Design Team Monday

Today's A Muse Studio challenge is called Glorious Dies.  Nope, this isn't about sensationalizing death, this is all about the wonderful dies that A Muse Studio has.   They carry some of the Spellbinders line, but also have a lot of their own dies from birds, borders, and butterflies to a wide variety of shaped gift boxes.

So, my Fellow Americans, grab up some die cuts and join in the challenge!  Sorry, to my overseas buddies, but the challenge is open only to us US folks.  Do stop by to check out the various dies in action though.

Here is the card I made for the challenge.

I usually have a hard time making a card that uses things from one company only.  I've done it on accident many times, but when I have to, it becomes more challenging.  However, this card just fell into place and I had a great time making it. I love how the colors coordinate so well from the papers to the ribbon and ink to the bling.

Hey, tomorrow is a new month, and with that new month comes some new A Muse Studio sales--including 20% off all individual a|s ink pads.  Stock up today. 

The Fine Print: All products by A Muse Studio; cardstocks-bermuda, grass, ocean, sugar (white); inks-bermuda, grass, ocean, and Momento tuxedo black (sold by a|s); dies used-scallop borders in large and small and butterfly trio; grosgrain stitch in ocean, robin's egg bling, medium dots impression plate used on the bermuda cardstock (can't really tell from this scan), flower stamp from "Beautiful Botanicals 2" and greeting from "Cushioned in Comfort."

Just Putterin'

I didn't really have a specific goal in mind when playing today, so Idecided to put to use one the K & Comapny card toppers I had on my desk leftover from making the butterfly paper bag book.  I rather like how it turned out.  I'm not so good with that artsy collage look, but here the paper does all the work.

The Fine Print: Printed paper by DCWV "Chateau Lavender," spellbinders die, Candi brad heads, We R Memory Keepers baker's twine, K & Company butterfly card topper.

I Told You So

I had a busy day today with my big stamp club meeting (meaning it is a large group not that we stamp with big stamps).  We do a mystery item challenge, where you agree to accept the item in question--a mystery--and make something with it.  Last month we were given small labels that had flourishes on them.  I chopped up my flourishes and used them as accent pieces.

Since we were give two labels each, I also stamped a greeting between the flourishes and placed it on the inside of the card.

I also got rid of my Marvy markers like I mentioned in my Workdesk Wednesday post.  A couple folks warned me that I would miss them.  One person in particular said to keep the brush markers so I could color directly on the rubber and stamp that way.  I never really got into that to begin with so I won't miss doing that.  I did keep the handful of Tombow markers I had.  I don't think I'll miss my markers.  We'll see!  I promise I'll let you say, "I told you so," if that is the case.

The Fine Print: stamp by Lily of the Valley, papers by DCWV, colored with Copics, border punch by EK Success.

Butterfly Paper Bag Book

Today I have the photos of the paper bag book I made recently.  So this post will be heavy on pictures and light on words.  I know you've all been dying for me to shut up anyway!

My paper bag book was made with two white paper bags folded in half and stapled together. The are slightly larger than lunch sacks. I bought them somewhere off the web a long, long time ago.  Here is the front cover, which has been seen in a blog post before, but this is the final version with a different ribbon and some added cut out flowers.

Here are the first two pages, which I also think were on a blog post, but I think only one side was done at the time. I had a hard time trying to transition from the bright pinks of the first page and was pleased with what I came up with.

These are the two tags that are in the open end of one of paper bags. If you were flipping through the book page by page, this is what you would encounter next.  The one side reads "dreams in flight" and the other side "There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly."

Here are the next two pages.  The left side was also shown on a previous blog post. This is where I became bogged down on the book and didn't know what to do next.  I finally pulled out another book I made for inspiration. In that book, almost every page has a pocket and tag in it.  Both tags slip in sideways under the decorative border.

Next up are the tags in the opening of the second paper bag.

Here is the final page spread.

And the back cover.

The Fine Print: I forgot to note credits, so many of these "unknowns" will get filled in later, check back if you are curious. All papers except back cover by DCWV "Spring Fling." Cover Credits-border and medallion punches by EK Success, rub on letters unknown, butterfly topper from a brick of toppers (no idea who made it but it was called The Brick), bottle cap insert by unknown, ribbon from DeNami Desigsn. First Page Spread Credits-large butterfly from Spellbinders, scroll work from Memory Box, Tranquility by Komodo, Inc., dream by unknown, other two words The Angel Company, butterfly toppers from The Brick. First two tags-butterfly punch by Martha Stewart, caterpillar saying by unknown, butterfly and caterpillar stamps by (I forgot!). Middle page spread-tag corner punch by Fiskars, blue tag greeting by Stampin' Up, border punch by EK Success, pink tag greeting unknown. The random butterflies are cut out of DCWV paper. Next set of tags-butterfly backer and ornate butterfly front by Cheery Lynn, all greetings by Club Scrap, medium butterfly EK Success, small butterfly Martha Stewart, butterfly ribbon Michael's dollar bin. Last page spread-butterfly sticker from unknown, border punch by Martha Stewart, Just Be spelled out with an Impression Obsession alphabet set, if nothing changed greeting by Club Scrap, pop up butterfly punch by Martha Stewart. Back Cover-butterfly topper and paper unknown.

Being Trendy

Well, blasphemy!  I thought I had photos of a paper bag book to share with you all today, but apparently not.  I hope I didn't do something silly like delete them from existence.  So if you've been waiting to see my paper bag book, I'm afraid you are just going to keep on having to wait for now.  I hope you haven't been holding your breath?!

In the meantime, I'll share with you this simple black and white + and accent color card that I made once upon a time for a swap.  I really like black and white, but I always think it needs a dash of some other color.

Here is another card I made once upon a time ago for a "trendy" swap.  We were to try out something trendy.  Those crinkled up ribbons and rolled paper flowers were big at the time, as were birds and flourishes made of bling.  I want to say that this swap was a year ago, but maybe not that long ago.  It was many, many months ago for sure.  Anyway, I wanted to point out that rolled paper flowers and flourishes of bling are still pretty darn trendy.  Birds are still big too, but the crinkled ribbon, not so much.  Lace seems to have taken the place of crinkled ribbon.  It is interesting to see what comes and goes.  And sorry about the quality of the card scan. I was obviously scanning back then without giving  a thought to a camera.  Poor little squished rolled flower.

The Fine Print: It's not going to be fine if I can't find my paper bag book photos.  I might cry and require cookie therapy for consolation.  Black & white paper by DCWV, stamp by Stampin' Up, button and ribbon by A Muse Studio, bird in cage stamp by Hero Arts (I'm guessing), die cut by Spellbinders, rest by unknown.

Workdesk Whatever

I am totally cranky today and this is why:

That's right!  Little red sports cars-Hrmph!  No wait, I mean the YELLOW trees.  They are everywhere and I'm so deathly allergic to yellow that it is totally eating my sensibilities and good nature.  It is also overcast as heck today, but it's not even going to rain making the ache in my leg worthwhile.  AND it is secretary's day and I should be at a day spa courtesy of my boss.  Right?

But I'm not.  I'm not even here, home, where the desk is.

I know it looks like it usually looks, but true WOYWW connoisseurs can see the differences--that I changed out one of my X-cubes of markers and tidied up the desk cubbies.  Of course, you noticed that!  I plan to pass my Marvy markers on to folks who have not yet discovered the joy of Copics since I never use them anymore. I did keep the few Tombows I have, some Sharpies, gel pens, and these funky markers for "overhead projectors."  Do folks even use those anymore?  Overhead projects I mean, not the markers for them.

 And here's a cat, because, that's that.

The Fine Print: Okay, okay, Administrative Professional's Day or whatever silly title you call us these days. We know who runs the place.  Yellow tree by Mother Nature "Palo Verde," all other photos by Whatizname, that dude I married.

Meow

No Club Scrap stuff today. That's because I opted for housework instead of card making.  I'm sure you are appalled at my decision but you have to understand that the carpet had more fur than the cats and was starting to grow fangs.  And I don't have what I wanted to show you today because I don't know where I put the photos.  So you'll have to settle for a cat:

The Fine Print: Isn't that what life is all about anyway?  Settling for a cat when you'd really rather have fame, fortune, good looks and a swarthy pool boy?  Truly I have no clue on who made these stamps but since you are holding a gun to my head and forcing me to guess I would say Stamps Happen (image) and Endless Creations (greeting).  But I could totally be blowing smoke out my hiney.

Cards!

Yeah, well... what else?  And again with the Club Scrap stuff.

I was rather proud of both these cards.  I am a card maker and have no interest in scrapbooking at all.  However, those patterned paper stacks always have to put in a piece or two of paper that has a large design off to one side perfect for scrapbooking with.  I was happy to come up with an idea to use a couple sheets of that type of paper.

And I was extra happy to discover that A Muse Studio is still selling the French Roast twine. I thought they did away with all the twine so I had to think hard if I really wanted to use my last bits on this card. I knew the card needed the darker twine so I made the sacrifice.  On a whim, I checked with a|s today and they still sell it!  They have the natural colors in light and dark.  They did discontinue all the other colors they had though.  So go get some today! I just love that French Roast twine (the dwindling spool I have at home is  my 3rd one).

The Fine Print: card bases and toppers by Club Scrap, jungle paper by Paper Salon, leafy background stamp by Copper Leaf Creations stamped in Versamark, sunglasses brad by unknown, palm tree paper by Recollections, and French Roast twine by A Muse Studio.

Feeling Fruity

Here's a couple more of the cards I made with the March Club Scrap kit.  I am enjoying the challenge of working with a kit that didn't inspire me. I think it was the blah-ness of the colors that didn't do it for me.  Even the bright red seemed dreary to me, so I jazzed them up some.  I really like the 'squeeze the day' sentiment--cracks me up.

Then I had words with the maid who didn't listen to reason, so I spent a better part of the day picking up and organizing stuff.  Then I made a bigger mess.  Then I picked that up.  All in a day's work!  The cat says she'll make my Paris themed ATCs for me. I think she must be concentrating really hard as she's really quiet right now. I can't wait to see the finished product.

The Fine Print: Card bases and toppers by Club Scrap, big paper flowers by Prima, smaller picked from a flea market bouquet, jungle paper by Paper Salon, chip board flower by Heidi Grace.

Pieces and Bits

Oh Dear Me, the new Blogger format forced upon me.  We'll see how it goes...

I got up today with the idea of playing with snippets since it has been ages since I did so.  But once I got to my desk it had the Club Scrap stuff still on top of it, so I had to work with and around that for a bit.  Then I decided to completely trash my desk, you know because it was there.  Ultimately, I ended up with a huge mess and these snippet cards:

And here is my really huge mess.  Oh wait, never mind, still plenty of floor space and you can even see some desktop.  I guess it just feels like a really big mess, especially if you have a cat who has been puking.  You know, that puts all the stuff on the floor in harm's way.  Darn that maid, anyway.  I'm going to have to have words with her!

The Fine Print: card bases by Club Scrap, bright background paper by DCWV, pink ribbon by DeNami, tag die by A Muse Studio, dream by Paula Best, top note die by Stampin' Up, enjoy your day topper by Club Scrap, silhouette die cut by Marianne Designs, everything else unknown, except for that mess.  I know who did that.

Club Scraps

Hello, My Name is Poppy and I'll be your guest columnist today because my mommy is under the weather.  Acktually since the weathers is in the sky, aren't we all under it?  I'm so 'fused!

Anyways, go figures this one out. Both my mommy and my pop pop are sick but I'm the one who had to go to the doctors and gets a fermometer stuck up my butt!  Then I gots two shots!  And din the doctor pick at my teeth! At least he didn't say I was fats, cuz I'm not fats.  I has big bones.

After we had a free hour nap, my mom got out her March Club Scrap kit to play wif. She hasn't played with Club Scraps stuff since she glued herself and everyfing else to her desk in Januarys.  She dent find it very inspiring and made this uninspired card. It gots some stamping on the inside to match the leaves on the outside, but it's kinda boring.

Then she got out some fun papers and made this one:

Then she made this one. It had a funny flap on it that she cut off cuz she didn't understand it. It didn't want to say shuts for its pickture.  When I gets off the computer moms prolly gonna look at the Clubs Scrap website for more inspirations.

The Fine Print: Club Scrap cardstock,ribbon, and card toppers.  Twine by A Muse Studio.  Patterned paper by Paper Salon.

Under the Influence

I got rather sickly so I came home and took a cold capsule.  Afterward, I was going to post to Facebook "Goodbye, Cruel World!"  But I figured someone would take that wrong and dial up the suicide prevention people who would then come pounding on my door, which I wouldn't hear because I'd be in a cold capusule coma. So then they'd break the door down and haul me off to the hospital where they'd pump my stomach. Once I finally came around they'd be all, 'My God, Girl!  That was only one cold capusule?!  Just ONE? Not even the recommended adult dose of two!  You really are a light weight!"

And the only answer I'd have to that is, "Yeah, and those were the non-drowsy ones, wait'll you see me on the nighttime versions."

So at some point I made this.  It was easy to craft under the influence because my brain couldn't gather up enough power to convince me to change anything. I just puttered along adding one thing and then the next and it was done. No evil head to tell me I was wrong, or the colors were off, or I needed to sprend 3 hours looking for just the right embellishment.  It was rather freeing.  I'm not ready to become a drug addict for my art though.

Here's the Stampin' Up card I made the other night and Fido the Cat helped photograph in yesterday's post.  I mention it because I got two different emails asking about it. The stamp set is a new one, or will be a new one in the new catalog.  This is a sneak preview of it and you can order it this month or wait for the new catalog to come out in June.  Sorry, I don't remember the name of it.  The patterned paper is also a sneak preview called "Paper Smootches" and the yellow seam binding is daffodil yellow.  If you'd like to order this or find out more, hunt down a Stampin' Up demonstrator near you.  I really liked the paper and the seam binding (which is hot stuff right now) so I ordered it. 

The Fine Print: Sweet Stuff Card papers by DCWV "Sweet Shop" and stamps by Adam Prescott, freebies with this month's issue of Cardmaking and Papercrafts.  Yellow Card everything by Stampin' Up as far as I know, colors are daffodil yellow and Pacific Point blue.

One Hunnerit 'n Fi'ty WOYWW

This is the 150th What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  I haven't been there for all of them but I'm quite pleased to join in this fine tradition of snooping around various desks and crafting spaces and seeing what's what. It makes my inner voyeur pleased.

The Desk Overview. Folks have commented that the left and right sides are gathering more and more stuff and taking over. Indeed, that does seem to be the case.

Here's a close up showing a pile of snippets for the day I get back to the Snippet Playground, a small basket of ribbons 'n random stuff, some wood stamps that I've either used or plan to use on projects, some random papers, my new A Muse Papillion set, and right smack in the middle are the bonus papers and stamps from the February issue of Quick Cards that just arrived.  Since I already have the March issue I do have to wonder where that thing has been on its travels.

Here's a card I made at a Stampin' Up workshop last night.  Of course, as soon as the camera came out, so did the cats, so I put Fido to work:

And another card from the same workshop:

And just for giggles and grins, here's my table.  Ooh, looky, new K and Company stuff to play with!

The Fine Print: Nothing here to see, move along now.

Lovely as a Tree

 

DISCLAIMER: This card is not an accurate representation of spring in Southern Arizona.  I have no clue what that blue stuff dripping down from the sky is and while we do have lots of things blooming here, they all seem to be yellow, which is really quite a shame since I'm highly allergic to the color yellow.

That said, um.... do I have to say more?  I could cop to this being an old card I sent to someone in a swap a year ago. Or I could be making that up just to confuse you, but I'm probably not.  I had Other Things To Do* last night so I didn't play so I don't have a new card.

*Other Things To Do may or may not have involved large gardening tools and the neighbor's yappy dog.  Or not.  Not the dog that is. I did have to trim a tree limb (wait, if it is frond off a palm tree can you really call it a tree limb?) before the landlord's hubby came along and hacked the entire tree to bits because he is kind of an idiot.  Or inept with large gardening tools.  Or both.  Or maybe because one of my neighbors who does not even live down that chuck of sidewalk wants the entire tree removed as it hangs its branches/fronds in the sidewalk.  It's growing folks, some day it will be so tall you'll forget you ever lost that eye walking into its branch/frond. And it's growing quite fast maybe because the landlord's hubby finally got the sprinkler system working okay in that chuck of dirt.  Or maybe the tree tapped into the sewer system. Or maybe because it is spring and things go crazy and grow in spring.  Like my waistline. Or the pointlessness of this post.

The Fine Print: Grass punch by Martha Stewart, circle chain punch by EK Success, and stamps by A Muse Studio/Artstamps. No yappy dogs were killed in the making of this post.  No neighbor has a yappy dog actually.  Well, no there are some dogs and they do yap sometimes but not enough to come after them with a large gardening implement.  Two palm fronds and many oleander branches were sacrificed though.

Thank You, Friend

I am here to confess that I find the A Muse Studio challenges harder than I thought they would be.  Since I am now on the design team I now have to not only follow the challenge theme, but do so with all A Muse Studio products.  Random folks playing along aren't bound by the all a|s rule.

I had to think long and hard about this week's "Thank You Card" challenge before I came up with something that made me happy. 

I really, really like the large scallop die!  Behind that, but not noticeable in this picture is a strip of shimmer black cardstock to help offset the scallops when the card is closed flat.  Once I came out with the card design I had fun making it.  I did want the bird to be glitter pink but alas, that was not to be.  I tried three (yes, THREE!) different attempts at the heat and stick EP with glitter on top.  I was never pleased with the results so I stamped the bird in bubblegum, used a glue pen to coat it in glue, then sprinkled glitter on.  That wasn't any good either.  Next I tried stamping the bird in bubblegum, coating it with crystal clear glazed and then putting glitter on top.  That looks pretty cool but the glaze was taking too long to dry.  It might be dry now but I'm afraid to touch it in case it isn't.

Oh, and stamping in bubblegum means stamping in bubblegum colored ink.  It isn't some new process involving the use of chewing gum!

I hope you like my Thank You card and hope it inspires you to join in this week's A Muse Challenge.  Unfortunately, it is only open to residents of the US but I know at least one of my three readers is a US person.  Also, from hence forth the challenges will run for 2 weeks so you have longer to come up with your masterpiece.

The Fine Print: Everything by A Muse Studio. Cardstock-sugar, bubblegum, shimmer black. Inks-Momento black, a|s slate and bubblegum. Large scallop die part of a 3 scallop die set.  Stamps from "On the Wing" set and "Script Background."  Paper flower-Cosmos, colored with W9 Copic Marker. Flower center covered in Crystal Clear Glaze.

Monkey Business

This is the monkey card I made today.  This photo was taken before the cat got in trouble for the 40th time today and it got squirted with water (the card, unfortunately, not the cat, although eventually he got squirted too.  Could someone please tell that cat that he's neutered? He gets nuts every spring wanting to woo the ladies).  Anyway, now my monkey looks kind of spotted.  It could be a new breed.

The Fine Print: monkey, vine, and bunch of bananas stamps by Stampin' Up "Monkey Business," the rest is glittered patterned paper from Recollections "Surf's Up," bling by Hero Arts.

Nature's a Mother

Blogger isn't the only thing that taunts me.  Mother Nature is downright rude too.  She taunts us with sunny days and 80 F temps one day only to throw wind. rain, cold, and a temperature that can't even hit 60 the next.  Just rude!  I suppose I can't control Mother Nature but I can show Blogger Who's Da Boss and force that photo from yesterday to go right way 'round.

And here is a card I made in celebration of spring. At the time, I had no idea I'd be waxing my snowboard today.

Except for the weather I had a great multicultural day today.  I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, met an American author, had a Chinese massage, ate a Japanese dinner, and watched a movie about kids from Panem.

The Fine Print: Why does "waxing my snowboard" sound like a naughty euphemism?  Chick stamp by Penny Back, corner die by Sizzix , border punch by Martha Steward, paper flowers by Prima, pink paper by DCWV, yellow paper by unknown.

Why Do You Taunt Me, Blogger, Why?!

Folks keep telling me that they hope my crafting mojo is back soon and I appreciate all the well wishes.  However, the problem isn't with my crafting mojo.  It is with my all-around mojo.  I want to say that I've lost my will to live, but that is far too dramatic.  So instead, I'll say that I seem to have misplaced my Joie de vivre, which is French for "zest for life." I think. I don't actually speak French so it could mean "pasta with white sauce" in which case I don't have any of that either.


I did decide that I would make something crafty last night to prove that I'm still alive and to try out some of my new Stampin' Up Twitterpated paper.  I love the name, I love the colors.  Check it out.

See, right there! That's Blogger taunting me.  This card is right side up in my photo album but when I upload it, it goes all sideways!  So just hit control + alt + the left arrow and all will be well.


PS...that's a great trick to do to your co-workers too. Trust me.


The Fine Print: ribbon, papers, and 2 out of 3 punches by Stampin' Up.  Stamp by Penny Black.  Other punch by some company that makes a big pink square punch... yeah, that's helpful.

Never to Old too Learn

So I work at a school.  Not just any old school, mind you, but an Institute of Higher Learning.  But not too high, though, don't get carried away.  I've probably mentioned that before, but it is worthy of mentioning again, because for one-it is who I am.  I am a person who works at a school. I divide my life into fall semester, spring semester and summer, which is turns out that normal people do not do (or so my husband says).  And for two-you learn stuff at a school.  You don't even have to go to class to learn stuff.  I am a big proponent of learning stuff.  You can learn stuff from all sorts of situations.  Like yesterday...

I had to deliver some papers to a room that is off our cafeteria seating area, which was full of random students, or anyway I assume they were students because why else would they be there since they weren't employees except for they could have been just random people since this is the end of the line for the public bus system.  Anyway, while walking through I learned that Canada is its own continent!  I know!  I know!  And here, like me, you thought it was a mere country. Or maybe you did know that Canada was its own continent and I'm the idiot.  Anyway, the argument lecture on Canada went a little like this:

Dude, Canada is too its own continent!

Naw, I don't think so, man.

Yeah, it is.  Why do you think they call them Canadians?  Cuz they are in Canada, Dude!  That's why we're Americans because we're in North America!

Oh yeah, man.


Now everyone who reads this blog (all 3 of you) are much smarter for reading it. Although, I do suspect this topic may be more controversial than evolution.   Some of you will bring up that whole "United States of America" bit. You know it.  And some of you will want to know how Mexico feels about this. But let's not bite off more than we can chew.  Let's just do one continent at a time, shall we?  Speaking of Canada, did you know the number one export of Canada is hockey players?  Now you are doubly smart!

Or not.  Maybe that was just a lesson to show you that you can't believe everything you read on the internet.  Or hear in the cafeteria.  Even if the cafeteria is in an Institution of Higher Education.

Oh, and here's a card:

The Fine Print: First off I'd like the thank the little people who made this post possible.  And by "little people" I mean midgets who work in the p0rn business... and actually I'm just thanking them so that when people google "midget p0rn" they get my blog which will be a big disappointment, but also an important lesson about how you don't always get what you want out of life, like an entire continent to yourself  (I'm talking to you, Canada!).  I'd also like to give a big "You're Welcome!" to all those countries and continents who have a much smarter population than those here in Americanland.  Someone has to ride the short bus, you know.

And also, those stamps were by Close to My Heart.

Who's Minding the Desk? WOYWW 149

This morning it dawned on my sleepy brain that it was Wednesday, so I asked the cat to quickly take a picture of my desk.  The cat, of course, refused to be useful so my husband took it.  And he got me in the picture.  Sort of.

What I am holding is a pop up card that my friend sent me and lemme say, it is quite risque!  Other items to note are a mess, a package of lace ribbon, some form mount bug stamps, a Hero Arts clear set of greetings, several butterfly themed Martha Stewart punches, my new Penny Black wood stamps shoved to the back of the desk, and on top of my desk is a miniature bottle of Talisker whiskey, which my hubby has given me as a "must have" item for my traveling stamp kit.  To the left of the bottle, is a my ever growing pile of snippets, of which there are more in the pile on the left of my desk.

That is it for What's on Your Workdesk No. 149.  If you'd like see what that is all about, then go check out The Mistress of the Snoop, Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground blog HERE.

If you've got a spot more time, you can check out the butterfly themed paper bag book I'm working on for a swap that I am now officially late for.  The cover of it was shown on a previous WOYWW post, but I did add some more to it and change out the obnoxious pink ribbon for one not so bright.

First page spread

Following page with tag

As you can see this is still a work in progress. I'm having a hard time working on this because I don't feel like being crafty at all.  It isn't just crafting, I don't feel like doing anything at all lately.

The Fine Print: Guest photographer, Joe Palmer.  First page spread info-Spellbinders butterfly die, Memory Box flourish die, "Tranquility" by Komodo, Inc., "explore" and "discover" by The Angel Company, "dream" by unknown, butterfly embellishments from an old brick of embellishments, papers by DCWV Spring Fling. Page with tag info-papers by DCWV Spring Fling, border punch by Fiskars, greeting by Stampin Up, tag corner punch by Fiskars (squeeze punch), scrap fibers.

Hop to It

It could be that I mailed out a card without scanning or taking a picture of it.  That would be a sin.  So, for now, you have to make due with this card I made last year when I was feeling full of pollen. I mean, springlike.

 The Fine Print: image stamp by A Muse Artstamps, greeting by DeNami Designs, punches by Marvy, brads by Limited Edition, no clue on the paper but it is totally cool with raised faux stitching on it.

Not A Card

This post does not contain a card.  I'm warning ya!   The latest challenge on the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog  is to create something that is not a card.  I make cards.  I don't make other things, but I guess sometimes it is good to get out of the box (but I am crate trained).

I decided to make a gift card holder where the gift card sort of pops up when you open it.  I just saw this very thing in action the other evening when visiting with my crafty friends.  I didn't have a pattern so I just pulled out a gift card and some scrap paper and figured it out on my own.  Then I made this one:

Closed

Lifting up the front cover

Pulling down the next flap, there's the gift card-movie anyone?

Side view so you can see the pop-up effect

The fine print: everything by A Muse Studio. Plain cardstock-sugar, papaya, grass.  Gingham carstock-grass and sky.  Stamps from "Birthday Greetings" and "Owl's Well" sets. Embellishments-scallop border die and onyx brads.