Blast From the Past May Hop

Hi guys. Long time, no blog. To be perfectly honest, my family has been through hell this past month. But we need a little normalcy, so I'm going to try to get back to blogging and card making. Thank goodness for my dear friend, Ashley (HeartHugs Designs), who pretty much held my hand while I took baby steps in figuring out how to make a card all over again.

Since the theme of this hop is masculine cards and the spousal unit's birthday is coming up next week, I decided to make him a card from all of the kids. I used the birthday sentiment from Pet's Place. I kept it super simple, using Sketch #69 from OWH Stars & Stamps in shades of blue. The dp is Basic Grey Granola.Thanks for stopping by and thank you again for all of your support this past month.

Wooly Blast From the Past April Hop

Good morning everyone! I just love Taylored Expressions' Blast from the Past Blog Hops! This month, Sankari's sketch is right up my alley, too! I am such a CAS girl.

When I first saw this stamp set back in December, I knew I had to have it. I learned to knit when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, who turned 17 on the 7th. Six months later, I started spinning my own yarn. It's where my online nick came from and I still love it! Plus, I think the Knit Wit sheep is just way too cute!I'll keep it short since there are so many blogs to visit. I hope you enjoy the hop!

EtsyInspired #131 - DollBirdies

Happy Saturday! Are you ready to be EtsyInspired? I sure am! This week our shop is DollBirdies, a shop with the cutest handsewn totes, pouches, wallets and toys! Not only are they practical, but they range from stylish to whimsical. There is truly something for every taste, plus, I ask you this: who can't use another bag?? I know I am always looking for something to carry my latest project in, since inevitably what I need has something in it already. (No UFO comments from the peanut gallery, okay? I'm working on 'em!)

When I first saw this particular bag, I just loved the pink and brown combination. Then I started thinking too hard about whether or not my flowers matched and got all bogged down in the details. Finally, I had some sense knocked into me (thanks Ashley!) and I went back to my original thoughts of sticking with "flowers, pink and brown." Much better. Yes, I went with a lighter pink, but let's not quibble, shall we?

The sketch is from clean & simple stamping (#132), but if you'll note, it's also a variation on one of my all time favourite sketches, found on Nina B's blog here.
Our sponsor this week is SRM Stickers. SRM Stickers are not your ordinary, plain-old blah stickers. These are super cool! They're widely use by many papercrafters. There's a great blog with posts every weekday where you'll find paper crafting projects using stickers! Bookmark it, follow it, subscribe, or all of the above...you don't want to miss a tutorial, feature, challenge or giveaway!

Now it's your turn! For all the prize deets and to link up your project for this week, head on over to the EtsyInspired Blog. You've got until Friday, March 25, at noon, Pacific time. Before you go, though, check out the rest of the EIC team...

Angi
Ashley
De
Emily B.
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Libby - March Guest DT!!
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

EIC #123 - Nanny's Room

Welcome back to another EtsyInspired Saturday! This week, we're visiting a gorgeous shop called Nanny's Room. Jeanne Forsyth grew up in Arizona, and her original artwork is inspired by the Southwest. Let me tell you, that artwork is just stunning!! Her use of colour is breathtakingly vibrant.

One player this week will win his or her choice of necklace. Aren't these some gorgeous examples?? Not only that, but just for EIC shoppers, Jeanne is offering 10% off any purchase through January 31! Just use the code "etsy10" at checkout.

I chose this set of 3x4 notecards as my inspiration this week.

Instead of going Southwest, I made little Valentine/lovenotes. From left to right, the stamps are Memory Box (Dandelion Ball Combo), Karen Lockhart (IB Chintz Heart), Taylored Expressions (Kid at Heart), and GinaK (Hopeful Hearts). The photo is courtesy of my daughter, Meagan.
Our sponsor this week is The Twinery, home of gorgeous bakers twine!! Alas, I did not get my twine sample in time to tie my cards similarly to my inspiration photo. A second player this week will win a Trio pack of twine in the winners choice of any 3 colours!! Before you even ask, YES, I'm jealous!!

So go create something, because you know you want to win at least as much as I wish I could!! Remember, you do not have to make a card. You don't even have to papercraft. Just create something inspired by the Modern Bird Etsy shop. Be as creative as you want to be and post a link to your creation on the EIC blog no later than 12 noon Pacific time on January 28, 2011.

Head on over and see what the rest of the DT has to share today. I'll be back tomorrow with a new challenge from All Things Unity!

Ashley
Angi
De
Emily B
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Rachel - January guest DT
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

Taylored Expressions - January Blast From the Past

Hey everyone! I am so excited about today's blog hop! It is my 8th
Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past hop!! I went back in my blog archives and checked it out. I have an entry for every month, excluding December, when there was no hop, going back to May of last year. This month, the theme is Love.

I used Sankari's sketch and my new CreativiTEA set to make my card. The paper is from Basic Grey's Green at Heart.

Enjoy the hop everyone!!

My card is also for the following challenges:
Ooh La La Creations Challenge #71: Bling it On - bling across the bottom
Pile it On #3: Anything Goes
Basic Grey #35: Dots & Spots - my die-cut strip makes a line of dots and all dp is Basic Grey
Craft Your Days Away #11: Anything Goes
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #38: hearts - there is one on the end of the tea bag
Really Reasonable Ribbon #16: hearts & ribbon - tea bag has a heart
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #117: With Love
Stamp Something: Anything Goes
Some Odd Girl: Embossing - the die cuts are embossed and both the sentiment and the tea pot are heat embossed
Stampin' B's #93 : Use a die cut - 2 Nestabilities circles and a Taylored Expressions small scalloped border die
Gingersnap Creations GC85: Chestnut Theme Challenge - Hot Beverages (tea)

Thankful Blast From the Past

Morning everyone! It's another Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop and I've got a very CAS card today. I'm using some nice fall colours and stamps from two sets, Discover Your Wings and CreativiTEA. I've also used the scalloped eyelet border die on some paper from the Blackbird collection from Memory Box. The sketch is an older one from Clean & Simple Stamping, FTL105.
That's all from me today. Have a great one!!

Blasting from the Past - Christmas Style

I am *SOOOO* sorry! I somehow got it into my head that the 22nd was tomorrow. Saturday. I don't know how or why, but sometimes I am just that braindead. So as soon as I realized my error, which was less than an hour ago, I ran off to make a quick card. And stepped in the coffee I spilt this morning, which still hadn't fully dried (Resolve on the carpet to resist staining. I cleaned the desk, Cody cleaned the carpet. Wet socks are so nasty!)

Anyway! When I say quick, I mean quick. I made these two as part of a set to use as gift enclosures or for when you need a last minute Christmas card. Super simple!

Stamps Used: Christmas Blessings

I hope you like them. I will get it right next month. Sheesh!

Blasting in on Wings of Joy

I am so happy today! It's the 21st, which means it's Blast from the Past time at Taylored Expressions! This is such a fun blog hop!
I used Sankari's fantastic sketch this month. I've been trying to get a few Christmas cards done every month, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to pull out Wings of Joy and some Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. I was going to do a solid colour for the word "Joy" but I remembered that Katie Cotton had issued a challenge over on the Color Me Creative Classroom to include feathering in your image. I'm so glad I did! I think it worked out quite nicely.

I'm not going to be my usual chatterbox today, since there are 39 people on the hop today and I'm sure you're going to want to take the time to see every one of them!

Thank you for all of your sweet comments. They really do make my day.

Oh! And if you've got a spare thought, I'm taking a midterm around the time this goes live, so any awesome grades energy would be greatly appreciated! I'm a tad nervous. Thanks everyone!!

TE Blast From the Past

Hey everybody!! It's time for another Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop!! If you've come here from my totally awesome friend Katie Cotton, than you are on the right track!! If not, head back over to the Taylored Expressions blog so you can start at the beginning and not miss a single thing!

This morning, I am finally getting my The Places You'll Go set inky. This is one of the first sets I bought - and the quote I'm using today is one of the reasons why. The other reason is this set is one of TE's The Giving Tree sets. I bought it during its three month period where $7 was donated to the Books for Kids Foundation. Anyone at all who knows me knows just how much I read - and how much I have passed my love of books on to my children. The sheer number of books in my house drives my mother up a tree.
For those who want to know, the current Giving Tree set is Pet's Place and it benefits the Humane Society. A new Giving Tree set will be out next month. I can hardly wait!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I am truly grateful and I love it when you leave a comment!!

Blog Hopping with Taylored Expressions

Hey there, everyone. It's been a little bit of time with no blogging. I've spent the past week visiting my friend Alice at the hospice and everything else was off my radar. I completely forgot I was supposed to participate in the Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop.

I pulled out Discover Your Wings again this month. CAS is all I can wrap my brain around and this set just seems to echo my mood. Besides, it's really pretty.
Ink and cardstock are SU. Patterned paper are Sugar Rush by Basic Grey. I used plain and scalloped oval Nestabilities. The colour comes from these earrings from this week's Etsy Inspired shop, Mermaid's Tears Jewelry.

Thanks for visiting. Remember to hug those you love.

Blog Hopping for My Sanity

Hey there peeps! I am in packing hell. I keep reminding myself that it's worth it, but boy, the stress is really getting to me. So, a sanity-saving blog post is in order, and what better way to start the day than with Taylored Expressions?

We were given this bright, pretty picture to use as colour inspiration. I added that to this gorgeous necklace from this week's Etsy Inspired shop and Card Patterns sketch 69. I topped it all off with Discover Your Wings from Taylored Expressions, which is truly both gorgeous and inspirational. I thought it particularly appropriate considering just how much we have been dreaming of this move - and how much we are dreaming that it'll be OVER!

I'm back to packing...we've got the premove inspection today at 3. Have an awesome day!

FWF is Close to Home

Hey everyone! It's Friday and time for Friends With Flair. I wonder who has the blinkie this week! I still don't have real internet at home, but we're closing in on the move date - and then we'll be good to go. We start moving on June 26 and will be fully in our new home on June 30!! I can hardly wait!!

Today I am at neither Starbucks nor Panera. I learned a nifty little secret. The community center here at Midway Commons (the neighbourhood where we live on Fort Meade) has an internet cafe *and* a WiFi connection!! I had NO idea. So I am about 2 blocks from home, sitting inside a very nice room, looking out at the pool. I'm sure it won't be nearly this quiet after the kids get out of school, but for now, it's very calm, and since I'm not in the internet cafe itself (I brought my laptop, of course), I was able to bring my own coffee! Yes, I have my priorities.

So, this week I got to break out my Unity/Cosmo Cricket stamps! I finally ordered the Garden Variety paper from Mandy at Limelight. She is just awesome. Seriously. And for inspiration, I looked to this spoon from EtsyInspired's shop of the week, Sunshyne Silverwear. Doesn't it remind you of the flowers on this great Cosmo dp?
I used this weeks sketch from Taylored Expressions, which is just too cute.

Don't forget to check the Unity blog for a full list of blog participants.

Taylored Expressions - Blast From the Past

Hey everyone! Nope, still no real internet. I'm posting from Starbucks again. Thank goodness for Starbucks! And coffee!! Don't know what I'd do without them. When I get all hooked up again, I'll tell you guys the "wonderful" story of Comcast and how much they suck.

Anyway, today is Taylored Expressions' Blast From the Past Blog Hop - and I almost forgot about it!! Fortunately, I was up here at Starbucks yesterday and caught the email about it, so here I am, thumb drive in hand, posting away. By the way, I am a serious dweeb. I read "8am" go live. I have been in such a hurry with my internet time that I didn't read closely - and missed "Pacific time." Anyone else hearing Homer Simpson saying "Doh!" in their heads?

I, of course, also forgot about the sketch, and since I can't check email at home, I hope you will all forgive me for that. I'll probably make another card this evening - just for fun. But checking out the other participants, I'm seeing some uber cute cards using it, so I'm definitely going to have to hop to it!

I CASE'd a card by Melanie Muenchinger that was in the May Cardmaker magazine. I finally got to ink up Berries & Cherries, which I think is just about the sweetest set. C'mon, strawberries and chocolate in the same set? How can you not like that?? Throw in a little bit of Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry dp and voila! Une carte de voeux.


Check out the rest of the hop...and enjoy!