Happy Birthday to Taylor!

I met Taylor VanBruggen in 2010 at the Craft and Hobby Association show in Chicago.  Taylor is the "Taylor" in "Taylored Expressions" and today is her 30th birthday!  Her husband, Jon, sent out a secret email request for birthday cards and wishes to help mark this significant birthday.  Since Taylor is known for her fondness of sweets, he asked for cards that oozed sweetness!

I have enjoyed all of the stamps, dies and other items I have purchased from Taylored Expressions over the last couple of years and I used some of them to make this card.

One of my favorite stamp sets from Taylored Expressions is It's in the Bag - I think I like it so much because it has a companion die set so you can make teeny tiny shopping bags.

 I also like this set of banners and greetings called It's a Banner Day 1 - once again it has a coordinating die to cut the banner image.  (There are two other banner day sets with different styles of banners as well as an additional set of holiday sentiments for all three banners).

I cut out the tiny shopping bag from the green glitter cardstock from the DCWV Cotton Bloom stack that I used for my father-in-law's card (it matched the other colors perfectly - sometimes it is good to be slow to clean up your leftovers!).

The die cuts and scores in one pass so it is easy to crease along all of the marked lines to shape the bag.

I use Scor-Tape to hold the bags together - it is great on the glittered cardstock which can be prone to popping open with a weaker adhesive.

The tiny bags are very cute - they finish at 1 1/2 x 2 inches and are about 1/2 inch deep.

Last year I participated in the kit club that Taylor offers called Key Ingredients.  Each month I received a box with cardstock, patterned papers, ribbons and other embellishments to make cards.  It is wonderful to be able to pick up one of these boxes and have everything already coordinated for you.

I  remembered that the January 2011 kit had lots of sweet papers (from the Little Yellow Bicycle "Cupcake Love") so I pulled out that box and chose my card base (Bazzill Chablis) and the glittery lollipop cardstock for my top card layer (cut at 3 3/4 x 5 inches).  I used the same green glitter DCWV cardstock that I used for the shopping bag for the bottom mat layer (cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches).

Next, I created the banner for the birthday greeting.   I stamped the dotted design with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and then placed the clear template on top (if you look carefully you can see that is marked "this side  up" to help you get it placed properly).  I made pencil marks in the two little holes.

Then I placed the die on top of the image and lined up the holes in the die with the pencil marks.

Here is my stamped and cut banner.  I stamped the "Happy Birthday" in the center with Crushed Olive Distress Ink.

I needed some foam dots to raise the sentiment and make it show up a little better in the shadow of the tiny shopping bag.

Here is the finished sentiment on the card.

I stamped the little cupcake from the It's In the Bag stamp set with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink.  Then I colored the leaves and liner with Crushed Olive and Dusty Concord Distress Markers.  I colored the flower on top of the cupcake with a Poppy ProMarker.  Then I added Crystal Stickles to the frosting and a drop of Glossy Accents on the flower.

I left it to dry for a few hours and the Glossy Accents became clear and let the Poppy Promarker and Worn Lipstick ink show through.  I punched out the image with a 3/4 inch circle punch and then placed the circle on a 1 inch hexagon punched from DCWV glitter cardstock (hexagons are all the rage lately!).

I used a couple of pieces of half inch Scor-Tape to secure the bag to the card. 

Here is a shot of the various items I used for the cupcake image (except for the stamp and the Worn Lipstick ink).

I added a small piece of shimmery pink fabric to the bag.  I thought it would stay fluffy and not get crushed like tissue paper when the card is mailed.

I think this is a happy card  - and definitely sweet!

If you have a chance - pop over to the Taylored Expressions Facebook page (or if you are not on Facebook you also leave a Happy Birthday comment on Taylor's Blog.  Say hi from me!

I didn't get my card in the mail on time - I wanted to add something sweet to the package that I haven't had time to make...that's today's project!  The birthday celebration will last a little bit longer this way.  I remember I used to find the cutest belated birthday cards sometimes and then wait to send them so they would be truly belated!

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Something new (and very helpful)

A small package was delivered today.  Inside the package I found a new product that I have been eager to see.  LetraSet sent me a few of the new ultra-fine tip nibs for the Promarker pens to try out.

 These handy little attachments turn the two-tipped ProMarkers into three nib markers with just a click.

A Promarker usually has two tips - a broad chisel  tip under the round cap...

...and a fine bullet nib under the pointed cap.  The additional nib has a pointed cap as well and snaps directly on top of the existing bullet nib.  In the photo above you can see the extra ring on the blue marker cap when the ultra-fine nib is not in use and the extra length on the pink marker when the ultra-fine nib is in use.

This photo shows how the nibs stack together.  You do want to be sure that they are snapped together tightly to prevent your markers from drying out.  Within a few seconds of snapping the nib on to the bullet nib end of the marker, the ultra fine nib is ready to use.  You can leave both nibs on and store your new "three-tipped" pens

I first tried the ProMarkers last November (you can read that review HERE).  I enjoy using them, however, the detail in a rubber stamp is sometimes so fine that it can be difficult to do a neat and complete coloring job.  This new ultra-fine tip solves that problem.

I was working on a project using a stamp set that I recently bought from Taylored Expressions.  The set  includes a wreath stamp with flowers and these tiny butterflies with a very thin outlined area on their wings. I was able to color this thin line easily.

Right now, Letraset is giving away a free ultra-fine nib with each single marker purchase.  You can also purchase a set of three ultra-fine nibs for £1.99 (about $3.00 US).  This LINK will take you to the Letraset site where you should be able to get more information about the nibs and  the markers.

I used the ultra fine nib for some of the leaves in this stamp.  I'll share the card I made with this sweet wreath in a day or two.

I think I may do more coloring now that I have this very fine tip for coloring the tiny places and making them look great!  Of course, I will need a lot more to top off all of my markers!  Have you done any coloring lately?

 
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Floral Friendship Card

I am a subscriber to the Taylored Expressions "Key Ingredients" kit club.  Each month, subscribers have the chance to order additional items at 10% off with free shipping to coordinate with the shipping of the kit.  Some months I spend a lot and other months, I just let the automatic shipment of the kit proceed without adding any extra items to my box.

This month - I did order a lot of odds and ends from the Deals section along with some stamps and dies.  I also ordered a Hello Luscious Card Kit  (click HERE to see) with paper by Basic Grey.  One of my favorite things about the card kits is the lovely Perfect Package box that is included for you to decorate to hold the cards.  I will show you one of my projects with the box soon.

I really like the variety of colors in this paper - it's always fun when colors seem to cover a very wide range of tastes but then settle into a color scheme.   I matted the paper with dark red on the card and cut sentiments in red, however, I decided that it would be fun to highlight the lilac floral on the sentiment strip and used a lilac cardstock to mat the paper.

I thought that the sentiment was hard to read directly on the patterned paper so I cut an additional strip of vellum to help set it off a bit.  I use the Creative Memories Frosted Photo Splits to adhere vellum and they virtually disappear when you burnish the vellum to the paper.

I wrapped some satin ribbon around the card topper and added three gems from the Kaiser set that came in the kit.  Then I used some foam squares to raise up the sentiment strip.  The sentiment is from the die in the Cuttlebug "Forever Friends" card combo set.  I did save the dots to the eyes when I cut it, however, I realized that the tiny gems would be more eye catching over the "i"s.

The foam squares add some dimension and the Creative Charms Vintage Poppy with a Jewel Brad center pulls everything together.

If you look closely at the design of the paper you can see that the poppy is nearly a perfect match for the stream of red and pink flowers in the background.  This simple card would surely be a nice treat for an old friend far away.  I think I will try sewing on the layers of the next card I make with this kit.   I have sewing on the list of things I need to do more of this year!

Our weather was beautiful Wednesday - sunny and 70's.  We need to sort out the deck and patio for the rest of the family to enjoy when they visit in a little over a week (and I am still sorting in the craft room so I can't get outside as much as I'd like!).  I think everyone must be very busy with end of the year activities - I noticed that the message boards seem quieter and there aren't many people walking around in town.
I hope that you are all staying safe from the terrible storms - the news coverage makes us realize how lucky we are to have a place to live.

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