Category Archives: Taylored Expressions

birthday bunch

Posted on December 29, 2023 | Leave a comment

Happy Friday! Today I am catching up with nine of my favorites from the past year that were hanging out in my files…a bunch of birthday cards! These cards were not made for a company design team and just hadn’t been shared yet. It’s another photo heavy post today!

My first card was for a dinosaur-loving girl who turned 7. I used MFT‘s A-roar-able Friends and Lawn Fawn’s Platform Pop-Up Dies. The platform card folds flat for placing into an envelope. Strips of clear acetate were used to attach a few of the elements.

For the mini slim birthday cake card, I used… Spellbinders Stitched Fringe Cake Dies, Taylored Expressions Happy Birthday Banner and Skinny Mini Party Borders Dies, Sizzix Bold Flora Dies, and SU! Scattered Sequins embossing folder. Each cake layer was stitched by hand with white thread.

My next two cards were made in the same style, with the top half of the card front cut away. (Cut the top of the card front @ 2 3/4″) This piece is then turned 1/4 turn and adhered to the bottom front. So, for the center front layers on the first card… the black is 2 3/4 x 4 1/4, the green is 2 1/2 x 4, and the white is 2 1/4 x 3 3/4. The inside white layer is 2 1/2 x 4. Add additional cardstock and patterned paper layers as desired. Here I used SU! Artistically Inked Bundle, and Expressions in Ink dsp and Ephemera (gold foliage), plus a gold bee charm.

The masculine version was made the same way, using SU! Seaside Bay and coordinating papers.

A beautiful paper napkin was applied to the following card front for a pretty floral background. Then I used Lawn Fawn’s Pop-Up Bee Dies and You’re a Keeper stamp set to create this sweet pop-up card. LOVE the bee dies!! This card is so cute in person. I only wish I had made those wings sparkly!

Another masculine card, this one’s for a sushi lover. I used Lawn Fawn’s Let’s Roll and Sizzix Tropicool Slider Card Dies. The Sushi pops up and reveals the greeting inside as the top is pulled.

How cute are these two from the MFT Sweater Weather- In the Woods set? I kept this card CAS and spot-lighted them with some plaid circles. I followed the MFTWSC498 sketch.

Pink & Main has some terrific stamps…this is from the Beach Unicorn set. I also used the Waves Border Dies. You can see some of the glitter sparkle in the second photo.

And last for today, I was asked to make a strawberry themed birthday card for a little girl turning one. I used the Altenew Mega Number 1 die and SU! Sweet Strawberry bundle.

Have a great weekend!

Leave a comment

Posted in Altenew, cards, etc., CAS (clean & simple), Lawn Fawn, masculine/boy, MFT, Pink and Main, Sizzix, Slimline or Mini Slim, Spellbinders, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions, tutorials and templates

autumn birthdays

Posted on December 12, 2023 | Leave a comment

I have quite a few photos from the past few months that I haven’t shared, so I will try to catch up with them before the end of the year. Here’s a few fall birthday cards that I made. The first two used a pretty patterned paper from Hobby Lobby. I also used the SU! Soft Seedlings & Birthday Banners on the first card. The second card has Crafty Secrets Wizard of Oz (a set from 2010).

Here’s the sketch that I used for those cards. I started with a 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 piece of patterned paper before cutting it into strips.

Next, I used the Taylored Expressions Create in Quads- Word Party to make some masculine cards. I only used one section of the stencils. The leaves are Spellbinders Mini Fall Blooms and the small sentiment is from SNSS Birthday Wordfetti.

Have a great day!

Leave a comment

Posted in cards, etc., Creative Worship Stamps/Sweet 'n Sassy, masculine/boy, sketches, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions

more catch up

Posted on October 2, 2022 | Leave a comment

I’m sharing a few more cards today from the past 6 months. The first two are Faux Center Step Cards. Instead of cutting the scored card base and popping the center up, a separate strip is folded and adhered to the middle. So easy! First, I used the SU! Honey Bee Bundle.

For the second Faux Center Step card, I used an Altenew Layered Daffodil die set that was a magazine freebie several years ago.

Next is a W-V Fold card. I used some pretty papers shared by a friend and the SU! Nature Prints stamps.

The Tim Holtz Snarky Cat and Snarky Cat Halloween sets were used for the next two cards. This design is the Stack, Cut, & Shuffle technique. It’s great for making a quick set of 4 cards! Just stack 4 pieces of patterned papers and cut them all together. Then shuffle the pieces around and adhere them in place.

I used a clipart coloring page for the cake on this birthday card and reduced the size of it. The dotty background was made with the Taylored Expressions Bokeh Stencils.

This masculine card was made with SU! Snow Front and the Timber embossing folder.

Another masculine card uses the SU! Calling All Heroes set. The tiny words are from SNSS Birthday Wordfetti and the cover plate die is CC Designs Quad Collage Die.

Taylored Expressions has some great stencils…here I used the Mini Slim- In the Garden set. The sentiments are from SNSS Everyday Greetings.

This last card was made for a Christmas in July challenge. I used an old Cuttlebug embossing folder, Christmas Ornaments. The sentiment is from the retired SNSS Wondrous Miracle, and I think the snowflake is an old SU! punch.

Have a great week!

Leave a comment

Posted in Altenew, cards, etc., Christmas, Creative Worship Stamps/Sweet 'n Sassy, masculine/boy, Slimline or Mini Slim, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions

virtual stamping 6

Posted on July 25, 2020 | 1 comment

Happy Saturday! I’m back with a bunch of cards for various challenges with friends. For my first one I used up some flowers leftover from a previous project. These are from Altenew’s Flower Arrangement stamp set & matching dies. The sentiment is from SU! Peaceful Moments. I also used SU! Coastal Weave embossing folder and Die-Namics Stitched Basic Edges 2.

The second card uses Altenew’s Build-A-Flower: Snapdragon. This was for a sketch and favorite flower challenges. I’m not sure I really have a favorite flower but I do have fond memories of my grandmother’s snapdragons in her flower beds. I still can’t resist squeezing them!

I combined 4 different challenges for the next one…monochromatic, a sketch, using retired colors (I chose Baroque Burgundy), and using gingham. The flowers are from SU! Bloom With Hope.

The front of this card was for a sketch challenge and the inside was a special fold. The butterflies are SU! Butterfly Gala and the Butterfly Duet punch.

 We were challenged to CASE a card by Jane Daniels from the UK. I loved her use of diamonds! Here’s my slightly different layout/colors/sentiment using SU! Positive Thoughts and the Birch Press Sending Sugar Script die.

Another special fold…this time using SU! Free As A Bird and Botanical Gardens dsp. I also used Sizzix Bold Flora dies.

The next two cards are for a challenge to pull out those old wheels. I chose the SU! Neighborhood Wheel. The sentiments are from a Taylored Expressions printable.

How long has it been since we did punch art? I found these two pieces in my stash from quite a while ago. The first was for punch art and sketch challenges. Remember Care Bears?

The second was for punch art and woven strips challenges. The sentiment is an old wood block by Amuse.

A friend said to dig out an old set…so I dug out SU! 2004 Rhyme Time and paired it with a Darice Numbers embossing folder.

The last card was for another sketch and also using wheels. This time I used the SU! Making Tracks wheel. The motorcycle is from SU! 2003 Born to Ride.

That’s it for this time…Have a great day!

 

1 Comment

Posted in Altenew, baby, cards, etc., masculine/boy, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions

virtual stamping 2

Posted on April 22, 2020 | Leave a comment

Hello! Since we can’t get together, I’ve been stamping some more “virtually” with my friends and playing along with challenges. It has been a great way to think about something other than the news and bonus…I’ve mailed quite a few cards!

First I used the Altenew Birds of a Feather and matching dies to create a few cards for a washi tape challenge.

I applied strips of washi tape to white cardstock and then die cut the birds. I found it helpful to first loosely trace the die so I knew exactly where I needed the washi. Now I’m thinking of other shapes to die cut!

The white panels were cut with Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Rectangles. Card bases are SU! Sweet Sugarplum and Melon Mambo.

This card was for a food & drink challenge. I spied this bowl of cherries in the long retired SU! Giggle Greetings. The Pawsitively Prints dsp is also long retired. I used Die-Namics Stitched Scallop Edges and C.C. Designs Cherry dies.

For a watercolor challenge I did a wash on the watercolor paper panel, then painted the watercolor over a Gina Marie Slanted Bricks stencil. Flowers from Concord & 9th (Beautiful Branches) were stamped over top and then I went over them with a waterbrush. Cardstock is Island Indigo, Lemon Lime Twist, and a brown.

Next I made this card for a challenge to use doilies. I also used a piece of floral fabric I received from a friend. It was applied to sticky-back paper first for ease in cutting it out. The sentiment is from the Sweet ‘n Sassy Encouraging Thoughts free printable.

I used the SU! Grace’s Garden bundle here along with colors from a challenge to make this garden gate card. The embossing folder is Darice Brick Wall.

The inside…

And matching envelope…

Next I made this for a challenge to use umbrellas/rainbows. The SU! Under My Umbrella and matching punch is so cute! I didn’t get the matching paper so I used Echo Park’s Sunny Days Ahead.

The inside…

Yesterday I got sidetracked when I was looking for something and found my Pigpen stamp! I thought he’d go great with a sentiment I had printed out for another “Coronavirus Card”.

I used my old (2001!) Pigpen stamp by Stampabilities, a sentiment from a Taylored Expressions free printable, Gina Marie Wonky Stitched Squares, and Die-Namics Blueprints 20.

I also made a CAS princess card yesterday for a crown/royalty challenge. I used Echo Park Princess Set #1 dies and the acrylic block background technique. The scalloped panel was cut with Die-Namics Blueprints 20.

I’m sure there will be more virtual stamping in the near future while we are all staying put! Have a good day!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Altenew, cards, etc., CAS (clean & simple), Creative Worship Stamps/Sweet 'n Sassy, envelopes, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions, watercolor

summer, autumn, and winter ATCs

Posted on October 12, 2015 | 1 comment

Over the summer and fall I have made a few ATCs and as usual…I am behind on sharing pics!  They were all made for swaps with local friends.  To save time, I am just going to share them all at once!

The first two ATCs were for a summer swap with specific assigned colors.  These went together in a frame like the one I posted HERE.

This one uses the pretty SU! Butterfly Basics set…

summer 2 ATC diane zechman

summer 2 ATC close diane zechman

The second summer one uses the Taylored Expressions Adventure Land set…

summer ATC diane zechman

summer ATC close diane zechman

The Autumn ATC was also made to a specific color scheme and went into a frame.  This uses the Sweet ‘n Sassy Autumn Leaves and Falling Leaves sets.  Some leaves were stamped on the cardstock and a few were stamped on an acetate overlay.

autumn ATC diane zechman

autumn ATC 2 diane zechman

And last is my winter ATC.  This is very CAS but I LOVE the concept.  Here I used stamps from my Sweet ‘n Sassy Snowman Soup (brrr) and Snowy Hello (snowflake) sets.

snowman atc diane zechman

I may have to try this for a few Christmas cards!

Thanks for popping in…have a great day!

Summer 1: stamps- SU! Butterfly Basics; paper- white, Pacific Point; ink- Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Old Olive; accessories- gemstones, SU! Butterfly Thinlits dies, Stickles.

Summer 2: stamps- Taylored Expressions Adventure Land; paper- white, Pacific Point; ink- Pacific Point, Memento Tuxedo Black; accessories- Copics, gemstones.

Autumn: stamps- Sweet ‘n Sassy Autumn Leaves and Falling Leaves; paper- vanilla, acetate, Cherry Cobbler; ink- Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, Stazon Black; accessories- flat top eyelets, Crop-a-Dile.

Winter: stamps- Sweet ‘n Sassy Snowman Soup (brrr) and Snowy Hello (snowflake); paper- white; ink- Versafine Black, Wisteria Wonder; accessories- Sizzix Snowmen #2, buttons, Stickles.

 

1 Comment

Posted in ATC's and Calling Cards, CAS (clean & simple), Creative Worship Stamps/Sweet 'n Sassy, dmz designs, Stampin' Up!, Taylored Expressions

life is like a rollercoaster

Posted on August 27, 2013 | 4 comments

So true, isn’t it?  I have a FUN card today for this month’s Ribbon Carousel challenge…Summer Fun!

I knew that I would have lots of stamps to choose from for the theme this month.  When it was time to create, I glanced around and spied this super cute set by Taylored Expressions which I had to have…but have yet to use.  We try to get to an amusement park each summer because my family loves to ride the coasters…and I love to watch them.  😉  So this set was extra fun to create with.

Here’s a close up.  The orange ribbon was wrapped around and attached underneath the main image…no bows to reduce the bulkiness that a grosgrain ribbon bow can make.

And the inside…

Come play along for a chance to win!

stamps- Taylored Expressions- Adventure Land; paper- white, Jillibean Soup- Blossom Soup; ink- Memento Tuxedo Black; accessories- SU! Labels Framelits, ribbon, foam tape.

4 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., challenges, Ribbon Carousel, Taylored Expressions