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!

Come with me, my love...

to the sea, the "Sea of Love!" I want to tell you.... how much.... I love you........ AND how much you are going to LOVE the latest release from A Muse- yes!- SEA OF LOVE! First, a huge wish for a Blessed New Year to All! and what better way to ring in 2010 than with the first amuse bouche of the new decade. I am totally enamored with the images of this latest release. The marine life theme lends to fun, whimsical creative goodness! We are kicking off our sneak peaks with Valentines for kids. Since my daughters both love to receive cards that "do something" I decided it was a perfect time to bring out the hair gel and pair it up with this adorable Jellyfish image for an undersea, bubbly effect! You can find an awesome Gel Card tutorial on SCS, I simply modified the measurements a bit to fit the A Muse Robin's Egg 4-bar note cards. The sentiment bubbles are Chiffon pink. Be sure to check out A Muse News, as well as, The Lounge for links to more a muse bouche fun! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Muse supplies: stamps- Jellyfish, Stuck on you notecards: Robin's Egg, Pink Chiffon

Quarterly Copic Marker Club Coming to OUAS

If you live in or around the Huntsville area and LOVE Copic markers, you will definitely want to read about THIS awesome opportunity at Once Upon a Scrapbook!

Think Simple...

Christmas is only 16 days away (this blogger takes a minute for a small moment of panic) and although I have been steadily plodding along in my preparation, I still feel that I have far to go! In the past, I am ashamed to say, that Christmas cards were often neglected because I simply did not have time to make them. BUT that was before I embraced the whole "Think Simple Think A Muse" creative mentality. Now "simple" does not mean "easy." Often it takes me quite a while to come up with my "simple" designs because I am uber picky about details. What IS wonderful about "simple" is the ability to reproduce those designs quickly and in mass! I taught this snowflake design this past July during A Muse a palooza at Once Upon a Scrapbook- it was a huge hit and has many "favorites" on mine- favorite color combo, glitter, ribbon, A Muse note cards, A Muse Twinkle stickers, Simple Stick powder.... and best of all, takes just a few minutes to reproduce! So it's not to late to get started on those Christmas cards- just "Think Simple, Think A Muse!" And since you are going to be saving so much time on your Christmas card prep- you'll have plenty of time to head over to the A Muse News blog to see all the beautiful Christmas goodies the A Muse Creative Team has to share with you! It's ALWAYs a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Supplies- stamps- Floral snowflake, winter wishes hand; note card- sky blue band; sheer swiss red ribbon; simple stick powder, clear twinkle stickers. Non- A Muse supplies Colorbox pigment ink in Robin's egg, crystal glitter