Taylored Expressions - A Thrill of Hope

Hello! I can't believe that we are days away from Christmas...it is sneaking up on me this year!  At some point during the craziness, I did get a chance to play with a Taylored Expressions stamp set called "A Thrill of Hope." (It was gifted to me by a generous TE online friend and I am so grateful!)

For my first card, I stamped the sentiment in Cherry Pop ink and the branches in Cilantro ink on kraft card stock. I added some extra dimension by die cutting some "Pine Clippings" as well as some glitter stars using the "Little Bits - Stars" die. The base image was die cut using the Petite Scallop Rectangle Stacklets and after adding white splatters I adhered it to a dark red card. 

The next two cards I made using the same inks (as well as some other green inks for shading and interest) but these were stamped directly onto the card base for a one-layer card.

Here they are all together:

Thanks, as always, for stopping by the blog. I appreciate your visit!

Tahe good care,

Judy

The Paper Players #620: A Santa Card!

Hello, friends! I'm here today with a card I'm entering in the current challenge at The Paper Players -- a theme challenge by LeAnne to feature Santa on a card.

Full discosure -- this card is new and has never been shared before, but I actually made it after Christmas last year (after I got the goodies to play with to make the card), and then I put it away to use this season. Does anyone else do that...make Christmas cards after Chritsmas and stash them away for the next year?

This card departs from my typical clean and simple style, but it was a ton of fun to make! It features a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection stamp and stencil set called "Vintage Holidays."  I think I used almost every bit of this set on one card!

I can't wait to see the other Santa card submissions for this challenge...the design team knocked it out of the park!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Take good care,

Judy

Taylored Expressions - Happy Birthday (Times Two!)

Hello, friends! Just stopping in quickly to share two cards I made using some pretty Taylored Expressions supplies. 

I have had this "Birds and Blooms" stencil in my stash and figured it was a good time to ink it up! I made two backrounds, one with a white background and another with tone-on-tone inking. I honestly like them both!

For both cards, I stamped, embossed, die cut, and layered the birthday sentiment (from the "On Occasion" stamp set) atop a purple vellum die-cut oval. Once done stenciling the background, I die cut the panels using a stitched rectangle die, added some glitter Stickles on some of the dots, and mounted them onto black card bases.

Thank you for stopping by...I always appreciate your visits!

Judy

Taylored Expressions - Foil It Cards

Hello, friends! I'm stopping by today to share several sets of cards I recently made using Taylored Expressions Foil-It card panels. (I use a Scotch laminator to foil and it works just fine!)

My first set of mini slim cards features the Foil It - Mini Slim Doodle Flowers cards paired with a birthday sentiment from the Signature Sentiments set.  I colored the images with Copics and added some gems for a final touch.

I embossed the silver sentiment (on right) to compliment the silver foil on the card.

My second set of mini slim cards used the same Foil It - Mini Slim Doodle Flowers cards paired with a birthday sentiment from the On Occasion set.  This time I added splatters of ink in the background.

My final set of standard A2 cards used the Foil It - Diamond Botanical cards paired with sentiments from the Signature Sentiments set. I masked over the main image and stamped woodgrain background using Sea Salt ink. The images were colored with Copics.

I'm glad I had the chance to replenish my card stash, especially birthday cards, for the upcoming fall months...we have a bunch of family birthdays in October and I'll be glad to have these on hand!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Judy

Taylored Expressions - Graduation Cards Round 1

Hello, friends! 'Tis the season for graduations, and this spring we have had lots of graduations in our family! My two oldest children both graduated from college, along with one of my nephews. SO...I have been making a bunch of cards for my family as well as some of their friends. (I thought I'd share them here before I begin round two of graduation cards for the students I work with that will be graduating from high school next month!)

Every spring, Taylored Expressions releases graduation stamps as well as pre-printed "Foil It" cards for the year that can be foiled with a Minc or laminator.  This year, TE also came out with a Create-In-Quads graduation celebration stencil set. Paired together, these supplies all make graduation card mass production simple and fun. In addition, these supplies allow you to personalize your cards using the school colors...I love that!

The first graduation card of the spring is for my nephew who graduated from Emory University. I used the school colors and gold foil on the sentiment to pull it all together.

 

Next up...cards for my oldest son and his friends who all graduated from Loyola University Maryland. The school colors are green and grey, as you can see featured in each of the different card styles. 

Finally, a card for my daughter who graduated from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The school colors are crimson and grey. "The Hawk will never die!"

Here are all of the Taylored Expressions products used to make these cards:

    * Create-In-Quads Hooray Layering Stencil

    * Foil It - Grad

    * Little Bits - Grad Cap

Thank you for stopping by!

Judy

Taylored Expressions - Easter Cards

Hello, friends! Holy Week is upon us, and I am preparing to send out Easter cards to my family and friends. I was happy to get a chance to play with two different sets of Easter stamps from Taylored Expressions. Let's get right to it!

My first two cards feature the "Spring Wreath" Layering Stencil and coordinating dies (for one version). The sentiment on the outside of the card is from the "Handlettered Easter" set, stamped in black ink and then embossed with diamond embossing powder for some sparkle. The Bits and Pieces Drip Drops were the perfect finishing touch. 

The wooden plank background is an Impression Obsession image stamped using Hero Arts Soft Wheat ink. All other inks used in these projects are from Taylored Expressions.

The next version of this card is the same as the first, except this time I die cut the wreath and popped it up on black foam for dimension.

Inside the cards, I added a sentiment from the "The Inside Scoop - Easter Blessings" set. 

How versatile! I love this stamp set so much!

__________________________________________________________________________

For my second trio of cards, I used the same sentiment sets noted above, but this time I designed the card base around the "Third Day Border" die and "Here Comes the Sun" stencil. Using a variety of TE inks and some masking, stenciling, and in some cases paper-piecing, I came up with three different versions of a similar card design. I can't decide which I like best!

On this version, I used a glitter pen to add glitter to the sun rays...a very subtle effect.

All of these cards have this sentiment on the inside...

I hope those of you who celebrate it have a very blessed Holy Week and a glorious Easter. 

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Judy

The Paper Players - Thanks

Hello, friends! I'm here today to share a card I made for the current "clean and simple" challenge this week at The Paper Players (PP583). Laurie chose the theme: blooms!

When I saw the prompt, it made me think immediately of my Taylored Expressions "Autumn Array" stamp and stencil combo set. I paired it with a TE "Signature Thanks" die cut from gold foil paper and mounted on black foam for dimension.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great day,

Judy

CAS Christmas Card Challenge - Deck the Halls

Hello, friends! I'm popping in today to share a clean and simple one-layer Christmas card. 

I'm playing along with the February challenge hosted by Chistine at CAS Christmas Card Challenge to make a winter scene.

I made sure to keep it clean and simple by making a one-layer card with lots of white space and no embellishments...my kind of card!

I love this sweet Penny Black image paired with this large scripty My Favorite Things sentiment. The subtle ground, blue sky shading, and subtle snowflakes set the "winter scene."

The design team made some fabulous cards for this challenge...be sure to check them out here.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Judy

Addicted to Stamps and More! #422 - Christmas

Hello, friends! I'm happy to be back on the blog today, this time to share a Christmas card that I am entering into the current Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #433 - Christmas.

I love this sweet image from Penny Black (I'm not sure of the name of the stamp set, but if you know please tell me!).  It paired perfectly with a large sentiment from the My Favorite Things "Handwritten Holiday" set. 

I added ultra fine glitter to the ornament to give it some extra shine!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Judy

PP576 and Taylored Expressions Stenciled Birthday

Hello, friends! I wanted to stop by to share a set of three birthday cards I made while playing with my Taylored Expressions inks and stencils. I'm also playing along with the current The Paper Players PP576 - Tic Tac Toe Challenge from Joanne - I went down with die cut-birthday-stencil on all three cards, but I'm offically entering the second card pictured (with the scalloped edge die cut border).

I received this fun stencil as part of the TE Advent Calendar this year.  Every day for the month of December I enjoyed opening my Advent Calendar envelope, and this fun stencil was one of my favorite calendar items. (There were two stencils in the envelope...I will have more cards to share using the other stencil soon!) The colorful enamel dots were also part of the Advent Calendar...how fun!

One of the things I love about this little stencil is that it fits perfectly inside the TE "Scalloped Circle Masking Stencils," so that the smaller stencil image looks "framed" when you ink them up together.

Here are the three card variations I made, using a variety of TE mini ink cubes and blender brushes, and with the help of Pixie Spray so the stencils stayed in place:

The sentiment is from the TE "Anytime Expressions" sentiment set that was free with purchase a few months ago.  I must say this is one of my go-to sentiment sets!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Have a great day, 

Judy