Daisy Bouquet Birthday Card

Hi everyone! Back today for another share. This time I made a more conservative birthday card for a good friend/co-worker of mine whom I consider like a very dear aunt. She's been there for me ever since I started with the company, and truth be told is kind of like a 2nd mom to me.

I used Taylored Expression's Daisy Bouquet, and colored them with Copics. Background paper is Lawn Fawn and scallop die cut background is from Sizzix.

I wanted the card to look clean and simple, conservative, yet a bit colorful.

Happy Birthday to you!!

Happy Easter! Wishes On A Wire

Today I'm sharing with you my last Taylored Expressions Easter card. This is from the Wishes on A Wire Collection - Easter. I used kraft paper as base, topped with DCWV Spring Mat Stack paper, and used Simon Says Stamp Postage Stamp Edge Frame Dies as the base for the stamped image. I colored the image using Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers, and unfortunately, it bled through and went over the stamped edge. I did a blue background sponge effect by using Tim Holtz Salty Ocean, and the flowers are from Stamps of Life Triplits Flower 7 Dies.

Happy Easter weekend everyone! Hope you all have a blessed one!

Enjoy!

Happy Spring!!

A new day,  a new card! I'm on my Taylored Expressions binge week so here's another TE card I'd like to share with you. This Spring card uses Spring from the You've Got Mail collection. I love this collection and I think I probably have most of them by now. They are so simple, so cute, and I just love the many things you can do with this image.

I colored it using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, and I went crazy with Wink of Stella clear glitter brush with all my projects this week. The background solid paper was embossed using a Sizzix embossing folder that we got from the Scrapbook Expo Make and Take crop, and the other half of the paper is from DCWV Spring Mat Stack. I can't believe I let such a beautiful stack of paper just sit in some container for years!

I embellished the bottom with adhesive ribbon and topped it with a floral puff from a Recollections sticker pack that I got on clearance.

I so love this time of the year. I know living in California it's not really Spring given it's almost 90 degrees out today, but still, seeing Spring themed items everywhere, spring colors, from dresses to Easter themed projects, I just love it! Hope you guys like it!

Enjoy! Happy Spring!

Easter Tags

I made these Easter tags using Taylored Expressions Tag-A-Long Easter stamp set. These images are so cute and tiny, I thought of using them for tags. Not sure what to do with them yet, maybe give them away to my daughter's teachers, or co-workers. But either way, I got to finally use them! Aren't they just the cutest??

The papers are from DCWV Spring Mat Stack from ages ago, and the tags were die cut using Paper Smooches Tag Stitched Die. The images were colored using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, and some glittered with Wink of Stella clear glitter markers.

Enjoy!

Eggs Eggs and Lots of Eggs!

I spent the weekend crafting Easter themed projects and this is one of them. Aside from Easter themed, I made it a point to use up all my Taylored Expressions Easter themed stamp sets. We as crafters accumulate so much stuff through the years that most of them just end up being unused. Well, since Easter just comes around once a year, why not just get them all out and use them. Right? That was my goal. Here's the first of many.

I used Taylored Expressions Egg-stra Special stamp set. Don't you just love the colors of spring? I used Spectrum Noir alcohol markers for these. I didn't bother listing them down, as I picked and colored along the way. The vibrant colors of Spectrum Noir never fails me. I did in the end top them with Wink of Stella clear glitter brush markers but you can't see it much in this picture. I used DCWV Spring Mat Stack for the background. I was clearing out some space and found that stack by accident. It must be years and years old!

The grass was die cut using Lawn Fawn's Grassy Border. I hope you like it! I'll keep posting the other stuff I made throughout the week.

Here's the 2nd view which shows the glitter. I swear it looks better in person. :)

Enjoy!

Birthday Tea Card

I made this card for one of my daughter's teachers. Tomorrow's her day and I thought I'd make something nice for her. My daughter adores her and looks forward to cooking class with her every week. At first I meant to do a 2-in-1 congratulations on a baby and birthday card, but I got sidetracked following MFT's Wednesday Sketch Challenge I decided to just do the birthday card alone.

Here's the sketch that inspired me to come up with this card.

And here is what I came up with. I used a recently bought stamp from the Scrapbook Expo. This is from Taylored Expressions, and it's called In Other Words - Tea. I had fun coloring this tea party setting with my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers. I used Rectangle Stitched Die STAX from MFT for the tea stamp, and a Sizzix die for the sentiment tag. 

Happy Birthday Ms. Christina!

Enjoy!

May Your Home Be Filled....With Love

This was one of my first cards while I was still playing with my newly bought Chameleon Pens. I think this might even be the first image I "broke" the pens for.

I used Taylored Expressions Display Window and Window Accessories dies. The flower  is from the stamp set A Glimpse Inside.

Enjoy!

You've Got Mail!

Here's a sample of some images I colored with the Chameleon pens. I used Taylored Expressions You've Got Mail - Valentine for these cards. Since I'm still in experimenting mode, I stamped a couple to play with, and in the end just made them into cards.

As you can see I kind of lost control on the post between blending. The downside to blending using just 1 pen is the many times I have to put the pen in contact with the toning chamber. It's trial and error on how long it takes before you can color the entire image you want with the amount of lightness you need. As you can see, somewhere halfway through the pole, I had to re-ink again. For small images like the birds, it's not a problem. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

This card uses the same stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, I just added the border, but my big mistake was using Wink of Stella glitter brush pen. I squeezed it too hard thus instead of just highlighting the border, I kinda made a mess of it. The "love" is a die from Taylored Expressions.

Enjoy!

Chameleon Pens

I've been seeing ads for Chameleon pens very often lately and gave in to purchasing them. I know, I know. My husband calls me a "marketer's dream", but that's what we crafters are, we just have to have everything. And 1 pen is not enough, we just have to have the whole set! So here I am, weeks after seeing the ad and resisting the temptation, I finally gave in. It touts itself to be a 1-pen that has multiple colors/tones, so it should make blending pretty easy. 1 pen is supposed to do it all. That really appealed to me, since I do struggle with blending, even though I own the whole Spectrum Noir set, alcohol AND colored pencils, I still cannot come close to perfecting the art of blending. So naturally this one appealed to me. Here's what the Deluxe set looks like. I got mine from Marker Pop. I ordered it Friday afternoon, and by Saturday, voila! It's here for me to play with.

It is bigger than your regular markers, below is a picture comparison. Excuse my dirty mat please. As you can see, the Chameleon pens is longer, only because of the additional toning chamber.

Taken apart, it looks like this. You never store them separately though, since I think the alcohol or the medium in that chamber will eventually dry out.

I tried it, and it is true that you can achieve blending using 1 pen. Below are my test samples. I did it 3 times, and I'm not sure if there's any big differentiation to what I did. It takes time to practice, and there is a learning curve to it. I used Neenah white cardstock, and it did not really bleed that badly. It's same as if were colored using Spectrum Noir pens. However I noticed it bled through the Memento ink that I used though. It's understandable, given the image I tested it on is small, and I must've placed the toning chamber too long since it takes a few more strokes for the ink to achieve the darker side. Like I said, it takes practice, timing, and I have to be honest - patience. Especially for smaller images like this, you'll have to recap every now and then to keep the blending consistent. If you don't have that, then this pen set is not for you. For $84.99, 22 pens, I can't complain. The true colors are very strong, vibrant, ink flow is great, nibs are great. They are also replaceable, and since the toning chamber portion is used a lot, I do wonder how often I'll have to replace though. Only time can tell.

I did a few cards using some stamps that I colored in using these Chameleon pens. I will post them separately some time. The rose wreaths that I practiced on are from Taylored Expressions.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the Chameleon pens. I'll write more about it as I continue to use them. 

Get Well Soon

My mom's been feeling under the weather lately so I thought I'd make a card for her. I decided to break in my Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils today, and I used Taylored Expressions Mixed Blooms stamp set. I watched a DVD on how to use the blendable pencils and I hate to admit it but it literally took me hours to color this. I've been coloring a lot using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, I've colored a good number of images already but I think I can safely say I've never achieved depth like this. Granted it's not perfect, but after coloring my 1st image, I can say I know where I need to improve. Holding the pens, the stroke and the technique will take time, but having said that, I am pleased with how my 1st image turned out.

I own all 5 tins, and the image below is colored from the Essentials, Primaries, Florals and Nature sets. I picked colors from each, just so I can test the colors that each tin represents, the differences in greens, purples and pinks. I'm happy how it turned out, but I'm dying to practice more!

Card base is kraft, background and textured papers are from Ki Memories.

Happy Retirement

One of our bosses will be retiring soon so I made this card in advance. It's always hard when someone you've worked with for a long time packs up and leaves. Be it for retirement, or better opportunities, the dynamics of the company changes and I for one am not a big fan of change. Anyway, here's my thank you and goodbye card.

I used some scrap paper and embossed one of the layer piece. The image and sentiment are stamped from Taylored Expressions From My Window collection. I used the Arched Window die for the window look. I really love this collection/theme from Taylored Expressions! I used Spectrum Noir markers for the image. I did this last week and unfortunately have already forgotten the color combos I used.

Happy Retirement! 

Mother's Day

I wish I had more time to create more Mother's Day cards, but unfortunately, I can only squeeze in enough to create one for my mom and one for my aunt and another good friend whom I consider like a mom.

I used The Crafter's Workshop Daisy Cluster stencil to make the first card. I used a mix of Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Shabby Shutters, Tattered Rose and Dried Marigold. I then added some gem and pearl embellishments and stamped the sentiment using Close to My Heart's Mother's Day stamp set. I love how the mix of colors turned out!

This second card uses Taylored Expressions Rose Bouquet. I colored it using my Spectrum Noir markers. I used JG1 and JG2 for the leaves, BT2 for the baby's breaths and a mix of CR5 and CR6 for the roses I think. The vase was colored using LY1 and LY2. I did this couple of days ago and now I'm not so sure. I sponged the outside of the oval shape die cut to give it an orangey halo effect. I used Tim Holtz Dried Marigold if i'm not mistaken. The sentiment was stamped using one of CTMH's Holiday Tags.

Teacup Flowers

I've had a coloring spree yesterday and thought I'd make a batch of cards that's any-occasion. I used the Taylored Expressions Teacup Bouquet and colored it in different colors. These flowers are so versatile, I guess any flowers are, so I used the different sentiments from a Sizzix stamp set. Unfortunately I can't remember where I got it from or the name of the stamp set.

The images are colored using my Spectrum Noir markers. They're a mix from the pink, purple, yellow, red and coral families. The background papers are from kI Memories and I embossed it using my Cricut Cuttlebug.