Video Tutorial: Thank You Berry Much

Hey there! Sorry about the lack of videos for the past two weeks! Sometimes life and inspiration just get away from you, ya know? :)

So anyway, this week I've got a start-to-finish card video featuring some new Papertrey Ink goodies: the berry Fruit Fusion set of stamps and dies. I made a cute little CAS summertime card to share with you.

I used a really fun "reverse die cutting" technique to highlight the berry and add a little dimension - which I think is the key to CAS design.

Watch the video below, or you can watch it on my YouTube channel.



Supplies: stamps - Fruit Fusion: Berry (Papertrey Ink); die - Fruit Fusion: Berry (Papertrey Ink); cardstock - Sugar (A Muse Studio); patterned paper - Basics White (Basic Grey), Cooped Up (Studio Calico); inks - Brick (Vivid), Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)

And here's another card I made in exactly the same way, except I made the berry by paper piecing two die cut strawberries. I also used one of the other sentiments in the set.

Here's a close-up of the strawberry. I just used the die to cut one berry shape out of the red paper, and another out of the green. Then I free-hand cut the leaves and used my Quickie Glue Pen to attach the green piece to the red piece.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a great Memorial Day Weekend! :)

Sometimes the {stars} align

... and the perfect combination of inspiration comes into your life that just makes a project so much fun! :) That happened to me last week, when the A Muse Studio education director gave us Creative Consultants a challenge to use a recessed window on a card or project. (Check out her video project for the challenge.) In thinking about what I wanted to make for my window card, I remembered the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger that was posted this week. I'd also been wanting to try a really yummy-looking muffin recipe I'd seen, which led me to remember a post from Sue Plote of This Pink Rooster, in which she showed a cute box she made to deliver a homemade muffin to a friend. Instantaneous cartoon lightbulb above my head! :)

Here's the Tuesday Trigger photo - Don't you just need to go to Anthro now?? ;)

This skirt immediately reminded me of what a 1950s housewife might wear for a casual day at home. I was inspired by the thought of a lady at home, perfectly coiffed and pressed as they always are in the 50s movies! - cooking and cleaning and doing caring things for the people she loves. I was also inspired by the colors, although in my final card I punched the color scheme up and translated it into yellow, turquoise, and red gingham. But in my mind that seems perfectly 50s too.

And here's the resulting project...

I kind of cheated and made the window all the way through the front of my card, rather than using the recessed window technique on just the front. This is definitely a favorite technique of mine.

It's hard to see in the photo, but I clear-embossed some flowers along the side of the blue piece just to add a little extra detail to an otherwise plain and rather large expanse of cardstock.

P.S. Go make that muffin recipe. Seriously. Like right now. It is so good and it's Weight Watchers! And totally usable with any kind of fruit. :)

... and the winner is ...

Congratulations Laura!

Please send your mailing address to afkeyes@gmail.com

:)

a note about my new {venture}

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

I'm an A Muse Studio Creative Consultant. And I've been posting a lot of A Muse Studio projects since I signed on as a Creative Consultant in March.

But I care about you (yes, you), and I want to be honest with you about what this means for me.

Let's be honest. I want you to purchase A Muse Studio merchandise, and I want you to purchase it from me, because when you do, I make money. There I said it. (Not like you weren't thinking it!)

But... and this is a big one... That said, here are my promises to you, my blog reader and potential customer.

- I will not lie to you to make a sale. I worked at the Gap for a year. I was crap at it. I let people browse, and buy what they wanted, and sometimes I even let people leave empty handed. (gasp!) I want to let you make your own decisions and I won't pressure you to spend money you don't have on things you don't want. I still have a 9-5 job that pays my bills.
- I will review products honestly. If I say I love something, I really love it. (See above re: lying to make a sale) If there's a product I don't like, I either won't bring it up, or I'll be honest and say I don't really care for it!
- I'm not going to replace my entire craft room with A Muse Studio branded or approved products. (Don't you hate those people??) I can't afford it, and neither can you! I will keep using the tools that I love, and the tools that I have that I just kinda like, because I already have them. And I will remain loyal to all of my favorite companies, including A Muse Studio. I liked them before I became their salesperson.

So, I thank you for your ear. I do hope you will check out my webstore, honestly because A Muse is a great company with some of the cutest products out there. If you have questions about a specific product you see in my store, or about a technique you've seen or heard about, please ask! You may just see your question answered in an upcoming video tutorial! :)

Video Tutorial: Graduation Money Card + Giveaway!

Just in time for college and high school graduations, here's a super simple and quick money card.

AND - I'm doing my first ever GIVEAWAY! :) Leave a comment on this post by 8pm on Wednesday, May 11 for a chance to win a copy of the stamp set I used in this video - ConGRADulations by A Muse Studio. For an extra chance to win, Tweet about my giveaway, and leave another comment to let me know you Tweeted. Be sure to use @afkeyes in your Tweet and link to the post!

Watch the video here, or on YouTube.



All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Sugar and Onyx
- polka dot cardstock in Buttercup
- ConGRADulations stamp set
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- Buttercup Tombow Dual-Brush marker
- 1/8" super-stick tape
- Tombow tape runner
- Standard Circles Large and Standard Circles Small Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week and don't forget to comment! :)

Wedding Wishes

Hi there! Just popping in with a quick post to share a super-simple wedding card I made. Hubby and I are trying to keep our vacation from breaking the bank this year, so I schlepped a whole mess of A Muse Studio supplies up to Maine with us. Haven't ended up using them as much as I might have liked, but I got this card made as well as a dry run of next week's video tutorial project.

Just 3 colors, and some very very very (!) basic Copic coloring....

... and a sweet sentiment on a little tag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Video Tutorial: Triangle Box Wedding Favor

Greeting's from Orr's Island, Maine! :)

I honestly didn't think there was going to be a video tutorial this week. I had a really busy week and didn't get a chance to get my video edited. So I'd planned to edit it while we were on vacation, and post it next week. But it turns out we have a great internet connection, so here I am! Right on time! :)

So anyway, about the video. I know three people who got engaged over Easter weekend. And as spring to early summer is, traditionally, wedding season, I decided to make a wedding favor project. You could use this project for any party or celebration as well, and you can also very easily change the size of the box.

One of the people who got engaged is a girl I work with, and I decided to use her as my inspiration. (Plus my hubby's and my initials are T & A - Hah!)

I have no idea what kind of color scheme she's considering, so I decided to use two of my absolute favorite (right now!) color combinations: gray and yellow, and gray and turquoise. Very non-traditional, but I think they'd both be fabulous for modern weddings.

Watch the video below, or watch at my YouTube channel.



All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
(These are the materials I use in the video to make the gray and turquoise box.)
- solid cardstock in Slate, Bermuda, and Sugar
- rings stamp from "Happily Ever After" stamp set
- pigment ink in Slate
- Standard Circles Large and Standard Circles Small Nestabilities dies
- stitched grosgrain ribbon in Ocean
- 3D foam adhesive
- Tombow Mono tape runner
- Copic marker in BG10
- Copic Multiliner black pen
- other: white embroidery floss, hole punch, scoring board, ruler, American Crafts foam letter stickers

Have a great week!