Blessings Banner

Just a quick card that I made to send to a friend who just had a baby. I love this sheep for baby cards and I love the banners that The Saltbox Studio has, so I merged the two. The banners make great frames for images, which I love because it does some of the "mounting" work for me. I used my Copic markers to make the sky a nice blue, too. SO easy and fast - just my style!

Hope you are not iced/snowed in wherever you are. My kids are on their way to school today after ice and snow kept them home yesterday. The new President thinks we are a bunch of snow and ice wimps in this area, but he'd better get used to it. People wanted change to come to Washington, but I don't think that is EVER going to change!

card info: sheep, banner, sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, notecard and ribbon by A Muse, black cardstock, Copic markers - warm gray no. 2, new leaf, robin's egg blue, pop dots.

Preschool Buddies at Age 9

My son has maintained friendships with two boys from his preschool years. In the past three months, they all turned 9. He went to both boys' birthday parties and they are able to fall right back into their old ways so easily. I just love that about these boys.

Well, one of them had a sleepover party last Friday. They were going to have cupcakes, popcorn and watch "Nacho Libre" before going to bed. In the end, they stayed up late and watched some other stuff on TV. My son didn't know all the boys there, but he had fun with everyone. He helped me come up with an idea for a card, saying it needed to be something for his buddy and something about a sleepover. Well, I remembered this amazing card that Jennie made a while back and totally copied her GENIUS! Here is my card:

*** The Time for Fun sentiment is on sale now!!! ***

It isn't quite the same, but the mom loved it and hung it up on her fridge :) That's a compliment in our house because everyone looks at the fridge multiple times throughout the day!

card info: notecard, pretty little paper, yellow paper, "popcorn", Time for Fun, Birthday Wishes by A Muse, pop dots, black pen.

This One is for Doris

Over in the *new* A Muse Lounge (click here and look for it right under the top scalloped line), a stamper named Doris asked for some ideas for using the Marvy flower punches. I had this idea in my head to make but it took me forever to get the time to sit and do it and then photograph it.

I very carefully inked up the "be" part, then stamped it, added the extra "e" by hand, cleaned the stamp and added "mine" to it. Since I have the large flower, I slightly folded up the petals so I could stamp the little bees.

I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them. My kids have lots going on, so my stamping time will be late in the day. I have some Operation Hero Mail cards that I want to do (a New Year's Resolution to make cards more often for deployed soldiers) and a swap to get ready to mail and some other super secret stuff... I've got lots to do!

card info: notecard, sentiment, bee, ribbon and paper by A Muse, Spica glitter pen, black fineliner, pop dot.

Saltbox Studio Color Challenge

Hey stampers! It has been busy here the last couple of days. My son hosted a friend for his first sleepover last night, so there has been lots of excitement here. PLUS, they have off today AND tomorrow for the Inauguration, so a four day weekend makes for a crazy household.

Anyway, on to the card for today. Some of us on the Saltbox Design Team decided to do a color challenge and we invited other members of the A Muse Creative Team to play along. The colors were Swiss Red and Cabana Blue.

I really am falling in love with this color combination. I thought it would great for a winter themed Valentine, so out came the adorable snow people and some hearts and some glitter and some ribbon... next thing you know, I've got myself a card! I think I'd let my kids send it off to grandparents in February.

Hope you have a wonderful day today! Be sure to check the blogs of Lexi, Jen, Mary Rose, Lori, Geeta, Novell, Sherry, Rhonda and Emily - they may have some cards to share, too!

card info: snow people and sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, notecard, paper 1, paper 2 and ribbon by A Muse, Copic markers - lipstick red, frost blue, warm gray no. 2, glitter by Art Institute, pop dots.

Thanks Snow Much

Last month, my husband asked me for a bunch of thank you notes that he needed for his employees. These needed to be winter-themed and fairly simple to mass produce.

I went with this quick card so that I could use up some older brown paper that I've had for about a year. I love this snowman banner from The Saltbox Studio (I inked up all but the hearts) because it is already framed, which keeps me from needing to mat the stamped image. I love a shortcut!

I also want to thank everyone who took time to leave me a comment regarding the new blog banner. It is so nice to hear from people, especially when it is someone who has never left a comment. I had a good time learning how to work in Photoshop, too, so maybe now I will do more with that.

Have a great day!!!

card info: notecard, blue paper, snowflakes, sentiment by A Muse, snowman by The Saltbox Studio, brown cardstock, colored pencils.

I'm Such a Copycat!

Taking a cue from Emily, I made a blog banner!  Emily recently remade hers using a card featuring one of the new A Muse ice cream images to better reflect the title of her blog.  I thought that since there was a Love Shack, I should make it a Stamping Shac.  It took a bit of trial and error, and me saying, "Um, honey..." a few times, but I finally have something that is acceptable.  I even found the perfect saying for stampers everywhere by meshing two A Muse sentiments.  Thanks for stopping by!

Treat Boxes for Valentine's Day

I was at Michaels yesterday and I happened to walk by the cake decorating aisle. Wilton, the cake decorating company, has a bunch of new products out now for brownies. There were special cutters, spatulas and other utensils, as well as some fun packaging ideas. One of the packages was a flap box for individual brownies. I looked at the package all over trying to figure out if I could reproduce one without buying it. It took some doing but I think I've got it! Of course, there is probably a source of this online. If you know of a site, please let me know!

It is a small square box that you make from a square piece of paper. Through my trial and error I made three different sizes. The largest one is from a 6" square, the medium is from a 5" square (cut from the same piece of 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock) and the tiny pink one is from a 4.25" square (half of an A Muse notecard). Here is a peek at the inside:

I managed to make each one have a slightly different closure, too. I just love the tiny one; it is the perfect size for one square of Ghirardelli chocolate!

Of course, I made little tags using the new chocolate assortment stamp. You can see everything now online, as well as in stores, so go have a look!  A Muse has some really exciting news, too, a new forum and Design Studio!!!  GO here to read all the details.  

info: paper, stamp, sentiment, ribbon and notecard by A Muse, Copic markers - walnut, sand, sepia, warm gray no.4, light suntan.

A SPARKly Sneak Peek!

On Friday, Heather shared her first Spark of 2009. It was to make a card using a non-traditional fold. I decided to use some of the lovely A Muse 8.5" x 11" paper to make a gatefold Valentine. I used that funky little shack for this one with one of the older Valentine's Day sentiments (on sale NOW).

Here is a look at the fold/opening of the card. It looks like a gate, doesn't it? The folding part, that is. Well, sorta.

And, just to be thorough, I figured that I should show the secret message inside, too. I'll probably give this one to my husband, who is known to some as Shac. We love the phrase "Love Shack" so much so that it is actually on our license plate!

These images will be released on Wednesday! Yippeeeeeee! New rubber, paper and ribbon!

card info: paper, image, sentiment 1, sentiment 2 and twinkle sticker by A Muse, black and kraft cardstock, bracket punch, colored pencils.

You're Sweet *sneak peek*

Ok, so yesterday I said that the milkshake was probably my favorite image. But this swirly cone is a very close second. And I mean close! I love ice cream so much, although, lately I haven't eaten it too much. It is in the house, mind you, it's just that it has gotten so expensive that I am trying not to eat too much.

Anyhow, the other night I was checking out the SCS sketch challenges, hoping to find a little inspiration. I found sketch number 209 and liked it. I decided to use the Scor-Pal that I received from dear Beth (thank you!) to make a textured background that mimicked the ice cream cone. I'm sure that I am not the first one to do this, but I haven't really looked around for other examples. I think it turned out okay. Maybe I could have sanded down the lines a bit to make it show up better, but it is too late now!

We are getting ever so close to the release of these images on January 7th. I hope you all are enjoying the previews floating around. I have seen some really neat ones. Stop by tomorrow for another!

card info: notecard, papers, swirly cone, twinkle stickers, sentiment by A Muse, Copic markers - sugared almond pink, tender pink, sand, sepia, pop dots, white Signo pen, Scor-Pal.

Random Things

Sorry to interrupt my regular sneak peek postings, but I just had a few moments and thought I'd share a couple of other cards that I gave as presents this year. I made multiples of these, as well as the cupcake background card, to a few people last month. This one was inspired by Jen, who lives in the land of Dunkin'.

This one was inspired by a color combination from one of the A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA events sometime last year. It is one that I wouldn't usually use, but I kinda like it! I'm sure it was Geeta's challenge since she likes purple. I made another card like this one back in June. You can see it here.

And, finally, just a close up look at the doggy couple from the card that was the sneak peek on the A Muse News blog yesterday. I told you the other day that I was working on using colored pencils better and this was another practice card.

Well, that is it for today. I'll have another peek tomorrow!

I'd Like One of Those, Please!

This milkshake/ice cream float has got to be one of the yummiest looking stamps I have ever seen. I just adore it so much! It was the first image from this release that I just wanted to create cards for over and over again. I am *not* kidding.

This card is really self explanatory, so I don't need to bore you with the details. It was so easy and it makes me so happy (and hungry). By the way, if you are in the DC Metro area, I know that I read on Angela's website that the new A Muse images are already in the store, so you don't have to wait until January 7th.

I'll be back tomorrow with another card!

card info: notecard, milkshake, sentiment, cherry, paper, ribbon and twinkle sticker by A Muse, Copic markers - warm gray no.2, lipstick red and blush, Spica glitter pen, black pen, label by Making Memories (really old!).

Love Birds *sneak peek*

So this is a pretty simple card, very little coloring, but I added a fun element to it: I punched the holes for the ribbon with a heart shaped hole punch. I think that it adds some interest to the card, but the holes are just a little on the big side.

I know that this particular image was part of a few sneak peeks yesterday, but I had it already done and photographed, so I don't have a new image to share. But, did you notice the notecard and ribbon? Those a brand spankin' new!!!! A Muse has taken some of the basic colors from the 4.25" square notes and transferred those to the 4-bar size. And the pink ribbon is a lighter shade than the popsicle pink that is already out there.

Have fun checking out the other new images today! I'll be back with something new tomorrow, too.

card info: notecard, birds, sentiment and ribbon *new* by A Muse, branch by A Muse, Spica glitter pen, scallop punch.

A Stamped Scrapbook *with a Sneak Peek*

One of the things I need to do in the New Year is to be more productive with the photos I take. I like the quick satisfaction that mini scrapbooks can give, so I have given up on the larger format. I finally got to sit down yesterday and put this mini book together. I am so pleased to have found the time to do it!

This album chronicles the annual cookie party that my family has. It started about seven years ago and we only missed one year because I had an infant in the house. I don't always get around to taking pictures once guests arrive, but I usually manage a picture of the table and some cookies.

I hurried through this book and forgot about adding a few things. I can probably go back and fix these things, or I can leave it go. One thing I need to add, though, is the invitation from this year. My husband wrote up a great little plug for the party and he got many compliments on it.

In the end, I just added lots of pictures from past years and a few stamped sayings were the perfect embellishment - better than many of the pre-made stickers out there - because I made them to match!

Here I added a little sentiment that I made using two different stamps.

Here is a wreath for the door cutout on the cover. I copied this (scroll down to the end) great idea by Linda. It is perfect!

With this one, it actually complimented the photo and I couldn't resist using it!

And, finally, here is your sneak peek for the day. This is one of the new sentiments being released for Valentine's Day from A Muse. There are lots of great sweet treat images and sayings this year, plus new notecards and ribbon! I'll be back with another sneak tomorrow...

paper, some ribbon and stamps are by A Muse, various other scrapbook items are from my stash of supplies.

Always a Good Time for Cupcakes!

Happy New Year everyone! I have a raspy throat this morning after attending a new year's party last night. I have not had much time lately in my craft room because of the seasonal goings-on here at the house. I love vacation when the kids are home, but this one has been so very hectic that my solo time has taken a hit. I plan on working on a few things today, though.

This was a card that I put into a pack of handmade cards for my sister-in-law. When she married my husband's brother, I gave her a stack of hand-stamped thank you notes and she seemed to really like them. My mother-in law suggested I do it again this Christmas, and I'm glad she did. It gave me an excuse to make some fun cards. This one was actually inspired by some Carter's pajamas that I saw a few weeks ago. I ended up stamping an entire 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock and then just cut it to size. There was just a bit leftover, so it was a good way to go.

I will be back tomorrow with some FUN! sneak peeks of the new A Muse Valentine's Day release. These images are so YUMMY (hint, hint). Hope you got some spending money for the holidays :)

card info: cupcake and sentiment stamps, notecard, paper, twinkle stickers and ribbon by A Muse, pop dots, Copic markers-sugared almond pink, salad, walnut, black pen.