Friday, September 30, 2011

Disclaimer and World Card Making Day

Hey! I thought I should jump in here and give you all a head's up that this blog is not going to be strictly about A Muse Studio stamps.  I know it may seem like it right now since I just became a consultant for them and I'm on a heavy A Muse Studio kick.

I have lots (and I mean LOTS) of other stamps to use and love as well and sometimes I even make non-stamped cards too.  Just to prove I can do it, here is a non-A Muse card I made.


Okay, true confession time: I made this a couple of weeks ago but it is still sitting around on my desk for me to admire and be inspired by.  I was quite proud of myself when I sat down one night and made 8 cards at once.  This was one of them.

That brings me to WORLD CARD MAKING DAY!  That is October 1st (or tomorrow from where I sit).  I hope I can make a card or two (or 8!) to celebrate my love of card-making.  I hope you get a chance to play too!

The Fine Print: Card made with the August 2011 Club Stamp Greetings to Go Kit, border punch by Fiskars, Flower Punch by EK Success.

Lookey! Lookey! Lookey!




My A Muse Studio creative consultant kit came yesterday!  Check it out!  Ain’t it purty?!!  I am now ready to go forth and spread the gospel of A Muse.  Praise the Lord and pass the embossing powder, can I get an “Amen”?!  I mean, can I get an “A Muse”?!

I am really quite excited about all this stamping goodness that has come into my life.  Check out all that ink and all the wonderful colors it comes in!  They have papers that match!  And ribbons!  And bling! And of course, their wonderful stamps!!! I can’t wait to play with it all!  Keep glued to this blog for exciting new creations!

In fact, here is one already.
 
This card was the card I made for a make and take.  Yes, this is the card I almost chopped the end of my finger off over.  I wanted to show a fun creation made with the chandelier.  The chandelier comes in a set that is fancy schmancy and has elegantly scripted verses, so I wanted to show off its laid back side.  Plus that bat trio die is to die for!  It is a thin metal die that runs through the various machines that are on the market.  I personally use the Cuttlebug, so with an A, B, and C plate I can make bats.  I like the cardstock bats better than stamping them because they are darker and show up better than if they had been stamped.

I want to share with you how to make the “bow” on my card.  It is a cheater bow.  Actually, it is a double cheater bow, because it isn’t a bow at all; it is just tied in a knot.  The patterned paper I used is 4-inches wide.  I cut a length of ribbon about 4-1/2 inches wide (I didn’t measure it, just held it up to the paper and made sure it ran over on both sides).  I put double stick tape on the back of the patterned paper in the area the ribbon would be.  I then placed the ribbon on the front of the card where I wanted it with the two ends running over, then wrapped the ends to the back and stuck them to the tape.  You then take another piece of ribbon—I usually leave mine on the spool while doing this just so I use as little as possible—and tie it in a knot to the piece you have running across the front.

The purpose of a cheater bow is to use less ribbon and to avoid the frustration of trying to tie down a piece of ribbon that is wrapped all the way around your paper.  You can tie an actual bow with the second piece of ribbon instead of doing a knot. Anyway, play around with this technique and tell me what you think!
 
The Fine Print: Chandelier by A Muse Studio “Celebrate in Style” set, bat trio die by A Muse Studio, circle and scallop circle dies by Spellbinders, patterned paper by DCWV, obnoxious green ribbon from a dollar ribbon bin, orange bling (no really, its ORANGE!) by unknown.