thank you

Papertrey's Blog Hop challenge this month (thanks for getting me crafting again) is called "Holidays Leftovers".  My leftovers include tags, mini chevron envelopes, and ribbon from wrapping presents.  I made a little holiday thank you card, just one of the many I need to use for all the amazing gifts my family and I received.

stamp: Papertrey Ink wreath pieces & "thank you"

ink: A Muse grass, french roast, & cherry

other: A Muse die cut

a|s retiring stamp sets

In preparing for the new a muse studio catalog (in January), there are some sets that a|s will be retiring.  If you are at all interested in buying these stamps sets, now is the time.  They are limited to the stock on hand.  When they are gone, they are gone!  You can place an order here.

papertrey ink blog hop

So it's been awhile since I have actually crafted a card.  The holidays, the vacations, and life with three kids under 6 has kept me away from my craft desk (that and the looming pile of junk treasures that need to be put away).  I was on Cristina's blog and loved her card and the Papertrey inspiration photo.  I noticed that I had precisely 37 minutes to make a card, photograph it, and blog about it.  Nothing like procrastinating to get me in gear.  I was drawn to the woods and the bright read and came up with this.  Plus I have always loved this Maile Belles card. (ugh, my card so needs a button!)

stamp: Papertrey wreath pieces, "happy", & "holidays"

ink: A Muse cranberry & french roast

other: twine, Papertrey Ink die cut

turkey

A monochromatic Thanksgiving card.

happy turkey day

Another old card found with the Halloween stash.  A fun little table setting.

{blank thanksgiving}

In my stash of pictures of Halloween cards, I found a few Thanksgiving cards as well.  They are a few years old so forgive the design and photography.

{blank fall}

I made this card at Carol's when we "free reign" over her stamps, paper, and extras.  I can't decide if it's a "fall" card or a "Halloween" card.  What do you think?

stamp: Memory Box tree

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: rhinestones

{blank fall}

Margaret and Kelly also made this card with dry embossing and chalk.  Such a fun look and easy enough for your kids to do it too.

{blank fall}

Margaret and Kelly designed this fall/back to school card.  They die cut the apple twice (once in red and once in brown).  We just cut off the red stem and placed the whole brown apple behind the red.  Too cute!

happy halloween

Here's the last of the Halloween cards from our Ladies Cards Night.  I stole this idea from Kelli too.  So simple  yet so stunning.

Tonight I'll be out with my little ones.  I'm that dorky mom who dresses the family up in a theme.  This year we have a zoo theme: tiger, giraffe, monkey, and zoo keepers.

What are you up to tonight?  Trick or Treating with little ones?  Passing out candy?  Turning off the lights and pretending you aren't home?

{blank halloween}

I copied this card from Kelli (not to be confused with Kelly).  I really like the "SOS" look of the web line.

{blank halloween}

Another Halloween card by Margaret and Kelly.  Check out the fun ribbon on this one.  And try to ignore my crooked application.

{blank halloween}

Margaret and Kelly embossed the web then rubbed regular old chalk over the top to give it a "barely there" real web feel.  Then they die cut spiders and heat embossed them with an iridescent type of embossing powder.  So simple, but so cool!!

{blank halloween}

Another great card with all the pieces provided by Margaret and Kelly.  Add a simple ghost sticker and it's done.

happy halloween

So if all the cute little projects at our Ladies Cards Night wasn't enough, Margaret brought these cards for us to make.  She and her daughter, Kelly, designed, dry embossed, heat embossed, die cut, and pre-cut EVERYTHING.  All we had to do was glue!

{halloween treats}

Our friend Carol, had us over for another Ladies Cards Night.  This month was a Halloween theme.  We made these adorable goodies!  Now to decide who is worthy of them...

mummy chocolate bars

ghost lollipop

easy box finished with a sticker
(i love this Halloween paper Carol had)

trick treat

Okay here's the final card in my series of "oldies".  I hope it wasn't too painful.  Happy Halloween!  I hope you your kids get lots of candy!  I'm personally hoping for Snickers, Baby Ruths, and Skittles.  What are your favorite Halloween treats? 

stamp: Impress witch & ghost, A Muse skeleton

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: ribbon, stickers, brad

happy halloween

Yet another card I made a couple years ago, but I am unearthing for you.  Some of these cards just make me cringe at how basic they are.  Other times, I get inspired to revisit a technique or layout.  What about you, do your old cards make you recoil in shame or inspire you to go back to those days?

stamp: Savvy ghost, Impress "happy halloween"

ink: VersaMagic persimmon, VersaFine onyx black

other: balsa wood 

eek! lil' spooks

Another fun Halloween card from awhile back.

stamp: Stampin' Up! spider tag

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: sticker, brad, ribbon, Marvy markers

boo to you

Simple but still fun.

stamp: Savvy ghost

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: sticker, brad

{blank halloween}

Another card inspired by Linda's great window cards. (I taught elementary school with Linda and she teaches the Halloween classes at Impress.  No one has a larger collection of Halloween goodies than her!)

stamp: Impress cirlce, Stampin' Up! bats

ink: Impress jet black & lemon yellow

other: tree punch

trick or treat

I like the little trio of ghosts.  It reminds me of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Halloween where almost all the kids dress up as ghosts.

stamp: Impress ghost; Savvy "trick or treat"
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: Prisma colored pencils

{blank halloween}

Linda was also really good at using embellishments that added to the pop of a card.  I typically keep my cards flat as I often mail them.  This was fun to use the wire.  I'll have to get it back out!

stamp: Impress ghost; Savvy circle dots
ink: VersaFine onyx black & VersaMagic persimmon
other: Prismacolor colored pencils, (old) Memory Box window layers

{blank halloween}

My friend Linda made some cards like these and I had to borrow her pumpkin punch and make some for myself.  Unfortunately I photographed it still in the cello bag.  Sorry for the glare.

stamp: Impress cirlce, Stampin' Up! bats

ink: Impress jet black & lemon yellow

other: tree punch, pumpkin punch, (old) Memory Box window layers

trick or treat

I like the falling candy in this card.  Let's face it, I just like candy.  What's your favorite Halloween candy?

stamp: Memory Box bag & candy
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: ric rac ribbon

eek!

Again, ignore the poor photography.

stamps: Impress background stamp; Stampin' Up! halloween and letters

ink: VersaMagic persimmon; ColorBox parchment

other: white embossing powder, circle punch

{blank halloween}

I can't take credit for this adorable card.  I saw it on display at Impress many years ago.  I just love the creativity of putting the jack'o'lantern face on the lantern.

stamp: Memory Box jack'o'lantern face; Impress lantern
ink: VersaFine onyx black; VersaMagic persimmon
other: Marvy marker

may halloween find you in good spirits!

Here is the second of the old Halloween cards.  Forgive the horrible photography.

stamp: Savvy ghost; Impress "may halloween..."
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: (i either hand cut this tag or borrowed if from a friend, and then trimmed the polka dot paper to match)

trick or treat

I found a big stash of Halloween cards that I made and photographed quite some time ago (at least 2 years ago).  I'm going to keep you in suspense and drag them out slowly though.  What are you (or your kids) dressing up as for Halloween?  I personally love any reason to dress up in costume/themes!  I'm a nerd.

Past costumes for me have included:

• Waldo (from Where's Waldo?)
• a Q-Tip
• a tacky tourist
• black cat
• Ernie (my husband was Bert)

Family themes that i have forced my family to do we have done:

• Fisherwoman, my catch/net, scuba diver, octopus, & lobster
• Fireman, fire dog, & fire hydrant
• hot dog, Heinz ketchup, & French's mustard

stamp: Impress witch, ghost, & circle; Savvy "trick or treat"
ink: Impress lemon yellow; VersaFine onyx black
other: pumpkin punch, bat punch, Prismacolor colored pencils

thank you

Here is the other adorable card that Kelli came up with for our fun Back to School Night.  I love the one-layer fun!

(not sure of all the ingredients on this card, I was having too much fun making a handful)

{blank fall}

Our friend Carol had some moms and daughters over for a Back to School Night.  We wore clothes from the 50's, letterman's jackets, Senior Class t-shirts, letter sweaters, college sweats, etc.  Carol had the evening broken into class periods with just enough passing time between to refill our drinks.

me in my old high school gear

stamp: Memory Box trees

ink: VersaColor pinecone

other: flower soft

aloha

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I've been soaking this up the past week or so.  Go ahead, hate me now.

wild about you!

The last wild about you card reminded me that I used the same Stampin' Up set to make my daughter's Safari/Jungle invitations for her 1st birthday party.  Talk about some one layer goodness!

stamp: all Stampin' Up

ink: ColorBox lime, chestnut, parchment, antique pewter, & evergreen; VersaFine onyx black

ruff day?

I found this card in a stash of old cards.  I remember making it with my friend Mandy many years ago.  I just love the chocolate dots and the twine tied through the middle of the corrugated paper (there is a tiny slit on either side).

all supplies are Stampin' Up!

happy birthday

I saw this clean and simple card on Mary Dawn's blog and just loved how bright and cheery it was without being over the top.  I like the muted effect on the kraft. (Have you noticed a slight kraft obsession?)

stamp: Impress dot; Papertrey Ink "happy birthday"

ink: A Muse blueberry, cranberry, & buttercup

other: corner punch

live. laugh. love.

When I was making my sister's birthday card, I thought to use these flowers, but couldn't quite work them into it.  I was just forced to create another card, darn.

stamp: Papertrey flowers, banner, & "live. laugh. love"

ink: VersaFine onyx black; ColorBox frost white

other: Memory Box pearl stickers white; Papertrey die cuts

a|s september spotlight

A Muse Studio is doing something amazing for their customers.  On the 15th of each month a variety of new, creative projects will be unveiled as the A Muse Studio Spotlight in a fresh, magazine-like style! These projects will feature a selection of stamp sets and products, paired with a lovely color palette, around a central theme.  This one will be available from September 15th to October 15th.

Each month a|s will feature 5 stamp sets that will be on sale for 10% off the retail price, plus there will be a corresponding sample pack of paper too!


September/October theme: An Elegant Halloween Bash!

Featured Stamp Sets:
Web Background
Victorian Charm
Celebrate in Style
Foiled Again
If You Dare

Featured Color Palette - Jack-o-Lantern: 
Pumpkin
Squash
Onyx
Toffee
Apricot

The Jack-o-Lantern Assorted Cardstock Pack is item number PAST911.  Click here if you are ready to shop for some Halloween fun!

it's your day

My sister has been wearing fun summer dresses and two of them are solid green and she looks adorable in them.  (She's tall and skinny and actually looks good in anything.  I hate her for it.)  Anyways, it was her birthday and I had some time to make her a card.  I added a little green dress inside for fun (it's a long evening dress punch that I shortened with scalloped scissors).

inside

*Not sure why the kraft cardstock looks so drastically different in these photos.  It's the same inside & out.

stamp: Papertrey Ink "it's your day" & "wish big"

ink: ColorBox dune & frost white; A Muse french roast

other: Papertrey die cuts; Memory Box pearl stickers white, corner punch, scalloped scissors, Paper Shapers dress punch

happy birthday

Carla brought this bright and cheery card for our ladies card night.  I love the colors and the easy stamping with the separated stem and flower parts.  Just ignore my poor sentiment falling off the card.

wild about you, baby

Katie found this card online and even included a print-out of it in her box for our ladies card night.  I love all the fun animals.  This is one of those cards that I don't dare "wing it" because my randomness never comes out this pretty!

thank you

Adriene was busy with work and barely had time to put together a card.  She says she is embarrassed about her card, but I think it looks great.  My camera doesn't show you the great shimmer paper either.

studio stampers blog hop

Welcome to the studio stampers blog hop with my a muse "cousins".   We are all lucky to have Krystie as our upline lady.  If you are joining the blog hop, you should have arrived from Karen Crisp's blog (My Paper Paradise).

I'm just in love with this simple and easy card.  It makes me happy that I can use up scraps and have clean and simple pops of color.  I don't own any of the new a|s holiday goodies {gasp!} but I wanted a Halloween card so I just used my papers for the effect.  I typically stick to the traditional Halloween colors, but pushed myself to make another card with a different color scheme.

Which do you like better? 

The purple/green card is not photographing well, which only encourages my attachment to typical Halloween colors.  I think these are still fairly traditional Halloween colors, but maybe more "witchy" colors?

stamp: A Muse "happy halloween"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

paper: A Muse orange, buttercup, heather, blackberry, orange polka dot, onyx polka dot, & grass polka dot

Okay now you're off to check out the goodies at Lisa Wakabayashi's blog (Dragonflies and Cats).

{blank fall}

Abby and Lydia brought their friend, Nikki to our ladies card night.  We just love having new crafters join us!  Lydia helped Nikki out and brought this stunning fall card for her to share.

{blank birthday}

Aimee brought this card for the ladies stamp night.  I forget to use my punches more than once on a card.  I like the layout of it.  The little party hat and cake, get this, those are stickers.  I love a quick and simple card!

when life gives you lemons...

My friend Janet is a stamper but this was the first time she was able to make one of our ladies card nights.  Isn't this card just adorable?!  I love the little leaf embellishment!

This card makes me want summer to last forever!