Taylored Expressions December Sneak Peek Day #1
December 2nd, 2009
I’m excited to have the opportunity to participate along with the Baker’s Dozen to showcase sneek peeks this week of the new stamp sets that will be available at Taylored Expressions on Friday December 4th at 8:00 am PST. The set we are featuring today is called Discover Your Wings designed by Nancy McKinney and it is GORGEOUS! This post is a little long, but stick with me because there just might be a PRIZE at the end. *wink*
Every three months Taylored Expressions introduces a new stamp into the TE Giving Tree Program to help support a specific charity for a three month period. I love the concept of having a portion of my stamp purchase to go to a charity and $7 from the sale of each Discover Your Wings stamp set will be donated to a very special organization. More about that below – first just a little about the card I created to show you today.
This card is a large 5.5″ square using mostly supplies from the TE November 20th Key Ingredients Kit along with some SU Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon and ink. I started with Karen Giron’s Sweet Sunday Sketch, but I ended up veering off a bit. That’s one of the great things about a sketch though – it can just be a jumping off point. The large floral silhouette image was stamped on TE Choice Buttercream cardstock (this is just part of the image – it’s quite large) and then the image was covered with a piece of sticky page and run through my Big Shot with a circle nestie. Then I was able to peel off the red protective layer and cover the image with clear microbeads. It’s so hard to get a photo of something that has been beaded, but it’s so pretty IRL and really one of my favorite simple wow techniques. The butterfly was stamped and cut out, then shaped just by working it with my fingers. It was then covered in Crystal effects and sprinkled with a little glitter on the edges and set aside to dry. Later 3 Tiny Twinkles were added to the body. The beaded panel was adhered to a larger circle made of two layers – cardstock on top of lightweight chipboard. The “ornament” was attached to the card with just two small pieces of foam tape so it can be removed and hung up later.
This set has so many possibilites! I can hardly wait for you to be able to see the whole thing! Not only is the set beautiful, but partial proceeds will be donated to an incredible foundation called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep which is a charity that serves families dealing with infant death. Their mission statement is “To introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the free gift of professional portraiture. We believe these images serve as an important step in the family’s healing process by honoring their child’s legacy.” NILMDTS administers a network of almost 7000 volunteer photographers in the US and 25 other countries. This is a wonderful charity that TE is honored to support and I would encourage you to learn more about them by going to their website.
I am so pleased to help get the word out about this Founation. My life was deeply touched by infant death 13 years ago when one of my very best friends learned early in her first pregnancy that her baby had a condition that would cause her to be either stillborn or to die shortly after birth. It was a very rough time, but it was a privilege and a blessing for Curt and I to walk beside our friends Geoff and Brenda during that time and to witness the way the Lord carried them through the months of pregnancy and everything after. Sweet little Emma only lived for about 45 minutes and although professional portraits were not taken, the family did take many pictures. Those pictures have been so very important to Geoff and Brenda over the years – an integral part of the healing process. Also Brenda created an entire beautiful scrapbook of Emma in the weeks after her birth and death. Brenda has told me how theraputic that process was for her. Knowing all of this, when I first heard about NILMDTS it touched my heart deeply and although I knew this would be a difficult subject to broach in the midst of the excitement of new stamps I also knew it would be worth it!
I am soooo anxious to see what the rest of the girls have created! Come blog hoppin’ with me to see what the Baker’s Dozen girls have cooked up with Discover Your Wings today.
Ok – thanks for sticking with me….did I mention something earlier about a PRIZE??? Well…..
As you blog hop be sure to leave some love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Discover Your Wings stamp set! How cool is that?All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker’s Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Thursday to enter. The winner will be announced Friday morning on Taylor’s blog.Good luck and thanks for stopping by. I have a super exciting announcment tomorrow so be sure to come back then!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 am
Just beautiful, Jami! LOVE the microbeads. ..what a gorgeous touch!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 am
So pretty, Jami! That microbead image is gorgeous! I can’t help but think how perfect it would be to take off the card and use as an ornament or magnet!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 am
Jami, this is such a gorgeous card! I love all the sparlky goodness and the little fence punch up above. And look at that scrumptious bow!!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:54 am
This is so gorgeous, Jami! Your microbeads make your image just amazing on its own!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:55 am
I am so choked up reading this post Jami…thank you SO much for getting the word out there about this foundation. My friend lost her 2 year old a few years ago and it was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen. They knew from a few months old that she had a terminal illness and wouldn’t live past 2 or 3. Not long after her death, a stranger emailed my friend and offered to draw a true to life family portrait. Turns out they had never had one taken because of the constant medical attention that her daughter needed. A perfect stranger was led to them by God to contact my friend and now they have a family portrait of their family back when Jessie (their daughter) was smiling before she became so sick.
Anyway, just know that this has touched my heart in ways I can’t convey. And of course, I couldnt’ be MORE excited because it’s a butterfly set.
Beautiful card…just gorgeous!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 am
Jami – what a beautiful story to share with us – It is such a delicate subject and has affected so many people and I am so glad to be supporting a charity that offers families hope and a treasure – and your card is a total treasure – what a great thing to use the microbeads – simply a fantastic technique – love the colors that you used – so gorgeous dear Jami!
Sending you hugs!!!
Sankari 🙂
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:35 am
How pretty! Love the idea of covering the image with microbeads.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:46 am
This is a very touching story Jami. I am happy to hear that Brenda has found her scrapbook a great means of comfort. God knows just what we need.
Your card is very pretty and the way the image is muted with the microbeads layered over top is a great idea.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am
Beautiful is definitely the right word for this work of art!!! LOVE the beaded center panel and I can just imagine how gorgeous it is IRL!!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am
Fabulous card Jami. Love the colors and the beads… great image. TFS!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
absolutely gorgeous… really a beautiful presentation, Jami.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:18 am
Oh Jami! This is STUPENDOUS!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the microbeads on this!! The colors and papers are a DREAM!!! GORGEOUS card!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:39 am
Infant death has touched my family more than one family should have to experience. What a wonderful charity and so awesome of Miss Taylor to give to them. LOVE your pretty sparkly card, Jami!!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
This card matches your sentiment completely–BEAUTIFUL! But more than that the wonderful charity this new set will support and how much it will help those who must endure such a tragedy. Again, this is a beautiful card.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Great card. Each card is unique in its own way. You girls amaze me. I hope in time I can be half as good as all of you.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
GASP!! This is Bee-You-Tee-Ful, Jami! The microbeads are fantastic! Great colors!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
What a touching story. Your card is a wonderful tribute for this cause. Thanks for sharing your heart with your artwork.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
OH Jami!! Love this! I’ve never used the microbeads, but you just might inspire me to try something new!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Oh my gosh, LOVE that detail shot with the microbeads and dimension on the butterfly! Stunning!
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
this is beautiful!
thanks for sharing!
Sandra
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Beautiful card! Love the colours!
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Such a gorgeous card and stamp set! Lovely job!
♥Lea
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Yowser, Jami, I LOVE the beaded look. Gorgeous card! You can’t go wrong when using TE stamps and KI kits!
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I love the sparkly look! Very nice and a wonderful cause.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Very pretty–I really like the microbeads and the fence border punch.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Gorgeous! What a wonderful charity to support.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Your post today has really touched so many. Thanks for sharing, Jami. Don’t you just love this set?! Love your colours and detail. Looking forward to tomorrow’s sneaks!
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 am
Gorgeous card. Such beautiful soft colors. I love them.
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 am
What a beautiful card. You can’t go wrong with those gorgeous colors!! TFS!
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 am
I love to use that microbeading technique. Yours is very beautiful!
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:47 am
This is such a charming set! Pretty colors on your card!
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
Crystal effects gives your card a truly unique quality – fabulous!
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:01 am
sweet card! the microbeads look awesome!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
Beautiful!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:14 am
Beautiful set … beautiful card.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Beautiful. Yea, that’s the right word for this!
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Simply divine!
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Really pretty! I love the bead technique!
December 4th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I love your cards, they are just beautiful. I love the stamp set too!! It is just great to have give aways!!