TEBB Challenge #3 Hosted by Donna

Good morning Taylored Expressions/Cuppie Fans!! We’re so excited you’re joining us for the Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash! We’ve got so many fun challenges planned for you today and lots of SWEET prizes to celebrate Cuppie’s 1st Birthday!

A new challenge will be posted each hour by our fabulous Baker’s Dozen design team! We’ll have a variety of challenges including sketch, technique, color, and inspiration. You’ll have 5 days to complete these challenges and be eligible for the prizes. It's also o.k. to combine a few of the challenges so you don't have to make 13 cards (unless you really want to!) *wink*

My challenge is the first TECHNIQUE challenge of the day; I am a HUGE fan of the of paper-piecing your line art images, it gives you a FUN, easy option in lieu of coloring. All you do is pick out your patterned papers to coordinate with the rest of your supplies for your card or project. Then, you will stamp your image on your card layer directly, then stamp your image directly on the patterned paper and cut out on the line or just inside the line for a perfect fit, because then you glue your pattern piece onto your stamped layer.

So what do you need to do to participate?

CHALLENGE: Pick out your stamp set and pattern papers and follow the directions above if you've never tried this technique before. You’re not required to use Taylored Expressions images for our challenges, but if you got 'em, you may as well use 'em!

Here is the card I made for this challenge - I brought out one of my favorite Cuppies from last year's Trick or Sweet set illustrated by Jessie Oleson, dracula and he is standing in front of his spooky house from Frightful Night, also a release from a year ago. What I love about these sets is they never get old - they were JUST as FUN to use this week as they were LAST YEAR! That speaks VOLUMES to me as a consumer!

FUN PAPER-PIECING TIP: Since I planned on using the technique so it became a purple spider-web house compliments of the Basic Grey Eerie designer paper in the Halloween Key Ingredients! I did not have to mask the house after I stamped it so I could sponge in the spooky night sky, isn't that great? What I did do, though was make a few extra stars & a moon by using a watermark pen on the paper and embossed with clear embossing powder, the ink would 'resist' those areas and stay white.

Now you see how the house fit in perfectly on the background and it looks great, huh? I also want to point out to you the attic window on the house. You will notice it is not cut out and colored in with light in the windows like the others. That is because no one was hanging out in the attic that night. That's a place strictly for storage of non-Halloween decorations, like Christmas decorations. (that's my truthful explanation for having not realized I forgot to cut out the window until AFTER I had already made & photographed my card-HA!) Now you know I'm not perfect, nor do I ever claim to be. This card was a lot of work and I put my heart into it and did not have time to make another one. I hope you still like it & would be proud to own it if you win!

ANOTHER PAPER-PIECING TIP: In order to make dracula's cape look like it was really OVER his cupcake liner, I paper-pieced both with the purple designer paper. Then, I paper-pieced the cape with the polka dot paper so it was on top. It creates a more fluid and realistic effect.

KEYWORD: Upload your creation to your blog or online gallery (or both). If you’re uploading to online galleries, use the keyword TEBBDB. Then come back to this challenge and leave a comment with a direct link to your creation! In order to be eligible for the prizes, you must leave a comment with a link to your card by midnight PST Wednesday, September 9th.

PRIZE: I will choose my favorite creation from among all the participants and mail you the card I created for this challenge along with a $10.00 gift certificate to the TE Store!

GRAND PRIZE: One random person who participates in ALL 13 of our Birthday Bash challenges will receive a $50 gift certificate to the TE Store in addition to an 8x10 custom watercolor Cuppie painting by our very own Jessie Oleson! Click here to check out all of Jessie's adorable artwork at her Etsy Shop. Once you complete and link all 13 challenges, send an email to tayloredexpressions@gmail.com to be eligible for our grand prize! Just include your name and “I completed all 13 challenges!” HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

HAVE FUN & GOOD LUCK!