Vintage Labels & Labels Die

 Hello, Friends! I am so glad you stopped by!

This card is not ALL A Muse Studio, but I wanted to show off the Vintage Labels stamp set and the matching Labels Dies. You get four labels in each set, and they are gorgeous! I know that this set is going to get a lot of use in my stamp room.

Birthday Builders and CPS

 This is the first challenge I have done in over a year, I think. My job of the past two years required 10-14 hour days of me for six months of the school year, and pretty much my whole life has been my job and recovering from my job. I resigned as Drama Director and next year, I will just be a regular old overworked teacher, not an insanely overworked teacher.

I want to get back to my blog and my stamping friends and all the silly little things we do for pleasure. CPS was the first challenge outside of SCS challenges that I ever did. I loved it way back when, and I love it now. I used A Muse Studio's Birthday Builder on this card. It's such a fun and clever little set. It is part of a|s's Clearly Creative line, which makes it an absolute cinch to line up and stamp perfectly every time! That gray grosgrain ribbon is part of what's left from a ribbon swap I did with TexasJodyLynn about five years ago. I guess I don't use a lot of gray! The crown is a leftover from a large custom order on Etsy. They were tags for school treat bags for three brothers. Each boy had his own color combo using two of these three: black, gray and red.

Toodles, girlfriends! I'm off to continue to try to get my house in order. I need to CLEAN, do some remodeling finishing touches, and rearrange the living room. What are you doing this summer?

Birthday Wishes

 This is another card from one of A Muse Studio's preplanned workshops. I don't believe this was the exact color scheme, but anyone who has been making cards for long knows you can use any color that suits you when you case a card. If you don't have the exact supplies used on the original, just substitute what you do have. The more you use the supplies you already own, the more creative you will become.

This card was fun and easy to make, easy for even a first time stamper. One of my favorite things about a|s is the ink. This gorgeous, bold leaf stamp makes a perfect impression every time when I use a|s inks. You also don't have to pound the stamp on the pad with all your strength to get your stamp inked. Just a gentle tap, tap, tap, and you're good to go, girlfriend!

The leaf stamp here is from Beautiful Botanicals 2, and the sentiment is from Contemporary Greetings. Just click on the a|s catalog, which will take you straight to my webstore. Just remember, if your order reaches $150, you will want to email it to me so I can spoil you with hostess benefits!

I hope you are all well and that you are enjoying your summers as much as I am mine! Big hugs to you!!

Brief Notes: Happy Father's Day

 This is one of the cards that A Muse Studio designed for us to use in workshops. There are lots of preplanned workshops, most of which use only the supplies from the starter kit, so it is so easy to hit the ground running with an a|s business.

The set I used, called Brief Notes, also contains a cell phone, a lap top and a briefcase, in addition to 10 sentiments. It has 14 stamps, and sells for $21.99.

I just got back from a trip to Denver. My sister and I did a craft fair at Elizabeth and it was a dismal failure, to say the least! At least the company was good! Then on Saturday we went to a couple of Goodwills. They were having a 50% off sale. I got some folder holders and a three hole punch for my classroom, some vintage seam binding, a few t-shirts for the 7yo, and a very cool heavy planter. I'm going to put a collection of succulents I bought a couple of weeks ago in it. I think they will be happy in it, and look beautiful. I also got a DVD rack to store my a|s stamp sets. It's kind of a verdigris right now, but I plan to spray paint it antique white.

Do you go to the Goodwill? Have you gotten any great deals there? We saw a Slice for $10, still in the box, but neither of us are interested in getting into ANOTHER die cutting system, so we left it behind. Can you believe our restraint?

Eat Cake!!!

 This birthday cake image is one of the stamps included in the starter kit's Studio Sampler sets. I love this stamp so much, that A Very Merry Unbirthday was one of the first full sets I bought.

It's so much fun to color in shades to match your paper. Then I always have to add a little sprinkle of Diamond Glitter! Have you noticed my new favorite color combo? Bubblegum Pink, Buttercup, and Sage. Expect to see more!!

Toodles, friends! Thanks for stopping by (AMY!) I'll be around to your place soon. My sister and I are doing a fair in Elizabeth tomorrow. I'll have lots of stuff from my Etsy shop plus A MUSE STUDIO CATALOGS! Do you have yours yet? I'd be happy to send you one! Leave a note in my comments and we'll wheel and deal! (That means $5 plus S&H)

WHAT I USED:


A Very Merry Unbirthday
Bubblegum Gingham and Polka Dot Cardstocks
Sugar Cardstock
Sage Cardstock
Buttercup Buttons
Diamond Glitter
Bubblegum 5/8" Satin Ribbon
Vanilla Twine
Cosmos Paper Flower
Classic and Scalloped Circle Nesties

Page Three of the Girly Layout

 I used Buttercup Yellow, and Bubblegum and Blush Pinks on this page, plus a few dashes of Sugar for balance. Besides, who doesn't like a little sugar? I made the felt flower myself, I sell them in my Etsy shop. Well, I don't actually sell them, but they are in there ;) I adore the Butterfly die from A Muse Studio. I've been putting them everywhere!

 To get the ribbon ruched, I just pushed it forward under the presser foot as I sewed.  It's super easy to do, and it looks so sweet. I cut the tails off real purtty when I'm finished stitchin'.

That heart, which I use all the time, is from Hearts A Plenty. I added a Buttercup flower and a Twinkle sticker so it wouldn't be lonely. Then I popped that layer up and used my white gel pen to add polka dots to the scalloped nestie circle.

Well, toodles, girlfriends! Whatever you're doing, I hope it's fun!