)

That's right...Karen has created something beautiful for herself too.

Have a fabulous day, Karen!
~Nancy

Happy Birthday, Taylor!!

It's Taylor's birthday and I've got a blast from the past with a twist for her. Was your shiny new Silhouette a little treat for your birthday, Taylor? Well...I created a little something so Taylor can play with her new toy using her own TE images from For the Love of Cupcakes!!



The cupcake and its liner and frosting together with the stand were all cut using my Silhouette SD, which made paper piecing a breeze. The frosting is then coated generously with layers of crystal effects and topped with leaves also cut with my Silhouette and a lovely half pearl. 'Happy Birthday' is from Extra Credit inked in Adirondack espresso. The cupcake itself is in SU melon mambo cardstock then embossed. I sponged the nestie oval frame with SU pink pirouette and melon mambo. Mmmm...I like that colour and thought it paired nicely with the American Crafts Romaine a la Carte patterned paper.



A few of Taylor's friends have gotten together to throw a little blog hop party:

Alex Maldonado

Alice Wertz

Carolina Buchting

Charmaine Ikach

Donna Baker

Jackie Pedro

Jami Sibley

Jenn Balcer

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Karen Motz

Lisa Hjulberg

Lori Craig

Melissa Sauls

Monika Davis

Nancy McKinney ßßßthat’s me

Rachel Sztonyk
Sandra MacLean
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist
Sherrie Siemens

Have a fabulous day, Taylor, and everyone stopping by!
~Nancy

Hangin' Out at the Beach Sneaks

Today’s another exciting day of sneak peeks at Taylored Expressions! I’m joining the Baker’s Dozen to show you the newest Whimsical Wishes set I illustrated, Hangin’ Out at the Beach. Didn’t we just show you Hangin’ Out? That’s right, this is a summer set that coordinates.

My cards today are a complete departure from yesterday’s and what I usually create although they are square—I admit, I have a thing about square cards!

My first follows this week’s TE sketch challenge #115. I thought the Fancy Pants Summer Soiree Beach House paper was perfect for the palm tree in the set, which I coloured with copics and shaded with prismacolors and gamsol.

I kept the nestie circle and labels dies in place when sponging around the inner edge of the palm tree panel with Momento Dandelion ink and the Relax sentiment circle with Momento New Sprout ink. The half pearls were originally a light pink but I used Taylor’s trick and coloured them to coordinate with copics. One of my kids’ friends is going to love this card!

I think we may be seeing a few yellow polka-dot bikinis today. Well, mine is more tangerine and hung on a line with the towel and guy trunks in the set:

I stamped the images on TE choice snow white card stock and coloured with copics and prismacolors/gamsol. I embossed the border leading up to the sentiment “enjoy Life!” with one of the folders in the Cuttlebug Border Frills set, then added a half pearl to each centre to match the bikini bra. The pre-printed summer scene is part of the same Fancy Pants Summer Soiree paper—just perfect for drying my beachy, summer clotheline.

Looking forward to seeing what the talented Baker’s Dozen has done with Hangin’ Out at the Beach…

Alex Maldonado; Carolina Butching; Charmaine Ikach; Donna Baker; Jackie Pedro; Jami Sibley; Jeanie Witmer; Jodi Collins; Karen Giron; Melissa Sauls; Sankari Wegman; and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by on your way!

~Nancy

Summer Afternoon - Day 2 of TE Sneaks for June

Today I’m playing along with the TE Baker’s Dozen with some sneak peeks of the Whimsical Wishes set I illustrated, Summer Afternoon, which will be available at Taylored Expressions along with lots of new products on Friday, June 4th.

I hope my samples show you the simple beauty of the images. This whimsical frame is a favourite of mine:

I’ve inked it in black and highlighted the inner part of the frame, butterflies and dragonfly with versamarker then heat embossed with SU classy copper powder. I sponged Tim Holtz distressed ink in tea dye around the edges of the sentiment circle cut out with nesties. The Gibran quote is one of three separate sentiments sized to fit within the frame. I thought this bold image stood for itself with a simple layout framed with Bo Bunny Delilah You & Me patterned paper and layers of cardstock.

My second card highlights the poppies and bird silhouettes in the set with the sentiment “A life without love is like a year without summer.”

My layout reminds me of a book, so I’ll likely hand-write something like “…and what would summer be without a good read” on the inside to go along with a favourite book as a gift. I just finished People of the Book, which would definitely be one I’d recommend and give. I accented the poppies with versamarker and Stickles glitter in pink, which I heat set. The paper is also from the Bo Bunny Delilah collection but was part of a preprinted cutout sheet. I used my X-ACTO retractable pen knife (a knife I can actually say I'm happy with and looks like it's not going to break under pressure!) to cut around the curved edges of the border piece.

Looking forward to seeing what the talented Baker’s Dozen has done with Summer Afternoon…

Alex Maldonado; Carolina Butching; Charmaine Ikach; Donna Baker; Jackie Pedro; Jami Sibley; Jeanie Witmer; Jodi Collins; Karen Giron; Melissa Sauls; Sankari Wegman; and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by on your way!
~Nancy

Cheeky DIGs is open!

I added Sharkie, my 'need a lift' support balloon and my frothy fappuccinos today to my Etsy Shop, Cheeky DIGs (pronounced digs like with a shovel). I'm starting with 5 of each image/set. Here are my initial prices:

• Sharkie and his 3 cheeky sentiments are priced at $5 for the set.
• The support balloon and sentiment is $3.
• My fraps will be $3 for the collage image and $8 for the set, which includes both collage images AND the vanilla beans, strawberries, cloud and swirls as separate images.
• I'm planning to price singles at $2-3 and sets between $5-10 depending on the number of images.

How does that sound? If these sell out (wouldn't that be amazing!!), please let me know and I'll add more. I'd love to see what you do with my images....I think a contest with prizes would be a good way to celebrate!!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Nancy

Henri's first real birthday party...

I'm gearing up to open Cheeky DIGs on Etsy where I'll sell my digital stamps (these are not the same as the images I illustrate for Taylored Expressions although you may recognize a similar style) and my favourite handmade cards. I'm still tweaking and open to any suggestions. If you use digi stamps already, I really would like to know whether you prefer jpeg, png or pdf files and whether a set is best arranged on one letter-sized page or one image per page. I'd love to hear from you!!

On Friday, my little Henri turns 6. Anyone who knows me knows this is a very big deal--two years ago Henri celebrated his 4th birthday while living at Sick Kids and was having a bone marrow transplant less than 3 months later. He's cured and is having his first REAL birthday party and inviting REAL school friends. So my morning was spent on the invites to his bowling party and here they are:

I created the bowling alley in Illustrator (I'm not sure if you can see the lines in this photo) and arranged it on the top half of the page before printing on cardstock, folding the back up and adding cardstock edges with strong adhesive and stitching. The insert gives the party details and is topped with nestie labels and the bowling pins/ball (popped up with dimensionals) I also created in Illustrator.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

Make that a vanilla frappuccino, please!

So it turns out Morgana's friend prefers vanilla bean frappuccinos at Starbucks. I enjoyed making the strawberry version so much that I didn't mind mixing a vanilla one last night:

Hope you treat yourself to something delicious today! Thanks for stopping by...

~Nancy

A birthday frappuccino

One of my daughter's friends is celebrating her 12th birthday and loves Starbucks frappuccinos (for my kids, it's all about the whipped cream), so today I created this image and card inspired by the frappuccino promotion they've got going on right now.

I printed my images on TE choice snow white cardstock and SU 12"x12" white cardstock, coloured with copics and added shading with prismacolors/gamsol. To create the pocket I just folded up the bottom 2" on my 5"x12" card base and stitched the edges before adding the strip of DP with the punched edge.

The card layout is fairly simple--it's all about the frappy scene and whipped cream!

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

Talent everywhere!

A comment on my last post led me to Jo, The Crafy Nomad. She creates fabulous sewn creations and cards to match. Fun stuff!! Jo has joined in on a Sew Mama Sew blog giveaway. I didn't know about this!! The idea behind Sew Mama Sew (from their blog) ...
"Readers benefit because a) they get exposed to blogs with great ideas; b) they get directed to shops with wonderful items; c) they get the opportunity to win a cool handmade prize; d) they know exactly when to tune in! Participants benefit because a) they get new readers (many participants end up with hundreds of comments & visitors); b) they get potential shoppers/readers; c) they can experience the joy of giving something they’ve made to a virtual friend. Want to play?"

YES! Jo is giving away personalized t-shirts/baby onesies, a collection of cards and coffee cup sleeves. Have a look...

~Nancy

Inspired by Nicole Heady's kite card, I created these last week and gave the support ribbon balloon to my friend with breast cancer. I also made purple versions for a friend with lupus in the family and another whose mother is going through chemo for pancreatic cancer. I didn't have enough time to take pictures before running to meet them for a girls' night out. Apparently lupus, pancreatic cancer and Alzheimer's all share purple as their colour of support.



I created the images and sentiment in Illustrator and printed on TE choice snow white cardstock before colouring with copics. The white background panel is sponged on the edges with chalk ink. Loved Nicole's layout and created my own version of stitching around the focal image. Here's another photo of the card I still have in my stash for someone who needs a 'lift.'



The support ribbon balloon, my shark, my rainy day umbrella and other digi images I've created may be available soon for purchase. I'd like to hear your thoughts first though...are you interested in these digi images and what file formats work for you?!!

Thanks for stopping by...
~Nancy

Sharkie Wants A Piece!

I've actually got a second post for today after the excitement of the first TE customer blog hop. Last week Henri asked me to draw him a kangaroo, so I'm not sure how I ended up with this shark. Sharks seem to be the rage right now for little guys. Here's my card for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #139 and Henri's birthday card to go with the swimming trunks and flip flops he has his eye on at Gymboree.

I played around with Core'dinations and We R Memory Keepers textured cardstock, sanding after embossing with cuttlebug folders. My shark is printed on TE choice snow white cardstock and coloured with copics and prismacolors/gamsol. The mesh ribbon was from a TE kit when Spooky Expressions was released. I cinched it with a bead and included shells in front and behind to create a net. Not sure if this is a better closeup of my cheeky, cake-loving shark...

How do you like him? I'd love to hear...

~Nancy

TE Blast from the Past

Today is the very first customer blog hop for Taylored Expressions and we've been asked to create a card using stamps from 2008 or 2009 and a fun sketch designed by Sankari. So here's mine:



I've used the tool belt from Boys Will Be Boys, which I coloured with copics and prismacolors/gamsol. Discovering that both can be used (pencils AFTER copics) was truly one of the most useful tips and has really helped my colouring (I think anyway). I pulled out some Cosmo Cricket Lil' Man DP scraps and paired them with PTI aqua mist cardstock and ink (sponged around the edges) and Gina K pure luxury red.

The sentiment "love a guy who knows how to use his tools" is just one I created for this card. I laughed at myself because when adding the large eyelet with my crop-a-dile, I really crunched it and made a mess. Guess I should learn how to use my own tools! The thread is meant to disguise, however, it hides the 's' on the end of tools, which makes my sentiment sound a little naughty.

;) ~Nancy

Celebrating Waltzing Mouse Today

Welcome to the Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz this month! Since Claire and Waltzingmouse Stamps have been in business one year, the theme is birthdays. I’ve used the very first set I ordered from Waltzing Mouse, Earth Angel, for my card.

My angel’s dress is paper pieced with the back/coordinating Bo-Bunny Sophie Stripe paper. I used nestabilities to frame the SU sweet treat pocket filled with assorted wild flower seeds. Because Waltzing Mouse stamps are clear photopolymer, I was able to curve the sentiment and pattern around the circular frame. Angel’s wings are two leaves from SU's stitched felt sweet pea pack. I added some sparkle to her shoes, hair bow and stars with spica glitter pens.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Nancy

Happy Birthday, Janet!

I slept in on Janet's birthday so I'm late for the hop. I had so much fun creating this purple, slightly grungy, rockin' card for Janet using You're My Hero. The background I created especially for Janet and I'm sending her the digi file. Maybe she'll share it with her closest friends ;)...




LOTS of half pearls here, but the guitar is my favourite. I used the 'rock 'n roll' technique, of course, for the base of the guitar, lightly coloured the arm with copics and liberally applied crystal effects on the base (is that's what it's called, Janet?). Hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

Here's of list of some of Janet's friends wishing her the very best...

Karen: http://paperplayhouse.blogspot.com/

Joan: http://scrapmum.blogspot.com/

Dana: http://danashouseofcards.blogspot.com/

Mary: http://mbryt1.blogspot.com/

Nancy: http://cardworthy.blogspot.com/ (that's me)

Anita: http://www.hoveyhut.blogspot.com/

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

Anne: http://stargrovesblog.blogspot.com/

~Nancy