FairyBlossoms & Life

TE March Release!

Happy Friday!! and what a marvelous day it is!

Release day is here and I am sooo excited!!did you just luuuvvv all of yesterday's projects?? I sure did!!! today is "eggstra" special because we are celebrating the one year "birthday" of Whimsical Wishes stamps illustrated by the lovely Nancy McKinney! I have been a looong time fan of Nancy's work, and I have to say I am SO excited that I get to play with all her wonderful designs so much more now!!

Today, along with all of the wonderful new goodies available in the TE store (more enabling to come!) I have the absolute honor of showing you a wonderful treat Taylor and Nancy have prepared for YOU for this release!  Wanna see??

today I give you, The Promise of Spring:

Isn't it beeyootiful??  I love, love, love this image!  I decided to go with a bit of a country feel for my special celebration of spring!  I colored my image using Copic Markers, and my patterned paper is from the Earth Love Collection from Cosmo Cricket.  I used my color spritzer tool to do some spattering on my image panel (I don't know why but I SOO love doing that!!) and of course, I added some sponging using a mix of my poison of choice  - Ranger Vintage Photo and Walnut Distress Inks - and a bit of pale lavender and soft sky just to add to the "Spring" feel!  I also added a bit of ribbon and one of my pretty little flowers from my Easter Key Ingredients Kit to finish my card up!

I wish I could take credit for the awesome sketch, but I swiped it from this week's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast: SC270 I just loved the 3 patterned paper panels on this one! great for those small pieces of paper we love!!

Anyhoo, now for some more good news!! As part of the Whimsical Wishes celebration, you can have this gorgeous image for free - but there's more, because this set of images is called "Whimsical Wishes Throughout the Year" and that means that not only do you get Promise of Spring but you get to enjoy this year-round!...see for yourself!!

How gorgeous are these???  As you can see, this fabulous download includes 4 exclusive seasonal images and their perfectly coordinating sentiments! Your images  are ready to be colored with your favorite medium - just print and get to work!!  Isn't this great??  I am in love with all of these images, and you can have your own in just minutes!!  This download is yours FREE this weekend (until Monday 3/8) with any purchase from the TE store! (and you know you MUST treat yourself to something fresh out of the oven, so it's yours!!  score!!)  

If you need any further enabling (HA!! as if..) I just have to let you know that the very first Whimsical Wishes stamp sets "Branching Out" and "Branching Out Coordinates" are on sale as part of the celebration, until Monday also, so hurry!!  oh and I should probably NOT tell you this since I haven't gotten my grubby hands on them yet BUT Taylor has the NEW Limited Edition Nested Egg Dies in stock!! Have you seen these babies???? ugh..I know!!!  just gorgeous!!

Okay I am off to do my own shopping so I'll stop enabling you guys, but please visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen for some more eye candy!  today we have a special treat too - please join me in welcoming the "OMG!! She SOO Rocks my World" Amy Sheffer as our Guest Designer for March and April!  I cannot even begin to tell you how gorgeous her creations are, so be sure to take a peek!!

Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen

Thank you for stopping by for a visit!!

Have a wonderful stampy day!!

Alex

Spring is in the Air! Day 2 Sneak peeks!

Happy Spring sugarbunnies!! 

Okay, so it's not exactly spring yet, but bear with me! I am all about getting ready for the upcoming season and the fun holidays that come with it!!  Did you all love the awesome "You're my Hero" stamp set??  I still can't get over how utterly cool it is - you're going to be seeing a lot of it from me!  whoo-hoo!

Well today I am showing you TWO new sets that will also be released tomorrow at the TE store!! You're going to fall in love with the versatility of these 2 new sets!  Here is a quick look at my first peek!

I just LOVE Easter.  I love the pretty colors, the tranquility, and most of all I love the opportunity to reflect, and to feel at peace within.  I am thrilled that everything I love about Easter is beautifully represented and celebrated in this new stamp set called "Easter Blessings".  There is a wonderful variety of sentiments, verses and of course lovely symbols of our faith.  This is the card I made using my Easter Blessings stamp set:

For my card today, I paired my Easter Blessings stamp set with the gorgeous Easter Key Ingredients, also being introduced by Taylored Expressions this Friday (March 5th).  This Key Ingredients collection is absolutely delish - it features the patterned paper "Kioshi" collection from Basic Grey.  I LOVE, love the sweet colors and patterns which of course, still have the "distressing" that is so much a trademark of Basic Grey paper.  I decided to allow myself a bit of distressing for my image panel, and the beautiful cross which I wanted to use to accent and keep the focus on my panel.  I am in love, I think it's just the right kind of look I was hoping to get.  This pretty little flowers are also from my Easter KI kit, as are the buttons and the ribbon I used to embellish my card.  I SO hope you love this as much as I do!!

Of course, there is more!  for my next peek I decided to go in the absolute opposite direction. 

want to see a little peek?

This next stamp set is called Favorite Peeps, and it is just one more gorgeous addition to Nancy McKinney's Whimsical Wishes line.  While this stamp set is just perfect for all of your Easter cards and treats, I decided I wanted to try pairing my little peep with some more of my Rock Star Key Ingredients for a bit of funky chick fun!

Is this stinkin' cuteness or what??? I just LOOOVE this little chick, and I did a bit of masking so I could give her a BFF to hang out with!  I colored my "chicks" using copics, and then added a bit of Star Dust Stickles to add a little glam! This gorgeous (and FUN!!) flower is a fancy addition to the TE store for Spring!  so fun, and bright I am just beside myself!  As for this sentiment - do they get any cuter than this? I think it is just perfect, and I will be using it a LOT!!  

I hope you like my little peeks into these very different and incredibly lovely stamp sets!  I would love for you to check out some more inspiration featuring these two sets, so please stop by for a visit with the rest of the Baker's Dozen - you will be floored, I promise!!

Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen

and also joining us today, is the ultra-talented Nancy McKinney!! 

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Alex

Dude..!! it's TE Sneak Peek Time!

Rock On sistahs!!  It's time for a Taylored Expressions sneak peek - and what a cool one it is!!

 

Okay so I seriously pulled one of these when I saw the set we are sharing with you guys today - for several reasons, and I promise you, you are going to LOVE it just as much as I do!  

Today I am incredibly proud to get to share this INCREDIBLE, awesome, absolutely stinkin' gorgeous set called "You're my Hero".  This stamp set is the newest addition to the TE Giving Tree Program!  As you may know, the TE Giving Tree Program donates a part of the proceeds from sales of a special stamp set to a specific charity each quarter.  I just love and SO admire the thought that goes into creating these very special sets, and knowing that not only am I buying something I truly like, but it makes me SO happy to know it is also helping a wonderful cause!  

"You're my Hero" is heaven sent for me!  it is SOO hard to find "cool" stamps I can use for my scrapbooks/cards for my son and his friends that are not too babyish, and definitely not too overly mushy (heaven forbid!!) and I know those of you with children between the ages of 10 and 18 can relate so trust me, your dreams have come true with this one!!

I could not wait to make a super-grunge cool "boy" card with my set, and used my (also new!!!) Rock Star Key Ingredients to put it all together!

Seriously, how cool is this??? Where do I even begin???  I has so much fun making this card - the grungy bold colors, the metallic accents, and the beautifully textured cardstock just make this Key Ingredients kit, and absolute MUST have!!

I just know that I will be using this set constantly, and I know they will love it - it was after all, created just for them!!  This set was inspired by a special little boy my son's age as well, and well, as a mommy - this just makes everything so much more meaningful.  Darrin Zimmerman was Taylor's neighbor until he lost his battle to cancer last fall.  Please visit Taylor's blog for more on this brave little angel who continues to touch so many lives!  The TE Giving Tree program will be donating $7.00 from the sale of each "You're my Hero" stamp set to CureSearch, a research organization dedicated to curing childhood cancer.  You can read more about CureSearch HERE. 

Thank you so much for stopping by - remember, this is only the beginning!  We are showing off all of the new releases for this month which will be available for purchase this Friday (March 5), at 8am PST.  Can you just wait to see what else is new this month??? YOU are going to flip!! 

For more yummy eye candy featuring this lovely and rockin' set, please visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen!

Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman

and the lovely, Taylor VanBruggen

Please stop by tomorrow!!

Smoochies,

Alex

CIC8 Gotta Wear Shades

Good morning loves!!

ENOUGH with the snow already!!! I don't know about you guys but I am just buried in snow this morning!! Fun, I know, but sheesh..can't we get break???!

Well, if you're snowed in like me, you're in luck because I have got a challenge for you!  Today is our Clearly Inspired Challenge #8, and it is a fun one!!  It's called "Hip to be Square" and all you have to do is make a square card!  Easy huh??  I happen to LOVE square cards, so this was heaven to me! 

If you're new to these challenges, here are the details for you!

• These challenges will occur every other Friday
• You have until the following Thursday to link your project using Mr. Linky on THIS POST on Lori's Blog.
• Challenges will vary each and every time
• Your work is important so there will be 5 Inspirational Cards/Projects chosen to be featured here
• Use CDstamps if you have them... IF NOT PLEASE PLAY ANYWAY... use what you have!
• A PRIZE (your choice of stamp set) will be awarded to a randomly chosen winner
• If you upload to Splitcoast Stampers please use CIC8 as one of your keywords.

Here is the card I made for today's challenge:

How's this for an odd bunch of colors??  I really wanted to got with a very shabby/vintage mix, and this was definitely just that!  I just got this new (delish) Victoria Collection paper from 7Gypsies, and it just fit perfectly for what I wanted to do!  I colored in my funky little lamp from Ageless Antiques using Copic Markers, and I paper-pieced the shade  and added it to my image using dimensionals, so it really pops, and looks adorable if I do say so myself!  Love this fun color combo, and I think it's perfect for a fun square card!!

I hope you have some time to play along!!  I will be stamping my little heart out today, and I hope you do too!!

Happy snow day!!

Alex

Disco turtle love!

Hi Sugarbunnies!!

I hope you're in the mood for some more funk!! Truth be told I am SOO in need of some brightening up!  It feels like it hasn't stopped raining in my neck of the woods FORever, and I am sooo over it!!  I need some major color in my life right about now, and so here I am today sharing a little turtle lovin' with you!

 

I used my February Key Ingredients to make this card! Can you believe these adorable embellishments are also part of the kit?  I am SO loving the polka dot buttons and the flower - they're just so cool!  Can you believe how bright is this??  talk about pure funk ...Oh yeah!!  I am also loving my little single turtle there!  Originally she is one half of the new Turtles in Love stamp, but I decided to mask off her other half, and use her as a single image! Isn't that cool?  I figured this way I get a bit more versatility from my stamps! easy!!  I colored her in with Copics, and her shell is double mounted onto my image using dimensionals.  I also colored in her the heart and added a little bit of stickles for some bling!  The sentiment is from my Love Everywhere set, and I think it just fit perfectly with this little turtle - don't you just love when that happens??!! sheer happiness I tell you!

You know what else made my day??  I am SO not the brightest apple in the bunch I swear - can you believe I just came across this super-awesome "sketchbook" that Taylor has available for download on her blog - in it she has the 100 sketches from her weekly TE challenge - SO Cool!!  What a gorgeous source of inspiration, you must grab your copy, if you haven't already!!  (you can find the cute little download button right below her cute (okay gorgeous!!) little picture!) 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a bright and shiny day!!

Alex

ModTrio Love

Happy Saturday loves!!

What an exciting day!!  Every month, on the 20th, half of the Baker's Dozen shows off projects created with the month's Key Ingredients Kit!  How's that for fun and inspiration??!  This month, I am thrilled to be playing along with the February Key Ingredients Subscription Challenge!!   whoo-hoo!!

This month's kit is all about Black and White with a splash of color, and it is just right up my alley!  I have to say this is SOOO my thing!!  You only have to open my closet to see that 90% of what I own is black (hey, it goes with everything!!) I mean., you just can't go wrong - it's a classic, just ask good ol' Audrey!(that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!)

Well, I just about flipped my lid when I saw the delicious papers, ribbons, flowers and button included in this month's kit.  I decided I would make a couple of cards for my friend Nancy who has always been so sweet to me, and happens to love funky patterns as much as I do, so I'm thinking she's going to love the patterns I used on my cards:

Are these yummy or what??  For my cards I used the newly released Animal Love Sentiments.  This sentiment is quickly becoming a huge favorite of mine.  I used it for scrapbooking, and now I was able to use it to make these "any occasion" cards using only this fun sentiment set - how's that for versatility?? (YAY!!)  I should also mention I made these in NO time at all, and there is absolutely NO coloring involved so this is a great way to make a bunch of cards to have on hand to to give as gifts! 

I have to say that's one of the things I LOVE about the Key Ingredients Kit, I know I always say the same thing but it is absolutely true!! I love that that you can truly sit and make a bunch of cards without having to constantly look for embellishments or even cardstock to go with your patterned paper!  I got myself a subscription as soon as Taylor started the program, and I still use all of my previous month's kits!  As a subscriber you also get a handy little storage case (labeled!!) to keep everything nice and neat (which we all need right??) That's how I keep all of my kits and I find it so incredibly useful! 

I hope you're feeling mod and inspired by this funky collection!  I know I am going to be using this kit a lot!! I just love it, and if you need more inspiration - these incredibly talented ladies are showing off their stuff with this month's kit too, so be sure to stop by their blogs for some eye candy!

Dawn Easton
Karen Motz
Jackie Pedro
Laurie Schmidlin
Sankari Wegman
and of course, the lovely Taylor VanBruggen

Have a wonderful Saturday lovebugs!!

Smoochies,

Alex

Puppy Love Peek!

Hiya sugarmuffins!!

Wanna see some Big Love?

Today is my first time posting over at the Stamp A Sweet Impression Blog!  You must pop in and see what I made using my stamps!! 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs!!

Alex

CIC7 Dazzlin'Duckie

Happy Friday loves!

Today is Clearly Inspired Challenge Friday at Clear Dollar Stamps, and I am so excited about this one!! 

I mean to post this earlier but we had a little excitement here in my neighborhood when there was some sort of underground explosion directly across the street from my house and so we lost our power (and heat!!) for the past few hours!  NO fun, I tell you!  Luckily power is back on (for now) and I'm praying it stays!!

Today's Challenge is all about my favorite stuff!  It is Glam It Up!, and that means anything that sparkles, glitters, and shines is good to go! Check out the details if you have a chance to play along:

• These challenges will occur every other Friday
• You have until the following Thursday to link your project using Mr. Linky on THIS POST on Lori's Blog.
• Challenges will vary each and every time
• Your work is important so there will be 5 Inspirational Cards/Projects chosen to be featured here
• Use CDstamps if you have them... IF NOT PLEASE PLAY ANYWAY... use what you have!
• A PRIZE (your choice of stamp set) will be awarded to a randomly chosen winner
• If you upload to Splitcoast Stampers please use CIC7 as one of your keywords.

Here is my card for today's Glam It Up challenge:

 

How do you like my funky Disco Duck??  I colored my Duck using Copics and then added some bright yellow stickles for bling.  I also added pink and diamond stickles to the patterned paper to make it really sparkle!  I had SO much fun playing with this one, it looks really happy and shiny!  Oh I almost forgot, this awesome and delightful sketch is from this week's Mojo Monday, it is a wonderful sketch and definitely one I never in a million years would have thought of!  What awesome inspiration! 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a nice toasty weekend, and do play along and show your bling!

Hugs,

Alex

What's cookin'?

Hi everybody!  Boy, time sure flies when you're having fun right?? 

I am just trying to catch up to the exciting stuff going on everywhere!  Did you all check out the gorgeous NEW goodies at Taylored Expressions??? OMG!! How do you even choose right??

I know I am having SO much fun playing with my new toys, I can't wait to show you what I've been doing to keep myself out of trouble!

So anyhoo, first on my list this week, was getting my messy self a bit more organized! Especially in the kitchen since I bake A LOT.. now mind you I am the queen of shopping lists, so you would think that that's a good thing right??? well, normally yes, but NOT if you neglect to take your list with you when you're going shopping! (I know ) so what usually happens is, I am usually either short one item or I get doubles of something else!! silly me, but today I came up with a fabu solution to keep my shopping lists handy, and in the same place so when I run out the door, I know just where to look!

How do you like my apron Note Holder??  I used one of my fabulous new Apron Invitation Die Cuts to make my hanging pocket, and just dressed it up using some fun (kitchen-y) patterned paper from DCWV.  Of course I made sure the paper matched my decor since I am going to be hanging this from a little hook on my wall (you could hang it on a door knob too!) and this way you can keep your lists (or coupons!) handy for when you're dashing off to the store!

Is this coolness or what??  My "baker" chick is from the new Apple Doodle Ink "Bakery Business" stamp set.  She is just too stinkin' cute for words!  I colored her in using Copic Markers, and I curved my Bakery Sentiment right on the block so that I could stamp it around my image. I finished dressing it up by adding some Making Memories tiny Letter Stickers to personalize my quick and easy handy kitchen "gadget".

I am just loving this idea, and the best part is it you can double this as an invitation and then your "guest" can turn it into a handy storage pocket like this one! YAY!! the possibilities are just endless!

I know I will be much better at grabbing my lists now that I have a cute place to keep it!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Smoochies!!

Alex

Wild for TE! Day two Sneak Peeks!

Happy Thursday everybody!  Welcome to day two of Taylored Expressions sneak peeks!

Did you all love yesterday's exciting new stamps?? I am still reeling from seeing all of the wonderful creations, and even more thrilled with all the new offerings available tomorrow at the TE store!!

Did you ever just want to try a certain style or type of stamp for just one perfect project?? ...Or do you want to try a stamp that you can use over and over for every occasion or sentiment you own?  Well, you can just flip right now because there is a fabu NEW option for a single dose of sweetness just for you!

I am just thrilled to share with you a brand new array of gorgeous, individual stamps for you to try, called Stamps A la Carte!  For February there are 8 irresistible Whimsical Wishes Animals in Love stamps, and here is what I made with just one of these fun cuties!

Aren't they cuuute??? OMG! I could just swoon over these babies! The sentiment I used is part of a NEW coordinating set designed for these little creatures and it will truly make you smile! I have to say I'm having a really hard time picking a favorite!!

I thought my little elephants would be perfect all dressed up for a fancy occasion!  Who wouldn't get a smile out of these two??? 

Believe it or not, the animals just keep getting cuter!!  I decided to go in a different direction for my next peek!

Of course, you know I LOOOVE owls, so I could not get my hands on this next stamp from Animals in Love fast enough!  I wanted to go a little rustic "funky country" with this one! (yes, that is the technical term now!) lol..

these little ones are just perfect in every way:

 

This stamp design is just so cute! I stamped my image twice and adhered it to my circle panel using dimensionals, but before I added the second layer, I cut out the middle heart of my top layer, so basically the little owl couple are "inside" of the tree!  How stinkin' cute is that???

I don't know about you, but my biggest thrill is when a stamp makes me want to keep creating, and I have to say these new stamps from Taylored Expressions do just that!  I cannot wait to use them over and over!  I cannot wait to show you more of these fabulous Stamps A la Carte! images, so be sure to stop by tomorrow because it's release day!!!

In the meantime, check out the Baker's Dozen for MAJOR eye candy!!!

Charmaine Ikach
Dawn Easton
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Laurie Schmidlin
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen

I am just floored by the things these girls come up with!!

I hope you've enjoyed my sneak peeks! Have a wonderful stampy day!!

Alex