Window into our World

I had fun making this card for today’s post.  I LOVE the Ruche line!  I love how the Deep Blue Crepe looks like it has a wood grain to it so I was excited to use with with the window die and stamp set I have.

The window is open into the center of the card so that the picture of the inside of the house is visible from the outside.  I made the flowers out of light pink and light purple paper from the Basis cardstock pack and the butterfly is out of Amethyst Metallic paper.

Here’s the inside of the card.

The "Picture Window" die and the stamp I used, "A Glimpse Inside" are from Taylored Expressions. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Don't forget to leave a comment!

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Welcome to Taylored Expression's Blast from the Past Blog Hop!  I had fun making this card... here in Southern AZ we don't get a lot of leaves changing color so of course I had to put some on this card.  This month our theme is "Thankful".  I used TE's "Much Appreciated" for the sentiment which I inked up in "Brilliance" cosmic copper and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then framed with in shinny green paper with QuicKutz "frame" (REV-0090).    

I had a hard time getting a good picture of this card because some of the paper had glitter, some was embossed with fuzzies, other paper was shiny while some of it was just plain 'ol pretty paper.  Also, my lamp that I normally use broke so it was just hard to show all the different textures.  Below is a slightly different angle to show some more textures.

 I used a lot of different dies for this card, most of which are Spellbinders.  The swirls is from Magnolias.  I added a burgundy seam binding bow and there ya have it.  A lovely Thank You card. 

I am thankful for my family, friends, the freedoms I enjoy and for a loving Father in Heaven.  I am thankful to have been the mother of a very special daughter named Jessica who went "home" to heaven last year and who taught me to "Never give up!"... never give up hope, never give up faith and to never give up on myself or my family.  I miss my beautiful girl but I'm also thankful that she is in a better place and free from pain.  I'm so thankful for my dear friends and family members who have helped me through each day... one of which is going to receive this Thank You card.  I think I need to make several hundred if I were to just begin to give out Thank You cards to everyone who has helped me throughout my daughter's 22 years on earth and the one since she left.  I'm blessed beyond measure.   

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to stop by the rest of the blogs and see what everyone else has made for us today.  :)

Happy Birthday to..... ME! and more!

That's right!  Yesterday was my birthday... and the day before that was my sister's birthday.  I have a nephew who's birthday was on the 10th and my dad's birthday is on Saturday.  I also have a niece who's birthday is coming up in two weeks on Oct 3rd.  She just missed one of the busiest birthday months for my family.    I was so happy to find out that this month's theme for the TE Blast for the Past Blog Hop was "BIRTHDAY".  We could do either a new baby theme (and congratulations to Taylor for the birth of her first baby, Madelyn Grace, last week!) or a regular birthday.  I chose a girly birthday theme.

I used TE's Moka Olivia for the image and I cheated a little and used the sentiment from Moka Taylor for the "Happy Birthday".  Next month I'll be able to use Moka Taylor legally.  hehe!

I paper pieced the dress and hair band on Moka Olivia.  I think she's so cute!  

I used TE's Shopping Bag and labels die.  What a fun little bag!  I cut the top down a bit and added some glitter rick-rack for the handle.  Real tissue paper is on the inside.  In retrospect I should have put a lighter pink in it so it will show up better in the photos.  

Here's another angle so you can see the cute bag. 

The paper I used is DCWV Cherry Limeade Stack.  Lots of yummy colors, patterns and shininess.  ooooooooooohhhhhhh, shiny!  

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hop!  

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

This month's challenge is "Collectors Anonymous".  We are to use things on our project that uses things that we collect.  Of course my collections border on hoarding as most crafters do but I digress.  I collect things that I like the most which include: paper, lace, ribbon, buttons, bling, dies, punches and stamps... so many stamps!  My most favorite stamps are of flowers, girly stamps and butterflies  I decided to use my most favorite things on this month's card.  The song from the Sound of Music kept running through my head, "My Favorite Things" as I made this fun card.  My daughter loved butterflies, the color pink, flowers and anything shiny.

I used TE's CreativiTEA for the flower and New Beginnings for the butterflies and frame and  Discover Your Wings for the sentiment.

I did a technique called "kissing" with three of the butterflies.  I inked up a couple of the designs from Miniature Motifs melon mambo ink and then touched a un-inked butterfly to the inked design... after that I stamped the butterfly onto cardstock.  I loved how they turned out.  The light butterfly on the frame (by the flower) was first stamped once onto scrap paper and then stamped onto the cardstock.  That made the butterfly color much lighter... such a soft touch. 

I folded the wings away from the center a little and attached them to the card only in the center... that way the wings are not flat and help it give movement to the butterflies.  I added some "bling" on the butterflies as well as below them to also help give them movement.

I used a banner from Spellbinder's Nested Lacey Pennents for the sentiment.

A bow, a button, some lace and a background punched with Martha Stewart "punch around the page - Monarch butterfly".  Below is an angle I like to use to show the 3-D effects of all the little details and layers.

Here you can see that I added a 2nd layer to the flower center and added some bling to it after coloring it with copics.  Love that flower!  

This is how the card opens up.  The pink background with the butterflies punched out is behind the card.

Here's the alternative sketch which I actually used this time!  Instead of using 3 brads on the left-hand side of the sketch, I used butterflies.  I added a little extra to the sketch but I like how it turned out.  

I hope you enjoyed my card today and hope you will click on the links below and see what all the other participants made for us today.  Thank you for stopping by - I appreciate every visit and comment.


Other challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - show us some bling


Flourishes - recipe challenge: Use the color pink, one button, ribbon, and lace on your creation. Other than that anything else is a go.

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Good morning!  I have a fun card for you today.  The theme of TE's July's Blast from the Past Blog Hop is: Sending You Sunshine.  I have plenty of sunshine to share here from AZ!  By the time July comes around we're all ready to welcome any clouds to give us a break from the furnace that many call "At least it's a dry heat"...  at 110 degrees it doesn't matter... just give us a break from the heat!  lol  My card is inspired by the massive amounts of sunshine we get here in AZ... as you can see, my whole card is sunshine!

I used the tree branch and the sentiment from Branching Out and used the nest with the birds inside from Wreath of Love.  

I first cut out a circle from the yellow cardstock.  I then measured and marked where I wanted the sun rays and then cut out about 1/8" slivers so the blue background could show through.  I had a hard time getting the picture just right with the dark background... but as you can see, I numbered the sun rays so I wouldn't get mixed up as to where they went.

I sponged Daffodil delight around the edges of the yellow cardstock and then adhered it to the blue cardstock.  I then cut the extra off.

Thank you for joining me today as we hop our way through the TE's Blast From the Past Blog Hop.

Join me tomorrow as I have TWO posts with TWO cards to show you.  I'm guest designer for Paper Crafting Journey!  What an honor!

This card is being entered in Simon Says Stamp = ANYTHING GOES!

Old Glory

I have two posts today so if you are looking for My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns challenge, scroll down or click here.  

It's time for the monthly Taylored Expressions Blog Hop again!  woo-hoo!  The theme is "Old Glory".  I had an idea for my card that evolved and then evolved some more and then turned out quite a bit different than I had originally expected.  I originally had planned to have a small flag on the card in the background and then have the TE stamp that I ordered especially for this blog hop "God Bless The USA" in the center with maybe a few shabby stars in the background... well, this is what it grew into:

I still used the same stamp and I made the flag that is in the background... but somehow the flag grew and the fireworks lit up all over the card!  LOL  I saw the blue and "diamond bling at Michaels yesterday and knew it just had to go on my card.

I didn't have room to stamp the whole stamp so I fussed with it (threw a couple of tries away) and finally got the center that I wanted.  I used a red marker to ink the the USA part, stamped it and then cleaned the stamp really well and then with a stamp positioner figured out where I wanted the "God Bless the" part, inked it up with a dark blue marker and stamped it above the "USA".  I then used the nestabilities to cut out the sentiment and the two tags as well.  Popped it up with pop dots and viola'!  An Old Glory that is quite glorious!

I'm thinking it's a little over the top but what the hey... it's very festive.  In fact, due to all the wildfires here in AZ this card might be the only fireworks we get to see this year for the 4th of July.  We're praying for rain and hoping for relief.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will go to the other blog hoppers to see what they have in store for you today!





My card is being entered into the following challenges:
CC328: Cherry Night Cakes: color challenge: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake (kraft), Neutrals of choice
 Magazine Monday - color challenge:  Bazzill Red, Sea Water, Lily White and Beetle Black

Taylored Expressions May Blog Hop

This month we were challenged to make a masculine card. I was a little concerned on how I was going to do it because most of the stamps I have are so girly.  I went through my TE stamps and decided that the sentiment "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you've imagined" by Thoreau was a great sentiment to use.  It's from TE's New Beginnings.  ( I LOVE that set and really wanted to use the butterflies and roses images but no - they're not "manly" so I'll save them for another card... tee-hee!) 

I used the dandelions and daisies from the stamp set Discover Your Wings for the background.  Even though they are flowers, I think that stamped on the chocolate background and embossed in white allows for enough masculinity for it to be given to any self-respecting man.  Am I right?  ;)

This card could be a great for graduation!  My son, Brandon, will be graduating from High School NEXT WEEK!  I don't know how this happened... it seems like just yesterday he was throwing his things off his high chair and wanting us to pick them up for him so he could throw them again.  haha!  That's one of the many fun memories we tease him about. 

 I had a terrible time photographing this card - I'm not sure why.  The photos just don't do it justice.   I photographed it with a white background and the designer paper behind it but I'm still not happy with how the photos turned out.  It's just been one of those days I guess.  
I hope you've enjoyed your visit here and will continue visiting the rest of the blog hop participants. 

Taylored Expressions April Blog Hop

I'm happy to be able to participate in Taylored Expressions Blog Hop again this month.  Since this Sunday is Easter I decided to make an Easter card.  I did not use the optional sketch because I found the directions on how to make a "Center Step Card" that I wanted to try.  It was a lot of fun!

(as always, click on images to enlarge)

I used Taylored Expression's Favorite Peeps for the cute images.  I really thought that the sentiment "you're one of my favorite peeps" was so cute with all the little chicks looking at it. Here's a side view of the card... you can see the "steps" a little better. 

I really like the cute Easter basket which I fussy-cut out and tied with a few strips of tulle.

Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your blog hop!

Honored to be Featured in TE's Newsletter!

I received an email from Taylor of Taylored Expressions telling me that I'm being featured in their newsletter that went out today!  Shortly later I received was the newsletter.  I'm soooo honored!  Below is the card that received this honor:

Here's a close-up of the stamped image and the steam bling...

and here is the post that has the details:  Taylored Expressions March Blog Hop

Thank you for stopping by - I appreciate all your sweet comments.

Taylored Expressions March Blog Hop

Good morning!  I'm so excited to participate in Taylored Expressions March Blog Hop!  I did not use the optional sketch because I already knew what I wanted to do.  I LOVE the stamp set:  CreativiTEA.  I knew I wanted to set the table with a table cloth and have a pretty country wallpaper behind it.

I embossed the tea kettle, tea cup and sentiment in pink then colored the teacup with copics adding a little shading on the tea kettle as well.  I distressed them with Tim Holtz antique linen and a tiny bit of tea dye. The paper on the lower portion of the card was so dark that if I cut the doily in half, you could see the base color behind it - so I chose to just fold it in half and adhere it that way.  I added some flowers from Prima including the toole one. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the foliage and added some bling.  

Here's a close-up of the tea kettle and tea cup. Don't you just love the bling for the steam?

I have to admit that I love layers!  Here's an angle showing the 3-D.

One last photo with that includes some of the inside of the card.  I stamped the rose from the same stamp set and added a little corner piece.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I appreciate your visit and hope you enjoyed your stay.  As always I appreciate every comment!  

TE Blast From the Past Blog Hop

I'm so excited to participate in today's Blast from the Past Blog Hop hosted by Taylored Expressions.  This month we were to go green by either recycling (reusing or re-purposing) something or by using the color green.  Well, I did both!  I bought a nice journal at my local Michael's craft store.  Here's the before picture:

It was kind of pretty just the way it was but I wanted it to be something extra special.  I also didn't want to use it as a journal, I want to use it as a "To Do List" (hence the re-purpose part).  Here's the "after" :

Dontcha just love it?  I used TE's "Take Note" stamp set for the frame and the "To Do List".  Add some stickles, ribbon, butterfly and 1/2 doily and viola!  A nice book that might be too pretty to use.

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy your journey through the rest of the blog hop!

I Love You Berry Much

I'm so happy to participate in this month's Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop .  This month we were to create a card featuring any Taylored Expressions Stamps released prior to November 2010! The theme for our January hop is LOVE.  Here's the card I made using TE's Berries and Cherries.  

 

Thank you for visiting!  Please continue your blog hop by going to the links below!

Taylored Expression's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

I'm so happy to be a part of Taylored Expression's  Blast from the Past Blog Hop!

I used the stamp set called Beary Special.

I paper pieced the back pack using Basic Grey paper. I used Copics to color the cute little bear. I used the Bow Easy to make the cute double looped bow. The background paper was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and the images and sentiment were cut out using Spellbinders dies. I just love the bling too, of course! Below is a side view to show a little dimension.

Thank you for visiting today! I can't wait to see what everyone else has posted so I'm off to check out the rest of the blog hop!