Enjoy! *sneak peek*

Since I like baking so much, I figured I'd share another peek at the new Baking clear set that will be available on Nov. 3.

This is the lid to a wide mouth Mason jar that is filled with a cookie mix. I've seen those kinds of things a lot at craft fairs but usually the jars are not really decorated with much, maybe just a piece of ribbon. For this, I painted the ring and then coated it with Modge Podge. The sealing lid was only covered with cardstock, no paint and no Modge Podge. The stamped image is all one stamp and the sentiment is separate. The circle and dot frame fits perfectly inside the Mega Scallop punch by Marvy, which is awesome! It makes covering the lids so easy, especially if you find something like this at a craft fair, you can just spiff it up a little.

I'll have a look at the rest of the jar and tag tomorrow since I'm only allowed one sneak a day. But, I will try to get it out early in the morning, not so late in the day like today.

Baked With Love *sneak peek*

YAY!!! I am so excited to have a different kind of sneak peek with you.

I absolutely LOVE to bake. I bake all the time, too, just ask my hips. The other day I was thinking about making something to share with a neighbor - just a fall treat to help get her through her chemo treatments. So, I made gingersnaps and packaged a few to take to her tomorrow. I added this cute little tag to one of the bundles of cookies to dress up the plain plastic wrap. The stand mixer is one of my favorite images from this new set, probably because it is an often used appliance in my kitchen and I am gearing up for my cookie baking binge soon (if you are new to this blog, look here to see what I mean).

Thanks to everyone who has voted in the poll. It will be open for about a week, so you can still add your two cents. By the time the poll closes, I will preparing for a little trip to the great Northwest where I can pick up all my supplies at the new A Muse store! I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak peek!

papers, images and sentiment by A Muse, Copic markers - warm gray nos. 2 and 4, ribbon by May Arts

Holiday Quickie part 2

So, here is the idea that my husband had for my Rocket Elf card. I really like both cards and cannot decide which I prefer. Both were easy; this one, however, did require the use of my stamp positioner and I hand drew the smaller gifts. I am going to put up a poll over there on the right side of the blog. If you could take the poll and let me know which you like better, I'd appreciate it. Then I can get to work on more cards!

Don't forget, sneak peeks tomorrow :)

card info: notecard, Rocket Elf, tiny gift, Cityscape, sentiment by A Muse, stickles, Copic markers - pinkish white, lipstick red, powder blue, burnt umber, warm gray no. 2 and 4, new leaf, buttercup, crimson, robin's egg blue, Spica clear glitter pen, black pen, twinkle sticker.

Holiday Quickie

This is an idea I had for a Christmas card this year. I knew I wanted to use the elf and I knew that I wanted it to be a quick card. This probably took less than six minutes to make, so it is on the short list of possibilities. When I showed it to my husband, though, he asked if I had other images that I could use. So, I actually have another design in the works that I hope to share soon. Then, maybe I can put up a poll and see what everyone thinks.

I usually end up making two or three designs each year, just because I get a little bored coloring in or assembling more that fifty of any one design. Does anyone else do this? Maybe I am the only crazy one.

Speaking of crazy, I cannot wait to show you the SUPER  FUN clear stamp sets that A Muse is releasing next week. Sneak peeks start tomorrow, so check back!

card info: notecard, Rocket Elf, tiny gift, chimney, sentiment by A Muse, stickles, Copic markers - pinkish white, lipstick red, powder blue, burnt umber, warm gray no. 2 and 4, new leaf, Spica clear glitter pen, black pen, twinkle sticker.

Christmas Planner

One of the things I have been working on these past few nights has been a Christmas Planner. My mom had introduced me to a website called Organized Christmas a while ago. I never got around to looking at it for last year. Then, as soon as I saw Christmas stuff going out in the stores it reminded me of checking in on the website.

When I was poking around I found a bunch of Christmas Planners made by crafty people. There is a sister website called Christmas Planner that has lots of free downloads for Christmas Planners. I found a bunch that I felt would be helpful to me here (check out the "basic pages" section). I created a word document and pasted the .pdf files to fit four to a page so that I could make a smaller book. Here is a look at the interior pages:

There are calendar pages for November through January so you can add important dates right into your planner. 

I made a pocket page that holds some blank pages that I will use for my kids' wish lists.  I can pull these out whenever I go shopping.

There are also pages to keep your gift information organized.  I usually make gifts for teachers, secretaries, mail carrier, etc., so this is a good one.

There is also a section for a six week plan of getting organized that I printed out; I just forgot to photograph it.  I think that having this on the counter in my kitchen for the next two months will help me in getting things ready in a more timely and relaxed manner.  With these hopes, I planned the covers for this book to be reuasable.  All I will have to do is take off the binding coil and reprint the interior pages for next year.  Here is a look at the front cover:

I stamped the trees on a sturdy piece of acetate and added the glitter to the back side.  The frame I stamped and adhered it to the backside, as well.  The "2008" and holly was stamped onto the vintage paper which is the first page of the book.  I can change that for next year, too.  

I have already started to write in the little planner and I am looking forward to getting more organized this year!

Glorious Bats

Over the weekend I prepared 18 of these treats for the children in my Sunday school class. The lovely Stephanie from The Paper Garden was kind enough to email me a template for a strawberry container I had seen on her website. She included this bat template in the email, too. I was rummaging through stuff to make treat toppers and found this, then I found the brown velveteen paper that I had bought maybe 3 (or more!) years ago. These was surprisingly quick to put together and were a big hit with the kids and even some of the parents.

I have also been finishing up some of my Christmas cards and I made myself a little Christmas planner over the weekend. I will share that with you soon. I am hoping it will make me more organized this year.

Also, towards the end of the week, I have a few *sneak peeks* to share with you!

Apron Inspired

Back in August, my sister came for her last visit to Virginia. She had brought me a beautiful apron to wear when I was working in the kitchen. I tend to wear aprons, especially during these last months of the year - my baking season. As soon as she gave it to me, she told me to wear it while I was washing dishes at my parents' house. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that even though she was in a lot of pain and having a hard time seeing, she was thinking of everyone else. But, then again, it is the same kind of thing that I do (and I know it drives a few particular people crazy!), so I know it is genetic.

Anyhow, here is a look at the apron and a card that I created that was inspired by it.






card info: stamps and notecard by A Muse, ribbon by Martha Stewart and unknown source, Copic marker - raw silk.

Blog Filler

I've been having a hard time getting to this blog lately. So today, I just wanted to share a few cards that were made for Design Team assignments. You may have seen some of these on the A Muse News blog lately.



I was just looking for a new way to use the stack of books and thought of a student being buried under a ton of research. Research reminded me of doctors and scientists, and if I'm thinking of scientists and stamps, of course Boris comes to mind. I don't know if he's a stamper, but anything is better than all that studying!



This card was inspired from a trip we made a few years ago to the pumpkin patch where we took a hayride out to the fields and got to pull our own pumpkin right off the vine. Pumpkin vines are so long and winding that the seaweed was just perfect.




This card was shared just the other day. When I showed it to my husband, it made him chuckle, so that, to me, is always a good sign. The inspiration for this card is actually based on the annual Turkey Pardon by the U.S. president. You can find out more about the bird from last year right here. It is actually a pretty interesting little bit for kids, so you may check back for the new info soon. These lucky turkeys get to run all the way to Disney World!



Finally, this was the Card of the Week from last Friday. Some people have not received the latest edition, so if you need to, follow this link to sign up for a weekly newsletter full of great card ideas, special news from A Muse and get in on the birthday club!

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Late last week Lexi challenged the SBS Design Team to create a card with the new "tall pumpkin" image from this set. The challenge was to make it into a jack-o-lantern. I thought that it would be fun to make it into a flag/banner. I used the post top from a new image from this set and the flag outline from this set. I was glad to put so many sets together!

I like the overall look, but I am not completely satisfied. I have been away from my stamp room for a few days, so I might just be a bit rusty. I need to get back to creating some things just for fun and to play around a bit. I hope that I will be able to do that this week. I have some really *fun* new things to use for some sneak peeks for next week, so I hope to exercise my stamping muscles.

card info: stamps by The Saltbox Studio, notecard and papers by A Muse, scrap piece of ribbon, black pen, glue dots, Copic markers - warm gray no. 2, frost blue, apricot, grass green.

The Baking & Sewing Shac

This week, to keep my mind occupied, I decided it was time to get my daughters' Halloween costumes done. All three are going to be fairies. However, I only had one costume that would fit the littlest girl. So I've been sewing! I first worked on the oldest one's costume, because she knew what she wanted. I did ok with this, only two boo-boos, and a few minor adjustments to it, but she is so happy with it, so that is all that matters.



The second one was a bit different, but I had more success with it, not a mistake at all! I couldn't believe it. She wanted to be TInkerbell, but purple. So this is Purplebell's costume.



And, finally, yesterday was the youngest one's birthday. My baby is two. Her hair is getting long enough for short pigtails and she is talking and exerting her will. Here she is enjoying, and being highly protective of, her cupcake.

I will be back very soon with some stampy stuff. I haven't had much time this week to work on things to share. I guess I need a little motivation. Anyone want to see something stamped?

A Little Switcheroo

My daughter had been invited to an ice skating birthday party two weeks ago. She was helping me choose something to make a card for her friend and saw this ballerina. I looked at it and thought, "Hey, I bet this could be made into a skater!" I tried it out on a piece of scrap paper first and it looked do-able.

I'm sure that this pose may not be typical for a skater, but it was as close as I could get. My daughter loved it and said that her friend really loved that we had made it look like her in the spotlight (she has a skating dress that is red, like this one). I just get so happy when I hear that someone enjoys the hand stamped cards I make, don't you?

Don't forget to check out the A Muse News blog today to see the great Operation Hero Mail stamps, notecards and kits that are available. Happy day!

card info: notecard, papers by A Muse, image and sentiment by A Muse, glitter by Stampendous, black pen by Staedtler.

Land of the Free *sneak peek*

Here is one more card that features stamps from the new Operation Hero Mail clear stamp set. Again, I made this one really simple, no layers and just the tiniest of embellishments, the twinkle star over the "i" in America.

This card reminds me of one of the streets in my neighborhood. Someone buys every house a little flag and sticks it in the ground by each mailbox on Memorial Day. I don't know if it is our proximity to Washington, D.C., but we have lots of flag lined streets in the summer. Do you? I'd be curious to know if that happens much elsewhere.

stamps, twinkle sticker and notecard by A Muse, Copic markers.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon *sneak peek*

Here is another peek at one of the new images and sentiments from the Operation Hero Mail clear set. Actually, the tufts of grass are separate images, so I am giving you a look at a couple of new images. I combined those with one of the new tree images, but I added a yellow bow around its trunk. I haven't seen too many yellow ribbons lately, but I remember a few in my neighborhood a couple of years ago.

As you may have seen on the A Muse News blog, mail is extremely important to our armed services members. One of the reasons this card is so simple is to encourage ANYONE to make a card to send to deployed members of the Armed Forces. This card is very simple, no layers or embellishments, so kids and non-stampers could make cards. It would be a great community service project for kids and teens, too.

I hope you are getting excited about seeing this new set, as well as the printed notecards (aren't those fantastic?). I'll have more tomorrow!

all stamps and paper by A Muse, Copic markers

Operation Hero Mail *sneak peek*

In a few days, A Muse will release a terrific new set of clear stamps which are perfect for making cards to send to American service men and women. This set has some wonderful images and sentiments in it and I hope that you are inspired to use these to make someone's day just a little bit brighter. You will be able to get more information on it soon, but for today, I just want to share a sneak peek at what is to come!



I'm keeping it simple today. I've got a lot to do before I head out of town this weekend. I will have more to share, though, so check back!

Get That Table Ready, Part 2

Here is another idea for the kids table (you can see some fun place cards here). This is a pretty easy placemat you can put together. I fancied it up a little by placing cut circles across the edges, but you could leave it very simple and let the kids color in the images while they wait for supper. I was actually inspired by a Pottery Barn placemat that I saw in the latest catalog (or look here). I think because I am a former teacher, these kinds of things appeal to me. Kids are always learning, afterall. It could be a fun project to do from start to finish with kids, too, if you have the patience to let kids use your stamps!

Of course, the downside to this placemat is that it could get messed up by children. You may want to consider getting something like this laminated or placing contact paper over it. Is contact paper even around anymore? Maybe I am dating myself, but we used to have to cover workbooks with it when I was in grade school. Of course, that could have just been the nuns wanting the workbooks to stay clean and intact.

I hope to have something else for you tomorrow. What am I saying, it almost IS tomorrow here in VA!

all stamps are by The Saltbox Studio and A Muse, patterned paper by A Muse, too.

Get That Table Ready! Part 1

Last year, my family was together in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving at my sister's house. There was a kids table, so I made up some fun things for them. You can see the set up here. I thought I'd try out napkin rings for a more formal look this year. I think the tall pumpkin from the new SBS release is really a neat image. I stamped it on shrink plastic, colored it and punched it out in an oval shape. After shrinking, it fit perfectly on the smallest scallop oval punch. I cut a strip of cardstock, secured it with red line tape, and attached the ovals. It was really a quick to-do, so I could easily make more. I am working on a placemat idea right now, and hope to be able to share it soon.

Speaking of the SBS sets, check those out here. Look for TWO posts from Oct. 6 because you can enter to win a ***FREE*** set of stamps! All you have to do is leave a comment, but you need to do so before Wednesday. Good luck!

On a personal note, I know that many of you have been following my sister's health over the last 14 months. Sadly, she passed away on Sunday morning. I was able to be with her and her family this weekend, as well as my parents and siblings. I want to express a very heartfelt thank you to all of you who have inquired about her and have kept her in your thoughts and prayers. I may be absent from this blog some this week, but not for long. My sister said she checked in on me everyday through this blog and encouraged me to keep up the work, so I will.

Ok, here is #3

I love the look of falling leaves in the autumn, just not piling up in my yard! These leaves are so much prettier and involve less clean up and raking. And, repeated stamping gives you a nice piece of patterned paper to use. This is a great way to practice your coloring techniques, too, because each leaf is different and you can get creative with it. What could be better?

Well, I'll tell you what I REALLY like about this card: the font for the sentiment. I used to have a very similar font on my old PC, but I could not get it to transfer to our Mac. I was seriously pouting over that sad news. But now I have stamp sentiments with this font and I am so happy!!!

I'm making this short, just in case you are heading to another *sneak peek*. Have a great day and stop back by tomorrow!

card info: images and sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, papers by A Muse, Copic markers.

Sneak Peek #2

Inventive title from me today, eh? Well, I guess I am just a little tired. A couple of people wrote that they would like to see some more Christmas images, and one person requested fall images. So today I am sharing this great Christmas image and sentiment all-in-one. I love that this one is so simple that it can stand alone. However, I have had other visions of how to use it, but the ink and paper will have to wait for another day.

I think this card would be so easy to mass produce, aside from the metal eyelet embellishment. You could easily substitute a punched image or leave it out altogether. You could add ribbon or brads, too, to take it a step further. But, I am simple by nature and so are my cards!

Are you getting excited to see more images? Make sure to check out the other SBS designers (see them listed over there on the right?), as well as the A Muse News blog for more sneak peeks!

card info: image by The Saltbox Studio, notecards and papers by A Muse, Copic markers, eyelet tree by Making Memories, sickles.

Holiday Sneak Peek from The Saltbox Studio

Here is a new sneak peek for you stampers! The new release from The Saltbox Studio is coming next week and it is loaded with stamps for fall, Christmas and winter. If you like to color in your images, there are so many fun stamps for you.

I chose this Santa image to challenge myself on working with a larger image. He is far bigger than most stamps that I own, so even placement on a card was going to be tricky. But I really love his primitive/vintage look and I thought he'd go well with the A Muse vintage papers. The stars in the corners and the sentiment are also part of the release (I used too light an ink color for the sentiment; I'll have to fix it).

I will be back tomorrow with another peek for you. What would you like to see: more Christmas? new fall? or something for winter? Leave a comment and let me know!

card info: images and sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, papers by A Muse, glitter by Making Memories, Copic markers - pinkish white, blush, warm gray 2, lipstick red, light suntan.