Rachel is Turning 6!

It is so hard for me to believe that my baby will be turning 6 in a little over a week! She is so excited about the fact she will be 6-years-old and equally excited about her Build-a-Bear party. Yes, that is where she had it last year but she wanted to go again- they are only 6 once! We found some really cute mermaid paper products in the dollar section of Target back in the summer that she really liked, so I decided to make the invitations to match using one of my current favorite A Muse stamps, Mandy's World Mermaid Girl! These little Mandy's World images are all super cute and oh, so versatile. Since they are open, line images you get to use all those fun coloring techniques but they are not so over detailed that they cannot be massed produced for party favors, stationary sets, you name it! The inspiration for the design of this invitation came from a card by Joyce Wheeler. If you don't know Joyce or her completely inspiring 13-year-0ld daughter, Kayla, please stop by her blog for and incredible story (and some awesome eye candy)!

After coloring the little Mermaid Girl image with my Copic markers and punching it out with a circle punch, I mounted it on a scalloped punch piece of vellum. In maintaining the under-the-sea, fairy tale theme, I added a bit of crystal glitter to the scallops for an ethereal effect. The belly band in punched with EK Success Dotted Swiss border bunch- I love the way it gives a bubbly effect. The sentiment is not A Muse (gasp)! but this one from PTI did the job just fine (had to convince myself that I would be the only bothered by the fact that the font on the outside did not exactly match the font on the inside)! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and that you are moving steadily along with your Christmas preparations (don 't forget those hand made cards)! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Fast & Fabulous Holiday Cards

Today begins a new series of posts on the A Muse News blog- Fast & Fabulous Holiday cards. I'm excited to say that I, along with the ever talented Tisha have cards featured today. Christmas is certainly just around the corner and the hustle and bustle of the season is just getting started. If you are like me and have not started to to make your Christmas cards then "fast & fabulous" is just what the doctor ordered. Two of my favorite things to use when I need to create a card fast are used in this design. First, A Muse notecards- they are truly da bomb. It is as simple as opening a package and pulling out a pre-cut, pre-scored little treasure! The white core allows for the inside sentiment and personal note to show up perfectly- no more making card fronts then cutting another white card and adhering the front to it! And, bonus of all bonus, the 4-bar size mails without any additional postage!!!! Another good reason to "think simple, think A Muse" so that the layers and embellishments don't cost you extra! Another item that really makes a great quick card is a punch! Yes, I have a huge collection of beautiful dies and I love them as much as the next crafter, BUT when time if of the essence and you want to mass produce, nothing is quicker than our handy punches. Be sure to check out the A Muse blog each day this week for some more Fast and Fabulous Holiday Card ideas! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse products used: Stamps- Evergreen branch, Monogram Frames clear set, Peace and Cheer clear set; White 4-bar notecards, Micro Dot Twinkle Stickers
Other- Memento Cottage Ivy ink, Crystal Glitter, Sakura Quickie Glue pen

Christmas in Cullman

Please join me from 1:00- 3:00 tomorrow at Scrapin' Kats for Christmas in Cullman. We will be making free make-n-takes which you make choose to keep for yourself or donate them to Operation Write Home.

Go Pink Popsicles

With the end of October came the end of Y6 Girls Soccer. This year due to the fuchsia jerseys, the girls named themselves the "Pink Popsicles"- super cute! Although score is not officially kept at this age level, these little gals were on fire this year, not only in scoring goals but supporting their team and showing awesome sportsmanship! I give credit for this to our head coach, Susan, who, also, happens to be one of my bffs! Not only did Susan coach our team BUT she coached her daughters team AND her twin sons team while homeschooling and remaining very active in her church- a truly incredible gal! To show our appreciation to her, the parents took a collection for a gift card which I put in this card I made. The one thing that stood out about the card was that the little stick figure did a fair job at representing each team member. While it did take me a bit of patience lining up all the arms, legs, bodies and heads from this SU stamp set, it was definitely a labor of love for my good friend! The alpha stamps are, of course, A Muse- my favorite-little Polka dot lower case small and the sparkly Popsicle is a Quickutz die.

Here is a photo of a very proud Rachel receiving her trophy for this year from Coach Susan! Remember it's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Sneaking in a Little Fall/Halloween Goodies

Without a lot of boring (and whiny) details October was a rough month- flu, computer crash, the usual soccer, scouts, & dance AND a wonderful trip to Seattle to meet up with all my A Muse Gals! Needless to say, it got me way behind on blogging. I was super busy crafting so although late, I thought I would share a bit with you hear and there. This first peek I made for of Rachel's "extra" teachers- special Ed, librarian- you get the picture. These ladies do so much to help my little girl and I wanted to show my appreciation. They are definitely "the pick of the patch!"

One thing that I really like about this image selection is the versatility! It can truly take you all the way through Fall and be completely appropriate for Thanksgiving treats! With the current trend in coloring open images, it is easy to forget all the solid images have to offer. For one thing, the ease of use makes them perfect for mass production! Keep this in mind when making those 50 or even 100 Christmas cards!

Next, there are lots of fun techniques to really give them a unique look. Here I used 2 different techniques with the Solid Pumpkin. To give it a bit of depth and texture, I used the "rock-n-roll" technique. This involves inking up with a lighter color (in this case Memento Cantaloupe) then rolling the edges with a darker color (Memento Tangelo.) I even add some Bamboo Leaves to the stem. After stamp the image, I masked it off and stamped the Vine border to add foliage to the scene. Truly a quick and easy look! Remember it's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse products used: Solid pumpkin, Vine border, Pick of the patch stamps, 8 1/2 x 11 Petite Gingham paper in Grass, Natural White notecards, Orange polka dot ribbon

A White Christmas in Alabama?????

Crazy talk, I know! But not to fret, everyone attending my Winter Wonderland classes in Alabama will learn 4 different techniques to add a bit of "faux snow" to their holiday cards and projects! Just wanted to share a little sneak peek of the one of the cards we will be making in this class. With my 2 daughters, all images "little girl" of course, appeal to me so I had to use the adorable A Muse image Girl with sled! Too cute! The Slate color colored notecards remind me of a warm gray flannel and I thought the red petite gingham paper and swiss red stitched grosgrain were awesome accents. The silver holly embelli is hand made with quickutz and double sided adhesive chipboard (also, by quickutz.) I added some MS silver glitter and red Twinkle stickers and had coordinating bling from supplies already at hand (love when a plan comes together)! Sending out a wave to Cheryl who reminded me that I had neglected my little blog lately! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!