June 18, 2010

Shopping For A Cause

Hi there everyone!  I'm just popping in today with some important news to share!  My fellow Verve Diva, Susan Liles' husband, Eric, is battling a VERY AGGRESSIVE form of cancer and due to his treatment has used up all of his sick time.  Verve Stamps, The Cat's Pajamas and My Favorite Things have teamed up together to have a benefit sale.  Save 10% when you shop these stores Friday, June 18 through Sunday, June 20 and they'll pass a portion of every sale on to the Liles family!  This will give Susan and her family time to focus on Eric and his treatment instead of the mounting bills!

Papercrafters are such a generous bunch!  I hope you'll consider shopping for a cause!  Also, if you'd rather donate, Susan has a donate button on the right hand side of her blog!

Thank you!
 

June 15, 2010

Papertrey Posse Sketch with Daffodils!

Doesn't happen very often, but this is my third post for today!  Please scroll down for Mercy's Sketch and the TE Key Ingredients Challenge.  Thank you!

A few weeks ago a group of ladies from the Papertrey Forums got together to start a new group called the Papertrey Posse.  We will be doing monthly challenges and anyone can play along.  Jessica is our first hostess and she challenged us with a fabulous sketch!




Surprise Surprise!!  I used Year of Flowers: Daffodils!!  I paired it with Distressed Stripes, Kraft and Lemon Tart cardstock, the Picnic Plaid Impression Plate, Lemon Tart Twill and some serious (for me) distressing!  I realize now that I forgot to round the top right corner!!  Oh well, I really love how this came out!!

If you'd like to play along you can link your card here so we can all check it out!  We'd love to see your creations!!

Thanks for stopping by!

TE June Key Ingredients Challenge

Hi there everyone!  It's time for the monthly Key Ingredients Subscription Challenge from Taylored Expressions! If you're already a subscriber you may have already received your kit!  This month's kit features October Afternoon patterned paper paired with coordinating buttons, flower cut-outs, ribbon, and cardstock.

Creating your own flower embellishment is the challenge this month! Layering, punching, distressing, whatever it takes to create your own beautiful flower. And the elements in this month's kit will help. Please use the flower diecuts, paper flowers, and buttons to create your flower embellishment. You can use it as the focal point of your card or to embellish your stamped creation.




I made a card using these fun flower embellishments from the June Key Ingredients Kit!  I ADORE the October Afternoon Fly a Kite DP so this was an easy challenge for me!  I love the look of rolling hills made with DP that I see all over blogland and decided it would be perfect for my card!  I used one of the gingham prints from the kit and hand cut the rolling hills.  They were sponged with some distress ink and then stitched with my sewing maching to stand out.  I assembled my flowers by playing around a bit with all of the fun die cuts and buttons included in the KI kit!  The sentiment is from the new TE set called Garden Party Blooms. (It's quickly become a fave set of mine)  I threaded some thread through the button for some added interest and adhered it to the sentiment.

I love the Key Ingredients kit not only because they are perfectly coordinated, but because Taylor stays right on top of the trends and each kit is current with what is new in the stamping/scrapping world, such as new designer papers and embellishments!  I love to reach for them especially when I'm short on time because all of the thinking has been done for me!

There are many benefits to becoming a subscriber such as a 10% discount on any order placed in the Taylored Expressions store between the 10th and 13th to be combined with your subscription shipment with no additional shipping fees!  Can't beat that!  To learn about the benefits of becoming a subscriber you can click here.

Don't forget to check out what the Baker's Dozen has done with this challenge:

And joining us for this hop are the following talented ladies:

Between June 15th - 19th, anyone who purchases a 6 month subscription, renews a 6 month subscription, or extends their current subscription for 6 months will receive a FREE stamp set designed by Taylor! The stamp set (valued at $21.95) will be exclusive to subscribers and sent out upon completion of your 6 month subscription.


A 6 month subscription is just $23.95 a month (which includes shipping).




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June 14, 2010

A New Little Someone {MTSC78}



Hi there everyone!  It's Tuesday and it's time for another one of Mercy's fab sketches!  I went with a baby theme this week!  I had been itching to use some of my Papertrey stamps and Baby Button Bits was calling my name!  I substituted stitching for the portion you see under the main image on the sketch!   The DP is Pretty Pastels from Papertrey. I could not get these colors to photograph properly!  This was the best out of three separate "photo shoots"!

Don't forget to check out Mercy's Muses to see more awesome inspiration with this sketch:

Jessica Knutsen (June 2010 Guest Muse)
& of course, Mercy





June 12, 2010

Happy Birthday, Taylor!!


Happy Saturday everyone!   A few of Taylor Van Bruggen's friends have gotten together to throw her a virtual birthday party!  There are so many incredible women participating in Taylor's Birthday Blog Hop and I have a list of them at the end of this post!

Well, Taylor, it has truly been a pleasure to actually get to know one of my stamping idols!!  I completely enjoy being a part of your team and I hope you have a FANTASTIC birthday!  Oh, and my card will be just a little late!  LOL!

I found it only fitting that I use a new set from Taylored Expressions designed by the Birthday Girl herself, Garden Party Blooms!  I {heart} this set!  I also paired it with this week's sketch from the Birthday Girl, TESC117!  I tilted my main panel just a smidge from the original sketch.....

Don't forget to head on over to Taylor's Blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!


Thank you for stopping by!


Stamps:  Garden Party Blooms, Branching Out (sentiment)
Paper:  Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream, October Afternoon Farm Fresh DP
Ink:  Simply Chartruese (PTI), Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories & Tools:  Corner Chomper, Medium Scallop Die, Ric Rac Die, Button, Twine, Twill Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

June 11, 2010

Thinking Of You


Hi there everyone!  Summer with the kids is already kicking me in the rear!  My stamping time this week has been next to nothing!  I holed myself up in my craft area today so I could get the mojo flowing and man did it feel good!

I used two brand new set from Taylored Expressions, Summer Afternoon and Care & Comfort.  I had my husband's aunt in mind while creating this card.  Phyllis is fighting bone cancer right now and I just want her to know that we are thinking about her!  She is one of my favorite people and it's really hard to hear about her struggles!  We will be seeing her tomorrow at a family barbecue and I'll give this to her then.

I used October Afternoon Fly a Kite DP for the card.  The layout originally started out as this week's Mojo Monday sketch, but I veered away from it in the end!  But it did inspire this card!

Well, thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great weekend!


Stamps:  Summer Afternoon & Care & Comfort (Taylored Expressions)
Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, October Afternoon Fly A Kite DP
Ink:  Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Accessories & Tools:  Curved Rectangle Nesties, Dark Chocolate Twill, Martha Stewart Punch, Circle Nesties, Corner Chomper, Brads, Foam Tape


June 7, 2010

You Mean The World To Me {MTSC77}





Hi there everyone!  It's Tuesday and it's time for another one of Mercy's fabby sketches!!  I LOVE this week's sketch!  So many possiblities!  I used a color combo of Kraft, Pure Poppy and White and paired it with a new beautiful set from Verve called One Person.  I heat embossed the flower with white embossing powder on vellum cardstock and colored it from behind.  The circle with the flourish was also heat embossed with white embossing powder on Kraft cs and cut out.  I rounded all the corners with my Corner Chomper....told you I was addicted!

For more inspiration using this sketch, don't forget to check out the other Muse's!

Jessica Knutsen (June 2010 Guest Muse)
& of course, Mercy


 

June 6, 2010

CPS Sketch #170 Love You Muchly


Hi there everyone!  I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!  Our weather has been beautiful!  We spent yesterday swimming with the girls and this morning was spent going to the Farmer's Market and Target!

After we got home I sat down so I could work on this week's CPS sketch.  My Favorite Things is the sponsor this month and if you participate in the sketch there will be a winner!  Well, I have a list of stuff I'd like from MFT, but the budget can't cover it all, so why not try to win?  LOL!

So here is my card using CPS Sketch #170.  I used one of my Pure Innocence girls, Heart Stripes.  I paired her with some October Afternoon dp...it's a mix of OA paper, but I can't remember which pads!  I throw them all into a plastic bag once I start using them so they are all mixed.  I believe they are Farm Fresh & Fly a Kite, but don't hold me to that.

Well, I hope you all have a great week!  I'll be back tomorrow night with Mercy's Tuesday sketch!  You don't want to miss it!
Stamps:  Pure Innocence Heart Stripes (MFT)
Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, October Afternoon DP
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers
Accessories & Tools:  Curved Rectangle Nesties, Aqua Mist Satin Ribbon, Large Scallop Die (PTI), Cork, Sewing Machine, Rustic Jute Twine, Foam Tape


June 4, 2010

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

 Hi there everyone!  It's release day over at Taylored Expressions!! Yippee!  That means everything you've seen throughout the week from the Baker's Dozen is now available for purchase!

But don't leave yet!  The Baker's Dozen has another round of fabulous inspiration using all of the sets you've seen this week!  I have two more peeks to share with you using my favorite Cuppie set to date, Udderly Sweet and the fabulous new Hangin' Out At the Beach!


Oh my word.....isn't farmer Cuppie the cutest?  I made this card with my hubby in mind, hence all the love!  I started by stamping the image in Memento Black and coloring with Copics.  I cut the image out with a Heart Nestie and before removing it from the die sponged the sky using a scallop circle as the template and then sponging some dirt at the bottom.  The sun is from Garden Party Blooms.  The sentiment was cut out with a Ribbon Tag Trio die and was sponged with Spring Rain ink before removing from the die.  All of the cardstock, dp and ribbon are from the Udderly Sweet Project Pantry Kit


This next card uses Hangin Out At the Beach and I tried something I'd never done before.....a Shaker Card!  It was so easy and I just love how it turned out!  I followed the tutorial for Shaker Cards here.  I used the darling (wish I could fit into it) bikini.  The shaker portion of the card is filled with sand.  A little twine and a button finishes off the front. 


I didn't have room for the sentiment on the front, so I finished the inside!  Oh, and I used the Corner Chomper again....it now has a permanent spot on my desk!  Never thought I could love a tool as much as I love the Corner Chomper!

Don't forget to cruise around to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has to showcase today!!


June 3, 2010

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peeks ~ Day 3!

Hi there everyone!  Today is day three of the Taylored Expressions sneak peeks and today the Baker's Dozen will be showing you peeks of the new 4th of July A la Carte stamps designed by Taylor herself and another fab set, Hangin' Out - At the Beach, another exciting addition to our popular Hangin' Out set designed by Nancy McKinney.

I have a sample of the 4th of July A la Carte stamps!  So let's get to it!


The image used on my card is one of the new 4th of July A la Carte images and is called God Bless the USA.  All of the dp and cardstock, with the exception of the Kraft cardstock, is from the July Project Pantry Kit.  You will love the DP in this kit!   I used Taylor's sketch from last Friday, TESC115.   I rounded some more corners (I think I'm addicted) with my Corner Chomper and added some silver Stickles to the center of the sparklers.  The brads are from my stash.

All of the 4th of July A la Carte stamps (there are three) will retail for $4.95 each.  The July Project Pantry Kit will retail for $14.95.  You can also purchase all three 4th of July A la Carte images along with the July Project Pantry for $26.95.  That's about a 10% savings when you purchase them all together!

Here is what is included in the July Project Pantry:
20 sheets 6x6 patterned paper from the We R Memory Keepers Old Glory collection
9 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cardstock (Red, Blue, and Cream)
4.5 yards of ribbon (1.5 yards each of three different styles)
30 rhinestone stars (red, white, and blue)
6x6 Star Shower Stencil
Fire Engine Red glitter

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has done with the new sets peeked today!


Thanks for stopping by!