PaperFections

Taylored Expressions 10th Birthday Party!

Hello, Crafty Peeps! Today I am BEYOND excited to help my dear, sweet friend Taylor VanBruggen celebrate her awesome stamp company, Taylored Expressions, 10th birthday!! I can not believe it was "just" 10 years ago that Taylor invited me to be part of her first design team to help open her company adventure! You can find her inaugural blog post here! You can see and read about my very first project and post here, or view all of my Taylored Expressions projects/posts here (or click on "Taylored Expressions" over in my right sidebar, under Categories - over there) ---> Today's celebration involves almost 50 designers in a special birthday bash blog hop! You can find a full list of participants over at Taylor’s blog and hop along with us! You will also find a bunch of fabulous new products that were released last night, especially for this birthday bash, over in the TE store here. Today I am highlighting some fun previously-released birthday products because TE LOVES birthdays and has a ton of ways to celebrate them! Another thing I have always loved about Taylored Expressions is their Share Joy Campaign. It is very simple for you to participate in... Read more →

Chalkboard Happy Flowers

Hello Crafty Friends! Today I have a fun chalkboard look card to share with you! To achieve this look, I started by white heat embossing Taylored Expressions Happy Flowers Background stamp onto black cardstock. Then I had fun coloring the background with Kirarina WiNK pens: The Kirarina WiNK pens are available individually (there are 18 beautiful METALLIC colors from which to choose!) or in four different 4-pack sets. These multi-purpose pens are compatible with a variety of surfaces and feature specks of glitter! They are acid-free and ideal for decorating paper, photos, plastic, and glass! They also give a wonderfully opaque coverage, as evidenced on the black cardstock I used ... I think the look resembles a pretty colored chalk chalkboard, don't you?!! These are the Kirarina WiNK colors I used: Bordeaux (dark pink), Dandelion (golden yellow), Orange, Lime Green, Emerald (beautiful aqua!), and Violet: To finish the card, I used the White Pearl Kirarina WiNK pen to dot the centers of the yellow flowers: The pretty sentiment was created with Taylored Expressions You're in my Prayers sentiment stamp set (gold heat embossed) and Prayers Script die (cut from shimmering white pearl cardstock), placed on a Stitched Fishtail Banner die... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen October 2017 Release Hop

Hello and welcome to another inspiration blog hop for this month's new Essentials by Ellen products! Oh.My.Goodness! Are y'all ready for some serious cuteness?!! Meet Bear Hugs by Julie Ebersole -- one of this month's newest Essentials by Ellen die sets! I had SO much stinkin' fun stitching and stuffing these adorable felt bears and their JOY gifts! Bear Hugs is a huge version of Julie's popular All Inside stamp set & coordinating All Inside die bear -- he measures 5" tall x 2-3/4" wide, so he will also fit on a card front ... or BE an adorable folded card! I chose to stitch these three bears into felt Christmas ornaments. The JOY letter dies are from the Concertina Tags die set -- they measure 1-3/16", which were just a smidge larger than the gift die in the Bear Hugs set. Or you could use a small alpha die such as Taylored Expressions Sweet & Simple Alpha-Uppers, which are about 7/8" tall -- My first idea was to use those to monogram a bear for each member of my family! These guys were simple to make. I just die cut two of each color of bear from Taylored Expressions... Read more →

Spice of Life

It's release week for some more fabulous new Essentials by Ellen products! Are you loving the Leading Ladies as much as I am?!! Well, you are in luck because there is another wonderful new one added to the family this month ... Meet the Cozy Lady! She was SO much fun to color! I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto X-Press It Blending Card, then used her coordinating die to die cut her. I used these Copic Sketch Markers to color her to match the hues in this wonderful new Reverse Confetti Every Little Bit patterned paper: The sentiment piece is another pattern of the RC Every Little Bit paper, die cut with Taylored Expressions Stitched Essentials banner. I love all the different items included in this stamp set that the Cozy Lady can carry in/on her arm, and that the die automatically cuts out her arm to carry them ... so clever! I opted for the cup of tea, to coordinate with the "friends are the spice of life" sentiment I chose. To create the basket of leaves accent, I used some fun new X-Press It Cork Deco Tape. I just applied the tape (it has an... Read more →

Airbrushed Embossing

It looks and is feeling like we may be getting an early Fall in my part of the U.S. -- one of my favorite seasons! So today's card honors cooler temperatures and rich, Autumn colors! I wanted a pretty leafy frame for this wonderful new Dancing Leaves stamp from Pink Ink. Here's how it came together: I used Taylored Expressions Embossing Folder-Scattered Leaves and began airbrushing the top side of the folder's debossed/recessed leaves, since this side of the embossing folder ends up making the raised/embossed leaf impressions on your cardstock. Airbrushing is a quicker way to deposit the Copic color onto the embossing folder, AND helps prevent your marker nibs from getting frayed as opposed to trying to color directly on the rigid plastic. I started with Copic YR07: Next, I airbrushed the other leaves with (left to right, top to bottom in the photo below) with these Copic Sketch Markers: YG95, YR24, E07, E25-only on the stems of the leaves. You can get adventurous and use more than just one color on each leaf, too! I didn't color the center part of the embossing folder, since I wouldn't be using it for this card. (In hindsight, I should... Read more →

Bluebonnet Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, Crafters! Before I get started with today's project, I wanted to share an amazing Mother's Day Sale going on at Ellen Hutson: You have until Tues, May 16 to use this coupon code but the earlier you shop, the more items will be in stock! Today I'm sharing a typical Texas Spring scene created with a wonderful new stamp from Pink Ink Stamps -- Bluebonnet Highway: Even though the native bluebonnets peaked here in south coastal Texas early last month, my neighbor has some in her garden that are still hanging on! It wouldn't be Spring in Texas without the ritual of snapping photos with your children in them ... I have lots of fond memories! Here's about the last photo I could coax my girls into taking in 2012: They create a gorgeous sea of blue! To try and replicate their coloring for the stamp image, I used one of Copic's Doodle Packs: 4pc Doodle Pack Blue. The Doodle Packs contain a range of color-matched products that make for a great doodling or coloring experience, and are a nice affordable introduction to Copic products. Packs include two markers, a color Multiliner, and a glitter pen. The... Read more →

UNITED WE CONQUER! Ellen Hutson BCRF Fundraiser

In honor of three amazing mothers, Chaitali Narla, Julie Ebersole, and Ellen Hutson teamed up to find a way they could make a difference and honor these very special women in their lives and actively contribute to finding a cure for breast cancer. Together, they created the Courage Stamp & Die Set. The stamp set includes multiple color layering flowers and leaves along with some courageous sentiments that will offer strength to those in need. The coordinating dies are included, along with a wonderful ribbon die. Contains 27 image stamps, 6 sentiment stamps and 13 dies: **$25 from the purchase price of each Courage Stamp & Die Set will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We know that many of you are affected by this disease or other forms of cancer and we are turning to you for help. After much research, our team made the decision to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. BCRF is the highest rated breast cancer organization in the nation. To learn more about BCRF please visit their website at https://www.bcrfcure.org/ Through this fundraiser, it is our goal to educate and raise money for research and support services for patients and survivors battling... Read more →

Mousse on Acetate!

Did that title catch your eye?!! :D Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I'm showing you some different uses for Tonic Studios' beautiful metallic Embellishment Mousse, including coloring the backside of an acetate tag! I hope you'll join me there for all the details about this card and also how to color paper and embellishments with the mousse. ALL Tonic Studios products are also on sale this week at Ellen Hutson -- Just click the banner below to shop all their fabulous products! Happy weekend! Read more →

Copic Marker Free Valentine Art Download!

Hello and happy Valentine's Day, friends! If you are like me and need a quick last-minute Valentine (and don't want to get out in the pouring rain, like it is here today!), Copic Marker has you covered! They have two different downloadable FREE pieces of Valentine artwork you can print off and color, with two different print color options per image as well! You can download those HERE. I chose the squirrel image because we have about 5 or 6 squirrels at any given time that are playing in the trees, woods, and creek behind our house (and ON the house) ... it is quite entertaining to watch them! You can watch a video of the fabulous Chihiro Howe coloring the same squirrel image I have, by clicking HERE. Here's how I colored the squirrel image: I printed the digital image onto X-Press It Blending Card, and colored it with the following Copic Markers: The N-series for the squirrel bodies, using a dotting method to give some texture: The squirrel tails were colored with the W-series markers shown above, using long flicking strokes to create a hair-like texture. The foliage and flowers were colored with these markers (C1 was used... Read more →

Love You So Much

Happy Friday, Friends! Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I'm sharing this cute Valentine card made with Darcie's Heart & Home clear stamp set "Love Hearts" and coordinating Tin Pin embellishment. These sweet little 1-inch dimensional tin embellishments give a fun pop and dimension to their coordinating stamp sets, or can be used alone to create quick and easy one-of-a-kind projects! I hope you'll make it over to this blog post for all the details! And it just so happens that Embellishments are on sale this week thru Sunday at 11:59pm Pacific over in Ellen's store. Click the graphic below to shop . . . You're welcome!! Happy Weekend, Read more →

Rosy Thanks

This week in the CLASSroom, we are exploring different inks and their uses. Today it's my turn, with Taylored Expressions inks! Head on over to the CLASSroom today for all the details on how I created this rosey thank you card with one of my favorite stamping techniques, 2 and 3-step stamping and layering different ink colors to create multi-dimensional images! And as luck would have it, this week ink is on sale at EllenHutson.com! Just click the banner below to start shopping the Ink Category: thru Sunday the 22nd at 11:50pm Pacific: Thanks for visiting today! Read more →

Pantone Color of the Year 2017

Don't you love the new year, full of fresh starts? One of my favorite things to see each year is the new Pantone Color of the Year pick. This year it is Greenery. This fresh mid-toned yellow-green is the color of grass, which goes with anything and brings to mind the first days of Spring, when nature renews. Think about -- grass, leaves and greenery are (just about) everywhere, making it nature's neutral! As I did in 2014, I've prepared a Copic best match to this year's Pantone color selection and prepared this graphic for you. Since digital media differs greatly between monitors and platforms, I've given a range which *I believe could match*. You can find the full range of Copic's Yellow-Green markers available HERE at Imagination International Inc. And here's a project I created, using some of these pretty greens (and blues and pinks!): I thought this adorable Pink Ink Floppy Bunny would look cute sitting in some pretty Spring grass. This is how I colored him: I stamped him in soft Memento Gray Flannel ink (as opposed to black) onto Essentials by Ellen 100 Lb. Smooth Bristol cardstock. To keep him mainly white, I used Copic N0... Read more →

Tin Pins

Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I'm sharing these two cards made with Darcie's Heart & Home Tin Pins: I hope you'll join me there, to find out all about these sweet little dimensional tin embellishments and their coordinating Copic color matches! Hugs & Happy Christmas Eve Eve! :) Read more →

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2016 & A BIG Giveaway!

It's that time of year again -- Always my favorite post/project! Head over to Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom today, to find all the instructions on how I created this year's tag! Leave a comment on that blog post, to be entered into the drawing for a $25 gift code to Ellen's store! AND create your own tag with mine or any of the other 11 challenge themes (posted daily from the 1st to the 12th), to be entered into the grand prize drawing for a $150 gift code to the store -- Read about that opportunity HERE!! Also . . . On the 12th Day of Christmas Stamp-n-Storage Gave to Me . . . 'Tis the holiday season and Stamp-n-Storage wants to show their appreciation to customers in a special way, so they've planned 12 days of FREE GIFTS! Starting Monday, December 12, they will be giving away one Stamp-n-Storage product each day on their Facebook page!! You may recall Stamp-n-Storage makes the ink pad, marker, and refill combo holders I love and use (4 holders are shown below): Check their Facebook page next week to see what all they will be giving away! Read more →

Foiled Holidays

Are you in full Christmas decorating mode like I have been the past few weeks? I always love getting out the ornaments and fondly remembering holidays past with each one of them! That was my inspiration for this card: (Click on any photo for a larger view. Bold products are linked below in the supply section). These beautiful Ornamental stamps and coordinating dies are from Taylored Expressions. I stamped and heat embossed them with a combination of two silver (left and right) and one gold embossed ornament (center). The ornaments were stamped onto pretty pearl shimmer cardstock, then colored with these Copic markers: Gold and Silver Atyou Spica Glitter pens were used to color each of the ornament caps and some of the stripes. The pretty Spica glitter is a nice compliment to the metallic embossing powders and give a wonderful sparkle. For the ornament "strings" I used some pretty new X-Press It Foil Deco Tapes (gold and silver) out of this 10-pack of beautiful colors (the unique reusable packaging allows the tape to be stored neatly on the card and is easily accessed from the top tab): The tapes are 1/4-inch (6mm) wide but I wanted thinner pieces to... Read more →