birthday wishes

For our ladies card night, Kim brought this cute birdy card.  The best part is... it's a playing card!  It's an old card from her grandmother's house that Kim and her cousins used to play with.  How special is that?!  It had all of us making mental notes to hit up the local thrift stores (and grandma's house) for vintage playing cards.

Being the creative gal that Maureen is, she flipped the king of spades over and used it for a masculine birthday card.  So many options with playing cards (not to mention they are super easy)!

a|s blog hop

Welcome to the a·muse|studio 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 Kellie Maggio's blog (I scrap, you scrap). 

I was going for some clean and simple cards that are quick and easy to produce without depleting ones paper supply.  The first card is more on the elegant side, while the second card is a bit more bright and fun.  Which style do you lean towards when crafting?  Or maybe something different altogether?

celebrate in style
stamp: A Muse chandelier & "celebrate in style"
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: scalloped scissors, Sparkles aquamarine


you are amazing
stamp: A Muse birdcage, chain, & "you are amazing"
ink: A Muse ocean & papaya; VersaFine onyx black
other: washi tape


Become a "follower" and be sure to check back here June 15th for a fun announcement!


Now you are off to Kristen Watson's blog, you won't believe the elegant card she made with just 2 stamps.


Here is a complete list in case you get lost along the way:
Krystie Hersch
Lianna Vigil
Kellie Maggio
Kari Bell YOU ARE HERE!!
Kristen Watson
Veronica Zalis
Kathy Hatzke
Kelly Spivey
Lisa Wakabayashi
Karen Crisp
Kristie Hartfeil
Angela Schellenberg
Heather Wroe

home tweet home

I just love this simple bird card by Novell Eckstrom.  You know me, I had to add some bling to make it complete!

stamp: A Muse birdcage, chain, bird, & 

ink: A Muse french roast & grass

other: twinkle stickers, Copic marker

a|s consultants blog hop

It's the 2nd of the month which means it's time for another a·muse|studio consultants blog hop!

Today's hop includes a variety of a|s consultants who connected through the online forum.  You should have arrived here from Anna's blog, if not you can start it all at Samantha's blog.  She will have the complete list of all the blogs in case there is a glitch along the way.  Just follow the blog path; there are prizes to be won, so leave some comment love!!

Enough nitty gritty.

The theme this month is create your own DSP (designer series paper).  I just love the clean lines of this card by Cristina, so I made the same card, just created my own papers.

stamp:  A Muse dots, circles, & "happy birthday to you"

ink: A Muse slate, latte, & lemon whip

other: twine, buttons, corner punch

Leave a comment and I will select one person to get all these paper pieces, ribbons, and twine to duplicate this card.

Okay now you are off to Angela's blog!

thank you

I wanted to try a window card with my swallow die cut.  What do you think?

stamp: A Muse clouds & "thank you"

ink: A Muse shell

other: A Muse die cut, A Muse glitter, spray adhesive

with deepest sympathy

I learned this new mosaic tile technique (this is not where I learned it, I lost that link, but this is a great step by step) the other day and wanted to give it a try.  Once my "stamp" was made it was super easy and quick.  I just love the broken tile look!  I also added a little recessed window to play along with the a·muse|studio consultant challenge.

If you dare to cut up your extra a·muse|studio rubber, you can make your own mosaic tile stamp.

A quick video from Julie about recessed windows:

stamp: A Muse bird, birdcages, & "with deepest sympathy"; homemade mosaic tile stamp

ink: VersaFine onyx black; VersaMark; A Muse french roast & grass

other: circle hole punch

happy day

After I finished a card the other day, I saw this bird scrap sitting in my scrap container.  I immediately had to get to work. This is what I came up with:

Do you ever have a scrap that you can't think of anything to do with it, and then a few hours/days/weeks later you see it and know exactly how to use it and wonder how you were so stumped before?

stamp: Memory Box bird; Papertrey Ink flourishes & "happy day"

ink: VersaFine onyx black; ColorBox white

other: twine, Memory Box pearl stickers, Copic Marker

dear friend

I was looking for a high quality, eco-friendly shower curtain and was inspired by this beauty.

stamp: A Muse birds & "dear friend"; Stampin' Up leaf

ink: A Muse french roast &

other: Papertrey Ink die cut, jewel stickers

a|s consultants blog hop

Time for another blog hop!  Yesterday's hop involved my a·muse|studio upline "cousins" (if you're here for that and came from Veronica'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|s consultants who connected through the online forum.  You should have arrived here from Kelly's blog, if not you can start it all at Samantha's blog.  She will have the complete list of all the blogs in case there is a glitch along the way.  Just follow the blog path; there are lots of prizes to be won, so leave some comment love!!

Enough nitty gritty.

The theme this month is "congratulations".  When you think of the school days, "congrats" probably isn't the fist thing that comes to mind, but there are lots of people and occasions that deserve congratulating. Some people to consider: teachers, principals, office staff, students, college grads, tutors, and teacher aides.  Occasions for congratulating (but are certainly not limited to): finishing a school year, finishing state testing, passing National Boards, graduating, not losing a kid on a field trip (you think I'm joking, but I used to teach), completing a school performance/play, and sadly in my area keeping your teaching position when schools are closing.

This next card is just a fun, girlie congratulations.  Maybe for a newly announced pregnancy (there seem to be LOTS of my friends sharing that great news right now), a new job, a new home, or anything else you can dream up for those amazing women in your life (or men who like pink and birds).

This last card is a little more masculine.  We have a dear friend who was just made partner at his firm and we wanted to congratulate him.  We are so proud of him!!

What sort of congratulating do you have going on in your neck of the woods?

Wait, one more thing!  Want a little treat?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a prize (6 die cut birds (3 of each) and 1 yard of stitched bubblegum ribbon, so you can recreate the congratulations bird card).

okay, now you're off to Carla's blog, Paper Pastorale

congrats

stamp: a·muse|studio bus, chalkboard, ruler, & "congrats" (I used the "congratulations" stamp very carefully)

ink: VersaMark; VersaFine onyx black; Memento tuxedo black

other: white embossing powder, Copic Markers

congratulations

stamp: a·muse|studio branch, birds, & "congratulations"

ink: A Muse bubblegum & grass

other: bubblegum stitched ribbon, bird die cuts


you're the best
stamp: a·muse|studio dress shirt & "you're the best"
ink: VersaFine onyx black

happy birthday

I completely stole this card from Maile Belles.  I only had one cage so I varied it by flipping it up-side-down.

Here's a close up of the cut out and popped up bird.

stamp: A Muse bird, birdcage, "happy new year", & "birthday wishes"
ink: A Muse latte, french roast, lemon whip

happy birthday

I was playing with my A Muse Starter Kit goodies.  I really like how the inks match the papers.

stamp: A Muse cake, background dots, & "happy birthday"
ink: A Muse bubblegum; VersaFine onyx black; Memento tuxedo black
other: A Muse twinkle stickers clear (colored with Copic RV14), Copic markers (RV14, RV21, Y11, Y21, C1)

thanks

stamp: A Muse birdcage, bird, & "thanks"

ink: AMuse ocean, VersaFiney onyx black

other: A Muse twinkle stickers clear

embellish color trends challenge with birds

I thought I would participate in another challenge.  This time it's Embellish Magazine's color trends with birds.

stamp: Memory Box bird & branch, Impress "think spring"
ink: Impress chocolate
other: Papertrey Ink die cut, Prismacolor pencils

you're the best

I really liked Maile's card. I don't like how the turquoise played out on such a large bird on my card, plus I used purples instead of greens. Oh well, it was practice using colored pencils!

stamps: Memory Box bird, branch, "you're the best"

ink: VersaFine onyx black, Impress chocolate

other: Memory Box pearl stickers , flower punch, Prismacolor pencils, Papertrey Ink die cuts