Rockin Goodness!!

I've been incredibly busy this past week but wanted to make sure my A Muse Secret Sister knew I got her package. Check out this rockin goodness! I got this pretty little altered mailbox filled with individual packages of Sour Patch Kids (my fave!!!). Can you tell I already consumed one? I put it in the picture anyway. hee hee. I also got a larger pkg of Sour Patch Kids, a pretty little photo clip (I love pink, too!), and the cutest little notebook which has perforated pages. I gotta find me some of that! I love that a page can be ripped right outta there without tearing up the whole thing! The card she made is the sweetest, too. All of it color coordinated to boot! Sister, you ROCK!!!

I also picked up ALL the Saltbox Studio clear stamp sets at A Muse on Friday's release date. WOW! I love the folk-art style of these stamps. They are fresh, clean, and a total change from what's been on the market lately. You all need these! Man, I wish there were more hours in a day so I had more time to play with them. Life has definitely been in the way of my creativity!

It looks like I'll still be incredibly busy for the remainder of the week. I hope to catch a breather after the weekend. I'll try to post if I can.....enjoy your week! Next week I hope to have pics of my redone living/dining room (sans furniture).

Classes

Hi, everyone! My husband and I have been busy working on a remodeling project so I haven't had a lot of extra stamp time since the Elzybells Sneak Peeks. I hope to be able to post a new creation for you very soon.

In the meantime, just want to put a reminder out there that I have a class this weekend at Stampin In The Rain in Bothell Country Village this Saturday. If you're interested in attending, please contact the store directly to sign up. You can find the number at the right, under my schedule. If you can't make Saturday's class, I have another Valentine class at Stampers Ink in the Silver Lake area of Everett on Tuesday night. Again, the store number is to the right, under my schedule. Hope to see you there!

They're here!!!!

Oh, my! The response from you all from Sneak Peek Week has been tremendous! Well, today is the big day......


THEY'RE HERE!!!!! Go here to purchase the new Friendship Collection from Elzybells, NA.


I'll leave you with one more sample. I usually stamp with Versafine Onyx Black, or if using Copics I use Memories Black Dye Ink but this time I stamped with Ancient Page, just to see the difference. It stamps a much bolder image than the Versafine or Memories pads do.



Card details (all supplies by A Muse): Blue Kitchen notecard, Swiss Red for scalloped heart & scalloped band; Stamps: D0074 Daydreamer; 3-1017B Heart Line sm; 9-8288B Smooches

Elzybells Sneak Peek #4

I don't think anyone has shown this little ditty yet. Yes, It's an Elzybells stamp but without Lizzy! This image is actually of a potted plant but as you can see, I covered the little flower portion of the image with a punched flower and heart center. I wanted to make this Valentine-ish. This image was colored with my Copics! What do you think? Am I getting the hang of coloring with these Copics? I'm definitely no pro yet but I think I'm starting to catch on. Only one more sleep before all these lovelies are released!!!

card details: (all supplies by A Muse) Cottage Red Argyle Notecard, Reverse dot Cottage Green PLP, Swiss Red for matted layer and scallop strip; Stamps: D0068 Potted Flower, 8-8472B Love blooms

Elzybells Sneak Peek #3

Do you have friends who live far away? I do. My best friend from my jr high and high school years lives in North Carolina. With a card like this, friends can stay friends forever with just a simple phone call (or via email, like we do!). For my friend Tina and I, time usually gets the best of us and we don't call or write like we should but we have been friends for so long we can just pick up where we left off. Her little sister is getting married this spring so she will be out for a visit. I can't wait! I wasn't able to spend much time with her the last time she came to visit. Seems like there's never enough time....

Just a few more days and you can purchases these Elzybells for yourself. I'll be sure to post a link.

Card details: (all supplies by A Muse) Black Tiny Dot notecard, Popsicle Pink cut into a band; Stamps: C0081 Gossiping Girl, 9-8484B Friends Forever HC, 2-7032C Telephone; colored with Copics; A Muse Twinkle Dot Sticker, a touch of yellow Stickles in the flower in the girl's hair

Sneak Peek #2

I was going to share a different card with you today. One inspired by Becky Rusher's card yesterday but figured you might rather see some images not already used. This is one of my favorites in the upcoming Elzybells release, this Friday, January 18th. This is 'Shopaholic.' Need I say more??????

Card details: (all supplies by A Muse) Popsicle Pink Notecard, white CS, black CS; Stamps: D0072 Shopaholic, 9-8482B Inner Princess, c0071 Shopping Bags, 3-5057B Micro Oval Bl; Copic Markers; A Muse Clear Twinkle Stickers; Decorative Scissors

The Elzys are comin'! The Elzys are comin'!

This Friday, the newest Elzybells release will be hitting stores and the Elzybells blog. You can view sneak peeks all through the rest of this week by visiting the blogs of various Elzybells and A Muse Design/Instructor team members (see my links to the right). I don't actually have the list of stamps with their assigned names yet so I'll just call this 'Hugs' for now. Hopefully I can edit this post later with its correct name.

Note: The correct name for this stamp IS Hugs. Good guess on my part!

Card details: Notecard-Celestial Blue; Green Reverse Dot PLP, Red Polka Dot PLP; Swiss Red punched with Marvy Mega Scalloped Square punch; Sentiment-Friends Forever

A Short but Sweet Life

This past week has been an interesting one for me, emotionally. Last Friday our community suffered the loss of a 13yr old girl who was killed in an avalanche. Whenever I hear about someone killed in an avalanche, I get a knot in my throat and my heart just drops to the ground. My cousin, Becky, was killed in an avalanche in 2001 at the ripe old age of 30. This girl, Emily, was 13. Thirteen!!! I didn't know this girl, or her family, but I share many friends with them. I know Emily played softball with my niece. It just wounds me to the core to know there is a family nearby who is suffering what I saw my aunt and uncle suffering, what our extended family suffered. Just brings tears to my eyes. This is the link to the news story. In it they show a wall dedicated to Emily with notes from her friends. I have stood at this wall. It's incredibly moving. She was obviously a popular girl who touched many people in a short but sweet life. Rest In Peace, sweet girl! You are in good hands now.

I've been sort of in a stamping funk, which is partly why I haven't updated anything here. Plus, what I HAVE created has been design team stuff so I can't share it YET. Are you as excited for the upcoming Elzybells release as I am? I can't wait! Sneak peeks start on Monday. I'm chompin at the bit! Be sure to hit the Elzybells Blog on the 18th to purchase these new stamps. You can keep an eye out on the various A Muse and Elzybells Designers and Instructors blogs for sneak peeks. Even the A Muse Designers and Instructors couldn't keep their hands off these cuties! haha. Since I can't share any of the new designs with you, I will share this new Valentine card I created. I stamped 3 of the 'flowers' in black ink, then colored them in with a red marker, then 2 of them in a gray ink and colored them in with a pink marker. I wanted the pink 'flowers' to appear to be behind the red ones. Did it work? I also colored the red 'flowers' with my Spica atyou Red Glitter Pen. I hand-drew the stems using two different colors of green marker. The ribbon is a fabulous Target $1 spot find. I can't believe I actually used it instead of hoarding it! LOL! I don't know if you can see it but I also used a light pink micro twinkle dot in the center of the flower on the 'Love Blooms' sentiment.

Now this second card was made with a stamp I borrowed from my friend Cindy. It's by Stampendous and it's called Agapanthus Cluster. I knew I wanted to use it on some sort of Kraft cardstock so I used some SU Confetti Tan, layered it on SU Really Rust and SU Basic Black. The patterned papers are from my stash. They are by Jenni Bowlin Studio. I picked it up from my LSS. I knew they would be perfect for this. I added a little bling with my Spica atyou Black Glitter Pen on the main flower in the middle, and some clear micro dot twinkle stickers from A Muse.

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. My husband and I are working on remodeling our living/dining room and tiling over our ugly brick fireplace. Hopefully I'll have some before and after pics to show soon! Plus, the Seahawks are playing Green Bay tomorrow in their 2nd playoff game. GO HAWKS!!!!

Ramblings

I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year. I'm excited to see what 2008 has to offer. I hope it's a year of good health, growing friendships, and a little prosperity would be nice. Have you ever seen Delta Farce? It's a dumb movie but in it they play a bit of Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You Babe.' I wasn't watching the movie but heard the music in the background so it inspired me to use the stamp by A Muse and create a 70-ish card with it. This is the result.

Card details (all products by A Muse Artstamps): Cardstock-Cottage Red Pinwheel, Swiss Red, Plum Tiny Flower PLP; Stamps-2-1054C Kissing Couple, 8-8379B I got you babe, 2-7097C Love bus, 3-5057B Micro Oval bl, 3-1075A Heart Trio. Images colored with Copic Markers, Heart Trio stamped with Versafine Satin Red, colored with atyou Spica Glitter Pen (red)