Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of our August Sneak Peeks! Today’s theme is the ‘bold and the beautiful’ as we’re sneaking peeks at two new stamp sets filled with bold images. First we have Embrace Beauty, a beautiful set concepted by Jami Sibley and illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes collection. The set includes 9 images and sentiments that were inspired by home decor pieces! The images coordinate with previously released stamp sets Discover Your Wings and Summer Afternoon as well as Spellbinders Fleur de Lis dies and a 1 3/4″ circle punch. The possibilities are endless for both quick stamping and intricate cards! We’re also sneaking peeks at Bugabee, a totally cutesy ladybug and bee set concepted by Charmaine that I illustrated for the *te* collection. This is Charmaine’s first concepted set and I just know you’re going to love it! The bugs, bees, and other bold images are super fun to combine and pair up with the coordinating dies… yep, we have coordinating Taylored Dies to share today as well. So I better get to the goodies, but make sure you take a look at our release details at a glance to make sure you don’t miss any of the chances to win an awesome giveaway this week!

• We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday.  All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, August 4th at 8am PST. You’ll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
• Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.
• Angel Bundle Prize Drawing: We’re very excited to be supporting The Angel Tree with Joy to the World, the newest set in the TE Giving Tree Program.  If you’d like to be entered to win our Angel Bundle Prize Pack (Joy to the World Stamp Set, Angel Kisses Taylored Card Kit, and the Musical Swirls Impression Plate) simply click over to the Angel Tree website and find the answer to this question: “Name the founder of Angel Tree.” (You’ll want to read the touching story of how Angel Tree got started while you’re there!)  E-mail Taylored Expressions with the answer in the subject line of your e-mail by Wednesday at 6pm PST.  The winner will be announced on Taylor’s blog at approximately 10 pm PST Wednesday night.

I’ll start off with my Embrace Beauty card! As I mentioned above, all of the images in this set are bold which means it’s really easy to create beautiful cards without all the work of coloring. Don’t get me wrong… I still love to color (wait ’till you see tomorrow’s sneak peeks!), but it’s nice to switch it up. I started by stamping the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then I covered it with black enamel accents. I could have embossed it with black embossing powder, but the enamel accents are a little glossier and thicker than an embossing powder and I wanted to try it out. After the enamel accents dried I airbrushed the background of the image with yellow Copic (but you could also use ink and a sponge dauber for the same effect). I added a few silver rhinestones to accent the flowers in the image and then started on the layout. This is one of those layouts that took so many twists and turns along the way that I can’t even remember where it started! The patterned paper is from the Authentique Blissful 6×6 pad. I added swirls from the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis die set to accent the image. Also, as I mentioned above, this set was designed to coordinate with the Fleur de Lis dies so all of the large and small images fit within the circular dies from this set. The small circle images can also be punched out with a 1 3/4″ circle punch making layering a breeze! To finish off the card I used some grey rose trim in the middle of two small scalloped border die cuts and a few pewter brads in the corner.

And now for my Bugabee projects! For my first project (the one on the left) I decided to use the images as they are intended… ladybugs and wings! I started by stamping the bug body in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. And then for some extra dimension, I cut the wings out using the Bugabee Bug die set and popped them up over the body curling up the wings just slightly. The wing die cuts the holes as well to create the black spots on the wings. I really wanted red and black polka dot ribbon, but all I had was red with white polka dots so I got creative and covered up all of the white dots along the side with black pearls and black rhinestones. Makes a super cute texture in real life! The patterned paper is from the MME Fly A Kit 6×6 paper pad. For my second project (the one on the right) I turned the bug wings in the opposite direction to create leaves for a flower. I added a cut from the new grass border die along the bottom and then cut out the Bugabee Flower dies from several different patterned papers, pieced them together, and added a black pearl center for a little pop. I also impressed the background with the new Lots of Dots Impression Plate which is hard to see in the picture. The bottom of the card uses a strip from the medium scalloped border die and I finished it off with some white organdy polka dot ribbon. Here are the dies and impression plates that I used on my Bugabee projects:

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you see something you like! I can hardly wait to keep hopping and see what the rest of the team has created with these two versatile sets so let’s hop along and check ’em out!

• Charmaine Ikach 
• Danielle Lounds  
• Jami Sibley 
• Jodi Collins  
• Karen Giron  
• Melissa Sauls  
• Melody Rupple  
• Nancy McKinney  
• Regina Mangum  
• Sankari Wegman  
• Taylor VanBruggen  
• Tori Wild 
• Wanda Guess