Thinking of You

Remember when you're young and dandelions were the most beautiful flower in the world? Today, they still are for me:

Just stay away from my lawn, dandelions....and this love fest can continue!

Supplies: Stamps - Beautiful Botanicals, Essential Sentiments, & Polka Dot Pattern s(A·Muse Studio); Ink - Lemon Whip, Shell, & Grass (A·Muse Studio); Paper - Sage (A·Muse Studio), Lemon Tart & Sweet Blush (PTI); Accessories - Stitched French Roast ribbon & Diamond Glitter (A·Muse Studio), Corner Rounder

Let's Be Brief

Happy Spring!! It was a beautiful day here in Pennsylvania. Don't you just love how those first warm spring days reinvigorate you! I'm always tired leaving school on Mondays, but not today with the sun shining and the thermometer reading 71!

I've been working on craft show goodies (and I'll post photos soon), but I wanted to share a mini card that I made with a favorite A·Muse Studio image.

This image is from the Brief Notes set - perfect for guy cards. I thought this little number would be fun to give to a male teacher. Teacher Appreciation Week falls at the beginning of May - wouldn't it be nice to attach this to a bag of cookies or Moose Munch! This set includes 14 images/sentiments and sells for $21.99. Plus there's a cell phone & laptop image that I have a ton of ideas for already.

If you haven't checked it out already, I've updated the A·Muse Studio page here on the blog. Please check it out if you're interested in learning more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps - Brief Notes (A·Muse Studio); Paper - white, navy; Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento), red, copics; Accessories - square punch, white gel pen, corner rounder

News

I'm very excited to share that I've signed up as a consultant for the brand-new A|Muse Studio! If you haven't heard, A|Muse has started selling their stamps, papers, inks, and more through catalogs and home parties. I decided to join at the beginning of the month when the announcement was made, and I'm SOOOOOO HAPPY with that decision!

After great anticipation, my kit arrived yesterday. Wowza! I'm not sure what I'm drooling over more - the paper, the ink, the stamps, the catalogs...okay maybe I can just drool over all of it! Let me tell you my initial reactions:

1. I ADORE the cardstock - super smooth & a great weight. so many gorgeous colors. love that one side of the sheet is colored and the other side is white - I'm picturing some fabulous white cards with a surprise burst of color when the recipient opens it up!

2. The ink - A|Muse Studio sells pigment ink in the same colors as the cardstock. It's wonderful to work with. Goes on so easily & stamps evenly!

3. The stamps - Stamp sets are mostly cling rubber - alphabets sets are clear. I think it's great that they're all ready to go - no adhering labels! I love how A|Muse included many classic favorites in sets and at great prices. Along with the new image sets, my wish list keeps getting longer.

4. One stop shopping - Remember when you started to stamp and wanted this product and this product but each was sold through a different retailer? A|Muse Studio carries many popular items - Copic markers, Nestabiliites dies, matching buttons, and more. I love how custom dies and matching stamp sets are available. I love how convenient this is.

I'm just started playing with my new goodies, so I'm sure this list will get longer! Here's one card that I made with the Vintage Amuse set. I think the sentiment is hysterical.

Hee hee! Isn't it the greatest! A|Muse has a wide variety of images. I definitely take a special liking to those stamps with silly sentiments. Must be my personality.

You can check out the A|Muse Studio catalog here. On April 1st, my web store with A|Muse will go live. I'll be adding the link soon. If you'd like to place an order with me, you can go through my web store (starting April 1st); or, if you can't wait until April 1st, please shoot me an email and I'll help you out. Also if you live near the western PA area, I'll be holding an A|Muse Open House. Let me know if you're interested & I'll send you out some more information.

I'll be sharing more A|Muse Studio information here on the ol' blog, and I'm working on creating a special section just for that. I'm so excited to start this journey and happy that I could share it with all of you!

Show Time?

I've decided to set up a table at a local craft show, mostly due to an announcement I hope to make tomorrow. (Maybe you've figured it out already) This will be my first time selling anything, so I've been busy researching what works for others. One of the items that I came across were mini composition notebooks, and I made a few tonight to sell. Here's one of my favorites:

I made a bunch of these including some that would work perfectly as teacher appreciation gifts. Since Easter, Teacher's Appreciation Day, and Mother's Day all follow the date of the show, I'm planning my marketing around those occasions.

Have any of you sold things at craft shows? What works well and what doesn't? I'd love to hear your feedback on this.

Supplies: Stamps - All Booked Up (PTI); Paper - DCWV pattern paper, scraps; Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento), copics; Accessories - mini composition book (Walmart), RSVP pen (Pentel), ribbon (Offray), scallop circle & circle dies (Nestabiilties), 1 3/4" circle punch

Happy Pi Day!

Yep - it's 3.14 today & as a teacher of gifted kiddos, I certainly celebrated. We read the story of Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi, investigated pi like the Egyptians, tried to draw perfect circles like Archimedes, composed music to pi, conducted pi scavenger hunts, made personal pizza 'pi'es, and of course ate 'pi'e at 1:59 (3.14159...). The kids had a great day & I enjoyed a nap as soon as I got home! The combo of daylight savings & Pi day can sure tire a gal out!!

Here's a photo of the cards I made to thank families who sent in pies for our celebration. Just a CAS card - right up my alley! The image is from one of my favorite sets by My Cute Stamps.

It's been nice to hear from everyone & I'm hoping to get to stop by blogs tomorrow.

Supplies: Stamps - Sweet Kawaii (My Cute Stamps), Fillable Frames 5 (PTI); Paper - Scarlet Jewel & Distressed Dots (PTI), white, black; Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento), Copics; Accessories - Dimensionals, ribbon (Offray)

The Hiatus Is Over

Hello all! I've been taking a serious break from blogging, and I'm excited to jump back in. I want to thank those of you who sent emails to see if all was okay. I think that I just needed to focus my energy and time on things besides blogging. I've always been the type that wants to give 100% plus to everything. I think I realized that I have to include taking care of myself in that and prioritize. I know many of us have this issue, so I'm taking it one day at a time. And now I'm ready to get rolling again with this blog!!

I'm in the midst of some exciting things - more of which you'll hear about in the days to come. I thought I'd share I card that I made at the end of August. It seems like an eternity ago, especially because it was the end of my poor eating habits. I'm so proud to say that I've lost over 45 pounds since September. I'm super stoked about this - although I'm using my papercrafting funds have been dipped into to grab some clothes that fit. It's a sacrifice I'm happy to make.

I love this set from Hero Arts - gotta love office supplies!! It was a super quick & easy card, as you can tell - perfect to keep in my desk when I need to send a thank you to a student or a note to a parent.

Again, I'm glad to be 'back' and I've missed you all!!

Supplies: Stamps - Just A Note (Hero Arts); Paper - kraft, white; Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento), Versamark; Accessories - black ribbon, staple, red embossing powder