Paper Is My Passion

How to Cute-ify Office Supplies!

2012-02-05T09:43:00.000-09:00

The creative geniuses at a•muse used this month's spotlight special products (10% off until 11:59 pm EST on February 29th) to really cute-ify home office supplies. I love it when I can use my stamping supplies for other projects. Cards are fun, but when I can alter every day items to make them beautiful, I get extremely tickled with myself! Check out these fun ideas...

YES! Washi tape on pencils! Now my students will really know which pencils belong to the teacher, because mine will be the cute washi taped ones!

Woodgrain stamp makes a beautiful container wrap... who isn't into "upcycling" these days?

No more boring manilla folders for me! And I've already started making

washi taped paper clips. They're sticking out all over my new 2012 catalog,

marking the first stamp sets that I just have to have

Love the sunshine yellow mixed with the gray and the blue! So pretty and fresh!

I'm already thinking of 1,001 things I can label with the maple tags and they're so easy to color with

a•muse pigment ink pads.

No more boring binder clips for this girl, no sir! Not when I've got amazing washi tape at my table!

And this I'm simply IN LOVE with! I have a ton of these magazine holders that I keep paper and magazines in. They will be cute-ified right quick, let me tell you!

This month I am investing in all of the spotlight specials, because I just can't resist! Let me know if I can come show you some of these fun projects and cards to make during a workshop. I'd be happy to help you cute-ify some of your things too!

Have a great day!

Devon

February Spotlight Time!

2012-02-02T20:07:00.000-09:00

There is something about the February color combo that is really speaking to me... I think it's the gray! That's unusual for me, but I'm just loving the neutral look and I'm usually a bright colors kind of person. Click the link in on right side of the page to order any of these great February Spotlight stamp sets.

I have two events organized for this month and I know we'll be using some of these stamps. Copic Club begins on Friday, February 10th at 6:00 and then Stamp Camp on Saturday, February 26th at 2:00. I love getting together with other people who enjoy the addiction!

It's Here!!! The 2012 a•muse | studio Catalog and Inspiration Guide

2012-01-31T20:30:00.001-09:00

I've been waiting for this for months and it's finally here! New stamps, new colors, new paper, new ribbon, new glitter... Too much fun stuff!

Check out all of the fun NEW goodies here and then get in touch so I can

set up a workshop for you right away!

Heading off to place my first order to prepare for February Stamp Camp on January 25th!

Have a great night!

Devon

Clean and Simple Cards - Day 5

2012-01-14T12:04:00.000-09:00

Yes... I've skipped day four. I haven't figured out exactly what I wanted to do with the day four challenge yet and I woke up this morning more inspired to try some of Jennifer McGuire's techniques with Distress Inks from day five. I've always enjoyed working with Distress Inks, but I haven't played very much with them and how they react with water, so I was excited to give this a try. I came up with two cards this morning:

When I pulled out the Distress Inks to begin these cards, I looked at my colors and it seems I'm mostly drawn to blues and greens. I'm going to need to add some other colors to my stash, but I love the way these colors worked together. When I finished getting all of the color on the paper, it felt somber and more like a sympathy card. They're always the hardest cards to make, so I like to have a few already in my stash. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I added a slight shimmer to the inked background with a•muse's stardust finishing spray. I don't have any Perfect Pearls like Jennifer used in the video, but the finishing spray added just what I was looking for in the shine department.

Recipe:

Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper, a•muse sky and sugar

Stamps: a•muse essential sentiments and beautiful botanicals

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in broken china, chipped sapphire, peeled paint, faded jeans, shabby shutters, bundled sage, stormy sky ( I really need to add some reds and yellows)

Other: a•muse white embossing powder and stardust finishing spray

One layer cards are very hard for me to do and feel like they are finished, but I'm pleased with how this turned out. It's simple, but very pretty and it will be easy to mail. This will be a technique I use a lot in the future. Besides... playing with ink and spray bottles and getting my fingers all inky is just super fun!

Recipe:

Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper

Stamps: a•muse essential sentiments and CTMH Treasures

Ink: VersaMark, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in faded jeans, peeled paint, and chipped sapphire

Other: a•muse white embossing powder and stardust finishing spray

I hope you have a wonderful day! All of my boys are off and occupied with boy things today. I'm heading out to my monthly scrapbooking get together and getting some much needed mommy time. But I will be making sure I know how my Niners are doing against the Saints!

Happy Saturday!

Devon

Clean and Simple Card Making - Day 3

2012-01-10T23:21:00.002-09:00

I am on a ROLL!!! I feel like the overly ambitious student who gets all their homework done before the deadline... Yes, I am the Hermione of the Clean and Simple Card Making class! Day 3 begins tomorrow, but I've already got a card and I'm going to publish it tonight. What the heck? It's close to midnight anyway...

For day three, Jennifer McGuire showed two cards that she used die cuts on, which she layered to add dimension to the card. Julie Ebersole showed us how she used Pinterest (one of the reasons why I get to bed so late some nights) for inspiration. I used both of their ideas in ONE card! (I'm feeling kind of cool.) Here is what I came up with:

I've noticed that lately I've been pinning a lot of things on Pinterest involving hearts, rainbows, and clouds, so that's where I drew my inspiration from for this card. There is not one actual stamp involved in this card, because I couldn't find a sentiment that went with what was swirling around in my brain. I kept thinking of "Showering you with Love" and the hearts as the rain rather than drops. So I used my printer to generate the sentiment and cut it in a banner just like Jennifer did on her sample card.

To give the clouds dimension, I layered three of the small clouds on top of each other and then put those on top of just one of the larger clouds. I like this technique, because then I'm not looking at dimensional adhesive when I see the card from the side. It almost looks like I've cut the clouds out of white chip board. The hearts have dimension since they have been die cut from felt.

Recipe:

Card stock: a•muse | studio - sugar and sky

Embellishments: a•muse | studio felt, Twinery bakers twine in Marachino Cherry, random felt from my stash

Sentiment: computer generated

Tools: a•muse | studio dies - heart trio, cloud duo

Have a wonderful Wednesday stampers!

Devon

Clean and Simple Card Making - Day 2

2012-01-10T07:07:00.000-09:00

A quick post this morning - Day 2 brings us a Perfectly Flat Card from Julie Ebersole. This is the kind of card I struggle with, because I always want to add some bling or ribbon, but I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I had to dig deep into my stash to try an emulate Julie's faux letterpress style and I got to ink up a CTMH stamp set that has never seen ink around here.

Paper: Strathmore water color paper

Stamps: CTMH Paper Lantern

Ink: a•muse | studio papaya, cranberry, ocean pigment ink, Memento Tuxedo Black

Off to have fun with 2nd graders! Hopefully I'll have some energy to play some more tonight.

Have a great day!

Devon

Clean and Simple Card Making - Day 1

2012-01-09T23:12:00.000-09:00

Woo-hoo!!! I won a spot in the Clean and Simple Card Making online class being taught by Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, and Julie Ebersole - three ladies who inspire me all the time! I won the spot by leaving a comment on Tami Hartley's blog i make cards. Thank you so much Tami! I'm beyond excited to participate in this class, as my mojo has been waning lately.

Today, I came home from work t-i-r-e-d... oof! 2nd graders can suck every ounce of energy out of you, not to mention my own two little monkeys! But when I saw the sketches for today, I couldn't stop making cards. I knocked out 4 cards tonight and could have kept going if I didn't need to go to work tomorrow. I know one of today's sketches is going to be a "go to" for me for a long time to come.

Before I show you what I did, remember... these are NOT perfect. I was whipping ink around, throwing paper, and grabbing stamps like a frenzy. There are flaws and mistakes and I'm alright with that! It's a class and this is a great way to develop ideas and get the craftiness moving. Perfect can come later. And with that, here are the cards:

All a•muse products for this one:

Paper: Kraft cardstock

Stamps: wild rose

Ink: cranberry, fern, french roast

Embellishments: Tombow brown marker, french roast bakers twine, cranberry buttons

All a•muse products:

Paper: blush cardstock

Stamps: sweetheart background and quick & cute valentines

Ink: bubblegum and Versamark

Embellishments: white embossing powder, blush felt, heart trio die, white Signo gel pen

All a•muse products:

Paper: vanilla cardstock

Stamp: life is a song

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and cranberry

Embellishments: cranberry glitter, black pen

And this card got thrown together in a crazed moment of raiding all sorts of items from my massive stash of products...

Paper: a•muse sugar cardstock and Kodak photo paper

Stamp: a•muse hand scripted

Ink: a•muse ocean and Tim Holtz alcohol inks in Purple Twighlight, Citrus, and Sail Boat Blue

Embellishments: totally random organdy ribbon scrap from the stash, CTMH button and embroidery floss

Looking at this post, the next class I clearly need to take is a photography class, but that will have to come another day. It's on my bucket list!

If you see any of the a•muse | studio products that you just can't live without, I hope you'll visit my webstore and check out our catalog. There are several great stamp sets that are retiring, as well as my beloved cranberry products. But all of these retiring products means one exciting thing.... the NEW catalog is coming!!!

Happy Stamping friends!

Devon

January a•muse|studio Spotlight Specials!

2012-01-02T15:22:00.001-09:00

The January Spotlight Special has finally gone live over at a•muse|studio and I'm so excited! I've got a few of these stamp sets, but I'll be ordering the other two that aren't already in my collection at the special price. Spotlight Special prices are good until January 31st. If you want to come and play with these new stamps, I'm having a Valentine's Stamp Camp on January 21st!

All of these sweet stamps and the Rock Candy paper pack can be ordered at my webstore. I can't wait to get creating. I took a long break for Christmas and family time and now it's time to design some fun things for Valentine's Day!

Happy stamping!

Devon

Top Ten Must Haves from a•muse | studio

2011-11-29T18:02:00.001-09:00

Oh wow! We're having a sale! A•Muse has a top ten must haves list at an extra 20% off until December 15. The three stamp sets have been on my wish list for a while and I can't resist a good deal! And, I go through a lot of Kraft card stock, so I'm stocking up now...

See anything you can't live without? You can order all of these items here. And now I'm off to the table to continue to prepare for Christmas Stamp Camp. There are 17 fun ladies on their way to my house on Saturday to make a bunch of Christmas cards! It's going to be so much fun!

Enjoy the last day of November all!

Devon

November a•muse | studio Spotlight!

2011-11-16T20:43:00.001-09:00

Ooooohhhh!!! I am so jazzed about the deals in the November Spotlight! I've already ordered Winter Wishes and Candy Cake Wishes. Holiday Tags and Polka Dot patterns were already part of my collection. Those felt coasters? SO going to make them! You don't even have to be able to sew! Die cut the felt and stick it together with heat and bond! Yee-haw!!! I feel a project coming on! And yes... 3 packs of the Gingerbread paper pack are on their way to my house.

I've got some great cards using these products coming up at Christmas Stamp Camp on December 3rd. Let me know if you'd like to come get crafty and inky with friends. It's going to be fun! If you are interesting in ordering from this spotlight, you can click right here.

Have a great night!

Devon

Celebrate the Season

2011-11-08T17:15:00.000-09:00

I have a little problem with paper... and ink... and ribbon... and buttons. So much stuff to play with! And I've also found several other like minded people with my kind of problems online. One of my favorite blog people is Kristina Werner. She makes great cards that are fun to do and don't take hours upon hours, and layers upon layers. I have been following her for years.

Every year she does a Holiday Card series of videos and I watch every single one. This year she made her sketches available as PDFs through her Virtual Card Club and I knew I had to have them. The inspiration for today's card came right from sketch Number 8 in her series. I love being able to adapt her creative sketches to make cards with my supplies.

This is for my friend Kristine. She has stars in her eyes for heat embossing. I'm going to completely enable her at Stamp Camp on December 3rd! I scored and sanded the cranberry cardstock, cut some candy cane stripe and wasabi paper, got out the scallop punch and added it all to a kraft base. Then I stamped the sentiment using Versamark and embossed it too! Cute, simple, and easy to mail.

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: kraft, cranberry, wasabi, cocoa, and candy cane stripe

Ink: Versamark

Stamp: Celebrate The Season

Other: White Signo Uniball pen, white embossing powder, fern polka dot organdy ribbon

All products for this card are available here.

How are you getting ready for the holidays? I need to choose a card and start the production line! I want to have them all finished by Thanksgiving weekend. Then it will be time to start making caramel sauce!

Have a great night!

Devon

A Reindeer and his Scarf

2011-11-07T20:13:00.001-09:00

You know how people look at something someone has made by hand and they say "I could do that..." My comment is always "Yes... but do you?" I'm one of those people that likes to look at how someone has done something and then go off and see if I can do it. I've done it with cakes and desserts for a long time, and now I'm doing it with paper.

I saw a great card using the Nordic Noel stamp set from a•muse | studio that I coincidentally had received in the mail last week. It was the greatest reindeer wearing a scarf. I couldn't figure out exactly how to do the card and thought on it for a few days. Tonight my brain kicked in and I worked it out. I love it when all the brain cells finally decide to talk to each other!!!

Can you figure out how I did it? I have no idea if I did it the same way as the original designer, but it looks the same and I'm in LOVE with this card. I've made several Christmas cards in the last few weeks and this one could be a contender for the DeGarmo Family Christmas Card this year.

Recipe: All supplies from a•muse | studio

Cardstock: cranberry, candy stripe, wasabi, and sugar

Stamps: reindeer from Nordic Noel, sentiment from Essential Sentiments

Ink: cranberry and french roast

Embellishments: holiday washi tape and lime stitched grosgrain ribbon

All supplies from this card are available here.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my little moment of being proud of myself! If you would like to make this card at a workshop or camp stamp, let me know!

Have a great week!

Devon

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

So appropriate for all of our fresh new snow. When we were leaving school last night, there was quite a bit of snow gently falling from the sky and Max very sweetly said "oh... it's so beautiful!" Right now, we love it... ask us again when it is still snowing in April.

Anyway... I got the snowman die and some felt in my last order. The die cut the felt like butter! and I thought he could be quite a charmer on the front of a winter card. I didn't have any black twinkle stickers, so I took some pearls and colored them black with my Copic marker. Ta-da! Buttons and eyes! (Copics come in so stinking handy sometimes!)

I cut a tiny little nose out of some Papaya paper and a hat out of black felt and I just love it! I'm just having too much fun I tell ya'...

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: Sky, Sugar, Onyx

Stamps: Chill of Winter

Ink: Sky, Memento Tuxedo black

Felt: Sugar, Onyx

Embellishments: pearl stickers in vanilla, altered with a black Copic marker

All of the supplies for this card (and so much more) can be found here.

Happy Stamping!

Devon

Snow Friends

2011-11-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

Oooohhh!!! I've been playing and prepping for my very first workshop! I have a thing for snowmen. Love 'em! Every year I beg the boys to come out and make a snowman with me from the first snow we get. Soon it will be so cold that the snow won't actually stick together. If you make a snowman early in the winter, they can be out in your yard for most of the winter.

So I'm just loving playing with a few different a•muse studio snowmen. Here's a card I made using the Chill of Winter set and some Copic markers...

I like the combination of the Sky paper and the little pops of Cherry. Of course, I had to add some glittery snow in the background. Diamond glitter makes me happy! And the fun technique that I've been using quite a bit? Masking - so I can layer stamped images on top of each other. And I've finally gotten smart and I'm storing my masking images in the DVD case where the stamp set is. Then I can make the card several times if need be and I don't have to cut out the mask again. I just love a good, time saving idea. How do you save time in stamping?

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: Sugar, Sky, Sky gingham

Stamps: Chill of Winter

Ink: Sky, Tuxedo Black

Ribbon: Cherry stitched grograin

Misc: Diamond glitter and Copic Markers

All of the supplies for this card can be found here.

Well... off to clean up the house and finish prepping for tomorrow! I'm excited!

Happy weekend all!

Devon

Gift Card Holder - Photo Tutorial

2011-10-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! I have never even considered doing a photo tutorial, but I discovered that I get a ton of hits on my blog about the Christmas gift card holders that I've made in the past. I had found a link on how to make one and they're super easy. I thought I'd give this tutorial thing a go...

Step 1: Cut a piece of cardstock at 4 1/4" x ll. I used 'twas the night before christmas from a•muse studio (of course). Optional step: If you use a plain piece of cardstock instead of patterned paper, you could choose to stamp a background on both sides of the paper at this point.

Step Two: Turn the paper landscape and score at 3", 5 1/2", & 8".

Step Three: When you score the paper you want to fold it slightly so it resembles an "M".

Step Four: On the second panel from the left, put adhesive in a C shape from the top, down the left side, and across the bottom. It's hard to see in the phone. I used 1/4" adhesive from my ATG gun. It's good strong adhesive that will hold well.

Step Five: Fold the paper over so that you get an inside pocket. If you've used patterned paper, the patter will be on the outside, and your pocket for the gift card will be on the inside.

Step Six: Trim off 1/2" from the section that becomes the pocket. This is where you will be sliding the gift card inside.

I slide one of my business cards inside to demonstrate and make a contact at the same time!

Step Seven: Get ready to decorate the outside of your gift card holder. I used a piece of cranberry and sugar cardstock from a•muse studio cut at 3 1/4" x 2 1/4" for the cranberry and 3" x 2" for the sugar.

Step Eight: Assemble your outside image. I used Holiday Tags, some Christmas washi tape, and white flocking to dress up Santa's suit.

Step Nine: Stamp a quick To: and From: inside. Leave space for a message!

Step Ten: Cut a length of ribbon and adhere it to the card around the middle. Then adhere your focal image over the ribbon.

Ta-da!!! An adorable gift card holder that the recipient will appreciate almost as much as the gift card it holds! You can do these either in landscape or portrait, depending on the stamps you want to use. I chose landscape for this one because I wanted the image to be in line with the text.

Here is an example of another one I did in the portrait orientation.

I hope I did a good job with the tutorial and that it makes sense! Let me know what you think? Would you be interested in making these yourself? I'd be happy to help get you going at a workshop. Get in touch: paperismypassion@gmail.com All of the supplies for the gift card holders can be found here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Devon

Not a Card!

2011-10-29T10:47:00.001-08:00

Cards are great, and I do still scrapbook, but when I find something I can do with paper that is not a card or a layout, it's such fun! This cute little bag would be the perfect way to give someone a pair of earrings, or any little treat. And, you can make it with just 1/2 a sheet of paper! I love it when I can make 2 of something and have an extra on hand for those last minute gifts.

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: Bermuda for bag, Sugar for sentiment

Stamps: Lots of Dots, Brief Notes sentiment

Ink: Ocean

Ribbon: Ocean stitched grograin

All supplies for this project can be found here.

Have a wonderful day!

Devon

2011-10-29T10:16:00.001-08:00

I just got the Fresh Foliage set and the Autumn Harvest paper pack in the mail. Such yummy paper! I think I'm going to have to go all fancy this Thanksgiving and make the place cards. And even though the snow is going to fly any second, I'm going to make some cute cards for my friends who are still experiencing fall. Those Autumn Leaves are calling me too.... Good thing these sets are 10% off right now.

If you are interested in ordering any of the specials in the October Spotlight, just click this Spotlight link to visit my a•muse | studio web store.

I'm having my first Workshop at my house on November 5th and 6th from 2 - 4! I'm so excited to share all these fun stamps that I'm just loving. If you'd like to attend, just drop me an email at paperismypassion@gmail.com.

And now I'm off to the table to have some inky fun!

Happy Saturday!
Devon

With Sympathy

2011-10-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's never easy to lose someone. We lost my dad almost 13 years ago this coming Christmas. One of the things that got me and my mom through the whole thing was hearing stories people told about Dad and what an amazing man he was. Making a sympathy card can be a daunting task. I think sympathy cards should be understated and simple. Remember, it's the message that you send inside that comforts the receiver.

This card, made with supplies from my consultant kit, was originally designed as a birthday card. It didn't seem bright and cheery enough for that, so I thought it would make a lovely sympathy card.

I made a few changes, including doing a little heat embossing with clear embossing power. I love heat embossing! It gives such texture to your work and looks so professional. Plus... it's just fun to watch that stuff melt!

Recipe: All A•Muse Studio Products

Paper: French Roast, Fern, Bermuda, Sugar

Ribbon: French Roast stitched grograin

Ink: Versamark and French Roast

Other: Clear embossing powder

Can it really be Friday already? My weeks seem to be flying by... Christmas will be here before I know it. I'm going to start getting prepared now. I'm going to hit the Book Fair at school to send gifts to the kiddos in our lives. I've already got some cute ones picked out for a couple of sweet little girls in Seattle!

Have a great day!

Devon

A Quick Thank You

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't need thank you cards? I keep them in my desk at school to make sure I send them as quickly as possible. Being a 2nd grade teacher, we often get little treats or gifts from our students and their families. I think it's a great way to show your gratitude by giving a handmade card.

This thank you card has a special element. The white paper flower was colored with Copic markers. You can use Copics to add color to more than just regular paper. I added the color to the middle of the flower and then blended it out toward the petals with the colorless blender pen. I love that I can customize embellishments with Copics to suit the colors in my project.

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: Sugar, Papaya, Orange, Sky

Stamps: Sentiment from Friend to Friend, Polka Dots from Polka Dot Patterns

Embellishments: Flower from Meadow Mix, Clear Twinkle Sticker

You can find all of the supplies for this card here.

I'm super excited! I'm making my first consultant order today. As a new consultant, I'll be getting an extra 10% off my first order. I'm finding it so hard to reign myself in and not order absolutely everything right now. There are just so many stamp sets and fun things that I want to play with!

What are your most favorite crafty/stamping items to play with? What are your must haves?

I'm excited for the weekend to come. We're heading out to a reindeer farm on Saturday with the boys and their Tae Kwon Do team. It should be a fun outside activity before the snow starts to fly. I also want to come up with some card sketches for my Christmas card and start planning what kind of cookies to make for the November 5th and 6th workshop at my house. And of course I want to make some cards!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Devon

Elegant

2011-10-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

When I think a•muse, I mostly think cute! They have got some of the most fun and whimsical stamps ever. But their floral stamps and many of their sentiments are just so elegant. I love the combination of the sky blue and french roast paper on this card. And the little twinkles just bring it all together! I can see using this card for all different kinds of reasons... thank you's, sympathy, missing you... many different possibilities!

I also got to try something I haven't done much of with stamping. I used a little finger tip sponge dauber to color the flower and the stem. I know this is something I'm going to try with many other stamps. I also read a great tip in the A Muse lounge. When you're stamping an image like this, place a clean, un-inked stamp on each side of the stem. It will help to stabilize the stamp and keep you from applying to much pressure resulting in the "smooshed" effect. Yep... smooshed. It's a technical stamper's word, dontcha' know?

I hope you like what I'm showing! If you see anything you just can't live without, stop by my open house on November 5th and 6th from 2:00 - 4:00 for some Christmas cards and cookies. Or, click on the a•muse | studio business card at the top of my blog to visit my online a•muse store!

Recipe: All a•muse | studio products

Paper: Sky, Sugar, French Roast

Ink: French Roast and Sky

Stamps: Beautiful Botanicals, Essential Sentiments

Embellishments: Clear twinkle stickers

Happy Stamping!

Devon

Coloring With Copics!!!

2011-10-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

I am a super dork and I totally own it! Yes! I love to color! There... it's out. Maybe that's why I'm a 2nd grade teacher. As an adult, you feel kind of silly coloring... unless you have the world's greatest markers to color with. I found Copic markers (that's a long o, not a short o) a few years ago and have been busily collecting them and using them in my card making. When I am playing with them, I feel like a total artist. I'm not, but that's neither here, nor there...

Here is a card I made using the cute hedge hog that came in my starter kit:

Because Copics are an alcohol based ink, you can blend them, and shade with them, and make your stamping really pop! The really fun thing about Copics are that you can also use them to alter the colors of other embellishments. The next cards I post will show how I used Copics to alter a paper flower and some pretty pearls. Don't have the color you need? Doesn't matter! Pull out your Copics and make it exactly the way you want it.

One of the things I'm working on doing is setting up a monthly Copic Coloring Club. The way a monthly Copic club works is that we have 8-10 members of the club who commit to ordering 3-4 Copic markers each month. This will help you build your stash and begin using these awesome markers.

We will do some sort of card or project that will help you learn how to use your markers. We will decide how many markers we need to buy based on how many members we have. We will want our monthly meeting total to reach $150 so that month's hostess can earn $25 in free product from A Muse Studio.

If you are local and interested, let me know and I'll make sure you get on the schedule and come to the meetings at my house. If you are interested, but not local, you can still be part of the club. You will let me know which Copics you want and will be signed up to be one of the hostesses via email.

Recipe: All a•muse | studio supplies

Paper: Sugar

Stamps: Woodland Friends, Friends Fur-Ever, and Ovalicious

Ribbon: Sky organdy polka dots

Ink: Grass and Tuxedo Black

You can find all of the supplies for this card here.

Have a wonderful day!

Devon

Gift Card Holder

2011-10-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

I give a lot of gift cards! Teachers love to get them. My friends who are readers usually get Barnes and Noble cards, or Amazon cards for their Kindles. My kids always think they've been given a "credit card" and can't wait to go shopping and pick out exactly what they want. I just think gift cards are great!

But what can make a gift card more personal? How about making the gift card holder? I LOVE this quick and easy gift card holder that I made with a few stamps, a little bit of paper, and some cute ribbon! Copic markers make the coffee cup pop with a little dimension too!

What I really love about this gift card holder is that after you untie the ribbon, you use the ribbon to pull out the gift card that is inside. It just helps it slide right out! Wouldn't this one be just perfect with a Starbucks card inside?

As soon as I receive my next A Muse order, I will be making a bunch of these with a Christmas theme! They would make a fun workshop, so let me know if you want to get some of your friends together to make a few!

Recipe: All supplies from A Muse Studio

Cardstock: French Roast, Sugar, Sky

Ink: French Roast

Stamps: The Perfect Blend set

Ribbon: Sky organdy polka dots

Have a wonderful day!

Devon

What Got Me Going?

2011-10-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have always loved A Muse stamps. I wasn't crazy about stamps mounted on wood blocks because of a lack of storage, but I simply could not resist the cute images and the adorable cards I could make with their awesome rubber! One day, I could no longer buy A Muse in a brick and mortar store here in Alaska. They had changed their business model and switched to the home party concept.

I didn't know if anyone was selling A Muse in Alaska until one day I received a post card in the mail from a gal named Donna. She was the only A Muse consultant in Alaska and she would have to be my source for the crafty goodness I love so much! A few weeks ago, I attended an A-Muse-A-Palooza workshop at Donna's house and we made a few Christmas tags and an adorable Halloween treat holder and I was instantly hooked!

I looked at the catalogs, ooh'd and ahh'd over all her sample cards and decided I wasn't going to head into Anchorage every time I wanted to play with the A Muse products I love. You know what they say, if you can't beat them... JOIN them! And I did!

My super fab deluxe starter kit has finally arrived and I have been very busy organizing everything in my studio/office and I've begun to make sample cards with the supplies from the box of goodies I received. I am so happy with the new cling mounted stamps! All of the wonderfulness of the red rubber I love, combined with the ease of storage and the use of acrylic blocks that makes sense to me.

Over the next few days I'll be sharing all of the samples I've made from the starter kit. Thankfully the amazing support you get from A Muse Studio includes ideas and templates for cards to make. (Report cards are due for my 2nd graders this week and that can suck the creativity right out of a gal!) But I have been able to take several work breaks and sit at my table cutting up pretty paper and getting inky!

I'm also planning my first workshop! On Saturday, November 5th and Sunday, November 6th from 2:00 to 4:00, swing by our place if you're in the area for Christmas Cards & Cookies! We'll do a few fun cards and some Christmas tags and munch a few of my favorite Christmas cookies. Email me at paperismypassion@gmail.com for directions!

And, because I can't wait to share at least one of the things I made on my own this weekend, here is one of the cards I made with the starter kit. It's the sweetest little 3x3 card and I'm going to make several of them. They would be so fun to slip into the boys backpacks or lunches, or to put in one of my co-workers mailboxes to let them know I'm thinking of them. We are a bucket filling school and try to do little things as often as possible to spread the bucket filling around our community. (If you haven't heard about how to fill somone's bucket, I really recommend you check it out here. Makes life quite nice!)

Have a happy week! Remember to do something to fill someone's bucket, and your own in the process!

Devon

A Muse Studio October/November Spotlight

2011-10-16T04:40:00.000-08:00

There are some really fun projects to make using the A|S October/November spotlight products.

See all the products and project ideas here!

From now until November 14, save 10% on the stamp sets used to make these projects.

I'm excited to get my hands on some of these stamp sets and host some workshops! Let me know if you are interested in hosting a workshop and earning some free stamps for yourself.

More cards!

2010-04-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago, I attended a quilt retreat with some friends of mine. No... I don't sew! But the owner of the store that organizes the retreat is gracious enough to let me tag along with my quilting friends. I was so jealous watching them head off together for four whole days that darling Sylvia took pity on me!

This year I took some inspiration from one of Kristina Werners Make a Card Monday videos and whipped up a few of these little cards. They are my hommage to the sewing ladies I spent the weekend with. Little quilt squares punched out of June Bug from Basic Grey! Yum!

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink - Kraft

Pattern Paper: June Bug by Basic Grey

Embellishments: Random Button (though I think they came out of a pack from Basic Grey), DMC floss, and Uniball Signo White Gel Pen

Playing with my Copic markers!

2010-04-18T10:00:00.001-08:00

So, my youngest son turned 6 recently and we had a great birthday party. Now... I'm trying to "raise these young men up right" and in my world that includes teaching them to write thank you notes. I took out some of my unused CTMH stamps and mass produced a simple one layer card, and then had a BLAST spending the evening coloring! Each card had it's own color scheme and did I have fun! Don't look too closely at the stamping job, but let me know what you think of my coloring!

All Stamps: Close to My Heart

Cardstock: White Daisy CTMH

Medium: Copic Markers - lots of colors that I didn't make note of! Liquid Glass from CTMH

The best thing was that my little guy loved the cards so much that he didn't fight me to write the thank you notes and he was so proud to pass them out to his friends! Thanks for looking and leave a comment so I know you stopped by!

Hommage to Julie HRR!

2010-04-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

I loves me some Amuse rubbah and the designs of Her Royal Rubberness Julie Ebersole! The ladies in the Amuse Lounge posted a challenge in March to let Julie be your inspiration. Well, with Teacher Appreciation Day coming up, I decided to go with a thank you card I could give to the boys' teachers. Hope you enjoy!

Paper and Cardstock: Amuse

Stamps: Amuse

Ribbon: Amuse

Punch: EK Success

Markers: Copic

Clip: CTMH

Love ya' Julie! You're such an awesome inspiration! (and yes... I know it's April and I'm a bit late for the challenge... but that's just me! ;o) )

Ahhhh... to have time to be crafty!

2010-04-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

I know... most of my posts... my incredibly rare posts... begin like this! But I so rarely have time to work at my table. It doesn't help that the table is buried under a mountain of stuff and needs to be cleaned up and organized so that I can actually get in there and do something creative once in a while.

Anywho... I do keep up with what's happening in the blog world, especially Kristina Werner's blog and her Make a Card Monday and Finally Friday videos. I love to watch them when they pop up in my inbox!

Here are two cards I made that were inspired by two of the Finally Friday videos!

Paper: White Daisy cardstock from CTMH, Pattern Paper is Cherry Hill by October Afternoon

Tools: Fiskars Scallop border punch, Making Memories Corner Chomper, Cuttle Bug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Uniball Signo White Gel Pen

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Kraft

Pattern Paper: Cherry Hill by October Afternoon

Stamp: Amuse sentiment

Embellishments: Fabric Flower - Little Yellow Bicycle, Button from my stash and DMC embroidery floss

Boy... I just love that Cherry Hill paper! October Afternoon is becoming one of my favorite companies. Their patterns always catch my eye... kind of like Cosmo Cricket! More to come... :o) Leave me a comment to let me know you were here!

Devon

Hellooooooo!!!! I'm baaaaaaccckkkk!!!

2010-02-14T18:14:00.002-09:00

Wow! Happy Valentine's Day everyone... or to all 2 people who might actually see this! Ha! Life has been unbearably nuts and busy and so NOT crafty for me for months now. I don't know where all my time goes, or why I never get to my table anymore. I did manage to knock out 60 handmade Christmas cards in December and actually send them out! I'll post a picture at the bottom of this post.

Today I woke up and realized it was Valentine's Day! (oops!) and I had no cards for the three men in my life. So I decided it was time to reacquaint myself with a trimmer, paper, and adhesive. I had an idea in my head from one of Kristina Werner's Make A Card Monday videos from last year and decided to get at it. Since I haven't had much mojo of my own, thank goodness for Kristina's videos. Besides the fact that I just LOVE her style, I bought the punch I used because of her and I think it's about time it punched out some pretty paper!

So... here are the Valentine's Day cards I made today... Yes... some people will be receiving this a tad bit late, but hey... I'm a busy working mommy! What can ya' do, right? :)

These cards were so much fun to make, and SOOOOOOOO easy! Make a standard card with craft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, use the scallop border punch from Fiskars, and punch patterned paper with the EK Success punch Heart to Heart. (I think this punch is only sold through Stampin' Up! because I can't find it at Two Peas.) A little detail with my Uniball Signo white ink pen and voila! I made 10 in all in about an hour. I just love that We R Memory Keepers Heart Attack pattern paper. I had so many options with the hearts, since the pattern paper is double sided. Yum! Nothing better than beautiful double sided paper!

Anyway.... A huge thanks, as always, to Kritina Werner! I love, love, LOVE her blog and videos. Never miss a one!

Oh yeah... here's the card I made for Christmas. Had to be pretty simple because I was making a bunch and it was a busy, busy, busy time of the year!

This was a fun little card to make. I think that's BoBunny paper and then I used stamps from Papertrey Ink's Holiday Button Bits collection. So much fun and so creative! Of course I just love to use buttons on everything, so these Button Bits collections incorporate all those fun buttons into stamping as well! Whoopee!!!

Quick story about the picture... it was the weekend after Thanksgiving and my mom was visiting. We decided to make a quick trip up to North Pole, Alaska to see the "real" Santa Claus. I figured this might be the last year that the boys still believe. What a road trip! Snowed like crazy on our way up and on our way home. I hope that one day they'll remember what their parents went through to make sure they have great experiences! He really was a fantastic Santa and there were reindeer and everything outside.

Since this is my first post since almost November, I'm going to throw a question out there into the blogosphere... What do you do when you just feel you've lost your mojo? How do you get it back? I do know that one of my problems in clutter. When my table is a total mess, I don't feel like I can get started on anything. But if I don't want to clean up the table, then I get nothing accomplished! Anyway... what do you do to kick start your mojo??? Let me know!

Happy Valentine's Day blog peeps!

Christmas Gift Card Holders

2009-11-09T06:57:00.001-09:00

My friend Nancy participates in a huge holiday craft bazaar every year after Thanksgiving and has been trying to get me to make some things for her table. This year I found a pretty simple project that I'll be able do and may sell well! Once again, I was inspired by Jen del Muro at i{heart}2stamp. Check out the awesome gift card holders she made for her local coffee shop. Here are my first attempts at a much simplified version. The heat embossing takes a while, but I really enjoy doing it! If you'd like a photo tutorial on how to make this, check out this link.

Supplies:
CTMH Stamps, Ink, Embossing Powder, and white cardstock
Papertrey Ink Kraft Cardstock
Fiskars punches
Zutter Corner Rounder
Stickles

Eek! My blog has not died!!!

2009-11-08T11:49:00.004-09:00

I know it's been forever, but this doesn't seem like a year where I'm going to get much time at my table. I did take a day a few weeks ago and assembly lined a bunch of Halloween cards for my friends at work. I got the idea from one of the blogs I regularly visit, Jen del Muro's i {heart}2 stamp. It was one of her SFYTT sketches and I did what I could with the supplies that I had! They were fun to make and fairly easy to make 10 once I got my original prototype made! Hope you like it!

Supplies:
CTMH stamps
Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, colored cardstock from my stash
Nestabilities oval dies
Cricut Expression and Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge for spider
Stickles

Just Because ~ AMC07

2009-08-09T11:50:00.002-08:00

I saved my absolute favorite for last! I picked up the Kokeshi doll stamp at Stamp Attic in Anchorage a few weeks ago. I'm actually taking a class on campus this summer, as opposed to online. (My very last class in my master's program happens to be my very first class on campus!) I just love her! I also picked up the Sakura flower to go with her. She's so dainty and girly (hard to come by in my house) and I had to have her!

Wow! 5 posts in one day! That's certainly a record for this blogger! Hope you'll leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Goodies I used:
A Muse stamps: Kokeshi doll and Sakura flower and just because sentiment
CTMH ink: Bubblegum
Papertrey Ink: Kraft cardstock
Random cardstock from my stash
Offray ribbon
Silver Stickles from Ranger
Copic markers

Sweet Baby ~ AMCo7

2009-08-09T11:43:00.002-08:00

Here's the girl version of the baby card! I used a different sentiment and different papers, of course. I'm just crazy for that kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink... I have a feeling more of their products will be creeping into my stash any day now...

Goodies I used:
Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink and random paper from my stash
Offray ribbon
A Muse stamps: Baby Line and Tiny Yawns sentiment
Copic markers

Welcome Little One ~ AMC07

2009-08-09T11:35:00.002-08:00

Well, this sweet little card I pretty much CASEd right out of the A Muse gallery. I think it's one of Julie's designs. I adore her work and am on her blog all the time! I love the red and blue and the stitching on the paper. Who knew I would be using a sewing machine while making cards.

Goodies I used:
Random paper from my stash
A Muse stamps: Baby line and Welcome, little one sentiment
A Muse Ribbon
PTI Kraft cardstock
Copic markers

Groovy! AMC07

2009-08-09T11:18:00.007-08:00

Here's another card for Challenge #7 at the A Muse Lounge. The challenge is to ink up stamps you have never used before. That's not hard for me, since I'm new to A Muse stamps, but totally addicted and picking them up on a weekly basis. Shhhhhh.... don't tell my husband!

I just love this little bus and the "Have a groovy day" sentiment. I immediately thought of my Lime Rickey paper for some really groovy colors and patterns. So here's another cute little submission from me!

Goodies I used:
Papertrey Ink Kraft cardstock
Basic Grey Lime Rickey pattern paper
Nestabilities Labels One die
A Muse stamps
Copic Markers

Thinking of You ~ AMC07

2009-08-09T10:42:00.004-08:00

I had quite the amusing day with my friend Nancy. I spent several hours playing at my table! I used a whole bunch of my A Muse stamps that have never seen ink, so isn't it perfect that the challenge in the A Muse Lounge is to ink it up! I've got five cards coming that will fit that challenge just perfectly and here is the first:

I just love what sweet and simple cards you can make with A Muse stamps. I've done a lot of really layered up cards, but I think this might be more my style.

Goodies I used:
Green note card from JoAnne's
Offray ribbon
Close to my Heart ink in Sweet Leaf and Tulip and CTMH sentiment
A Muse stamps: Long Grass and Mini Flower

I'm Seeing Spots! A-Muse-A-Palooza #4

2009-07-07T20:50:00.004-08:00

I think I'm totally A Muse obsessed lately. I just love their cute little stamps! And their sentiments are so adorable. So, the challenge for A-Muse-A-Palooza #4 this week to use the word SPOT as your inspiration. And you have to use at least one A Muse stamp of course.

Well, I have had this margarita stamp for a long time and it was way past time to ink it up! I searched the internet for phrases with the word "spot" and I knew "hit the spot" was where I'd be going with this card. I have a friend who makes wicked, drop you on your butt, margaritas, so this card will be for her at some point during the school year. I hope you like it and leave a little love in the form of a comment. And come on back, because I've already to another idea for another "spot" inspired card!

Goodies used for this card...
Stamp: A Muse margarita, computer generated sentiment
Paper: random cardstock from my stash
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark
Accessories: Nestabilities Labels One die, Ranger Glossy Accents, Ranger Stickles in Lime Green, Copic Markers

Happy Anniversary ~ Mojo Monday 94

2009-07-07T02:10:00.004-08:00

Hey...not bad! I'm getting a Mojo Monday card done in the wee hours of a very early Tuesday morning! I found this absolutely yummy American Crafts a la Carte paper at Big Lots in San Diego. It was only $8 for a pack of 60 sheets (score!!!) and has some really bold patterns and colors. I really like the weight too.

This is going to be an anniversary card for some special friends of mine who are celebrating their 2nd anniversary today. I'm pretty sure neither of them check my blog (they're not crafty...), so it's safe to post. If you're having a hard time making out the sentiment, it says... "All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. - Helen Keller" Does that sound appropriate for an anniversary? I think so...

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and please leave a little note so I know you were here!

Goodies I used...
Paper: American Crafts a la Carte collection, black and white cardstock from my stash
Ribbon: American Crafts
Stamp: CTMH - I don't know the name... it's not on the package! Eek!
Ink: Distress Ink - tattered rose (just a bit around the sentiment), Versamark embossing ink
Accessories: Prima flower, American Crafts button, DMC embroidery thread, CTMH black embossing powder

Inchie Fun!

2009-06-30T16:26:00.008-08:00

I went to bed last night reading the July issue of Card Makers magazine. They had a large section of the magazine devoted to inchies. I must have had inchies floating through my brain all night, because I woke up with an idea for a card.

One of the things that I really love is that I actually whipped out two cards from the same idea. I could not decide if I wanted the card to be horizontal or vertical, so I made one of each! As I look at them, I can tell how much time I've been spending studying Kristina Werner's work. Notice the rounded corners, the kraft cardstock, and the scalloped edge. I'm sure that's all swimming around in my brain because off Kristina. I read her blog religiously!

I just love this little snail from A Muse stamps. This is the first time he's seen ink, even though I've had him since early May. I think this would make a cute gift set, but I'm wondering which version is better. Do you think the vertical, or horizontal version works better? Leave me a comment and let me know which one you like better!

Here are the Copics I used t0 color him up. When I was coloring the shadow, my five year old said, "Ooooh! You're making the slime!" I was hoping it looked like an actual shadow, but I'll take slime too! Have a fabulous day!

Recipe:
Paper: Kraft and cardstock from my stash, PP DCWV Green Stack
Stamp: Snail and sentiment from A Muse Artstamps
Accessories: hemp twine from my stash, Copic markers, CM square punch

Mojo Monday Week 92

2009-06-26T14:39:00.004-08:00

Yeah, yeah... it's Friday! Oh well... here's my submission for this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. I've spent most of the week cleaning up my crafting area, and now that I can find things, I can create again.

I got this stamp at Stampin' Moose here in Wasilla and it's my first of the Hanna Stamps! He's quite cute and it's so appropriate for me to be making cards with a moose, dontcha' think?

I had a lot of fun creating this card. I got to play with my Copics and do paper piecing with super fun Basic Grey paper. BG is so yummy!

Here are the Copics I used to color Riley up!

Recipe:
Stamps: Hanna Stamps and A Muse sentiment
Paper: Basic Grey Urban Prairie
Ribbon: American Crafts
Cardstock: random from my stash
Accessories: sewing machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Stitching on Cards

2009-06-25T12:23:00.003-08:00

Who knew I'd ever pull out that crazy sewing machine that Rocky bought to sew on paper??? Well, I did and I'm loving it! I think stitching on cards or layouts is a fantastic way to add interest and that extra something that makes your work just pop.

While trolling the internet for new videos, ideas, and tutorials, I found a blog with a great tutorial about using your machine to sew on paper. So if you're interested in learning more about this, I suggest you hop over to Julia Stainton's blog ~ Belle Papier ~ and check out her tutorial. Off to make a card now... have a great day!

Playing with New Toys! CAS#4 at SCS

2009-06-24T01:52:00.005-08:00

Boy oh boy, did I go on a shopping palooza while in San Diego! I had so much fun visiting the local scrapbook and stamping stores and stimulating the economy along the way! I have two new favorite stores in San Diego~ Paper Tales and Scrapbook Your Life. If you are ever in San Diego, hit these stores and have fun! Great place to shop and spend your money... I sure did!

At Paper Tales, I had an A Muse party! I bought rubber and clear acrylic stamps. I've been wanting to get my hands on more of these stamps, so I went to town. I also bought a whole bunch of Cosmo Cricket paper, which I can't wait to dig into and do something fun with.

I also got to visit Blick Art Materials down in Little Italy, which I'm guessing is one of the Dick Blick stores I've been hearing so much about on the many blogs and websites I spend too much time reading. Did I have a blast buying up Copic markers that I've become completely obsessed with! Oh man... If my husband is smart, he will start chaperoning me to these stores. I am dangerous when I go by myself! I picked up 10 new Copics and am so happy to be home to play with them...

Not only did I have fun shoping in real life, but when I got home, I had an order from Our Craft Lounge waiting for me, as well as my CTMH hostess club order. I am in new supply HEAVEN and don't know what to play with first!

Tonight, I decided it would be my Copic markers and a great Our Craft Lounge set called Swinging By. I just loved inking up and coloring these images in a very simple card for a friend. Coloring with Copics is such an addiction and I wish I could find a local class. For now, I'm going to just have to explore on my own and watch tutorials on You Tube. Let me know what you think of the card... Honest, constructive feedback is always appreciated!

An overall view of the finished card. This is the most clean and simple card I've ever made! There are usually lots of layers and ribbon and bling on my cards. Tonight, I really just wanted to focus on the coloring of the image. I did add some paper piercing to give a little more interest to the card, which also happens to fit the CAS#4 challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. Boy am I nervous to put my work up in their galleries! They're such an amazing group of artists, but if I want to improve, I figure who else to ask for feedback?

This is a bit of a closer view of the main image and my coloring job... what do you think?

And these are the Copics I used! Wow! Such fun to play with these amazing markers. Truly the best investment I've made for my craft room.

Supplies Used:
Card base: Strathmore card for stamping
Stamps: Swinging By from Our Craft Lounge and Journaling Boxes from Hero Arts
Ink: Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers - see above photo for colors, Zutter Corner Rounder, Tim Holtz Design Ruler, Making Memories paper piercer

My Sister's Keeper

2009-06-23T02:00:00.001-08:00

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh man... I finished this book a few days ago. It required a big boo-hoo at the end. I was so shocked by the twist at the end. Never saw it coming! I enjoy the way Picoult tells the story from so many points of view. Beautiful, touching, heartbreaking... Great read!

View all my reviews.

Welcome ~ Color Inspiration #54

2009-06-10T23:54:00.003-08:00

It feels so good to be back at my table so often. I am getting quite the stash of cards! This card is for the color challenge at Kristina Werner's blog. Her challenges really get me going, but I have to work fairly hard at them, because I don't have any Stampin' Up papers. I dig and dig through my stash to find things that come close.

I have quite a few friends on the verge of giving birth to baby boys, so I know this will come in handy quite soon. Hope you like it! I didn't use a sketch and I moved a bit out of my comfort zone for this one.

Recipe: Cardstock is from my stash
Patterned paper: CTMH from the Emporium collection
Stamp: CTMH In The Wild
Ink: CTMH Autumn Terracotta (this is the closest I could get to SU's pumpkin)
Rub-Ons: CTMH Love Letters in White Daisy
Letters: American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam letter stickers
Ribbon: Offray
Coloring Medium: Grass is colored with Copic Sketch markers YG03 and YG06, blue shadow is Prismacolor Light Cerulean Blue

Father's Day Is Coming ~ Are You Ready? Mojo Monday 90 & 365 Cards

2009-06-09T02:39:00.009-08:00

For once, I am! Ahead of schedule no less! I got an idea for a present for my hubbie when my local scrapbook store sent an email about an upcoming class. I'm not able to go to the class, because we're going to be in San Diego... yipee!!! I haven't even seen the final outcome of the project, but I got the gist and put my own ideas to work.

I'm hoping Rocky will like this enough to hang it up in his office. The first picture is from when Max wasn't even 2 yet. T he second picture is of a baby Jack. And the third picture is the two boys last fall on a berry picking hike in the mountains. I really love the way the wall hanging turned out!

So, I decided that of course he needs a matching card and the Mojo Monday sketch and 365 Cards blog got me going! At 365 cards, Monday's challenge was to use Red, Orange, Green, Yellow, and Blue. Thankfully, the Scenic Route paper I used for the wall hanging had all of those colors! (Yes, look closely... there is an orange stripe on that card!) Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Recipe:
Pattern Paper: Scenic Route
Cardstock: Random from my stash
Stamps and Ink: Close To My Heart
Accessories: Bind It All, O-Wires, Cricut Cuttin' Up Cartride, Offray Ribbon, Uniball Signo White Gel Pen (THE BEST!)

USA! CPS 119

2009-06-07T01:39:00.002-08:00

Boy am I on a roll or what? I haven't made this many cards in a loooooong time! I made this one after checking out the CPS blog and seeing their new sketch. This card jumped right into my mind. I don't know if it's going to end up being an actual 4th of July card, or a birthday card for a July 4th baby I know. This week's sponsor at CPS is Hanna Stamps. I don't have any of their stamps, so maybe I'll get lucky this week!

This was a fairly quick card. I stamped the background, cut the cardstock, popped up the "S" and the butterfly and added a little bling. I like it when something fun comes together quickly!

Recipe: Almost all products are from CTMH
Paper and stickers: Blue Ribbon
Stamp Set: Circle Around
Ink: Sunflower, Cranberry, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim
Accessories: CM square punch, random bling and ribbon found in my stash

A Year in Cards ~ May

2009-06-06T21:21:00.005-08:00

Kristina Werner does a class at Two Peas in a Bucket called A Year in Cards. Each month, she does three cards with a similar theme. I haven't been able to participate since February, but I'm going to work my way backwards and get them all done. It would be nice to have so many cards available in my stash. This month's theme is Sympathy.

This card took the most time. Kristina's recipe calls for a 5x5 card, but I cut it down to 41/4 x 41/4, which threw every dimension off and I had to spend a lot of time cutting and re-cutting to make it all look right. All of the cardstock came from my stash. I've been told I may not buy any more cardstock until I use up the mountains that I already have, and I'm really wanting some Stampin' Up! cardstock. So everything I do from now on will be cardstock heavy!

I used the From Me To You and Argyle Backgrounds CTMH stamp sets for the flower and the dots at the bottom of the card and a Hero Arts stamp for the sentiment. I colored the Flower with Copics Y11, Y15, and Y17. I'm not too good at working with Copics yet, but I'm trying. I really hope they'll come up to Anchorage one day to do a certification class.

This card uses more of that cardstock stash, both for the base and the butterflies. I made a circular mask and used CTMH Spot On Backgrounds for the circle on the card as well as the butterflies. Of course, my favorite pen the Uniball Signo, is used for all of the faux stitching and the hand written sentiment. I'd say that is the scariest thing that I've been doing on cards lately. I don't especially like my handwriting, but I've been doing my best to copy the way the fabulous Kristina Werner does things, so I went for it.

This is pretty much the easiest card ever! Again, CTMH stamps from the With Love set for the flower and Hollyhock CTMH ink. My new favorite product - Thickers in Sprinkles white vinyl - for the sentiment, and a random strip of red cardstock, again from my stash!

Thanks for looking and if you haven't visited Kristina's blog, get over there are get inspired! She rocks!

Party On! Mojo #89

2009-06-06T18:12:00.003-08:00

It's about time I've actually gotten to my craft table. It is summer after all and I've got all kinds of free time! I think I've rested enough and am really ready to let the creativity flow. I made this card for the Mojo Monday challenge. It's a 5x5 card using mostly Basic Grey and CTMH. Don't look to closely at the stitching please! I'm still working on turning corners and sometimes it goes all wonky on me.

Recipe: CTMH stamp Good Times and ink Star Spangled Blue
Pattern Paper and Stickers: Basic Grey Cupcake collection
Ribbon: Offray
Accessories: Nestabilities Large and Small plain circles, thread

Nineteen Minutes

2009-06-01T15:30:00.003-08:00

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, even though it disturbed me deeply, especially as the mother of two boys and a teacher. I know how important it is to identify bullying behavior and put an end to it early. It's so damaging to a young person's psyche. I was bullied quite a bit by girls I went to middle school with and I know how deeply it can damage your self image. It took me years to get over the painful things that were said and done to me. I'm one of the lucky ones. How many kids end up committing suicide or killing others?

Yes... I do something other than cut up paper, run with scissors, and sniff glue! I'm loving the Goodreads website. Have you been there?

View all my reviews.

Two New Layouts

2009-05-04T20:50:00.006-08:00

Whew! I feel like a new woman having spent some time with scissors, my ATG, and some fun paper products. I went to a crop yesterday for National Scrapbook Day, and the ladies at the Craft Garden decided to make it a whole weekend event. Wish I could have been there all three days, but I had to settle for Sunday only. Oh well!

Here's my first layout...

This is our darling little Jack Russel Charlie. He was our very first furbaby and we loved him something fierce, but boy could he be destructive. This was a pile of mail that we left in the bedroom with him. Big mistake! He shredded it better than our cross-cutting paper shredder. And then he just looked at me like "What mom?"

Now... I know I'm supposed to give credit to everyone's products and I'll try. But as you know, I'm new to this and obsessive compulsive about throwing trash away, so I don't have the packaging for some of the product I used and I don't know who it's by... hang in there with me.

Recipe:
Pattern Paper: BoBunny
Felt Fiesta Buttons: Buttons & More
Chipboard Letters: Close to My Heart
Chipboard Alphabet Letters: Basic Grey... I think!
Cardstock: Random from my scraps
Paint: Making Memories Lime
Stamp and Ink: Close to My Heart
Thread: Coats and Clark
Punch: Fiskars Threading Water

This next layout is one of the most basic layouts I think I've ever done, which makes it that much harder for me. No paper layers, I piece of pattern paper, some Making Memories paint, chipboard letters and random buttons I have in my stash and a quick little date stamp. I love this picture of my boys and I think I will put this one in a frame and hang it up in my scraproom.

During the crop, we took a little field trip to the shop and I picked up the Making Memories paint. I hadn't ever bought any, and I'm so glad I picked up five colors to play with. I think it was fun to use it as the mat for one of my favorite photos of the boys. And, I like the contrast between the fun colors in the paper, paints, and buttons and the black and white photo. I'd really love to hear some honest feedback about this one!

Recipe (Or the best that I can do):
Paper: Forgive me... I can't find the strip I cut off the bottom, or remember which brand. Yikes! Finally figured it out! Paper is Fancy Pants Designs - Sparkle Daily Grind and can be found on Two Peas In a Bucket!
Paint: Making Memories
Stamp and Ink: Close to My Heart
Chipboard Letters: Came from this huge pack I bought at Michaels (threw away the wrapper without making a note of the company)

I think I'm going to have to keep a small notebook in my tool bag and write things down as I open them.

Anyway... hope you like what I've done and hope you had some good paper fun this last weekend. More to come once I wrap up this school year! Although, I do have a few cards I need to make before the end of the year... Maybe I'll get those up soon!

I'm a HORRIBLE blogger!

2009-05-01T11:14:00.003-08:00

Oh my gosh! Time for paper crafting has been totally lacking lately. Nothing new to show, just an acknowledgement that I know I haven't posted anything in forever! I do have two cards I made at our last CTMH hostess night and I'll get those photographed soon.

And I need to give a shout out to someone I met live and in person at my favorite LSS Scraptique here in Wasilla. I went in to take a quick peek and see if there was anything I just couldn't live without (of course I picked up some Distress Inks and Cosmo Cricket Lil' Man paper) and I was actually recognized by the darling gal working there! I was so flabbergasted at being recognized by her that I totally forgot to ask her name. But hey there my dear! It was fun chatting with you!

I am going to an all day crop for National Scrapbook Day and will surely have something to share after this weekend.

Here is something I haven't ever shared on my blog before... my way to store my Stickles! Enjoy...

Have I Fallen Off the Crafty Planet?

2009-04-11T11:31:00.003-08:00

Nope! I'm still alive and kickin', but crazy busy with school and school. You see, I am working on my master's degree in educational leadership. This is the last month of my internship and I am behind in hours and behind on my homework. So, for now my poor craft table is feeling very lonely and my creative spirit is being quite neglected. Fortunately, next Saturday, I get to combine both my internship and my love for paper and adhesive. I'll be the administrator on site for our Scrap For Our Schools event. I'll be crafting and getting hours as the same time! Yipee! I will hopefull have something fun to share after that day.

My Big, Fat, Creative Weekend - Part Three

2009-03-22T18:17:00.003-08:00

Yes, I do still do layouts! I made a bit of progress on Jack's Baby album, which is encouraging considering he's turning 5 this coming Friday! I also worked on putting pictures in some of the layouts we've done at our CTMH hostess club. I really like the one from our vow renewal ceremony. It was something very different for me and I think it turned out pretty well!

My Big, Fat, Creative Weekend - Part Two

2009-03-22T18:09:00.003-08:00

Here is our little work area for the weekend and where we spent three days, laughing really loud, getting a lot of work done, and having a great time!

This is my buddy Nancy!

This is Betty...she's "un-sewing" at the moment.

And here's Jodi hard at work making a duffle bag for her niece that I want really bad!!!!

Here's Nancy and a finished quilt! I'm so impressed!

My Big, Fat, Creative Weekend - Part One

2009-03-22T17:51:00.002-08:00

These are two of the cards that I made this weekend at the retreat. The first is a CASE of a card I saw Kristina Werner make in a video on her blog. I wanted to try my hand at embossing again, and make use of my new embossing buddy! The stamp set is this month's Stamp of the Month from CTMH and I didn't think I needed it, but I'm glad I've got it now!

This is a card I made for the CPS sketch for this week, but alas, I got home too late today to make the dedline for submission. This was a new card size for me, but I like the way it turned out. Think I'll send it to my godchildren for Easter. The paper is from the Whimsy DCWV stack, American Crafts ribbon, A Muse stamps, Threading Water punch and Copics for coloring.

Mojo Monday 78 - Dream Big!

2009-03-22T17:37:00.006-08:00

I think I'll squeek this entry in this week, just under the wire! I made this card on the Thursday night of this weekend's retreat. All papers and stamps are from CTMH and the ribbon is something I found in my ribbon basket. Wish I could give it proper credit! Used my Cuttlebug to emboss the green cardstock. I also got to play with my brand new Copic markers! Woo-hoo! I'm not very good yet, but I sure am having a blast playing with them. I'm hoping to find a class in Anchorage.

Back to work means NO FUN!

2009-03-19T07:49:00.003-08:00

Well it's been a crazy week since finishing spring break and I have had ZERO time to play at my table. That's about to change! I'm packing up all my favorite toys and heading to a three day retreat, so I'm hoping to have loads of fun new things to share by the end of the weekend. It is going to be a bit strange... did I mention this is a quilting retreat??? I'll be the only paper crafter, but I'm sure I'll have a blast! I'll be there with 3 friends who I'm sure will ooh and ahh appropriately over everything I make! They may even help me with some tips on how to use my sewing machine! See you soon!

Color Challenge

2009-03-11T15:15:00.006-08:00

Well, it's time for another color challenge over at Kristina Werner's blog. I am so glad I've found her blog and have learned so much just in the few days that I've been working on her challenges and watching her tutorials. Looking at the work that everyone submits is both intimidating and stimulating! I hope that I will just keep getting better and better at this after all of this inspiration.

Anyway, the card colors this week are totally monochromatic and I wasn't sure at all what to do, but then an idea popped into my head and I got started. I've been wanting to work on heat embossing and get better at it. Lot's of practice today! I had to stamp and emboss the image four times before I got one I was mostly happy with and then I took it to the sewing machine. Well, while sewing the white and gray layer together, the bobbin ran out of thread. Doh!

I don't even really know how to use this sewing machine yet, so I had to haul out the manual and figure out how to wind a bobbin, thread the machine, and get the bobbin thread to make it's appearance in the right spot. Got it all figured out and went back to embossing!

So, this very simple little card, with it's three simple little colors, actually took hours to do! But it was all worth it as a learning experience. Hope you like it!

Stamps, ink and embossing powder from CTMH
Ribbon from American Craft
Assorted cardstocks and thread

Happy Birthday! Mojo Monday 77

2009-03-10T21:56:00.005-08:00

Here is this week's sketch for Mojo Monday and I love it! I have a friend's birthday coming up and new exactly what I wanted to do. I dug into my stash and found some awesome Dream Streets paper that had just the colors I was looking for... I really wanted to work with black today. My darling friend Nancy showed me how to work my sewing machine, but we didn't go over how to put in a bobbin, so I was stuck with black thread for now. But I really didn't care, I just wanted to sew on a card and have it come out looking good! I don't think I did too bad for my first shot at sewing on a card and I like the way the colors came together.

Absolutely everything comes from my stash, which really isn't that hard for me to do, as I've been buying like a lunatic for the last six months or so. So.... what do you think?

Just for Fun!

2009-03-07T15:42:00.004-09:00

After I finished the challenges I wanted to work on this morning, I looked at my scraps and decided to put a card together for my goddaughter Taylyn, who's going to be 9 in just a few days. Yikes! She's growing up too fast! Here she is at the beach last summer with Max. Isn't she beautiful?

Anyway, I thought she'd like a rather girly, blingy, ribbony card and I was itching to practice my MCPT with this House Mouse stamp I've never even inked. It also works for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge too!

Now I think it's time for me to step away from the table and go spend some time with the boys! Even the biggest one!

Color Inspiration #44 AND CPS 105

2009-03-07T12:44:00.002-09:00

Wow! I'm having so much fun making cards and getting amazing ideas from all of the blogs I have subscribed to in the last two weeks. I could spend 24/7 on my laptop just going from blog to blog looking at all of the amazing talent out there. I guess I'm not really alone in my madness after all.

Well, today's card comes from the color challenge at Kristina Werner's blog, who I found from the Year in Cards class at Two Peas in a Bucket. I love her style! And for the inspiration to lay it out, I found Card Positioning Systems, another place where I'm going to get ideas when my own brain won't function.

I did the very best I could to match the colors from the color challenge just by using my stash. If you've been in my room, you'll know that I've got drawers, and drawers, and drawers of cardstock. As much as I'm dying to try some of the Stampin' Up! paper, I'm going to try and hold off on buying anymore until I really need it. I also had this beautiful Basic Grey paper from the Bittersweet collection that I haven't had the heart to cut up yet and it seemed to work just perfectly with the colors. I'm not terribly thrilled with the center stamp, or my work on the bow, but I do like the sentiment and needed a card of this type anyway.

So, here it is! If you've stopped by, please leave a comment. Feedback is really valued here and I'd love suggestions from more experienced cardmakers. I'm beginning to get some mojo working and love to learn new things!

February Year In Cards

2009-03-05T19:01:00.005-09:00

When I finished the Mojo challenge this morning, I decided I wasn't done. So I got to work on the February Year In Cards class I've been following at Two Peas in a Bucket. I made a Thank You card and a Gate Fold card using the new Green Stack from DCWV. I LOVE these papers! And I got to try out hand stitching on the gate fold card, which was fun, especially considering that I've been fighting with that blankety-blank Pixie sewing machine I just *had* to have! Oh well... you live and learn, right?

I wonder if I'm every going to go back to scrapping layouts? It's been a while and I'm so into cards right now. They're so much quicker and just as satisfying. I am vowing to work on the boys books at the retreat I'm going to in two weeks. It's going to be a bit strange... I'm going with Nancy and Jodi to a quilter's retreat, but I will be scrapbooking! I wanted to go with them so much, even though I don't sew, so Nancy asked Sylvia (the sponsor) and she said I was more than welcome to attend! Yippeeee! Three whole days to work on the boys books. I'm going to have to seriously spend some time getting supplies pulled out and ready to go. I also have to go get pictures printed... so much to do!

I can't wait for Spring Break to start. One more day in the classroom and then freedom for a whole week! I'm going to start it off by going to my CTMH Hostess Club with Nancy, which is always a hoot! Can't wait to see what Heather has planned for us this month, and I'm going to buy that ink and marker organizer this time. Hope it comes in time for the retreat!

Oh yeah... we got two more feet of snow today. Oy! Spring will never get here! But, I guess it's a good thing. We're taking the snow machines up to Willow this weekend to watch the restart of the Iditarod. I'll take pictures to post when we get back.

Congratulations! For Mojo Monday 76

2009-03-05T14:24:00.005-09:00

Well, I just love this card and the new sketch from Mojo Monday this week. I can not even come close to taking full credit for this card. I have been on the most massive blog hop in the last few weeks. There are so many amazing artists out there that I have been getting ideas from. I stumbled upon Cards by Kerri after looking at the other entries on the Mojo Monday blog and her card totally inspired me! So I pulled the baby paper I have and got to work on this card. (Thanks to my oldest son for having a little tummy virus, I'm actually able to get this card done during the week instead of on Saturday!) I'm also thrilled that I've been able to start using up my stash! I have so much paper and cardstock that it's almost shameful. I keep buying, and buying, and buying... now it's time to start creating! So, thank you Kerri for your inspiration and here is my card for this week! Now... off to make some more for the February Year In Cards challenge over at Two Peas!

Friends - For Mojo Monday 75

2009-02-28T15:26:00.005-09:00

I had a lot of fun creating this card and watching another foot of snow fall! The boys are playing Wii Star Wars and saying the funniest things as they hop around and destroy droids. My honey is puttering around the kitchen, cleaning up from breakfast... nothing sexier than a man doing dishes! And me... I got to get my card done for Mojo Monday! Hope you like it!

The stamp is from Stampendous, the paper is DCWV Pocket Full of Posies, ribbon fro Jo-Ann, ribbon slide from CTMH, and the MS Lacy Doily punch. I colored the bees with my Prismas and added some liquid glass to their spots and Stickles in Frosted Lace to their wings. This will be a fun one to have in my stash, but I've already got it in mind for one of my friends!

Winter Wonderland

2009-02-28T12:46:00.006-09:00

This is what we woke up to in beautiful Southcentral Alaska. Major snow! It must have been snowing all night long. We've gotten almost a foot! This is what I imagined Alaska would look like throughout most of the winter, but it doesn't actually happen very often. I'm sure there are places in the Lower 48 that have much more snow that we have at the moment. But for today, this is what I always envisioned. We'll be doing a lot of digging out later today! Hmmmm... kind of the perfect day for me to get over to the craft table.

More Cards

2009-02-25T00:10:00.001-09:00

Finally I'm Creating Again!

2009-02-25T00:02:00.001-09:00

I've become a total Two Peas in a Bucket addict lately. I've decided to take part in the A Year In Cards class, because lately I haven't had the attention span to do full on layouts. Cards are just my speed right now! So here are a few cards I've made in the last few days. All come from sketches I've seen in the class, or at Mojo Monday, or ones I've scraplifted from other Two Peas members.

Time to start a blog!

2009-02-24T23:46:00.001-09:00

Well, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to take a leap and just jump into the blog world. I can't believe I'm taking on something else that may be a distraction, but I've been so inspired by all of the blogs I've been reading. I wonder if anyone will ever check it out???

Oh... here's me and my favorite men!