CraftyEngineer

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2010-10-12T08:08:00.001-05:00

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DEAR blog readers....

2008-04-25T06:27:00.003-05:00

My dear, supportive blog readers...

It's time for me to move on.... TO TYPEPAD, that is! Come join me over at my new home....

www.craftyengineer.typepad.com

I hope to see you there. Don't forget to update your subscriptions, readers, etc.

I'll be sharing sneaks over on my new blog starting tomorrow (Saturday!)

Thanks blogspot... it's been fun!

Stamp Salado Elzybells Class this Sunday!

2008-04-21T10:50:00.004-05:00

I'll be teaching an Elzybells class (Elzybells North America are distributed by A Muse Artstamps) at Stamp Salado in Salado, Texas this Sunday from 1-3pm. The class is called Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! Doesn't that sound like fun? Here is a sample of one of the cards we will be making:

Call the store at (254) 947-8848, if you are interested!

Hope to see you there!

Paper Tales!

2008-04-21T06:44:00.003-05:00

I'm excited to tell you that my fellow A Muse Instructor, Michelle White and her friend Helle Greer, are opening up Paper Tales in San Diego, CA on May 1st!

The store will carry A Muse products and more! Be sure to check them out! I wish I could be there...looks like so much fun!

And I heard that Linda will be there on May 31st for the Grand Opening!

Be sure to check it out, if you can!

VMAA #2 - ONE WEEK from today!!!

2008-04-19T08:26:00.004-05:00

By now, you've probably seen this news on the A Muse blog and/or the A Muse Weekly Newsletter. If you haven't, VMAA #2 (Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts) will have their 2nd online stamping party next Saturday evening from 6-8pm Central.

Michelle, Jennie, Rhonda, and I will be the hostesses for the evening. We'll have challenges every 30 minutes. You won't want to miss it.

SO... go to the Addicts site, register (for free) and come read all about it.

Oh... and sssshhhhh..... I have a secret, too... it will be revealed next Saturday night ;)

Stamp Room Organization - A Muse-ified

2008-04-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

If you haven't seen my studio, here are pictures of it from a while back.

Well, I did this back in the beginning of March and I really haven't finished but apparently, this is as good as it will get for a while. I've reorganized my studio to be more A Muse friendly. I had SU! stuff at all of my fingertips and not the A Muse stuff so much. Since I'm doing A Muse stuff more these days, I thought I should make it more accessible!

A Muse Stamps:
3 drawer organizers from Target. Perfect size for the stamps.

A Muse Ribbon:
The little holders on top of my stamp containers. They are from the Container Store and called Stack n Store, I think. I've seen them at Bed, Bath and Beyond, too.

Copic Organization: I "treated" myself and got the wire stand. I didn't think I wanted it but it's one of my favorite things. Sits right in front of my workspace.

Note card and Pretty Little Papers Organization:
3 CD black wire holders from Target. Dividers made by hand :)

Twinkle Storage:
$0.99 basket from the travel section at Target

Colorbox Cat Eye Storage:
In an empty SU! box (ok, 2 of them)

Marvy Punch Storage:
All of my Marvy Punches are in a drawer in my desk (my SU! ones are in another drawer). But I have these standing on end in a sock drawer divider from the Container Store. The Giga punches are a bit big and bend the dividers but it works well enough to not tip the punches over when I get one out.

Non A Muse Ribbon:
A ribbon holder I got off the internet two years ago for $39... holds 1 million spools... ok, not really - has 9 dowels and holds A LOT

Scraps:
I keep all of my scraps of A Muse notes in this basket right by my workspace. I reach in there first to get whatever I'm looking for. The basket seems to work well for this purpose. Most times I don't even have to go to the main stash except for the card layer!

Quick Tools:
Scissors, Quik Sticks, Handheld punches, brushes, etc. are stored within reach in a Pampered Chef's Tool Caddy thing. I love this thing.

As for stickles and glitter and such, those are on my spice racks right in front of my workspace above the Copics.

All of my SU! stuff is on my other table ... and that's the part that's not done from the reorg!

I've been working on some other organizational stuff that I'll post soon. But that's it for now...

Thanks for hanging with me on this really long post!

Another card from the It's A Girl Thing class

2008-04-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm teaching my first ever during the week class on Friday morning. It's another session of the "It's a Girl Thing" class that I taught this past Saturday. It will be at Memory Depot on Friday from 10am-12pm. Please call the store if you're interested! (326-8045)

Here is another sample from the class... it's using my new Fiskars Threading Water Punch... OOOHHHH I love that thing!

I'm so used to teaching technique classes (twice a month, every month for the past three years with Stampin' Up!) that I decided to show a couple of different techniques in this class. The ladies loved it on Saturday! Thanks ladies!

We're branching out to use some of the new clear sets from A Muse at this class too. The copies that were reserved for the Saturday classes were snatched up!

Images, Ribbon, and notecards from A Muse Artstamps; colored with Copics, Fiskars Threading Water punch, Adirondack Pitch Black

Little Boys!

2008-04-14T08:23:00.002-05:00

This month Becky is spear-heading efforts for the A Muse weekly newsletter's new section called "Masculine Cards". For this week's cards, our assignment was to make cards for little boys! Easy Peasy! I have two of those.... boys, um, not cards! :D

I did a card similar to this one a while back for my nephew, but I really liked it so I thought I'd showcase those stamps again. I love the sentiment: "Happy birthday little dude". My oldest is almost 6... and now, he's a little dude! When did that happen? Anyone invent a "stop the clock" yet? I'll even take the "slow it down" version!

Images, notecards, pretty little papers by A Muse.
Billy the Kid, Balloon Bouquet, Little Dude

Stamp of the Week!

2008-04-13T07:00:00.004-05:00

Every week over on the A Muse Addicts forum, my dear friend Jennie comes up with a brilliant Stamp of the Week Challenge. This week, one of the stamps is the Eiffel Tower. I made a card about a month ago using this stamp. Here's what happened though... I wasn't feeling particularly inspired or crafty... so I made myself create something just to get the ideas flowing. This was the first card of a stack of 5 or 6. The last ones I did I really liked. I'll share those sometime soon. But I wanted to play along with the SOTW (stamp of the week) because I don't always get to! So here it is...

What do you do to get your creative juices flowing? Sometimes I just clean up my studio and that all by itself makes me want to create! But sometimes, I just force myself... like here. And then sometimes, I just watch a movie instead!

Just Mom!

2008-04-12T14:26:00.004-05:00

Oh my goodness! Have you seen this week's A Muse newsletter? Such GREAT ideas in there. I'm sure to CASE some of those! Haven't signed up yet? It's easy - sign up is free, then once a week an email comes right to your inbox with the Card of the Week, the NEW Oldies but Goodies section, the ideas for Masculine cards, the featured stamps, classes around town, and even a stamping tip! ALL FOR FREE!!! Go signup today - treat yourself... you'll be glad you did.

Well, I am so excited and honored to have two cards in the newsletter this week. The first is for the Oldies but Goodies section. This month the Oldies but Goodies section is hosted by my friend and fellow instructor, Michelle Clark. She picks out what stamp we are to use and then we go forth and make something! This week she picked SUPER WOMAN! That is certainly a must-have stamp. She's so useful! In fact, we used to at my A Muse class this morning. I'll share that card later next week! But for today, I wanted to show you my card from the newsletter.

I was trying to think of something "unique" to do with her and this popped into my head. As you know, I'm a SAHM of two smallish boys ... and my other SAHM friends and I always talk about how we get so much done in short spurts of time, etc. That alone got me thinking about how moms are SO busy all the time. It's because we do so many jobs and play so many roles... That's where the inspiration came from.... and the A Muse stamps fit in so well for this idea...

All images and notecards by A Muse Artstamps; Copics; Spicas in pink and Melon; Copic Black Multiliner; Foam tape

Just for fun I thought I'd list the images that mom can be:
Superwoman
Dr. Blackwell
Flower Girl
Shopper
Elyse
Little Girl
Runner
Kissing Couple
Rainy Day Lisa
Florence
(and then the "just because" stamp with only the "just" inked up)

I hope you like this card. It was certainly fun to make it!

Good luck, Jennifer!

2008-04-11T10:53:00.004-05:00

My friend, Jennifer, is a civil engineer. Today, she is taking the Professional Engineer Exam! It's kinda similar to board exams that Doctors and Lawyers have to do - not really but kinda... When I graduated from college, I studied for a while to take the exam. You get a "license" and become a "professional engineer" (title) afterwards. Well, my degree is in Electrical Engineering and I wrote software for my "job". Software engineers don't really need licenses... in fact, one manager told me back then that I "didn't want" to become a PE. Really? Why not? Well, his point was that once you are licensed, you are held accountable - i.e. can get sued more easily than without it if you mess up. Well, the nature of software is to have mess ups! LOL! So, I opted not to do that and don't regret it for a moment. Jennifer, now she's a civil engineer. Those engineers, typically, do get certified. ANYWAY, I sent Jennifer a card the other day... to wish her the best of luck on a hard exam.

Good luck Jennifer. I'm thinking about you today!

GREAT NEWS for Bloggers!!

2008-04-09T15:01:00.002-05:00

I'm so very excited about this. I just had to share. You know how those typepad people can "schedule" their posts whenever they want. For example, they can write up a whole bunch of posts and set them to "post" at a later date. Well, us blogspot bloggers can't do that.... EXCEPT now we can!!! It's in "draft" mode still... meaning it's still in the test phase. But I tried it out this morning with the Spring Chick card! YAY! It worked.

So, go here... and do it yourself. I might actually be able to post more regularly now!

Spring!!!

2008-04-09T11:00:00.002-05:00

Here is another card from the Spring Bling class that I taught at Memory Depot a couple of weeks back. It's a pocket card and very easy to do with the A Muse notecards! The notecards are wonderful because all the cutting and scoring is done for you! Love that!

This little chick is, of course, flocked. I seem to be flocking anything around here these days. So much FUN!

Then when you pull on the ribbon, the inside comes out to reveal this:

"You're still a SPRING Chick!"

Love that saying, too. Geez, when did I become the age that that seems appropriate to give to myself or my friends. Hmmm.

VMAA #2

2008-04-08T16:07:00.002-05:00

SAVE THE DATE: April 26th 2008 8pm CST

Lots in store for our 2nd Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts! Have no idea what I'm talking about? Well, head on over to the A Muse Addicts forums at www.amuseaddicts.com... registration is free and then you'll be in the know! You won't want to miss out... tons of fun.

And sssh.... we have a secret that will be revealed that night. :D

Happy Birthday, My Friend

2008-04-08T06:39:00.004-05:00

My friend, Michelle, had a birthday on Friday. And by now, she should have received this card. I hope. :) We had lunch sans children at California Pizza Kitchen. Yum! It was nice to not have to cut anyone's food!

She likes Pink so pink it is, um, with a splash of purple :D. This little party chick quacks me up (ok, sorry... couldn't resist!). I flocked her with the new Sunshiny Yellow Fun Flock.

Happy Birthday Michelle! I hope this year brings you lots of laughter!

All images, cardstock, pretty little papers by A Muse Artstamps;
Adirondack Pitch Black; Copics Lemon Yellow, Begonia Pink, Apricot, Cool Shadow; Spica Pink Glitter Pen; Quickie Glue Pen; Fun Flock; White Sharpie Poster Paint Pen; A Muse Sheer Ribbon Pink; Fiskars Threading Water Punch; Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle Punch; Marvy Mega Scalloped Circle Punch

A Muse Class this Saturday - It's a Girl Thing

2008-04-07T01:03:00.004-05:00

I'll be teaching "It's a Girl Thing" this coming Saturday, April 12th at Memory Depot in Austin. We will be making cards for your girlfriends! Call the store to reserve your spot today.

Here is one of the cards we will be making.

Hope you can break away from your busy schedule and join me.

A Muse Newsletter?

2008-04-06T23:04:00.005-05:00

Are you signed up to get it? No, why not? Oh my goodness, it's CHALK full of ideas and tips and such. Go here and sign up... it's free! And you know what else? The newsletter comes out weekly and Linda posted this on her blog the other day... did you see that? Subscribers get exclusive access to sales!! WOHOO... who doesn't love that? Go... now... sign up.

So this week's newsletter has two new features it in. I am excited to share with you one of the cards I did for the Oldies but Goodies section. My good friend and fellow instructor, Michelle Clark, picked Seattle Girl as a stamp we were to design with. Oh boy was this fun! :D

I wanted to showcase Seattle Girl doing something more than walking in the rain. So, I made her jump in the puddles. "oh what fun!"

It's hard to see in the picture but her umbrella and raincoat have diamond glaze on them to make them shiny! And the new clear twinkle stickers in the tear drop shape are perfect for the splash that I wanted to show.

I hope you get a chance to see this week's newsletter. There are lots of great ideas in there.

Sneak Peek - Day Four

2008-03-29T08:26:00.003-05:00

Happy Saturday! Are you enjoying all of these sneaks?

All of these new images will be available from A Muse Artstamps on April 1 (or maybe March 31st if we're lucky!). Be sure to check out Linda's blog then!

My next door neighbor takes my son to school every morning. Her daughter and my son are in the same kindergarten class. Anyway, she drives him to school. And just recently she started doing yoga. I think for the end-of-the-year, I'll give her a gift certificate for more classes or something. But this card was inspired by year and might just become hers!

The weather here in Central Texas is beautiful these days. I think we must be in the middle of our 2 weeks of Spring! I've seen some bluebonnets around as well as some Indian Paintbrush. But not that much though since we didn't get much rain last Fall. So, when I was making this card I thought wouldn't it be fun to do yoga outside on such a pretty Spring Day?

Sneak Peek - Day Three

2008-03-28T07:56:00.004-05:00

A quick post today!

Here is my sneak for today. The doodle flowers image in the corners is not new but it is "new-to-me". But I thought the Happy Mother's Day sentiment (which is new) needed to be showcased.

Hope you like it! Have you seen all of the other sneaks?

Card details: Images and cardstock by A Muse; Colored with Pink Spica Glitter Pen (doodle flowers), Marvy Heart Punches, White Sharpie; Foam Tape; Adirondack Pitch Black

Happy Friday!

Sneak Peek - Day Two

2008-03-27T07:52:00.004-05:00

Here is my sneak peek for today. It is a very simple card. I wanted to keep it simple and clean. The image is called Tutu and will be part of the release by A Muse on Monday! I made the tutu "layered". Can you see it? It looks fun in real life. I don't know that I captured it in this picture. The overlay is actually vellum cardstock.
Pink and Purple. You have to use PINK for a tutu card, right? Isn't that a rule or something? I took ballet for about 6 weeks when I was little. Then I remember it as being "yanked out" of it and put into the predecessor to brownies. I'm sure it was like that... um, now that I'm a parent. I'm sure it was a whole lot of "I don't want to go to ballet". INSERT whiniest voice ever here. Can you imagine me "whiny" as a kid? Yes, that is a rhetorical question...

Card Details:
All images by A Muse Artstamps and Elzybells NA (sentiment)
Cardstock by A Muse
Vellum by Stampin' Up!
Colored with Copics, Spica Pink Glitter Pen
Quickie Glue Pen
Adirondack Pitch Black Ink

Sneak PEEKS!!!! Day one.

2008-03-26T11:08:00.006-05:00

I didn't think I was going to make it in time to show you a sneak peek today! But I finished this card just now...

In case you don't know, A Muse has a release coming out soon! Many of the A Muse team have sneaks on their blogs... check 'em out. I think there is a list going on the Addicts site of who has sneaks up!

On to my card...

This card is using the new "ballerina" stamp. One of my favorite memories of my childhood was a little music box, that when you opened it, it played "Music Box Dancer" and it had a little ballerina that twirled. That was my inspiration for this card.

Card Details: All images and cardstock by A Muse artstamps; Twinkle Stickers, Colored with Copic Markers, Ovals for the spinner cut with Creative Memories Cutting System, Stampin' Up! Small Oval Punch for the sentiment; Adirondack Pitch Black ink pad, Nylon thread

And in my true geekyness spirit, I had to show you how it spins... click on it to see it spin.

Hee hee hee....

Quick! We need to make 91 Baby Shower Invites...

2008-03-24T10:36:00.006-05:00

We need to make 91 Baby Shower Invites...
and mail them out tomorrow. Well, that was last week. And we did make 91 baby shower invitations in a little less than 2 hours. And they did get mailed out soon thereafter. My friend Michelle, the one who's sister is getting married (those are the wedding invitations from a few posts ago) was in charge of "doing" the invitations for an upcoming baby shower. And time got away from us and all of sudden, we had to get them done. Michelle almost gave in to just printing some on some paper. WHAT? No way! ;)

So, we kept it simple. And she and I are pros at the assembly line. We work well together. I do the computer stuff (get the wording printed out just so) and all the math and cutting :). She does most of the stamping while I'm doing the cutting part and then we do the assembly together. Hey, that doesn't seem quite fair does it???!!!! Actually, it's fine and it works well. And we have a great time doing it, which is all that matters to me.

The honoree is having a baby boy. We needed some kind of embellishment and we didn't want to tie 91 ribbons. Or punch eyelets. Or brads. Or... you get the idea. Then I remembered that I had the old retired Stampin' Up! Diaper Pin Punch. Yippee! Perfect.

We used all Stampin' Up stuff... the dilly dally jumbo wheel, the retired diaper pin punch, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery. BAM! DONE! We didn't have a lot of time to make them extra detailed but they still are HAND MADE and I'll pick that any day over store bought! What do you think?

HAPPY EASTER!

2008-03-23T15:58:00.007-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

We had an eventful day yesterday. In the morning, I taught the Spring Bling A Muse class. Then in the afternoon, my family and SIL, BIL, niece and nephew walked across the street (yes, across the street!) to join in our annual neighborhood Easter Festivities. There is a petting zoo with chicks, ducks, bunnies, goats, pigs, and even a horse. The Easter Bunny made his annual appearance and apparently my 2 year old is EXTREMELY scared of the Easter Bunny. Extremely freaked out... so we would go somewhere else and the Easter Bunny followed us! GOOD GRIEF Mr. Easter Bunny... Ok, so he wasn't following us but my 2 year-old sure thought he was. There was a balloon artist, 2 face painters (my oldest son got this cool dragon on his arm!), and a juggler (complete with flame batons!). The face painter asked my son if his dragon should have bubbles or fire coming out of his mouth. He said "FIRE, duh... (ok, he didn't say "duh" (thank goodness!) but he inflected like that). Seriously what dragons do you know that have bubbles coming out of their mouths? Of course, there was the Egg Hunt, too! We use most of our 'hood for this and break it down by age groups. Quite fun!

Happy Easter to all of you....

Happy SPRING!!!

2008-03-21T16:12:00.002-05:00

Here is another card we are going to make tomorrow at Memory Depot at the Spring Bling class!

Have a super weekend! And Happy Spring!

Wedding Invitations

2008-03-19T14:45:00.003-05:00

My friend, Michelle and I are great at the assembly line process! We can crank out a bunch of anything once we figure out what to do. Well, it seemed only natural that we would do the invitations for her sisters wedding, right? The hardest part is always figuring out what to do. But in this case, Michelle had lots of time to design what she thought would work. Rose Red was the chosen color. The hardest part of the whole thing was trying to find Rose Red ribbon. We didn't. So we made our own. Remember this post about dyeing the ribbon and then baking it in the oven to heat set it? Well, that's what we did... we took SU! Very Vanilla Wide Grosgrain and dyed it with the Rose Red reinker.

We did the invitations, RSVP cards and we even made her a stack of thank you cards (very elegant ... with their Mr & Mrs names on it).

Here is what the invitation looks like close-up. I, of course, blocked out all the personal information... 'cause you know how I am about that!

Here is a close-up of the RSVP card...

Don't they look professionally done? We did 60 of them. It's hard to see some of it because it was a WINDY day in Central Texas when I photographed them!

New classes added

2008-03-17T17:24:00.001-05:00

We've finally worked out the details and got our schedules to mesh... I have my new classes listed at the top of my blog in the "Teaching Schedule". Please note that I'll be trying something new this quarter and teaching some Friday morning classes! I hope that you can make some of these new classes!

Spring Bling Class on Saturday

2008-03-17T16:40:00.004-05:00

This Saturday is the day before Easter. It's also a day that I'm teaching a Spring Bling class at Memory Depot in Austin. The class is from 10-12. The other day we added a few more slots to the class and there are 3 left, I think. If you're available, I'd love to see you there. I really had fun making up the sample cards for this class.

Call MD at 326-8045 to reserve your spot. You'll be glad you did!

Here is one of the cards we will be making on Saturday. I was inspired by Jennie's layout on this card.

Another Easter Card...

2008-03-15T08:43:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm teaching an Easter Eggstravaganza class at Memory Depot and you betcha we're going to use flock!

I found these little plastic bottles that I bought from a LSS that was closing a few years back. They are marked $2.99 each (they are just an 1.5" high!). I know that I bought a whole ziploc bag full for $2. Anyway, I decided to put the flock in there for the class today rather than using the original container. If you have ever used flock, you know how "messy" it is. I had visions of it accidentally getting knocked over and flocking everywhere. Anyway, the white flock in this little container looks awfully suspicious! "But officer, I SWEAR it's fun flock!" LOL.

Here is one of the cards we are going to do today...

Stampin' Up Hostess Club

2008-03-13T09:56:00.011-05:00

For February's Hostess Clubs (yes, February!), I showed 3 techniques. We did 3 cards and 3 technique cards for our technique books. My technique book is getting pretty full... I've been teaching the technique clubs for almost 3 years and we do 3 each month. Here's a picture of what my book looks like ... I've shown this before but some of you might have missed it...

Anyway, for February, we did the 3 techniques. One of them was totally inspired by my A Muse co-moderator, co-instructor, and generally very talented friend, Jennie Moczan. For our first VMAA back in February, she did a card (for my challenge, in fact!) that had "Faux Suede" on it. So, I had to learn and then teach this technique. Of course, I wanted to use the A Muse recliner but instead had to find something that would work with SU! stamps. I picked the Wild About You set and decided that an elephant could be suede-y. Aren't elephants more leather-y than suede-y? Well, for a baby card, they are suede-y. You heard it here first! :) Can you see the texture on the elephant?

The next technique we did was Stained Glass. I have wanted to teach this technique for a long time... ever since the hostess set On Angels Wings was around. And then I waited patiently for the "right" stamp set to come out to get the maximum effect for this beautiful technique. Yeah, well, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for but I did like the results. We used the current Level 1 Hostess Set In the Garden. It's a beautiful flower. Love the size of it, too.

Finally, for the third card, we did the stipple technique with stipple brushes. I completely CASED this card from Leeann Greff, or flowerbugnd1 on SCS. Thanks Leeann! I really liked her card using the Voila set.

Three more to add to the book!

Spring Break, New Camera, and No Voice

2008-03-12T10:39:00.006-05:00

It's Spring Break here in Central Texas. And it's about to kill me. Not really but it feels like it. Everyone is home for the week. DH took off so we could all be together. Everything is going really well... except 3 of 4 of us are on antibiotics for sinus infections. Can you believe that? The two boys and I are all suffering although they seem to be getting better (they've been on them for a few days longer than I have). I have that ANNOYING tickle cough. And my voice is trying to leave me again. Hopefully the meds will kick in and I can continue to be chatty Cathy soon :).

Anyway, enough whining... So, remember I got a new digital SLR camera for Christmas? Well, I did all the research for 3 or 4 months to get one that would work with my old telephoto SLR lens that I already had. It's a really good lens. In fact, they don't make a comparable zoom for digital cameras unless you want to spend $2K and up (no, mine is not that expensive!). Anyway, the more common version of my digital camera worked with the old lens but didn't auto focus, etc. So, we upgraded to the more professional version. And yesterday, I finally got to take it out for a spin. Oh my. I am in love.

We went to Sea World in San Antonio yesterday. It's just about 1 1/2 from here and well worth the trip. We try to go down there once a year or so. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip.

We had a great time. It was fun to watch the boys faces light up when they saw Shamu. And we got to feed the dolphins. I've wanted to do that for a long time. It was the perfect time to go... not hot, not cold, perfectly Sunny, and not very crowded! Yippee!

Easter Class this Saturday!

2008-03-10T10:14:00.004-05:00

Can you believe Easter is less than two weeks away?

There are a few slots left in the Easter Eggstravaganza class at Memory Depot this Saturday. We'll be doing 6 cards all in time for Easter!

Here is one of the cards we'll be doing. Yes, that little chick is flocked!

I hope you can take a moment off from Spring Break and join me!

The gift.

2008-03-07T21:30:00.005-06:00

My DH's work built a new site and moved from the SE part of town to the SW part of town in the middle of January. We're very fortunate about this. Now, his work is only 2 1/2 miles from home! So, he's talked about riding his bike to work forever. And now he can do it.

Insert idea here!

Actually, I thought of getting him a new bike for Christmas but I couldn't get the logistics worked out in my head. And since his birthday is in March (and he wouldn't ride to work in Jan or Feb anyway!), I decided to wait until now.

Oh wait. Same logistics. Hmm. Here's the dilemma... Buying a bike for my DH is not the same as buying one for a kid. The is a 99.99999% likelihood that I'd get the wrong one even if I got the right size, etc. So, then I should get a gift certificate, right? No. Gift Certificates lock him into a particular place and what if he doesn't want that place. We're talking lots of money for a new bike. And well since his money is my money (LOL), really there is "no" point to doing the "wrong thing". So, craftyengineer, that I am... decided to enlist the boys and make him a bike!

Step 1: Find a suitable box. My dear friend, Michelle, gave us a large cardboard box.

Step 2: Open up the box and freehand a bicycle on it!

Step 3: Enlist some cheap labor to paint it!

Step 4: Voila!

DH thought it was funny and exactly what he wanted! Yippee!

I lied.

2008-03-06T20:57:00.003-06:00

Apparently.

I realized late this afternoon that I had to make a card for my DH because I had this flimsy paper gift certificate to give him and I needed something to put it in! LOL!

I just received the A Muse clear set, Birthday Builder last week (I've wanted it FOREVER but it get it until now!). What a perfect set for those times when you need to say Happy 40th or need any numbers for any reason!

My card is VERY SIMPLE because I had less than 5 minutes to make it. Seriously. I did a tall card (4.25x11). The inside has a little strip of cardstock across the bottom to form a pocket to hold the gift certificate in.

Images by A Muse
Card stock by Stampin' Up! (Glorious Green, Basic Black, Whisper White)
Ink by Stampin' Up! (Glorious Green, Gable Green)

Happy 40th Birthday Dear DH!

2008-03-06T10:35:00.004-06:00

Today is my DH's 40th birthday. Happy, happy birthday!

I've struggled with making him a card all week. Sometimes I get bogged down with the it "has to be perfect" card and I end up making nothing. This is one of those times. I just can't figure out what I want to make besides the "happy 40th" type of card. I think I'm thinking TOO HARD.

So, in lieu of a birthday card, I'd like to share a card I made BECAUSE of my husband rather than for him. I suppose I can give it to him, too.

My DH is an awesome singer and guitar player. It's just a hobby of his but anytime he does it, it brings tears to my eyes. So, the other day as I was CONTINUING in my efforts to reorganize, I saw one of my FAVORITE A Muse sentiments... love the font, the style, and of course the wording. You know it was one of my first purchases during the A-Muse-a-palooza contest last summer... you remember AMAP, right? Where one lucky person got FREE A MUSE STAMPS FOR A YEAR!!! OH MY... I WISH! Anyway, this stamp is an oldie but definitely a "GREATIE"... (yeah, I know that's not a word, as jen pebbles says "thankyouverymuch").

Back to the card... listening to my DH play his guitar and sing and make beautiful music is one of my life's simple pleasures.

Dear Husband.... happy birthday, rock on and thank you for bringing music into my musically-challenged life.

All images and note cards by A Muse. Colored with Copics. Guitar is covered with Sakura Glaze Pen.

Party Central.

2008-03-05T21:48:00.003-06:00

I spent my "morning off" (both boys at "school") running around trying to find a WIGGLES cake! OH MY! When my oldest son was 2 (almost 4 years ago) and when my nephew turned 2 (almost 2 years ago), the Wiggles were SO in. Ah, not so much on March 5, 2008. I had the hardest time finding a place to make a cake (oh, well, I didn't want to spend $50 on a cake by a professional bakery for a 2 year-olds birthday!) Anyway, I even thought I'd just buy the little decorations on top and then get a regular 1/4 sheet cake and put them on there. Uh no. Anyway, turns out Sam's Club does the Wiggles still. AWESOME. Wait. I'm no longer a Sam's member... you guessed it... Costco. FRICK! DOUBLE FRICK. So, in my moment of high blood pressure-ness as I was sitting in the SAM'S PARKING LOT today, contemplating running in and becoming a member all to get this blasted cake (which would have cost me more than the fancy schmancy bakery if I did get the membership!) and then speeding what-would-have-to-have-been-illegally to get to my son's preschool on time, the RATIONALE side of my brain KICKED IN. Thank goodness. Geez, it amazes me how wrapped up one (ME!!!) can get in these things. It's like "sorta-wanting" a stamping toy and then find out that it's sold out at your favorite shopping place. THEN you spend HOURS and HOURS and pay more shipping JUST to get this thing that you weren't even that gung-ho about to start with -- but it was sold out, so it must be that good. I called my SIL and she saved the day... she is a member of Sam's ....

Wow! Where did that rambling come from? Oh, right... party central. Two immediate family birthdays back-to-back. Who's flippin' idea was that? So. My DH is one of the 2 having a birthday. And well neither of us was up for a birthday party! In our eyes, when you have small children around, all we ever want to do is go chill out at a movie at our favorite movie/dinner place with our friends. So, that's exactly what we'll do. Spring Break is here next week and we'll do some day trips and such to celebrate some more. Drag it out, I say. Celebrate until you can't anymore. Isn't that a good motto?

Okay, so last night I'm in my studio trying to make a few QUICK cards. That's my *new* thing... I didn't actually go in there until 11 and by 11:30 I made 3 different cards! WOHOO. Gotta love that. So, this card... it's an invitation to our friends about the movie thing. It's kinda late to send an invitation (but they already know about it!)... the "main" reason was that I need one for my scrapbooks! OF COURSE I DO! It's a big birthday and we have to scrap it (well, someday "I" do).

I used my ticket corner punch to guess what? make tickets! HA! I colored the popcorn with my Copics and then added Lemon Spica to the popcorn to give them that "oily" :) look. I used my clear Sakura glaze pen on the bag itself to make it shiny. Add a couple of the NEW clear A Muse Twinkle Stickers and call it done!

More from party central tomorrow...

A No Coloring-Adult Masculine-Sketchilicious-Good Things Come in Threes Card

2008-03-04T14:07:00.003-06:00

10 days later, I finally get this card done. Actually, no, I got the card done on Sunday... Just now getting to post it! :D

Remember our first A Muse VMAA 10 days ago? Well, clever Michelle had a bright idea to do all 4 challenges in one card. She is clever, that Michelle. And we offered it up as a bonus round. Then we (the Fab 4) decided at the spur of the moment (i.e. DURING the VMAA when Michelle told us about it) that we'd give the bonus round winner, our challenge combo card. GOOD IDEA. WAIT. UH... I didn't make one. Neither did Jennie or Rhonda... but those ladies are super fast and super talented, so they got theirs done right away and posted.

Well, Kim Linley won the bonus challenge and she will get our cards... mine went postal today, Kim :)

So, here's my card. Go figure. I did another coffee theme - almost identical to the card I did for Rhonda's sketch layout. I must have had it in my head because I didn't realize they were similar until I finished this one!

Do you notice something different about this picture? More about that later.

All images and card stock by A Muse.

Happy Birthday Dear Nephew!!!

2008-03-02T22:04:00.004-06:00

My DH has a lot of nieces and nephews (6!) on his side of the family. I have one! And today is his birthday. He turned 7! He is 15 months older than my oldest and it truly is fun to see my 2 and him together playing! He lives only 20 miles away so we're lucky that we get to see him pretty often.

Do you remember 7? I have memories from before age 7 but 7 is about when they become solid. I remember A LOT of year 7... second grade.... oh yeah!

Anyway, I made up a card to mail to him even though I saw him yesterday. Little kids LOVE to get fun mail (don't we all ;)?) so I thought mailing it would make his birthday last longer! Of course, I didn't mail it until yesterday.... uh oh.... oh well, it will make his birthday last longer this way. Right?

Here's another card that makes me LOVE A Muse... think simple, think A Muse..... My life these days are pretty busy...

The first two weeks of March every year are my 2nd busiest time of the year after the week of Halloween. Yeah sure, Christmas is a busy time but it's not packed in quite like these two weeks are. Three family birthdays in 5 days, the Spring Break around here, then it's Easter... and BAM! the month is done. GOOD GOLLY!!!

Back to the card.... My nephew loves horses so I thought maybe he'd like Billy the Kid. The Balloon Bouquet fit in his hand, too. Voila! Love that! I colored in the balloons with my Copics and Spicas and then covered them with diamond glaze.

Happy Birthday dear nephew!

WHY I LOVE A Muse!!!!

2008-03-01T22:16:00.000-06:00

So, KNOW why I love A Muse so much? I did 6 invitations from start to finish in 35 minutes last night (including printing the inside stuff). AND I am pretty happy with them!

If you ever had small children around you in the past at least 5 years, you've heard of the Wiggles! My youngest turns TWO... yes, TWO on Friday... that's 7 days from today. LUCKILY, I'm a big advocate of small, home parties. In fact, we have a "rule"... you can only have as many kids at your party as how old you are... so, in this case 2. For my older son, cousins and his brother don't count (he figured that out last summer!). But my younger one doesn't know any better yet ;)... So, he has 2 cousins in the area (young ones not adult) and his brother - makes 3 .. but well, you know how it goes with family. So, our party is next weekend and it's mainly family so it's okay that I haven't done the invites yet... right? Actually, I mailed them off this morning.

Now, my older son told me we need to do a Wiggles party for my younger one. Ok. Hmm. Wiggles are about 4 men in bright colors that sing and dance. Ok. Now what? So, when Linda did this awesome card for my VMAA Masculine challenge last week, I had to get the A Muse drum set. Ok, now I have the rockstar and the drum set. Hmm. Well, I decided to go simple. I was just going to put the drum set on the front and say "you're invited" and call it good. Then I had an a-ha moment.

Here's the final card:

The Wiggles colors are blue, yellow, red and purple. And their logo is that splat shape. Anyway, I really liked how they turned out. They get the message across, they still are kid-like and MOST IMPORTANTLY, they're done! :)

Images: A Muse drum set and you're invited; Karen Foster Snap Stamps for "the Wiggles"
Card stock: A Muse and SU!
Accessories: Copic Markers, Adirondack pitch black ink, SU! real red, SU! brilliant blue

Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy... Have a Wiggle-y Day!

Baby Gift

2008-02-29T23:32:00.001-06:00

I don't think I've shown this yet (apologies if I have.... the mind.... ah...).

After having my first son, I realized that "time saving" gifts are the best for moms. If I don't have time to make something, I like to give this to new moms, too. That definitely isn't "cutesy or cozy" but the first time the new mom has to change the sheets in the middle of the night, she'll thank me!

I "always" like to give thank you notes to an expectant mother, if I have time to make them. A friend of mine is expecting a baby girl here in a few short weeks (short to me... not so much to her... don't you remember... pregnancy is about 4 weeks TOO LONG). Anyway, I missed her shower a few weeks back because I had an A Muse class that day or a kid birthday party or something! Geez, can't even remember why I missed it!

So, the night before (are you surprised? Really?), I decided to make her 25 thank yous. I printed the baby's name (named after both grandmas...how cool is that?) on the card stock and then I used my cuttlebug to emboss the baby feet. BABY FEET are my all time favorite baby image. I used my scallop scissors on the bottom to add a little girly to the card. I like the simplicity of this type of baby thank yous. Very elegant but still baby. I figure she'll have a long time of doing the cutesy type of baby stuff but you don't get to do "elegant" baby for very long after the baby is born! KWIM?

I ran out of the baby pink gingham midway through this project, which is so unusual for a hoarder like me! Thank goodness, my neighbor, Amy had some for me to borrow! THANKS Amy!

Anyway, Heather, I hope you liked them and I hope that you have a safe and uneventful delivery! Can't wait to meet her!

Another Elzybells card

2008-02-26T15:15:00.003-06:00

You may remember this card from sneak peek week when the Elzybells Friendship collection were about to be announced. Well, I changed it ever so slightly and we actually did it at the Elzybells class last Saturday at Memory Depot. When I first did the card I used a regular old Xacto knife. It was tedious but the end result was worth it. Still not something I would do in a class environment. Well, then the owner of Memory Depot was showing me this new Fiskars tool one day and A HA! I thought I could teach this card.

The tool is called Fiskars Finger Tip Craft Knife. I think it retails for under $5. But the cool thing is that it slips around your index finger and you end up holding it like a pencil. MUCH more control than the old style xacto. Have you tried it?

I now use mine to make masks and such... whenever I want to cut away part of an image, I stamp the image on a post-it note, cut out the part I want to, then stamp however I'm going to, and then store that post-it with my stamps or on my bulletin board for easy access!

Michael's Coupons Now Online!

2008-02-24T19:58:00.003-06:00

Have you seen this? I read on SCS that Michael's is trying a new program with online coupons....

Michael's Coupon

Just for Friends - Elzybells Style Card from class

2008-02-24T06:47:00.005-06:00

Thanks to all of you that came out to Memory Depot yesterday for the Just for Friends - Elzybells style classes! I had fun and I hope you did too.

I already showed one of the cards we did in this post. Here is another one we did...

Her dress is covered in Art Institute Crystal glitter! Very sparkley! Isn't that saying one of the best? Celebrate your inner princess.... LOL

Good Things Come in Threes

2008-02-22T21:21:00.005-06:00

And can you believe we're on challenge 4 already??? HOW FAST 2 hours can go when you're having so much fun. The girls and I can hardly keep up with all the fun!

Jennie is bringing in our party.... Challenge #4 over on amuseaddicts.com for our first ever VMAA..... Did I mention there are prizes? Oh, you can't play right now? Well you have until 8pm CST tomorrow (Saturday) to enter!

Challenge #4.... Good Things Come in Threes
The idea is to have 3 of something on your card...

Here is my card...

Know anyone having triplets and all boys? :D

All images, card stock, and ribbon by A Muse

Don't you love the new stitched ribbon from A Muse?

So, how did you do? Did you get all four done in 30 minutes or less?

Sketch-a-licious!!!

2008-02-22T20:47:00.005-06:00

Challenge #3 is brought to you by Rhonda. It's called SKETCH-A-LICIOUS! She created a very cool sketch for all of us to try over on amuseaddicts.com for VMAA!

Here is my card... can you believe it's the FIRST time I've used the polka dot coffee cup! I've had it for a long time!

All images and cardstock by A Muse

I colored in with my Copics but then I put used the lemon spica on the dots and a Sakura glaze pen on the cup to make it look ceramic. Here is a close-up:
Are you having fun? Let us know!

You Da Man!

2008-02-22T20:18:00.005-06:00

Here it is challenge number #2 brought to you my yours truly! VMAA is underway over on amuseaddicts.com. Are you over there playing with us?

When I thought of this challenge, I thought geez it would be nice to get some more ideas for manly cards.... I'm not talking about little boy cards. I'm talking about ADULT Masculine cards. Then I tried stamping... Yikes. What a hard challenge this was for me. I think it's because I wanted to do a "serious" card. Well, I ended up with two cards... Let me know what you think!

Card #1:
So, I was going for the serious one here. I liked it when I did it and then I slept. And I'm not certain it's what I was going for. I saw a card done by Mark of Deadbeat Designs (local Texas artist) and he did the road thing that way so I had that in my mind. Problem is that my road doesn't really go anywhere.... I thought trees would seem "mature" and manly.

All images and cardstock by A Muse

Card #2:
I don't know a sole that golfs. It seems like engineers golf but I don't know any. Anyway, I used PENCILS on this to color... haven't done that in a long time! I used my new pencils...Koh-I-Noor Woodless Colored Pencils
They are one of Linda's favorite things and they work wonderfully.

All images and cardstock by A Muse

Are you enjoying our first ever VMAA? Let us know what you think!

Don't Color Me Baby!

2008-02-22T20:02:00.003-06:00

Tonight is our first ever VMAA = Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts! And the party has started!!! Are you over there? No, go register and join in the fun!

Up first is Michelle's challenge.... Don't Color Me Baby! (know where that is from? ;))

Here's my card....

I, of course, grabbed my "go-to" stamp... spiral daisy. I *love* that stamp. Last week, I was at Michael's with a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket so I decided to get my very first Brilliance dew drops - in JEWEL TONES... HELLO? Aren't those my signature colors?

Look at this shimmer.... ooh, I *love* them. JULIE=> Why didn't you tell me about these ;)?

Oh, and Michelle, GREAT challenge and I used *purple*. LOL.

FRUSTRATED and behind....

2008-02-22T14:18:00.003-06:00

Okay, I'm so dog-gone (insert your own non-preschool, colorful terms here) FRUSTRATED. If you know me in RL, you know that I just can't stop until I fix the problem. Well, being a SAHM (mom), EMAIL is my link to the world beyond diapers and Pok-e-mon! And this week has been a really quiet email week for me... WHY? BECAUSE APPARENTLY NO ONE HAS RECEIVED ANY OF MY EMAILS SINCE MONDAY????? WHAT????

So, I've been working on this all day... and some of last night. I called RoadRunner (my ISP) and then pointed the finger at Mozilla's Thunderbird (my email reader of choice). Told me to use Outlook Express.... so I tried that. Changed ONE, YES ONE option and now Outlook Express won't EVEN LOAD for me. I *despise* Microsoft products.... especially today.

More research... and guess WHAT I THINK IT IS? I found documentation to support this - but I'm still testing.... MY SIGNATURE LINE is being blocked by my ISP as spam.... NOT Mozilla you goons....

Anyway.... GUESS WHAT TODAY IS????

I copied Heather (who copied me! LOL! THANKS HEATHER!) for this info:

OVER ON THE A Muse Addicts Site.... Tonight we have our FIRST VMAA - virtual meeting of the A Muse Addicts...

9-11pm Eastern
8-10pm Central
7-9pm Mountain
6-8pm Pacific

Wait ... what the heck is a VMAA you ask? Every little detail you could ask for can be found on the A Muse Addicts forum:

"VMAA will be a time to test out your stampin' skilz but more importantly just have FUN with your fellow A Muse buddies. We are going to have some challenges and you'll have a time limit to do it in. And of course there will be prizes!"

Thanks for listening... OH and if you're waiting for an email from me or I didn't respond to something all week.... please resend!

Good grief.

Elzybells Class this Saturday

2008-02-20T14:45:00.004-06:00

A few slots left in each session of Just for Friends, Elzybells style at Memory Depot this Saturday. Call Memory Depot at 512.326.8045 if you're interested!

Here is one of the six cards that we'll be doing there!

We're going to use Copics, Spicas, and a new cutting tool! :)

Hope to see you there!

Behind on so many posts....

2008-02-18T20:21:00.006-06:00

So, I'm way behind on posting stuff. My dear friends Rhonda and Jennie have nominated me for stuff and tag me and I haven't kept up!

First, thing I'm behind on is Rhonda nominated me for the You Make My Day Award. I'm going to cheat and nominate AND tag some people (at the end of my post!)

Thank you so much Rhonda. That is super sweet of you! You make my day, too!

Next, Jennie, nominated this little ol' blog of mine as E for Excellent. Jennie, that is so nice, coming from you, who has a great blog!

Finally, Rhonda tagged me again... but she promised this tag game wasn't mean! So, I'll give it a shot....

Stamping Style - Simple (and elegant, if need be)
Inspiration - JulieHRR... simple and elegant.
Color - Regals... Tanzanite, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, etc.
Work space - I have a stamp room that is currently being reorganized!
Perfect day - Sleep in (don't all moms say this), play with kids, stamp the rest of the day, go have dinner and watch a movie with DH at the dinner/movie place we love
First job – Social Director at a Nursing Home
Wildest dream – I'm already living it!
Family – DH, 2 boys, 2 papillons (dogs)
Beverage - Diet Coke, Starbucks MOCHA Frappucinos! (bottle kind!), and Mango Margaritas
Biggest challenge - can I say these tag games? oh no, ok... when i was a practicing engineer, being a woman in a industry full of men was more challenging then it should have been.

So, I'm supposed to tag some people to do this... of course, I'm late doing this (as usual).... So, if you've done it already, skip it. If I didn't list you, please feel free to play along anyway!
Kim
Lexi
Tracy
Connie
Jen
Karen
Pamela

Sneak Peek #5

2008-02-18T07:29:00.003-06:00

Here it is ... the last of the sneaks for this release. The release is TOMORROW! WOHOO!

So far all of my sneaks have been with the new Elzybells. Today's sneak is with one of the stamps from the A Muse release.

This card uses the new Chocolate Kitchen Note Cards and the Cabana Blue Stitched Ribbon. Aren't the bunnies cute? And you guessed it.... they are FLOCKED and fuzzy and fun! I used White Fun Flock on them.

Be sure to check out all of the sneaks. Not one is the same! And tomorrow you'll be able to find all the new stuff on the A Muse Blog and the Elzybells NA blog.

Sneak Peek #4

2008-02-17T07:46:00.003-06:00

Happy Sunday!

Here is my card for day #4 of the sneak peeks.

I used my rectangle nestabilities on here. But isn't the image perfect! You can color it in or make it sparkle or just leave the Spring untouched. I used the quickie glue pen by Sakura and covered the Spring with crystal Art Institute Glitter. This is my favorite note card - the Kitchen Purple. PURPLE!! YAHOO! And it has papaya stitched ribbon on it. I love that vibrant color and I'm so not a yellow person!

A Muse and Elzybells NA will release on Tuesday, Feb. 19th. Be sure to check it out. If you have a LSS that carries A Muse and/or Elzybells, check them out because they might have received their orders already!

Sneak Peek #3

2008-02-16T00:17:00.004-06:00

Day 3 .... are you finding them all? Have you seen all the new notecards and ribbon? Boy, I can't tell you how much I love it all.

Here is my sneak #3. The image is from Elzybells NA. And guess what? The little chick is FLOCKED. Sorry... I just can't stop flocking these little guys. I used my Spicas on this card to make it all sparkly. What I love about this image is that it is just perfect all by itself... it's a sentiment and image all rolled into one! And I like the pink kitchen notecards and I'm not a pink person! Such a good color for the Spring!

Hope you like it! Be sure to check out the rest of the A Muse Crew. There are several sneaks around! All of the new images, notecards and ribbons will be available on Tuesday, Feb. 19th from A Muse or the Elzybells NA blog.

Oh, and this card happens to fit this week's challenge for our A Muse Addicts! Who knew! If you haven't joined us yet, please come on over. We have lots of stuff going on over there!

Sneak Peek #2

2008-02-15T00:01:00.004-06:00

Here it is... sneak peek day #2... have you seen the other sneaks from the rest of the team... I counted 13 yesterday!

So by now you may know that this release from A Muse and Elzybells NA is not just the wood mounted stamps!!! NEW PAPER, NEW RIBBON, NEW CLEAR SETS.... WOHOO!

Here's my number #2 for the sneaks. Again, I flocked the little one... Love that stuff. Oh, wait, I said that yesterday....

All of the new products will be released on the A Muse website on Tuesday, Feb. 19th!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! A treat for you...

2008-02-14T00:03:00.007-06:00

ROSES are RED,

VIOLETS are BLUE,
I have a special sneak peek
JUST FOR YOU!

Today is the first day of sneak peeks for the upcoming A Muse and Elzybells Easter/Spring Release! There are all kinds of new things!!! All of the new products will be released on Tuesday, February 19th from A Muse Artstamps.

This image might very well be my favorite of the new ones. I'm not certain just yet. BUT lookie what I did to those chicks.... The ARE flocked! Oh boy! Oh boy!

So, how do you like the new note cards and ribbon!!!! Oh MY! Have fun looking at all the sneaks today!

All images, paper, ribbon by A Muse Artstamps
Accessories include Copic Markers, Fun Flock (yellow), Giga and Mega Marvy Punches, SU! Oval Punches

I am a packrat.

2008-02-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

First, let me start by not talking about that. LOL. I want the world to know that I am so sad. My 5 year old had to "do his own" valentines this year. It was his homework! WHAT? When did this happen? I thought it was my "motherly-craftyperson-don't.have.any.girls" right to do his and his brother's class goodies forever and ever?

Well, fine then. I do have to say I'm extremely proud of him. I did punch out some hearts for him because the Giga Scallop Heart is a little hard for him to push! But then he took 1 white heart (mega sized) and taped it to the red heart (giga sized), wrote the "to (friend's name)" and "from (him)" on all 21 of them. Then he taped all of those to V-day pencils from the $1 spot at Target. He got them done early and took them to school last Thursday! I didn't even get a picture!

So, back to the pack rat thing. Last September, I bought oodles and oodles of crayon boxes after school started and the back-t0-school sales hit. I ended up giving 22 boxes to the kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago. I was going to give them to them at Halloween... I forgot I had them. Then Christmas... oh wait, we found something else to give them... so I knew I'd give them at Valentine's. Only problem is the class needed them earlier. Well, good thing I gave them out earlier because I wasn't doing his valentine's this year (who says I'm bitter?). Well, I still had some left for son #2. And I still get to do his valentines!. Now, son #2 is not 2 yet. His class consists of 8 kids, including him. I was just going to do something simple like punch some hearts out and stick it on top of these tiny play doh cans I seem to have an endless supply of (See definition of "packrat"). But then I remembered that I did the playdoh thing with these kids. Sheesh. Opened another drawer and there were the crayon boxes. Um, next to 30 little red pails. Those pails were for a class last year that I didn't use them. Hmm, how can I make something cute, clever, FAST and for 2 year olds? Did I mention that it is for tomorrow? Yes, Wednesday.

Here's what I ended up with.

All images by A Muse.
Ribbon from Michael's and May Arts
Pails from Oriental Trading Company.

It's probably good enough for 2 year-olds, right?

Did you see Linda's blog? Something about sneak peeks coming soon.... :)

Stampin' Up Hostess Club

2008-02-12T15:58:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm still having these. In fact, these are the cards from January! Hello? It's about to be the middle of February. We're we just talking about New Years Resolutions?

My SU! clubs are fun! The ladies in them are so fabulous and eager to learn and so tolerant of me!

For January, as we do every month, we learned 3 techniques, did 3 cards and 3 ATC-style (although bigger) technique cards to save for future reference.

The first time I saw this technique done was by my friend, Jody Morrow, aka TexasJodyLynn. It's called Corner Rounder Criss Cross, at least that's one name for it on Splitcoast. It's basically the same technique as making scallops with the SU! corner rounder but then overlapping the ends.

All SU! supplies used here. There is Dazzling Diamond Glitter on the heart.

The second card (left) demonstrates the faux rimmed tag technique.

This card is actually (I think) the only card I've ever CASED from the SU! Catalog before. I really liked the dots (Dots are Hot set) so I went with it. We had to use the stamp-a-ma-jig quite a bit on here to get them to line up! Not thrilled with the colors but then again, I've never quite warmed up to Groovy Guava.
All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Finally, the third card was done because my friend, Michelle and I have have been scouring the earth looking for a Rose Red (to match SU! Rose Red) ribbon. She is making her sister's wedding invitations and we need the ribbon to match them! A HA! We can DYE the ribbon with the Rose Red reinker and we'll be set. Okay, so I made this sample for Michelle so she could see how easy it is to do. We dyed a little strip of white grosgrain in rose red reinker.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Now, Michelle's sister's wedding invitations... since this hostess club in January, Michelle and I have almost finished the invitations... the bottom 2 layers (of 3) are cut, stamped and put together, the ribbon (A WHOLE ROLL of Vanilla Wide Grosgrain has been dyed and cut), envelopes have been purchased, vellum is cut and ready to be printed on. All that is left is reply cards, a quick trip to Kinkos, and final assembly, I think.

We did all of that in one night by the way... and to heat set the ribbon we put it on a cookie sheet and set it in the oven for 5 minutes!

How about that?

Only in TEXAS!

2008-02-11T07:43:00.001-06:00

On our way up to Stamp Salado yesterday, we passed an RV pulling this on IH-35. Can you believe it? Well, if you're from Texas, you can....

Yes, folks, that actually is an armadillo smoker. Why? I don't know.

Anyway, we had a great time at the A Muse class despite the fact that I have no voice from a sinus infection!

I actually got to meet imagistra (Hi Helen!) from the amuseaddicts group! She didn't take the class but she came to Salado from San Antonio to shop! That was fun to meet her. She came up to me and said "Are you Geeta?" Yeah.. Then she said "I'm an A Muse Addict". LOL. I thought well sure you are, this is an A Muse class, etc. Oh wait. You are AN A MUSE ADDICT!!! From our little group. Our little group has 377 members in the last 12 days! We're not so little anymore, I suppose.

I did some shopping this time while I was at Stamp Salado. I try really hard not to shop when I'm there. I just happened across this RETIRED A Muse stamp that I've been looking everywhere for the past 4 months. And here it was at the store I teach at. I literally screamed when I saw the stamp! OH YEAH!

I have two friends named Michelle... and both have been looking for something from this pile. So, Surprise Michelles... and then well, the "You Deserve Some Chocolate" and the "m" from the m&m's are just for me. Those are by Mark of DeadBeat Designs. I've eyed those for a while now.

Maybe I'll actually post some things that I've made lately. I do have a backlog of things to post!

AND SNEAK PEEKS start sometime soon.... I better get crackin'.

Happy Monday!

P.S. Did you know that there is STILL TIME to win PRIZES directly from A MUSE this week over on the amuseaddicts site? NEW PRODUCTS??? Hello?? What are you waiting for? Some of the challenges are just answering some questions....

Quick Five Minute Project!

2008-02-10T10:51:00.000-06:00

This post will be quick too! I have to leave in 10 minutes for an A Muse class in Salado, Texas. I will have the pleasure of having Kim, Robin, and Veronica ride with me so the trip will be much shorter this way!

For a while now, I've been eying these heart tins at Michael's in the wedding section. I've watched them go on sale, thought about using a coupon on them, etc. for weeks now. I couldn't figure out what I wanted them for so I didn't get them.... until last week. As you may know, we don't give our kids refined sugar so I didn't want to get them to give candy in to my son's classmates. But I couldn't think of anything small enough to fit in there except nuts and that seems to be too dangerous to give out. Anyway, more about my son's valentines in another post. Finally, I just bought the tins for me. I decided I wanted them and I wanted to give them to my friends :)

So, I made 5 up quick today ... like 30 minutes ago and then I showered! Really fast project.

At Michael's, you get these tins in a package of 30 for regularly $19.99.

Slap some sticky strip on them, some ribbon, a little A Muse, the SU! Word Window Punch, Copic Lipstick Red, Spica Red Glitter, and a mini glue dot.... DONE!

OH and the M&M's ... of course!

I hope my carpoolers like 'em. And Sandy at Stamp Salado...she's the owner there ;).

A Muse Mini Treat Boxes

2008-02-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

Do you get the weekly e-newsletter from A Muse? Well, you should! Here is how you sign up.

This week's newsletter has the templates for creating some really FAST and cute boxes. And I had to try them out! I keep making them because they are so fast.

This was my first attempt. I have a scor-pal and literally took 5 minutes to make this box and put it together. The hardest part was getting that crinkly paper to stay in! LOL.

Images and cardstock by A Muse Accessories include Marvy Giga and Mega Scalloped Oval, Sakura Clear Glaze Pen, A Muse Ribbon, Copic Markers

Next up, I wanted to make a clear-ish box. So I took the template and made it 2 and 1/2 times. The top and bottom are the same as the previous box (i.e. followed the template). The 1/2 part is the acetate in the middle. I followed the box template for one direction and did not do any cutting.

Images and cardstock by A Muse, acetate from Office Depot
Accessories include Martha Steward Heart Punch, Marvy Super Jumbo Scalloped Circle, May Arts Ribbon, Colorbox Lipstick Red

So, the next box I had to make I had to use A Muse square notecards. So, I adapted Linda's original template for the 4-bar notecards to work on the square ones. We did this box at my Hugs and Kisses class at Stamp Salado a few weeks back. It's the same box, just different dimensions!

And finally, Rhonda has the coolest Step it UP! challenge over at our new website, www.amuseaddicts.com. The Step it Up! challenge is a bit more involved than any of our others and the time to do them is longer. Our first Step it up challenge is to make some 3x3 cards AND a alter a holder for them or make one, etc. Well, I NEED four teacher valentine's day gifts! And Michelle Clark (who is a kindergarten teacher) told me "Don't give a teacher candy for Valentine's Day!". You know, I've read that on Splitcoast, as well. I guess teachers must get LOTS of chocolate - WHY is that a bad thing? So, note cards it is! AND I get to do Rhonda's challenge! WOHOO!

Each box has 8 3x3 cards and envelopes in it. I needed to make 4...
I decided to do 8 different designs from get well, to friendship cards and even birthday cards.
This size is so convenient as a gift enclosure card!

Images and cardstock by A Muse
Accessories include Marvy punces, May Arts Ribbon, Copics, Brads, SU! ribbon

Do you see the brads? They are the ones that look like buttons. For the brown box, I didn't have brown buttons so I colored the white ones with my Burnt Umber Copic marker! Voila!

Hope you'll try out the new templates and maybe even play along on Rhonda's challenge!

Austin A Muse classes at Memory Depot

2008-02-06T15:56:00.000-06:00

I promise that I have cards to show sometime soon. And I promise that I've been working on them and not hanging out at the new A Muse Addicts website that we launched last week (ok, so I do go there often but I am making stuff too!)! By the way, we are giving away GREAT NEW products directly from A Muse over there as part of our launch party week! Go check us out.

Anyway, I have some updates for upcoming classes at MEMORY DEPOT here in Austin:

Feb 23 10am-12p Just for friends - Elzybells style - has 2 slots open
Feb 23 1pm-3pm Just for friends - Elzybells style (PLEASE NOTE new time ... not 4-6 anymore!) - has 6 slots open

March 22 10-12 Spring Bling - has 4 slots open (*fyi - this is the day before Easter) - this class features Spring cards (not Easter)

NOW... the Spring Bling class will not include Easter because it's too late! So, there is a new class scheduled (as of this morning!) on March 15th from 10-12pm, called Easter Eggstravaganza! This class will feature Easter cards.

Hope you can make it to one of these!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

2008-02-05T15:54:00.000-06:00

Did you know that one of my favorite color combos is purple, green and gold? :D

So, I may have told you this story a while back but it's worth repeating. Back in early August or maybe late July (after the A-Muse-A-Palooza contest and before I became an A Muse instructor in any case), I received an email from a lady in New Orleans. She was asking about stamp stores in the Austin area. She said she'd be coming through soon. So, we chatted. She mentioned that she went to THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS way back when and I told her that I went there too! Turns out we graduated the same year! Hook 'em Horns! Anyway, so she comes to Austin and goes to Archivers (she was going to that side of town anyway) and emails me when she gets home and tells me about her travels.

So, then I become an A Muse Instructor in August.

In September, she becomes the A Muse Guest Designer for the month!

We chat again sometime after that. Then I'm at Stamp Salado teaching and I get some Texas stamps for her (in particular the LONGHORN stamp!). Stamp Salado has a great selection of Deadbeat Designs and I'm very fortunate to have met the designer, Mark. He has great Texas stuff!

Fast forward to last Friday!!!

And I get this in the mail.... EVEN the FED EX Box has mardi gras all over it... (an overnighted Fed Ex box, I might add)....

So, who is this from, you ask? None other than the FAMOUS Lexi Daly. You may know of her from her awesome blog, Confetti, the one and the only very TALENTED indeed, Lexi Daly.

Lexi, my friend, you can't imagine how excited I was to see this. And it's YUMMY! Thanks so much!

Oh, by the way, package contents included: A King Cake (YUMMY!), lots of mardi gras beads, some that say "Muse Fever" on them (you'll have to ask Lexi about that ;)), a Mardi Gras cup, and the story of King Cakes. Oh, and a fabulous work of art by Lexi in Mardi Gras Colors, of course.

THANKS Lexi!

Friendship Fun, Salado, Texas

2008-02-04T16:10:00.000-06:00

Wanna come out to Salado, TX. Stamp Salado is a cute store with LOTS of stamps. The A Muse Friendship Fun class has two slots open for this Sunday, Feb. 10th.... hope to see you there!

Been busy...

2008-02-04T16:01:00.000-06:00

How about you? Isn't Christmas over? Aren't things supposed to slow down? Yeah, ok, so I "make" up stuff to keep me busy.... like, um, launching a new website. We have close to 300 members and our doors have only been open for 5 days! WOW! Thanks to all of you for coming and checking us out.

I apologize for not updating my blog. Did you miss me? I still have this idea that only 6 of my friends read this and 3 of them are my co-moderators on the Addicts website. So, I know they haven't missed me ;).

I have lots to post so I'll try to catch up here soon.

Thanks for visiting!

BIG NEWS for A Muse Addicts!!!!

2008-01-30T13:45:00.000-06:00

We (Michelle Clark, Rhonda Maynard, Jennie Moczan, and myself) are PROUD to launch new home for the A Muse Addicts Group. Yahoo is no more!

You must register to join and we request that you supply us with your mailing address and birthday so that cards and such may be sent to you. If you don't want to do that, just fill it in with No Thanks or zeros.

We are so excited about this. We hope you can join us over there for lots of things:
* CHALLENGES
* SWAPS
* CONTESTS
* PRIZES (did I mention PRIZES)
* FRIENDSHIP
* STAMPING, STAMPING, STAMPING!

Shut Up... It's Your Birthday... Thud

2008-01-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE! Yes, Ms. JulieHRR, have a Splendiferous Day! Hugs!

I figured Julie needed a little something to play with. Here is a spinner card that I made just for her. The stars spin around Elzy. The tutorial for spinner cards and many other interactive cards can be found on Splitcoast here.

The inside, which I clearly forgot to photograph, says "Shut Up!... It's Your Birthday... THUD".

Does anyone you know say things like that? Hmmm....

This card below is by my fellow A Muse Addict Sister, Donna Gotsch. We needed somewhere to showcase her work! Julie, this is for you from Donna!

And this one was made by another A Muse Addict sister of mine from the Dominican Republic, Ericka Kunhardt.

So, maybe the rest of you have sensed a theme going on here? Look around, maybe you'll see more!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIEHRR!

Upcoming Valentine Sparkle Class

2008-01-29T00:03:00.000-06:00

Here is one of the cards we are going to make this Saturday in the Valentine Sparkle class at Memory Depot. Hope to see you there!

A Muse class this Saturday - slots open!

2008-01-28T14:37:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let you know that the 4-6pm "Valentine Sparkle" class at Memory Depot this Saturday still has some spaces available!

We'll make 6 cards just in time for Valentine's Day and they all have some kind of sparkle to them ;)! Glitter at someone else's place is so much more fun to use than in your own house!

Come join me!

Driving by...

2008-01-26T00:11:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm trying to make some more cards with the Elzybells. I haven't used them all yet! The problem is that I can't get some of the AWESOME cards that I saw during the sneak peeks last week out of my head! I'm not looking to CASE them but maybe I just will have to settle for that!

Michelle and Heather, both on the A Muse team, created 2 cards that I've sorta meshed together into my "own" fabrication. After I saw Heather's paper piecing on the car, I had to try that. And well, my card is basically the same as Michelle's layout only flip-flopped.

I do like this little car Elzybell. She goes with so many of the A Muse stamps. So cute! Everything is on dimensionals - the sentiment block, the sun, and the car! I should probably hand deliver this card, eh?

Images by A Muse and Elzybells NA.
Card stock by A Muse
Accessories include black and white gingham ribbon by Stampin' Up!, basic black brads by Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals by Stampin' Up!, Atyou Spica Glitter Pens, White Sharpie Poster Paint Pen, Copic Markers, Martha Stewart Punch (for the sun)

Quick Birthday Card

2008-01-24T21:05:00.001-06:00

My BFF from high school turns 40 this weekend. Yep, 40. This is our year. Well, we pretty much send each other cards for Christmas and birthdays at this point in our lives. It's nice that we still stay in touch.

Anyway, I needed to make her a birthday card and I hadn't used my Birthday Elzybell yet! Did you see the release last week? Oh my!

Here's my super quick card....

Images from Elzybells NA and A Muse; Card stock from A Muse; Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain from Stampin' Up; Twinkle stickers by A Muse; Ticket corner punch from Stampin' Up!; White Sharpie Poster Paint Pen; Adirondack Espresso Ink, Adirondack Pitch Black ink; Corner Rounder punch from Stampin' Up!, Copic Markers, Spica Red and Clear pens

Happy Birthday, dear friend!

MARCH 2008 - Afternoon A Muse in class in MARCH cancelled

2008-01-24T15:38:00.001-06:00

I just realized earlier this week, that my March 22nd class at Memory Depot is on Easter Weekend! DOH! I WILL have the morning class and yesterday there were 2 or 3 slots left. I am canceling the 1-3pm class because of Egg Hunting with my boys! I *think* they might just be mad at me if I don't do that with them!

I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I hope you can make it to the morning class that day!

Thanks so much!

p.s. my updated schedule is at the top of my blog.

Another card from the Love is in the Air class

2008-01-22T07:27:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday was my Love is in the Air class at Memory Depot, here is Austin. If you missed it and want to take a Valentine's Day class, there is still some room in the Valentine Sparkle classes on February 2nd!

Here is card #2 from the set:

Images and card stock from A Muse, Lavender and Black Spica Pens, Twinkle Circles, Sakura Stardust Pen, Tombo markers, A Muse ribbon

Guess how much I love you?

2008-01-21T15:40:00.000-06:00

If you have children in your life, you most probably know this book, Guess How Much I Love You. Ever since I saw the Valentine's Day release by A Muse and the stamp, "I love you to the moon and back", I've wanted to make this card. Well, it took some planning because I didn't have Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare (A Muse images: Hoppy and bunny tail). I had to submit adoption papers, etc. and get them to come live with me. ;) Ah, and today was my lucky day... I finally got to make this card.

Hope you like it.

Images: all A Muse artstamps
Card stock: Lime Green Band Card by A Muse
Accessories: Adirondack Pitch Black Ink, Copic Markers, Spica Glitter Pens, 1" circle punch

ETA: These bunnies have White Fun Flock on their bunny tails!

Elzybells, Friendship Collection now available!

2008-01-18T07:55:00.000-06:00

Check them out here:

Elzybells NA

Elzybells NA Sneak Peek #4

2008-01-17T07:31:00.000-06:00

Here is my sneak peek #4. You've probably seen this image already but I had to make this card. The thing I like about tomorrow's release of Elzybells is that they are all so versatile and can be used year around. I need to send more friendship type cards. Do you send those?

Here's my card:

Are you enjoying the sneaks? One more sleep until the reveal!

Elzybells NA Sneak Peek #3

2008-01-16T08:01:00.000-06:00

Wohoo! I really do like these images. Have you seen everyone else's creations? The Elzybells blog has a sneak peek for you, as does many of the Elzybells Design Team, the A Muse Design Team and the Instructor Team (see the A Muse Crew on the right for links). There are so many great images in this release. We were allowed to make any creations we wanted from any of them. It is interesting to me that some of us are picking the same images!

Today's sneak peek was fun for me. I had the "vision" of it in my head for a while. With the use of my handy Xacto Knife, it came to fruition. The only problem is I have that "Just Swingin'" song from the 80's in my head. Ack!

Hope you like it!

Stay tuned for more sneaks tomorrow! The release will be on Friday on the Elzybells blog.

Elzybells NA Sneak Peek #2

2008-01-15T07:45:00.000-06:00

Day 2 of the sneak peeks! Which ones have you seen?

Here's my 2nd sneak peek.

This release of Elzybells will be on the Elzybells NA blog on Friday. Be sure to check it out.b

Elzybells NA Sneak Peek #1

2008-01-13T23:27:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness! I absolutely love this release. I can't wait for you to see them all this Friday. But until then, these sneak peeks will have to do...

Be sure to check out the Elzybells NA blog, all of the Elzybells designers, the A Muse designers, and of course, my fellow A Muse instructors! You're bound to see lots of different things....

Post a comment here and let me know what you think about these stamps. I'm dying to see what you gals think of the new release!

Two-reffic Tag game

2008-01-13T20:24:00.001-06:00

Not. Thanks to Michelle, I have been tagged for this HARD game.

The rules are that you have to answer these questions and then come up with my own question that asks about 2 of something and finally, tag two people.

Here goes...

1. Name your 2 favorite Stamping (changed from Scrapbooking topics) techniques: Starburst and Embossing with classic (dye) ink
2. What are the 2 best places you've been to: Banff, Canada and Kauai, Hawaii or Hong Kong (hard to pick)
3. Name 2 things you do everyday: check my email and brush my teeth
4. Tell us 2 things that everyone pretty much already knows about you: used to be an Engineer and I like to tell stories
5. 2 places you wish to visit: Greece and Australia
6. 2 things you may not know about me are: I don't like seafood and I get my eyebrows threaded (not waxed)
7. 2 nicknames you've had at some time in your life: um, no.
8. Name 2 of your favorite drinks: Starbucks Frappucinos and Diet Coke
9. Name 2 interesting (good or bad) jobs you've had in your life: Activity Director at a Nursing Home, A Muse instructor ;)
10. What are 2 things you would like to learn: how to live with less and how to relax
11. What 2 things would make your scrapping/stamping workspace work even better for you: A holder for my Copic markers and more time in it
12. What are 2 of your favorite stamp companies: A Muse and Papertrey ink!
13. What are your 2 favorite stores: A Muse and Coldwater Creek
14. What are your 2 favorite accessories to stamp/scrapbook with: Ribbon and glitter
15. What are your 2 favorite occasions to make cards for: Christmas and Halloween
16. What 2 times are the best for you to get stamping done: Late at night and weekends.
17. What are the last two cd’s you bought or two artists you downloaded: Enchanted Soundtrack and High School Musical 2 Soundtrack (oh, geez!)
18: What are your two favorite colors: Purple (deep) and Navy
19. What are 2 of your favorite things to wear: sweatshirt and jeans

My question:
20. Name your favorite tv shows: Grey's Anatomy and October Road

Now, my two people to tag:
Elena and Nicole

Upcoming Hugs and Kisses class

2008-01-13T07:28:00.000-06:00

Here is one of the cards from the Hugs and Kisses class at Stamp Salado on Jan. 27th. Maybe you can join me? I think there are a few seats left!

The new release of Elzybells sneak peeks start tomorrow! I LOVE them all... I think you will too. So CUTE!

Upcoming Love is in the Air class

2008-01-12T15:20:00.000-06:00

Here is one of the cards we'll be making next week at Memory Depot for the Love is in the Air class.

Stay tuned... more sneak peeks from my upcoming classes AND starting Monday, the new release of Elzybells!

New A Muse class sections added!

2008-01-12T12:08:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to let you know that additional sections of the A Muse classes at Memory Depot have been added to their schedule (and mine!). Hope that this works with your schedules! Call them today - space is limited and filling up fast!

The following are the new sessions that were added today:

For my entire teaching schedule for Austin and Salado, Texas, please see the top of my blog.

THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH! I can't wait to see you at one of these classes!

Stampin' Tip?

2008-01-12T12:03:00.001-06:00

Hey, did you see my stamping tip and the Card of the Week on the A Muse Weekly Newsletter? If you haven't, here's how you can subscribe to the FREE e-newsletter. It's full of great designs and samples from the A Muse design team!

SU! Stamps for sale - PRICES REDUCED

2008-01-10T08:23:00.000-06:00

I've marked down the prices on the retired sets I have for sale. They can be seen on the right side of my blog in the Paypal storefront. Here is a list of them just in case you want to see it without looking through the store:

NUM = new, unmounted
NM = new, mounted, never used

Prices do not include shipping and buyer to pay shipping, if mailing is needed. Paypal is preferred but not the only payment method.

Stamp Set	Price	Quantity	Condition
a light heart	$12.00	1	used
aida cloth	$10.00	1	sold
all the best	$10.00	1	used
balmy breezes	$12.00	1	used
booglie eyes	$12.00	1	sold
business boosters	$15.00	1	NM
by design	$6.00	1	used
delight in life	$8.00	1	used
eclectic bg	$6.00	1	used
elegant inspirations	$12.00	1	sold
event full	$10.00	1	NUM
expressive flexible phrases	$25.00	1	NUM
figures of speech	$10.00	1	sold
french script	$10.00	1	used
fun filled	$10.00	1	used
happy harmony	$9.00	1	used
happy harmony	$9.00	1	sold
holiday blocks	$12.00	1	sold
holiday spirit	$10.00	1	sold
I'm here	$16.00	1	sold
it's snow time	$22.00	1	used
label classics	$12.00	1	used
letterpress alphabet	$28.00	1	NUM
loving hearts	$12.00	1	sold
oh so lovely	$10.00	1	sold
on the spot	$10.00	1	used
quick thinking	$7.00	1	used
riveting	$12.00	1	sold
sassy stems	$12.00	1	used
simple shapes	$12.00	1	used
simply circles	$10.00	1	used
so many sayings	$14.00	1	NUM
so very	$12.00	1	NUM
solemn stillness	$22.00	1	sold
stinkin' cute	$12.00	1	sold
tags so much	$14.00	1	NUM
the world over	$8.00	1	sold
very punny	$10.00	1	used
warmest regards	$12.00	1	NUM
well worn words	$10.00	1	used
whimiscal alphabet upper	$20.00	1	used

Thanks for looking. If you have any questions, please ask!

Copic Markers - my very own test for the lazy stamper

2008-01-09T10:19:00.000-06:00

I do not claim to be any kind of expert on Copics. I've just had mine for a little while and finally got around to playing with them last week! But last night I did some testing...

So, you've probably all read all sorts of tips and tricks from the JulieHRR and Ellen Hutston about these wonderful markers. IMHO, these markers are fabulous. I didn't realize I would love them so much. I have a lot of marker sets and this is by far by favorite.

I've read all sorts of stuff about them and the main thing I found is that you need to let your ink sit for a while to dry before coloring it in OR heat set it with your heat gun and then color. Hmm. Those ideas don't work too well for me - the lazy stamper.

Let's talk about lazy for a second. I'm a simple stamper. If it takes too long to do or too much to get setup, etc. then I won't do it. Don't get me wrong, I love to emboss, etc. but I prep once and then make a ton of stuff that way. This doesn't work well in a classroom environment like my A Muse classes. Also, as you know, I have 2 small boys. Well, I don't keep the door to my studio closed and I rarely put stuff away in there. My boys are very good at not going in there and messing with my stuff (knock on wood!). There are some things I don't leave laying around though like scissors, especially the pointy ones, and my heat gun. I don't leave it plugged in and it's actually not even out (it resides in a drawer next to my work space). So, getting it out to heat set my black ink to color something is just not going to happen.

Ah, so began my quest to find the right ink (if there is such a thing) that will work with these markers and not have to be heat set. I read and read and talked and talked to people. Well, the other day, I'm chatting with kasevers online and I knew she's a Copic user (that sounds bad, doesn't it?! ;)). She tells me that she uses Adirondack by Ranger and that she read this article on Ellen Hutson's blog. WHAT? How did I miss that? Well, it was back in August. I wasn't paying attention to Copics then. Yeah, that's my excuse.

So, of course, I decided that I needed to do the test myself with A Muse images and with A Muse white card stock. And if you're still reading this, here's what I found...

I tested 6 black inks on A Muse white card stock with 4 Copic Originals and with Boris (and I purposely went over the lines a bit to see what happened):

*Adirondack pitch black
*Versafine onyx black
*Palette noir black
*Archival Ink jet black
*Stazon jet black
*Brilliance graphite black

Now, I know that those 6 pads are all different (dye, pigment, solvent) but I wanted to try all that I had (except the Stampin' Up! Black - which mine is purple :( ).

I stamped each individually, did NOT heat set, colored with Copics as fast as I could and sat back and analyzed ;).

The Results:

*Adirondack pitch black - did not bleed, feather, run or anything; Perfection!
*Versafine onyx black - almost worked but the black in Boris' hair ran a bit when the Copic went over it
*Palette noir black - black in Boris' hair ran a bit when the Copic went over it
*Archival Ink jet black - ick
*Stazon jet black - yuck
*Brilliance graphite black - oh, heavens no

Again, I'm not claiming that this is the end-all-be-all, there are many more experienced people out there than I but I do think I found my solution! Hope this helps.

One of those Duh moments.

2008-01-08T15:04:00.000-06:00

So, I thought I came up with a cute, simple, idea for my thank cards from Christmas. Hmm, well, design is 90% but EXECUTION is still a GOOD SOLID 10%. And on my little test to see if the stamp fit the punch, it DID. Not so much when the assembly line was in full motion. But about 3 cards into it, I had my "duh" moment. And um, well, made the punch fit the stamp. Now, seriously, what has happened to my brain. I seem to be doing duh things like this a lot more after the ant bit incident. Hmm. I still stand on the idea that some needed brain cells got lost that night. Hmm.

Well, on to my card. I'm so proud of myself... I actually used some of my stuff I hadn't yet... Copics, Spicas (ok, so I've used these for a few days now but still), Nestabilities (hard to see in the picture but the black square has an embossed square on it), and the Cuttlebug snowflake folder (bought this Christmas 2006 - HAD to have it!).

I do like this color combo... as in, I liked it so much for my Christmas Cards that I thought it was appropriate to use for this type of card. :)

All images by A Muse Artstamps and Elzybells NA Card stock by Stampin' Up! Ink: Versafine Black Accessories: SU! Word Window punch, Copics, Square Nestabilities, Spicas, Sakura Stardust Pen, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug, Snowflakes embossing folder

Isn't that penguin SO cute? I just love him!

Reflection.

2008-01-07T21:27:00.000-06:00

Today would have been my father's 77 birthday. In June, he'll be gone 10 years. TEN YEARS. I can hardly believe it. So many things have changed but so many have stayed the same. There's nothing sad about any of this except that he never met my children. He would have really enjoyed them. And as my husband told my son today, he would have spoiled them rotten!

As I was thinking about him today, I thought about how he made one decision in his life that had so much to do with my life today. I'm certain that he and my mother made all sorts of decisions that led me to be the person I am today but this particular decision is the one I thought of today.

When I was 11 years old, we lived in Ontario, Canada. My parents decided to move to Texas then. That one decision impacted my life in so many ways. Sure, he could have decided to move to Kansas and maybe my life would have be similar - who knows? But so many things have come from us moving here. I went to and graduated from the University of Texas with an Electrical Engineering degree. I went there because it has a GREAT Engineering school but I also went there because it was close to home. I met my husband there. How very blessed I am for this. We decided to stay in the area because my family is here and we love Austin so much. Then came our boys. Well, ok, so I can't talk/write about that.

I'm trying to make a point. Here's another story. A year ago at Thanksgiving, my then 4 year old's preschool class was on television for "getting kid's advice about Thanksgiving". It was super cute and they all did so well. I wrote a note to the preschool director after this aired on television. I told her I was so thankful that she picked my son's class to do the tv spot. I said, you made one decision today that impacted lives all around the world. To her, she made a decision about which class she should volunteer. To me, my 94 year old great uncle halfway across the world in India, got to see his great-great nephew sing on tv (web telecast). To me, that one decision she made impacted my family's life.

Alright, so, what's my point, you ask? In January, we all do a lot of resolving, starting over, etc. I do a lot of reflecting, too. Maybe you do too. Where am I now, what have I learned, etc., how can I better myself. Well, with today's reflection about my dad (and consequently, the tv thing), I think making choices and decisions regardless how small or big are important. Tomorrow, I wish for you to think about one decision you make and see how it might impact others around you. It may not but it might. Maybe all you will do is think about this post. And that's ok too. Please, don't feel sorry for me. My dad was a great man. I miss him but I have the greatest memories and part of him is in my children. I so see him daily. ;)

Thanks for listening.

Blog Candy Winner!!

2008-01-07T20:29:00.000-06:00

Random.org picked Amy H as the winner of my most recent blog candy - the to resolve or not to resolve post.

Amy, please email me and we'll chat about what set you want!

Thanks everyone for playing. I REALLY enjoyed reading all of your resolutions. Keep at it! I know I'm going to add some of yours to mine... like use more of what I have!

Loves me? Loves me not? Loves me?

2008-01-06T20:04:00.000-06:00

Remember that "game" he loves me, loves me not, where you pull out one petal on the flower (daisy, I think) and let the number of petals decide your destiny for you? LOL.

Well, I had that in my mind and I wanted to "recreate" it in a card. This is another for the Julie's A Muse team's monthly challenge (to create an interactive card with A Muse's new Valentine's day images). It's one of those view master cards. The directions are on Splitcoast.

If he does love me, the view master shows hearts. Aww....

Um, well, if doesn't love me, the view master shows "Nuts" from the "Nuts about you" sentiment. Doh!

And apparently, I am very geeky and very addicted to showing you these cards in motion. I can't stop. What would you all think of me, if I didn't show it in motion? LOL.

CLICK ON THIS ONE TO SEE IT MOVE:

All images and card stock by A Muse art stamps
Accessories: CM Circle Cutter, Brad, SU! Scallop Punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, Copic markers, Dimensionals, Copic multiliner 0.5 pen

New Elzybells Class!

2008-01-06T14:05:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be teaching an Elzybells class at Memory Depot in Austin on February 23rd 10a-12p. We'll make six cards using the latest release of Elzybells (the ones coming out soon!). The class is geared around Friendship... so bring a friend and make it a fun, event for everyone!

Call Memory Depot at 512.326.8045 to reserve your spot! Hope to see you there.

ETA 01/09/2008: Registration is now open for this class. Slots are limited! Hope to see you there.

What do you do with the Christmas Cards you receive? Poll results!

2008-01-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

First, THANK YOU so much for participating in my poll. A overwhelming 83 of you answered! That's awesome!

WOW! Most of you save your cards, too. That's very impressive. I received an email from Claudia about an organization that is always looking for cards for our devoted soldiers. Here's the link to Cards for Heroes. I think I'll look into this a bit more. I just don't have the space to keep all the stuff I want to keep.... not just cards! LOL!

Anyway, here are the poll results:

Save them. 61%
Throw them away. 10%
Recycle them. 24%
Other. 3%

Thanks again for participating!

What inspires you?

2008-01-05T12:35:00.001-06:00

Jennie has a challenge over on the Yahoo A Muse Addicts group to make a card from something that inspires you. Huh? Well, I've been walking around my house, looking at stuff in a different way. Like our plates, for example. Problem is they are all white. Hmm. Stuff in our house is clean lines and simple... like the Danish style, I suppose. So, I walked into my studio and there on the floor was this scrap from one of the card samples I made the other night for my A Muse classes. Hmm, can I use this as inspiration? Don't know if that counts, but I did it anyway.

The A Muse crew has our own challenge of sorts going on and it's to make an interactive card using the new Valentine's Day stamps. So, as you know, I like to make one card fit multiple purposes (the interactive drinking bird card was part of this challenge too). I decided to try to do Jennie's challenge and the A Muse crew challenge together.

The bandit stamp has to be one of my favorite stamps of the new release. And so I used it for this shaker card!

Images and card stock by A Muse
Ribbon by A Muse
Accessories: Copic markers, SU! micro beads, acetate, foam tape, Marvy Giga Scalloped Heart Punch, SU! white craft ink, SU! White embossing powder, heat gun

Now, you want to see it in action, don't you? Just humor me.... click on the picture to the right to see it "shake".

As always, thanks for checking in.

To resolve not to resolve. Sorta. And Blog Candy, too.

2008-01-04T23:39:00.000-06:00

Well, as in my life (and has been for much of my adult life), I am a few days late of the resolution "deadline".

So, as I'm sure many of you do, I don't actually "do the resolution thing". Well, sorta. A few years ago, I decided to give up on the ones that we all make because they just made me feel bad when I failed at them. Rather, I decided to make things that will make me feel GREAT if I succeed and not feel poorly if I fail. Some might call them "goals". I still like resolutions better.

I don't like the color red that much. Never have. I'm a cool jewel tone person... sapphire, emerald, etc. Oh, and I love purple - like you didn't know. But the regal purple. Anyway, rubies and garnets aren't on my list. Diamonds, however, are. WHO doesn't like diamonds? One year, I "resolved" to wear more red. The first step, however, was to acquire red. This resolution started out alright. I acquired red and actually forced myself to wear it...something like twice. That resolution failed but I didn't feel badly about it. I tried and then it was done.

Last year (for 2007), I came up with 2 very simple resolutions:
1) Resolution: To actually send out cards to people.
I make them. I should send them. It always brightens my day to receive one. So, I should do that to someone else.
Actual Outcome: I did really well at this but the key was in January 2007, I spent time making address labels for those people that I send to most often. I also kept a birthday list next to the address labels, stamps, etc. I organized that whole thing so that it's easy to do (I got a table top clear, acrylic file folder from the Container Store to sit on my desk - it has a folder for stamps, return address labels, address lists, pre-printed mailing labels, bills, etc.) I figured out that the reason I never sent stuff was that I was "too lazy" to figure out the address, and do all that busy work to get it in the mail. So, I had to come up with something that would make the job easier!

2) Resolution: To make a card EVERY DAY.
So, no, I didn't mean make 1 card each day, I just meant that I should create and do it as often as possible. By now, you may know that I don't make one card at any one time. I make lots at a time. Usually 12 or more. Well, 12 in one sitting counts for 12 days. See? The point here was to make myself create more.
Actual Outcome: I made well over 365 cards last year. But even more that that, is I crafted way more than the year before because of this resolution. It was in my head and it made me create more. That made me happier. And I watched less of the brain-sucking device!

Other crafting things that I am proud that happened:
A) I started this blog. This blog makes me create more of my own stuff and less CASEd work because I didn't want to put up stuff that I copied from others. THAT in of itself is my first and foremost reason for keeping up with it (and all of you, of course ;))!
B) I started the bumper card society with my Stampin' Up! customers/friends. Basically, it's a once-a-month send-a-card to someone on the list program. I had no idea that it would continue through the year and that so many would like it. I have to give thanks to all of you that participated. In August, I took bumper cards to the blog world but playing a game of tag. It was fun to see bumper cards go all over the globe. In September, Bumper Cards hit the A Muse Addicts yahoo group. What fun! I am honored and humbled that this is so successful. It warms my heart.
C) With the help of my friends, Michelle Clark, Jennie Moczan, and Rhonda Maynard, we started a little group of A Muse Addicts on yahoo of maybe 10 people (including us!) and we now have over 200 members and are still growing. I have found some wonderful friends there that share my love for A Muse and also for Starbucks ;)!

Good golly, are you still reading this? Wowza... supposed to be a resolution list not ramblings!

So, on to 2008.... I'm going to keep my 2 from last year:

1) Resolution: To actually send out cards to people.
2) Resolution: To make a card EVERY DAY.
3) Resolution: To do more Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) - I have a plan. Stay tuned.
4) Resolution: To create earlier than later and try to work better without pressure! LOL!

I'm going to start with these. Yes, these are all craft related. The non-crafting ones are a given, aren't they? To be healthier, to spend more time with my kids (although I don't think that's possible!), to be a better wife, friend, daughter, sister, mother, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, niece, and LISTENER. Basically, to ENJOY LIFE.

I think it's important to have crafting resolutions. So, in order to get you to make them... guess what? I'm offering up yet another Stampin' Up! retired stamp set from my collection. I will let the winner pick from a list of stamps. Leave a comment here with YOUR REALISTIC CRAFTING RESOLUTIONS - i.e. ones that you promise to try to do. Do this by Monday, January 7th, noon Central Time. I'll pick a winner randomly. Please leave your email address so I can contact you.

This is it. My final challenge entry.

2008-01-04T01:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, so here is the last one I did for Jennie's challenge (read about it here). I like this one but being the GEEK that I am, I had to show it in action!

ETA: Please click on the card to see it move. :)

All A Muse images and note cards (some scrap cardstock by SU!).
Copics, dimensionals, file folder punch (SU!), Sakura glaze pen

Jennie, I'm considering myself done! Thanks for making me think upside down and inside out! MWAH!

ETA: So, it's morning now and I realized that I didn't actually write up the "story" behind this card. Must have been in "gotta-get-to-sleep" mode! LOL. Anyway, along with my google research I mentioned below, I also tried to find a picture of one of those "drinking joe" things. Don't google that either. Apparently, they are called "drinking bird" not "joe". Well, I grew up in Ottawa (the Canadian one) and I remember walking by a storefront there when I was little. In the window was a rather large one of those drinking birds, but not the chemically balanced one but the metal one that balances on a little spiky point. You barely touch one end and it makes the bird drink. Anyway, this card was to honor that memory. As always, thanks for listening.

Man, this was hard.

2008-01-04T00:47:00.000-06:00

Jennie Moczan, aka MocJen, is in charge of our challenges over on the A Muse Addicts yahoo group. Have you joined yet? This week's challenge was to use an A Muse stamp in a different way than was intended. Many of the addicts have played along. Well, this week, she extended the challenge to the Fab 4, aka us moderators... Michelle, Rhonda, Jennie, and me. The challenge was to use a particular stamp THAT JENNIE PICKED (no, I'm not bitter... not at all!). She picked the very cute "Cup and Saucer" from the new A Muse Valentine's Day release. Now, WHY would you pick that one, Jennie? It's perfect JUST THE WAY it's intended.

Okay, so I've griped and complained to my wit's end to the 3 of them all week. The THREE of them have kicked donkey tail on this challenge. I can not compete. But they pressured me into it. Don't feel sorry for me? Yeah, I didn't think so. Thanks.

Onward. So, all week I've been trying to think of something. I even googled "tea cup, teacup, cup and saucer, etc". I stupidly googled "Coffee, Tea, or Me". Don't do that. Yikes. I thought that was a line from some comedy but that's not exactly what I found. Oops. Tea cup is also a reference to tiny dogs. Did you know that? These are supposed to be the ones smaller than toy dogs. Well, it's not an official name for them but it was in wikipedia... doesn't that make it official? And being the owner of Papillions makes it ok for me to call my smaller than toy dogs, teacups, right? Yeah, that still didn't help me make a card.

So, press on. I stamped the cup and saucer stamp all over a scratch piece of paper. Right-side up, upside down, on it's side, stacked, etc. And then stared. Interestingly enough, upside kinda reminded me of the old rotary phones. Do you remember those?

Alright, it's late. Here's what I ended up with for card number 1:

Little MB Girl is sitting on some 'shrooms! Do you see them or was I just smokin' some? And well the ants are in there just because I had my weekly fire ants shot today.

Did that work? Did I use it for some other than it was intended?
All images by A Muse All card stock by A Muse Copics, SU! inks, SU! ribbon, A Muse ribbon

Did I stop there, you ask? I should have... but no.

Can you guess the reference? Hint... it's a kid movie....

Card number 2:

The quote is handwritten and reads "Mama, There is a girl in the castle!".

Okay, another hint... it's a Disney movie.

Not a great card but sorta a different use for the cup and saucer.

What do you think?

I have one more but I'll put that in a post of it's own.

Egads, this was hard.

Stamps for Sale Storefront thing fixed...

2008-01-02T22:34:00.000-06:00

That do dad thing on the right, it's called a "Paypal Storefront" but I've called it lots of other names today. At least in my head because pre-school toys were present. ;). Anyway, I got said thing over there fixed. I think. Can you see the pictures, now? Problem was I always could see them on my pc... in Firefox (my browser of choice!) and even in Exploder (LOL!). But some (ok. most of you using Exploder) of you couldn't. First, recreate the problem. Fire-up the boy's computer... test and test and test... Then, debug to figure out what's actually wrong. THEN HOW TO FIX IT. I have to say, it's a good thing that DH is an engineer too. We speak the same language... that's a beautiful thing (*wink*). I'm so glad he's around. It's been a while since I did any debugging like this. And whew, it's over. I think. I hope.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T20:59:00.001-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Here we are. Another year. I've been meaning to post all day but time has flown by today. We've hung around inside because we live in the self-proclaiming ALLERGY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD and today it is so true. My eyes are RED and not from the drinks last night!

We celebrated last night with our best friends at the Melting Pot. Yummy. Everyone else had "real" drinks and well, I had TWO (yes, two) Yin Yangs.... aren't they pretty? They really were milkshakes with some alcohol in them. But they were GOOD.

We came home before midnight because we had inlaws babysitting our 2 boys and my 3 yr. old nephew. The 2 oldest boys (5 and 3) were still up when we got home. Isn't that what a sleepover is all about? Uh, no. It's not. Not at 5 and 3. No. No. No. So, I spent some time laying on the floor in my studio (that's where we set up cots for them to be together) "helping" them to stop talking, getting up, singing, stalling... stalling... stalling...

They were finally asleep at around 11!. So, not to bad, right. Yeah, keep thinking that. My early bird son was still up at the butt-crack of dawn... 6 am, rise and shine! Happy NEW year!

Anyway, I did sneak in to make this card to give to all of you (virtually!). I'll have another post sometime soon about resolutions, of sorts but not tonight.

Here's a card I made to submit for the Yahoo A Muse Addicts group Home Page Contest. Are you a member of our group? Join us.. there's a button on the right over there ----->. It's a ton of fun... lots of inspiration there.

Card details:

Images by A Muse Artstamps
Card stock by Stampin' Up! (basic black, real red, whisper white)
Metal from Making Memories
Accessories: Spica Glitter Pens, Cuttlebug, bubbles embossing folder; Ribbon by A Muse, Silver Cord by May Arts, SU! Silver Eyelet, Crop-a-dile

I wanted to show the sparkle from the champagne. I used the gold spica pens here. If you don't have any of these, you REALLY should get them. You can find them here.

Have a great 2008 and may you have more time to stamp!

Stampin' Up! Retired Sets for sale

2008-01-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

With today, starts another Stampin' Up! Catalog period, which means it's time to ring out the old and bring in the new! Or something like that ;)....

I've added a paypal store front to my side bar.

Please let me know if you're interested in any of them!

Thanks so much!

Blog Candy winner!

2008-01-01T12:51:00.000-06:00

Random.org picked the following:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2008-01-01 18:49:01 UTC

which means Rochelle you WON! Here's what Rochelle said she is thankful for:

Rochelle said...

I am thankful that my daughter and her family are finally her in the USA! She lived in England for 3 years and had 2 beautiful baby girls while she lived there. My grand-daughters, June 2-1/2 and Sophie 1-1/2, are the loves of my life, and I am so happy to have them here.

December 29, 2007 6:43:00 AM CST

Rochelle, please email me and we can figure out what set you want! Thanks!

Target run today.

2007-12-31T16:17:00.000-06:00

Warning: Enabler alert. But it's CHEAP!

A while back I saw Gina K's post about this. And while it seems I go to Target EVERY single day, I would always forget to look for them. But I did today. And they're on clearance - 75% off. And my Target (Greatland) had a TON of them.

REG PRICE: 4 for $0.99
75% off: 4 for $0.24.

I got 4 packages = 16 (yes, I know you can do the math but it's such a freakin' good deal that I had to spell it out!) for $0.96.

So, now what are you waiting for? Christmas? LOL!

My Target only had the silver ones.

Blog Candy - reminder!

2007-12-31T09:31:00.001-06:00

HERE