Sketch Challenge Thursday

Tracy posted this fun sketch on her blog. Make sure to check it out and play along! I reminded the kids that today was their last day of freedom before school starts next week---which of ocurse means more stamping time for mom!! Woohoo-no more glasses, dishes, socks, and toys from one end of the house to the other!

Card info: Eiffel Tower stamp by Stampin' Up

letters by Hero Arts, notecards by A Muse, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, chipboard letter from my FAVORITE store-Target's dollar aisle!

Have a Fantastic Holiday weekend!! Tracy

Watercolor Spark

This week Heather posted a watercolor challenge for "Share your Spark Friday". This one had me scared! I've only used my watercolor pencils a few times, it's just so easy to reach for those copics instead!

I do like how this image turned out(sorry for the bad pic). The watercolors gave it a softer look. I distressed the edges of polka dots to give it a kind of "shabby chic" look.

Images and notecards-A Muse

ink-Staz-on Jet Black

Neenah Classic Crest cardstock

spica pen in middle of flowers

ribbon scrap

Thanks for looking! Tracy

A Muse Stamp of the week

First of all, my girls are much better today! After a sleepless night(for mom), my youngest daughter's feverpeaked, and she only has a little sore throat today.

I wanted to use the stack of books-but as a gift card holder. After searching, I found the perfect template at the A Muse News site--of course!!

I had no experience whatsoever in doing one of these, and it literally took me 15 minutes to whip this up!! I can't wait to get my new A Muse stamps to get started on some Halloween goody bags!

Info: Notecard, stamps, A Muse-Memento Tuxedo Black ink, MS tag, Marvy scalloped punches---Caribou Coffee Card ;)

Now---who to give it to?? Have a great day! Back to school nite here! Big event as littlest one goes to Kindergarten--Tracy

A Muse Office Supplies Challenge

Whew!! What a crazy day! My DS got braces today, and I must admit, he looks really good with them!! My littlest DD is running a high temp with a bad headache, and my oldest DD is starting to feel "achy". The only good thing is that we don't start school until next week, so hopefully everyone will be fully recovered by then.

I did get a chance to work on the Challenge over at the A Muse Addicts blog when little DD was napping.

The Challenge this week was to use Office Supplies on our card. I knew I wanted to use this image, I just didn't know which direction it was going to take!! I used the Elyse image from A Muse, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, copics for coloring, MS scallop punch, Paper Studio cardstock and tag punch, A Muse notecard and ribbon, and stickles on the heart. I typed the sentiment on cardstock and attached here. Thanks for the challenges, Jennie!

Sketch Challenge Thursday

These are my entries for Tracy's sketch challenge over at the EatSleepStamp blog. I had some time to play this morning, since my youngest DD wanted to "do stamps".

I used A Muse notecards and stamps for both-ribbon tags for sentiment are MS, patterned paper is Making Memories, flower adornment is Making Memories, Staz-on Jet Black ink, copics for coloring.

Have a great day--off to to the lakes for a couple of hours, my DS gets braces tomorrow morning! Now, that makes me feel old! Tracy

Stamp of the week

Lesson learned here-even though you may be impatient--a stamp positioner is a good thing! Next time, I'll use mine!! I love this little doggie bag stamp from A Muse-it reminds me of Petie, my little rat terrier-who the kids just adore!!

I used white cardstock for my card, stamped the Madeira stamp as a pattern using Colorboxes Cateyes chalk ink, the sentiment is from Hero Arts, border from Doodlebugs, ribbon from A Muse, coloring with Copics.

It looks like another fabulous day here-hopefully I'll be motivated to get outside and ride bike! Have a great Sunday! Tracy

Just Because

Absolutely gorgeous day in Minnesota today! The temp is in the 70's - nice and

cool for a change, with bright sunshine. It's a nice break from the 90's and humidity we were having. I got these stamps from Stampstruck earlier this week, I really like the saying!

A Muse has such great sentiments--I think that is one of the reasons I love this company so much! All images, ribbon,and paper is A Muse. Copics for coloring, stickles on hearts, and Staz-on Jet Black ink. I hope everyone else is having a gorgeous Saturday--take care! Tracy

September Home Page

Geeta challenged us to use 3 of 4 colors on our cards for the September Home Page contest over at the A Muse Addicts blog. I didn't have all the colors noted, so I had to play around a little.

Notecard is A Muse French Roast, the leaves are stamped on the Kitchen collection-in yellow, red and green. The orange is just scrap cardstock. All images are by A Muse, ribbon is A Muse (love this one!) coloring is with Copics, Staz-on Jet Black ink, and stickles on leaves. I just love fall--hard to believe it's only a few weeks away with the hot, hot, hot weather we've been having--hot for Minnesota anyways!! :) Tracy

Heather's Spark

Heather's challenge this week was for a Halloween card--I just couldn't get an idea to save my life!!! I think it was because of all the bitter jealousy I felt after seeing all the great sneak peeks!!! I NEED that Sabrina and Crow stamp(and everything else!) Anyways, after staring at my craft table for a while--this is what I got--I am not thrilled-it seems lopsided to me--but I figured I would post to share, and maybe I will get a great "spark" and post later this week as well. Thank you, Heather, for allowing us a chance to play every week-I really enjoy taking a creative beating every once in a while! :) THe Notecard is A Muse, stamps are A Muse, brads are Me and My Big Ideas, Ranger Glossy accents on skulls, Staz-on Jet Black ink, Marvy punch, and ribbon scrap---Have a great day everybody--all comments appreciated---especially constructive criticism--I'm a newly developing stamper, and I need to know what to work on!! Tracy

Tracy's Sketch Challenge

Tracy did such a cute Christmas card for her sketch, that I felt inspired to do the same. I love this new little guy from A Muse-he is just so sweet and versatile! I used A Muse notecards and stamps, Staz-on Timber Brownink, A Muse ribbon and "candy", copics for coloring. The toughest part on this one was picking out the different papers, they are all so cute it makes it hard! Tracy

Sketch Challenge

I found a great blog, EatSleepStamp, that had a sketch challenge posted. This is usually very hard for me for some reason. Today when I sat down, I got not only one idea but two!! On the first, I used A Muse notecard, A Muse stamps, Marvy punch, MS Daisy and tag, Stazon jet black ink, ribbon scrap-coloring with copics, and Ranger glossy accent for a "wet" look. I really like how this one turned out.

The Halloween one came about as I was playing with the Marvy tag punch-I thought it would be neat to try the three across that way--next to look for a stamp that fit--the A Muse witch fit perfectly! Notecard by A Muse-stamps too.Staz-on jet black ink, coloring with copics, Stickles on hat-brads by Me and My Big ideas . Thanks for posting this challenge Tracy, it was fun! Tracy

Martha Stewart Halloween Punches

My DDs slept in this morning, so I grabbed my new border punches and started playing! I really love the fence border--I am anxiously awaiting my scarecrow stamp order-I have an idea for this one! Stamps and orange notecards are from A Muse. Bat brads are from Making Memories, Halloween ribbon is K & Company, Marvy punches, Ranger glossy accents, bling from

Me and My Big Ideas, Staz-On Jet Black ink, Memories Orange ink, and of course--MS border punches!

Share your spark card

Heather posts great challenges every Friday on her blog--they have really helped me expand my creative horizons! ;) This week the challenge was to remove a portion of the cardstock. I really had a tough time with this--I had never attempted anything like this before. Once I finally figured out how to go about it--it came together pretty quickly. I used white cardstock stamped with a background of snowflakes-by Hero Arts-the car stamp and sentiment are by A Muse-tag is MS, red cardstock punched out with Marvy punch. I had a tough time getting my oval pretty enough with the craft knife, so I felt the need to cover with the scalloped oval! Thanks Heather for the creative push!! Tracy

Birthday party crafts

Thanks to all the great minds over at Amuse Addicts I was able to come up with some great crafts for the girls to do----I prestamped some images onto Shrinky Dink plastic-cut out with Marvy punches, then had the girls color in with permanent markers. We added keyrings after baking so they could attach them to backpacks, jackets, etc. They all had a blast doing this! We also used the stamps to make bookmarkers as well. Thanks again everyone! Tracy

Emily's Birthday card

Today was the perfect time to make a card for Emily's birthday. Everyone was out of the house giving me a chance to stamp in peace. I love the Elzybells dreamer--Madeira and sentiment stamp by A Muse. A Muse notecard, CS-Neenah solar white, coloring with copics, and my NEW Koh-i-noor pencils--I loved them! Need to find a tutorial online, so I can get some pointers! Ribbon is A Muse.

Tracy

A Muse Stamp of the week

Well, since I don't have the lemonade stamp--which I always thought was a cocktail stamp too!-my decision was easy. I really love this tire swing stamp--it just makes me happy!

I decided to do a window card since I've only done a couple of those. I used a Marvy scallop punch-image and sentiment stamped with Memento tuxedo black, A Muse kitchen red notecard(my favorite!), colored with copics. Paper frill is from Doodlebugs, ribbon scrap-tire is coated with glossy accents from Ranger to give it "shine". Thanks for looking-Tracy

Share your Spark card

As soon as I saw this challenge for depth, I knew what I wanted to do. I bought these stamps back in January and have been itching to use them! How funny that there is a definite "Halloween" theme going on this week! maybe that should have been the challenge! ;) The notecard is A Muse, all stamps are A Muse-I used Memento tuxedo black-and Rubber Stampede silver for sponging in the background. Coloring with copics, MS ribbon, stickles on the ghost to make them shine! I know it's only August, but I LOVE fall! Tracy

Mom's Bday card

I found this great image on the clearance rack at my LSS. I knew I couldn't pass it up! The notecard is A Muse Kitchen Dot red, cardstock is Neenah solar white, ink is memento tuxedo black, scrap ribbon, colored with copics. The stamp is Simply Stamped, sentiment from A Muse. Tracy

VMAAAUG08B-Grey's Anatomy

I really like how this one turned o

ut---I haven't used this stamp yet, so this was a good time to ink it up!!! Tracy

VMAAAUG08A-Passport to Europe

Here's my entry--this one stumped me--not thrilled with this card, but oh well, the night is young!! Tracy

A Muse "In with the new" weekly challenge

I received a Birthday RAK from Dawn S. with this great image on it--so of course, I had to go buy it immediately!!! My daughters love this Elzybell-how great is she! It's my niece Katelin's 18th B-day today so this card was also made for her.

Notecard is A Muse--I love these dots!!

Stamp is Elzybells-sentiment is A Muse-colored with copics, stickles on dress and star-the tag is MS, not sure on ribbon or brads--memento tuxedo black ink.

Tracy

Maddy's Birthday card

I made this card for my youngest daughters best friend-they spend a lot of time together--the kids were very excited to go to her party----it's always fun to go swimming!

Notecard is A Muse-stamps are the clear Celebration Kids stamps- -ink is Memento tuxedo black---A Muse creative candy-stickles on dress and crown and star--copics for coloring--I'm most excited about the white cardstock-I splurged and bought the Neenah classic crest solar white--can I just say OMG!! what a difference good quality cardstock makes--as a newbie I'm constantly learning--this was a great discovery!!! Tracy