TESC another card

If you read my last post, you know that Taylor is closing the doors on the Taylored Expressions Sketches.  It's sad, but she is going out with a bang!  There are 4 different sketches to choose from or you can play with all of them!  I couldn't resist making another card, so I used sketch #161.

I pulled out this adorable little set called Beary Special.  That little bear just makes me smile.

Here's a closer look with the little bear holding a stick pin.  My son said the bear reminded him of a teddy bear he had as a young child (minus the wings).

 Stamps:  Beary Special

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  SU Island Indigo, SU Ridinghood Red, SU dp, CDS Cottonball White

Accessories:  Copics, Maya Road stick pin, foam tape, TE Medium Layering Doily Die, SU ruffled ribbon

Be sure to head over to Taylor's Blog for all of the details and scroll down to see my first post.  There are prizes up for grabs simply by playing along with these wonderful sketches!

A Farewell to the TE Sketches

Today I am quite sad :(  The time has come to say goodbye to the Taylored Expressions Sketches.  You can get all of the details over at Taylor's Blog.

They may be ending, but let's not end on a sad note. . .let's go out with a bang!  Taylor has prepared 4 different sketches for the last hoorah, and you can pick one or all 4 to participate in.  

We will draw random winners for the following challenges:

• One winner from each sketch to receive a $10 gift certificate to the TE Store
• One lucky person that participates in ALL 4 sketches will receive a $40 gift certificate to the TE Store

 

As today marks the end of our beloved sketch challenges, we wanted you to still be able to come back and play with those favorites or ones you never had time to play with.  Check out a full selection of past sketches HERE.

I chose sketch #158 for today.

As always, the sketch is a beaut!  I used the Wow You're Engaged from the Stamps A La Carte for my card, and even pulled out some scraps from an older TE KI Kit.  Do you see the Medium Layering Doily Die in the background?

Stamps:  Wow You're Engaged

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Rose Red

Paper:  TE KI Kit 

Accessories:  Copics, Star Dust Stickles, foam tape, TE Medium Layering Doily Die, scallop edged punch, pink ribbon

Now be sure to head over to the rest of the Sketch Crew's blogs for more sketchy inspiration, and come back here throughout the challenge time frame as I'll have samples from the other sketches to show!

Cassie Trask

Jami Sibley

Lisa Hjulberg

Lori Craig

Monika Davis Rachel Sztonyk

Tracy Clemente

Taylor VanBruggen 

Guest -- Rosemary Dennis 


Don't be sad about it ending, just go get sketchy because I can't wait to see what you create!

Mr. & Mrs.

I have another card to show you today for the May Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients Kit challenge which is called 'May Flowers'.  I'm not sure what it is about this kit that I love so much, but I do love it!  I always buy the extra cardstock pack, because I usually make CAS cards.  The dp in this kit is to die for, so I'm using it up at record rates, lol.

I used my Royal Digs set from TE with this May TE KI Kit once again, because I just love that castle.  I bought a couple of dies to go with it. . .Royal Treatment Dies & Majestic Border Die, along with the Layering Doily Die Medium.

Here are the darling die cut crowns that I added some dimensional pearls too as jewels.

And while I was at it, I went ahead and dolled up the inside with the a couple of those awesome emboss resist canvas flowers. . .so cute!

Stamps:  Royal Digs

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Memento Angel Pink

Paper:  May 12 TE KI Kit

Accessories:  sponge, Copics, twine, foam tape, TE Royal Treatment Die, TE Majestic Border Die, TE Layering Doily Die Medium, pink ribbon & canvas flowers from TE KI Kit

Thanks for stopping in! 

Grill Master

I told you I've been crafty, hehe!  Second post of the day!  I do have more to show, but I will spread that out over the next couple of days.  During Taylored Expression's last release, they had a party on their Facebook page (well, they do every release).  I happened to win this fun new Moka stamp called Moka Bobby!  I was thrilled!  He came in the mail a couple of days ago with my May 12 Taylored Expression Key Ingredients Kit.

I inked him up and colored him right away, and made this card for a couple of challenges.  He fits the Paper and Such Father's Day theme, and the Simon Says Father's Day theme.

Stamps:  Moka Bobby

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Ridinghood Red

Paper:  May 12 TE KI Kit

Accessories:  Copics, sponge, foam tape

Come back tomorrow for more stampy goodness!

Happily Ever After

I'm sure a lot of you can attest that this has been a very busy and crazy week!  It's the end of baseball / softball season, so we are frantically running around with last minute details for that along with everything else!  

I created this fun card for a couple of different challenges going on.  I'm getting in under the wire for the SFYTT for May. . .whew!  When I received my latest Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients Kit, I was over the moon!  I'm pretty sure I feel that way every month, haha.  I love the bold bright colors of this one, and the KI challenge this month is 'May Flowers'.  The canvas emboss resist flowers in the kit are so fun!  I colored mine with RV11 and then inked the edges with some Ridinghood Red ink from SU.  The image and sentiment are from the darling little set called Royal Digs from TE (which I am just loving!).

Stamps:  Royal Digs

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Night of Navy, SU Ridinghood Red

Paper:  May 12 TE KI Kit

Accessories:  Copics, sponges, May 12 TE KI Kit, So Saffron button

Thanks for stopping in.  I'll have more to show, because despite being busy I have been craftin' my little heart out ;)

CDS Monthly Blog Hop -- Something With Wings

Welcome to the Monthly Clear Dollar Stamps Blog Hop!  You should have made your way over from Jen's Blog, but if you didn't you'll want to make your way back to the start. . .Lori's blog.  This month we were given the theme:

Things with Wings

I knew right away that I wanted to use the fairly new digital image called Cheeps!  Cheeps just makes me grin whenever I use it :D

Images:  Cheeps

Paper:  CDS Cottonball White, SU Island Indigo

Copics:  RV14, YR12, YG07, BG05, BV12, Y15, Y17

Accessories:  foam tape, googlie eyes

I hope that you're commenting along the way, because one random winner is going to win a $25 gift code to use at the store for digital images!  Now that you're done here, head on over to Jennifer's blog to see what wonderful creation she has for you!

Clearly Inspired Challenge #52 -- Sketch

It's the 3rd Friday of the month, and that means another challenge over at Clearly iStamp!  This time we have a sketch for you!  I do love a good sketch :)

I pulled out the May featured digi for this challenge, which is just too cute to pass up.  It's called Chutes from Clear Dollar Stamps, and that little piggy just make me giggle.  He comes with some adorable sentiments too, but I just couldn't decide so I left it blank :)

Images:  Chutes

Paper:  pink cardstock, CDS Cottonball White, American Crafts dp

Copics:  RV000, RV11, V06, V12

Accessories:  pink buttons, purple twill ribbon, foam tape, Magenta Viva Pearl Pen

You should definitely stop by Clearly iStamp to play along.  I would love to see what you make, and you might win something :D

It's Happy Hour Somewhere

It's been a bit of a discouraging week, but I'll try not to whine about that too much.  Regardless, this seemed like a fitting card to make considering how I've been feeling.  I think I've just been discouraged with my crafting.  It doesn't seem to be producing the results that I hope for, but I believe that is because my eyes have fallen off of Jesus with all of it.  I've been focusing more on what it's doing for me rather than who gave me this joy.  As I'm always telling my kids, 'do everything as though you are doing it for the Lord'.  Sadly, I have not been following my own advice.

While I'm not sure God would be all about me finding a 'happy hour somewhere', I'm certain He would want me to relax and enjoy the love He's given me:  my love of paper crafting.  That is my 'happy hour' :)

I made this card for the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge, which was a sketch.  I used the Get Outta Town set.

Stamps:  Get Outta Town

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  red, unknown dp, CDS Cottonball White

Accessories:  Copics, foam tape, orange twine

On a sad note, we lost a family pet just days ago.  We had gotten Sherman back in 2005 when he was a pup and had him with us for just over 2 years.  Sherman suffered from a terrible skin problem that got to be too much financially for us to handle, so my inlaws took him in for my kids.  They took on the financial burden, and loved him, and this way we could go visit him.  He died 2 days ago at just over 7 years old.  We have been so sad :(  R.I.P. Sherm. . .we miss you already!

A pic of Sherman back in 2006.

Clear Dollar Stamps Release Day

It's Digital Release Day over at Clear Dollar Stamps, and I get to show you a couple of the new digital images!  The first one I'm showing you was designed by the super talented Lisa, and it's called Bumbles.  Isn't that little bee adorable?!

 Images:  Bumbles
Ink:  Black Soot Distress ink

Paper:  CDS Cottonball White, CDS Night Eclipse, EP Dots & Stripes

Accessories:  Copics, corner rounder

The next set I'm showing you just cracks me up!  It's My Potty is the name of the set.  C'mon, you're at least smiling after looking at that aren't you?!

Images:  It's My Potty

Paper:  teal, MME Dilly Dally, CDS Cottonball White

Accessories:  Copics, red grosgrain ribbon, corner chomper, foam tape, gold spica pen

Thanks for stopping in to check out CDS's new releases.  Head over to Lori's blog to see the full sets, and check out my sidebar for links to the rest of the talented DT's blogs.

TSG's Mother of All Blog Hops!

Welcome to the 3rd annual Mother of All Blog Hops sponsored by There She Goes Clears Stamps!   Over the next two days, we (customers and trendsetters!) will be featuring some of our favorite There She Goes Clear Stamp sets!   Not only that, we’re going to give YOU a chance to win some fabulous prizes!

To find out how, please go to the There She Goes’ blog and read the simple instructions.

This is my first time ever participating in the blog hop with TSG, and I'm super excited!  I used this darling little set called In All the World.  I colored the image with my Copics and did some airbrushing as well.

I find this sentiment to be so enduring.

And here's a closer look at that darling image.

Stamps:  In All the World

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Onyx Black

Paper:  TE KI Kit

Accessories:  Copics & airbrush, Circle Nesties, orange twill ribbon, black embossing powder, corner rounder


Thanks for stopping in, and be sure to make your way through the hop!  You won't want to miss a thing!

Just Because

They are mixing things up a bit over at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge Blog.  They are going to start to have weekly challenges!  How fun!  This week the challenge is a 'Trend Watch' challenge, and here is the inspiration photo:

Normally, I always seem to be inspired by colors, but this time I ran with the rays of sunshine.  I used a ton of different scraps of orange dp along with a couple of  Paper Smooches sets called FOLKal Points & Word Up.  Great sets I tell ya!

Stamps:  FOLKal Points & Word Up
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Pumpkin Pie

Paper:  orange & yellow dp, CDS Worn Parchment, CDS Cottonball White

Accessories:  Copics, foam tape, corner rounder, circle punch

Thanks for stopping in!  I'm hoping, as always, to have more time to craft later :)

Grammarly Grammar Checker Product Review

I was approached recently about a being willing to review a grammar checker called Grammarly Grammar.  I assume it had something to do with the title of my blog, but since I rarely discuss home schooling I was a bit confused.  My first response was that they had the wrong blog, but after further consideration I agreed to give it a try.  My next response was that my grammar was probably close to perfect, so I was going to have the last laugh.  

'What is Grammarly Grammar?' you might be asking yourself.  According to the home page:


Grammarly is an automated proofreader and your personal grammar coach. Check your writing for grammar, punctuation, style and much more.

If you care about grammar, which I do, you'll really like this grammar checker.  For starters, you copy and paste or even upload what you'd like checked and select from 6 different papers types.  Your choices are General, Business, Academic, Technical, Creative, and Casual.  You can also choose whether you'd like the Plagiarism Detection on or off.  I went ahead and had the first paragraph of this post checked under the General setting, and found that I had one critical writing issue.

This is an example of what you might see.

The report covered such things as Contextual Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, and Style and Word Choice.  In order to access the advanced editing features, you would need to create an account.  You can sign up for a free 7 day trial, which means you have nothing to lose by trying it.

I'm excited about the prospect of having this grammar checker at my fingertips.  It will give me confidence in my writing, and possibly even encourage me to broaden my writing style.

Grad Gift Card Holder

Head on over to Clearly iStamp to check out this gift card holder!

CIC51 -- What Comes Up, Must Come Down

It's the first Friday of the month of May!  I know, I know. . .where's the time going?!  Regardless, it's time for another Clearly Inspired Challenge over at Clearly iStamp.  This time the challenge is:

What Comes Up, Must Come Down

That can be interpreted as anything up in the sky. . .a bird, balloon, plane, or how about a pig and his parachute?!  Haha, that's the featured digi that Lisa came up with for us to use called Chutes.  You can win it, or you could go buy it HERE.

I used the featured digi, Chutes, for my card.  I just could not resist this darling image.  What's not to love about a  pig and a parachute?  I left a sentiment off, because I'm not sure exactly who I want to give this to.  However, this set does have some darling sentiments with it.

 Images:  Chutes

Ink:  SU Bermuda Bay, SU Ridinghood Red, Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  CDS Worn Parchment, MME Kraft Funland

Accessories:  foam tape, sponges, Prismacolor & gamsol, Magenta Viva Pearl Pen

Thanks for stopping in, and be sure to head to the Clearly iStamp blog to check out the challenge and the rest of the DT's inspiration cards.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

TE KI Tags Challenge

While I must say that I wouldn't have normally picked this paper, I am so thrilled that I have it.  That is one of the great things about the Key Ingredients Kits. . .they sometimes make me step outside of myself.  These papers are filled with patterns and can actually be used all by themselves. . .without stamps!  Crazy!

Here is my submission for the Taylored Expressions KI Tags Challenge.  I used one of the single stamps that Taylored Expressions carries called Faith and I pulled the sentiment from the Labels of Love set.  I just love it!  I also made this for today's Ways to Use it Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers which is distressing.

 Stamps:  Faith, Labels of Love

Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Paper:  April KI Kit

Accessories:  Copics, foam tape, tag & ribbon from KI Kit

Here's a card showing off the versatility of this kit.  I didn't use a single stamp. . .everything pictured is from the KI Kit!  How cool is that?!

Thanks for stopping by!

Matti's bear

My 10 year old daughter, Matti, wanted to participate in a couple of kid challenges, and who am I to stop her! I totally want to encourage her creativity, so I had her take the pictures, edit them, and now write this post.  Without further ado. . .here is Matti's creation and post:

Hi my name is Matti, and I decided to do the Jellypark Juniors challenge where you can make any type of card you want. In this card, I used my mom's Copics to color the bear. I got the ribbon from an animal pack. The sentiment came with the bear and the bear came in a gelatins pack. I used Glue dots to stick the buttons on. I had a fun time making this card.

 Stamps:  unknown bear stamp

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  paper pack:

Accessories:  Copics, SU buttons, stitched ribbon, foam tape

Thank you for checking out my card!

Happy Birthday to my Father-in-Law!

It's my father-in-law's 60th birthday in just 2 days, and naturally I'm behind on sending his card.  I'm terrible at sending cards, lol, which is obviously ironic.  I used the sketch from Splitcoaststampers (and flipped it) to make this card for his birthday.  I used a set from There She Goes Stamps called Zoo-pendous.  

Stamps:  Zoo-pendous

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  CDS Worn Parchment, brown & mustard cardstock, dp

Accessories:  Copics & airbrush, MFT Numbers Die-namics, foam tape

I better get moving, because I have a sick 11 year old on my hands today :(

Thanks for stopping in!  

Melia on her Shell-Phone

Today I have a card for the Mo's Digital Pencil challenge, which was to use your favorite color combination.  I'm enthralled with teals, so I colored Melia on her Shell-Phone with teals and a touch of purple.  I'm not sure what it is about teal. . .maybe it makes me think of the Gulf Coast beaches, but I LOVE it.  

Images:  Melia on her Shell-Phone

Ink:  SU Bermuda Bay

Paper:  CDS Cottonball White, teal cardstock, MME Dilly Dally

Accessories:  Copics, sponge, MFT Waves Die-namics, Labels 1 Nesties, SU Rich Razzleberry ribbon

I colored this image while sitting on the couch, and so I didn't write down which colors I used.  I should have, because I really like this combo.  Regardless, thanks for stopping by!