deconstructing jen

Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge February

Jen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:00:04 +0000

It’s time for the February addition of the Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge!

For my calendar page this month I started with the Frame Your Imagination stand paired with the 6×6 printable calendar (Taylor has both 2012 and 2013 available for those that want to work ahead – perfect for gift making!). I used Love A La Carte as my focal point. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black on Snow White Choice Cardstock and colored it with Copics to match My Mind’s Eye Love Me paper. I kept this page in line with the theme I started on my first calendar month. To accent the image I added a bit of Doodle Twine and cut outs from Hearts a Plenty. I added a bit of shine to the heart in LOVE with Glossy accents and popped the die cuts up on foam tape. Lastly I added a order using the Scalloped Eyelet Border Die.

I am just loving this frame! It makes a great addition to the decorations in our basement and it’s so versatile. You could really use the frame to showcase just about anything!!

Please join us this month! You can get the full details at Taylor’s blog and please feel free to jump in at any time. You can go back and participate in past months when ever you wish, the link lists on Taylor’s blog will stay open all year! If you participate in 10 or more months in 2012 there will be a drawing for a $150 Taylored Expressions prize pack!!

For more gorgeous inspiration please hop around and see what the other fantastic Baker’s Dozen designers have made!

Deconstructed Sketch No. 38

Jen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00:44 +0000

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our sponsored challenge, Sketch 37. Your projects were all wonderful! I am always so inspired be everyone’s creations each week. It’s so fun to go hop around and see what you’ve been up to!

Our randomly selected winner from Skech 37 is…

Mari Harpham

Congratulations Mari! Please email me at jenevey @ gmail dot com and I’ll get with you about your prize!

Are you ready for the sketch?? Well here it is!

Here’s my sample:

My card originally started out down a clean and simple path and morphed into something else completely as I worked. I do really like the outcome though. I used Moka Katie for my image today and colored her with Copics. I actually have a little video of how I colored her that I’ll share a little further down. It started out as a tutorial and I was a little long winded to I sped it up and but music over it but you can follow along and see the process. Okay, back to my card. I started out with Moka Katie and paper from MME Love Me, my current favorite paper pad that I can’t stop using. Seriously, it’s very versatile, and I love the soft pinks in it. Here are the rest of the details on the card:

Image: Moka Katie, Taylored Expressions
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo
Paper: MME Love Me, Kraft, Choice Snow White cs
Accessories: Spellbinders Circles, doily, hand died sheer ribbon, dew drops, Prima roses, twine, glue dots, foam tape, 3M Quick Dry Adhesive, Glossy Accents, distress tool, Lots of Dots impression plate (Taylored Expressions), Sharpie pen, Copics.

And here’s the video I promised of how I colored Katie.

Here’s our fantastic guest designer, Amy Sheffer’s, sample:

So there’s a little something to get you started and now it’s time to hop around and see what everyone else on the DT has been up to and leave them a little love.

DS37 Show Offs!

Jen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:59:48 +0000

Here are a few of my faves from DS37! I think I’m going to move this post to Wednesday as it will be a bit easier for me to post on the weekdays. AND I’m going to pick my top 5 from the week! I might even work up a badge for the winners!! Fancy, I KNOW!!! (Prizes will still be announced on Thursdays with the next sketch and will still be picked randomly.) Now here we go (in no particular order)!

I love turtles, straight up love them. They get me every time. I even constructed a turtle out of bailing wire as a project for a sculpture class in college. It hangs in my class room now, right over my desk. Like I said LOVE them! So when I saw this super cute turtle and the lovely way it was colored I had to share it:

By Trails of Paper

Check out this AMAZING coloring and I LOVE the layers of the sentiment!

By Eva

Such amazing paper piecing and gorgeous bright colors on this one!

By Jennifer

The minute I saw the card below I knew it would go into my faves. How can you not love pink, black, white and flowers?

By Eli

Check out the gorgeous ‘dog collar’ below. It’s amazing!

By Melody Rupple

Well there you go! That’s the top five! You still have a bit of time to play this week to be entered to win two Saturated Canary digis!

Tiddly Inks Tuesday

Jen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:00:31 +0000

It’s Tiddly Inks Tuesday and you know what that means!!! New digis!! Christy has some GORGEOUS new Wryn’s in the store today. They are ADORABLE!

I’m using Wryn – Heartfelt Love today along with my FAVORITE Valentine’s paper… MME Love Me. I also loosely used this weeks Deconstructed Sketch for my layout.

So what are you waiting for? Go check ‘em out! Click the images to head straight to the store.

The Deconstructed Sketch No. 37

Jen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:20:09 +0000

Howdy all! I hope you are having a fantastic week! This week’s sketch is brought to you by the amazing Krista Smith of the Saturated Canary and she is very graciously offering two digis from her shop as the prize to one lucky participant! Make sure you hop around and see what the design team has done with her gorgeous digis because I have to say this might just be my favorite week so far! Now, how about that sketch?

This Week’s Sketch:

And here’s a little something to get the thoughts going on how to use it:

For my card I used Zorana a dancing gypsy for my card and I LOVE how adorable she is and she was tons of fun to color. I should also add that I used an embarrassing amount of markers to color that dress so I’m not even gonna share them but it was easily around 40, lol. I used MME’s Love Me paper for this (my current FAVE) and PTI white and kraft cardstock for the rest. To dress is up a bit I added Vintage Photo distress ink and a bit of doodling and distressing here and there. The sentiment and dies around the sentiment are from Verve and the border die is from Taylored Expressions.

Now, I have another AMAZING announcement that I know you are going to be so excited about cause I know I am! We have the AMAZINGLY TALENTED and insanely creative Amy Sheffer joining us for the next three months!

So there’s a little something to get you started and now it’s time to hop around and see what everyone else on the DT has been up to and leave them a little love.

Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer, Guest Designer
Arielle Gordon
Donna Wardle
Jen Shults
Jessica Diedrich (sitting out this week)
Kadie Ensley
Lori Boyd
Pam Varnell
Sheri Gilson

Spellbinders Storage

Jen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:42:27 +0000

Over at the forum for one of my design teams were were talking about die storage and specifically Spellbinders Nestabilities because they have so many parts. We all shared what we were using and I thought I’d pop on here and share my method. I use a 3-ring binder with plastic dividers. I found some 1″ magnetic tape strips at Micheal’s and have 6 strips of magnet running across each divider and I put my dies right on top of that. I currently have a 1″ binder and 9 dividers and it is holding 25 die sets with room for about 8 more. I really like that it’s portable. I pretty much can’t make anything without a Spellbinder’s die so it’s nice to have it handy when I take my stuff other places. Here’s a peak at how it’s set up:

How do you store your dies?

Tiddly Inks Valentines!

Jen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:00:51 +0000

It’s Tuesday and that means we have a new Tiddly Inks Challenge for you today! Today your challenge is to create a Valentine. Easy Peasy I’d have to say especially with all the GORGEOUS new images Christy has been sharing lately!

For my Valentine today I used Wryn and Wren and colored them up with Copics. I used some super cute MME Love Me designer paper and this week’s Sweet Sunday Sketch (SSSC151) for the layout.

I added just a bit of distressing and doodled around the edge of the image with a Sharpie pen. The cute little sentiment is from Paper Smooches and the heart stack is made of Heart Nestablilites that I die cut, I ran the kraft heart through a paper crimper and layered on twine and a button.

Be sure to head over to the Challenge blog to get the details and see the other design team member projects!

DS36 Show Offs!

Jen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:38 +0000

Here are a few of my favorites from DS36, so far! Keep those entries coming! I’ll post a few more faves on our Facebook page later in the week!

By Vicky
(No I didn’t pick this one because she used the same image I did, I picked it because I just love how bright and cheery it is! Go figure. )

By another Vicki
(This one just makes me happy, I think it’s that adorable little bird.)

By Nancy William
(In general I’m just a sucker for anything distressed, vintage and brown… together I think they are particularly yummy.)

I hope that gets your mojo going! I’ll snag a few more in a day or to and share em on Facebook! Have a great Monday!

New Etsy Store Stock and Taylored Expressions SALE

Jen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:26:21 +0000

I just wanted to pop in and say I’ve updated my Etsy store with some new stock AND Taylored Expressions is having a HUGE pre-CHA clearance sale. Here are all the details:

What: CHA Clearance Sale

When: Now through Wednesday, February 1st

Where: Taylored Expressions What’s the Deal Department

Details: Use coupon code CHASALE2012 for an extra 10% discount on all of the already discounted merchandise in the What’s the Deal department. Get over 50% off some of your favorite products!

Once these products are gone they will not be re-stocked so shop early for the best selection.

Deconstructed Sketch No. 36

Jen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:00:51 +0000

Hey there! It’s time for another Deconstructed Sketch, I hope you’re ready. I really liked using this week’s sketch and I hope you will too! Here it is:

This Week’s Sketch:

My Sample:

For my sample I used one of Christy’s gorgeous Wryn images called Wryn New Nest. I have actually had her colored up for a while and I colored her without using designer paper as a reference so I spent a little bit of today digging for matching paper and ended up using one of my favorite paper pads… My Mind’s Eye Lost and Found 2 Rosy.

I got pretty lucky with this paper as it matched pretty perfectly. I added a sentiment from Verve, it’s one of the Thank You gifts you sometimes get with an order. I added a bit of jute twine, two Prima flowers and a bit of distressing using a distress tool and Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge stamps.

Design Team News:

I’m so sad to say that it’s time to say good bye to our two FANTASTIC guest designers this week. Andrea and Tracey have both reached the end of their term and I can’t even begin to say how happy I have been that they spent the last three months here playing with the sketches. It’s just been amazing and so inspiring to see what they come up with each week. Please, if you have a moment, stop by their blogs and say hi today! Here are their last AMAZING Deconstructed Sketch projects.

Andrea Ewen:

Tracey Pickersgill:

Aren’t they FANTASTIC! Now for MORE inspiration you can hop around and visit the rest of the design team using the links below!