Wool Angel

Can you believe I've been waiting to share this with you since March (*smile*)! Didn't seem quite right to post it in the spring, so I decided to wait for Christmas. This project was actually what inspired me to experiment with wool. (See my Felting Fun category for my other felting projects) On my post in February, I mentioned there was a story as to how needlefelting caught my attention. Well, sit back and grab a cuppa and I'll fill ya in on the details!

It all began when I was putting our ornaments away in January 2008. I had put a bunch of them on a table so I could box them up later. Now normally my dog doesn't mess with things... But of course, it was at that time that he decided to be naughty when I wasn't looking and chewed apart one of my favorite ornaments - a handmade wool angel that my mom bought at a craft show years ago. I suppose it seemed like a soft fluffy chew toy to him, so I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, I paid little attention to the construction of it as I was throwing it away because it was clear that there was no way I could repair it. But I was curious to see if something similar existed that I could buy as a replacement, so eventually I did a little investigating online. Didn't find anything similar but some handmade wool dolls that were made by needlefelting. Hmmm - I had not heard of needlefelting before... this I must research more... if I can't buy one maybe I can *make* one! Needless to say, I figured out what it would take to make my own replacement and added a few items to my 2008 Christmas list so I could learn this new skill. I was so excited when I achieved it! My mom actually still has one of the original wool angels, so I was able to carefully inspect hers to see how it was made - which definitely helped. Thank goodness she bought one for herself too! Below is a photo of her original so you can compare them. I made a few changes on mine above - nicer ribbon (A Muse of course) and a wool wreath instead of the artificial pine. How did I do?

December Calendar

The last calendar page of 2009... And leading into my 2010 "birds and trees" theme, I used a tree on this one!
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Images and calendar by A Muse. White cardstock, SU cardstock, Bind-it-all and 3/4" wire. Memento Bamboo Leaves ink, Colorbox gold pigment ink, Martha Stewart Crafts Red Glitter.

Advent Calendar

I was inspired by the advent garlands in the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine... so I had to make one of my own! I already had the green dot fabric, so I picked up some red gingham and set to work making simple drawstring bags. Then I stamped each number on a snippet of white fabric (so it would stand out) and stitched the top of each one onto a bag. The bags are small enough that it will be easy to store them when the holidays are done, yet big enough to allow me to use them in different ways each year - whether it be for candy treats, or little gifts, or notes. This year I decided to go the note route and wrote something fun to do as a family (like read "Frosty the Snowman" or sing "Jingle Bells") on a bunch of 2x4" patterned tags. And if I decide not to make a garland out of them, they would also be fun to hang on the tree or hide them in various places around the house for a bonus treasure hunt! Now, if you aren't into sewing the bags... you could probably find some small muslin bags that would work well and it would be easy to stamp directly on them. Here's a photo of the whole group:

Are you making an advent calendar this year? What do you put inside each day?

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Images and notecards by A Muse. Brilliance pigment ink (not sure how well this will wash, but it worked fine for my purposes). Ribbon, Fabric, sewing machine, pinking scissors, mini clothespins, rope or ribbon for hanging the bags.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a simple Thank You card - just two stamps and a punch! This was inspired by Joyce's vase card (scroll down on this post). Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Images, black dye ink, and notecards by A Muse. Memento ink, Carl Vase punch.

More Twilight Goodies!

As promised, I'm back to share the rest of the goodies I whipped up for the New Moon movie. Shared these with my friends who I saw the movie with today, so I didn't wanna post 'em here until they were delivered (*wink*). Saw the movie this morning and loved it of course! I made this quick and easy slider box to hold New Moon chocolates. Here is a peek at the inside:


Then I decided I needed a little bag to hold the card and the chocolate box, so I made one with my Scor-Pal. Thought it needed a little more, so I added a red felted flower pin!


We had the most beautiful sky at dawn this morning - so much like my card and I took a photo for you, but the photo just doesn't do it justice - sorry! It was a perfect start to Twilight day though! Did you see the movie yet? What did you think?
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Images, black dye ink, and notecards by A Muse. Box: Memento Potter's Clay ink and sponge dauber; Copic W2; Scor-Pal and Scor-Tape. Bag: black cardstock, Marvy Paper Trimming Buddy with scallop blade, hole punch, Scor Pal, Scor-Tape, ribbon.

Happy New Moon Eve!

For all the Twilight fans out there, tonight is the night for the New Moon movie! I've been itching to experiment with my previous Twilight inspired design to take it a little further and explore the colors that you see at twilight - be it dawn or dusk. Since I live in a place with very few clouds or rain, I actually see a beautiful clear sky out my window most mornings that looks similar to this - deep orange at the horizon line with dark shadowy trees and houses. So using that as inspiration, I stamped Bella and Edward, then masked them and sponged three Memento ink colors to make the sky. (Tip - start with the lightest color first and then blend in the darker colors.) I also made a couple of other things to go along with the card, so I'll be back to share those with you tomorrow!
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Images, black dye ink, and notecards by A Muse. Memento ink in Potter's Clay, Tangelo, and Canteloupe; sponge dauber, post-it notes, Copic markers.

Thanks!

I decided to make several of these a few weeks ago since it's always good to have a few thank-you cards handy. Super simple - just stamping, punching, and ribbon!

Hope you had a good weekend! We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom a bit early, so I am on to working on Christmas and mass-producing our holiday cards. I am actually using one of the designs shown in my class photo below. My hubby loves this particular design, so that made the decision pretty easy. Any guesses as to which one?
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Images, ribbon, and notecards by A Muse. Memento ink, Martha Stewart border punch, corner rounder.

Class this Saturday!

Get ready for the holidays this Saturday Nov 14th at Crafter's Connection!
We'll create festive A Muse designs - perfect for the season. I'll share tips for mass-producing your cards and also show you how to tie your holiday bows like a pro! I'll also share some Copic tips including how to refill and change your marker nibs. Hope you can join me!

Crafter's Connection, Canyon Country CA
Saturday, November 14th Make it Merry 10:30am
661-297-4005

As with all of my classes, please bring your preferred adhesive and sharp detail scissors.

November Calendar

Hope you had a fun Halloween! Continuing in my monthly calendar series.... here is November!
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Images, Black Dye ink, and calendar by A Muse. White cardstock, SU cardstock, Bind-it-all and 3/4" wire. Copic markers: Raw Silk, Sand, Lipstick Red. Triplus fineliner orange pen. Memento Tangelo ink.

Halloween catch up!

I had a great visit to Seattle last weekend - so fun to see my A Muse friends! Then came back and volunteered at my son's school yesterday and today. I can't believe Halloween is tomorrow already! I had a few more Halloween designs to share with you and since we are running out of time, you get to see them all at once! I made these little necklaces as a fun idea for kids. Super easy with a circle punch, crop-a-dile, ribbon, and clear stickers!

Then the next few designs are some you've probably seen on the A Muse news blog or as the Card of the Week in the newsletter. (If you aren't receiving the weekly A Muse newsletter, you can sign-up here!)

Love the parade kids with the crooked house! Then the witch crashing into the tree below was fun to create with the wood grain paper and a scallop oval punch. I used the retro rectangle, some stars, and some sections of one of the scallop ovals in the oval frames clear set - all stamped in black ink near the tree - to give it an "action" look.

One last card featuring the cutie mouse peeking out of the pumpkin. Hope you have lots of fun planned for tonight and tomorrow! Happy Halloween!

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Images, ribbon, black dye ink, clear stickers, and notecards by A Muse. Copic markers, circle punches, scallop oval and circle punch, crop-a-dile, fiskars scallop punch, Memento lulu lavender and tangelo ink.

Halloween Activity Sheets

You might remember seeing these on the A Muse News blog during the Halloween sneak peeks. Thought I'd share them here so you could see them more closely. My son brings home worksheets from school everyday, so this idea came to me pretty easily once I was thinking about creating something for kids. These are actually a little advanced for him, but he loved seeing them when they were done! I printed the text on cardstock and then stamped in black so that they could be colored in if desired. Here is each page individually:

It was so fun to use the writing paper lines from the School Time clear set one this one:

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Images by A Muse. Versafine black ink, white cardstock, Memento Lulu Lavender (for writing lines).

amuse-bouche - Monogram Frames!

Today's sneak peek features two new clear sets - Monogram Frames and also the Classic Alphabet! I thought it would be fun to create envelope seals out of the largest stamp in the frame set. This stamp fits perfectly with the EK Success 2" scallop punch - love it! The other four frame stamps in the set also work with punches and there is also a beautiful border and four different word stamps! Now, you can probably tell that I didn't actually seal the envelope here because I plan to put something in it first (LOL), but you get the idea. All I'd need to do is run the punched seals through my Xyron machine to make stickers out of them and I'd be good to go! They would be the perfect touch to dress-up your holiday envelopes!
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Images, envelope, and notecards by A Muse. Memento ink in Pear Tart and Bahama Blue, Spica Melon glitter pen.

amuse-bouche - Flatware!

Two fabulous new stamps to see here - the flatware and the modern wood block! Then I used an older stamp for the sentiment. There is a new sentiment "please join us" that is great for invitations as well! And here is the new Mango Shimmer Couture paper! Stay tuned for another peek tomorrow!
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Images and notecards by A Muse. Versafine black ink, Memento desert sand ink, foam tape.

amuse-bouche - maple leaf!

It's time for sneak peeks (or as we like to call them amuse-bouche!) The new A Muse stationery release is just beautiful with gorgeous shimmery paper and fabulous organic fall images. Colorful fall leaves are one of my *favorite* things. Since I live in the desert, the show of colors isn't as spectacular as in cooler climates. I delight in the *one* tree that is turning red on the way to my son's school - but I'll take it - better than none! So here I used various colors of dye ink to color the new Maple leaf stamp using the "rock 'n roll" technique. The green and brown layers are two of our new Shimmer Couture papers - in Grass and Espresso. And I thought this sentiment from the back-to-school release fit perfectly! Stay tuned for another amuse-bouche tomorrow and be sure to check out the fab creations from the rest of the team (and you can see another of my designs over on the A Muse News blog today as well)!
ETA: forgot to mention that this card is a slightly different size - worked out to be around 3.75" high and 4.5" wide. And the black ink that I used is Memories black - heat-set on the shimmer paper.
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Images and notecards by A Muse. Memories black ink (heat-set); Memento ink in Canteloupe, Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo Leaves, Tangelo; Spellbinders label die cut; Big Shot.

Holiday class - November 14th!

Had a great time at Crafter's Connection yesterday - so fun to hang out with the girls for a while! And back by request - I'll be teaching Make it Merry at Crafter's Connection on November 14th! We'll create five festive A Muse designs - perfect for the holiday season. I'll share tips for mass-producing your cards and also show you how to tie your holiday bows like a pro! I'll also share some Copic tips including how to refill and change your marker nibs. Hope you can join me!

Crafter's Connection, Canyon Country CA
Saturday, November 14th Make it Merry 10:30am
661-297-4005

Please bring preferred adhesive, sharp detail scissors, and a pencil.

October Calendar

Continuing in my monthly calendar series... here is October! You can't see them very well in the photo, but I stamped a few lighter webs in various spots on the page. The webs are all dusted with glitter of course, so they sparkle!
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Images, Black Dye ink, and calendar by A Muse. White cardstock, SU cardstock, Bind-it-all and 3/4" wire. SU Going Grey ink and marker, Art Glitter.

Class this Saturday!

Celebrate World Card Making Day with me at Crafter's Connection this Saturday, October 3rd! Here is a sneak peek of the five Asian inspired cards we'll create using slick tricks and techniques. Hope to see you there!

Crafter's Connection, Canyon Country CA

Saturday, October 3rd, A Muse Asian Inspiration at 10:30am

661-297-4005

Please bring preferred adhesive , sharp detail scissors, and a pencil.

2010 Calendar is here!

The 2010 A Muse calendar is here! This year, the proceeds from the calendar will go to Water 1st.

I'm excited about this calendar because I've had a theme in mind since last year! I was inspired by Julie's cover page on her 2009 calendar and thought it would be fun to make an entire calendar using a theme of Birds & Trees. The A Muse birds and tree stamps are some of my favorites and it was fun choosing stamps for each month! I decided I needed a little more space for stamping the trees, so this year I made an A2 size calendar. As usual, I plan to share one page each month throughout the year. But here is September 2010, to give you a little taste of what is to come. I backed each page with different colors of Juliette patterned paper - which gave me an instant color palette!

There's sparkle on both the cover page and the Leafy Tree leaves. (I hand drew the little falling leaves.) I can't wait to share the rest of the pages with you next year!

ETA: For the stand, I used the same stand design that I used last year - which is Julie's slick design and she shared details on creating it - here.

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Images, black dye ink, calendar, and paper by A Muse. Copic markers, Adirondack Espresso ink, Memento Tangelo and Bamboo Leaves inks, Art Glitter Angel Dust, quickie glue pen, Spica glitter pens, Spellbinders Nestabilities die, foam tape, Bind-it-all, 5/8" O-wires.