Halloween Week: Day 3...Plus an Announcement You Don't Want to Miss

Today's card is destined for my nephew Grady, who is a round, roly-poly almost three-year-old.

Here's Grady just a few weeks ago.

Can you see the resemblance?

This is the same kid whom I asked you to pray for a few years ago when he was born prematurely. Remember when he looked like this?

Amazing what almost three years can do to a little human, eh?

As for the card, it's pretty self-explanatory. The jack-o'-lantern stamp is from A Muse, a set I bought before they went direct sales, but it's in the catalog, too. The punch is Fiskar's. I used pumpkin pie for the pumpkin (that's seems obvious, doesn't it?), old olive for the leaf, and artichoke for the stem. The sentiment is from Hero Arts October clear set.

The last time I sent a card to Grady, he carried it around for a few days without destroying it. I can't imagine a higher compliment from a toddler, can you?

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!

One-Layer Wednesday is BACK!!!! As of Wednesday sometime (whenever Jennifer gets her post up), the OLW will be ON!!!!!!!!!

*SQUEAL*

AND THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY COOL that Jennifer has to share. CHECK IT OUT!!!

Was that enough bold shouting and exclamation points for you? Sometimes it's so much fun to be egregious.

A Cup of Good Wishes

Playing around with my coffee set from A Muse, I decided to do a one-layer card colored with Copics/Bics/Sharpies, executed on Gina K Deluxe cardstock, which will not let the markers bleed through. Can't remember which colors I used, but I love how the cup and saucer turned out.

I'm no coloring expert, but I think that cup is, as we say in our house, good enough for government work.

The gingham background (from Papertrey) was stamped over the masked cup with turquoise gem VersaMagic ink.

Design Discussion: This card is decidedly bottom-heavy (a little like me, actually). I first tried to put the red ribbon on the top of the card, the idea being to balance the design more. But that looked...odd. When I moved it to the bottom, it looked less odd., so there it stayed. Despite the uneven balance, I still really like this card, mainly because the colors make me happy.

Supplies
stamps: A Muse, Papertrey
ink: Versamagic, Memento
paper: Gina K deluxe cardstock
accessories: post-it (mask), ribbon, rhinestones, markers

Tweaking When Something Almost Works

Sometimes, you have a great idea. You know it's going to look super-cool and make you giggle with glee. Then, you execute the idea and, well, it just doesn't turn out quite as you wanted.

Sometimes, the mistake is insurmountable and requires the services of a circular file. But most of the time, you can work around it or cover it up, if you just think outside the box.

When I sat down to make this one-layer card, I expected to use the rock-and-roll technique to ink the oval table so it was shaded like the copic-colored coffee mugs. But when I stamped the oval, it looked icky. The darker tangelo ink didn't blend well with the canteloupe and looked awkward. It's a one-layer card, so there's no place to hide the mistake. Instead, I pulled out my colored pencils and created the shading the rock-and-roll technique did not give me.

And it is good.

Don't you love this sentiment? Caffeine sure makes me feel this way!

What is your drink of choice? I'm generally a black coffee drinker, but I also enjoy some herbal teas, hot chocolate, mochas, frappes, and other foofy drinks. 

I like wine, too, but that's a whole different stamp set, LOL!

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Memento
paper: Gina K (perfect for coloring with copics because it doesn't bleed through!)
accessories: Corner Chomper, copic markers, colored pencils

A Brief Note, Times Three

I made these cards before my unexpected vacation while trying to use up some pre-cut card bases...colored card bases, no less. The stamps are from A Muse. In fact, I bought this whole set because of the brief stamp. Too cute!

When using a darker color for a card base, I add a white panel on the inside. Of course, you can write on dark cardstock with a white gel pen, but I always find those diabolical white gel pens choose to start skipping in the middle of my note and make a blotchy mess. Hence, the white panel.

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Memento
paper: SU real red, brilliant blue, pumpkin pie, black; Mark's Finest Papers 110lb white
accessories: Bic and Sharpie markers, dimensionals

A Muse Hey, Man

One of the A Muse sets I bought was Hey, Man. Actually, the real title is Hey, Man! with an egregious exclamation point, but you all know how I feel about those. Marketers really should not do that. Only bloggers are allowed. And people commenting on blogs. Oh how I love when you're so happy you have to hold down the exclamation key!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, Hey, Man has this groovy television set in it. Not sure a guy card should have pearls on it, but hey, man, orange pearls work for you. Dude!!!!!!!!!!!

How-To Chatter: The sentiment is from an old, old, old Hero Arts set...I have a whole bunch this size that happen to fit perfectly into the tv screen. YEEE-Haaa! I colored this with markers and without shading because it's too small for my meager shading skills. The line was drawn with a pen and ruler. That's about it.
A few bits of news...

1. I'm going to post some SU stamp sets for sale soon. I'm also selling two stacks of assorted SU cardstock (about 90 sheets per stack) because I figured I'd have to live to be 250 years old to use up all that I have. Please buy them so I need not feel guilty about buying new stuff.

2. Stampin'Treasures is still open for business and has bunch of product--especially Hero Arts--on serious discount. Yes, I placed an order, and no, they are not paying me to promote their sale. I'm just telling you because I love you and can't help myself.

3. And for something entirely non-stamp related...my golden retriever, who embodies the word enthusiasm in canine form, has to take doggy downers while she recovers from her knee surgery. Every time she starts to behave like her normal self (that is to say, when she starts behaving like Tigger...bouncy, jouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!), I have to push a pill down her throat. It's the saddest thing I've ever done. Well, that's not true. Saying goodbye to people is the saddest thing, saying goodbye to dogs is the second saddest, drugging my dog so she doesn't injure herself by being perky is the third saddest. PLUS, the recovery is really slow...three whole months. And at the end of three months, we get to do it all again on the other knee.

I feel like I'm taking her downers. Woe is the Daisy. Woe is me.

I'll shut up now. Thank you for listening.

A Muse Chatter and a Couple of Cards

Conversation in my head last night as I crawled into bed:

Me: Darn! I forgot to post a card on Simplicity! How could I do that?

Me: You got too wrapped up writing your essay for Questioning. You could go back downstairs, boot up your computer, and create a post, if you wanted to.

Me: Zzzzzzzzz.


Sometimes, Z happens.

Anyway, it was my intention to share a bit more chatter about A Muse along with two simple cards using their stamps. So here you go.

Before my order arrived, I watched a video tutorial on Mary Dawn's blog about A Muse stamps. In it, she showed how she keeps the extra rubber for storing the stamps so she will know immediately if one is missing. This seems absolutely, totally brilliant, so I'm doing that. Plus, the cases can hold post-it masks for images so you don't have to make a new one each time!

Here are a few more simple cards using the A Muse Keep Swimming set. I colored the whale with Copic and Bic markers, cut it out, popped it up, and accented it with the bling.

Same concept with this card, except that adorable killer whale (the main reason I bought this set) doesn't need to be colored. Oh how I love simple!

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Memento
paper: white, SU bashful blue
accessories: rhinestones, Bic and Copic markers, dimensionals

A Pair of Cards from Talented Readers, a Sparkly Dolphin, and a Happy Stamper

When George and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last week, two kind and talented Simplicity readers sent us cards. Check out the pretty piece of lace tucked into the knot of ribbon on Patti's card, as well as the masking she did on the oval for the sentiment and the rounded bottom corners. Sweet!



Card by Patti M.

While Patti went romantic and sweet with her card, Linda E. decided on taking a more, shall we say, risque approach to our 25th.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I died.

Laughing.

Card by Linda E.

Seriously, this is a pretty card, even if you're a perverted Engish major. Look at Linda's lovely rock-and-roll shading on the pears, and I love how the die cut stamped panel and mat corners mimic the shape of the pear bottoms.

*snort* She said, "Bottoms."

I can't do this. The card just makes me laugh, giggle, and think naughty thoughts, which was entirely Linda's intent. If you are new to Simplicity, and perhaps feeling a tad lost as to why Linda sent me a pear card to make me laugh and think naughty thoughts, please read this post to get in on this ongoing and extremely juvenile, yet oddly intellectual joke. You'll never look at pears the same way again.

Geeks are fun!

They also, occasionally, make punny, sparkly dolphin cards.

The sparkles may be hard to see (click to make it big), but the dolphin has been colored with a gray Bic marker and then colored again with a clear Sakura Stardust pen. The waves were stamped with Brilliance Sky ink, so they also shimmer a bit. Stamps are by A Muse, and the paper is SU bashful blue and PTI white.

My son took the following photo. He doesn't know his mother is a weird English major. He just knows she spends a lot of time sitting at her craft desk playing with paper and pens. He occasionally likes to play along. But mostly, he wants to take pictures of his feet. I kid you not.

Please don't forget to comment on the give-away post for your chance to win a free roll of 1/8" Scor-Tape!

Go Fly a Kite

I love kites and kite images, and this one is so simple and clean and cute, I just had to give it a simple and clean and cute treatment.

I colored this kite with Memento markers...a bit of an experiment in shading with them. Seems to work okay, don't you think?

Sadly, no time for chit chat tonight. Still no time in the craft room, either. Sigh.

Have a lovely weekend, and may each of you have some beneficial time creating something wonderful!

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Memento
paper: Mark's Finest
accessories: Memento markers, dimensional

Breezy Life

My new A Muse stamps have been fun! What neat sets they have...very fun and versatile and perfect for clean-and-simple cards.

The idea for today's card came from some of the dies I've seen for chevrons and banners. Since I don't have a die cut machine, I wondered what I could make with my cheapo deco scissors. The wavy strips were made with wavy deco scissors and were not as hard to make as I thought, thought surely it's a bit more effort than a die would be. Also, I wanted the card to have both the peaceful stasis of the beach chair and the movement of wind and waves. I think I got that.

How-To Tips: Cut your strips longer than you want so you can trim them in alignment with each other, as I have done here. Always remember when using deco scissors: DO NOT CLOSE THE SCISSORS COMPLETELY! This creates unsightly divets. Instead, work in short segments, carefully aligning the blades with what has already been cut.

Chit Chat: I'm hoping to get back into my craft room Thursday. It feels like FOREVER, and in truth it's been NINE days. Just call me Ferris Bueller. I currently have over 500 unread blog posts in my Google Reader, a trashed house, and golden furry dust bunnies that are starting to attain sentience. Clearly, I need to catch up on stuff. I'm going to shake it up, baby. But right now, I just want to go to sleep.

Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Marina Mist, River Rock
paper: SU river rock, marina mist, bashful blue; PTI white
accessories: corner chomper, wavy deco scissors, dimensionals, glue pen, half pearls

Carrot Smooch...I'm in Love!

Safely home from my trip, need to get resettled, so no chit-chat tonight. Just a fun little card using 1) a colored card base, 2) A Muse stamps, and 3) Carrot Smooch.

Th-, Th-, Th-That's All, Folks!

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Palette noir, SU bordering blue
paper: SU bordering blue, PTI white (for fish)
accessories: Smooch, Sharpie marker, dimensional