Taylored Expressions February Studio Challenge! 8-)

Hi All! And a Very Happy Tuesday to you! 8-) It's time for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge. This is a monthly opportunity for the Taylored Expressions team to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we  have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

The question for February is:

Recipe for success!  When you sit down to create a card just for fun, for the pure joy of stamping, without any type of assignment or deadline, what steps do you usually take?

Tell us how you get started and take us along on your creative journey.

Oohh! What a Super Question! 8-)  It can be such a rare occurrence in my Crafty space to find the time to create something just for the sheer fun of it, but I always Love it when I get to!! ;-) AND.. It just so happens I had just such an occasion right before Valentines day... I had been dying to try out the Chalkboard technique that's all the rage right now and a cool BG idea I got from the Fabulously talented Kristina Werner & her Fun card HERE...So I thought it would be the Perfect 'just for fun project' to share my creative journey with you all, don't ya think?.. ;-)

Well, I know Valentine's Day has already come and gone, but if you have read any of my previous posts, you know I am a Sucker for all things hearts, etc.. So to me the Whole month of February is for Valentines!! lol ;-)  And for once, I actually had more than enough Valentines to go around, so I kind of made these last 4 just for the fun of it! 8-)  And usually when I create something just for fun, it's cause I have an idea burning away in the back of my brain, or a technique I want to try, just like this time... :-)

My next step after that is to maybe do a little internet research on the technique, if I'm really not to sure about it, so I can at least do it justice, lol Good places I've found for technique tutorials are Split Coast Stampers, You Tube, and the ever addictive Pinterest! 8-)My next step would then be to pick my dp's and stamps I want to work with to make my ideas come to life. And lastly, I just plain roll up my sleeves and get Krafty!...;-)

I really had a lot of fun putting these together, and I've already got more ideas for similar style cards for different occasions down the road too... 8-)  For my focal panels, I first lightly smudged my black CS with Frost White Color box ink , and **Very importantly, used my embossing buddy BEFORE stamping TE's Graphic Greetings Valentine image also with Frost White Colorbox ink, and then embossed it with white EP. (The Embossing buddy helps prevent the Embossing powder from sticking anywhere else but the stamped image..) Oh, and I added a bit more white ink smudges after embossing just for good measure..8-) I matted my images up with red CS from my stash and popped them up with a bit of foam tape.  My  BG card bases were created Kraft CS, TE's Cupids Arrows dies and the Pretty MME Lost & Found 3 Rubby 6x6 Collection.. And to finish them all up I just added cute little heart buttons from my stash all tied up with a combo of Ladybug Doodle twine and Natural Burlap twine as well. Pretty easy peasy!...8-)

Be sure to stop by and check out what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has whipped up for you today..

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White (That's me!)
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• 
  
  
  Here are the items I used for my project today, and you can find them in the TE Store...
  
  InLinkz.com
  

Hope you all have a Fabulous day & Thanks so much for visiting! 8-)