More is More

Happy Friday!  I’m so excited that the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge is back!  I do hope you’ll play along with us.  TE stamps are NOT required to play.  This is a great sketch with so many possiblities!

There are a few changes and you can get all the deets on how to play along with us over at Taylor’s blog.  There are still prizes up for grabs, plus we’ll also be choosing a Top Chef for each sketch.

For my sample today I grabbed Rosy Posey again.  I just can’t put it away.  Today I paired it with October Afternoon Sidewalks 8×8 papers.

After I completed the card, I realized it was quite similar to a card I made during sneak peeks a couple of weeks ago.  But I’m ok with that.  Actually I think it speaks to how good a stamp set is when you keep wanting to use it, even if it’s to make similar cards.  I used to only get a few new stamp sets maybe 3 or 4 times a  year and I would use them and use them and truly love them.  I feel bad that I have so many sets now that have only been inked up once or twice.  So I think I will keep Rosy Posey out and try to make several more cards in different color schemes with it before it gets put away.

Other supplies used on this 5″ square card include:  Cherry Cobbler cardstock, TE dies – Large Layering Doily, Mini Leaves, Spellbinders Circle Die, Viva Ice White Pearl Pen, Little Whimsy Rose,  Cherry Cobbler ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, a white paper doily, and heart stick pins. (All available from TE except for the few SU supplies used.)

Let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store:

• Cassie Trask
• Jami Sibley <– you are here
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Margie Cortina
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Tracy Clemente  <— Our new Sketch Coordinator
• Taylor VanBruggen  <—- get all the details here

I am off to CHA (the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show for my non-stamper friends) tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll try to post some photos early next week.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a great weekend and make some time to stamp with the TESC!

Happy Thursday!  I can’t believe that CHA will be here in just a few days.  Usually at this time of year I’m totally focused on getting ready for spending a few days at the Trade Show, but this year something else has had most of my attention.  I have a big birthday coming up the following weekend and we’re having a big bash, hosted by my parents, my uncle and my hubby.  Since I’m the party planner in the family, I’m in charge.  There have been a few days where I thought my head might explode, but I do love to throw a party and I know it will all be worth it in the end.

In the meantime, I will be away at CHA (even though it’s only a half hour from my house I will stay in a hotel for a couple of nights to be in all the action )  I do need to spend some time doing laundry, figuring out what to pack, etc.  The new products at CHA are always exciting to see, but even more so are seeing friends from around the country!  I’m super excited to hang out with some of the Baker’s Dozen girls and of course meeting Taylor’s little Madi is at the top of all our lists.

Speaking of Taylor coming out here for CHA…she’s running a BIG sale to clear the shelves for new products.  Get all the deets on her blog today.  Hurry, quantities are limited!

I have another card to share with you from my class last week.  This is a Double Dutch Fold card featuring Love Monsters and several dies from TE.

Fun, huh?

I’ll be back tomorrow as we get the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge back on track!  BTW – it’s supposed to be 83 here today.  What’s the weather like where you are?

Happy Wednesday!  My monthly stamp class is coming up on Friday and I wanted to pop in and share one of the cards we’ll be creating in class.  I have just a couple of spots still open and if you want to register you need to do so by tomorrow (Thursday) morning.

This card features TE stamp sets Rosy Posey and I Corinthinas A la Carte.  I used Girls Paperie patterned papers (no longer available, but I still have a stash *grin*) and a clear card base.  This card was largely inspired by cards presented by Baker’s Dozen members Wanda Guess and Melissa Sauls during TE January sneak peeks.

Here’s the inside.

I left it blank because it could be used for so many different ocassions/purposes – Valentine, wedding, anniversary, friendship, etc.

I’m really tickled with how this turned out and I hope everyone enjoys making it on Friday.

If you’d like to join us, registration is $15 for 3 projects.  Shoot me an e-mail right away.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Friday the 13th!  Thanks for all the wonderful words of encouragement on my last post.  The next few months promise to be an adventure!  I’m off to downtown L.A. thsi morning with a couple of good friends to order floral arrangements for a party we have in the works.  Never a dull moment around here! 

Before I go I wanted to share a sweet card that is a little outside my usual style.

The cupcake was created with Dies from TE: Trwat Builder and Tiny Toppers.  I had some fun with glitter on this card!  I created the stripes of glitter with sticky tape. This is an easy and fun technique that really packs a fun punch!  I used Raspberry Soda glitter for the stripes and for the cupcake topper.  The heart os covered in red glitter.  For the cupcake topper and the heart I used a liquid adhesive..  I kept the card simple and graphic with just balck and white cardstock.  The sentiment is from an old SU set.  It was impossible to capture the real sparkle of this card in a photo.  I just love how this turned out.

Thanks for stopping by.  I’ve got to run!

I know I promised to blog more regularly and here it is Wednesday evening and I haven’t posted anything since Friday. I actually have 2 cards ready to share, but just haven’t had the time as this has been a crazy week.  This is a NSR post as it was my last day at California Billing Specialists where I’ve worked for over 18 years and I just feel the need to write a bit. 

CBS is a medical billing company that is owned by my Mom and her business partner, Carol.  When they brought me in, so many years ago I didn’t even know what an EOB was. (That’s Explanation of Benefits – insurance statement – the most basic document in the industry.)  The company only had 3 employees when I started.  I learned the ins and outs of insurance and patient collections and as the company grew I became the Collection Supervisor.

A few years ago when my Aunt was seriously ill (and subsequently passed away), I cut back to working just one day a week.  Somehow I just never went back to a regular full-time schedule and eventually I took on my part time position with Taylored Expressions and worked both jobs.  CBS has been a security blanket for me.  It was a godsend when our family went through several tumultous years of illness and loss.  It’s a company where everyone is hired in because they are a friend or relative of someone already there.  It’s been a place where I can go in and sit at my desk and know the answers to almost all the questions I’m asked, where I can enjoy the company of those I work with, and where I can take pride in what we accomplish for our clients.

So, why would I leave?  The Lord presented an opportunity that I just couldn’t refuse.  I’ve been asked to take the position of Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to the Senior Pastor at our church as the Office Manager of 28 years prepares to retire.  I was completely stunned when I was asked, and the Lord so graciously made it clear to me through so many confirmations.  He knows I do not gravitate toward change, no matter how good it might sound, and He knew that I would need the path to be incredibly and totally clear to take this leap of faith.

I will be working at Bethel Grace 4 days a week (2 full half days and 2 full days) starting in mid-March and I will contiue working for TE from home.  It will be a huge adjustment, but I know it will be great!

I’m thankful and excited for what’s to come in the next couple of months, so today was a bittersweet day.  To be totally honest it was more difficult than I imagined as I cleaned out my desk and found all of my time sheets going back to 1996 – WOW!  My Mom has been an awesome boss and so gracious and supportive about my moving on.

I wanted to share a few photos taken at our office Christmas Party last month.  Unfortunately my Mom wasn’t there, as she now works in a different job while still owning CBS.  But my Dad is in these pictures – I told you the business is a family affair!  I will miss seeing him weekly.

And here I am with the 3 of the Collectors that work in my department – Jessica, Yoly and Sarah.  Yoly and I have been friends for over 15 years and she is the one taking over my position.  I know she’ll be great!

Here’s everyone -

Thanks for letting me just share my heart this evening.  I promise I’ll be back soon with those two cards.  I hope you are having a great week!

Happy Friday!  I had so much fun this week playing along with the Baker’s Dozen for the Taylored Expressions January Release and it’s been a great start to my goal of blogging more regularly this year.  Today I want to share 3 cards made with the same stamp set – Love Grows Here (illustrated by Emily Burger for the Embracing Grace line at TE.)  These cards were samples for my November Class, but I never got around to posting them here.

This is the card we created in class -

I wanted to create some additional samples to give the girls some examples in case they wanted to use different tree images from the set.  So here’s sample #2.

And here’s a third sample -

The cards are all just a little different using the Large Scallop Oval Spellbinders die with papers from Echo Park and The Girls Paperie.  I just love this sweet stamp set.  It has so many possibilities for cute and simple cards for tons of ocassions!  I mentioned the other day that I love house images.  Trees is another thing I can’t get enough of and these are just the perfect size!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!

TE Release Day!

• All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
• More projects from the Baker’s Dozen to inspire you.  Just follow the link list below.
• Did you win one of the Mystery Baker’s Dozen Blog Giveaways? Find the list of winners on Taylor’s Blog.
• Buy one Animals in Love A la Carte and get one FREE/Select calendar products 50% off/Layered Doily Dies Special – get all the details on our January Release Specials by clicking here.

Before you head off to shop, the Baker’s Dozen has some more new samples to inspire you…a little bit of everything that’s new today.  I have always LOVED roses and rose stamps and I couldn’t wait to play with Rosy Posey!

I really went back to my {More is More} roots on this one and just kept doing “one more thing.”  Do you think it’s too much?  I don’t.  I love it!  *grin*  Let’s see if I can list out everything (or at least most of) what I did.

* I used the solid rose images (small and large) to stamp on white cardstock using the rock’n'roll technique with Regal Rose and Real Red ink.  So, I thoroughly inked the stamp with the Rose ink and then rolled the edges around in the red.  I love the effect it gave.  The small leaves were stamped the same way using Wild Wasabi and Garden Green.

* The flowers were then die cut with the new Rosy Posey Taylored Die set.  Sparkle was added with a glue pen and some Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

*The larger leaves were die cut from gray cardstock with the Leafy Branch Taylored die and then sponged with some Wasabi ink.

* The black circle was die cut with the new Layering Doily Die Large and pieces of a white paper doily were adhered behind it. Then the flowers and leaves were adhered, with the large rose popped up on foam dots.

* The Real Red card base is 5.25″ square and is layered with gray cardstock and then black (with distressed edges) and the Echo Park Yours Truly papers.

* The sentiment was stamped in the upper left corner with Tuxedo Memento ink.  After it was stamped I realized I should have embossed it (but I was too lazy), so I covered it with clear glaze pen and got much the same look.

*Embellishments include some red satin ribbon, pink Kaisercraft rhinestones, and Cream Viva Pearl Pen.

I think that’s it.  Boy was that ever FUN!  I can’t wait to play with this set some more!  And now let’s see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Danielle Lounds
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen <— Round up showing all the new products
• Tori Wild
• Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy shopping!