CraftyEngineer

amuse-bouche - Valentine Treats!

And here we are to the last serving of amuse-bouche - Valentine Treats! What is Valentine's, if not a day to give out treats? As I was creating this last night, I was trying to come up with something grand and clever and awesome and ... And nothing happened. Does that ever happen to you?

You know a few years ago, maybe it was last year, I don't remember, but I think it was Ali Edwards that talked about having a "word" for the year. A word defining what her world would be. Well, I've decided that my word for 2010 is "SIMPLE" - I'm using that in my craft world but then maybe it will spill over into my everyday world too.

I find that I sit and try to make something grand, big, more, better, etc. and in the end I just don't like it as much as if I kept it SIMPLE. It's day 5 of 2010 and so far so good - except that it is a HARD mind adjustment for me. I have to concentrate on simple. Julie had an awesome card that I'm CASING for my thank yous this winter and I keep coming back to how clean and simple it is.

Okay, so back to this endeavor... after a few failed attempts to make something clever, I decided I was trying to hard and needed to come back to simple. Hmm, what have I done in the past and really liked? My valentine treat amuse-bouche is none other than the good 'ol Bag-a-lope from days past. The first time I made one of these many years ago in my former SU! life, I was in awe of the cleverness of it. If you are unfamiliar with bag-a-lopes, here is a tutorial from SCS but I modified it a bit. It's a bag made from an envelope. EASY. BUT wait there's more... A Muse is so perfect for SIMPLE... you can get a pack of these already patterned (AND VERY CUTE) envelopes from A Muse (and 10 in a pack!).

1. seal the envelope shut

2. score on 3 sides at 1/2" from the edge (2 long sides and 1 short)

3. using a zigzag decorative scissors (or any you like), cut off the non-scored short end to height desired of bag

4. open up from top and form bag (like a paper grocery bag); secure points/corners on bottom with mini glue dot

5. decorate tag or image for front.

What do you think? If you haven't made these before, I encourage you to do so. Let me know what you think. I just love that the envelopes are already decorated. Sure, you could do this with cardstock but it's more work and the envelopes make a lighter weight bag - I almost made it a purse! ;)

Happy Tuesday!

amuse-bouche - Elegant Greetings from the Sea

Hello! Up next for today's serving of amuse-bouche is Elegant Greetings from the Sea!

That white base (mounted on French Roast) is the A Muse shimmer paper as is the pink shimmer damask. Very shimmery in real life.

Hope you are having a great day!

amuse-bouche - Everyday Greetings!

I see a trend here. I seem to be barely making the deadline for these sneaks! I'm still in holiday mode and surely don't want this week to start. Back to the hustle-and-bustle and all that. Sigh.

Well, you're here to see the latest amuse-bouche, right? Today's theme is cards for everyday. I'm *really* bad at having these type cards in my stock pile. I need to make a bunch of "everyday" cards - friendship, get well, congratulations, thank yous and even sympathies. Shoot, I probably need to make birthday cards, too!

Anyway, here's my amuse-bouche. I picked up this airplane recently from A Muse (it's available right now and not part of this release!) and thought I wanted him to pull a banner for the whole world to see...

The crab, matching sentiment and curling wave are all part of this new release.

It's not my favorite card but I'm going with it anyway. The idea is still there... the execution *not* exactly as planned!

Happy back to the grind week!

amuse-bouche: Cards for the men in our lifes!

Day 2 of the amuse-bouche for A Muse's valentine's day release... but the stamps in this release are so versatile, they could be used anytime!

I'm late posting today so I'll keep it short...

Here is my amuse-bouche!

Isn't the anchor and matching sentiment great? So many times I could have used this in the past!

Be sure to check out the other muses and the A Muse blog for more great amuse-bouche! Hope you are enjoying them!

Amuse-bouche - Valentine Greetings for Kids!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's time again for a little appetizer, or amuse-bouche! Valentine's Day is right around the corner! Can you believe that?

This release should be available at your LSS now so go check it out. Also be sure to check out the A Muse News blog and the other gals...lots of cute, cute ideas out there!

First up, valentine's greetings for kids! As a mother of small kids, interactive cards and book are very popular around here. And having boys makes it challenging to make valentine's that my 2nd grader wouldn't blush at! Geez, when did that happen?

I have to thank Novell for the inspiration. Here's what I came up with - a pocket card with a viewfinder... all blues too - think boys! In fact, my card disappeared - as soon as I took the picture, my 3 year-old claimed it for himself!

Dolphins are one of my most favorite sea creatures - I guess that's not saying much as I don't like a whole lot of fish and things... but dolphins, they're something else. I've been lucky to see them in groups in the ocean and they just are so graceful, even when jumping out of the water!

Well, Happy New Year! I hope 2010 is wonderful for you and yours!

amuse bouche - Expressions of Gratitude

And here it is the last tasty morsel of this release...

 Today's featured shimmery paper is Onyx. I paired that up with the Pink Tiny damask shimmery paper. This card is 3.5x3.5. The "thanks" sentiment is probably my most favorite sentiment of this release or maybe a close 2nd. I just like it's size, font, and boldness. Good all around stamp!

You guessed it... those are white pearls on there. Fun, eh?

I wish you could see the stuff up close and personal. Oh wait, you can!!! Head on over to amuseartstamps.com today and check it out!

Have a great Friday!

amuse bouche - Fall Floribunda

My amuse-bouche is ...

Sneaking in under the wire... it's still Thursday here :)

TODAY'S peek features one of my favorite colors - yes, purple. OOH SO PRETTY. It's real name is blackberry. I love it.

I used the Solid Chrysanthemum and the Sympathy stamp again.  Both stamped in Colorbox Pigment ink (violet).

Tomorrow is the day that this goodies will be released, however, your LSS might already have them in!

Have you seen the blog giveaways going on over on the A Muse News blog? Go play. New stamps and papers and such up for grabs!

Hope your Thursday was a good one.

One more amuse-bouche coming up!

amuse-bouche: Mother Earth

Time for another amuse-bouche! More of the A Muse Stationery Release... have you seen what the other girls have done? I am in awe of their work. Such elegance.

Today's feature includes the Robin's Egg Shimmer paper among others. I am a *huge* fan of blues. More so than purple, even. I know, hard to believe. But it's true. I just don't scream blue since everyone else in my house is male and they have a claim to blue, green, red, and grey. Blech. So purple is all mine but blue is still my all-time favorite color (since I was probably 2!).

There are two shades of blue in this new shimmer paper. I used the Robin's Egg blue for a sympathy card. I little brighter than your usual sympathy card. I also used the new leaf trio stamp to accent one color and embellished with the new Robin's Egg pearls. Aren't these pearls beautiful? So fun!

And finally a sympathy stamp! Not happy for the occasion but happy that A Muse has created such an elegant one.

I tried to get a picture of the shimmer for you. So it's not a bright picture (i.e. kept my flash off, didn't edit it, etc) but at least you can see some of the shimmer.

Hope you are enjoying these sneaks!

Happy Wednesday!

 

amuse-bouche - harvest feast

Day 2 of amuse-bouche of the fabulous, elegant, beautiful, shimmery, gotta-have-some, wonderful,... Stationery Release. Do you like what you've seen so far?

It is really hard to capture the shimmer of these new papers. They shimmer quite a bit. It is heavy weight and it has a white core (i.e. the other side is white) but it shimmers too!

If I had this paper earlier this year when I made my nephew's wedding invitations, I would have used this stuff for sure. The colors are awesome.

Okay, you're here to see card #2...

So, I'm having a teensy, weensy problem using all of this beautiful paper. Honestly. I just want to hoard it. Not that I ever do that. <roll eyes>  When I made this card, I decided that I wanted to make a 3x3 card. I like that size for quick notes and such. And that way I could keep more of the paper for more projects! HA HA HA!

Three new items on my card: lime shimmer paper, mango damask shimmer paper, and a new sentiment: thank you for everything. That's just a very useful stamp! You may even see some of the shimmer in that apple paper.

Be sure to check out the other muses and the A Muse Blog for more amuse-bouche.

Have a great Tuesday!

amuse bouche - Autumn Elegance

Here it is! Day 1 of the BEAUTIFUL stationery release from A Muse Artstamps. There are so many beautiful things as part of this release. You'll have to check out the rest of the creative team's blogs to see some more Autumn Elegance. The amuse-bouche will continue all week... so come on back, ya' hear! ;)

Here is my 1st card:

My card base is the new A Muse Espresso Shimmer Paper. It is beautiful. Simply beautiful.

It's hard to tell in my picture but the maple leaf (new image!) is stamped in Copper Ink as is the new sentiment. And do you see something else that's new? PEARLS... yes, that's right. LOVELY. These are chocolate brown pearls.  

My friend, Michelle, is a big fan of Autumn. She's from PA. In Texas, we don't really have Autumn. We have "everything-is-green-then-it's-brown". Although we pretty much had a "it's always brown" because of our drought this summer. Oh well. Well, I guess that's the price to pay to not have "cold", eh?

Happy Monday! You're gonna love this release...

Stay tuned.