bowl of jelly...

On April 24, 2008 I signed up for a designation for my real job, which has left me over a year to complete the certification. Surely it would be complete given I've had a year to study the materials but sadly that it not the case. I choose to wait until two weeks before it's due to even crack open the book. I've spend the last 12 hours studying and have effectively turned my brain into a bowl full of jelly. But I am happy to report that I have passed the practice test for three of the four sections. I saved the biggest and longest for last...wish me luck!




Since I don't have anything creative to show I thought I'd share a picture of my new paper storage. I picked this up a few weeks ago on clearance and I love it! I used to have my paper in rolling cart with a lid but I love that I can see all my papers at a glance. After I put it together I wished I had ordered the taller one. I was only able to put the paper that I use the most in here, of course there's like 8 shelves of A muse! Hopefully I can back in my craft room in a few days, my paper is calling me!

think simple, think a muse...

This is the slogan for one of my favorite stamp companies, A muse Art stamps. I'm not sure why but the simplier the card the harder it is for me to stop fiddling with it. This is the perfect example, I walked away and came back to this card 4 or 5 times before I said enough!

This card was inspired by two challenges. The first was this month's a muse lounge challenge I had to create a simple card with minimal layers and embellishments. The second challenge was from Splitcoast and I was supposed to to use some type of distressing on a card, since I wasn't able to use embellishments roughing up the image worked out great for me. I used the new open zinnia from the most recent A muse release to stamp and cut out the flowers. After I was done I wished I had stamped the sentiment in teal but I was too tired to redo the entire thing.

Stamps: A muse. Paper: stampin up. Ink: Memento. Misc: A muse ribbon

easter baskets...

I've seen the top note bags all over splitcoast so I forced to pick one up the top note die from stampin up! This was a super cute bag to make and decorate.

First I cut two top note dies in my cuttlebug, again thanks to splitcoast I found a sandwich that worked for me. (B plate, paper, die and B plate) Then I pasted a cut brown lunch bag in between the two dies, this will hold the eggs/goodies. Next I used the window word punch for a way to hold the bag and decorated the outside with the Jelly Beans set from My Cute Stamps and paper frills from Doodlebug. Being that's it is Easter this bunny is on serious rotation in my craft room!

flock got me again...

So I thought I'd give the clean and simple (CAS) challenges at Splitcoasrt another shot. These are supposed to be quick cards with little embellishments.

This week's challenge was to follow a sketch but somehow it took me an hour to put this card together! I've been seeing a lot of felt flowers out there so I would try and make my own using fun flock. Mistake #1!!! I used the slice to cut out two flowers and attempted to flock them but had no luck at all. It seems I have good luck with flock in small areas but anything larger than a brad is a flop for me. Next I tried coloring with my Copics and that was just as bad, the colors were way off. I abandoned my color scheme and choose another ribbon. That must have been the problem because the card came together pretty fast after that, like it should have in the first place.

Lesson learned: Just buy the felt flowers!

Paper: PTI white. Ribbon: Strano Designs.

that was quick...

Days go by with zero stamp time but today I snuck it in! This is for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge, just a quickie to get the mojo working again.

Stamps: A muse. Ink: Memento & Copic. Misc: A muse ribbon

hoppy birthday...

I was able to sneak a few stamping hours today and was able to finish a card or two. Things have been hectic with my little one's birthday party planning but it's finally behind me. April shows no sign of slowing down so I'm dreaming of May when life can return to a slow pace. This is a card for the K Werner Color Challenge and the colors were very pretty and soft. I wanted to break out some new stamps I ordered a few weeks back from My Cute Stamps. The little bunny is adorable and I added a little flock on her tail for a fluffier look!

Stamps: My Cute Stamps, A muse. Paper: PTI Brown, A muse. Ink: Memento and Copic. Misc: Doodlebug flock and A muse ribbon.