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!