{blank pirate card}

My son was invited to a pirate birthday party.  So I whipped up this card using a grocery bag and some scraps.  My son will be having a pirate party and this gave me a chance to play with some different layout and invitation options. [Forgive the bad photo, we were off to the party and I only had one chance to photograph this.]

stamp: Stampin' Up! pirate & X trail

ink: VersaFine onyx black & Memento Tuxedo Black

other: Papertrey Ink die cut, Copic markers

Beware!  More pirate cards in the future matey!!

embellish top designer

I have been a bit side-tracked with vacation, Easter, and day to day life.  Remember this card?

Well I was floored when I saw it as a "top designer" pick for Embellish Magazine.  (#2)  Check out their post for more details, but that's basically it.  I'm excited, especially since this was a last minute, enter for fun contest at the time.  I wasn't bending over backward to create the perfect card that I loved.

life is too short; eat dessert first

You've heard the saying, "Inspiration (for a card) can come from anywhere".  I got the idea for this card from my daughter's bib.  

I used the Fiskars paper crimper on kraft paper to get a textured look, then I die cut the paper liners which flattened them out a little.

front

inside

stamp: Papertrey Ink cupcake pieces & "life is too short; eat dessert first"
ink: VersaFine onyx black; ColorBox pink & dune
other: Papertrey Ink die cut, jewel stickers, square punch (edge of the banner)

who is counting?

I made this for my brother's birthday.  Can you guess how old he is now?!

stamp: Papertrey Ink "who is counting?" & "it's just a number"

ink: Memento rich cocoa, VersaColor pinecone

other: Papertrey die cuts, twine

{blank pink flowers & green leaves}

You 'may' have noticed that I have recently found a stash of photos of my cards.  I remember making these with my girlfriends at one of our shoebox swaps.  I'm 99% sure that they are all Impress stamps.  In fact, I know the large flower is because I ran out and bought it the next day, I just love it!

hey there

Dawn McVey made this adorable yellow card.  I love the monochromatic look with the bright chevron stripes.  Here's my swing at it.

stamp: Savvy stripes; Papertrey Ink "hey there"

ink: VersaColor opera pink

other: Papertrey Ink die cuts, ribbon, buttons

{blank easter}

I found three old pictures of Easter cards that I made a LONG time ago.  They are very simple but still fun. Here's the third one:

stamp: Savvy bunny

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: mini cotton ball, Prismacolor pencils

easter greetings

I found three old pictures of Easter cards that I made a LONG time ago.  They are very simple but still fun.   I do remember that I got the inspiration from a card Impress. Here's the second one:

stamp: Impress egg & "Easter greetings"

ink: Impress pansy, lemon yellow, & cherry pink

other: ric rac ribbon

easter greetings

I found three old pictures of Easter cards that I made a LONG time ago.  They are very simple but still fun.  Here's the first one:

stamp: Global Solutions bunny and carrot; Impress "Easter greetings"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: Prismacolor pencils

live. laugh. love.

My friend Kathy was telling me how great the apothecary jars and matching die cuts are from Taylored Expressions.  Being the super sweet gal that she is, she die cut and stamped A BUNCH of images for me.  Then she tops it all of by sending me this adorable card:

(this is a great technique, read here to find out more)

look at all these goodies!

So I had to stop what I was doing and make something! I went for a beachy/cottage feel with this.  Seashore. Cozy. Weathered. Warmth.  Makes me want to read a book.

stamp: Papertrey Ink "live. laugh. love."; all others Taylored Expressions

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: copic markers, Papertrey Ink die cut, Taylored Expression die cuts, twine

happy spring

My sweet husband brought me some tulips the other day and gave me the inspiration for this card.

front

close up of the bouquet

the inside

stamp: Papertrey Ink "happy spring" & newsprint; Inkadinkadoo bicycle
ink: ColorBox dune; VersaFine onyx black
other: Prismacolor pencils, twine, Papertrey Ink die cut

it's your day

I just love this clean & simple, yet rockin' card by Nichole Heady.  Here's my almost identical version.  Thanks to my friend, Kathy Nakata, and Cindy Lyles I'm now hooked on decorating the inside of a card too!

stamp: A Muse circles, guitar, & swirls/waves; Inkadinkadoo "rock star"; Papertrey Ink "it's your day"

ink: ColorBox frost white; VersaFine onyx black

other: A Muse twinkle stickers clear, Papertrey die cuts

thanks so much

Check out this adorable thank you card I received from Dana (Princess) for the ribbon she won from the blog hop.  The image is colored so beautifully I seriously thought it was store bought!  I think I'm going to make it mandatory that I get a thank you card after each prize (just kidding) but it was fun and super cute!!

Did you notice?  She even added some of her prize ribbon.  

(The inside was adorable too.)

Thanks Dana, you made my day!!

make it monday: challenge #10

The Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge is masking with dies.  I had never tried this or even considered this before. It was fun and I'll have to try it again.  My photo didn't come out that well, but the ink and the paper match much better than it looks, not perfect, but not quite so glaring, yikes!  Looking back, I should have stamped some words over the ric-rac like Lisa did, to soften the color.

stamp: Papertrey Ink "thank you"

ink: ColorBox marigold; VersaFine onyx black

other: jewel stickers, butterfly punch, scalloped oval punch, circle punch (for lace effect), Papertrey Ink die cut, ribbon

thank you

One of my fellow teachers, Linda Barker, makes beautiful and intricate cards.  She teaches the calligraphy classes and the Halloween classes at Impress (and probably a few more I don't know about).  In fact, Linda has such a following of people who take her Halloween class every year that she has to buy new stamps to keep the variety up (because of it, no one has a bigger collection of Halloween stamps)!  

Our moms and daughters stamp group hired her out to teach a class for us.  I came across this old picture of a card we made.  That polka dot paper was so amazing.  It was a fuzzy velvet, but thin enough to punch out. The light pink paper were actually card fronts that Dave used to sell at Memory Box, but he no longer carries. You can easily make your own with a large circle punch though.

stamp: Impress "thank you"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: flower punches in 2 sizes, brad, circle punch

moxie fab & a|s

Cath over at Moxie Fab has given amuse|studio her "stamp of approval" and is giving away five (yes, FIVE) stamp sets.  Just leave a comment over there by Sunday, April 17th at midnight EST and then check back to see if you won.

I personally just bought the Clever Girls set.  If you don't win, you can still buy the fun stamps here.

happy happy birthday

Switching it up today and using my Papertrey Ink goodies to create.

stamp: Papertrey Ink flower, background type, squiggle frame, & "happy happy birthday"
ink: Papertrey Ink ocean tides, VersaFine onyx black
other: Papertrey felt, Papertrey die cuts, Memory Box jewel stickers

i love you

I am mortified.  I completely copied this card.  No variation, no change of color.  Exact.  And I lost the information about who created this lovely card.  It's too cute not to share (if it's yours, let me know and I'll give you the credit you deserve).  Aaack.  How did I do that?!

stamp: A Muse heart, background dots, & "i love you"
ink: A Muse grass, VersaFine onyx black

happy birthday to you

I stole this card from Lindsay Spencer and switched it up and used some blue tones.

stamp: A Muse "happy birthday to you"
ink: A Muse sky & ocean
other: pinking scissors; A Muse stitched ribbon sky

thinking of you

Another cute A Muse card that you can make with your starter kit.  This one is from Michelle Mathey.  While it is simple to recreate, it's quite stunning.

stamp: A Muse flower, background dots, & "thinking of you"
ink: A Muse blackberry & sky
other: A Muse twinkle stickers clear, corner punch

prize winner

So I'm a big dork.  I used a random number generator on-line, but I can't figure out how to embed the image onto my blog (it won't let me just right click & "steal" the image).  So you'll have to trust me that #13 is our lucky winner! 
(I know, how rigged does that sound?!)

Princess said...

Seriously...not just one card...but several! Wow, what a treat. I adore all of them. I, too, rarely decorate the inside. But my husband keeps checking...he thinks all cards should have something inside. Really? Who has the time?! =)

Congratulations!  You have one week to claim your prize.  Click the "Email me" button on the right hand side of my blog, give me your name & address, and I'll get those glorious ribbons on their way to you!

For those wanting more prizes, keep you eyes peeled for another A Muse blog hop.  There will definitely be one on May 2nd and maybe more!

welcome, little one

Stephanie Jake posted this card along with her announcement to join the A Muse consultants.  I adore the bright colors on kraft paper.  I don't have the fun dragon (yet), so I changed it to a gender neutral baby card.

stamp: A Muse backgrounds, crib, and "welcome, little one"
ink: A Muse grass, orange, papaya; VersaFine onyx black; Memento tuxedo black
other: Copic markers (YG23, YR04, Y21); corner punch

you're one of my nicest thoughts!

I love this card by Julie Ebersole, but the best part is, is that it's all made from the starter kit stuff!  I don't have any washi tape (pg 84-87, I'm going to start with the spring assortment myself) so I used some gingham paper instead.

stamp: A Muse flowers & "You're one of my nicest thoughts!"
ink: A Muse grass, shell, & bubblegum; VersaFine onyx black
other: square punch (banner edges), flower punch, A Muse twinkle stickers clear

a muse consultants blog hop

Time for another blog hop!  Yesterday's hop involved my A Muse upline "cousins" (if you're here for that and came from Lianne's blog scroll down to the next post).   We are all lucky to have Krystie as our upline lady.

Today's hop includes a variety of A Muse consultants who connected through the online forum.  If you are participating in this blog hop (first of all, congrats because that's a lot of hopping), you should have come from Jeanette's blog and if not, then you should start from the beginning with Samantha's blog until you come to my blog. There are lots of prizes to be won, so leave some comment love!!

Enough nitty gritty.

Do you ever have scraps of adorable paper that you hate to throw away?  Well, here's a reason to start hoarding your scraps (did you need one?).  You can tape them side-by-side to a piece of scrap paper and die cut a beautiful image.  I can't take any credit for this idea though.  I saw it on the cover of a Stampin' Up catalog.  Brilliant!

I also really wanted to play with A Muse's paper flowers.  I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd be a fan of them.  Plain, white, boring, blah.  But you can make them ANY color you want.  To match any paper, ink, copic marker, ribbon, jewel, etc that you want.  I personally used the A Muse ink pads to color mine, but you can also use Copic markers and other mediums as well.  From a girl who loves to "match" colors, I'm sold.  Plus the flowers are thin and you get a bunch in a single pack!

Enough words.  Here's my card

stamp: A Muse "just for you"

ink: A Muse ocean, grass, latte, & french roast

other: Papertrey die cut, A Muse flowers, A Muse twinkle sticker clear

If you are inspired to shop, my webstore is now open!  I have 5 more A Muse cards to share with you here, so start "following" and come on back to see the goodness.

okay, now you're off to Veronica's blog

a muse studio blog hop

If you are joining the blog hop, you should have arrived from Lianne's blog.  If not, you can start all the blog hopping fun at Krystie's blog.  There are a few prizes involved and not too many blog hop stops, so why not?!  (The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances of winning A Muse goodies.)  Even if you don't have time to comment, you'll get to see a variety of A Muse inspired cards.

I got really excited and made three cards!  This first one only utilizes the A Muse stamps (no other A Muse products), but I wanted a shabby chic, rock look.  Do you think I got it?

Next up, I wanted to do a white on white card and stick to only A Muse products.  Plus I wanted to challenge myself to decorate the inside of a card (I usually like to leave the insides completely blank).  What do you do with your card insides?

It's not much, but it's a step in the right direction.

Finally I wanted to make a kid card.  My son will have lots of friends turning five this spring and summer and what five year old doesn't love rocketships?!

I did the inside on this card too.  What do you think?

If you are ready to shop, my webstore is now open!!


Okay, now on to Lisa C's blog.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I have 6 more A Muse cards to share with you here, so start "following" and come on back to see the goodness.


Wait, one more thing!  Want a little treat?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a prize (a yard of each of the deluxe kit's ribbon [1/4 in. stitched grosgrain in sky, french roast, & lime; 5/8 in. satin ribbon in cherry, orange, and bubblegum] ).  This contest is now closed.



you make life more fun
stamp: A Muse guitar & "you make the road of life more fun"; Memory Box flourish

ink: VersaMagic pixie dust; VersaColor opera pink

other: buttons, twine, Memory Box jewel stickers azalea, Papertrey die cut

happy birthday

stamp: A Muse butterfly, leaf branch, polka dots, & "Happy Birthday"

ink: A Muse ocean & grass

other: A Muse ribbon grass; A Muse twinkle stickers clear

birthday wishes

stamp: A Muse rocket & "birthday wishes"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

other: Papertrey die cut