My friend, Gail, bought tickets to a princess party for her granddaughter's birthday and asked me if I could make a little something for her. "Just a little card" she said. Well, you know I couldn't do just a little card. I had to make this cute little purse for her to put the card in. I received a Big Shot Express from my DH for Christmas this year and I have been itching to make something with it. This was the perfect excuse. I used the Lizzie stamp from A Muse Artstamps and cut out the letters using one of my Sizzix alphabet dies. Was wanted to try the "lace" border look using a border punch and my crimper. Well, hello, it is so cute! I used a piece of striped ribbon for the handle. Gail and her granddaughter thought it was really cute. Can't wait to see what I make next with my new toy.
Spring is on it's way! Really! My next A Muse class is called Spring Fling. It has been really strange to make Spring themed cards in the middle of Winter. Today the wind chills are going to be in the 20 below 0 range. Brrrrrr! I think I will stay inside and pretend that the grass is green and the birds are singing.
My card today is one that I will be teaching at my class. I used a little shaker cup made by Impression obsession. They are nifty little cups that have the adhesive on them so it makes a super easy shaker card that isn't very deep. I used up some of my paper scraps and punched out tulips, butterflies and birds for the stuff inside. Stamped the zinnia flower and put it all together. Then I made a little frame with my circle Nestabilities. Easy, right?
A few weeks ago, I ordered some adjustable craft tables. I have been having some problems with my back hurting after a day of crafting and I thought if the table was higher, I wouldn't be hunched over while making cards. Well, as you can see, the tables arrived! I got a good start at getting all my stuff reorganized and set up again. Guess that explains my absence from blogging. I am hoping that this new, more comfortable craft space is going to get me back to making some fun things to show you. I did get my Valentine class all designed with the new Sea of Love A Muse stamp release. These stamps are so much fun and a welcome break from the usual hearts and lace Valentine images. Hop on over to the A Muse Artstamps website and see for yourself and then sign up for one of my classes! Thank you for being so patient with my lack of blogging over the holidays but with my daughter being home and then the reorganizing of my craft space, I just haven't had time to do it all. More fun stuff to follow, I promise!
Can't believe it has been so long between posts! I guess I had a good holiday and just let some things go. My daughter was home and we had plenty of fun with her. After that, I had a big New Year/post Christmas party here at home. All my relatives came over to my house on a bus from Green Bay. Yup, I said bus! It was really fun and thanks to some of my online friends, Jill, Heather, Kim, Rhonda and all the gals that sent recipes, everyone had a great time eating and talking the night away. But to have this party, I had to take down all my crafting stuff. I know! It was a nightmare but I have it partially set back up and am ready for some cardmaking fun.
Starting the new year out with my calendar. It is always so much fun to design my yearly calendar class. Had a bunch of fun ladies take it this year. Always makes me smile to see everyone have a good time stamping and chatting. So now I am sharing it with you all. If you would like to download the template go over to the A Muse site. You can download the calendar for a small donation to Water 1st. It is a very worthwhile cause. While you are over there, check out the new Valentine release. There are a ton of new stamps! I will be posting some of my cards soon so stay tuned.
Hope everyone had a great holiday and has the best New Year!
I love tags! They are easy, fun ways to make people smile. This month the A Muse News blog is featuring tags and I was thrilled to be able to participate. This snowman stamp is "cool" don't ya think? I did and I used this one stamp in three different ways. He comes juggling snowballs so the middle tag is using him the way he was intended to be used. I cut it off in my photo but there is a bit of ribbon attached to the left side of this tag. Makes it look so wintery and uses up tiny bits of leftover ribbon! The "especially for you" comes from the new Monogram Frames clear set. This set is really versatile and so much fun to use.
The tag on the left is made with the navy card stock. I inked up the snowman without the snowballs and used the Merry Christmas from the Elegant Winter clear set. This sentiment comes with both words on one line but part of the beauty of the clear sets is that you can cut them apart! I know! I cut the two words apart and voila! a Merry Christmas that fits perfectly between the outstretched hands of the snowman. A little Quickie glue pen and some glitter provides the snow drift background.
The tag on the right is made with the Coluzzle ornament plate. Again I inked up the just the snowman and added the little gift stamp for something for him to juggle. This tag is super simple, you could make a ton of these in just a small amount of time.
Be sure to check out the A Muse News blog for more tag ideas.
Last weekend my friend, Theresa asked me if anyone can play my Chicka Challenges or if it was only for Chickas. Of course I told her that the challenges Jane and I post on our blogs are open to anyone to play. So, get out your stamps and play along. It's fun!
The challenge this week is to use Santa in a card or project. So fitting, don't you think? Christmas is almost here and Santa plays his part so Jane and I thought it would be fun to see what everyone would do with him. If you don't have a Santa stamp feel free to use any other mythical creature stamp. Now, I don't even own a Santa stamp so I asked my friend, Lyndsay if I could borrow hers. This one is made by A Muse Artstamps as is the tree background and the Christmas tree. I wanted my Christmas tree to be out in the forest all decorated for the animals to enjoy. Not sure my little snowdrift is exactly what I wanted but I am hoping you get the idea. Have fun with this challenge and post when you get a chance, here or there!
Thank you to Victoria for playing along again this week. She always has such cute cards. Check it out!
The Thanksgiving party is over and now the shopping begins! Did anyone find a great bargain out there on Friday? The Chickas tried to craft shop but the lines were long and our patience was thin so we will try again another day.
I was supposed to create with the other half of the Chicka challenge but seems that Jane is overwhelmed today so we are going to have to try another day. Hang in there Janie!!! I'm sending cyber hugs across town to you!!!
This week's challenge is thanks to my little brother, Dan. It is his birthday on Wednesday and he loves monkeys. I find a different monkey stamp each year to make his card. So, your challenge this week is to make a card with a monkey or any other cuddly animal. There are tons of fun animal stamps out there so bring one out and create something playful and fun. So post here or there after you make your masterpiece!
Thank you, as always, to all the wonderfully talented ladies who participated in last weeks challenge, Anthonette, Victoria and Glenda. I am always surprised at all the talent out there.
