Happy Friday Crafty Friends,

The weekend is quickly approaching and I am looking forward to stepping into the my craft room to play. I relish the opportunity to show a little inky love to a stamp or die. Today's stamp and die combination is no exception, Taylored Expressions' Chomp was calling my name for this month's Designer Choice. And I am glad I took the time to create a fun card for my hubby.

Happy Tuesday Taylored Expressions Fans and Crafty Friends,

This evening Taylored Expressions kicked off their 10th birthday celebration with a livestreaming video on Facebook! All the birthday goodies you had a chance to see and be inspired by, are available for purchase TONIGHT! The party continues with a reunion of past and present designers to wish TE a Happy Birthday on Wednesday and more inspiration in the days to follow. This is going to be a birthday-filled and joyous celebration of community and sharing joy. Fellow card markers, like you, will have an opportunity to share in TE's mission of sharing joy by creating and donating handmade cards to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in the US. Be on the look out for more details to follow on this blog and at Taylored Expresssions.

Today's cards feature Celebrate Big and Celebrate Script and Backer dies.

Happy Monday fellow Crafters and Scrappers,

It is time to get the week started with a little crafty inspiration! Ok, I will admit that I seldom have birthday cards in my card stash. And to make things worse, I NEVER have any masculine cards in my stash. Enter the Diagonal Stripes Cutting Plate. Really, the possibilities are endless with this cutting plate, and for me, I knew it was screaming, "Birthday Card! Birthday Card!" Okay, not really, but when inspiration hits it can often feel like a scream. Right?

Happy Thursday Taylored Expressions Fans,

You made it, Thursday is here and with it Taylored Expressions April Release. This week, I hope you have enjoyed visiting the various Taylored Expressions designer's blogs and are inspired to go and play in your craftroom, too!

Today, I am featuring the new Sky High-Rocket, which pairs nicely with the preciously released Sky High Sentiments. I always think about how I can use dies and stamps for the men in my life, so I immediately thought of using the rocket for birthday cards. However, this die is versatile and can be used for graduation cards, encouragement cards and more. The possibilities are endless.

Hello Fellow Crafters and Scrappers,

I am dropping in to share a birthday card I made for my dear father-in-law. He is a fan of dogs and so I thought it would be cute to have such a loyal, furry friend wish him "Yappy Birthday!"

Happy Friday Fellow Crafters and Scrappers,

I hope you are having fun in your craft rooms. I have been faithfully following Kathy Rascoosin, at The Daily Marker, for the 30 Day Color Challenge. The Color Challenge has definitely encouraged me to play with my Copics and new set of Gansai Tambi watercolors. I am enjoying coloring, most of the time. Other times, I feel a little stressed as I am broadening my horizons.

On days eight and 18, Kathy did several cards featuring geometric designs and it inspired me to play with a new stamp that I wanted, but shelved =( So sad. Here is my finished card.

Hello Fellow Crafters and Scrappers,

Welcome to this week's Just A Scrappin' Challenge celebrating Father's Day! There are only a few days left before the big day. Let the Just A Scrappin' Design Team inspire you to make a special card, project or layout for Father's Day.

Hello Fellow crafters and scrappers,

Father's Day is quickly approaching and for once I am on top of my game! Wahoo! Usually, I am scrambling to design and create my Father's Day cards. However, today I am sharing with you a card I created for my sweet husband using Taylored Expressions' All The Fixings stamp and die combination, along with the Pegboard die.

Hello,

Well I made it. Barely. However, I was determined because Kathy at The Daily Marker is inspiring me and all her fans to break out their markers, watercolors, crayons, etcetera and color their world. It doesn't have to be a completed project, but it does require one to take a moment and color. It's that simple. So, I did. I was inspired to work on a card for my dear friend's son, Zack. He really is a super star and I wanted him to know it!

Happy Wednesday Taylored Expression Fans,

This month we are kicking off a product focus in anticipation of Father's Day! That's right we are getting a jump start on making the perfect card for dad.

Today, I am sharing with you a card I made for my dad, Jerome. Our last name is Shipp, so I was looking forward to playing with the Ships Ahoy stamp and die combo. Growing up, individuals would jokingly say, "Here comes Jerome Shipp and his little dinghy." Ha Ha Ha... The little joke was not that funny growing up, but now as an adult, I can appreciate the pun =)

Happy Memorial Day Taylored Expressions Fans!

I hope you are enjoying a fabulous Monday with your family. I would like to write Thank You for those who have served and continue to serve and defend Democracy both here and abroad. Thank you for your sacrifice and all that you do. I hope this special day is spent with your families enjoying your many blessings, maybe even around the BBQ grill.

Today, I am sharing with you a card that pays homage to the Chief of the Charcoal, Grill Master and Boss of the Barbecue.



I kept the card simply so the focus would remain on the brick facade and BBQ grill. I created the textured brick facade using Taylored Expressions' Brick embossing folder, embossing paste and Distress Ink pads. I inked my craft mat with Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye distress ink. Next, I came in a dropped a small amount of embossing paste in the dye and mixed it. I continued moving the paste from one inked spot to the next to achieve my desired color. After that, I spread the mixture on my mixed media cardstock and used the embossed side of the embossing folder to create my brick background. I set the cardstock aside to dry and worked on die cutting my Grass Border and Little Bits Grill. Once I had all my card elements it was time to assembly my card and stamp my sentiment. I really love how the background turned out.

Thank you for stopping by today. Enjoy your family time and I will see your here again for more crafty inspiration. For more details regarding the products used for this card, visit Taylored Expressions. You will be glad you did =)


Smiles,

Keia


Card Size: A2

Card Supplies:

Happy Thursday Taylored Expressions Fans,

I have enjoyed working with the various petite stamps and combination dies that were released this month. Today, I am showcasing the Vroom, Vroom petite stamp and die combo. This stamp is perfect for Valentine's Day or birthdays for that matter. However, I thought I would get a jump start on creating my hubby's Valentine's Day card this year. I love it when a stamp set leads to motivation and inspiration.

Happy Thursday Taylored Expressions Fans,

Taylored Expressions is having its first ever Retirement Sale! Since 2008, TE has released more than 500 stamp sets and to make room for new products they are bidding a fond farewell to 75 beloved sets. These retiring sets are 40% off and, once they are gone, they are gone! Visit the Retirement Sale HERE and collect your favorites before they get away!

Happy Thursday!

Welcome to this week's Just A Scrappin' Challenge... celebrating DAD. With Father's Day on the horizon, it is time to step into your craft room and make something special for Dad. The focus of this card is a 3x4 journaling card. I kept my embellishments simple and had a little fun with ink blots and splatters.

Happy Friday!

I feel like I am on a roll with the rest of the Unity Stamp Co. fans! To date, I have participated in each Friday's Friends with Flair weekly post. Ok, I know the year is still young, but I have to give myself a little creative credit so I can stay pumped for the rest of the month…maybe year =)

I almost didn't have a post for this week, until I remembered a dear friend asked me to create a birthday card for her grandson. My friend's grandson is an avid golfer. The sentiment, from Unity Stamp Co., was a perfect complement for the die cut golf clubs and bag. I then completed the card with a little twine and a few watercolor splatters. Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to view the other fabulous creations using Unity's stamps.

Enjoy,

K

Wahoo! We made it! Friday is here and it is time to have some crafty fun with our friends from Unity Stamp Co. I love the stamps from Unity Stamp Co. When I saw this stamp set I knew I just had to add it to my ever growing Unity Stamp collection. I used Unity's Ah Crap stamp set (along with a sentiment stamp from Stampin' Up) to create this funny birthday card for my dad. My dad is a funny guy who has a wicked sense of humor, so I knew he would enjoy the puns found in this stamp set. I know my dad is going to get a kick out of this card.

To create this card, I used Deconstructed Sketch #123 along with paper piecing to achieve the look I wanted to create. The paper is from various Basic Grey paper collections I have in my 6x6 stash, along with brads from KI.

Thank you for stopping by.

Smiles,

K

This week I used Jen's Deconstructed Sketch No. 113 to create a special card for my husband. This Sunday marks our 12 year anniversary and with the passage of time I finding myself wondering: where did the time go? Oh, if I take the time to really look I know where it went...a number of deployments, two kids, school, work, missed holidays...it is all there, and yet, there is still so much more for us to do as a family, as a couple. 

It's that time again at Unity Stamp Co.: Friday's Friends with Flair. Time to share with fellow crafters what individuals have created this week with their Unity Stamp Co stamps.

I created this masculine Thank You card using Echo Park's This and That collection, and a new sentiment stamp from Unity Stamp Co. called Everything Wonderful. I really love sentiment stamps and Unity has awesome sentiments. I then added machine stitching and jute from American Crafts. The final touch was the little wooden veneer piece from Studio Calico.

Thank you for stopping by.

K

I recently found a new weekly challenge that focuses on clean and simple designs...right up my alley. For this challenge, Material Girls, I created a birthday card using a K&Company pop up dimensional embellishment I purchased at Michaels. This embellishment is a slider, as well. I added several fun banners to create a fun and bright background for the embellishment and completed the design with twine from The Twinery.

I hope you Enjoy.

K

Have you ever come across a stamp that just puts a silly grin on your face? I am a fan of the stamps designed by Unity Stamp Co. and this is one of my favorites. I finally had an opportunity to use this stamp for the first time and with Jen's Deconstructed Sketch No 107 the result is perfect.

To create this card, I used American Crafts alcohol pens to color in the stamped image. Then I added a few embellishments to enhance the image. Mainly, KI brads for eyes and a small heart (created using them small EK Success heart punch), and Xmas Stickles from Tim Holtz. I hope you enjoy the completed card.

Enjoy,

K