Manly Sneak!

More sneak peeks! These great stamps are in a new clear set from A Muse called Mainly Men! Lots of great images for all of your manly needs ... okay, maybe not ALL of your needs! Ha, Ha!! I tried a new technique (well, new to me!) with the "faux suede"! The briefcase is nice and fuzzy! All stamps and papers are by A Muse, eyelets by Making Memories.

Sneak Peek Celebration!

Happy Monday!!

I had a very "worky" weekend ... back to back 12 hour shifts don't leave a lot of time for stamping!! I did manage a couple of the VMAA challenges, and had a blast - then I found myself falling asleep on my black and white card, so I decided I better wait!! I hope to finish the challenges today and get them posted.

Isn't this little girl just the cutest thing?? She is part of a NEW clear set from A Muse, being released later this week!! It is an AMAZING set with so many possibilities!! Do you see the other SNEAK? That's right ... look at the wonderful soft purple notecard! Oh - yeah!! New notecards!!! They will be released later this week, too!! Stay tuned for more sneak peeks this week, and be sure to check out the A Muse girls listed on the right! There is some amazing work out there right now ... Sneak Peeks, VMAA cards ... it's a wonderful time to be an A Muse fan!!

Details: Stamps, ribbon, notecards, twinkle stickers by A Muse, punches by Marvy and EK Success, colored with Copics.

Disco Ball!

Messy, old school glitter! That just screams "cover a big area" to me! I just used the fine point of my Mono Multi glue to draw the waves, then used my finger to spread it around, then dumped blue glitter on top! All that glue made the paper really heavy, and I didn't wait for it to dry, so it didn't really want to stick to the base card, but oh well - it's still a fun card!

Again - it's all A Muse!

Let it Be!

I rushed home from work at the hospital and got straight to work on the VMAA challenges! Better late than never, right! This is for the first challenge tonight ... Let it Be ... no embellishments! I know I would have normally added ribbon or something to this design! But it is just great the way it is! This will be going out to a nurse at another hospital who recently gave me a lot of support as I was deciding to start my grandmother on hospice!

Details: All A Muse ... that about covers it!

Big News Number 2!!

It is time for the 2nd Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts!! Join all the stampin' fools (I mean that in the loving, fool-for-stamps kind of way!) and get your stamp on!

When: Saturday, April 26th 8:00pm-10:00pm Central Time!
Who: A Muse lovers all over the globe!
Where: A Muse Addicts Message Board - not a member yet?? Go register today!!

Big News Number 1!!

One of our A Muse girls is livin' the dream!! Michelle White is opening her very own shop in Sunny San Diego! If you are lucky enough to live close by, please go check it out and have some fun for me!! The store opens on May 1st, and they plan on carrying the COMPLETE A Muse line! Linda, the A Muse Guru herself, will be in town to celebrate on May 31st! I am incredibly happy for Michelle and Helle, and hope that I will get to see the shop in person some day soon!

A Fish Story

Sunday afternoon, dad takes the two boys fishing, leaving me with only one kid in the house (I don't know the last time that happened!)! So, after baby Lily went to bed, I actually got a bit of time to stamp!

This was a super fast card ... owing mostly to the fact that I got some of the new Momento ink! I tell ya ... this stuff is pretty darn awesome!! You really don't have to heat set it at all before you color with Copics! I bought mine online at Stamper's Dream! I was very impressed with the service, price and super speedy shipping! I also picked up some new 6x6 Basic Grey pads! I haven't been using a lot of patterned paper, but they were so yummy that I just couldn't resist! I also used the new A Muse Clear Ovals - so incredibly awesome!! I have wanted these in clear for sooo long and I couldn't be more excited about it!!

Back to the Momento ink ... here's my little mini review:

Pro's:
*Super fast drying - no heat setting!!
*Available in a wide range of colors
*Pleasing design - they have little feet to hold the tear-drop shaped pad upright.

Con's:
*I did have a small amount of bleeding toward the outside of the image
(almost like the Copic pushed the Momento ink out)
*The Tuxedo black is not a SUPER black black - not as black as my old friend Versafine!

I would still really recommend these inks - especially for stamping on the go when it is not convenient to heat set!

Details: Stamps, ribbon by A Muse, CS by SU, Copic markers, Momento and Staz-on inks.

Birds on a wire

This is one of my favorite A Muse stamps of all time ... definitely at the top of my versatile list! I've had this idea floating around in my head, inspired by a couple of my daughter's shirts that have birdies on them! I sit there rocking her, and think of card ideas based on her cute clothes!! :)

This was a "the-stamp-a-ma-jig-is-my-best-friend" card, and even then it was a bit more difficult than it should have been to line up the lines! I had to let go of my inner anal-ness and let it be! Super easy coloring with 3 colors of Copics, then the yellow ones have yellow Spica glitter on top! Two eyelets, some GAWGEOUS!! A Muse stitched grosgrain, and there you have it!

Details: Stamps, note card, ribbon by A Muse, colored with Copics & Spica Glitter Pens, Versafine Onyx ink.

11 Years of Henry!

Time goes so fast! It seems like just yesterday that I was holding an 8 pound 4 oz bundle of joy (after I tried to deliver him in the toilet, but that's another story!), now he is 5 feet tall and can put away more food than I can! For his Birthday dinner, he picked the Cheesecake Factory - the kid has pretty good taste! :) We had an awesome dinner! Here are a few pics ... and for all those that are here for actual STAMPED things, stick with me, there is a card at the bottom!!

We'll call this "My Two Dads" - Henry with his father on the right and his stepdad on the left!

Lily hamming it up for the camera again - she was screaming in the highchair, but if I pointed the camera at her, she would stop immediately and give me a big grin!

MMMMM, yummy! Henry chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake! They did such a nice job with the plate!

Dig in!!

Parker & Ben enjoying their Chocolate Pecan Carmel Turtle (or something like that!) Cheesecake!

Is this a happy kid or what??
Thanks for sticking with me through this long, personal post! Here is the card that I made for Henry! I was going for something simple, and not too baby-ish! Still maybe a bit young for an 11 year old, but oh well! For such a simple card, I struggled!! I swear that RED ink is my nemesis! Every time I use red ink, I end up with a smudge on my project! This time I was able to trim the white piece down a bit and make it work! I combined a few pieces of A Muse stamps on this card ... the "birthday" is from the awesome clear set "Birthday Builder", the "super" is from the "have a super day" sentiment, and the "wish" is from the Elzybell's "make a wish" sentiment!

We love our Hawks!!

Just thought I'd share a few quick pics of the kids last night ... well, mostly Lily, because she is the only one that will hold still long enough to get a picture! And Henry only wants to take the pics, not be in them, which is why you actually get to see me in one of these! These were taken before the game, after the kids got all dolled up in their Jayhawk clothes!

Me and 2 out of the 3 little Jayhawks!

Lily really likes to ham it up for the camera right now! She was 15 months old yesterday!

We're NUMBER ONE!!!!

Jayhawk cookies for desert!

I went to the KU bookstore today and stood in line to buy National Championship T-shirts! We happened to get there just as they were delivering them, and there were people that had been waiting there for 2 hours!! Mine were still warm from printing when we got them! I'll share pics of them sometime soon!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIENDS!!

Kansas 75 Memphis 68

OMG ... it was an amazing game ... Memphis fought so hard, but in the end - thanks to Mario Chalmers and the most perfect 3 point shot - it was all JAYHAWKS!! It has been 20 years since KU has won a national championship, and I hope to take the kiddos to some celebrations this week!

BTW - your regularly scheduled stamping should resume soon!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!!!!

WHOOO HOOOOO!!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!!!

I just can not believe it - not only did the Jayhawks win, and advance to the National Championship - but they kicked some serious A**!! I am so proud to count myself as a Jayhawk alum! Hope you all got to catch the game ... it was AMAZING!! Can't wait until Monday night!! It will be crazy!