Hooray-Hooray!! Taylored Expressions Teacher and Grad New Release Inspiration

Hooray, Hooray!! The new Taylored Expressions Release is all about Celebrating our Teachers & Grads!!  

I can’t believe that school is almost out for summer and you know what that means…time for Teacher Appreciation and Graduation CardMaking Season!! I love this time of year when we get to celebrate our Teachers and Students for their dedication and hard work through the school year…and what a year this has been whether you experienced remote or hybrid learning…this was a Milestone Year like no other for all of us!! 

Using goodies from the new release, I’m sharing two teacher appreciation cards and a Graduation Card that’s all decked out in school spirit with foil & shine in my daughter’s school colors—we have a Moving Up Milestone Celebration this year! Happy 5th Grade Graduation Kiddo!!

Full Circle-School TEACHER APPRECIATE CARDS

Using the Full Circle-School stamp with the Apple Stacklets, I created a Mini Circle (fits in a 4×4 envelope) and A2 Teacher Appreciation Card. For the You’re the Best Teacher card, I used the Masked Circle and Scallop Circle Stencils in Gumball and Cherry Pop Inks for my first layer. Then with VersaMark Ink, I stamped the Full Circle-School image to the Cherry Pop stenciled circle and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder. The size of the Full Circle Stamp is a PERFECT FIT in the largest Masked Circle Stencil!! Hint/Tip: Be sure to add anti-static to your ink blending because the embossing powder does like to stick to freshly ink blended areas. Loving how the little learning/education images POP off the red background with the white embossing powder!

I stamped the Teacher Sentiment in Gumball Ink and die cut using the Double-ended Flag Stacklets die. The apple was die cut from Cherry Pop and Granny Smith card stock using the Apple Stacklets & Apple Stems & Seeds Dies. Then I stacked and adhered the die cuts to the Full of Circle-School background image with foam tape. To finish the card, I added a sentiment strip from the You’re the Best Mini Strips set and two Bits & Pieces-Black Drip Drops for extra pop. 

I love making and giving mini cards in all shapes and sizes. They’re super cute and perfect to attach to a gift package, bag or basket with a little note of thanks or celebration. I die-cut a Circle Scallop Stacklet from Blueberry Card Stock and a Stitched Circle Stacklet from Sugar Cube Card Stock. Using the Apple Stacklets with the Apply Stems and Seeds, I die-cut three apple layers one from Cherry Pop Card Stock (and Granny Smith for the Stem), another from a Cherry Pop & Watermelon Ink Blended-Full Circle-School White Heat Embossed panel and the last from a piece of acetate.

Because I heat embossed the background, I didn’t want my stamped impression to be bumpy and I wanted to “see through” as much of the pattern as possible, soooo…I stamped the Teacher sentiment with Black Staz-On Ink to the Acetate Apple and adhered it in place with a piece of Kool Tak Clear Foam…then I stamped, heat embossed and applied the Thank You sentiment over the Kool Tak Adhesive.

To finish the mini card, I stacked and layered all of my pieces to the Blueberry Scallop Circle and attached it to a circle card base that I created using a circle nesting die and a partial die cut at the top of a folded A2 Card Edge. 

BOXED IN BASICS-GRAD 2021 Graduation Celebration

Graduation Milestones are such important events and what better way to celebrate than with a card that’s all about the foil and shine. The {Boxed In Basics}-Grad 2021 Panels are toner-printed which makes them perfect for foiling. I decided to customize my card panel to match my daughter’s school colors—Blue and Silver and it was super easy.

I just ran the panel with Blue Foil through my laminator machine and like magic I had instant Blue glam & shine. To add in the silver, with VersaMark Ink I stamped the Star Fall Background to the top of the Grad Panel and heat embossed with Silver Embossing Powder. To add in a few more hints of “Soaring Blue”, I added Blueberry cardstock Grad Confetti Little Bits using Liquid Adhesive. To finish the card and for one last piece of shine, I added the decorated Grad Panel to a Silver Foil Cardstock Base. 

What Taylored Expressions Release wouldn’t be complete without an amazing Bundle!!

Get the Hooray Bundle for 15% off the retail price! The bundle includes:

• On the Block – Hooray stamp
• On the Block – Hooray Shadow die
• Congrats die
• Building Blocks – Well Done stamp
• Simple Storage for Building Blocks case

The special introductory price of the Hooray Bundle is available Tuesday, April 27th, through Sunday, May 2nd, or while supplies last!

Hope you enjoyed my cards today! Thanks for stopping by and Big Paper Hugs!! 

Teacher Appreciation Card Supplies

Boxed-In Basics Grad 2021 supplies

Taylored Expressions Blender Brush and Stencil Release!

I am SO excited about the New Blender Brush Release at Taylored Expressions. Wait until you see the most Adorable & Functional Bitty Brushes and the awesome Black & White Blender Brush Set.

To go along with the new Blender Brushes there’s also new STENCILS!! I seriously could not put these brushes down and had a blast creating three pairs of cards with the new Striped Square and Delightful Daisy Stencils. Be sure to scroll through the entire post for all the cardmaking details and supply lists.

Gus and Gertie’s personalities called for some Fun Color Block backgrounds. I grabbed the New Adorable & Functional Bitty Brushes and Striped Square Stencil + Rectangle Masking Stencil and started masking & blending away with bright and cheerful ink colors.

After stenciling, I added a rectangle diagonal stitched border to complete the color block backgrounds. I colored Gus and Gertie with Copic Markers and adhered them to the stenciled background using foam tape.

Skateboarding Pals: Potato Chip, Lemon Meringue & Cookie Monster.

Driving Pals: Lemon Meringue, Watermelon, Strawberry Milkshake/Lollipop, Peaches & Cream/Candy Corn.

The Striped Square Stencil not only looks great in bright colors but it’s the perfect stencil to create modern-CAS black and white backgrounds. With the Striped Square Stencil + Square Masking Stencil I used the Black Blender Brush to add Poppy Seed and Oreo Ink Blending. Having a dedicated blender brush for black ink is awesome!

In yellows & purples, I layered & adhered the stamped, water-colored and die-cut the Pretty Picked Posies to the black and white striped square backgrounds. For extra dimension, I added a stitched square diagonal pattern to the smaller striped square and Clear Drip Drops to the flower centers.

To complete the cards, I added a Plum Punch Sentiment Strip that was heat embossed with white embossing powder.

The Delightful Daisy Stencil is the perfect match for the White Blender Brush & Sugar Cube Ink. I’m SO excited to finally have a Blender Brush dedicated to the Sugar Cube Hybrid Ink and not have to worry about cleaning after every use!!

For my cards, I used the White Blender Brush and stenciled the daisy petals to Jelly Donut and Sea Salt Cardstock with Sugar Cube Ink. With a Bitty Brush, I added in the yellow daisy centers with Lemon Meringue Ink and on the Sea Salt background added white gel pen detailing to the center of the daisy petals for extra dimension.

I stamped, water-colored and die-cut the Happy Gnomes from Like Gnome Other in Blues and Purples and then adhered them to a vellum stitched circle stacklet. To complete the cards, I added the silver heat embossed sentiments from the Love Additions & Happy Additions Building Blocks Stamp Sets and Coordinating Building Blocks Die. 

So there we are friends, several cards using the new Black & White Blending Brushes and the cutest ever Bitty Brushes. Below are all the fun supplies that I used to create all six cards 🙂 

Be sure to stop by the Taylored Expressions shop to check out all the other stencils in the release along with amazing inspiration from the amazing TE Creative Team. Taylored Expressions is also offering an amazing I Want It All New Release Bundle:

The I Want it ALL Bundle retails for $75 and includes the following:

• Bitty Blender Brushes (set of 6)
• Bitty Blender Brush labels
• Black & White Blender Brushes (set of 2)
• All 6 new stencils
• 8.5″ x 11″ Grid Paper Placemat Pad

The special introductory price of $75 on the I Want it ALL Bundle is available now through Sunday, April 25th, or while supplies last!

I hope you enjoyed my cards today and it inspires you to use your stencils in fun new ways. Thanks for stopping by!

Supply List: Bitty Brushes, Striped Square Stencil & Gus and Gertie

Supply List: Black Blender Brush, Striped Square Stencil & Pretty Posies

Supply List: White Blender Brush, Delightful Daisy Stencil & Gnome One Like You

Taylored Expressions Butterfly Wishes & Buttoned Up Craft Kit Release!!

Hi Friends and Happy Tuesday! It’s release day at Taylored Expressions with not one but two new craft kits that are perfect for all ages! The first kit is called Butterfly Wishes and it is all a flutter with beautiful butterfly images and a gorgeous Stamp, Stencil & Die Combo. The second kit is for the kiddos and my daughter is here with me today sharing all the cards she made using the Buttoned Up Kit. We had a lot of fun in the craft room this week and we can’t wait to share with you all our projects—be sure to scroll through to the bottom of the post to see all the card-making details and inspiration for both kits.

Craft Kit Details

Butterfly Wishes Card Kit

Here’s everything included the Butterfly Wishes Kit– which retails for $55:

• Butterflies Stamp & Stencil Combo set
• Butterflies die collection
• Clearly Crafty Butterfly Wishes stamp set
• Clearly Crafty Sweet Sentiments stamp set
• Diamond Jewels
• 6 Custom Envelope Seals
• 6 Toffee A2 Envelopes

Packaged in a zippered pouch with a custom kit label. Limited quantity available. Most items not available to purchase individually.

Buttoned Up Card Kit

Here’s everything in the Buttoned Up Kids Kit that retails for $25:

• 12 A2 sized cardbases (2 each of: Cherry Pop, Lollipop, Candy Corn, Lemon Meringue, Blueberry, Cookie Monster)
• 12 custom envelope seals
• 12 pre-printed A2 card layers (3 each of 4 designs)
• 12 Sugar Cube A2 envelopes
• Approximately 2 oz of buttons
• 1 glue stick
• 175 glue dots
• 1 plastic storage case with a sticker

The Hip Hip Hooray stamp set that is designed to coordinate with the Buttoned Up Kids Kit is available to purchase separately.

Craft Kit Ideas and Inspiration! 

Butterfly Wishes Craft Kit

First up, a rainbow of colorful butterflies. This is a two-for idea as I created two Mini Slim Cards from one Stamped & Stenciled Background Panel. I stamped the background using Oreo Ink to Sugar Cube Cardstock and then used the layering stencil to add the colorful rainbow butterfly wings. For the top of the wings, I used the first stencil layer with Strawberry Milkshake, Guava, Lemon Meringue and a light application of Cookie Monster. For the bottom of the wings, I used the second layer stencil with Lollipop, Watermelon, Pineapple (blending into orange) and Cookie Monster (blending into green). 

Hello Friend: For the first Mini Slim Butterfly Card, I die-cut the stamped and stenciled rainbow butterfly background using the largest rectangle in the Stitched Mini Slim Stacklets (saving the remaining piece for my second card). Then I adhered the rectangle to a Petite Scallop Mini Slim Stacklet and adhered the entire panel to an Oreo Top-Fold Mini Slim Card. I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark to Oreo Cardstock and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I die-cut the sentiment using the smallest square from the Stitched Square Stacklets and then layered the sentiment to a vellum petite scallop square stacklet. 

Thinking of You: For my second Mini Slim Butterfly Card, I took the remaining piece of the rainbow butterfly background and adhered it behind the windows of a Sugar Cube Mini Slim Square Window die cut. Using my MISTI, I placed and stamped the sentiment between the bottom and middle windows. For the pop-up butterflies, I die-cut three Sugar Cube Cardstock butterflies and using the Clearly Crafty Butterfly Wishes stamp set, I added the colorful wings using Strawberry Milkshake & Lollipop and Lemon Meringue & Pineapple and Confetti Cake & Cookie Monster Inks. To add a layer of softness to the inked butterflies, I adhered three vellum die-cut butterflies. For extra pop, I added a jewel to the center of the butterfly pop-up wings and then adhered the butterflies with foam squares to the edges of the three windows. To finish the card, I attached the decorated card panel to a Cookie Monster Top Fold Mini Slim Card. 

Butterfly Wishes Supplies:

Craft Time with the Kiddo!

I’m always SO excited when I get to craft with my daughter; especially when the crafty project is all packaged and ready to create!

The Buttoned Up kit with the Hip Hip Hooray stamp set had everything she needed to start coloring, stamping, gluing and using her very Clean and Simple Imagination 🙂

I had to explain how to use the glue dots but after that she was on a solo mission to create a card using all four of the designs. The best part… she has her own set of happy mail to send to family, friends and her teachers!

And a few How To Card Details from the kiddo:

Hi! Happy spring. This is another cute kids kit that you will love. Putting all the little and big buttons on the cute cards. The cards that are given in the kit are really beautiful and are so fun to color. The first thing I did was I planned out all the buttons I was going to put on the cards. The next thing was I colored the cards. This part was really fun because I got to pick the colors to match with the buttons. Then I stamped the sentiments that I was going to use and matched them with the cards. The last thing I did was I glued the buttons down onto the cards and I glued the cards onto the card bases. Voila! There you have the buttoned up craft kit from Taylored Expressions.

Buttoned Up Kit Supplies:

I hope you enjoyed our projects today! Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to stop by the Taylored Expressions Shop & Blog for more TE Creative Team Inspiration. 

Big Paper Hugs!

Emily