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

{religious boy cards}

After the baby girl baptism cards I made, I got a few requests for baptism/confirmation cards for boys.  I whipped up a few cards; some are for the teenage boy, while others are for the baby boy.

stamp: all stamps are Papertrey Ink except the cross is Stampendous and "oh happy day!" is Impress

ink: VersaFine onyx black

good job!

I wanted to play along with the a·muse|studio consultant challenge, so I used this adorable layout and whipped up this card.  It's hard to see the "kissing" of the stamp, but I kissed the apple with lined writing paper stamp, then added "good job" on the lines.

{click picture for a better view}

You can get more "kissing" details from Julie's short video

stamp: A Muse apple, school house, lined writing paper, & "good job"
ink: A Muse cranberry, grass, & french roast
other: A Muse twinkle stickers, copic marker

you're the best!

With the medical issues that I had, I was a tad behind on Teacher Appreciation Week.  I finally got around to making these for the kids' teachers and putting together little treat bags for them.  I wanted something simple because I had to make 7 cards.  Yes, seven teachers for two kids in preschool.  Well, technically five teachers and two preschool administrators (got to give them thanks too).  We just love them so much!

stamp: a muse chalkboard, pencil, "abc...", & "you're the best!"

ink: Memento tuxedo black; VersaFine onyx black; Brilliance rocket red

other: Copic markers, twinkle stickers

crafty questions

This has been fun to learn about others, so I thought I would share my answers with you.  It's funny how passionate we can be about some things.  Some answers can even trigger sharp alliances (similar or more extreme than politics, ha)!


{Cut and paste the questions below, then answer them on your blog!}

1. How long have you been paper-crafting? 

2. Do you listen to music while you craft? If so, which genre?

3. Do you snack while you craft or is your craft room a no-food zone? If yes, what's your favorite crafty snack?

4. What's your adhesive of choice - glue dots, liquid, tape runner, hot glue gun, or something else?

5. Keep scraps or toss scraps? 

6. Buttons - to thread or not to thread?

7. Do you clean up your craft table/surface after every project or leave the tidying up for a rainy day?

8. Instead of a deserted island, let's make it a deserted craft store. So, you're stuck in a deserted craft store and you can only use one three (I could not choose one) paper companies' paper for the rest of your life - which companies do you choose?

9. Do you keep a sketch book or notebook with ideas for future projects or do you craft-as-you-go?

10. Decorative scissors or edge punches? Which is your favorite?

1. I've been paper crafting almost exactly 10 years.  I started doing it to save money and have fun making my wedding invitations and before I knew it, I was swept away!

2. I do NOT listen to music while I craft.  I was one of those dorky kids who couldn't study with music on.  I enjoy the quiet (especially once I've put all three kids (under 5) to bed)!

3. I have been known to snack while I craft.  They are always unhealthy foods, if I'm having fun crafting I want a little treat too.  Salty or sweet, it doesn't matter.  (Was this one a shocker?  Did you think someone so anal who can't handle noise wouldn't allow food near her crafts?)

4. My adhesive of choice is the tape runner, specifically the Tombo mono adhesive.  It's quick, easy, and I like how it doesn't bunch up.  The "earth saver" in me can't stand all that waste.  I'm slowly using more and more double stick tape rolls (which are amazing for buttons!).

5. I keep my scraps, but I need a better storage system.  I can never decide whether to store them by color or size.

6. I'm new on the button scene.  I prefer them threaded, but don't always have the time, patience, or perfect color of thread/twine.  Plus certain cards call for "naked" buttons.

7. I typically nap during my kids' 2 hour nap time.  If I cut it to the wire, I leave it a mess.  Often I pick up everything but leave the stamps to clean later and do a bunch of cleaning at once.  Sometimes I'm so excited to run off and photograph my card that I completely forget about the clean up.

8. This may sound weird, but I don't pay attention to paper companies.  I just grab paper in stores that I like and rarely note what company made them.  But three that I use frequently are Memory Box, Papertrey Ink, and a·muse|studio.

9. I've always been a "craft-as-you-go" person, but lately I've been writing down my ideas.  Still don't have an actually sketch book, but some ideas make it to paper before I craft.

10. I use decorative scissors, but only because I don't own any edge punches.  I have used the punches though and they are quite addicting.


I hope you enjoyed reading my answers, now it's your turn!  Leave your answers in a comment to this post, tag your friends to do it and share it with whomever you like!  It's always fun getting to know each other a bit more.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

hello sunshine

I've had a few health issues and haven't been able to play along with many challenges, but I'm alive and well now!!  Papertrey Ink's May challenge is all about flowers.  As much as I love flowers (you may have noticed), I only own one Papertrey flower set {gasp}!  Clearly I need to get more.  Debby gave me a kick start to my stamping with this layout.

stamp: Papertrey Ink flower & "hello sunshine"
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: Papertrey felt, Papertrey buttons, twine, Papertrey die cut

bunch of thank you's

Here's another stash of old cards that I came across.  The first two are Stampin' Up! cards that I made with my friend, Mandy.  The last two cards are ones that I made with Impress and/or Savvy stamps.  I always need reminders of a layouts.  I have a tendency to get in layout ruts.  

What about you?  Did you tend to stick to the same layout or same colors?  Or do create a different card every time?

thank you for everything

I saw this card on the a·muse|studio facebook page and just had to copy it. So fun and fresh!

stamp: A Muse flower; A Muse "thank you for everything"

ink: A Muse lemon whip; VersaFine onyx black

other: Papertrey Ink die cut, A Muse washi tape, rhinestones

with sympathy

Another mosaic tile card.  Now that my "stamp" is made, these are easy-breezy.

stamp: A Muse bird cages; Papertrey Ink "with sympathy"; & homemade mosaic tile

ink: VersaFine onyx black; Papertrey chamomile tea dye

other: Memory Box pearl stickers, mini scalloped scissors, twine, clear embossing powder

thank you

Clean and simple and super easy! 

I can't remember who makes the butterflies, but I bought them at Impress at least a year ago.

stamp: A Muse dots; Papertrey Ink "thank you"

ink: VersaFine onyx black; A Muse slate

other: pre-punched butterfly

oh happy day! & celebrate

My girlfriend requested "a simple baptism card" for her niece.  This is what I came up with.  Which color scheme to do you like better for a baby girl and which sentiment do you prefer?

oh happy day!

stamp: Stampendous cross; Impress "oh happy day a baby is on the way"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

celebrate

stamp: Stampendous cross; Papertrey Ink "celebrate"

ink: VersaFine onyx black

thanks

A little Dawn McVey inspired card today.  Lots of paper layers and of course some ribbon and buttons to finish it off Dawn-style!

stamp: Papertrey Ink "thanks"

ink: VersaColor pinecone

other: Papertrey die cuts, tag, buttons, twine, ribbon

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

bunch of thank you's

Here's another stash of old cards that I found the pictures floating around in my computer.  The first three I made with my friend Mandy (Stampin' Demonstrator) and the last one my friend Aimee made for a shoe box swap, but it's Stampin' Up stuff too.

I don't really take great photographs of my cards, but these are especially poor, sorry!

this is one of my favorites, I love the colors of the flower and the words on top

this was another favorite; I immediately bought the set and inks

happy birthday to you

Who doesn't need more manly cards?  After I saw this card by Nichole Heady, I was thrilled to know that I had practically the same supplies.  I was a bit disappointed that my chamomile argyle pattern barely shows up next to the words.  Next time I'll grab some darker ink.

stamp: A Muse circles; Savvy "happy birthday to you"; Papertrey Ink background type font
ink: Memento rich cocoa; VersaColor pinecone; Papertrey Ink chamomile
other: Papertrey Ink die cut

winners

Have you been wondering if I would ever announce them?  Our house has been under the weather lately, in all kinds of ways.  No one seems to have the same bug.  Enough of our troubles, onto the goodies!




The winner of the May 1st blog hop, who will receive a small sampling of a·muse|studio flowers is:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:14

Powered by RANDOM.ORG


(the true entered "max" was 19, but every time I publish this it says "100")


Sue D said... Both cards are fabulous! Love the map.

slrdowney at hotmail dot com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the May 2nd blog hop, who will receive 6 die cut birds (3 of each) and 1 yard of stitched bubblegum ribbon is: 

(the true entered "max" was 25, but every time I publish this it says "100")

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:6Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 Katie Skiff said...

How fun, all three are amazing!!! I love those ties and shirts!!

May 2, 2011 8:15 AM

Congrats to both of you ladies!  Send me your mailing addresses (click the "email me" button at the right) and I'll get the goodies to you.


As for everyone else, our "Studio Stampers" (Krystie's dowline) is changing our hop day to the middle of the month.  Things aren't confirmed but it will probably be on the 15th of each month.  "Follow" me and you won't miss out!

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

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 Veronica's blog.  If not, you can start all the blog hopping fun at Krystie's blog.  She has a complete list of all the stops in case there's a glitch along the way. 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|s goodies.)  Even if you don't have time to comment, you'll get to see a variety of a|s inspired cards.




My kids were invited to another pirate party, this time it was for a little girl.  I was so excited, that I immediately created this card.  I've made a few pirate cards lately and the best way to get an aged map (that I've discovered) is to stamp your images on kraft paper, ink the edges, distress the edges, and crinkle it up. I thought a paper bag would work well but I like the look of the kraft much better.  I've also burnt the edges before but all the ashes can get quite messy.  Have you ever made a map/old scroll paper?  What do you like to do?

front

inside

This next card I wanted something for a tween or a teen.  A bit older with some attitude, yet still playful.

Thanks so much for stopping by!   I'm participating in another a·muse|studio blog hop tomorrow, "follow" me 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 small sampling of a·muse|studio flowers).

happy birthday matey!
stamp: A Muse buried treasure set

ink: VersaFine onyx black; Memento tuxedo black; A Muse french roast

other: twinkle stickers, Copic markers


you rock my world
stamp: A Muse background, guitar, & "you rock my world"
ink: VersaFine onyx black
other: Copic Markers, washi tape, twinkle stickers


Complete list of blog hop (in other words make sure you commented on each blog for many chances to win prizes):
Krystie Hersch
Kathy Hatzke
Kelly Spivey 
Lianna Vigil
Lisa Wakabayashi
Lesa Wolfe
Veronica Zalis
Kari Bell-- YOU ARE HERE!!


Congratulations!  You made it through the hop (if not go on back to Krystie's blog).  We hope we inspired you to create some fun projects!