In Stamping Mode

Friday, April 29, 2011

More Sweet Summer


Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you were able to check out my Sweet Summer mini over at The Crafty Scrapper blog a few days ago. If not, there were a couple of pages that I wanted to highlight and share with you today that actually features some stamping!! I really try and make an effort to include stamping into my mini-albums...it can be kind of hard to do, but I really like the personal touch it adds....and I love that I can accessorize the image any way I want. :)

Check it out...






I hope you can see the pictures side by side up there. The one on the left was my top page and the right one is the coordinating bottom page. I featured a new set from Technique Tuesday called Kids Are Cool, which was just PERFECT for this album! I actually used bits and pieces of the set all throughout this fun kid-centered album. :)



















And this next ensemble uses my most favorite new set from Technique Tuesday, Life is Good. LOVE this set. I stamped it right on top of a doily and then just added some pattern paper butterflies for a pop of color. :)

Stamping. I love it. Do you love it too? :)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Congratulations Graduate


I can't believe the month of April is just about over, and soon, many of us will be touched by someone in our lives quickly approaching graduation. Whether it be a monumental college graduation or that kindergartner embarking on their first steps towards 1st grade, it all should be equally celebrated! It's no secret that the latest Taylored Expressions release of the set Dream Big is my most FAVORITE graduation set!! From perfect graduation images to classy fonts and even the more traditional "Class of" font, this set covers it all! I went with some non-traditional colors on my card, but I think it's perfect for a boy and/or a girl! I used the paper pack from MME Stella Rose Gertie, and I swear, this paper pack has been so wonderfully versatile for creating both feminine and male cards. :) A Circle Nestabilities die cut a perfect circle around my main image and then I used a 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out a piece of patterned paper to pop up my grad hat on. :) Quick and easy!!

Onto some other news....did you see what just arrived in the TE store yesterday?? Yep, my favorite Nestabling from Want 2 Scrap is now available in the store! I'm so excited!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Sweet Summer

Hey everyone!!

I am so thrilled to share with you my first design team project for The Crafty Scrapper!!! About a month ago I was able to share that I was so excited to be selected as a member and I'm even more excited to share my first project!!!


I was provided with a ton of goodies available right there in their store in Waxahachie, TX to make this adorable acrylic album!!


Don't live near? Don't fret! They carry the entire line of Maya Road (and this project is just jam packed with it) and you can call the store and place your order right over the phone. Shipping is extremely reasonable and I can guarantee you will have a wonderful experience with these ladies!


What do you think so far?? There are more detailed pictures on The Crafty Scrapper blog in this post right HERE! I hope you are able to stop by and visit to see all of the other lovely creations by my fellow design team members. If you place an order, be sure and tell them that Melissa sent ya! ;)

Any questions/comments about what I've used, just let me know and I'll be happy to send you a list. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday, April 22, 2011

TESC 137 - Thanks

Happy Good Friday everyone!! Boy, oh boy am I glad that it is Friday!! This week has been busy, busy, busy and I don't think I've had a moment to relax and decompress yet. I'm looking forward to some fancy footwork dancing tonight though. Have I shared that I've been taking dance lessons? My current focus has been Country & Western along with West Coast Swing and some Salsa....crazy I know, but I'm actually having a BLAST doing it and shedding some pounds along the way to boot! Woot!

Anyway, it is that time again and I. Love. This. Sketch. Love it! Won't you play along?? You can see all the details either on Taylor's Blog or right here on our Splitcoast forums.

And here is my take on the sketch..

Love it!! Ok, enough of the lovin', right? :)

I used some of the new Girls' Paperie Jubilee paper on my card...and you know me, I adore the Girls Paperie...pretty sad to hear that they will be no more, but I digress. I also used the new super adorable Treasure Life set and simply stamped one of the jars on a tag. Pretty simple but I really like how it looks. :) The "thanks" actually came from the "Give Thanks" sentiment in the oldie but goodie, A Year of Sweet Sentiments. And I think that about wraps that up!

We have a couple of new additions to the Taylored Expressions Sketch team and I'm so excited to have them along for the ride!! I hope you'll swing by everyone's blogs and leave a little lovin' and give a big welcome to Dawn and Tracy!!!

Thanks so much for your visit and wonderful comments! Have a WONDERFUL Friday and Easter weekend!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Blingy Bookmark

Hello again everyone! Did you see my post over at the Want 2 Scrap blog?? :) I was recently inspired by some bookmarks in a Country Living magazine and just had to go and create my own. Of course, mine had to involve stamping, pretty ribbon, and of course, bling!

I used a new stamp set from Technique Tuesday, Love Always Wins...love, love, LOVE this set! You'll see why when you see it. ;) Be sure and check out my post HERE for all the yummy details!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Taylored Expressions Special Release!


Surprise!!! For the first time ever, Taylored Expressions is having a surprise with a mid-month release that we just couldn't wait to share with you!! There are actually THREE new stamp sets we are thrilled to share with you today that are available for purchase right now!!! The sets are Labels of Love, You're My Type - Upper, and You're My Type - Lower. And get this...there's another exciting aspect to the release of these stamps....they coordinate with new Spellbinder's dies!!! Wooot!!!

Let me just show you....

Oh I just love, love, LOVE this Labels of Love set! This card used only ONE of the many adorable labels that coordinate with the super cute Ribbon Tag Trio Die. And I actually coordinated this with one of Taylor's Die's, Frame It Up 1, to show how well the dies work together. :) I used my favorite card kit, Emma's Shoppe, and added a chipboard flower piece from the Green Thumb Chipboard mini Chipboard set. Too cute!!!

And here I used the new sets, You're My Type - Upper and You're My Type - Lower. And yes....these sets work wonderfully with the Nested Pennant and Lacey Pennant Spellbinders dies!! Pennants are so hot right now and I was thrilled to use them ...and I actually used BOTH of the pennants together!! Can you see where I used the new You're My Type sets? Well, I actually used something from both sets....the number "2" came from the Lower set and the "U" came from the Upper set. :) I just ADORE how vintage the print looks so I made it appear like they were vintage keys from a typewriter simply by stamping on cardstock and then punching out the letter with the 1/2" circle punch. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment also comes from the newest Labels of Love set, so I was pretty excited to work that one in there. :) Papers from this card came from the new yummy Webster's Pages Trendsetter - Ladies & Gents.

And finally....we owe a HUGE thank you to Spellbinder's for providing all of the Baker's with a brand new Spellbinder's Grand Calibur Die Cutting machine!!!! I've been LOVING using mine and I just can not get over how many dies you can get it to cut in one pass!! Here's a bit of mine in action...

And seriously, there was STILL room for more dies on that plate!! And you would think that with such a large plate, the machine would be huge, but it's actually not! It takes no more space than my Big Shot...I can't rave about it enough... so THANK YOU Spellbinders!!!!! Can not thank you enough for this wonderful product!!

Guess what?? Since this release is a special one, Taylor decided to make it EVEN MORE special! Get where I'm going here?? Yep...there is a special offer to celebrate this mid-month release and we are excited to share with you that...

Both the NEW Nested Pennant and Lacey Pennants are 30% off while supplies last!!! They are regularly priced $19.99, but you can purchase them right now for only $13.99 each!!

Wait a sec though...before you are off to shop, make sure you check out what the rest of the Baker's have to share with you! I'm so excited to see!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!! :)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Just Swingin' By

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the absence. I swear I have been REALLY busy creating though and I'm looking forward to sharing some serious eye candy for you soon. :) Well, at least I think it is! In the mean time, I have been in serious summer mode over here. You see, here in Texas, we don't have much of a spring...I think we've already had a couple of days reach temperatures in the low 90s! I've been enjoying the warm sun and wearing short sleeves again...and shedding some of my winter pounds, LOL! At any rate, I wanted to create a fun and summery card using a new paper pad in the TE store by Pink Paislee called Hometown Summer. The papers are soooo adorable and fun...well, just take a look and see....

I used a couple challenges from Splitcoast for my inspiration here. The first one was the Inspiration challenge to draw inspiration from the Ace of Cakes Charm City Cakes. I chose this yummy looking stacked birthday cake with fun bright and summery colors. I also used the Sketch Challenge from last week for my layout.

Cute and ready for summer, right?! I used one of my all time fave sets from Taylored Expressions, In the Park. Just such a darned cute set!!!!

Notice a different layout for my card photo? I'm wrapping up my photography class, and although I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd like practicing, I'm trying out a new layout in "natural" light using the manual settings on my husbands SLR camera. What do you think? Do you like the old layout better?

Ok, I'm off to the rest of an extremely busy week! I will be back tomorrow though with a little surprise you are going to love! :)

Monday, April 11, 2011

I just LOVE you

Oh I just love you indeed pretty little card. I created this card for the Want 2 Scrap blog using those YUMMY Nestabling! You can see my post HERE with all the wonderful details and how easy this card was to create, so I hope you'll visit me over there. :)

I used Loving Words by Technique Tuesday for my sentiment...I just love my TT stamps!! Simple. Beautiful.

Thanks for your visit! :)

PS. Totally off-topic, but I have to share. Why has nobody every told me about Miss Me jeans?? Oh holy cow I am in love with this expensive little habit. You see, if you are anything like me (lacking on the back side), these make you actually look like something is THERE!! It's so nice to put on some jeans now and not look like Sponge Bob from the backside. Ok...just sharing! HIGHLY recommended!

Friday, April 8, 2011

It's Sketch Friday!!!

Hey everyone!! I know I've been busy posting this week (and I hope you enjoyed the TE sneak peek projects!!), so I'll be sure to make this one short and sweet. :)

It's time for another TE sketch today! I hope you were able to play in the last one...remember, you have almost two weeks to play along! You can read all about the details in the Taylored Expressions Splitcoast forum OR right on Taylor's blog.

And here is the sketch for you...


And here is my semi-skewed take on it. :)

Oh my, I just love this card. I pulled out the Emma's Shoppe Card kit and added a whole bunch of my favorite Maya Road treasures that are available in the TE store. I distressed the MR Kraft envelope and then embellished the underside of the envelope cover with MR pink ruffle trim, and then added Olive Mini rose trim (I linked to the white one in the store as they are sold out of olive, but you can certainly spritz with some yummy Avocado Metallic Maya mist for the same look), topped with a Maya Road Resin Pink Blossom with a Tiny Clear Twinkle, and a couple of MR push pins for good measure. :)


I stamped my sentiment with the newly release It's a Banner Day 3 set and die cut with the coordinating It's a Banner Day 3 die. :) Love it!!!

And you're off to check out what the rest of the crew has to inspire you with with their takes on the sketch!

Have a wonderful fun-filled Friday and thanks so much for stopping by!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Taylored Expressions April Release!

Hello everyone!! I am so glad you are back visiting today for the big release over at Taylored Expressions!! All of the stamp sets, dies, accessories, and card kits are now available for purchase and you can see everything NEW being released right on the Fresh Out of the Oven Tab. But before you get to filling up your shopping cart, I hope you will stick around and check out what last bit of projects we have to share with you to whet your appetite further. :)

I wanted to revisit the Treasure Life set, but this time with the Apothecary Shelf a la Carte stamp that I didn't play with on Tuesday!


I always try to make a clean and simple card for a release project, and here is one of my attempts. :) I really think that this just makes the stamps shine. I paper pieced the shelf using the Emma's Shoppe paper pad...I was just tickled to find a patterned paper with a wood grain!! I also stamped a couple of the apothecary jars and then used the coordinating Apothecary Jar dies and filled them with a couple of stamps included in the Treasure Life set. I then colored them with Copics and then covered with a nice glassy glaze. Simply pretty I think!

And finally, I made a whoopsie and didn't share this one with you on Tuesday....a card using the Dream Big set (the perfect graduation set in my opinion!)


Yep....another attempt here at Clean and Simple. Can you believe though, I actually used 4 stamps from the set and there's not even a whole lot going on, right?! I wanted to try and make something suitable as a "man card" and I think that this will fit the bill. :) The patterned paper came from the MME Stella Rose Gertie paper pack.

There are a couple of bundles available with all the coordinating stamps and dies to get your shopping cart started with the ease of a simple click. :)

Apothecary Bundle (includes Treasure Life, Apothecary Shelf a la Carte, Apothecary Jar die set)
It's a Banner Day 3 Bundle (includes It's a Banner Day 3, It's a Banner Day 3 die)

We have our special Guest Designer, Cindy Lawrence, sharing some release peeks with us today so I hope you are able to hop around and see all of the gorgeous creations!



Happy shopping and thanks so very much for your visit!!!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 2

Hi everyone and welcome back to Day 2 of sneak peeks for Taylored Expressions! Don't forget that the big release will be bright and early Thursday morning, April 7th at 8:00 AM PST, so mark your calendars and be prepared to shop!!!

I have a LOT to share with you today and let's get right down to business, am I right?? :)

Today I get to share with you one of TWO card kits that are releasing along with the new stamps and dies. I just love these card kits and this is definitely no exception! You see, you will receive all the cardstock, patterned paper, accessories, and Taylored card kit box you need to make yourself a nice little collection of cards... at minimum, 10 cards!! I made 4 completely different cards and embellished my box to match. :) Check it out....


I present to you...the new stamp set, It's a Banner Day 3 with coordinating die along with the Emma's Shoppe Card kit!!! This new banner set is the 3rd in the series concepted by the very talented Iwona Palamountain. The It's a Banner Day 3 is a mini stamp set, still on that high quality deeply etched rubber on EZ Mount, pre-trimmed and ready for immediate use, and has 11 images... and I used a nice selection of them right here on my cards!

This is just the cover of my box, which assembles lightning fast!! No glue or master's degree in engineering is required!!! :) I simply painted some acrylic paint right to the top and sides of my box and let it quickly dry. After that, I placed one of the patterned paper sheets (included in the Card Kit), right onto the top of my box and then added an entire layer of Mod Podge all over to set. It also makes a really nice smooth appearance, as if the top layer is actually a part of the box! I made a zipper flower with the new Maya Road Cloud White Zipper trim available right in the store!

Here is 1 of the 4 cards I created. Believe it or not, these really do come together so quickly!! I added some Maya Road Love Notes Chipboard to my kit (also available right in the store) as an added embellishment to my cards. The doily is just from my stash (we all have these in our stash, right?), and the pink ruffle rose is sold out from the store currently but there are plenty more in different colors in stock!

And another....

One more...


A nice little sampling of SOME of the sentiments in the set with the different types of ways to stamp the banner. :) I also added the medium scallop border die on this last card as it created a perfect little border panel.

And all of the cards nestled in their pretty home. :)


Love it right?!? Good gosh, I sure do!!! And just to let you know real quick, here are all of the elements included in the Emma's Shoppe Card Kit:

10 Choice Buttercream Cardstock A-2 card bases
10 A-2 envelopes
15 sheets of patterned paper sized for cardmaking at 4" x 6" (3 sheets each of 5 double-sided patterns from the Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe collection)
20 sheets of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" cardstock (4 sheets each of 5 colors)
1 package of Kaisercraft Pearls
8 panels of Choice Buttercream Cardstock size 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (for images and layering)
5 yards of ribbon (2.5 yards each of 2 different styles)
1 Perfect Package Card Box

I hope you enjoyed what you've seen and I'd love for you to check out what everyone else has to share with the sneaks today!

PS. Before I forget, have you seen the Taylored Expressions Facebook page?? Simply "like" the page HERE and you will be able to see sneaks of the full set before the actual release! There are also store updates (I love knowing when new product comes in) and general fun and camaraderie! :) Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 1


Howdy everyone!!! Can you believe April has snuck upon us so quickly? I'm still wondering what the heck happened to March...are you with me??

Well, I'm excited for the new month because that always means I get to present to you some sneaks to the new Taylored Expressions release for the month! I've been having a ball playing with all of the new sets and accessories and dies, oh my!! :) Today is a jam packed sneak and I get to introduce you to:

Treasure Life: A full sized stamp set of deeply etched rubber housed on it's own panel. This set is filled with all things Apothecary...I love it! Plenty of apothecary jars and plenty of doo-dads and treasures to stamp inside of them just as you would fill in your home. :) And of course, what fun would a stamp set be without coordinating dies, right?? See where I'm going here??...

Apothecary Taylored Die Set: As if the name doesn't already give itself away...these little lovelies coordinate with all of the different apothecaries...LOVE IT!!!

The rest of the team will also be sneaking:
Dream Big full sized stamp set
Apothecary Shelf A la Carte
Stars Impression Plate


All designed by the ever talented, Nancy McKinney under her Whimsical Wishes line of stamps.

So without further ado...check it!


Just lovely, yes??? :) I simply stamped two of the apothecary jars andmatchedit with the sentiment, "I Treasure You." Just perfect!!! I used the MME Stella Rose Gertie papers on my card and some trim and seam binding I had in my stash to put this card together. For a little added sparkle, there are some Taylor's Tiny Twinkles on both the jars and my tag, because, you know, glass sparkles. :)

And I just couldn't stop there. I thought that the coordinating Apothecary Dies would be perfect as a tag. Like so....

The "love" sentiment comes straight from the stamp set and fits perfectly onto my "tag." What do you think?? I've already set this up in my little daughter's room and it just looks so lovely!! I merely took a craft bird nest and just filled it with some vintage lace trim, vintage button, embellished chipboard bird from Love Notes Chipboard set with a wing from the Pink Mini Rose Trim, a Scalloped Sparkler, and some seam binding from my stash. Easy Peasy!

And that's all I have for you today. Tomorrow I have quite a bit to share so I hope you will join me back here tomorrow...same place, same time?? :)

In the mean time, I hope you check out what the rest of the Baker's Dozen plus a couple of guests have to share with you...lots to see!!!


Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen
Tori Wild
and illustrator, Nancy McKinney

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Nestabling is here!!!

That's right!! Your eyes are not deceiving you!! The new Nestabling from Want 2 Scrap is now available for purchase.


Shipments will begin April 11th...what are you waiting for?! :)
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