Made With Love: TE Key Ingredients Kit and SOTM

Hey there!  It's a new week with wonderful possibilities!  It's my husband's last week of residency and then he will graduate with an EMBA!  It will be a very busy week around here with him gone, but we are so excited :)

It was my mother's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and she is an avid quilter.  She loves all things sewing.  With this month's Taylored Expressions Stamp of the Month being themed sewing, it was the perfect time to make her some tags to go along with her beautiful art.  I used the SOTM called Made With Love along with the matching die (that is available to everyone and not just subscribers) called Stitched With Love.  The tags themselves were made with a couple of other TE dies: Label Stacklets 3 dies and Label Stacklets 4 dies.

 Stamps:  Made With Love SOTM

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  April 2014 TE KI Kit

Accessories:  rhinestone from kit, TE Stitched With Love die, TE Label Stacklets 3 die, TE Label Stacklets 4 die, baker's twine, foam tape, Copic multiliner, green Smooch, cream twine

Check out what comes in the kit:

There are 3 different Kit options, and every month I'm blown away.  You only have a couple more days to pick this one up, so don't delay.  There's even a GALLERY all set up so you'll never run out of ideas for how to use the stamps or the supplies!

Thanks for stopping in!

Taylored Expressions & Faber-Castell Blog Hop

Hello, crafty friends and welcome to the Taylored Expressions and Faber-Castell Blog Hop!  Can I just say, it's a match made in Heaven, my friends!  If you stumbled along to my blog, you're in for a treat as you keep up the hop.  There is so much inspiration in this fun 2 day hop!

Let's get started, shall we?  I had never used the Gelatos before, but I am officially in love. . .possibly obsessed with these sweet little babies!  For my first project I colored and rubbed those Gelatos all over a canvas.  When I had the background the way I liked, I sprayed some workable fixative over the project to ensure it didn't smudge.

The Chalk Board Paint is just as fun, people!  So many possibilities!  I painted on some Choice White cardstock, and after each application I heat set it so that it would dry quickly.  I ended up putting about 3 to 4 coats all over the cardstock.

Once I was done painting, I used the Banner Stacklets 2 die to get my panel.  I stamped my sentiment from the Taylored Expressions set called Shade Tree Scriptures.  That set is filled with beautiful sentiments.  The next step was really fun.  I made a stencil from the flower die from the Branches, Banner & Bloom die, and used the Pastel Pencils to color the flower.  It's such a great technique on the Chalk Board Paint, and really gives it that chalkboard look!  One of my favorite memories as a kid in elementary school was when the teachers would let us use different colors of chalk on the chalkboard :)

I used the other dies in the Branches, Banner & Bloom die set to make the vines and added some lace ribbon.  I just love how the finished project turned out :)

Stamps:  Shade Tree Scriptures
Ink:  Craft White, Vintage Photo distress ink
Paper:  Choice White, SU Garden Green, SU Blush Blossom
Accessories:  Faber-Castell Chalk Board Paint, Faber-Castell Gelatos, Faber-Castell Pastel Pencils, TE Banner Stacklets 2 die, TE Branches, Banner & Bloom die, spray fixative, canvas, lace trim, foam tape

Here's a closer look at how vibrant those Pastel Pencils are on the Chalk Board Paint.

Here are a few more projects I made with the products:

I used a watercolor brush with the Pastel Pencils, and stamped the image using the Stamper's Big Brush artist pens.

Stamps:  TE New Beginnings

Paper:  TE April 2014 KI Kit

Accessories:  TE Label Stacklets 4 die, TE Scribbles Cutting Plate, Faber-Castell Gelatos, Faber-Castell PITT Big Brush art pens, Faber-Castell Pastel Pencils, spray fixative, watercolor brush, foam tape

Before you head off on the rest off the hop, there is a giveaway!

Giveaway Details:

Simply comment on any (or all!) of our Blog Hop posts from April 24-April 25. For each comment, you will be entered into a drawing to win one of two fabulous prizes: One lucky winner will receive a $75 Faber-Castell prize pack of Gesso, Glaze, Gel Medium, and 10 new Gelatos Double Scoops and one lucky winner will receive a Taylored Expressions stamp set and die of choice! Comments close Sunday, April 27 at 8pm PST. 

Faber-Castell Blog

Sankari Wegman

Mou Shaha

Cassie Trask

Rita Barakat

Keia Shipp-Smith

Taylored Expressions Blog

Happy Birthday to the Sweetest Little Chick

Aren't those little chicks just the cutest?!  They are from a set over at Taylored Expressions called Easter Doodles.  When I saw the set, I knew I needed it to make a birthday card for my darling little niece.  Isn't she adorable?!

When she was younger her hair reminded me so much of chick fuzz.  I adore getting to see my nieces on FaceTime, and am thankful that even though we live far away they have an idea of who I am.  I'd give anything to live closer to them.

With that, I had to make her birthday card with baby chicks on it.  It just seemed fitting :)  I used my April Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients Kit  for all of my papers and embellishments.  The fun Lace Chain Border die was the perfect border die to use and tie it all together.

Stamps:  Easter Doodles

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  April TE KI Kit

Accessories:  rhinestones from kit, TE Lace Chain Border die, Copics, White Sharpie, foam tape, Circle Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping in.  If you would like to see more inspiration using Taylor's fabulous monthly kits, check out the GALLERY :)

A Cut Above: April Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients

Check out those scissors!  Are those not cool or what?!  They aren't cool because I made them, they are cool, because they were easy to make and you can do it too.  I made them using a die set that is new (and available to anyone) from Taylored Expressions called Stitched With Love.  It totally coordinates with the Stamp of the month called Made With Love.  If you aren't a subscriber, you should really think about it. . .there are some amazing benefits to being one!

Back to those scissors. . .I made them by die cutting them out and then embossing the respective parts with silver embossing powder and Zing Aqua embossing powder.  I then connected the pieces with a mini silver brad.  Easy peasy!

The papers I used all come from the TE Key Ingredients Kit, which is such a great kit!  You will have loads of stuff to create so many projects.  Taylor has three different KIT options. . .something for every papercrafter!

 Stamps:  Made with Love SOTM

Paper:  April 2014 TE KI Kit

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Silver Encore, Versamark

Accessories:  TE Stitched With Love die, rhinestones from kit, silver embossing powder, Zing Aqua embossing powder, foam tape

Here's what comes in the Key Ingredients Kit:

For more ways to use these kits, check out the GALLERY page that Taylor has all set up :)  Thanks for stopping in!

For You: Sketched Blooms

Hey everyone!  How about this crazy weather everyone is getting?!  This weekend I spent all day out at the tennis courts in 80+ degree weather, and now it's rainy and cold.  It's a crazy Spring we are having!  I had a bit of time on Friday to create for fun, so I used some new goodies from Taylored Expressions to make this card for an old Retrosketches challenge.

The images are from a new set called Sketched Blooms and the vase is a new die from the Various Vases dies.  The papers are from a an older Key Ingredients Kit.  There is always so much great stuff in a kit, that you get your money's worth and more!

 Stamps:  Sketched Blooms

Ink:  Memento Espresso Truffle

Paper:  Choice Buttercream, Simple Stories Fabulous dp, SU Espresso cs

Accessories:  TE Various Vases die, foam tape, Copics, ribbon

Thanks for stopping in this morning.  I don't have a decent lamp so I have to rely on natural light when I'm creating, so hopefully the sun will poke out later so I can create some beautiful things :)

Taylored Expressions April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Happy day, friends!  It's the Taylored Expressions April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  I hope you've come prepared to be inspired, because the TE Key Ingredients team as well as the Baker's Dozen has lots of eye candy to get you motivated to create.

This month's SOTM is called Made with Love, and as usual it coordinates so beautifully with the month's Key Ingredients papers.  There is also a lovely (available to everyone) new die set called Stitched with Love, and I have really been enjoying that :)

I used a lot of wonderful TE goodies for this card including:  Large Layering Doily Die, Label Stacklets 3 Die, Tag Stacklets 1 Die, and Tag Reinforcements Die.

Stamps:  Made with Love SOTM

Paper:  April 2014 TE KI Kit

Ink:  SU Night of Navy, Craft White

Accessories:  rhinestones from kit, white embossing powder, TE Stitched with Love die, TE Large Layering Doily Die, TE Label Stacklets 1 Die, TE Tag Stacklets 3 Die, TE Tag Reinforcements Die, pink grosgrain ribbon, white thread

If you're new the kits that Taylor offers, you'll want to check out the KITS page to see all of the benefits to being a kit member.  There is something there for every crafter!  Plus, she even has a GALLERY all set up for the Key Ingredients Kits and the SOTM.  Here's a peek at the April KI Kit:

There's more crafty goodness to be seen, so be sure and hop along with the rest of the talented artists:

Amy Crockett

Cassie Trask

Charmaine Ikach

Courtney Kelley

Emily Lanham

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Keia Shipp-Smith

Kendra Wietstock

Kerri Michaud

Monika Davis

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Taylor VanBruggen

Tracy Clemente

I'm a Little Behind

It's official. . .we are moved out of the house and we closed on it this morning.  It was a fat check that we had to write, but I'm thankful to be moving forward.  I'm still in the process of setting up my crafting supplies in the place we are in now, but most of our stuff is already in Kansas waiting for us to arrive in July.  I only brought about half of my stuff, which really isn't that much.

On that note, I've been behind with everything it seems.  I've missed mailing birthday cards, and wishing my friends a happy day.  I'm even behind on shipping out belated cards, lol.  I made this for a friend whose birthday was last month.  So, I am just blanketing it for all of those that I've fallen behind with.  It's adding up now.  I used a Taylored Expressions set called Easter Doodles for this card.  That little bunny butt makes me giggle.

Stamps:  Easter Doodles

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Craft White

Paper:  choice white, Tim Holtz distress paper, Crate Paper Flea Market dp

Accessories:  white embossing powder, distressor, foam tape, Copics

Thanks for stopping in!  I'll have a great one for the TE Stamp of the Month Hop tomorrow!