Taylored Expressions: A2 vs. Mini Slim

Happy Tuesday–just popping in to share some Taylored Expressions fun today! Today, the TE Team is focusing on inspiration to show how to use one product to create cards in two different sizes (both A2 and Mini Slim).

First up today, I am using the new Counting Candles Layering Stencils. I decided to first make this on a Mini Slim card and so I used both the Mini Slim Stitched Stacklets and the Mini Slim Petite Scallop Stacklets.

These Counting Candles Layering Stencils make quick work of a festive card with fun results quite easily. And I am allllll about the easy! 🙂 You can pick a bunch of different colored inks and create a fun result using several or you can keep it simple with just a few! I went pastel crazy! 🙂 The new little blending brushes make it even easier to do.

I added a little Stickles to the center of the flames too and in person, you can see it much better than in the photo. 🙂

Next up, I did a similar candle approach but this time I cut it out and decided I was going to make a shaker card. I offset the circles this time, just to mix it up a bit.

I colored Millie from the Millie’s Birthday Bash stamp set with Copic Markers.

Nothing says Happy Birthday quite like a shaker card, right? ❤ I just offset the circles and used the TE Foam Strips to create the shaker window, adding the Rainbow Sprinkles, Sparkly Stars and Hearts. Easy peesy.

Oh and all the little sentiments and details are from the Counting Candles Add-On Stamp set.

These both turned out Birthdaytastic and the stencil works wonderfully on both sizes of cards: A2 and Mini Slim. It’s fun to see them side by side in the end. 🙂

All these products are available now over at Taylored Expressions.

And here’s the scoop:

If any of the main products that the TE Creative Team used on their projects caught your eye, we are making them available to you for 30% off through this Sunday, May 9th or while supplies last. Here are the sets included in the sale:

Counting Candles Cards:

Be sure to find the TE Blog Post HERE with the always amazing TE Creative Team!

Thank you for stopping by today and have a wonderful week!

Take care 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

Taylored Expressions: Teacher and Grad Release!

One of the cards I make the most is Teacher cards and so for me, it’s a fun day at Taylored Expressions –there are lots of new goodies to celebrate all the Teachers and Grads in our lives! 🙂

First up today, I am using the new Full Circle-School. I stamped it, heat embossed it and then I die cut it with one of my most used stacklets for such occasions: Apple Stacklets.

I decided this would be fun on a Mini Slim card and so I used both the Mini Slim Stitched Stacklets and the Mini Slim Petite Scallop Stacklets. I also stamped the Full Circle-School in tone-on-tone with Toffee ink on Toffee cardstock. I seem to use Toffee often on Teacher cards? I think that might be because I like it with the Red Pepper apple. 🙂

I added a bit of twine to the stem after I blended on some green inks. I white heat embossed the sentiment on vellum and stitched that on the panel. Before I adhered everything to the card base, I decided to blend on some Sugar Cube ink to the Oreo top fold Mini Slim card. To finish it off, I used the new Cosmic Bits!

Next up, I thought I’d veer from a typical Teacher card color palette. I love how this turned out! I used the new I Pick You stamp and stencil.

I used Confetti Cake with the stencil and stamped the apples with Granny Smith, Cupcake and Toffee. I love these stamps that have the coordinating little dies for cutting out the little apples (or pumpkins, snowmen, etc. in the past). Pretty sure I definitely need to order another little apple die.

I thought this was a fun and a slightly different way to put on the sentiment. Of course, in true Jill style, I used the same sentiment on both cards today! 😂 I don’t know how I do that, but I do it all the time. However, I promise there are lots of great sentiments in this set besides the one I used, twice! haaaa!

Oh and I stamped the Inside Scoop- Teacher on the inside and completely forgot to take a photo of that. Another thing I do all the time! 🙂 Ack!

And BONUS TIME!! There is a NEW Big Grumpy Grad download to make some fun celebratory cards for Graduation and really, for anytime. There are a few sentiments that work for everyday congrats too, which I love!

I was laughing so heard when I read this one! 🙂

I colored Big Grumpy-Bear with Copic Markers and then masked off this background area before using the Confetti Toss stencil and Stickles-Nebula paste. I love that Nebula paste because it has these cute little stars in it too! 🙂

Next up, I thought it would be fun to use this sentiment. Also usuable for so many occasions. 🤣 Congrats you took out the trash! Here’s a card! I kid, but you know what I’m saying. I love this little bit of snark for everyday or for those Grads with the same silly sense of humor too. 🙂

I made this background with the Masking Stencils-Stars (I used it and shifted it around a bit to use it again) and the Diagonal Stitched Square Stacklets. So fun! 🙂

This sentiment is a trip. And if you haven’t used these Free Big Grumpy sentiments before, it is very easy to do. Check out the information for printing and stamping them over on the TE Blog and website.

I colored Big Grumpy on both with Copic Markers. These two are some of my all time faves of my TE stash.

All these products are available now over at Taylored Expressions.

And here’s the scoop:

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!

Thank you Apple Card:

Thank You Teacher Card:

Big Grumpy Cards:

Find the TE Blog Post HERE with more awesome crafty inspiration from the TE Creative Team!

Thanks so much for stopping by! And thank you to all the Teachers who have made the best of a tricky situation. Congrats to the class of 2021!

Take care 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

New Simple Strips and Mini Strips!

Welcome to a very fun release day over at Taylored Expressions! 🙂 The new release is available at Taylored Expressions today! 🙂

This release was clearly made just for me! haaa! Not really, but I do love it! 🙂 All the snark just makes me laugh. And who doesn’t need that about now?

For the first one, I used Love from Max and Millie along with the New Simple Strips- Snarky. Max is so perfect for this sentiment! He is sooooo thrilled with people. 🙂

I used the Rough Draft Background for the little panel along with the Notebook Paper die. The Grass Stencil created the perfect base for Max to sit on. The heart antennae though–tooooo funny! 🙂

Love it! 🙂

Next up, I busted out the Mythical Grumplings to use this Sentiment. I cannot tell you how perfect this is for a few of my friends. 🙂

Oh that Angry Unicorn is so so not into it. ❤ I cut the strips for this one with the Asymmetrical Die.

Last up, I thought it would be fun to use one of the Hot Flash Grumplings to express the struggle. This sentiment is from the new Fun & Funny Mini Strips and I love that little set, right along with the SS Snarky. 🙂

I always laugh when these little funny sentiments are paired with sweet colors and flowers. So I used the Floral Fields Background tone on tone here, blending on colors with the Masking Stencil-Square as my guide.

To finish it off, I added some stitching, some bits and some score lines. I love the silliness of the whole scene and can’t wait to mail this one! ❤

I hope you find yourself laughing as you read all the new sentiments available. I had to stamp and die cut them in bulk, right out of the gate because I knew I’d be using them often. AND I even put them in the Simple Strips Storage Container straightaway so I could find them easily. Who am I? Ha! Each one I read, I really just laugh out loud. I can’t wait to use them ALL! ❤

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below.

Max Done Card:

Angry Unicorn Card:

Chick Card:

All these products are available now over at Taylored Expressions.

There is also a release of NEW Sticker Labels for the Mini Strips collection! And there is a special promotion that includes 15% off all Mini Strips stamps* (*excluding the new Fun & Funny).

Find the TE Blog Post HERE with more crafty inspiration from the TE Creative Team! ❤

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful week! 🙂

Take care 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

TE Individual Kit Pieces!

Happy New Week! Anyone else sort of spinning in circles like me? Ha!

Well anyway, onto fun news instead–Today, Taylored Expressions is releasing products from a few kits. These products were previously only available in the kits, but now can be purchased individually at Taylored Expressions today! 🙂

I’m sharing two cards I made with individual kit pieces. First up, the Frayed Edge Masking stencil from the Field Notes kits–completely versatile for ANY project! I figured I need a few more of these cards, so I created a fun double stenciled background using the Frayed Edge Masking stencil and the Criss Cross Stencil. Of course this partnered with Big Grumpy and the Farewell 2020 Download.

I cannot have enough of these before the end of the year! haaaaaaaaaaa! 🙂

So true, so true. Sorry 2020.

Next up, I used the sentiment set called Good Vibes from the Hey There Kit. This sentiment set is a fave, especially these days. Need these sentiments so much right now! 🙂

I decided to make a trio of cards in hopes I’d send them out in the mail this week…they are needed elsewhere, not in my stash! 🙂

Pretty straightforward–I blocked out some strips of cardstock and then die cut them with the Mini Slim Trifold Template and the Stitched Mini Slim Stacklets. This is very clean look and easy to replicate in so many different options.

I added some scoring to the Toffee Card bases, some stitching and some Clear Drip Drops. I love having this stack to send out! 🙂

I love making a stack at time, but I often don’t think ahead like that. I am getting better though! 🙂

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below.

Frayed Edge Masking Stencil Card:

Good Vibes Trio of Cards:

All these products are available now over at Taylored Expressions.

Find the TE Blog Post HERE with more inspiration from the TE Creative Team! ❤

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week and I’ll be back with some more fun soon! 🙂

Take care 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

Miss You!

Happy Weekend! Popping in super duper quick to share this fun card I made using the images from the Lawn Fawn/Ellen Hutson S’more the Merrier set that my friend Chari (Thank you, Chari! ❤ ) sent me to color for The Daily Marker 30 Day! We had a small gang of some coloring friends and we all stamped and swapped images to color throughout the month of July. I will have to post all the cards that came of the month on my blog sometime soon. It was so fun and a great way to stretch myself! 🙂

Anyway…on with the card….

I blended on several different Distress Inks over the Taylored Expressions Circle Masking Stencil (HERE) and then added the images I fussy cut and colored with Copic Markers. I think it’s safe to say I never made a background like this and it was fun to make. Room to improve, but when isn’t there? 🙂

Gah!! How cute are these little critters!? I used a much older sentiment set from Lawn Fawn for the speech bubble. You can find this cutie Lawn Fawn/Ellen Hutson S’more the Merrier set over at Ellen Hutson HERE. 🙂

Thank you to my friends Alyssa, Caren, Chari, Jen, Latisha and Lori for a FUN month of virtual crafting—coloring together from afar! ❤

Take care– Jill 🙂

Instagram? jilldhawkins

TE Quad Colors Continued!

Hello and welcome back to a fun week over at Taylored Expressions! I hope you have enjoyed the idea of mixing up your color choices and maybe even enjoyed playing along this week already? The TE Creative Team has really wow’d me (again!) with the Quad Colors projects! Here are all the colors below. Be sure to check out all the news over on the TE Blog and see more cards!

Today, I will start out with the Quad Color called Sahara.

I created a background with two Masking Stencils using this combo–and I LOVE how easy it was with the TE Blender Brushes….he turned out well with guessing my appropriate Copic markers. Who knew? The stripes are the absolute best paired with a rectangle– <3!

Of course, it’s no secret I love the Grumplings and this one is Big Grumpy Cat! He’s so ornery and actually this card is WAY too fitting for this time in our world, unfortunately. But introverts unite, nonetheless. 🙂 I colored him with Copic Markers and it turned out (surprisingly… shhhh) well for this color combo.

Next up, I have the Quad Color Barcelona:

One of my go-to cardmaking techniques is always strips of paper all stacked together. The result is always delightful to me. So when I saw this combo, that was my first idea. I thought this card would be great for a graduate–especially a pre-school or elementary school one. 🙂

For this card the coverplate I used is Alphabet Soup–definitely a favorite coverplate when it comes to making anything for school or kids. I just adore the font. I added some stitching and put it all on a card base. Such fun!

If you missed my post on Tuesday for the Quad Colors, please find that post by clicking HERE.

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below. Also, here’s a sweet little reminder below about shipping again this month. 😉

Big Grumpy Cat Card:

Congrats Graduate Card:

All these products are available over at Taylored Expressions! I hope you have time to check out all the Quad Color fun too! The TE Team has made a super fun array of lots of different cards with these!! And then, there is also this:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Crafting! 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

TE Quad Colors!

Hello and welcome to a fun week over at Taylored Expressions! It’s time to give your “color go-to choices” a shake up! The TE Creative Team has really enjoyed this exercise of Quad Colors to get out of our “normal” go-to colors! Such fun! Here are all the colors below. Be sure to check out all the fun over on the TE Blog and links to all the cards!

Today, I will start out with the Quad Color called Dublin.

I thought it would be fun to create a background with a masking stencil using this combo–because–well, they blend like butta’ together! 🙂

I love this little unicorn and pegasus–Dreamer! They are so stinkin’ adorable. I colored them with Copic Markers and added all the little extras to make the card extra fun! 🙂 Also, I just love this sentiment! 🙂

Next up, I have the Quad Color Paris:

I love how this card came together so swiftly and lovely. This is perfect to send someone when they just need a little pick me up. ❤

Believe it or not, I do not consider myself a pastel person, so I was thinking I’d struggle with this overall pastel combo….but nope! This card came together quickly with the help of the set Spring Stems. This set has so many stamps to choose from, but I decided on simple with a repeating leaf.

I stamped everything out and then added some stitching and kept the rest pretty clean. 🙂

In a stark contrast to the perky colorful Quad Color Combos I have already used here today, now I switch over to the Quad Color called Patagonia:

I actually like using grays and such, so I think there are several possibilities with this one too. For this card, I used the Toffee color as my neutral vs. my usual, Sugar Cube. I thought it was fun to make a laughable card:

What have I done? haaaaa!! 🙂 I have to laugh because he let the camper go and run down the hill!! ahhhh! 🙂 Run and catch it little dude!!

The little On the Road -Camper combined with the Fluffy Friends is perfect for a laugh! 🙂 I colored him Copic Markers. I also die cut the hills with the Snow Drifts die and added some Toffee ink with the TE Blender Brushes before stitching over the top. The Here Comes the Sun creates the perfect subtle background for this fun scene.

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below. Also, here’s a sweet little reminder below about shipping you might want to take advantage of this Crafty Month…possibly. Maybe? 😉

Unicorn Card:

Thinking of You Card:

Camper card:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Crafting! 🙂

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

Grumpy Unicorn

Hello! Happy Sunday! Lots of time at home for us ahead, so I made a fun card to share using Taylored Expressions Mythical Grumplings set! So fun!!

Love this set! ❤

Haaaa! He’s so funny! I blended on Cupcake ink with the TE Blender Brushes and stenciled over the the Stencil Strips-Clouds stencils. I colored him with Copic markers.

Here’s a quick little video link below of me making most of the card. I am not a video person, so let me lower your expectations now before you watch it! 🙂

JillDHawkins on Instagram

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below.

Unicorn card:

All these products are available over at Taylored Expressions! We all need to stay busy, don’t we?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

The Creatures, the Myths, the Legends….

Welcome to a super fun Leap Day Release for Taylored Expressions ! Be sure to check out all the fun over at Taylored Expressions now!

All my cards today feature the oh so cute, and OH so funny, Mythical Grumplings. This set is a kick, if you ask me. ❤

First I start out with the Yeti!

Haaaa! He’s so funny! But so sweet, yes? 😉

These new bits are THE BEST! If they are up your alley, I recommend maybe getting an extra pack “for a friend”..wink wink. 🙂 I also used the Neighborhood Border as I thought this would be fun little scene for the Yeti and his sentiment.

Next up, I had to use that cutie dragon too. He looks so happy. Haaaa!! I blended on some inks with the TE Blender Brushes and stenciled over the the Scattered Stars stencil. This one is simple and super fun in my book–my fave. That sentiment is everything– haaa! ❤

And this card has another of the newer bits too. 🙂 Lots of fun Copic coloring.

Lastly, here is my son’s favorite–as he says, “the angry unicorn”! haaaa!!

I cannot read this sentiment without laughing every single time. It’s so cheeky and oh so funny. 🙂 I also thought it would be fun to repurpose the Gatefold Reveal 2 to make a shaker card. Perfect fit! 🙂

You can find all my supplies and links to the Taylored Expressions Shop below.

Yeti card:

Dragon card:

Unicorn card:

All these products are available now over at Taylored Expressions! Gahhhhh! I am so glad to finally share these. 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by–Happy Leap Day!

Jill

Follow me on Instagram: jilldhawkins 🙂

A handful of cards today!

Happy Sunday! Today I’m just here to share a smattering of cards I’ve made recently. I thought I’d just share them all here at once. Many of these products are still available over at Ellen Hutson , but some were either a promotion or they are retired. I always think you can likely find a substitute if you’re interested in using an idea here as a launching pad. 🙂

First up, I have a couple Avery Elle cards! 🙂

This first one is ready for Father’s Day this year–perfect for my hubby! So shhhhh don’t show him yet. 🙂 It uses the following from Avery Elle: Avery Elle Swell Stamp, Burst Elle-Ments, Avery Elle Sea-Prise! Stamps, Avery Elle Celebraytion Stamps (this one for the second card).

(The Happy Father’s Day is from well loved, but much older AE set.)

I colored everything with Copic Markers. The background I stamped with two different inks and pieced it allllll together. So fun how it turned out.

Next up, I created this one with the Burst Elle-Ments from Avery Elle… a long time FAVORITE die! (I used this same die to create the “porthole” above.)

I used pretty much the same Avery Elle goodies here, mixing it up a bit to create a card for our son. This sentiment below is from Avery Elle’s Celebraytion Stamps.

Next up, I have a couple cards using goodies from the Stamp Market: Hello Stencil, Leaves Stencil.

For both of these, I blended on background colors over these fun stencils and then added the Hi and Hellos on top. 🙂

I like this repeating hello in just black and white, but I think coloring it could be super fun too!

Next up, I created a couple Spring Hi Cards. 🙂 These are perfect to pop in the mail!

I always like the yellow and green blend…it never fails me. 🙂

I used some Distress Inks and some Distress Oxide Inks.

I had a lot of fun making these cards and I hope you too have some time to create soon!

So fun! Here are all the products that are available now and links again:

Avery Elle: Swell Stamp, Burst Elle-Ments, Sea-Prise! Stamps, Celebraytion Stamps.

The Stamp Market: Hello Stencil, Leaves Stencil.

That’s all I have for today! Now I am heading outside as we have unusually and VERY unseasonable warm weather here today….before three days of snow. Yikes! 🙂

Take care– Jill 🙂

Instagram? jilldhawkins