More Paper I Wanna Eat

While I was in the mood for chocolate and patterned paper, I decided to go with something tinier. I love that little frosted cupcake and it made the cutest patterned paper! I just love the look of this paper. I know that there are probably lots of companies that make cupcake papers, but how can you resist making your own?

Here is a close-up of the sentiment. I really should have used white embossing powder to have it show up better, but didn't think about that until it was too late.

I hope you have a great day and find some time to stamp. I'm hoping that my sick three year old will actually take a nap today and then I might get some daytime stamping! Fingers crossed....

card info: notecards (french roast, natural and chiffon), ribbon, tiny cupcake and Cupcake Builder set by A Muse, Copic markers, pop dots, black pen, Stickles, punches by EK Success and pearl by Kaiser Crafts.

I Could Eat this Paper!

When I have some time out of the house and I can think clearly, as opposed to when it is quiet in the house and all I can think of is what still needs to be done, I like to think of how I can use my stamps in different ways. If I have enough of one theme or subject of stamps, making patterned paper is fun.

Naturally, my thoughts turned to dessert, because, frankly, I am always thinking about sweets. The Valentine's Day release from A Muse had all of those great "Sweet Shoppe" images and I had cupcakes galore, thanks to the clear mix and match set, so I came up with this yummy looking patterned paper. My seven year old saw it and actually licked her lips! The thought of so many varieties of chocolates and desserts might make your teeth hurt, but not me. I suppose that is why my dentist likes me so much.

By the way, there is a stamp giveaway going on at A Muse News, so hightail it over there and see what you could win by leaving a comment!

card info: notecard, paper, Sweet Shoppe images, Cupcake Builder images, tiny cupcake, sentiment and ribbon by A Muse, Copic markers, tag by Making Memories, chocolate pearls by Kaiser Crafts and black pen.

A Cupcake Kind of Day

Hi stampers! It has been a windy day here, almost like the beginning of March, so I've been inside most of the day. I have a sick one, again, and it is really frustrating that I can't get the germs out of the house.

But last night I got to get out of the house with two college friends to have dinner and go to a George Mason University men's basketball game. It was a lot of fun and a slugfest of a game. *I have been following this team for many years; I'm a big hoops fan!* I came home renewed! Tonight I have some fun stamping ideas that I want to try. Hope to have something new to share tomorrow :) But first...

A long while back, I stamped this cupcake card with a very simple layout that included lots of white space. I really liked it, so I made up a couple of others using other bits and pieces from the Cupcake Builder set.

These remind me that a friend recently told me about Duncan Hines cupcake mixes. The box contains about half the amount of a regular cake mix, so it makes just 12 cupcakes, perfect when you need your "fix." I saw a display of these at the grocery store this morning for 50 cents! This is what the box looks like; there are other flavors, too. It was very tempting, but I resisted today. Maybe next time!

card #1 info: papers, notecard, stamps and ribbon by A Muse, Copic markers, kraft cardstock, pop dots, Stickles.

card #2 info: paper, notecards (celestial, french roast, fern), stamps, twinkle stickers by A Muse, Signo white and silver pens, Copic markers, glitter by Stampendous.

I'm Not So Sure ...

I'm not thinking of my home as a sweet place to be these days. I've been absent from blogging these past few days because some stomach virus has been going through the schools here and the sickness hit our house over the last two weeks. Plus, my husband was out of town for a couple of days when the kids were sick. Plus, my kids had Valentines to make. So, I was stuck around the house most of last week. Thank goodness for my mom, who was able to come and help me a bit.

While I'm not so happy to have been in my house all that time, I do think this card is cheery. I used a banner but omitted the original image and placed a birdhouse on it instead. I love that I can make fun banners this way. I also tried something new; I stamped the sentiment and then tied the ribbon so that the words would show through the sheer middle. I think I like it; just not 100% sure yet. Overall, a "tweet" card.

I hope that you have had a great weekend so far. Enjoy the holiday tomorrow. If you are in the DC Metro area, don't forget that there is FREE admission to Mount Vernon tomorrow!

card info: notecard, ribbon, paper by A Muse, banner, birdhouse, pole and sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, colored pencils, Spica markers.

Snail Mail *sneak peek*

Hello all. I'm going to have to make this a quick one today. My husband is off to St. Louis this morning and my oldest daughter was sick (again!) overnight. Needless to say, things are going to be hectic!

Yesterday's card was the inspiration for this card. I thought making a snail on a postage stamp would be pretty clever (I'm not the only one; check out Jennie's sneak peek). For mine, I decided it would be funny to have the snail moving at a snail's pace across the card - can you see that? Then, I added a little snail slime behind him and added the year for the postage amount using numbers from the Cupcake Builder set. Add the sentiment across the top and drew in some cancellation lines and wham, bam, thank you, ma'am, it's a card ready to go!

Tomorrow is the day for these fun new images. Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!

I'm Thinking About Spring

Happy Monday! I've got another sneak peek for you today. There are only a couple more days until the entire Spring On It release is available, so I hope you are setting aside some stamping funds because there are some really "hard to resist" images and notecards this time!

When my stamps arrived, I immediately began to think of spring weather and all the beauties that spring brings, particularly, all the beautiful flowers that will be popping up soon. I love wildflowers, especially the little, unexpected blooms that just show up wherever. When I was young, my parents had a flower that they called bluettes that grew in their yard. These are super tiny and a very light blue with yellow centers. The new tiny flower image passes for a bluette in my mind, so I made a small patch for my card.

As I was doing this, I decided to add a scored line around the image to frame it so that I wouldn't have to cut any more paper. Then I used tiny scalloped scissors to cut the edge and it took on the look of a wildflower postage stamp, which led me to another postage stamp idea that I will share tomorrow.

We actually had some beautiful weather this weekend; both days were above 60 degrees! We were all outside playing and my youngest two were trying to dig in my front garden. It got me to thinking about all that I need to do to it this year. Some wonderful stamping friends, Ingrid and Mary Rose, have given me some wonderful advice and even some seeds (thank you both, so much!) for my pink garden. I can't wait to really be able to get out there to work. We have more warmish temperatures expected for the next couple of days, so I hope to enjoy it.

All We Wanna Do is Dance! *sneak peek*

Good morning everyone! Here is another sneak peek of some party chicks who "wanna party, they wanna get down, all they wanna do is dance..."

For the record: I am a complete moron when it comes to identifying musical artists with their songs. I am constantly embarrassing my husband when it comes to this. So, I have no idea who sings that song, nor do I know the title of the song or any more of the words, really. It is probably my biggest flaw in the eyes of my husband, who could easily identify any song or artist of any song from the last 25 years. Sorry, dear.

But, I digress. The card, right? You came for the card. These little party chicks just reminded me of those lyrics. I thought they'd be fun for a birdie birthday card, so I paired it with an older A Muse sentiment. I also used a brand new 4-bar notecard in orange crush (whoo hoo!) and some yellow flock to add a little fun detail to the card. I just love these chickadees. I'm sure I'll be using them lots and lots and lots!

I hope to have another *sneak* for you tomorrow. By the way, all of these images and new notecards will be released online on Feb. 11!

Garden Bunny *sneak peek*

How is everyone today? Did you enjoy all the sneak peeks yesterday? I saw some fun and creative cards and I'm looking forward to seeing more today.

So are you ready for another peek? This one is for the garden girl in your life.

I decided to make it really earthy with just a pop of color. And then I found these wooden buttons that seemed to go with the overall look of the card and it pulled the whole card together. I can't wait to send it off to someone.

Make sure you look around for more sneak peeks and come back tomorrow!

* PEEP Sneak! *

Yippee! I hope you are ready for a few days of sneak peeks of the forthcoming Easter/Spring release from A Muse.

I always get so excited when new stamps show up in my mailbox, don't you? Well, when these new stamps came, I could feel spring in the air and I am starting to look for crocus plants to start sprouting. I know it isn't even Valentine's Day, but I am ready for bright spring colors!

I also look forward to seeing little packages of pink and yellow sugar-coated marshmallow bunnies, peering up at me through cellophane. Then, I'll buy a pack, bring it home, and one of my kids will take a bite off an ear, just like these guys. Well, for PEEPS sake, poor little thing! Are we the only ones who excited for spring now?

Make sure to check out the other A Muse Creative Team members' blogs and tune in tomorrow... :)

new products featured: image, sentiment and buttercup notecard in 4-bar.

Romantic Birdies

I've been working with my bird images lately and have two quick cards to share today. One features birdies from The Saltbox Studio and one features birds from A Muse. Here is the first one:

I paired these two birds, just omitting the plants in one of their mouths, so it looks like one is bringing the other a flower - sweet and romantic. I hadn't even used the sentiment yet and I've had it for over a year! It just fit perfectly.

For this card, I used lots of dots and pink. The love bird couple is so cute. I love the little detail of one bird's lifted leg. If you've ever seen "The Princess Diaries" you'd know that it is the ultimate necessity for a perfect kiss (well, to the character, anyway).

Sorry to be so short, but I promise tomorrow will bring MORE fun and EGG-CITING stuff *wink*. See you then!

card #1: notecard and ribbon by A Muse, images and sentiment by The Saltbox Studio, quickie glue pen, glitter by The Art Institute, Copic markers - warm grays no. 2 and 4, blush, black and natural cardstock.

card #2: notecard, paper, image, sentiment, hearts, ribbons by A Muse, chipboard tag, pop dots, Copic markers - lipstick red, begonia, glitter by The Art Institute, black cardstock, quickie glue pen.

Want to Help?

If you are in a cardmaking mood, Geeta would love your help. She is spearheading a card drive on behalf of Operation Hero Mail and would love some help! You can read the details on Geeta's blog. You do need to register on the A Muse Lounge, so click here for that information (link is under the red scalloped line).

This is the card that I mass produced. It was so easy and simple and I colored it with colored pencils so that there was no marker bleed though on the back.

If you would like more card ideas, check out this link. Won't you help make a soldier's day and help?

card info: Operation Hero Mail kit by A Muse, colored pencils.