(If you are looking for JustRite's Last Minute Gift Idea Blog Hop post, you can find it HERE, one post below this one. Thanks!)
Every 3 months Taylored Expressions introduces a new stamp set in the TE Giving Tree Program (<=You can click that link to see all the previous stamp sets). Each set supports a different charity for 3 months after release. I love knowing that my purchase can help make a difference in someone’s life and I think it’s a fabulous difference Taylored Expressions is helping to make!
The newest stamp set in the TE Giving Tree Program is Discover Your Wings designed by Nancy McKinney. You’ll be seeing sneak peeks today from the Baker’s Dozen (and Nancy!) and the set will be available for purchase Friday December 4 at 8am PST. I think this stamp set is a wonderfully versatile one that can be used any time of the year, for almost any occasion!
$7 from the purchase of each Discover Your Wings stamp set will be donated to the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation. The foundation is a charity that serves families dealing with infant death. Their mission statement is “To introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the free gift of professional portraiture. We believe these images serve as an important step in the family’s healing process by honoring their child’s legacy.” NILMDTS administers a network of almost 7000 volunteer photographers in the US and 25 other countries.
I cannot imagine how hard it must be to lose an infant, but I’ve heard heartfelt stories from others who have been touched by the the wonderful work of this fabulous foundation. This is a wonderful charity that Taylored Expressions is honored to support and I would encourage you to learn more about them by going to their website.
In the spirit of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas this year, I thought this stamp set would work well with all the techniques Tim covered yesterday, so here's my translation with a little less winter flare, using Discover Your Wings!
I used all the techniques Tim used (you can find those linked above to his Day 1 tag) except for applying the thick coat of Distress Crackle Paint ... I didn't want to take the time to let it dry! Instead, after I stamped everything, I sprayed the tag with a mixture of Perfect Pearl Pigment Powder and water (makes your own shimmer spray).
To start my tag, I used the Distress inks pictured above.
Then I used Faded Jeans to stamp this beautiful swirly butterfly at the top of the tag, using it more just like a flourish than a butterfly.
Next, I sprayed the pearl shimmer spray I created and let it dry. Then, I used a permanent black ink to stamp the pretty flower silhouettes along the bottom of the tag.
The dragonfly was stamped with Versamark onto Grungeboard and heat embossed with black detail embossing powder. Then I used white acrylic paint dabber over the embossed image. Allow the paint to dry just a minute and then wipe it away from the black embossed image. This colors the Grungeboard white in the open areas of the dragonfly.
Tim left the areas white on his piece but I felt it was too stark for my overall project, so I inked the white areas with some of the same blue and purple Distress inks I used on the tag. Star Dust Stickles were applied on the dragonfly ...hopefully they are showing up well in this closer view (click on the photo to make it larger).
The dragonfly was cut out and popped up on foam tape over a Grungeboard swirl that was painted with the white paint dabber and then inked with gray Distress ink.
The small Grungeboard tag was colored the same way as the swirl and the "dream" sentiment from Discover Your Wings stamped onto it. A little more white paint was added to the edges and a Zva crystal finishes it off. The dream tag was tied to the large tag with wide black silk ribbon.
Come blog hoppin' with me to see what the Baker's Dozen girls have cooked up with Discover Your Wings today: Taylor VanBruggen, Charmaine Ikach, Dawn Easton, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jami Sibley, Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Laurie Schmidlin, Nancy McKinney, and Sankari Wegman.
Be sure to leave some comment love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Discover Your Wings stamp set! How cool is that?!! All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker's Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Thursday, December 3rd to enter. The winner will be announced Friday morning on the Taylored Expressions blog.
Enjoy your day and thanks for visiting!
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Discover Your Wings
Paper: #8 Manilla Tag
Ink: Ranger Distress Inks-Faded Jeans, Broken China, Dusty Concord, Weathered Wood, Black Soot. Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark
Accessories: Black detail embossing powder, Tim Holtz Grungeboard Elements, Ranger Ink Blending Tool, Perfect Pearl Pigment Powder, Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber-Snow Cap, Star Dust Stickles, May Arts black wide silk ribbon, foam tape, Zva crystal