A Princess and Her Knight

Hi all,

It's such an exciting day for me as I'm joining the TESC Sketch Crew this week for sketch #157. It's SO fun to receive an e mail saying that you've won a sketch challenge, and since I love my Taylored Expressions stamps, the one I received from Taylor telling me I'd won Top Chef honors for TESC155 is extra special.

I left home a week ago Thursday, as I've been working in Northern California. That meant I had to pack some of my supplies and stamps so I could put together my card on the road. It's kind of "interesting" not having all one's supplies at hand, but I managed to bring what I needed for this card, even though I had no idea what the sketch would look like.

All of the papers, the tag, the ribbon and the blue paper flower are from the TE April Key Ingredients kit. My princess is colored with Copics and part of her dress is paper pieced. (Bodice and insert of skirt) After coloring her crown and slippers, I coated them with a layer of Star Dust Stickles. (All princesses should have sparkly crowns.) After coloring, she was fussy cut and popped up on the dies with dimensionals.

I stamped the her castle on the PP, very lightly, before adding the sketch elements over it. I like how it adds to the theme of the card. For the finishing touches, I added blue rhinestones to the hearts on the TE die and added some stitching around the edges. The sentiment is stamped on a kraft tag from the KI kit and one of the paper Pretties flowers was added with a dimensional.

And, for the inside of my card;
NO princess should be without her Knight in Shinning Armor:

Supplies
Stamps: Moka Princess Penelope, Moka Sir Henry and Royal Digs from Taylored Expressions
Papers: All from April's TE Key Ingredients, Buttercream and Lagoon card stock and Simple Stories Fabulous patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and Color Box Chalk blue and dark pink ink pads
Other: Classic circle Nesties, TE layering doily die - medium, MFT Die-namics Fishtail Flag dies, Star Dust Stickles, Kaiser rhinestones, pink stitched ribbon, kraft tag and blue paper pretties flower all from April KI kit, SU linen thread, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a "royally fabulous" weekend.
Colleen

Happy Spring - TESC155

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a great work week. I was in Los Angeles for a meeting Wednesday through Friday. I did get some stamping time earlier in the week and made this card for last Friday's TESC 155.

Supplies
Stamps: Hello Spring set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue and Whisper White card stock and SU DSP retired
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: classic oval and classic scalloped oval Nesties, SU embossing folder, TE medium scalloped border die, TE Friendship Blossom Dies and Butterflies Dies, SU fabric button brad, Kaiser orange rhinestones, sewing machine, Liquid Applique, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great Saturday evening and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Happy Easter

Hi all,

It's seems like ages since I've been on my blog. Unfortunately, not too much time lately to do any stamping. I had a few hours on Sunday afternoon to sit down and play and this is what I made.

As you can see, the sketch is the current TESC154. The patterned paper is from the March KI kit. I used the TE large layering doily die and the houndstooth impressions plate. The three blue flowers are white paper flowers that I colored with a Copic marker to match the paper.

Supplies
Stamps: Moka April petite stamp set by Taylored Expressions
Papers: TE dark pink and buttercream card stock and This and That patterned papers by Echo Park
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: TE large layering doily die and houndstooth impressions plate, classic circle Nesties, Kaiser light teal rhinestones, flower rhinestone, paper flowers, orange Stickles, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

Happy Birthday

Hello fellow stampers and bloggers,

I love the new My Mind's Eye patterned papers, Howdy Doody, and couldn't resist using them again on my TESC152 card.

As you can see, I combined several of the patterned papers on this card, as well as lots of sewing and lots of bling. IRL, this card really stands out in a crowd. I stamped the butterfly potion of the image onto the pink checked pp with Melon Mambo ink and fussy cut it to place over the butterfly in the circle for the focal point in the card.

My mom has a birthday coming up and I think this card will be perfect for her. She loves pinks and blues and I think she will get a kick out of the bling as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Embrace Beauty set and Fresh Flowers set (greeting) by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Sahara Sand and TE pink and choice snow white card stock and My Mind's Eye -Howdy Doody patterned papers
Ink: SU Sahara Sand, Melon Mambo and Memento tuxedo black
Other: TE medium scalloped border die, SU ticket corner punch, Labels 18 Nesties, SU rhinestones, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great Thursday everyone and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Love Shack, Baby Love Shack. . .

Who doesn't have this song running through their mind while playing with this sweet TE stamp set? :)

Here's my card for the new TESC151 challenge. Love the sketch this week and I'm so glad that Taylor and her crew are back with the Friday sketches.

I paper pieced the "Love Shack" with papers from January's Key Ingredients kit. (I think that the small heart paper kind of looks like bricks.) The heart windows are pieced with the dark red card stock from the kit then covered with red Stickles. The heart bushes in front are covered with green Stickles. The heart coming out of the chimney is from the new TE jumbo heart border die.

The rest of the papers and the heart buttons are also from the January KI kit.

Supplies
Stamps: Love Shack by Taylored Expressions
Papers: TE card stock and Crate Paper-Paper Hearts patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Riding Hood Red and R27 Copic
Other: classic circle and lacy circle Nesties, TE heart buttons, Stickles, sewing machine, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks all,
Colleen

Merry

First today, I want to congratulate Taylor on reaching 150 sketches. Her Friday sketch challenges are one of my very favorite to participate in, and  TESC150 is no exception. Here's my card: (warning, you might want to put on sunglasses before viewing)

Supplies:
Stamps: Merry Little Cocktail by Taylored Expressiosn
Card stock: TE bright pink, green and choice snow white
Patterned paper: 12 Days of Christmas by My Minds Eye
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Pink Passion
Other: TE Musical Swirls Impression plate, classic circle Nesties,
TE ribbon, TE small and medium scalloped border dies, SU oval punches, Spica glitter pens in green, blue and clear, Glossy Accents, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

Knock If You Dare . . . .

Good Monday morning stampers,

Yesterday I had the chance to stamp the day away. This is the second card that I made. It's my first Halloween card for this year. I love sending Halloween cards, so I thought I should get crackin'.

This card uses TESC #146 for the layout. I strayed slightly and didn't exactly use the three squares, but the basic sketch look is still there. I've used several new Taylored Expressions goodies from the September release. I love them all! I also used Kraft card stock so I can play along in Jeanie's That's Krafty Thursday #54 challenge.

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Spooky Wreath
Card Stock: TE kraft and black from the Spooky Project Pantry Kit
Patterned Papers: Apothecary Emporium by Echo Park, also from the TE Spooky Project Pantry Kit
Ink: SU craft black
Other: Judi Kins Black Diamond embossing powder, TE Spooky Fence border die, TE wreath die, TE Spooky Impressions plate, TE brads, TE orange ribbon, SU round and square punches, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a wonderful week ahead, and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Fabulous Day

Happy Wednesday everyone,

I made today's card to play along with the TESC#144. I decided to do a landscape oriented card to fit the large TE die, but otherwise, I stayed true to the layout. The papers are all from the August KI kit.

Supplies
Stamps: In The Park set by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE Razzleberry light, Classic Yellow Green and Snow White, August KI kit
Patterned paper: Country Drive by Echo Park, August KI kit
Ink: Memento rich cocoa and tuxedo black, Copics
Other: TE label die and butterfly die, SU punches, Fiskers corner rounder, TE pink ribbon, pink rhinestones, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope your week is going well. Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

TESC143 "Dude! You Rock"

Hey and Happy Friday all!
While Fridays are always great, it's an extra special, happy Friday for me today as I am one of the guest samplers for today's TESC143 sketch.

Thanks, Taylor for this opportunity!

When I saw the sketch in my e mail from Taylor, I knew almost immediately what I wanted to create with it. I've used one of the new July release stamp sets, Moka Justin. Isn't he just the cutest? I have two teen nephews who I love to pieces, and Justin makes me think of them. When I saw this set at release time, I knew I'd be snapping it up.

Here's the inside:

Justin is colored with Copics. The patterned papers are from last year's Rockstar Key Ingredients kit. (I thought a perfect showcase for Justin.) No ribbon and bow for Justin, so for the horizontal element, I used the guitar strings and the "You Rock" stamps from the TE 2010 "You're My Hero" stamp set and a paper guitar die piece from the 2010 Rockstar KI kit to finish the sentiment. The blue paper star die is also from the same KI kit.


To participate in this week's TESC, just create a card using the above sketch as inspiration. Upload your card to Splitcoaststampers and use the key word TESC143. All of the details can be found on Taylor's blog here.

To view the samples of the fabulous, regular TESC sketch crew artists and Pattie Goldman, my co-guest sampler for today, click on their links below:

• Jami Sibley
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tracy Clemente
• Co-Guest Stamper: Pattie Goldman

Supplies
Stamps: Moka Justin and You're My Hero by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE blue, black, green and choice snow white
Patterned paper: Teen Angst by We R Memory Keepers (2010 Rockstar KI kit)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Spica glitter pen in silver, Color Box chalk ink for inside sentiment
Other: classic circle Nesties, medium and small black brads, paper star and guitar dies from 2010 Rockstar KI kit, Seeing Spots EF, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Wow! So much fun to be a part of this. Thanks all and have a great weekend.

Colleen

Sending You Love; TESC #142

Hey stamping friends,

I had time to get three cards made on Sunday afternoon. Today I have the final one for you. It's a card that I made for the Taylored Expressons sketch challenge #142. This sketch was certainly challenging for me. {lol} I did some contemplating about what to do, that's for sure. 

What I came up with is this little hot air balloon scene. I used my new TE clouds impressions plate on some light blue cs and then used a sponge dauber to swirl on some darker blue and white chalk ink. The hills are just patterned papers cut in curves and stitched.

All of the cs and pp are from the June Key Ingredients kit.

Supplies
Stamps: Love Everywhere by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE patina and painted desert
Patterned Paper: Sweet Threads by Basic Grey
Ink: Color Box chalk ink
Other: TE clouds impression plate and cloud die, sewing machine, SU medium oval punch, heart rhinestone, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

Happy Fourth of July 2011

Happy Saturday all,

For those in the US, I hope everyone is enjoying day number one of a three day weekend. (I hope everyone has a three day weekend).  I took advantage this morning to do some stamping and made a card for the current TESC141. Since it is 4th of July weekend, I made an appropriate card.

I started with some We R Memories "Old Glory" patterned papers and a TE stamp set called Uncle Sam. A pretty quick and easy card until I decided to add rhinestones to the sparkler. Thank goodness for Embellie Jellie.

The gold-ish polka dot paper was embossed with the TE stars impressions plate, then sponged with chalk ink to bring out the stars. Taylor had a video tutorial on her blog a few days ago doing this with her cloud die. Great idea! (Thanks Taylor)

Supplies
Stamps: Uncle Sam by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU cherry cobbler and marina mist, TE choice buttercream
Patterned paper: Old Glory by We R Memories
Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics, Color Box chalk gold
Other: TE stars impressions plate, SU star, circle and small corner rounder punches, sewing machine, star shaped rhinestones, round rhinestones, SU vanilla brad, the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

TESC140 and Old MacDonald Had A Farm

While I should have been doing some work Monday night (I have to prepare a talk for eight Pathologists for next Monday) instead I stamped while watching the Padre game. I wanted to play with more new TE goodies and make a card for Friday's sketch. I inked up my new Green Acres set. Is this set cute or what!?

Supplies
Stamps: Green Acres by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU riding hood red, not quite navy, TE choice snow white
Patterned paper: SU retired
Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU riding hood red
Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, Die-namics grass die, SU punches, yellow candy dots, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great day and Thanks,
Colleen

TESC138 Graduation Card

It's "hump day" and that means only a few more days until a three day week end. Do you have plans? We are going to visit our friends again who live in the Central Coast wine country. I love it there, so I can't wait.

Today I have another graduation card made with the TE Dream Big set. Again, it's for one of my nephews. I made this following the latest TESC sketch, #138.

Supplies
Stamps: Dream Big by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU brilliant blue and TE choice snow white
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: memento tuxedo black, SU brilliant blue, Copics
Other: SU circle and star punches, SU star brads, dimensionals

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Party Hearty

Hi again. I was able to get lots of stamping done on Sunday which means I was able to make some scheduled posts for this week. Today's card I made for a friend's birthday later this month. As you can see, the layout is TESC137.

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions "Make a Wish"
Card stock: Taylored Expressions blues and choice snow white
Patterned paper: B-day Bash by Imaginisce
Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: expresso dimensional pearls, light blue liquid pearls, yellow Stickles, TE small scalloped border die, Kaiser rhinestones, sewing machine, classic oval Nesties, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks,
Colleen

Hello, Friend

It's a beautiful day today here in San Diego after rain all night long. Looks like we may be in for some more later as clouds are moving in again. We did some garage chores this morning, and now I'm ready to  get some more Easter cards made.

For this post, I have a couple cards I put together last night while watching the Padres. Three rain delays and I finally went to bed. :(
The first card is made with yesterday's TESC136 sketch. The wooden buttons and papers are from the March KI kit. Love these papers! In fact, I ordered the 6x6 pad with my last TE order.

Card two also uses papers from the March KI kit. This sketch I found on Splitcoast a few weeks ago. In fact, I've used it a couple times.

Supplies Card 1
Stamps: TE Friendship Blooms (flowers), TE New Beginnings (butterfly), and TE Banner Day One sets
Card stock: TE red and choice buttercream
Patterned paper: My Minds Eye "Stella Rose-Gerty"
Ink: fluid chalk lime pastel, fluid chalk warm red, SU daffodil delight, SU baja breeze and SU always artichoke
Other: TE coordinating flower, butterfly and banner dies, Kaiser rhinestones, TE wooden buttons, SU corner rounder punch, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Supplies Card 2
Stamps: TE New Beginnings
Card stock: TE red, pink, and choice buttercream
Patterned paper: My Minds Eye "Stella Rose-Gerty"
Ink: SU early expresso, fluid chalk warm red
Other: TE Leafy Branch and Frame It Up 1 dies, Kaiser rhinestones, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Taylor's Friday Sketch Challenges Are Back

It's super-duper that Taylor is back with her Friday Sketch Challenges. Here's this week's sketch, TESC # 135.

I made two cards to celebrate the TESC return to Fridays.

First up is a happy little doggie with big dreams about big bones.

I pulled out some of my left over papers and supplies from the Pet's Place Project Pantry from last summer to put this one together. Those bone paper clips are so cute don't you think? The thought bubbles are Die-namics dies cut from more mustard card stock and sponged with brown ink. The bones and paw print border are stickers from the Max and Whiskers line. The kraft background is stamped with the TE stitched background stamp and embossed with a cuttlebug EF.

The second card is a sweet treat of yummy, sparkly cupcakes.

These cupcakes are frosted with glitter and sparkly fluff. The cupcake papers are all paper pieced. The background turquoise paper is embossed with the TE scallops and circles impressions die and cut out with a big scalloped square Nestie. The patterned papers and cupcake brad are again from an old Project Pantry set.

Isn't it fun that the same sketch can yield such two different looks? I'm entering card one in The Spotted Chick's That's Krafty Thursday # 49 Challenge as well as the TESC #135 challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.

Supplies Card 1:
Stamps: Pet's Place and Stitched Background by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE Kraft, dark green and choice buttercream and SU more mustard
Patterned Paper: Max and Whiskers by Basic Grey
Ink: memento rich cocoa, SU early expresso, Copics
Other: Die-namics dies, Cuttlebug Seeing Dots EF, Basic Grey stickers and paper clips, SU round punches and corner rounder, SU twine, red Stickles, gold Spica pen, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Supplies Card 2:
Stamps: For the Love of Cupcakes by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU tempting turquoise, TE medium green and choice snow white
Patterned paper: Doodlebug
Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: TE glitter, Sparkly Fluff, SU round punches, big scalloped square Nestie, TE scallops and circles impressions die, TE pink polka dot ribbon, pink bakers twine, tag punch, cupcake brad, Kaiser white and red pearls, the Big Shot, and diemnsionals

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you're all having a fun weekend.

Colleen

Wishing You a Birthday Filled With Cupcakes

Hi all and Happy Sunday evening,

I've been away for a couple weeks, traveling for work, and just got home Friday evening. Unfortunately, not much time in my weekend to do much stamping, but I did manage to pull out my new TE November Key Ingredients Kit that arrived while I was away, and make a card for my best friend's birthday. This new KI kit has some really cute papers, mostly bakery related. I love the "retro" feel of them. For my card, I followed the TESC134 layout.

(click image to make larger)

Now that this post is finished, I need to finish packing for a week away again. This time for vacation. We are going across the country to Franklin, MA to spend Thanksgiving with friends.

I wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: For the Love of Cupcakes by Taylored Expressions
Card stock and patterned paper: November 2010 Key Ingredients Kit
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: chipboard and ribbon from TE November 2010 Key Ingredients Kit, classic oval and scalloped oval Nesties, cuttlebug EF, SU corner rounder, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Weekend Challenge Cards

It's Monday again already. Yikes!!! The weeks are flying by. My weekend was fairly productive again as far as stamping goes. I was able to make cards for three challenges.

First up is a card for Taylor's Friday TESC133. I again used the Snow Day Project Pantry kit for my papers. I just love the colors! I paired it with the Winter Wonderland stamp set.  As you can see,  I used the snow flake dies and eyelet border die from TE. The sparkly brads are from the SU Holiday Mini catalog and the EF is Cuttlebug snowflake.

Next, a card for Jen's Sketch For You To Try challenge. I do believe that this is my favorite of the three. Maybe it's the traditional Christmas colors, or maybe it's just the way it all came together, but I do really like this one. I again used one of Taylor's project pantry kits for the papers as well as one of her new Christmas stamp sets. They are, Sparkle and Cheer stamp set and Tinsel and Twig Project Pantry kit. I used three different Spellbinder dies and the little tag is SU.

Finally, a card that works for two more challenges, Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch 92 challenge and Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge, Act 55. Okay, I really struggled with these colors. I pulled out all kinds of paper and stamp sets and finally decided on this little thing. Sparkly and Bright is one of my all time favorite SU Christmas sets. (I think it's the reindeer). For the greeting "Sparkly & Bright," it's stamped in black ink, then I went over the letters with a black Copic Spica pen. In RL, it's very sparkly but not so much in the photo. Santa's beard is done with a clear glitter pen and the reindeer's nose is Christmas red stickles. The patterned papers are various retired SU Christmas DSPs. A few more Spellbinders dies and some SU black satin ribbon finish it off.

I hope you all have a marvelous week, and thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Oh, Nuts!

Hey all,

I was so busy last week that I didn't get a birthday card made for my brother, whose birthday was last Thursday. He's pretty understanding, but I did get a card made for him on Sunday and mailed yesterday. Fortunately for me, I have some of those cute belated birthday a-la-carte stamps from Taylored Expressions. I used TESC 132 for the layout, as well as papers from the October Key Ingredients kit.

(click image to make larger) 

Supplies
Stamps: Belated Birthday-Oh, Nuts! by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE blue from October Key Ingredients kit
Patterned paper: Imaginisce Apple Cider collection

Other: TE scalloped eyelet border die, classic circle Nesties, SU punches, SU brads, the Big Shot and dimensionals.

Have a good Wednesday all,
Colleen

Wicked

Good Sunday morning stampers,

I have a very quick post today continuing on a Halloween theme. This card uses the TESC131 layout with stamps and paper from Talored Expressions.

(click image to make larger)

Supplies
Stamps: Hangin' Out - Wicked Wardrobe set by TE
Cardstock: Taylored Expressions
Patterned paper: Eerie Collection by Basic Grey
Ink: Memento black, SU lovely lilac, Copics
Other: SU spider web embossing folder, SU scalloped border and oval punches, TE ribbon and buttons, Labels Three Nesties,  the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen