May A Muse|Studio Consultant Hop

Samantha's been at it again.  She's organized another fun hop for us!  If you've just stumbled to my corner of the blog world, be sure to start at the beginning by visiting Kania's A Muse|Studio.  Otherwise you should have hopped here from Sherri's Blog.

Either way, I'm glad you're here!  Samantha gave us the theme of "congratulations" as our inspiration.  That worked out well for me since I'm working on some wedding related cards anyway.  I know I want them the be black and red, but I keep stumbling and second guessing myself.

Here's my most recent attempt:

I'm getting there!  I really wanted to include the rings from Calendar Fun, but it didn't give me warm fuzzies on this layout.  The sets I did use are Quick and Cute Valentines (heart), Essential Sentiments (Mr & Mrs), and Together Forever (cake, sentiment).  Cherry and onyx paper, cranberry ink, embossing powder and diamond glitter finish it all off.  I love the sentiment that comes in Together Forever.  It makes me all mushy inside!

I'm not offering blog candy this time, but I am offering a free 2011 catalog and inspiration guide to the first 3 people who place an order in my webstore!

Now, head on over to Patty's blog, Design by SimplyDV9.  Don't forget to leave comment love along the way!  Thanks for stopping by!

A little de-stressing was in order

April showers bring...flooded basements.  May better have some darn impressive flowers!  Between wading around in the basement and back yard, calling my mommy in a tizzy, rejoicing that the water heater lit and fired up and loving my honey beyond belief, I took a few minutes to clear my mind at the craft table. 

Every Tuesday the awesome folks over at Moxie Fab World post a trigger.  I've been turning it over in my mind for two days now and came up with something worthy of sharing.

The trigger:

My take on it:

For my first trigger response I'm feeling pretty proud.  Now, I'm off for a HOT shower since this morning's was not quite the wake up I'd imagined!

Supplies are all A Muse|Studio unless otherwise noted.  Feel free to visit my webstore www.amusestudio.com/gena
Stamps:  cake-A Very Merry Un-Birthday (pg 44), sentiment-Contemporary Greetings (pg 69),  polka dots-Polka Dot Patterns (pg 75)
Paper: sky
Ink: cranberry
Glitter: diamond
Ribbon and embossing powder: random from my stash

Turtle Club

Just the word turtle makes me think of that goofy movie line "am I not turtley enough for the turtle club?"  Bonus points for anyone who names that movie without google! 

You're wondering if I've lost it, huh?  Nah.  I just got new goodies in the mail.  One of my new stamp sets (Snail & Co.) has the cutest little turtle in it.  He is so cute!  I had to ink him up and get him on a card today. 

I also spent some time outside playing with settings and such on my camera.  I need to figure out why my green inks keep coming out yellow in photos.  My white balance is right...I'm stumped.  So I played with it in GIMP and that made the gingham paper more green than it really is, but at least my grass doesn't look like late August grass LOL!  Frustrating that I can't seem to fix this. 

Anyway...I hope you like my little turtle guy! 

Supplies are all A Muse|Studio unless specified
Paper:  grass gingham, random white
Ink:  fern and blackberry (embossed)
Ribbon:  random purple
Glitter:  diamond
Copics:  new leaf, golden yellow

Hoppy Easter

Man, I've been blog-lazy lately!  I managed a fun little card to share with y'all today, though.  I've had the idea rattling around in my brain since work got Easter basket grass in stock.  Today I remembered some cute little bunny digi stamps I'd saved a while back.  Looking at this card makes me want to nibble the ears off of a chocolate bunny.  Now that I've photographed it and see it on the big screen, it might need a sparkly, pastel Easter egg for that center bunny to point towards.  Hmmm...what do you think?

Isn't it cute?  I sponged lichen ink on the bottom half of the card. That basket grass did not want to stick with a strip of tape runner glue so I used my Tombow Mono Multi and let it dry to the tacky stage.  That worked!  I made a huge mess with little scraps of that grass and gluey fingers.  It was worth it in the end though :) 

Supplies:
Paper-Amuse bermuda polka dot
Ribbon-Amuse bubblegum satin
Inks-Amuse lichen and ocean
Sentiment-Amuse Essential Sentiments
Copic marker E33 sand
Bunnies-SgtStamper
Cheap dollar store basket grass
Glitter-Stickles in crystal

Blog Candy Winner!

After discarding my first three random numbers because they were fellow consultants, lucky number 30 came up!  Congratulations Suzi!  Email me your mailing address and I'll get your goodies out to you.  Thank you to everyone for playing through our blog hop.  I know I enjoyed seeing what everyone was creating!  We've got another in the works for next month so stay tuned!

As always, if you would like more information about A Muse, would like to host a workshop (local only please!) or to place an order, my email is always open as is my webstore

Hop on in!

Hi hoppers!  I hope you are enjoying your bounce through our a*musing adventures!  You should have arrived here from Anna's, blog A la Carte.  If you are just visiting me because you love me (who wouldn't? ::grin::) you should head over to Samantha and Jeremy's blog, Kania's A Muse Studio so you don't miss a single stop on the hop!

I've got a very simple, sweet card for you today.  All supplies except the card base and pop up foam are A Muse|Studio.  The stamps all came with my Deluxe Starter kit pictured a few posts down.  As far as full sets that include the stamps, the butterfly is from Just Because and the leaves are Beautiful Botanicals 2.  The sentiment is from Essential Sentiments and the flower from Clever girls.  I used Orange, Grass and Papaya ink and Orange satin ribbon.  What card of mine would be complete without a good dose of A Muse Diamond glitter?  I used the Sakura Quickie glue pen to adhere the glitter.

What would a blog hop be without a little blog candy?  If you want a chance to win, all you have to do is comment below that includes some way to contact you.  If you want an extra chance to win, link to this post on your blog then leave me a comment telling me you did it, or link it on Facebook and leave me a comment saying you did it.  Make sure you leave separate comments to earn your extra chances.  I'll use random.org to pick a random number on Monday evening, 4/4/11.  Raise your hand if you want me to shut up and get to the goodies!  Ok, ok, ok!  Here's what you could win:

What's all of that?  It is a yard each of A Muse|Studio's Orange, Cherry and Bubblegum satin ribbon plus a new, never inked sentiment stamp like the one used on the card above "Thinking of You." 

If you want to see everything A Muse has to offer, click the A|S logo on the right.  If you want more information on A Muse, just ask!  Now, head on over to Carla's blog *Amusing Ink* for your next dose of A*Musement! 

Thanks for stopping by!

An A-musing birthday

It has been a few days since I shared a card with y'all.  I've been struggling to get past the learning curve new stamps, ink and paper threw at me.  The move from mostly digital to physical stamps is a big one for me.  I'm finally starting to love what I'm creating though :)  This card will be added to the stash of bingo cards for Mom.  "Special Bingo" is coming soon so I need to get a few more cards made up.  I don't want any hurt feelings over bingo!

Supplies are all A Muse|Studio except the card base itself which is just heavy white cardstock.  Inks are Grass and Blackberry.  The scrap of green cardstock is Sage.  The ribbon is Lime stitched grosgrain.  Stamps are from A Very Merry Un-Birthday, Birthday Greetings and Polka Dot Patterns.  I colored the cake stamp with Copics Y17 and YG23.  The glitter is A Muse Diamond and it is so fabulous!  Very very fine and oh so sparkly.  

Thanks for stopping by!

It came! It came! It came!!!!!!!

I'm so excited!  My A Muse|Studio starter kit was tucked lovingly on my porch by UPS this afternoon.  What a wonderful thing to come home to!  I barely acknowledged the bouncing pups or a certain someone's hello in my rush to get the tape ripped open.  It was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled in to one, well except I paid for the goodies LOL! 

You have to see what joy was hiding inside that ordinary brown box (a corn cobbette box to be exact...kudos to A Muse for recycling and reusing!)

 I can't stop staring at all the lucious ink colors...SIXTEEN of them!  And the fresh clean rubber, the darling ribbon and that glitter.  Oh the glitter!  Even the scary, intimidating copics are right there for me to touch, and smell, and try to feel brave enough to use. 

 The paper feels so nice in my hands.  Those polka dots are so much cuter in person with the slight irregularities in each.  I've got card possibilities just swirling around in my head.  See that swatch ring?  Those are *just* the solid colors available!  There is also polka dots, gingham, damask and shimmer.  Just a few more days and I'll be placing an order for some of the cardstocks not included in the starter kit.  I have paper lust, that's for sure. 

Don't forget, we are having a blog hop on April 2nd.  I'm still trying to decide exactly what to include in my blog candy but I know there will be something fun! 

Just a little chatter

I've been woefully uncreative the past few days.  My cousin's wedding consumed a lot of my time, energy and mental power.  What a whirlwind weekend!  They are married, happy and on their way to a hot tub in the mountains so all is right with the world now.  I did make some super cute pew reservation cards but didn't have time to stage photos.  Hopefully someone got a shot or two of them.

I do have a few pieces of news to share with you all though!  On April first my webstore goes live.  I am so excited to see how it all looks and works.  Even us consultants haven't seen the webstores yet.  Crazy huh?  Also, Samantha, a fellow consultant, has organized a blog hop for A Muse|Studio.  I'll be playing along and sharing some of what I'm making with my starter kit.  I think there may even be a little blog candy involved!  We'll be hopping on April 2nd.  You'll want to hop through all the lovely blogs playing along!

If you'd like to see all the goodies a|s has to offer...2011 A Muse|Studio Inspiration Guide   Also, if you'd like to order an Inspiration Guide and Catalog for your very own, the cost is $10 (shipping would be $4.95 for Priority Mail if you need it shipped).

Dress Form Card

A friend was asking earlier this week (Hi Sara!) about an idea for belated birthday cards.  I'd seen a few dress forms used lately and my mind spun out a pretty fun idea.  Using the dress on the form, dolling it up with sparkles and colors and such, then the sentiment "I didn't forget your birthday, I'm just fashionably late."  Hers came out so darling that I had to give it a try myself.  I did find myself thinking that with tiny pearls and A Muse Studio's new gingham fabric, a cute retro card could be born.  Sadly, my kit just shipped yesterday so that idea will have to wait.

Here is what I came up with from my stash of goodies. 

The pattern paper was 2 sided so that was nice for coordination.  I trimmed the 12x12 sheets to run through the printer and printed the image once on the blue and once on the grey.  I touched up the outline of the dress on the blue with a black marker since it was funny in a couple of places due to the pattern.  I gave her a little stickles (Fruit Punch) belt, popped her up on some foam squares and tied a matching ribbon along the side.  Pretty cute huh? 

Image by melstampz.

A Muse Studio! And some other stuff...

Happy Sunday y'all!  I'm so excited to announce that I am now one of A Muse Studio's newest Creative Consultants!  This company is new to the home party stamping scene, but isn't new to stamping in the least.  I started reading about them and the more I read, the more I liked.  Then when I saw the introductory price for start up kits, I jumped head first.  A long time online friend of mine has said for years "Jump and the net will appear!"  I took her advice.  I'll be sharing my A Muse projects here very soon!  If you would like to learn more, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I do have a card to share with you today as well.  This one was bartered in exchange for my awesome sister collecting baby food jars for me.  It is a card to go along with a bridal shower gift she is giving.  Of course, the shower is, um, TODAY and she asked for the card last night.  Good thing I work under pressure, huh?

Most of the supplies are just random things I've managed to collect.  The foil paper is adhered to cardstock and then embossed.  It was far too thin and flimsy to go through alone.  I used Tim Holtz distress ink in Antique Linen to smudge over the heart and sentiment.  The technique involved my index and pinky fingers ::grin::  I tried using a paper towel to load up ink then transfer to the paper, but that was a giant fail.  So, in a moment of pure genius, I stuck my finger on the pad and started smudging it on the paper.  Brilliant!  

And, finally, a sneak peek at what I've been up to this morning.  I wonder if bermuda blue paint in my hair counts as highlights?

Thanks for stopping by!

Wanna Roll in the Hay?

This card makes me giggle.  There isn't much to say about it...it pretty much speaks for itself!

So, what do you think?  Would the man (or woman!) in your life enjoy finding this in a jacket pocket or lunch box?

Easel Cards

I was hanging out on youtube today and came across a lovely lady named Dawn.  She puts out the most amazing tutorials!  I watched her easel card tutorial and got inspired to make a birthday card.  This is what I came up with:

 

If you would like to watch the tutorial, go here:  Easel Card with Dawn.   Cupcake image by Designed 2 Delight Digital Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my card!

Busy Sunday!

With my only day off this weekend I thought I should get a few cards made.  My stash of ready to go cards was gone!  All of these were colored with my prismas and OMS.  The cardstock is all just random things that I've managed to collect along the way.  Nothing fancy, just run of the mill craft store stuff.

First up is a rather puny looking bear on a get well card.  The image is a digital stamp from Sewmany Cards.  I want to bring him some soup and hot tea! 

 

Next is a simple birthday card for a dear friend and soon to be sister-in-law.  This image came from AiFactory.  Very simple and fun to color!   These two cards were my first attempt at cutting out an image after coloring.  You'd think that would be simple!  Maybe if I wasn't using some 3rd grade safety scissors LOL!  My foam squares got a heck of a work out today too.  I wish my camera showed that better or I had better skills with my camera. 

And for the third and final card of the day a rainy day thinking of you card.  I saved, in my opinion, the best for last.  This card just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  The image is from My Grafico.  She was a joy to color and came out so nice. 

The only down side to the day is that every time I turned around from my crafting table I was met with this look.  I think Buttons felt a little neglected, even though that blanket is on top of his favorite human's legs.  Spoiled muttly!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my creations!

Sample for Mom's ladies

My mom is my biggest fan and loves to occasionally exploit my perceived talents.  Most recently she's asked me to come teach her ladies some basic card making skills.  As we will have limited time and the ladies are beginners I wanted to keep the card very simple to assemble.  I'll have all the pieces cut and supplies packaged for each card.  I'll also color in the digital stamp and punch it out in advance. 

This is the sample card:

The cardstocks are from the DCWV Latte stacks.  The "hello" stamp is one I picked up at a dollar spot somewhere inked with a Studio G $1 ink.  The center image is a digital stamp freebie from Limited Runs Stamps.  A huge thank you to them for the free image!  I used Prismacolor pencils and OMS to color the image.  I popped the image up on some foam squares for a little extra dimension, but the camera hides that it seems. 

Bridal shower invitations

This is what has kept me from my normal coloring and card making.  My very dear aunt asked me to make invitations for my cousin's upcoming bridal shower.  The original count was "oh twenty or thirty."  I can handle that!  Then cousin informs me she needs 67 (or so!) invitations!  Wow!  Thankfully the above aunt is assembling a good number of these for me.  I just had to get the parts ready for her.

 

In case you are wondering, 67 invitations use approximately 50 sheets of cardstock, 210 punched scallop circles, 3/4 of a bottle of metallic acrylic paint, 67 buttons, 9 yards of ribbon and a whole bunch of glue!  

Prismacolors, blending stumps and baby oil

I colored this little mouse a few days ago and took pictures along the way.  I wanted to show some friends of mine the difference blending stumps and baby oil make in the finished product.

First I laid down some opposite colors to give the final colors a bit more depth.  The leaves and stem have a very light layer of  deco pink while the blossom has lime peel green.  The mouse has a light layer of terra cotta.

Next I added the majority of the colors.  Various greens, reds and browns plus blue and silver for the watering can.

Finally I used blending stumps and baby oil, plus a bit more color to achieve the final copy.

It could still use a little love, but I am happy enough with the end result.  She'll end up on a card once I finish the 50 million bridal shower invites I'm currently cranking out.  Also, if anyone knows who created the digital stamp image, please let me know!  I would love to give them credit here!