Stamping Therapy

Ahhh-nouncing....My Birthday!

Yes, it's my birthday today and I turn the BIG 42! Where has the time gone? Mentally, I still feel 18 (and what's more, my interests are about the same as when I was 18. LOL!) Physically....well, that's a different story!... I ordered a bunch of stuff for my birthday that I'm waiting for: make-up, Philosophy shower gels and A Muse stuff, of course! Will, my sweet husband, gave me a gift card to Michael's (I already used that baby!) and some beautiful earrings. He even got me coffee from Starbuck's. We are going out of town overnight to a beautiful hotel with a hot tub, gym, and nice restaurant. We are also doing a massage package tonight. I just cannot wait! I'm spending this morning with my babies and I'm also cleaning up the house (YUCK) because my Sister-In-Law and Father-In-Law are staying here overnight with the kids....

Here's a card inspired by a birthday card Kim Severs sent me. I basically copied her layout, but made it into a "baby" card instead of a birthday card. I made 66 cards for Christmas gifts this year, and I noticed almost all the cards I made were birthday cards, so I'm trying to make cards for all different occasions. For this card, I used part of an A Muse stamp, cutting each baby jammie out and glueing it to the white base. I'm not sure if I like the way this turned out, but I thought I'd post it anyway. (I was crazy about the one that Kim made me, however). This card might even look cute if it was all one color, traditional blue for a boy or pink for a girl....Enjoy and Happy New Year!

 

Card Deets: Images and sentiment by A Muse; notecard by A Muse; cardstock by SU; Memento black ink; Copic markers; ribbon by A Muse; clear Spica Glitter pen, dimentionals by SU.

Heard You're on Ice...

Hi! What have you been up to? Well, we all stayed home yesterday, cause the kids were complaining that they were tired and didn't want to go out. Of course, then they were bored at home and didn't know what to do with themselves....Can you believe it? We went to my Mom's on Saturday and my mom had another shopping bag full of more toys for them!...Incredible!...And they were bored??? They actually wanted to play with a large box that their gifts came in, making it "Judge Judy's Court". Hailee was even playing with a potato, yes, a real potato, from the refrigerator! She called it "her baby", put toy glasses on it,  made a toy bed for it, and was carrying it around the house....LOL!....Ahhhh, kids! Gotta love them! (smiles).

Well, here's a card I was thinking about before I went to bed last night. It was inspired by a "snowy" card I made in Tracy Falco's class. I used the same "snow" template from Tracy's card, just arranged it a bit differently on this card, and used different stamps. This is also the first time I've used these stamps and I've had these stamps forever. The "Alpine Hut" is from A Muse and the penguin and sentiment are from a set called "Cool Yule" by Clear Dollar Stamps. I also used a Stampin Up mini background stamp to make the "snow" on the top part of the card. I inked this stamp up with white ink, then glittered it up. It's kinda hard to see in the photo. I think if I make this card again, I'll just keep the snow white, without glitter, so you can see it better....The inside of the card says, "Get well soon!"...Always good to have a "Get Well Soon" card on hand, right?....Have a great Monday!

 

Card Deets: Images by A Muse, Clear Dollar Stamps and SU; sentiment by Clear Dollar Stamps; notecard from A Muse; Memento black inkpad; Copic and SU markers; 2 way glue pen by Su; glitter by SU, white gel pen.

Beary Thanks

Hi Everyone. How was your Christmas? Good, I hope. Mine was pretty low-key, just my Father-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Hubby, kids and myself at my house. We had a nice time....Santa, aka ME, had the great idea of getting TWO Lego sets for Tyler. You know, the kind with like 600 pieces or so. Will (Hubby) told me I'd regret it, but I didn't believe him. LOL! This was fine until Tyler opened up Mrs. Puff's Boating School while I was putting on my make-up. I was busy getting ready, so I wasn't paying attention. Later on, when Tyler and I were putting it together, I realized he opened up all the "numbered" bags and mixed all the pieces together. YIKES! It took me forever to sort it all out and put it all together! I must have been on it for over 3 hours at least, but I got it all done. Of course, I was hearing from Hubby the whole time, "I told you so...." Now as long as Tyler keeps it all in one piece, I'm happy...Ha Ha!...

Here is a "Thank you" card I made today to give to a few friends who remembered my birthday. It means a lot to me when friends and family remember my birthday because it is such a busy, stressful time with my birthday right in between Christmas and New Years. One of these cards is going to fellow A Muse Addict, Kim Severs. Kim sent me some A Muse notecards and diamond stickles, all packaged in a beautiful box that she sewed. Thanks sooo much, Kim, for thinking of me. I also love the card you made....

I had this card idea in my head for a long time: a Teddy Bear's picnic. I knew I wanted to make a "scene" using the "field" stamp and the "bears" facing each other, placing them right in the middle of the card, but it took me a while to figure out what was going to be in the background. I looked for inspiration, visiting the "Queen of Scenes", Becky Rusher's blog, "The Polka Dot Cafe" (www.thepolkadotcafe.blogspot.com). I was also inspired by a cartoon called "Making Fiends" where the characters are in black ink on what looks like colored paper. I wanted to try this technique in my card, so I stamped my "bears" and "field" directly onto SU cardstock with Memento black ink, cutting the images out a little past the black lines. I also "cased" Julie Ebersole's idea of using a yellow "gem" for my bee's head.... This card ended up being a lot more detailed than I originally planned, but I'm happy with the results. I hope you are, too....Have a good evening.

Card Deets: Images by A Muse, The Saltbox Studio and Clear Dollar Stamps; sentiment by Hero Arts; Memento black ink; Copic and SU markers; A Muse notecards; SU cardstock; patterned paper by Klutz (for straw hat); gemstones by Hero Arts; clear Spica Glitter Pen; dimentionals by SU (on field, cake and bears...hard to see in the photo).

Pamela's Christmas ATC swap

Hi Everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you are blessed with good health, good friends, family and good food!...As promised, here are the Christmas ATCs that I received yesterday from Pamela. I was soooo excited to receive these! There are sooo many talented ladies out there. Thank you to all of you that made these beautiful ATCs (names are below). I am sooo inspired by you! Thank you to YOU, everyone reading this, for visiting my blog. Have a great day and HAPPY  HOLIDAYS!

 

Card Artists: (clockwise): Penny Hall; Karen Mahoney; unknown; Pamela Fredrickson;  Tracy Clemente

 

Card Artists: (clockwise): Liz B; Tracy Opatril; myself; Amy Cheung; Tinla woo

Hello Mrs. Claus

Hi All! Are you ready for Christmas? Well, ready-or-not, it's tomorrow! LOL! I worked a half day today and the doctor treated us to a Christmas lunch. Then I had to pick up some groceries for tomorrow's company at my house. I'm already pooped...Today  also marks the first day of my vacation! YAY! And not a moment too soon. I'm so tired of dealing with the public. I really need a break! Ha Ha!

Well for this card, Mrs. Claus is up to her baking again, getting ready for tomorrow's company. I made this card for Tracy's Sketchy Thursday challenge, which is due today. I used the same images that I used on my 12/7/08 entry. I really wanted to use this cute "cookie" patterned paper that I picked up at Walmart a while back, so I thought these images would be perfect. I also had a chance to use my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I love this folder. It's so versatile. Enjoy this card and if you have a chance to visit tomorrow, I will have pictures of some cute Christmas ATCs that I received in today's mail from some very talented ladies.....HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Card Deets: All images by A Muse; sentiment by Clear Dollar Stamps; Memento black inkpad; Copic and SU markers; cardstock from SU; patterned paper from Walmart; Cuttlebug; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder; clear Spica Glitter pen; white gel pen; scalloped scissors.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Hi All! Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a great day and are getting ready for Christmas. We did a bit of grocery shopping and then looked around at some other stuff. I had a chance to check out the Wii system, which I'm thinking of getting us for Christmas. I know Tyler and I would love it, not so much Hubby Will or Hailee. Will's actually trying to talk me out of purchasing it, since it is a bit of money for us. Do any of you have it? What do you think?

With all the shopping, there wasn't time to make any cards today, so here's another card I made in Tracy Falco's "A Muse Holiday Happenings III" class. I think these cute stamps would be great for any type of "celebration" card: birthday, graduation, New Years, etc. The sentiment is kinda hard to see on this card. It says "Eat, drink and be merry!". Thanks for looking and have a great evening.

Card Deets: All images and sentiment by A Muse; notecard by A Muse; white, maroon and green cardstock (unknown); Memento black ink; maroon inkpad (unknown); Copic markers; green and red markers (unknown); Marvy Mega oval punch and scallop Giga oval punch; 1 1/2" oval punch by EK Success; 1/8" hole punch; ribbon by A Muse; twinkle stickers by A Muse; foam tape.

Christmas Ornaments

Good Morning! I thought you guys might like to see these ornaments I've been talking about. These two ornaments are Christmas gifts for my kids' teachers. I hope they like them. What do you think? I got these cute ornament kits from Mill Hill (www.millhill.com). These ornaments are counted cross-stitch on peforated paper, which is basically a thin paper with holes in in for the stitches. Each stitch is done one at a time. Each bead is hand-sewn, one at a time as well, using a graph/pattern for reference to make the design. (The design is not on the paper, you have to count each square from the pattern, thus giving it the name counted cross stitch.) These ornaments take time to make, but I find it relaxing. I can sew in bed watching t.v. and even put a kit in my purse to work on it during my lunch break. One thing I like about cross stitching is you need very few items and it makes very little mess, unlike when I make cards...LOL.... I backed these ornaments with plastic canvas and felt to make them "stiffer" and more "durable". Then I added a "beaded" hanger. I hope you like them.

I'm Kinda Cheating Here...

Hi Everyone. Well, I'm kinda "cheating" with today's card, but it's Monday, so I think I can get away with it. Ha! Ha! I turned my ATC below (that I originally posted on 11/16/08, titled "A Merry Christmas ATC") into a Christmas card. I needed a "Santa" card for another card swap I'm in and I didn't have much time to make one, so I grabbed my ATC, an A Muse notecard and a pretty little paper, also by A Muse, and glued everything together. I gotta get back to work now, so I'll talk to ya later. Have a great day!

 

Card Deets: All images and sentiment by A Muse; notecards by A Muse (lime peel and red vintage); holly patterned paper by Doodlebug Designs; striped pretty little paper by A Muse; black and red ink pads by SU; Copic and SU markers; Jolly Holly braddie by Doodlebug Design; Marvy Liquid Applique; gold gel pen.

Let it snow

Happy Sunday! Well I'm glad it doesn't snow here in California, but it is raining pretty hard and it's really cold today. We're all staying in, trying to keep warm, and keep busy. I get a little nuts if I'm not busy, but then again, when I'm too busy, I get nuts, too! LOL!

I made this card for a few swaps. The card had to have a "Winter" or "snow" theme. I was inspired by a Christmas card that Julie Ebersole made here: http://www.papertrufflez.typepad.com/paper_trufflez/page/3
and here's what I came up with. I wanted this card to have an old-fashioned, vintage feel, kinda like the movies I've been watching lately....Oh, and as an extra bonus, I took a picture of my other "little girl", Moxie. We got her six months ago at the animal shelter. It was love at first sight!...Enjoy and have a great day!

Card Deets: All images and sentiment by A Muse; notecards by A Muse; cardstock by SU; Memento black inkpad; SU white inkpad; circle punch by SU; colored pencils; white gel pen; eyelets; eyelet setter; A Muse ribbon; silver cord by SU; dimentionals by SU.

My Favorite Things

Happy Saturday! The weekend is finally here!...Yay!...Well, this morning was filled with all of my favorite things. I had a chance to do some cross stitching in bed; cuddle with my husband, kids and favorite kitty, Moxie, in bed; and have coffee in bed. Then when I got up I worked-out listening to 80's music and watched a cool old horror movie on t.v. All of this was done before 9AM this morning! For me, this is all of life's simple pleasures. I wish every morning could be this good instead of the "mad rush" to get us all ready and out of the house.

I even had time to go to Michael's today and whip up this card for Tracy's Thursday Sketch Challenge. I used a combination of stamps from SU (mittens), the Saltbox Studio (mouse) and A Muse (snowman and sentiment). My idea was having this cute little mousie making a snowman and running to get mittens to dress his snowman up. The "tree" patterned paper was a mini card from Michaels and the polka dot paper was a strip of kitchen paper from A Muse. I couldn't find a colored kitchen paper that matched my card, so I colored in my polka dots wtih a sky blue Copic marker and turned my kitchen paper over, making my paper strip vanilla with blue polka dots. This was a tip I learned on A Muse news (www.amusenews.typepad.com). I think I'll be using this tip a lot....Enjoy and have a good evening!

Card Deets: Images by A Muse, the Saltbox Studio, and SU; sentiment by A Muse; white cardstock by SU; patterned paper by Michaels and A Muse; notecards by A Muse; Memento inkpad; SU and Copic markers; glitter and glue pen by SU; snowflake sticker by Darice (Michaels).