à la carte

Gray Matter

2012-02-17T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm currently obsessed with gray. Isn't that bizarre? I mean, it's gray! It's almost like a non-color! :) But try as I may, I can't make a project without gray lately. I'm especially in love with A Muse Studio Slate ink and Seattle cardstock.

This one uses the awesome new Build a Cake set. It has a bunch of big cakes and a ton of accessories to decorate them! So fun! I used some of the papers from Pink Paislee's Nantucket collection to paper piece the cake. The sentiment is from Hey Cupcake.

This stamp set is called Sunny Side of Life, and it features this great big gorgeous wildflower image! The butterflies are from the same set as well. You can't really see in the photo, but I clear embossed the floral stamp onto the Seattle cardstock around the circle window. I also used the new chevron ribbon which is awesome! It's kind of trippy to use, because the chevrons create an optical illusion, but I love it!! :-D

I'll be back soon to share more. I've got a few projects in various stages of completion, and I've got a 4-day weekend so I'll have tons of time to play!

Thanks for stopping by!

February Spotlight

2012-02-04T16:45:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted too much about the A Muse Studio Spotlights here. Mostly because the months just seem to roll past too quickly. But I am in love with the February Spotlight - the featured products and the projects. The theme is Organization Made Beautiful, so the projects are all office-related. And they're so happy and adorable!

All the Spotlight products are on sale through February 29th. And make sure you check out the Spotlight page on the website to check out the awesome projects!

Since I don't really need any office-y projects right now, I decided to make a card. As I'm sure you know, yellow and gray is pretty much my Number One Favorite color combination, and I'm kinda lovin' the addition of the Bermuda blue! :)

The Floral Duet set is so awesome for modern, bold backgrounds - especially when you emboss it. I'll be showing you some more ways to use it soon!

Gum Wrapper and More A Muse Studio Sneak Peeks

2012-01-30T14:02:00.001-05:00

I have to say right off the bat that I love this project. We made these at my friend Jen Pitta's stamp club on Thursday. I decided to borrow the template and A Muse-ify it! :) "Gum wrapper" seems like I dumb name for them, but I couldn't come up with anything better. lol.

This is the one I made in my video tutorial, which you can watch further down in this post. I sort of had Valentine's Day in the back of my mind when I designed it, but it could definitely be used for other occasions. I used a new stamp set called Keep Calm, which you may have already seen if you read my blog. I'm kind of in love with this set. I also used Grapefruit, which is one of the new colors in the redesigned Winter Signature Palette, as well as the Venetian patterned cardstock in Titian.

I had birthday party favor in mind when I designed this one. It uses another new stamp set called Big Celebrations, which has these awesome big block numbers. And I used two more new colors: Lido from the Venetian collection, and Seattle, which is a new mid-tone gray that fits between Pebble and Slate in the Basic Signature Palette.

And, if you like what you see, here's the video tutorial for the project.

Don't forget, the new 2012 A Muse Studio Catalog and Inspiration Guide will be active as of midnight on February 1st! You'll be able to see all the new goodies in my webstore. And you will be seeing a lot of the new products featured here in the coming weeks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration is a funny thing...

2012-01-29T16:31:00.001-05:00

This card might not exist if I had a dryer.

Now hold on, let me fill you in. You know those small, thinly woven gloves you can get at the dollar store? My husband and I have a few pairs of those that we wear when we hang laundry on the clothesline in the winter. My mom gave us a couple new pairs for Christmas, and I pulled one of them out for the first time yesterday. As I was hanging the wash, I started looking at my hands and thinking about the colors on the gloves. It wasn't a color combination I'd ever have chosen on my own, but I decided I really liked it. So I finished hanging the laundry, came inside, and made a card. :)

I used a bunch of new A Muse Studio products on this card that will be available to order on February 1st. Two new colors: Grapefruit and Seattle. New stamp set: Big Celebrations. Trust me, friends, there's some seriously awesome stuff coming!

Oh, and I used a tutorial from Jennifer McGuire to make the chevron pattern. Good stuff.

Hope you had a great weekend! Who's excited for Downton Abbey tonight? :-D

Papertrey Projects

2012-01-26T08:34:00.002-05:00

Super quick post today - Just wanted to share a few cards I made with some new-ish Papertrey Ink stamps! :)

Have a beautiful day!

Clean and Simple Cardmaking Day 3

2012-01-25T19:53:00.000-05:00

On Day 3 of class, Jennifer showed us a fun way to do tone-on-tone cards with die cuts. She layered several sheets of cardstock die cuts together to create dimension. Then I saw another card that a classmate, Tomoe Inoue, created with colored cardstock layered under white. I love the look of white-on-white layering, but frankly it scares me. But I thought this might make the technique a little more accessible.

You can see the dimension and a hint of the color from the front. But check it out from the side!

This is such a fun technique! A lot of work (especially with this intricate doily die cut!), but it's a great result!

Oh yeah, and this card was also inspired by a Papertrey Ink release project by Jessica Witty. :)

A Valentine's Sketch

2012-01-23T12:38:00.001-05:00

I recently came across a super cute and super super simple card by Heather Campbell on the Paper Smooches blog. I immediately pinned it, thinking it would be perfect to use as a sketch. Well, lo and behold, it did not just go to Pinterest Purgatory like so many other "brilliant ideas" - I actually used it as inspiration for a card within a few days! :)

I have to say, I am in love with the new Gnome Sweet Gnome set from Stampin' Up! :) I also used new Basic Grey Kissing Booth collection paper that I got from Simon Says Stamp's cardmaking kit. Have you seen it? The February kit sold out, but you can get a subscription that will start with next month's kit. I got Studio Calico's kits for about a year and I LOVED them, but often had trouble using them as a cardmaker. The Simon Says kits are designed for cardmaking, and they're designed by Kristina Werner! Hello! Total cardmaking perfection! :) Go check 'em out if you haven't already.

See you again soon!

Clean & Simple Cardmaking Day 10 + More A Muse Studio Peeks

2012-01-22T20:17:00.001-05:00

Day 10 of the Clean and Simple Cardmaking class was all about card sets. Clean and Simple lends itself to card sets for obvious reasons... Since they're not technique-heavy and usually don't have much in the way of fancy embellishments, they're quick and easy to create multiples of. And it just so happens that one of the brand new A Muse Studio stamp sets was practically made for a CAS notecard set! :)

I love this stamp set! There's also a 2-step Union Jack stamp that I think will be super fun to do some Andy Warhol style effects with :) I also wanted to feature some of the new colors in this card set... Grape, Grapefruit, Pistachio, and Lido, Bellini, and Burano from the Venetian Collection. The Venetian Collection colors are a little more neon-looking in real life than they look online, but they're still super fun, bright colors.

One of the tips from the class was to try a smaller size card - like a 4-bar, which is 3.5x5 inches. I decided to try that for these cards, since a lot of the everyday stationery notecards you can purchase are about that size. It's perfect to jot off a quick note. And then there's another tip from the class that I didn't follow... How important it is to make sure that your technique and construction are as perfect as possible because it's so much more obvious on a CAS card. If you look closely, you can see that I should have used an anti-static treatment before I white embossed the stamp! Oh well! :)

One more quick announcement before I let you go: The A Muse Studio National Convention was this weekend and the gals that went were the first to get the new catalog as well as more new products. Check out my facebook page for some of the photos they've been posting from Convention!

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Distress Ink Technique

2012-01-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

During a recent Clean and Simple Cardmaking class, Jennifer shared a Distress Ink technique where you get the blending foam wet and, essentially, create watercolor on your ink blending tool. I absolutely had go give it a try! It's a very easy and very impactful technique for CAS cards. Totally messy, but tons of fun :)

See you next time!

Valentine Card Drive for St. Jude

2012-01-15T20:52:00.002-05:00

I just discovered this amazing card drive, organized by Winter Sims. She's collecting Valentines to send to children at St. Jude Hospital, as well as three other hospitals (and counting!). This is a wonderful cause and I urge you to check out the details on Winter's blog and send a little extra love to some heroic kiddos this Valentine's Day. Be aware, there are some specific details the hospital has set forth that you need to follow, so read the blog post carefully.

Here are the cards I'm sending :)

So now you're heading over to Winter's blog to check out the details, and then you're off to make some cards, right? ;)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

A Muse Studio Sneak Peek!

2012-01-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Just got my hands on some of the brand new A Muse Studio 2012 goodies! There are 9 new colors - 4 new Signature colors and 5 in the Venetian collection. There's a new pattern of cardstock that coordinates with the Venetian collection, and awesome new stamp sets! The catalog will debut to the public on February 1st, and believe me, you will not be disappointed!

Check out the first card I made with the new items :)

I wanted to try something new to me - emboss resist with pigment ink. I have to be honest, my least favorite thing about A Muse Studio is the inks. Don't get me wrong, they're great quality inks in awesome colors. I just wish they hadn't chosen to carry exclusively pigment inks. When you're just stamping, they have a great look - kind of like chalk inks - but you just can't do a lot of the inking techniques unless you're using a dye ink. So I decided I needed to figure out the techniques that can be done with pigment inks! Emboss resist is definitely one of them, but the embossed areas won't wipe completely clean. In this case, it worked well with the soft, smudgy look I was going for.

Supplies:
- A Muse Studio solid cardstock in Lido (available 2/1) and Sugar (available now)
- A Muse Studio Venetian patterned cardstock in Lido (available 2/1)
- A Muse Studio ink in Lido and Burano (available 2/1) and Fern (available now)
- A Muse Studio Charming Gardeners stamp set (available 2/1)
- Other supplies: Nestabilities Labels 8 dies, various gems and pearls, mini sponge daubers, white embossing powder, heat tool

Stay tuned for more! :)

Clean and Simple Cardmaking

2012-01-10T18:07:00.002-05:00

Today is day 2 of Kristina, Jennifer, and Julie's Clean and Simple Cardmaking online class and I am already loving it! They started out on day 1 with three sketches - what a perfect way to start for those of us who really struggle with CAS cards! And I actually sat down and made a card with one of the sketches! :)

I really struggle with white space, so instead of leaving it actually white, I used some large stamps to create a background.

In her post and video, Kristina talked a lot about using masking to create interest, and also ways to use die cuts creatively. So I decided to use both these techniques on my card.

It may be only day two, but so far I'm really loving this class and I've got high hopes for a lot of learning and improving on my part! :)

Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge

2011-12-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

I always love seeing what other people come up with for the monthly PTI blog hops, but I always either don't have time or don't have any inspiration when the time comes. This month, I've had this card in mind all day, but as far as getting it made - well, I'm just sneaking it in under the wire! :)

The challenge this month is to use left over holiday wrapping items in a card project. Not super tricky, and a lot of fun!

On my card, the red polka dot paper is the B side of a double-sided wrapping paper. I also used up some small pieces of baker's twine that were left after I decorated some jars of tomato sauce I gave to my coworkers. I used Mister Huey's Calico Shine to make the snowman a little sparkly; I also used some Stickles on the letters, but you can't really see the effect in the photo.

Other supplies:
- PTI Shape-Ups Snowman die set
- PTI Shape-Ups Snowman Accessories stamp set
- PTI Block Alphabet die set
- PTI Hawaiian Shores and Dark Chocolate cardstock
- Stampin' Up Pool Party cardstock
- Pure Luxury by Gina K. Designs 80lb white cardstock

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

A Very Last-Minute Gift Card Holder (with a video!)

2011-12-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! Merry Christmas Eve Eve! Happy 4th night of Hanukkah! :)

I wanted to get in one last project share before Christmas. Hope you enjoy this fun little quick-and-easy gift card holder!

Merry Merry! <3

Another Neighbor/Hostess Gift Idea

2011-12-22T09:24:00.000-05:00

There's a reason a bottle of wine is the quintessential neighbor/hostess gift: It's something just about everyone likes, and it's sure to be used and enjoyed. But if you've got a party you're planning on bringing a bottle of wine to, why not dress it up and personalize it for your friend?

I adore Papertrey Ink's Wine Bottle Tag die - tags are quick and easy to make, and there's less space on them that you have to worry about filling properly. But for this project I wanted to do something a little extra special. Check it out...

I used 2 tag die cuts to create a little pocket. I wrapped up enough spice blend to mull one bottle of wine, and I tucked it into the pocket.

I used PTI's Candy Cane Christmas stamps and dies to embellish the front of the tag with a mug of mulled wine and a cinnamon stick. The sentiment is from Christmas Poinsettia, and the flourishes are from Holiday Photo Finishers.

The pocket portion is actually quite easy to create. I just used small pieces of accordion-fold cardstock and dimensional adhesive. The mulling spices are wrapped in a small cello bag, held closed with a label that I printed with the mulling instructions.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Last Minute Christmas Cards

2011-12-21T19:58:00.000-05:00

Only three shopping days left! Are you ready? :)

Just a quick post tonight with some last-minute cards I made. I bought some spray inks recently and I've been playing with them a lot. I've had a ton of trouble with the October Afternoon SprINKlers smudging all over the place even after days of sitting and drying... especially disappointing because I wanted to use them for masking. But I'm in love with Mr. Huey's Calico Shine! :)

I used the "merry" die from Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words: Holiday die set to emboss the background. It's a really fun technique!

He-llo, adorable chevron background stamp! This one's new from Hero Arts and I adore it! :) This card also uses the new Seasonal Distress Inks - plus a few of the golden oldies inks too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cater Your Christmas #4

2011-12-20T15:15:00.003-05:00

Hello and welcome to the last featured recipe in my Cater Your Christmas mini-series! This one's a doozy... Are you ready for dessert? :)

Eggnog Pound Cake
(adapted from www.http://pinterest-project.blogspot.com)

Cake:
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. shortening, at room temperature
3 c. granulated sugar
1-2 tsp. light rum (optional)
5 eggs
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. eggnog

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (fresh grated is best!)

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 45-60 seconds in between each egg. Mix in rum once all eggs are added. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture alternately with eggnog, starting and ending with flour mixture. Grease two standard sized loaf pans well. Bake for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the glaze, whisk all ingredients together until combined well. Start with 3 Tbsp. milk and add more if needed. Glaze should be thick, but drizzle-able. Poke holes in the top of each cake with a fork. Pour half of glaze over each loaf of cake. Allow to drip over sides.

This recipe is so moist and delicious. The eggnog isn't a dominating flavor, but gives a standard pound cake a little bit of festive flair!

Enjoy! :)

Cater Your Christmas #3 + a Cute Neighbor Gift

2011-12-19T18:00:00.001-05:00

Today I've got a really yummy seasonal take on Chex mix, plus a fun craft idea to go with it. This would be a great munchie snack to have out at a party or for a holiday treat for your kids, but it's also a great easy remembrance for your neighbors! So I decided to make a little box for it that can hang over a door knob. That way you can be a sneaky little Christmas elf and leave a sweet treat for a friend! :)

Snowflake Mix
(adapted from midwestliving.com)

3 cups Chex cereal (whichever flavor you prefer - I like corn)
2 cups (a few handfuls) of bite-sized pretzels
1 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 package of mint M&Ms
12 oz white baking chocolate (the bars are more expensive, but melt a little bit easier than the chips)

Chop white chocolate bars, if not using chips. Place into top portion of double boiler, set over medium-low heat. Heat very slowly, stirring often, until melted. Be careful not to let any steam get into the chocolate or it will seize up. (You can also melt it in the microwave, but I'm not as familiar with this method. Check the package for directions.)

Combine other ingredients, except the M&Ms, in a very large bowl. Pour chocolate over the mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated. Spread on a large piece of waxed paper or parchment paper and sprinkle M&Ms on top. Allow to cool, then break into pieces and serve. Will last in an airtight container for about a week.

And here's my messy template for the door hanger treat box. It's made from a whole sheet of 8.5x11" cardstock. Please contact me if you have any questions for how to put it together. (It's pretty standard construction if you've made boxes before.) I used Hero Arts' Sending Holiday Cheer stamp set to embellish mine.

Enjoy!

Cater Your Christmas #2

2011-12-18T15:43:00.001-05:00

Good Sunday afternoon, friends! Christmas is only one week from today! Where has this whole year gone?

Here on Cape Cod, it's feeling a little more like Christmastime today. We've been really lucky with amazing weather and warm temperatures until now - I'm talking mid 50s every day! We're over half way through December and I've still only had to wear my down vest! But last night and into today we're having our first snow of the season. I'm not going to complain, because I love living in a place with four real seasons, and we really have been so lucky this fall. But I think today I might put my fleece on :)

So I know I promised to post my second Cater Your Christmas recipe yesterday, but I forgot! So, without further ado... (Ooh this one's yummy and so easy! Three ingredients! And your mixer does all the work!)

Easiest Ever Cheese Spread

8 ounces Wispride cheddar or port wine cheese, at room temperature (you can use the kind in the plastic container, or the cellophane wrapped bar kind)
8 ounces Neufchâtel, at room temperature
4-6 ounces blue cheese crumbles

Place Wispride and Neufchâtel in the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to soften and combine cheeses. Slowly add blue cheese crumbles, and continue to mix until they are broken into small pieces and combined into the other two cheeses. Serve, at room temperature, with crackers, bread, or crudites.

If you don't have a stand mixer, I'm sure you can make this with a hand mixer or a wooden spoon and some arm muscles. Just make sure the cheese is at room temperature!

Enjoy!

Cater Your Christmas #1

2011-12-16T17:48:00.001-05:00

Hey folks. Can you believe Christmas is only 9 days away?! I'm starting another mini Christmas themed series for you to help with any last-minute entertaining you may need to do. I have four really great and super quick-and-easy recipes for you that are perfect for get-togethers or unexpected guests. I hope you'll enjoy!

This first recipe is beyond easy. You can whip it up literally in minutes, and the ingredients are cheap, and easy to keep on hand. I work at a doctor's office and this is my version of one of our favorite lunches from one of the caterers our drug reps use. :)

Garlicky White Bean Hummus

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2-4 cloves of garlic
handful flat leaf parsley
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Put a handful of parsley and a few cloves of garlic (depending on your taste preferences) into your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process until mostly smooth - you want to keep some of the texture of the beans. Continue to process mixture while streaming in olive oil, until desired consistency is reached. Add a splash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crackers and crudites.

If you wanted to take a little extra time and roast the garlic prior to making the hummus, I think that would taste amazing in this recipe!

So, I'll be back tomorrow with another awesome and crazy-easy dip/spread/appetizer/snack/munchie recipe :)

Happy Friday!

2011 A Muse Studio Retiring List

2011-12-10T11:56:00.001-05:00

Here it is, folks! These are the stamp sets from the 2011 Catalog that will NOT be returning in the 2012 Catalog - which will be available to customers on February 1, 2012.

As for the 2011 Holiday Catalog, some items - stamp sets and other items - will be returning, and some will not. They haven't made that information available to us yet, so I'm not sure if I will be able to let anybody know before February. I'm told I will be able to see a list of retiring tools and embellishments soon, but I don't know if that will include dies, etc from the Holiday Catalog. Bottom line: If there's anything you think you want, get it now! :) You can see everything from both catalogs at www.amusestudio.com/annakeyes. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 12 - Stamped Salt Dough Ornaments

2011-12-07T21:07:00.001-05:00

This is it - Day 12! This ornament is a new twist on an old classic from my childhood. I did a lot of trial and error in the video too. It was a lot of fun to film!

I remember making salt dough with my friend Rebecca's mom. Except we sculpted it, and then painted our creations after they were baked. Here, I show how you can use your stash of stamps and ink to decorate them before you bake them - It gives them a fun embossed, almost letterpress-like look.

Here's the recipe, since I don't include it in the video.

Salt Dough

- 1c. salt
- 2c. flour
- 1c. lukewarm water

Mix until combined, then knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes, until dough becomes smooth and pliable, and looses some of its stickiness. Roll out and cut out, or sculpt as desired.

Bake at 250 degrees for about 4 hours, until dried and hardened. Alternately, place ornaments on a wire rack and allow to air dry.

And now, here's the video that shows how to stamp on your salt dough. This is another great project to do with kids, and the finished ornaments look super cute on your tree. Did you know that, historically, people used to use various types of cookies to decorate their Christmas trees? These ornaments end up looking like decorated cookies. :)

The stamps I use in the video are from the following sets: Winterberry and 2011 Holiday Tags by Papertrey Ink; Snow Crystals and Nordic Noel from A Muse Studio.

There's one other ornament that I made, that's not included in the video, and that I totally love. I used some old border stamps from Sassafras and a bunch of different colors of ink to stamp out a pattern. Then I used a cookie cutter to cut a mitten shape out of my pattern. So cute! :)

And, just one more real quick idea... While you're stamping your salt dough, think about making gift tags! I love how this looks on a simple (if kind of messy - sorry!) package.

Thank you so much for joining me for this video series! I've had a ton of fun and I hope you have too! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 11 - Paper Snowglobes

2011-12-06T22:20:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Day 11... Only one more after today! This has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I hope you've enjoyed playing along with me! :)

Today I decided to show you one ornament idea done two ways. It's kind of your standard "shaker" element, turned into a snowglobe style ornament. For the first technique, I use a new Stampin' Up product from the Holiday Mini. They're called Shaker Frames, and they're foam adhesive pre-cut into circles. Very convenient. My biggest complaint, though: The largest frame isn't even 2 inches in diameter. I guess they're designed to go on card fronts, but in my opinion, the size is very limiting as to what projects you can make with them.

The second technique uses plain ol' dimensional foam adhesive that you've probably got in your stash already. It's really quick and simple to do, once you get the hang of how to do it properly.

Check out the video below, and come on back tomorrow for Day 12!

Supply List:
- Stampin' Up Shaker Frames
- Papertrey Ink Tremendous Treats: Christmas stamp set
- watercolor paper
- various Stampin' Up dye inks
- water brush
- glitter
- transparency sheet
- Nestabilities circle dies
- A Muse Studio Snowglobe die
- patterned paper from Echo Park's Holly Jolly Christmas and Season's Greetings

Day 10 and Holiday Handmade Gift Exchange

2011-12-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! We're doing something a little different today - this isn't an ornament for your tree, but for your holiday entertaining!

A few years ago I saw these little knit mittens and Crate and Barrel. The idea was that you'd put your flatware in them, and then put it on top of your place setting at your holiday dinner. They were so cute and, to this day, I wish I'd bought one - just to have as an example to copy, of course! ;-)

So, for reference, here's the original inspiration...

And here's my take on it...

(Is it just me, or is my version cuter? lol!)

And - this is actually the project I made for the Holiday Handmade Gift Exchange over at Craftaholics Anonymous. I made 6 of them... 2 each of Sage, Cherry, and Fern using two of the patterns from Stampin' Up's Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Fabric bundle. Love them! And I hope my partner, Nicole, will too! :)

Here's the video. See you tomorrow!

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- A Muse Studio felt in Cherry, Sage, Vanilla, and Fern
- A Muse Studio Large Mitten Die
- Stampin' Up Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Fabric
- Glübers
- Nestabilities circle dies
- embroidery floss
- buttons
- needle
- fabric glue

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 9 - Old-Fashioned Rolled Paper Star

2011-12-04T17:19:00.000-05:00

Hi there! Thanks for your patience. Here's the ornament for Day 9.

(Please excuse that this particular ornament came out slightly messy. Some things are particularly hard to do on camera!)

And here's the video.

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- A Muse Studio cardstock in Twas the Night Before Christmas, Sugar, and Candy Cane Stripe
- Nordic Noel stamp set by A Muse Studio
- Papertrey Ink dye ink in Pure Poppy
- Stampin' Up cardstock in Pool Party
- old book pages
- tape runner
- Tombow Mono Multi Glue

See you tomorrow!

Day 9 Ornament Postponed

2011-12-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

Due to technical difficulties, and an exhausted videographer (me! lol.), the video for Day 9's ornament will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 8 - Paper Heart

2011-12-02T23:56:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Not much of a blog post for Day 8 since - Eep! - it's almost Day 9! :)

Had a lovely visit with a dear friend tonight, so I just didn't get to finish editing my video until way late. But it was worth it!

This is another great family project - really easy and really fast. Cheap and Cheerful is always my goal and this one totally fits the bill.

Here's the video. Make sure you watch all the way to the end for my other garland idea.

LOVE this garland! :)

Happy Weekend! See you tomorrow.

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 7 - Wood Tag Garland

2011-12-01T19:37:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Welcome to Day 7! We're playing with the A Muse Studio maple tags again today - love them! :)

Also, I decided to mix things up a little bit and show you an idea for a garland. There will be one other garland idea later on in the series.

Enjoy the video!

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- Vintage Christmas Postmarks stamp set by A Muse Studio
- 1.5" Maple Tags by A Muse Studio
- Vivid dye ink in Brick and Taupe
- ribbon or twine
- Crop-a-Dile

See you tomorrow... It's Friday! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 6 - Rosette with Faux-Pickled Wood Accent

2011-11-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Day 6! We're halfway through the series. I have to say I have a huge amount of respect for the people who do video tutorials on a regular basis! All this video editing takes a ton of time! :)

This ornament features some A Muse Studio products from the Holiday Catalog that I'm totally in love with, plus everyone's favorite technique - emboss resist - used in a whole new way. It gives a really fun look that's sort of like pickling (a wood finishing technique, also known as "whitewashing," that can be done with white or colored stain).

Enjoy the video and let me know if you have any questions!

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- Snow Crystals stamp set by A Muse Studio
- 1.5" Maple Tags by A Muse Studio
- Twas the Night Before Christmas cardstock by A Muse Studio
- clear embossing powder
- Distress Ink in Fired Brick
- Distress Stain in Peeled Paint
- Glossy Accents
- Scor-Tape
- heat tool
- VersaMark ink
- Martha Stewart Crafts Scoring Board

See you tomorrow! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 5 - Button Snowman

2011-11-29T20:02:00.001-05:00

OK folks, go round up the kids! I included this ornament specifically because it's way more crafty than artsy and it's perfect for a family project. This little dude is so cute and so crazy easy to put together!

Oh my goodness, isn't he just so cute! And buttons are really cheap - just head to your local Joann Fabrics and grab a bunch of buttons... I even found at my local Joann's - get this! - a big bag of "craft buttons" in black and white and tons of different sizes. It was less than $5 and would probably be enough to make about three of these snowmen.

I hope you enjoy the video below. See you tomorrow for Day 6! :)

Hope your week is off to a great start!

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 4 - Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments

2011-11-28T12:26:00.002-05:00

Hey there! Welcome to Day 4!

I'm home from work today with a particularly angry cold, so my big kitty Ezra and I are snuggled up on the sofa with QVC on in the background, working on getting a bunch of blog posts ready.

Today's ornament is one that's been in my life for as long as I can remember, but I don't think I actually made any myself until last year. These little faux cookies are such fun to make, and they will look and smell amazing for years to come!

** Just one little disclaimer: These are "edible" in that they will not hurt you if you, your kids, your dogs, or your cats eat them. (Just in case you don't believe me, the ASPCA website says cinnamon is non-toxic for dogs, cats, and horses!) But they're not meant to be eaten. So, please, just don't eat them! :) **

Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments How-To:

Mix 1 part applesauce (get the cheapest one you can find) with 1 part ground cinnamon. (We're lucky enough to have the Atlantic Spice Company about a half an hour away from us, so we can get a whole pound of cinnamon for well under $5. But if you're looking to make a bunch of these ornaments, check your local markets to see if any of them offer bulk herbs and spices.) Mix with your hands if neccessary to achieve a thick cookie dough consistency. Sprinkle some cinnamon on a wooden board, and roll out dough to desired thickness (1/8 to 1/4 inch). Use cookie cutters, or trace templates with a butter knife, to cut out desired shapes. Use a toothpick or plastic drinking straw to cut holes for hanging. Place ornaments on parchment or wax paper lined trays or cookie sheets. Place in a dry area of your home and allow to harden, flipping occasionally to allow for complete and even drying. Hang ornaments on pieces of twine or ribbon.

I've also got a quick little video for you today, with some tips on finishing off and personalizing your ornaments.

P.S. The snowflake stamp I use in the video is from the A Muse Studio Snow Crystals set, which is available in my webstore.

AND - just one more idea I recently found on Pinterest via Martha Stewart... Consider using these little ornaments as gift tags! How cute! :)

See you tomorrow for Day 5! Heads up - it's a great idea for the little ones in your life!

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 3 - Vintage Tart Tin Ornament

2011-11-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Day 3!

Today's ornament was inspired by a project by Ranjini Malhotra for Jenni Bowlin Studios that was featured in Better Homes and Gardens' Holiday Crafts magazine. (If you see this magazine on your local newsstand, I highly recommend you pick it up!)

Here's the ornament I make in the video...

And here are a couple more I made with other stamps from the same stamp set...

I hope you'll enjoy the video tutorial below, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- Holiday Tags stamp set by A Muse Studio
- A Muse Studio cardstock in Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Candy Cane Stripe
- A Muse Studio Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon in Cherry
- Stampin' Up Classic Ink in Pool Party and Real Red (if you don't already have a SU! demonstrator, my friend Jen is an awesome one!)
- StazOn Ink in Jet Black
- water brush
- Crop-a-Dile
- vintage tart tins (check ebay, or you can get the vintage-look tins from Jenni Bowlin
- off-white acrylic paint
- tape runner adhesive
- Tombow Mono Multi Glue

See you tomorrow for Day 4! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 2 - Felt Photo Frame

2011-11-26T09:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome back! Today's project is my favorite, I think. It's a little involved, but the end result is SO worth it. (I hope you'll agree!) I am so madly in love with felt right now, and the A Muse Studio felt (available in my webstore!) is just so awesome, so I wanted to design a project to really show it off.

(A huge thank you to Sarah R. for allowing me to use a photo of her adorable daughter!)

Check out the video tutorial below and please be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Supply List:
(all A Muse Studio products are available in my webstore)
- A Muse Studio Felt in Sky, Sage, and Vanilla
- A Muse Studio Small Mitten Die
- A Muse Studio Snowflake Trio Die Set
- A Muse Studio Clear Twinkle Stickers
- Beacon Adhesives 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue
- ribbon

Thanks for joining me today. See you tomorrow for Day 3! :)

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-25T09:04:00.001-05:00

Welcome! Today is the first day of my 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments tutorial series! This series will bring you a new Christmas ornament idea each day for 12 days in a row, and will feature 11 video tutorials. I'm so excited to share this with you, and I hope you'll be inspired to make new ornaments and holiday memories with your family!

For Day 1, I'm starting off with a real classic that is easy and fun to make, and super customizable... The Glittered Glass Ball.

Cheap and cheerful is my goal and you can make these for well under $2 each. I love the idea of visiting friends and family around Christmastime and sneaking ornaments onto their trees - and this is definitely one you can make in bulk! Hope you enjoy! :)

Supply List:
- fillable glass ball ornaments (found at local big-box craft store)
- Beacon Adhesives Glitter It!
- Martha Stewart Crafts Fine Glitter in Carrara Marble (you can use any color you choose)
- A Muse Studio 1/4" Polka Dot Organdy ribbon in Cherry
- 1/2" silver jingle bells

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday. Please join me tomorrow for Day 2's ornament! :)

Watercolor Wash Gift Tag Set

2011-11-23T19:23:00.001-05:00

Hi everybody!

Well, I guess it's safe to say I'm still obsessed with watercoloring! :) I used a really fun technique (that you probably remember from elementary school!) to make this tag, featuring Papertrey Ink's Star of Wonder stamp set, and Limitless Layers and Tag Sale 5 die.

Then I made a whole bunch more, and created a fun little tin to put them in for a special little pre-Christmas gift idea. Check out the video below to see how I did it.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! Make sure you eat enough pie! :)

kicks and giggles

2011-11-13T11:42:00.001-05:00

I don't have a dryer in my house, so we usually use the clothesline, even in the winter. But recently my husband took a few loads of wash over to my parents' house to dry. My mom ended up doing most of the loads, and even folding our clothes! And, of course, she does a way better job than I do! ;) So I thought it would be fun to send her a silly little thank you card in the mail. :)

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

First Holiday Card Post of the Year!

2011-11-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

I'm torn between being excited that Christmas is coming, knowing I have a lot to do to get ready for it, and trying to focus on fall and Thanksgiving and not to rush through my life. Plus, the past few years Christmas has ended up being really disappointing, I think in part to getting too excited too soon.

But anyway, I digress... Christmas is coming, and I have a craft fair in two weeks (eep!) and some awesome things planned for the old blog-o. So without further ado, here's my first official holiday card share of 2011! :)

This card is 100% A Muse Studio. I'm pretty sure blue (preferably sky blue or aqua), red, and white is my favorite color combination for holiday projects. I also love the idea of using non-Christmas stamps for Christmas cards. For the focal image on this card I combined the cute mug image from Love Conquers All and combined it with a sentiment from Mini Holiday Messages.

That's all for me for tonight. See ya next time!

10-Minute Halloween Luminarias

2011-10-18T09:05:00.000-04:00

Looking for a super-fast last-minute Halloween decoration? These little luminarias take no time at all and are totally adorable!

I used the white paper bags and Bat Trio die set from A Muse Studio. The three bat dies come attached to each other, but you can twist them apart to make them more versatile for techniques like this. Just run the bag through your die cut machine a few times (be careful not to cut through the bottom!) and you're done! Easy as pumpkin pie! :)

I put some glass marbles (the ones used in flower vases) in the bottom of my bags, and plopped a battery operated tealight on top of the marbles. You can certainly use a real votive candle, but you'll want to use sand in the bottom of the bag, and make sure the candle is stuck down into the sand securely. Be careful lighting the candle and don't leave them unattended while lit!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time :)

Little Miss Muffett

2011-10-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

Can you believe it's the middle of October already? I've been focusing on Christmas projects to share with you here, and to sell at an upcoming craft fair, so I've barely even thought about Halloween. Not having kids makes it a fairly minor holiday in our house, but it's still an opportunity to have a little fun! So I thought I'd stop in today to share a cute project I made recently.

I got a bunch of clear glass balls from A.C. Moore to make glitter ornaments for my upcoming 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments (look for it shortly after Thanksgiving!). I decided to use A Muse Studio's Onyx glitter to make one ornament sparkly black.

I used Papertrey Ink's Halloween Treats & Sweets stamp and die sets to heat emboss the face, and cut out the legs. The bow in her "hair" is PTI's Orange Zest ribbon.

Throw in a little fake spider webbing from the dollar store and it's as easy as that! A cute Halloween decoration! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

World Card Making Day 2011

2011-10-01T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm a little late, but... Happy World Card Making Day, friends! :)

It's been very busy around here lately... my hubby and I made and decorated over 100 jars of jam for friends' wedding favors, so there hasn't been too much time for card making lately. But I couldn't let World Card Making Day pass by without popping in for a quick share.

This is the card I made for said friends' wedding. The sand dollar stamp is an older A Muse stamp, which I used for the tags on their jam favors. The focal image is a custom stamp from my (sadly, now out of business) LSS - and it actually turned out to be a perfect choice, since they chose a poem called "Beach Chairs" for their ceremony!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you had a fun World Card Making Day!

PTI Make It Monday #33

2011-09-25T15:49:00.001-04:00

I look forward to the new Make It Monday video every single week but I either don't have the opportunity or the appropriate supplies to play along. This week, I'm just sneaking it in under the wire before the 34th challenge rolls in tomorrow :)

This "frosted image" technique is so fun, but I couldn't get my images to smudge quite as much as I would have liked. Maybe because I can't for the life of me find a white pigment ink pad that actually works? Who knows. I still think it's a perfect technique to add brightness and depth to these pine branches.

Thanks for checking out my second post today! :) See ya next time!

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

2011-09-25T15:35:00.000-04:00

Perfect timing on this month's PTI blog hop... My stamps from the new release just arrived a few days ago, and I had the whole day with nothing specific to do!

This month's hop is a photo challenge.

{photo credit}

As soon as I saw this photo I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Since I've been dying to use the new Christmas stamps from the September release, I knew I was going to be using Candy Cane Christmas (stripes) to make a stamped background (repetition) in all these awesome colors. Here's my card...

I have to be honest and say I'm a little disappointed with my finished card, mostly because of the limitations of my ink collection. I love the combination of colors in the inspiration photo, and I did my best to match them from the options I have.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Inky Fingers Team First Blog Hop

2011-09-11T00:01:00.003-04:00

This is so exciting - it's my A Muse Studio team's first ever blog hop! You should be hopping over from Carla's blog... I hope you're having fun! If not, head over to our upline Liz's blog to start at the beginning.

The theme of our blog hop is Autumnal Splendor. I've been really into non-card projects recently, so I thought I'd show you how you can use the awesome new items from the A Muse Holiday Catalog for some great home decor items! :)

I used the Classic Tags die set to cut tags from Sleepy Hollow cardstock (I love this stuff!). I used fall color Distress Inks to do some acrylic block stamping for the background, and then stamped images from the Too Cute to Spook stamp set in Staz-On black ink.

Then I just tied all the tags on baker's twine, used pushpins to attach it to my mantel, and added some faux leaf garlands from my local discount store! Super simple, super cute!

So now you're off to Tobey's blog! Get on over there and check out what she's got! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Felt Boutonniere

2011-09-01T18:11:00.001-04:00

Hello friends! Happy September!

Can you believe it's September?! Where did the summer go? This is such a bittersweet time of year, isn't it? Here on Cape Cod, we're happy to have things quiet down a bit. But I'll miss the warm weather, and I still hope to get in another trip to the beach. Still, I have to say I'm looking forward to fall.

I've been having so much fun playing with A Muse Studio's new felt. I haven't even used it on a card yet because my mind has just been so full of fun ideas! For starters...

I used the new Autumn Acorns die from Papertrey Ink to make this fall boutonniere. And I borrowed Maile Belles' awesome idea of turning a button into an acorn. I mean, come on... What goes together better than felt and buttons? :)

And check out my cutie hubs! He was such a good sport, letting me dress him up and take tons of pictures. Love him!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Anything that ends in PALOOZA has to be good!

2011-08-22T00:01:00.004-04:00

Hello friends! I hope you'll excuse my more-than-a-month long blogging hiatus... it sure has been busy around here this summer! But now I'm back, because...

Today is the day we've all been waiting for!! :-D The *BRAND SPANKIN' NEW* A Muse Studio Holiday 2011 catalog is now live! TONS of new product is now available to you! (And is also available for us consultants to order more than one of! Wink wink!) Trust me, folks, you are going to LOVE the new options. Of course, there are new stamp sets but there are also 2 new colors, beyond adorable new dies, glitter, embossing powder, baker's twine and... drum roll, please... Hello, FELT! :)

*swoon*

Go ahead and check it out at my webstore.

ALSO - today is the very first day of A-Muse-A-Palooza! This fantastic event will run until September 30, and will feature extra-awesome hostess rewards and great deals on products!

To celebrate, I've made a card featuring one of the new stamp sets and one of my all-time-fave techniques for fall leaves. Check out my video to see how I did it!

Supplies used in this video are by A Muse Studio and are available at my webstore:
- Stamps: Fresh Foliage
- Inks: French Roast, Cranberry, Papaya, Buttercup, Grass, Fern, Memento Tuxedo Black
- Cardstocks: Sugar, Pumpkin, Fern
- Other: clear blocks, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Tombow Adhesive Dots tape runner, small sponge daubers

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope your week is marvelous!

0 for 4

2011-07-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

We're not even a month into the 52 Lists project and I have not kept to my schedule once! Oops! :)

Week 3 started on Father's Day, so the theme was things I learned from my dad. This was WAY harder for me than it should have been. That's what I'm loving so much about this project... It really is making me think about my life in ways I don't usually do.

Here's my list.

The theme for Week 4 was my wishlist. This is literally never ending and could have turned into a really shallow exercise that only made me feel bad about my life, so I decided to narrow my focus a little bit and write my wishlist for July. Check it out.

Hope you're having a great week!

4th of July Treat Bag Tutorial

2011-07-04T11:00:00.003-04:00

** Click here for my A Muse Studio Creative Consultants July Blog Hop post. **

** Click here for my Young Crafters Unite Blog Hop post. **

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm taking a quick break from the festivities (our awesome hometown parade this morning, family picnic this afternoon) to share a quick and fun project with you. I am in love with these goody bags made from envelopes - they're so versatile for any celebration!

I used the supplies I still had on my desk from making my A Muse Studio blog hop project, and made a cute little rosette to go on the front.

And, just in case you aren't familiar with the technique for turning an envelope into a goody bag (I mean, come on. It's brilliant!) ... here's a quick video tutorial for you. Enjoy!

July A Muse Studio Creative Consultant Blog Hop

2011-07-02T00:01:00.006-04:00

** Looking for the Young Crafters Unite blog hop? Click here to see my post! **

Can you believe it's already July?! We have officially made it through half of 2011 - Wow! I hope you're having a great Independence Day Weekend. Thanks for joining us again this month for some amazing A Muse Studio inspiration!

You should have hopped over from Vanessa Buzard's blog. If not, please check out Samantha's blog to start at the beginning of the hop - You wouldn't want to miss out on any of the fun, would you? :)

Our theme this month is Red, White, and Blue. A fave color combination in this household year round! I'm especially drawn to less traditional takes on the combo - don't get me wrong, I love a good lipstick-white-cobalt, or cranberry-ivory-navy. But throw a little turquoise or coral into the mix? Yeah, that's the stuff!

So I decided to stray a little from my beaten path and whip up an invitation. I printed the party info on vellum (make sure to let it dry for a good long time so it won't smear!) and secured it with a cute grosgrain bow at the top.

I used masking and emboss resist on the cardstock under the vellum to create a subtle frame for the text.

I pulled out every color and pattern of red and blue A Muse cardstock and cut out a bunch of stars to layer. I don't have the A Muse Studio Star Trio dies (yet!) - so I hand cut all those stars! I think the end result was worth it. I also added some pearls and rhinestones that I colored with Copic markers.

Here's a little bit of a better view of the emboss resist frame. Cute, huh? :)

And now you're off to Lianne Vigil's blog! Have fun!

Supplies used in this card can be found at my A Muse Studio webstore.

Happy 4th!

Young Crafters Unite! :)

2011-07-01T01:01:00.057-04:00

Welcome Welcome Welcome to the Young Crafters Unite Blog Hop! Isn't this exciting? :)

If you're here from Jess Larsen's blog, then you're in the right place! If you've come across my blog by another way, I highly suggest you head on over to the Young Crafters Unite homepage and start at the beginning. This hop is huge and it's jam-packed with amazing talent. Plus, every comment you leave on the participating blogs (through July 4th) will increase your chances to win prizes from Lawn Fawn, Simon Says Stamp, and Paper Smooches. Sweet!

What makes me a Young Crafter is pretty much the obvious: I'm young, and I'm a crafter. I'm also still (yes, still) relatively new to the world of contemporary paper crafting, and I like to think of myself as something of an apprentice (in that I'm learning from them, not that I aspire to take over for them!) to "the greats," which, in my opinion, includes amazing ladies like Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Stephanie Howell, and Lisa Spangler (just to name a few!).

For my hop project, I wanted to do something really exciting. (Well, ok, at least it's exciting to me. I hope you agree. lol.) The theme of the hop is My Favorite Things, and I have to admit I was a little bit stumped by this at first. My original plan was to wander around my craft space and choose, say, 10 of the items I'm loving the most lately, and then make a card with them. But I thought that might be too risky. So I decided to interpret the theme a little differently...

Let me be honest with you here for a moment. Lately, there have been a lot of things in my life that I'm not so thrilled about. But I'm working on it. I'm working on being happier, being more motivated, and enjoying my journey. And along with that theme, two of my favorite things right now are challenging myself and setting goals. So here are the challenges I set out to accomplish with this project:
     1. Document more of my everday life.
     2. Try out more scrapbooking.
     3. Use my Studio Calico kits.
     4. Allow a project to take more than one sitting. Don't feel the need to finish now, or rush through
         things.

So, without further ado (aka my propensity for blah blah blah), here's my project...

I'd seen a few of these accordion envelope mini-albums in various places online (most recently this beyond-amazing one that was featured on the October Afternoon blog), but I couldn't find a tutorial for them. So I decided to challenge myself to figure it out :)

Each "page" is an envelope where you can tuck photos, journaling, and memorabilia. The envelopes themselves are decorated, giving space to glue things in a more traditional scrapbook fashion.

I also made some little inserts to make more room for journaling, making lists, and gluing treasures.

Now, because I couldn't find a tutorial for this type of book, I decided to make one! Ok, two actually :) But since this has already been a very long post, and I'm sure you're anxious to get back a-hoppin', I'll let you know that the next stop on the hop is Brittney Baker's blog. I can't wait to see what she's created! And don't forget to comment along the way!

For those of you interested in how I made this mini-album, you can watch my videos below. Part 1 is about the inside, and Part 2 shows how I made the covers. Thanks for stopping by!

52 Lists, Week 2

2011-06-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

{oops}

I guess I forgot to post my Week 2 List on Saturday, huh?

Oh well.

The Week 2 Theme was "things I learned from traveling." Well, I haven't had the good fortune to travel much - YET! - but I have spent at least a weekend in Maine pretty much every summer of my life. So I decided to use those trips as my inspiration.

Here's my list.

52 Weeks, 52 Lists

2011-06-15T00:15:00.000-04:00

Hello friends!

I am SO excited to be sharing this project with you! Kellie over at On the Brink of Something Beautiful has started something awesome: a year in lists. One list a week for an entire year. Participants can link their lists to her blog, or post them in the flickr group. Every Sunday, Kellie or a guest blogger will post a prompt for that week's list. Some of them will be single-day lists, while others may be things you want to ruminate on and add to all week. For that reason, I will be posting my lists here every Saturday, at which point I will declare them "finished." :) I only found out about the challenge (which began on June 5) last weekend, so I did my first two lists in one day. If you haven't heard about this project yet, we're still only halfway through Week 2, so you've got plenty of time to jump on in!

Week 1: "Today I will..."

Enjoy the rest of your week! :)

June Creative Consultant Blog Hop

2011-06-02T00:01:00.002-04:00

It's that time again... another month! It's June and summer is a-comin' in! :)

If you've come from Sarah Callahan's blog - Welcome! If you've come here another way, I highly suggest you head over to Samantha Kania's blog to start at the beginning of the hop.

For this month's A Muse Studio Creative Consultant Blog Hop, the challenge was to create our own patterned paper. I showed you a card a little while back where I did this by stamping randomly all over a piece of cardstock, so I thought I'd do something a little different for this challenge. And, with Father's Day coming up, I wanted to make a masculine card.

I used my scoring board to score a line at every 1/2 inch on the diagonal of my cardstock, and then I flipped it around and scored the other way to create the lattice pattern. Then I took my sanding block and lightly sanded off the top layer of where the cardstock is raised from the scoring.

You can also achieve a similar look by sanding over cardstock you've embossed using texture plates or embossing folders. A Muse Studio cardstock is so awesome for techniques like this because it has a white core. If you don't want the sanded areas to be white, you can always sponge ink over them or use a marker to color just those areas. (Jennifer McGuire did a really great video on this.)

Next on the hop is Kari Bell's blog. Go on ahead and check it out! I'll catch up with you soon; I can't wait to see what everyone else has made! :)

All the supplies used on this card project are from A Muse Studio, and can be purchased through my webstore at www.amusestudio.com/annakeyes.
- solid cardstock in Grass, Orange, Kraft, Sugar
- lawnmower and sentiment stamps from "Hey, Man"
- zig-zag border stamp from "Mad for Plaids"
- pigment ink in Grass
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- sanding block
- other: Copic markers, scoring board and stylus, dimensional adhesive

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Video Tutorial: Thank You Berry Much

2011-05-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-14T21:40:00.001-04:00

... 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 ...

2011-05-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Laura!

Please send your mailing address to afkeyes@gmail.com

:)

a note about my new {venture}

2011-05-10T09:20:00.006-04:00

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!

2011-05-08T00:01:00.005-04:00

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

2011-05-04T00:06:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-01T18:37:00.001-04:00

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!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

To all my Christian friends, I hope you have a lovely day full of family, friends, and good food!

This is the card I made to send to my grandmother in Michigan. Note the Epic Stamp-A-Ma-Jig Sentiment Fail. I still have no idea what happened, but I just couldn't make the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig work properly for me on anything I made that evening!

Video Tutorial: Watercolor Stamping with Markers

2011-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: Due to the Easter holiday, this week's video tutorial is a day early! Next week I'll be in Maine, so you may see the video go up as early as Friday... But I haven't decided for sure yet :)

Remember this card I made for the A Muse Studio blog hop? Here's how I made it!

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Sugar and Watermelon
- gingham cardstock in Grass
- Tombow Dual Brush Markers in Grass, Cranberry, Currant, and Blackberry
- stitched grosgrain ribbon in Grass
- Thank You stamp from "Hand Scripted"
- flower stamp from "Beautiful Botanicals"
- pigment ink in French Roast
- other: Mini Mister by Ranger

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Video Tutorial: Mini Easter Basket

2011-04-17T09:00:00.010-04:00

Welcome to this week's video tutorial!

Since Easter is only a week away, I decided to share this little Easter "basket" with you. I love this project because you can literally make any size box you want (as long as you've got paper big enough!) with this template. It's so easy! :)

I used images from "For Peep's Sake" - the same stamp set I used in last week's tutorial. This little baby chicken is so cute!

I love adding unexpected details like these custom colored paper flowers on the handles. I made this basket to fit 4 eggs. We share dyed Easter eggs every year with my Grammy, and this year she'll be receiving them in this. Be aware though, if you're going to put anything even slightly heavy in your basket, you may want to hold it from the bottom rather than by the handle. It is only made of cardstock after all!

Watch video below, or watch on YouTube.

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Lemon Whip and Sugar
- gingham cardstock in Sage
- polka dot cardstock in Sage
- mini brads in Silver
- Tombow Dual Brush Markers in French Roast, Grass, Papaya, and Lemon Whip
- Copic Marker RV14
- paper flowers Meadow Mix
- Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
- Spellbinders Nestabilities in Classic Scalloped Ovals Large and Classic Ovals Large

Mr. Roboto

2011-04-15T20:59:00.000-04:00

I've been playing with the Sushi and Wasabi set from A Muse Studio, and that Styx song has been stuck in my head on and off for days! :)

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Blush, Sage, and Sugar
- patterned cardstock in woodgrain (I used a scrap of the old A Muse woodgrain cardstock from my stash. The new stuff is just as cute, but a little bit lighter in color.)
- pigment inks in Grass, Bubblegum, and French Roast
- "Sushi and Wasabi" stamp set
- pearl stickers in Sugar
- Woodgrain Background stamp

I inked the branch stamp in French Roast ink, and then "kissed" it against the Woodgrain Background stamp to create the texture of the tree bark. (I love that the A Muse Studio inks are pigment inks because they stay wet longer so you can do a lot of great techniques with it! If you're not familiar with the kissing technique, stay tuned for a video tutorial in the not-too-distant future.) I used a Copic marker to color some of the Sugar pearl stickers so they would coordinate with the pink flowers.

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Fern, Sage, and Sugar
- polka dot cardstock in Cherry
- Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
- "Sushi and Wasabi" stamp set
- other: Sakura Stardust Pen, various Copic and watercolor markers

I absolutely love the sentiment on this card! So cute! (Except it kind of bugs me that the comma after the first line is completely unnecessary! - Sorry A Muse!) Nothing too fancy on this card... I just colored in the stamped image with a combination of various Copic and watercolor markers, and added a little glitter to the centers of the sushi.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your week went by faster than mine did! :)

We go together like...

2011-04-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

Hey there! Happy Monday to you! Just a quick post today to share a one-layer stamped card I made using the Perfect Blend stamp set from A Muse Studio... I think this might be my new favorite stamp set! :)

How cute is this sentiment?! I used masking to create the border and keep the stamping within the center area.

I also did a little paper piecing to make two of the cups go together. So cute!

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Kraft
- polka dot cardstock in cherry
- pigment ink in Cranberry and French Roast
- mug image and sentiment from "Perfect Blend"
- label image from "Vintage Labels"
- Tombow Dual-Brush Marker in Cranberry
- Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
- Other: Stamping Mask Paper by Inkadinkado

Have a great week!

Video Tutorial: Sweet-n-Tiny Easter Treat

2011-04-10T00:22:00.004-04:00

Welcome to this week's video tutorial project!

I have to say I really can't take any credit for this adorable little matchbook treat. This is one of the templates given to A Muse Studio consultants, and I took a lot of inspiration from the A Muse blog when they featured the project.

These little matchbooks take no time to make, are super easy to mass-produce, and cost next to nothing. And they're endlessly customizable, making them perfect for party, shower, or wedding favors, Sunday School treats, something fun to leave in the office lunchroom, etc. :)

Watch video below, or watch on YouTube.

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- polka dot cardstock in Sage
- solid cardstock in Sugar
- pigment ink in Bubblegum
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- Peeps stamp and sentiment stamp from "For Peep's Sake"
- Tombow Adhesive Dots Tape Runner
- 1-1/2" circle punch
- other: stapler, Mini Treat Matchbook Template

Coffee Shop Gift Card Holders

2011-04-06T21:17:00.002-04:00

I was so excited to see the Gift Card Holder Challenge over on the Moxie Fab World blog, because I knew I wanted to make some gift-type items with the Perfect Blend stamp set from A Muse Studio. So I hope you'll forgive me for tooting my own horn a bit, but I think these gift card holders are some of the cutest things I've made in a long time. I kind of surprised myself with the cleverness of this idea :)

I live in New England, and Dunkin Donuts is pretty big around here. (I have to say I don't quite understand why, though, with the great family-owned coffee and donut shops we have in my area.) So, of course, when I open a big box of A Muse Studio goodies to find a coffee cup stamp and bubblegum polka dot paper, what else do I think of...?

And, of course, because Grass is my other favorite A Muse color...

Can you tell where that cup is from? lol.

Love it!

All materials used in these projects from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore (unless otherwise noted):
- coffee cup and sentiment from "The Perfect Blend"
- solid cardstock in Sugar, Papaya, Kraft
- polka dot cardstock in Bubblegum and Grass
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- mini brads in silver
- polka dot organdy ribbon in Papaya
- stitched grosgrain ribbon in French Roast
- Tombow watercolor markers in Papaya and Grass
- Copic markers in E40 and RV14 (E40 not available through A Muse Studio)
- Signo Uni-Ball white gel pen
- Tombow Adhesive Dots tape runner

Thanks for stopping by!

Video Tutorial: Glitter Tips

2011-04-03T15:24:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the first regular installment of my weekly video tutorial featuring A Muse Studio! You will find a new video posted here on my blog, and over at my YouTube channel every Sunday.

This week's video features a birthday card from start to finish. It also includes some easy tips for working with glitter, and a fool-proof way to tie ribbon that comes out perfectly every time!

Watch video below, or watch on YouTube.

All materials from A Muse Studio, and available at my webstore:
- solid cardstock in Orange, Sky, and Sugar
- pigment ink in Orange
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- cake stamp from "A Very Merry Un-Birthday"
- birthday wishes stamp from "Contemporary Greetings"
- polka dot border stamp from "Polka Dot Patterns"
- Copic Markers in Y11, B00, Y17, YR16, E40 (Note: E40 not available from A Muse Studio)
- stitched grosgrain ribbon in Sky
- Tombow Adhesive Dots Tape Runner
- Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
- Diamond Glitter
- 3D foam adhesive

P.S. I want you to know I do realize how long my first two videos have been, and I promise to work on this. Filming this video went by so fast I really thought it would be way shorter! The whole thing - believe it or not! - was close to 25 minutes! I will work on restricting my yammering and try to apply my tape runner faster :)

Hope your weekend was marvelous! Is it Spring yet where you are?

Creative Consultants Blog Hop

2011-04-02T00:01:00.005-04:00

It's Saturday! Yay!

If you're hopping here from Sherri Thacker's blog - Welcome! Are you having fun? :) If you found me another way, make sure you head over to Samantha's blog to start the hop so you don't miss out on any of the great A Muse Studio inspiration.

I love these images! They're so pretty and so versatile! The flower I used as my focal image is from Beautiful Botanicals, and the leaf image is from Beautiful Botanicals 2. I used one of my favorite stamping techniques with the leaf image: custom "patterned paper." Just stamp the image over and over in a random pattern all over your cardstock. And be sure to orient the stamp in all different directions and stamp off the edges so it looks like you cut up a "real" sheet of patterned paper. :)

For my focal image, I used another of my all-time favorite stamping techniques. But, I'm going to keep you guessing for now how I did it, because I'll be featuring this technique in an upcoming video tutorial. ;-)

Now head on over to Gena Krutsinger's blog. Can't wait to see what she's got for us!

Supplies used in this card:
- A Muse Studio cardstock in French Roast, Ocean, Sugar, and Sage
- A Muse Studio pigment ink in French Roast, and Grass
- A Muse Studio 1/4" grosgrain stitch ribbon in Sky
- flower stamp from "Beautiful Botanicals" by A Muse Studio
- leaf stamp from "Beautiful Botanicals 2" by A Muse Studio
- sentiment stamp from "Friend to Friend" by A Muse Studio
- Memento markers in Summer Sky, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, and Bamboo Leaves (These are pretty much exactly like the Tombow Dual-Brush Markers that are available through A Muse Studio. A basic water-based ink marker.)

Thanks for checking in today! Have a great weekend!

Happy A Muse Studio Day!

2011-04-01T03:01:00.027-04:00

Happy April First! It's an exciting day around here, with two very special announcements. First of all, today is the day my very own personal A Muse Studio webstore goes LIVE! Hooray! You can now officially check out all the awesome A Muse Studio products, as well as shop online* or book a party (locals only, sorry), all day, every day. Check it out: https://www.amusestudio.com/annakeyes (And don't forget the extra E in KeyEs!)

AND, to celebrate my webstore and the official "kick-off" of the all new A Muse Studio, I'm launching a brand-spankin'-new Video Tutorial Series! This is something I'm very excited about, and very proud of. I will be featuring weekly videos (or, at least approximately weekly!) showcasing product introductions/reviews/demos, stamping tutorials, start-to-finish cards, and other fun projects for home decor, gift giving, and holidays. So, without any further ado, let me introduce my very first video tutorial project!

*insert fanfare here* :)

Pencil Flag Cards!

I absolutely love these and I have to say I'm so proud of this idea! These are little flag shaped cards that you tuck a pencil into - Perfection for any birthday or party favor! AND, they make super cute party decorations before you give them all away! Gotta love the double-duty! :) I also think these would be an adorable whole-class treat for your kids' friends. (Got one of those evil teachers who insists on a sugar-free Valentine's Day? Nobody will even notice with a treat this fun!) AND, if that wasn't enough, there's plenty of room on the inside to write a special message.

Here's a close-up of the green flag.

And here's the video!

Materials used in this video:
- A Muse Studio cardstock in and Orange, Buttercup, and Sugar
- A Muse Studio pigment ink in Orange
- Memento Tuxedo Black ink
- heart stamp from "Hearts A Plenty" by A Muse Studio
- sentiment stamp from "Brief Notes" by A Muse Studio
- Tombow Permanent Adhesive Dots tape runner
- Pencil Flag Template (click to download pdf)
- pencils (The ones I used in the video are from Curly Girl Design. I got them at my favorite local gift store. Check at a Hallmark, or similar store. Or get super cheap personalized pencils from Miles Kimball!)
- foam dimensional adhesive
- acrylic blocks by A Muse Studio (Get these! Best blocks I've ever used!)
- small, sharp scissors
- scoring board (mine's from Martha Stewart Crafts) and scoring tool

Thanks for stopping by! And be sure to come back tomorrow for the First Ever A Muse Studio Creative Consultants Blog Hop :) There's sure to be some great inspiration, and there may just be goodies to win! ;)

* A word about online ordering: If you're going to order more than $150 worth of yummies, then be sure to contact me first, because you'll be eligible for Hostess Benefits, but you can only get them if I place the order for you!

playing catch-up + some exciting {news!}

2011-03-27T22:24:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody!

I'm trying to keep the words to a minimum on this post, but please **be sure to read all the way to the bottom for some exciting news!!**

I've got a handful of projects to share with you tonight - things that have just been sitting on my shelf waiting to be photographed and posted :)

First up...

So, it's a week late, but this is my attempt at Tiffany Johnson's Sketchy Sunday TG012. This was a hard sketch for me! It was adorable in my head, but I can't decide how I feel about the actual card.

This one was made with Cosmo Cricket's new Upcycle line and a super adorable Whiff of Joy stamp. And the sentiment (I forget where it's from) is so cute - it says "You'll always be my friend... you know too much!" Love it!

And last but not least...

I made this one using some of the new Papertrey Ink yummies from the last release. A dear friend of mine is in graduate school right now studying to be a nurse practitioner. It's been really stressful and a lot of work for her. We don't talk or see each other as much as I'd like, but I've been thinking a lot about her lately and wanted to send her a cheery treat for her to find in her mailbox. Hence the bright colors. I also made some of her fave yo-yo flowers out of some fabric another friend brought back from Africa and glued them onto a barrette.

I used the PTI button card die stamped with Hero Arts' Friends Definition stamp for the backing. The barrette itself is very curved - much more than any other barrette I've seen! - so it warps the card quite a bit, but it's still a cute and easy packaging option.

So that's what I've been up to lately. Now, are you ready for the exciting news?!?!! I'm sure many of you are familiar with a company called A Muse Art Stamps. Well, they've renamed their company and are joining the direct home sales market. They are now A Muse Studio, and their stamps are just as adorable as ever, but now you can only order them from a Creative Consultant. And guess what? I am one! :) I'm so excited to be starting on this journey with an amazing company. And I've got grand things planned for my blog, including a video tutorial series! (I'm so excited about all the awesome ideas going through my head... my sleep schedule is really suffering! LOL) The A Muse Studio button at the top of my sidebar will take you directly to my webstore, where you can order stamps, cardstocks, inks, and more, or book a party 24/7! Webstores won't be available until April 1st, though, so in the meantime, I hope you'll click on the picture of the awesome Catalog and Inspiration Guide and take a look at everything they have to offer! I'll be back on the first with a super-cute celebratory video tutorial. And then be sure to check out my new friend Samantha Kania's blog on April 2nd (that's this Saturday) - She'll be kicking off a blog hop with lots of ideas from Creative Consultants all over the country!

So, friends, I hope you had a great weekend! I look forward to sharing A Muse Studio with you!

Luau Invitations

2011-03-25T22:49:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Friday!

Just a quick post tonight to share the invitations I made for my former boss's daughter's 5th birthday party. It's a Hawaiian theme - so cute! :)

I used almost exclusively Papertrey Ink products on these. This was a great excuse to *finally* purchase Dawn McVey's fantastic Aloha stamp set. I used Hawaiian Shores cardstock and ribbon, Orange Zest and Hibiscus Burst ribbons, and the closest coordinating Copics in my stash. My hubby helped me print the details on the cards. You can't really see it in the photo, but I also used Hero Arts's amazing Envelope Background stamp on the fronts of the cards.

Have a great weekend, folks! :)

{little one}

2011-03-15T21:22:00.001-04:00

Lawn Fawn's new Plus One stamp set has to be my favorite new stamp set in a long time. I have loved random things with cute little smiley faces ever since elementary school classrooms decorated in Carson-Dellosa products! :) The images are so clever and I love how all the sentiments are separate and can be combined into so many different options.

(Sorry about the weird angles here. I got the light just right on my bookshelf and I didn't notice how weird the angle looked!)

I litterally cannot get over how much I love this image! I mean, come on! It's a bun in an oven! Seriously! The instant I saw this stamp, I knew I wanted to color the oven 1950s retro turquoise, and now I'm not sure I'll ever color it any other way! :) Plus, I really like unexpected color combos for baby cards (cutesy works well when combined with sophisticated), and I just happened to have Copic markers that matched this My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose papers. (That doesn't happen very often!)

This one's a little more "traditional" for a baby card, and very simple. I love how the button looks, but it's super dimensional and not really mail-friendly. Love the ribbon from a recent Studio Calico kit - totally inspired the gender-neutral yellow theme.

Funny coincidence: I've gotten really into making rag quilts recently (via this amazingly simple tutorial) - I call it cheating because it's so not quilting. I made one using pre-cut, pre-coordinated Minkee fabric (feels like an expensive stuffed animal!) and then I made another one (turned out way bigger than I expected!) out of flannel my mom had been saving from when she made my jammies when I was little. This technique lends itself so well to baby quilts (crib quilts or "tummy time" mats), and now I've got the cards to go with... Now if only I knew someone who was having a baby! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

with a heavy {heart}

2011-02-24T21:08:00.001-05:00

I'm posting today to share a project every card maker dreads: a sympathy card with an intended recipient. On Monday, a wonderful family and a close-knit community lost a loved one. John Stewart was my 8th grade "Central Subject" teacher at Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School (CS is basically social studies - history, geography, politics, a little language arts, etc.) He died suddenly of a heart attack on Monday morning. He was truly an amazing teacher, and a wonderful person - one of those people who helps shape who each of his students will become. Middle school is a tough time, and middle schoolers can be tough kids to work with. The thing that was so incredible about Mr. Stewart was his ability to relate to and connect with his students on their level, and on his. He held everyone to a high standard of academics, critical thinking, and living life. He approached every interaction with respect, valued our 14-year-old opinions (and taught us to back them up!), and helped us to always respect each other. And he had a superior funny bone.

So I hope you won't think me tasteless for sharing the card I made for the Stewart family. I know how much we all struggle with these cards, and it's cardmaker solidarity that made me want to share.

Thank you for visiting.

Make It Monday #3

2011-02-21T16:54:00.002-05:00

This week's challenge: Using Scor-Tape to adhere glitter.

When I first saw the post this morning, I thought, 'Darn! I don't have any glitter!' But then I remembered some Martha Stewart glitter from a Christmas card kit stuck in the back of a drawer. Also, I got my box of new Papertrey goodies earlier this afternoon, so I decided to play with some new stamps! I had this whole plan in my mind, and, well... let's just say it was one of those projects where nothing went according to plan. I had decided to use Dawn McVey's new Delightful Doilies stamp set that I was so excited to receive. I can tell they put a lot of thought into this set to make it as user-friendly as possible, but there's definitely still a learning curve :) And you really need to be able to see clearly what you're doing when you use this set. I have a very small selection of colored inks, and most of them are chalk inks that stain clear stamps. So let's just say I made a lot of mistakes before I was finally happy with my stamping! The card still isn't what I was planning, but I actually kind of like it. :)

Supplies: Stamps - Delightful Doilies, Think Big Favorites #1 (Papertrey Ink); Cardstock - Lavender Moon (Papertrey Ink), Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!), grey (Bazzill); Inks - London Fog (Memento), Versamark; Misc. - Super Tape (Therm-O-Web), glitter (Martha Stewart), clear embossing powder, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Make It Monday #2

2011-02-19T16:11:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday, friends! I bet a lot of you have heard about the new Make It Monday weekly challenges going on over at Papertrey Ink. I've been thinking about this one all week, but just got around to making a card today. Actually, I was waiting, because UPS said I'd have my PTI February Release order in my hot little hands today. But they accidentally routed it to Western Mass or somewhere not near here, so they've updated the expected delivery to Monday. As I've said in the past, I don't have a ton of PTI products, but I was super inspired by the American Crafts Confetti goodies that arrived yesterday, so I decided to roll with the birthday theme for the 2nd Make It Monday challenge: Vellum sentiment strips.

American Crafts has adopted our favorite detail from Sassafras and started printing on the b-side of the barcode strip at the bottom of their paper! SO awesome! That's where that little line of cupcakes is from - and I love how it looks layered under the vellum.

Thanks for stopping by! Do you have Monday off? :)

new love meets first love

2011-02-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

This fall I decided I wanted to try candle making. In December I ordered a bunch of supplies, but I just started getting into it recently. And when I say I'm into it... well, I'm kind of obsessed! :) It is SO much fun! I feel like a mad scientist melting, and mixing, and pouring away in my kitchen. I can't get enough! To save money, and keep things simple, I've been using tins to make 100% soy candles - glass jars are too expensive, and molds are just too fussy. But of course, plain tins are just that... plain. So, enter my first love: papercrafting. To make them look a little more "boutique," I'm using patterned papers and hand stamping to decorate my candles. This is one I made yesterday for my friend's birthday - and it's pink frosted cupcake scented! :) YUMMY!

PTI tags: day two

2011-02-07T21:52:00.000-05:00

Papertrey Ink has started something very cool called Make It Monday. (They've also joined facebook and twitter! It's about time!) The first Monday challenge is all about using similar sentiments from a bunch of different sets - such a great idea, but I only have 4 PTI stamp sets and they're all really different, so I couldn't really play along this time. BUT I did take about 15 minutes this evening to whip up an uber-quick, very simple card with another of yesterdays freebie tags! :)

See ya!

a very Papertrey anniversary

2011-02-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

The awesome folks over at Papertrey Ink are celebrating the 4th anniversary of their company! Congrats PTI! To celebrate, they're showcasing a lot of amazing design team projects, and having a few contests. The designers released an absolutely adorable collection of tags as a free download, and projects made with them will be entered into a contest to work with Nichole Heady to design their own PTI stamp set! WOW! These are truly some fantastic images, and I very highly suggest visiting the PTI blog and downloading them yourself, even if you can't get a project done with them in time for the contest deadline at 7am tomorrow! :)

This is a Valentine's card I whipped up pretty quickly this afternoon and I'm really thrilled with how it came out. I didn't have time to make more cards with the tags, but I promise you'll be seeing more of them soon.

Hope you had a great weekend! Did you watch the Superbowl?

Cards for Charlie

2011-01-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Just look at this face. This darling four-year-old boy, Charlie, is suffering from a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa (EB). We all have two layers of skin, which generally are not meant to move separately. In people who suffer from EB, the layers do move separately, and the friction causes painful blistering all over the skin. It's been compared to third degree burns. Charlie is being treated by doctors at the University of Minnesota, and he'll be having a new type of procedure done that will give him new, healthy skin.

I first read about Charlie on Britta Swiderski's blog. She's taken it upon herself to organize a card drive for Charlie and his family (who are staying at the Ronald McDonald House). Please take a moment to read their story, and then I hope you will join me in sending a card to brighten this little hero's day.

Here's the card I made for him...

And here are some details on the card drive...

What to send:
Cards made by you, your friends, your loved ones, or your children. They can be as simple as a sheet of paper with “We’re thinking about you in Arizona!” on it to as elaborate as you want it to be.
How to send them:
Put your cards in an envelope inside the one you mail, but don’t seal it, just in case the parents want to look at them beforehand. Send your cards to
      Britta Swiderski
      P.O. Box 13130
      Minneapolis, MN 55414
When to send them:
Try to get them in the mail by Monday, February 21st, 2011. That gives you a full month to get your card (or cards!) ready!

For more details, please visit Britta's blog.

This story just breaks my heart, and I know that any of you with special kiddos in your life will feel the same way. Look around at all your blessings, and I hope you will be inspired. Your caring participation in this card drive will make a very sick little boy very happy!

k-i-s-s-i-n-g

2011-01-16T21:10:00.001-05:00

Here it is, folks - the first Valentine of 2011! Made using We R Memory Keepers' Be My Valentine collection. It's totes adorbs, if I may say that - LOL! I love We R Memory Keepers tiny stamp sets. They're $1.25 at my LSS and they are SO worth it. I love the color palette and the mix of patterns. There are lots of hearts, but it's definitely versatile enough to use for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc.

The inspiration for this card came from two awesome sources - Kristina Werner's recent Finally Friday card, and the first installment in an awesome new Two Peas video series called Products You Love Every Which Way. Can't wait to see what else Shannon Tidwell comes up with!

P.S. My photos are definitely getting better since my new camera (Oh yeah! I never told you about my new camera, did I?) but I'm still learning and my house is very dimly lit. I'll get there... I hope! :)

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

{comfort} food

2011-01-15T20:44:00.000-05:00

Helllloooooo blog land! WOW, I've been gone for a while, huh? Not sure why, but I got really burned out after the two craft fairs I did in November and early December, and I just lost all my inspiration. I've got two cards to share soon that I made with some of the new Hero Arts goodies (love them!), but for today, a little something different.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

(adapted from Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes)

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken stock

4 cups milk

a few celery stalks, chopped

1/2 medium chopped onion

garlic

1 pkg (8 oz) sliced baby portabella mushrooms

frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn)

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small

2-3 chicken breast, dice

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, saute onions and celery over medium-low heat until translucent. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated, and mushrooms. Saute for another 3-5 minutes. Stir in poultry seasoning. Add about 2/3 of the bag of frozen veggies (or however much you like) and the diced chicken. Add milk, and 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat. Add potatoes and simmer until tender, 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the flour and remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock until thoroughly combined. When potatoes are tender, add flour mixture to soup and cook another 5 minutes, or until soup is thickened.

We made this soup for the first time tonight - it was so yummy! Perfect for cold winter nights - and a very healthy choice too for the post-holiday detox! :) The website I adapted the recipe from (and I didn't change much) puts it at 3 points for a 1 cup serving. That's pretty awesome in my book!

December {Delights} Vol. 2 - the Unique Gift Edition

2010-12-15T20:54:00.001-05:00

Here we go with another installation of my favorite seasonal shares! :)

Alison Avenue on etsy

Ok, ok, so this is one I should have shared well before we hit the ten-days-until-Christmas mark! But I just can't get over how beautiful this jewelry is. I ordered a custom necklace for a special someone on my Christmas list, and it is so stunning and super well crafted. It turned out even better than I would have imagined, and the seller is so lovely to work with. She's currently closed her shop until after the New Year, so it's too late for this Christmas (sorry!), but definitely check back for Valentine's Day, and to find special ideas for all your year-round gifting needs.

Paddywax Candles

Another one of my favorite products that I chose to gift this Christmas. These are definitely the highest quality candles I've found. They have - in my opinion - the perfect amount of really lovely fragrance, and all of their candles - from the small travel tins to the larger glass pieces - are really attractive to have around your house. Whether you choose one of their holiday scents, like Gingerbread House (ginger and pear) or Amarylis, or you choose a more classic fragrance like Limoncello (my fave!) or Gardenia, you really can't go wrong!

(+)

Felt Play Food

Ask pretty much anyone who's ever met me and they will tell you that, even childless and at the age of 26, I'm obsessed with play food. And I'm so excited about the influx of handmade felt play food I've been seeing. There are some really adorable pieces out there - and they're very safe for little ones! I've even found some patterns you can purchase to make your own "meals." Also, if you want to give some felt play food to your favorite wee one, check out Family Fun's recent tutorial on making a play kitchen out of cardboard boxes! So fun! :)

The Container Store Stocking Stuffers

Here's another can't-miss option. The Container Store has an amazing selection of fun, useful, and just downright quirky little items to bring a smile to anyone on your list. A 3D drawing set for your nephew, jeweled ear buds for your teen's bff, an apple shaped notepad for your child's teacher, vintage record CD labels for your hubby, a fancy-schmancy crossword book for your mom, a cute silicone sleeve for your girlfriend's morning coffee, and hanging work light for your dad. Done! :)

Santa Claus around the world

2010-12-09T17:13:00.000-05:00

This is just too cute - the info and the graphic! - I couldn't possibly not share :)

Via: TravelInsurance.org

December {Delights}

2010-12-04T22:38:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for gift giving, treats, traditions, and small luxuries. So I've decided to put together a couple posts throughout the month with some things I've found recently that I love. Gift ideas, recipes, project ideas... anything seasonal that I stumble upon and want to share! :) So, without any further ado (aka babbling from me) - here are my first picks!

Swedish Visiting Cake

I found this recipe on the poppytalk blog back in September. My dad loves all things Scandinavian - Swedish especially - so I immediately emailed them the recipe, and then promptly forgot about it. And then my mom brought it over for our pizza-and-tree-trimming party last night. She said it was so easy to make, and very different from other cake recipes, that she actually questioned whether there was a mistake in the recipe. And it is so delicious! The perfect combination of lemon, almond, and vanilla. I have a feeling this will definitely become a go-to recipe.

Yukon Classic Down Vest from Eddie Bauer

For a few years, I didn't even have a winter coat, I just wore my LL Bean fleece. Last year, though, I started to feel super cold in October, and I knew the fleece just wasn't going to cut it for the rest of the winter. On a whim, walking by Eddie Bauer at the mall, I decided to look at their down jackets. Hands down, the adorable bright red one I walked out with just a few minutes later was the best money I've ever spent. I just purchased this vest as a treat for myself, and - surprise, surprise! - I am absolutely in love. It has the best fleece lining in the color and pockets - it feels like a really expensive stuffed animal! :)

Terrain at Styer's

I just discovered the amazing online boutique of this garden and home store in Pennsylvania. All I can say is, too bad I had all my shopping finished before I found it. They have the most beautiful selection of home decor, accessories, and stunning gift items for your favorite gardener. My faves? Vintage icicle ornaments, a brightly colored scarf on a spool, a hot cocoa treat set, a vintage fruit crate. Love.

Zamforia T-Shirts

This is a small, Quincy, MA-based company run by a brother-sister team that got its start peddling t-shirts on college campuses around the Boston area. I went to Boston University, and then lived in Quincy for a year while working in Cambridge, so I'm all about supporting my neighbors. And this company has such a cool concept: They make super fun tees that say love in various languages. A friend of mine (who also lives in Quincy!) made me aware of the company when she was raving about how much she loved the tee she got from them. I can't wait to get one for myself! :) But I'm sharing their site because I think these T-shirts would be fantastic gifts for husbands/boyfriends, teenage kids, best girlfriends - almost anybody on your list!

OK, that's it for my first round of December picks. I'll try to do at least a post a week for the rest of the month. Hope you enjoyed this assortment of recent fun finds! Let me know if you've come across anything you think is share-worthy!

a little holiday inspiration...

2010-11-26T09:30:00.009-05:00

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! As of today, there are exactly 29 days until Christmas, so I wanted to share something I've found really inspiring and fun: Kristina Werner's Holiday Card Series. She's currently mid-way through her 2010 Series and I seriously suggest you check it out! But for today, here's last year's Holiday Card Series to help you get your Christmas juices flowing! :)

Enjoy!

my first craft fair

2010-11-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

Wow, I really haven't blogged in a while! Been feeling pretty uninspired lately... working on packaging and displaying and not much else.

So, yesterday was my very first craft fair! :) It's one I look forward to going to every year, so I figured it would be a good place to start. I literally had zero expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. I made my table fee back in the first ten minutes (that was really the only thing I was hoping for). A couple items were sold out in an hour or two, with people asking if they could purchase my sample items over and over for the rest of the day. As I honestly expected, the things I thought would sell the best really didn't sell at all. But I did sell over $200 worth of items... not bad considering most things were priced at $3-6! :)

So if you've read my blog, I'm sure by now you're used to the mostly-crappy photos my little point-and-shoot takes. It's the best camera when you're outdoors on a sunny day, but yesterday we just could not get the lighting correct. But I wanted to share these pics, despite they're less-than-stellar quality!

Hope you're having a great weekend! Getting any Christmas shopping done? :)

Caring Hearts: A Reminder

2010-11-11T19:28:00.001-05:00

Hey all!

I've been busy getting ready for my *first* craft fair coming up a week from Saturday... mostly working on packaging and displays, and unfortunately, I haven't been feeling very crafty lately. BUT, I wanted to check in and remind you that all Caring Hearts Card Drive cards must be received by this Monday, November 15th. That means you've still got a couple days to get your cards into the mail!

Hope you had a great week!

my new {obsession}

2010-11-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

:)

A quick post today to share some cards I made recently with The Girls' Paperie Tinsel and Twig line. These are seriously some stunning products. The papers are incredible and the colors are just perfection. And the embellishments? Don't even get me started! I haven't used any of them yet (except one button) because I can't suppress my hoarding instinct! ;)

My inspiration for all these cards was patchwork. One of the pieces of patterned paper has a gorgeous patchwork of some of the other papers' patterns, plus a couple that don't appear anywhere else in the collection.

Tinsel and Twig paper

Here's a card I made using a piece of this paper as my background.

(I also used Papertrey Ink's new Big and Bold Holiday Greetings set, which I am also in love with.)

For these next two cards, I made my own patchwork by gluing together 1 inch squares punched from all the different patterns.

(This one uses another new PTI stamp set, Merry Little Christmas - another current fave! It's inspired by an adorable card that PTI DT member Erin Lincoln made for the release countdown.)

And, lastly, a bit of a different spin on the concept of patchwork. This one didn't come out quite how I wanted... I wish the circles were a bit closer together, but I only have 1" and 1.5" punches and the larger circle was just too big. So... we make do, right? :)

Hope you had a great weekend! Wasn't it awesome to get an extra hour of sleep last night? :)

Holiday Tag Swap

2010-10-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

I am SO excited about this! My first swap! And what a great way to start... My LSS, {Colorful Creations} in Hyannis, MA, is sponsoring this Holiday Tag Swap. I wish it was the type of swap where everybody got together and made the tags, but it's still going to be super fun. I signed up for two "groups," which means I made two sets of 5 identical tags and I get two sets of 5 unique, handmade tags in return.

My first tag is inspired by an amazing card that Maile Belles made for the Lawn Fawn October release countdown. I just fell in love with the simplicity of it. I used the mistletoe stamp from Lawn Fawn's Bows and Holly set. Also, I decided to make 3x3" folded "gift enclosure" cards instead of using the traditional tag shape.

My second tag design uses another technique from the Thinking Inking class - the same technique that I used in my card for the Caring Hearts Blog Hop. This is the acrylic block stamping technique, and I am obsessed with it ... especially in this Tumbled Glass/Milled Lavender/Pumice Stone combination with snowflakes!

And just to show you how much I love this technique and Distress Ink color combo... Here are the two cards I originally made that inspired these tags! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

2010-10-26T22:08:00.000-04:00

So, today is my birthday. I'm 26 on the 26th! :) But I actually purchased this little treat for myself a while back, and have been meaning to share it since it arrived.

I love this thing already! Amazing! I don't have a ton of surfaces to store things on top of, but this is such a great use of a very small footprint. I picked up the Base Unit and the Upper Tier Add-On. You get a TON of clips and dividers too. More than enough to get started... unless you're lucky enough to have a ginormous stamp collection - haha! :)

a Distress Ink experiment

2010-10-25T19:20:00.000-04:00

I was so inspired by a card that Ms. Papertrey Ink herself, Nichole Heady, made for the most recent PTI release. She embossed flowers on vellum and rubbed ink on their centers using a sponge. Then she flipped the vellum over and adhered it, wrong side out, to her card.

Here's a photo of her card (and you can see the original post on the PTI blog)...

Is this not the prettiest thing you've ever seen? My immediate thought when I saw this: How gorgeous would this be with snowflakes! :) So I grabbed my then-brand-new Lawn Fawn Frosties stamp set and...

Epic Fail. No matter what I did, I could not get that amazing, vibrant, gradient color with my Distress Inks! And wherever I tried to add a new color and blend, the new color just wiped off the old color. I used makeup sponges, sponge daubers, Inkssentials foam blenders, my fingers... I just couldn't get that pretty gradient color concentrated behind my snowflakes!

Ok, Ok, so maybe calling this card an 'epic fail' is going a little too hard on myself. I like the end effect, and I like how sweet and simple the finished card turned out. But I'm not pleased that I couldn't get the look I wanted. I wonder if it might work with a different type of ink? Hmm...

Caring Hearts Blog Hop

2010-10-23T08:00:00.021-04:00

Wow! This is amazing! I can't believe I'm here, hopping with the best of them! What a testament to this amazing cause to have so many fantastic crafters involved. Major kudos to Vera Yates for organizing all this!

So if you're here from Amy's blog - Welcome! I hope you're having fun! If you've come here by another route, I hope you'll head over to Vera's blog to make sure you don't miss any of the goodness!

We live in a country where the wisest and most experienced members of our society don't always receive the respect they deserve. We've all banded together today to celebrate and bring joy to some elderly people who may not be lucky enough have friends and family nearby during the holiday season. I encourage you to join the ♥ CARING HEARTS CARD DRIVE ♥ and make a card to send! All the information can be found by clicking the badge in the upper right corner of my blog. You have until November 15th to get your card to Vera.

I wanted to show you something I've never shared before, but since I don't have a TON of supply stash, that was kinda hard. I was hoping my new Papertrey Ink stamps would arrive in time, but alas, they did not :( So I decided to employ a bunch of Thinking Inking techniques for this card. I used acrylic block stamping for the background (you'll see more of this technique here soon!), generation stamping for the trees (with the same stamp that Jennifer used nonetheless), watercoloring with Distress Inks for the trunks, snowflake centers, and garlands (except I used my blender pen instead of mixing the ink with water), and inking with a foam blender for the edges of the card base.

Thank you so very much for visiting! The next stop on the hop is Ayana's Creations. I can't wait to see what she made! :) I hope you will be inspired to participate in the Caring Hearts Card Drive!

I have a confession...

2010-10-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

If you were to make a list of Anna's Top Ten Rules to Live By, number one on that list would be "Christmas music may only be listened to from December 1st until December 25th." Well, yesterday I sat down to work on some more Christmas cards, and I just couldn't resist the urge to break my own Number One Rule :) So, for two evenings now, I've been crafting along to some of my favorite Christmas tunes on my ipod! And I'm having a blast... I just hope now I can stop and wait until December! :-D

Most of the projects I've made are things I'm not quite ready to share, but I do have some Basic Grey Jovial collection and Lawn Fawn Bows and Holly for you today.

One of my favorite things about the Jovial collection is the really unique color combination. I used Broken China Distress Ink to stamp the label on this card... Now, I mean, how often do you see turquoise for Christmas? :) I muted it a little with some Antique Linen, because the turquoise in the paper is a little bit greener and somewhat distressed.

I apologize for the supreme crumminess of this photo... I'll try to take a new one tomorrow!

This card was totally inspired by Brit Swiderski. She had the amazing idea to use the Distress Ink Bleeding technique that I used on my fall placecards with this adorable wreath stamp from Lawn Fawn's Bows and Holly. Genius. I love how it turned out... even though when I re-stamped over the image with bleeding I kind of, well, missed :) So there's the bleeding and also a little bit of a shadow effect. I used a Sakura Stardust pen on the ribbon that's wrapped around the wreath. The bow was painted with Fired Brick Distress Ink mixed with water and gold Perfect Pearls. (This is Technique 3 from Week 1 of the Holiday Thinking Inking series.) I also added a little Glossy Accents (I *finally* bought some!) to the berries.

Here's a closeup of the wreath so you can see all the special treatments.

Wish me luck in turning off the Christmas music! :) Thanks for stopping by!

StampTV Thursday Sketch 10/14

2010-10-18T20:39:00.002-04:00

This was another tough one for me... so different from what I usually do! I really wanted to change it up somehow, but I challenged myself to stick to the sketch! Except I flipped it. Oh, and forgot it was supposed to be square. Oops! :)

This was also my first time using the new Gina K. Designs set Buds and Vases, illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I've never Copic colored glass before, and I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing!

Here's the sketch...

And here's my card...

Hope your week's gotten off to a great start!

Holiday Thinking Inking - Ink Bleeding Technique

2010-10-17T11:34:00.004-04:00

Like pretty much everybody else in the online crafting community, I am so excited about the return of the fabulous Jennifer McGuire's fabulous Thinking Inking class over at Two Peas in a Bucket. It's back and better than ever - this time with a holiday theme! :)

I finally got around to making my first project playing along with the techniques Jennifer's sharing with us. This is the second technique from her Week Two video - she calls it Ink Bleeding. I used her card project as inspiration and decided to make place cards.

(A little back story here... My family has used the exact same place cards at every gathering for years. Decades. Seriously. They're made from folded index cards that either my brother or I colored pictures or patterns on. And my mother is in love with them. So I have no doubt she won't be at all interested in actually using these new ones I made, but I had fun with them nonetheless!)

And here are some close-ups... I used water mixed with a little bit of gold Perfect Pearls when I spritzed the stamped images. It's more prominent on some of the leaves, but they all have a subtle, pretty sheen to them.

Supplies for this project: Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw; Stamp - Autumn Splendor by Gina K. Designs; Cardstock - Pure Luxury by Gina K. Designs (Sweet Corn, Pumpkin Spice), Stampin' Up (Crumb Cake); Patterned Paper - Flannel Sheets (Lily Bee Designs' Catching Fall collection); Misc. - Memento Marker (Rich Cocoa), foam ink blending tool, Perfect Pearls, Ranger Mini Mister

Thanks for stopping by! Now go check out Jennifer's video and play along too! :)

World's Best Applesauce

2010-10-14T16:02:00.003-04:00

Hubby and I went apple picking last weekend, and last night I decided to make one of my all-time faves: Ina Garten's (aka the Barefoot Contessa) Homemade Applesauce. This is really a spectacular recipe. It's a little bit prep-heavy, but then you literally don't do anything else. You barely even have to stir!

It starts out looking like this (which already looks completely yummy if you ask me!)...

And after an hour of ignoring it and doing whatever else your little heart pleases, it looks like this...

And then you just stir it up to whatever consistency you prefer, and you get to eat this...

... and it's so yummy and cozy and comforting!

Here's the recipe - with a couple of adaptations I made.

Homemade Dutch Oven Applesauce

- 8 large apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or a little more depending on what kind of sweet/tart balance you want)
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. allspice

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven. Cover and cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Mix with a spoon or a whisk until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

Oh, and did I mention it goes great with gingerbread?

Echo Park Christmas Collections

2010-10-13T21:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a kind of tough day at work. So what better way to brighten a day than with some awesome mail! Sitting waiting for me when I got home: new *Lawn Fawn* stamps, and both of the *Echo Park Paper* Christmas collections! :) You're going to be seeing a lot of the stamps coming up very soon, but for today's post I decided to focus on the Echo Park collections.

No. 1: Merry Christmas

My card:

Supplies: Stamps - Gina K. Designs (Lovely Labels 2), Lawn Fawn (Bows and Holly) a muse art stamps (very merry christmas); Inks - Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Fired Brick), Colorbox Chalk (Chestnut Roan); Cardstock - Pure Luxury by Gina K. Designs, watercolor paper

My favorite things about this collection:
- metallic silver accents!
- music and text prints
- mix of red and burgundy
- awesome everyday-appropriate prints... houndstooth! argyle! polka dots! distressed solids (à la Basic Grey)! Oh yeah, and the music prints don't have words on them so they're year-round ready too!

No. 2: Everybody Loves Christmas

My card:

Supplies: Stamps - Gina K. Designs (Teatime), Lawn Fawn (Cozy Christmas); Ink - Memento (Tuxedo Black); Cardstock - Neenah; Misc. - Hero Arts Blush Mixed Accents, Copics, Nesties

(A note about this card... I colored the teacups thinking I'd use the image with Dear Lizzy Christmas items - like this and this and this! - but I just couldn't wait for StopAndScrap.com to ship my order. But the combo of pink/red and chartreuse/pine is perfect with this collection too. A super chic take on Christmas!)

My favorite things about this collection:
- non-traditional color palette - I love pink for Christmas!
- penguins!!! :)
- adorable and oh-so-versatile stickers
- more everyday patterns including polka dots, stripes, swirls, and things that could be snowflakes or could just be a cool medallion-type pattern

The bottom line:
Go out and get these collections. You will be having fun with them all year! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Penny Black + Get Sketchy + a review

2010-10-11T17:36:00.023-04:00

Today I want to share with you my thoughts about a new product that may interest any Copic colorers out there: X-Press It Blending Card. But I wanted to share my cards first in case you don't feel like reading today. :)

I've already shared one card I made with my very first Penny Black stamp set, Jolly Friends. I fell in love with their precious hedgehogs... but I have no idea how to color them! So I started with the mice and the snowman. Here are the other 2 cards I made with this adorable set.

(You can't really see in this photo, but I created an embossed frame by scoring at 1/4" all around the perimeter of the white mat.)

The next card is one I made for the Get Sketchy Challenge #59.

Now, Nichol Magouirk recently mentioned on her blog that she'd found a cardstock specifically designed for Copic coloring, called X-Press It Blending Card. I've been having a lot of issues with my coloring on Neenah Solar White cardstock, so I really wanted to try this new product out. I'd previously used Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury Heavy Baseweight cardstock and really liked how the Copics behaved with it; however, if you colored too many layers it would sort of bead up and not blend properly. I found a 10-pack of the Blending Card on ebay for a good price, and decided to give it a go. My first 3 cards using Penny Black stamps were all colored on it. Let me tell you, if you do any Copic coloring, you must try this product! It is so smooth and just really enjoyable to color on. Nothing bled or smudged or "overflowed the dam" as my Copic guru Jenn said. Nothing, no matter how many layers of shading and blending I added. Not even the dark red. That's a big deal. I did a lot of coloring with my Colorless Blender to get a subtle gradient of color on the mice and to shade the snowman. Eventually, the paper where I was coloring the brown mouse's face did start to tear and pill just a little bit, but I'd already said to myself probably five times that he was done and I should just have left well enough alone. :) So that's just something to be aware of. Another thing I found is that this cardstock smudges and shows little bits of dirt and schmutz really easily. So just make sure your desk and your fingers are clean and be careful if you're doing any ink sponging.

If you're lucky enough to have had a three-day weekend for Columbus Day, I hope you had lots of fun! Thanks for stopping by!

StampTV Center Stage Blog Hop

2010-10-10T18:09:00.001-04:00

Over at StampTV, the Center Stage Spotlight designer alumni have coordinated a blog hop using a sketch. I decided to play along.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

Supplies: Cardstock - Neenah; Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye (Alphabet Soup collection); Stamps - Gina K. Designs (Teatime); Misc. - Sakura Stardust pen (for the "gold leaf" on the teacups), Copic markers, buttons (pink - Papertrey Ink, blue - Basic Grey, yellow - Cosmo Cricket), American Crafts patterned masking tape

OK, OK, so I modified the sketch a little. But it's still inspired by the sketch and all the awesome CSS Alumni creations! I meant to put the teacups closer to the top and the horizontal strips closer to the bottom. So sue me. :)

StampTV Thursday Sketch Challenge 10/07

2010-10-10T11:03:00.000-04:00

This sketch is very different from my usual style. But that's the point of a challenge, right? :)

The hostess of the weekly sketch challenge is taking inspiration from her favorite cards in the StampTV gallery. So this week we just have one sketch, rather than the CAS/Beginner and the Layered/Intermediate sketches we've had for the past several weeks.

And here's my card:

Supplies: Cardstock - Pure Luxury by Gina K. Designs (Rocket Red, White), X-Press It Blending Card; Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket (Mitten Weather); Stamps - Penny Black (Jolly Friends), Lawn Fawn (Cozy Christmas); Ink - Vivid (Brick), Memento (Tuxedo Black, London Fog, Desert Sand); Misc. - Nestabilities Standard Circles Small and Large, Tsukineko Jumbo Sponge Daubers, Frosted Lace Stickles, Copics

This one was hard. I was thinking about it for a couple days before I attacked it. I kept thinking to myself, over and over, "I don't have a big enough stamp!" Then I remembered this adorable Penny Black mouse I'd recently colored and decided to channel my inner Tim Gunn and "make it work" no matter what... still thinking it'd be too small. Boy was I wrong! It's totally too big! :) But I still used the same layout, and I have to say the more I look at it, the more it's growing on me.

I'm considering giving this sketch another go. Maybe flipping it and making it a portrait card. We'll see. When all I have to work with are 6x6 paper pads, that's a lot of patterned paper to use up. But then again, in this sketch, more of the patterned paper is showing than if I used the same size piece as a mat to create a 1/8" border... Hmm... I guess I better put my thinking cap on again! :)