A Quick Birthday Card

My daughter is attending a birthday party this evening for one of her friends so I made this quick little birthday card to hold the gift card she is giving. This gal is after my own heart- she loves squirrels! I have several squirrel images but my daughter choose this little group of "friend" squirrels from The Greeting Farm set, Forest Friends. Truthfully, this set had never seen ink so I was pleased to put it to good use. After coloring the image with Copic markers and stamping and cutting the acorn to add some dimension, I teamed it up with some DSP from SU. The little flower layer was embossed with my Swiss Dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug and the cute little yellow gingham is cut by the Top Notch die from SU. I added a layer of Regal Rose ribbon and added my Nestabilities cut oval image. I thought I was finished but Mary Elizabeth wanted me to make it look like a birthday party. I had the little balloon from the Build-a-Bear stamp set already cut and colored, just laying on my workspace so that was an easy add on. She wanted me to add a candle to the acorn so I found one in A Muse's Cupcake Builder set and added a tear drop Twinkle sticker that I colored yellow with a Copic for a flame. M.E. was very pleased with this and I hope her friend is, as well! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Hoppy Baby Shower

I'm heading to a baby shower later this afternoon for my scrappy friend Sunny and her baby boy on-the-way! Her nursery theme is "frogs" so I had to make her a froggy greeting to go with her gift! It had been a long time since I had played with my Artful Inkable stamps which is a shame because they truly are beautiful stamps- deeply etched red rubber goodness! This cute little frog from the Daring Duo set fit the bill for my shower card so I was on my way! I inked up the little frog and then the sign with cattails in the background. Next, I masked the frog and added some A muse Long Grass in the background and Waves down front in the water. I knew from the start that A muse's "boy oh boy" sentiment was a must so I thought the cute little Quickutz dragonflies would definitely make our froggy friend make that exclamation! It has been a long time since I "mixed it up" with images from different companies onto one card and quite frankly I'm pleased with the results. It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Supplies: Stamps- Daring Duo by Artful Inkables, A Muse images- long grass, waves, & boy oh boy.
A Muse Paper- Petite Gingham Grass Green, Woodgrain, Shimmer solid grass, and then vellum from stash
Other: Copic markers, Spica Glitter pens, Quickutz, eucalyptus Stickles

Keepin' Warm with a CAS Challenge

It has been ages since I've participated in a challenge at SCS and since my last challenge they have added a Clean and Simple challenge on Mondays. Perfect for my "Think Simple, Think A Muse" cards! This week's CAS49 challenge is to "Cut it out!" I was so... excited because I lovie me some scissors! Cutting out images has almost a therapeutic effect on me- yes, I'm strange, but that isn't new to anyone, is it?

In keeping with my "Warm Blast" theme, I decided to make this quick little card using Mandy's World Hawaiian Girl. The Mandy's World stamps are some of my favorites, not only are they super cute images but they are pure coloring fun. Here I have used Copic markers but I have had just as good results when using colored pencils. My cutting aspect is the little palm tree accent hopefully, offering Mandy some much needed shade in from the warm tropical sun! I finished if off with the "what's shakin'? sentiment peeping out of a punched word window. A super simple way to highlight a sentiment! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse Supplies: Stamps- MW Hawaiian Girl, What's shakin'?, Open palm tree, Skinny Oval Small; Cardstock- Petite Gingham Chocolate, Cranberry Red

A Warm Blast from the Past...

With the Artic Blast that has besot most of the country, I decided I wanted to warm things on my blog up a bit by featuring a few past projects that had a warm or tropical theme! SCS was the easiest way to go through my past designs so I spent a bit of time perusing my gallery. I found it very interesting to see how my crafting had evolved over time. It seems I went from simple designs to much more elaborate designs (probably due to the fact that I had acquired more tools and supplies to use. as I blush) and now back to more simple but more sound designs. The A Muse key phrase is "Think Simple, Think A Muse" but I think people often get the words "simple" and "easy" mixed up. Simple is not synonymous with easy by any means and often my simple designs have much more of a thought process behind them than past more elaborate ones. That being said, this little tropical project went to my daughter's favorite preschool teacher for her birthday. The teacher absolutely loved this little tin set which I filled with coconut macaroons in keeping with the theme. The stamp set is from Artful Inkables and you can find the rest of the deets at THIS blog entry. Hoping everyone is staying warm and sending prayers out to those whose circumstances make this difficult! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

It's Good Weather for Penguins

Nothing crafty to show today so I thought I would share a cute photo of my 6-year-old daughter Rachel and a penguin friend from our local Santa's Village taken this past December. It was a fun evening complete with a snow machine for a bit of a white Christmas in Alabama. Today we don't need a machine, we are getting some flurries as I type and the kids are all hopeful for a bit of accumulation so they can play! Schools were called at a half day so they are all waiting and watching! I know many parts of the country are being hit with ugly winter storms so it is my wish for everyone to stay safe and warm and remember It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Coming Up For Air

I hope that you have had as much fun with the Sea of Love Amuse-bouche as I have! Remember to check out you lss to see if carry this new release. They are now available on-line as well! Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas and New Years holidays but after the hustle and bustle is over, I am definitely ready to have A Stampin' Good Time! I hit the ground running in 2010 with Amuse-bouche and making January class samples. Figuring that I'm on a roll, I decided to look around a get a different idea for Rachel's class Valentine's. I, actually did a little blog hopping- something that I have not had time to do in months, and realized what a valuable part of this craft it is! Not only did it feel good to re-connect socially with many blog friends BUT it reminded of me of the proliferate nature of this industry. I may not "need" every new thing out there (as she looks around her craft room sheepishly) but it is good to be "in the know." With that said, I am going to try to set aside a few minutes of each day to catch up on my blog list. Won't make to all of them each day but hopefully, I'll be able to stop by every couple of weeks!

But back to Rachel's Valentines, I must surely have been living under a rock because I had not "discovered" the wonderful U-tube videos from Stamping with Dawn. What a treasure chest of ideas she has! This is where the idea for this cute little "Valentine Candy Holder" can be found. I did modify the measurements just a tiny bit, reducing the height of the project to 4 1/4- that way I can make 2 with 1 sheet of the 8 1/2 x 11 Pink Petite Gingham paper (I like to be thrifty when mass producing.) Also, since A Muse has the lovely white one side card stock, I had to pay extra attention to the punching and folding. I thought the Moby image and the "true, blue friend" sentiment were cute for a Kindergarten Valentine and tied it all together with Popsicle Pink Polka Dot ribbon (say that 3 times fast)! The inside (below) will house a little foil covered chocolate heart (Dawn suggested the Nestle Crunch ones, yum) in the little scalloped circle. The inside sentiment is the brand new "Happy Valentine's Day" from A Muse.

Well, I only have 16 of these cuties to do and Rachel will be ready for Valentine's Day! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse Supplies: Stamps- Moby, True Blue Friend, Happy Valentine's Day, 8 1/2 x 11 Card stock in Pink Petite Gingham and Popsicle pink, Ribbon- Popsicle Pink Polka Dot

Colored- Copics, Scallop punch- SU, Oval and Oval Scallop punch- Marvy Uchida

Amuse-bouche Day 5- Valentine's Treats and Packaging

It's the 5th and final day of the Sea of Love pre-release peeks- what does that mean- tomorrow all of these wonderful goodies will be on-line and available for sell. If your lss carries A Muse check with them- they just might already have these lovelys already on their shelves ready for the inkin'! Today's little bonbon box just yelled out for a cute and chubby little creature to adorn it! It was a quick and simple little container to make and very easy to personalize to your own particular design. Here I added some a wave border trimmed in Star Dust Stickles. I love the shade of blue in the new Ocean 8 1/2 x 11 paper plus the white reverse side was perfect for capping waves! A bit of bling was added in tear drop Twinkle stickers as Moby is really kicking up a splash! An easy peasy project to share with friends, classmates, you name it! Be sure to check out The Lounge for other ideas from the A Muse Creative Team, as well as, the Designers contributions on A Muse News! Some goodliness for sure! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time. Take care!

A Muse Supplies: Stamps- Moby, True Blue Friend; 8 1/2 x 11 paper- Ocean, Popsicle Pink, & Blue Petite Gingham; Popsicle Pink Polka Dot ribbon, Clear Twinkle Stickers

An Elegant Amuse-bouche

I'm back again today to serve up the next tantalizing tidbits from the latest A Muse release- "Sea of Love!" Today's theme is Elegant Sea-themed greetings. For some reason, I am fascinated by coral. It's fragile beauty in the form of hard coral reefs comes in so many shapes and colors and is home to so much marine wildlife, makes me wish for my scuba diving days once again! When I saw this wonderful Coral image, I knew it was a "must have" and I've been looking forward to this particular amuse-bouche day for quite some time!

I started by stamping the Coral image in, yes, Colorbox Coral pigment ink onto a Sky Blue note card. What a lovely color contrast this made! Next, I sprinkled some of my favorite A Muse Simple Stick powder onto the image and heat set it 'til sticky. After applying some yummy coral glitter, I heat set it again and Voila, a very pretty piece of coral, indeed!

I would like to make a quick plug about Simple Stick powder- it is truly the BESTEST powder adhesive I have ever used! If you have been turned off by adhesive powder in the past, do yourself a favor and give this a try. It will open up a whole new world for adding glitter and flocking to your crafty creations!

I added an little oval of "sand" and then popped this cute little sand dollar image beside it for a mini ocean scene. The sentiment is actually a single line, so once again, I used the scotch tape masking technique to give "truly madly deeply" a new twist. Be sure to check out A Muse News and all the team posted on The Lounge for more elegant A Muse ideas! And tomorrow is the last day of Amuse-bouche and you know what THAT means, the BIG release is just around the corner. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse supplies used: stamps: Coral, Sand dollar, Truly madly deeply, micro oval; notecard- Sky blue, Latte; Pretty Pearls- Chocolate; Simple Stick Powder

Ink- Colorbox Pigment- Coral, Memento- Rich Cocoa, Dessert Sand; Glitter-Art Institute.

As coincidence might have it, I did not order any of the stamps for today's amuse-bouche. I have 2 or more from other days just none listed for a "general greetings with a sea/ocean theme" card today. After checking out all of the other Creative Team members that are participating today, all I can say is "WOW!"- you definitely don't want to miss any of them! So be sure to check out A Muse News and the Lounge to see some truly incredible creativity!

Also, for all A Muse addicts in the northeast Alabama area, be sure to check out my class blog for descriptions and dates of my January classes! We will definitely be using the latest A Muse release in these classes!

So I'll be back with Day 4 and 5 of Amuse-bouche! Hope to see you then! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Amuse-bouche- Let's Sass it Up a Notch

The first time I saw this new Anchor image from the A Muse "Sea of Love" release, I thought, "I've got to turn that into a tattoo!" Now personally, I have no tats (I have nothing against them, they simply are not "me") but I guess I took care of enough WWII Naval Veterans during my days in the ER to associate an anchor with ink! Initially, I had it in my mind to make a muscular arm shaped card BUT since today's sneaks were to be "Love Expressions to our Men," I thought that the man in my life would much rather see a card with a little va va voom! This brings me to the second new product I used- Chiffon Pink 8 1/2 x 11 card stock! Yes, be on the look out for new solid colors of A Muse card stock . Still the same wonderful color on one side, white on the other BUT now you can use them to make different sized cards and crafts such as this cute bra and pantie template (yes, if you can't wait to see the backside of this card scroll on down)! I had such a fun time decorating the Robin's Egg Damask undies with Robin's Egg Pearls and this adorable Ocean polka dot ribbon. Truly a fun card!

Before I reveal the backside of my card, I'd like to point out the new sentiment "you are my ANCHOR." It is a single lined sentiment but by masking each line individually with scotch tape, I was able to have it frame the anchor image. This is a technique that I love and demonstrate often in my A Muse classes! For me, this is a perfect sentiment because my husband is truly my anchor of life. Would not want to imagine my life without him!

So without further ado, this amuse-bouche will leave the building- teeheehee! Remember to stop by A Muse News and The Lounge for more sensational sea faring ideas by the Creative Team! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!