Taylored Expressions stamps and dies have caught my eye for a number of years now and it is with much excitement that we have added many of their new items to our store following CHA! At CHA I had the opportunity to meet Wanda Guess and we are delighted that she accepted our invitation to share a special project with us here today in the CLASSroom!
I would like to invite you to head over to A Blog Called Wanda to see more of her cheerful work using the Taylored Expressions products. To thank and encourage you to do so we have a fabulous giveaway awaiting some lucky person who leaves a comment for Wanda! Be certain to look for the post that features the picture showing the products below - you have through March 19th to share your appreciation with Wanda and be included in the random drawing for these goodies - so don't delay!
Thank you Wanda for inspiring us with this cheerful, springy project and adding some sunshine to our day! -Ellen
Hello! Wanda here, and I’m so excited to be a guest designer this week in the CLASSroom! I started my stamping journey, I mean obsession, 20 years ago when I bought my first stamps and a heat embossing kit at a craft fair. I have been teaching stamping classes on and off at my local stamp stores for the past 12 years and I also teach Copic classes. I started blogging about four years ago and I like to stamp with my friends whenever I can. Stamping and blogging have brought me so much joy and so many wonderful friendships and blessings. Crafty girls ROCK! I live in Northern California with my sweet husband and one very spoiled orange tabby cat. When I’m not stamping you will find me on Instagram! I’m delighted that Ellen asked me to stamp with all of you in the CLASSroom.
Today I’m sharing some of my favorite stamps and dies from Taylored Expressions. I have been on the Taylored Expressions Design Team for three years and I just love working with their great products. Taylored Expressions is now available at Ellen Hutson! My card for today is a window scene made with the Display Window Die and matching Awning, and coordinating stamps. I’m also featuring some beautiful new papers from Webster’s Pages. I'll share some of my favorite stamping tips along the way.
Here are a few pictures of my completed card:
I love to Copic Color, and one of the best things about having so many marker colors to choose from is that you can match your patterned paper colors to your image. These papers are so pretty! I had a fun time choosing markers with these! My first tip is that I almost always choose my papers first before I start coloring. This gives your finished project a professional look.
Here are my Copic Marker choices:
And here are the pretty papers I used for this card:
This is part of my coloring process. I started with the green areas, since they are the bulk of the coloring. I like to add depth to my trees and bushes by making tiny dots of color with the tips of my markers. This works best if you let the first color dry first.
Another coloring tip is to remember that white = grey! If you add just a touch of a light grey to things that are white it adds depth and shadow. You can see that my fence and clouds have a small touch of cool grey.
The little awning is what makes this card pop I think. It really is too fun! The Awning die comes in two pieces and that allows you to add perfectly cut out stripes to the main awning. Here are my pieces cut out:
Here are the pieces after I've gently folded them on the score marks:
And here is the completed awning! I used clear Tombow Glue to place the stripes onto the awning. I like that type of glue because it dries fast (and I'm not patient!)
I mounted it to the window with some strategically placed foam tape:
The next tip I want to share is this - play with your die cuts! Have fun - cut them out, color on them, use only a part of them! In the previous photo you can see that I added some vines to the awning. Well, that's really a part of a much larger die. I cut that die out twice and used it two places on my card.
Here are my die cut pieces:
This Shade Tree Cutting Plate is so versatile! In the photo above, you can see the whole design. In this next photo, you can see that I cut the tree out of the frame. Then I added just a few touches of Copic marker to the leaves.
Here is a quick pic of my supplies:
This photo is a side shot so you can see my layers and dimension:
Thank you very much for sharing this fun lesson with me! Have a fabulous day!
