For the birds...

I don't know about you, but right now in Phoenix we have a ton of birds on our lawn.  And I hear them chirping on a daily basis.

That is what inspired me for this card. 

I purchased some fabric washi tape a few months ago, and I wanted to put it within one of my card creations.  I have never used anything quite like it before.  It is tape, but it is fabric at the same time.  And the colors are simply gorgeous!

In this card I stamped my image and colored it with my trusty copic markers.  In addition, I colored a paper flower red using my copic marker, and added it to the corner with a small pearl sticker.
Thanks so much for visiting!  Have a great day! 

~Doris

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Supplies:
Stamp Set: Tweets (Saltbox Studio)
Paper: Sugar, Sage, Blackberry Cardstock (A Muse Studio)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Extras: Copic Markers: E33 Sand; E41 Pearl White; YG23 New Leaf. Wild Flowers Decorative Fabric tape from cutetape.  

New Holiday Catalog

Oh my goodness!

A Muse is about to release their new 2011 Holiday Catalog...and I have to say it is going to put a big smile on your face!

       

What is in it you ask?

~32 new stamp sets!
~New designer cardstock
~Felt
~More ribbon
~New holiday dies which can be used for gift tags, cards, and garlands (mittens, snowman, tree, gingerbread man, hearts, snowflakes, stockings...)
~Bakers twine
~Two new cardstock colors and ink pads! Pebble and Wasabi
~And much much more....

This 44 page, full size catalog has stamp sets for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day.  Not only that, but embellishments that will make your holiday crafting so much fun!  The catalog will be on my website on August 22, 2011, and you can begin to place orders on that date.  But if you would like to see it now, just send me an email and I will send it to you in a pdf file.

Just thinking about the holidays make me feel cooler already.

 

~Doris

Cocktail Time!

A dear friend is having a birthday this month, and I wanted to create a card that would express a sense of fun.  And nothing is more fun, well at least to my husband and I, than having cocktails with friends at happy hour.

            
 
It is a great way to get caught up, relax, and laugh.  And that is my girlfriend to a tee.  She always makes me laugh.

The stamp set that I used here was "Tini Time" and it is on sale this month, as a part of our A/S Spotlight.  I know it is a little hard to see, but within the glass I used a spica glitter pen to make the sparkling cold gin (or vodka) within the glass.

Pretty cool huh?      (did you catch my pun?) 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog...and have a great day! 

 ~ Doris
 
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Supplies: All A Muse Studio
Stamp Sets: Tini Time; Ovalicious
Paper: Sugar, Sage, Onyx Cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Sage Permanent ink
Extras: Martha Stewart punch, Spica Glitter Pen in Clear

Storage

Because I have such a limited space in which to keep my stamping supplies, I really have to make the most of every square inch of space.  Some items I really use a lot...and I wanted an easy way to access them.

My ribbons are on a doweling in front of me on my crafting table, as you can see from my previous post.  But I needed a place for my twine.  I absolutely love Divine Twine.  But because it is so thin, I wanted an easy way to access it so that I would not get it all tangled up into one big mess.  So I discovered this solution from another blog, and wanted to pass it along.  Mason Jars!

What I did was pound a small nail into the top of each metal lid, and pull the twine thru.  It works like a charm!  I love to use twine as an embellishment in my cards, but I also love to use it on packages.  It adds a nice unexpected touch.




What about my Copics?  I love my Copics, and searched quite awhile until I found this....

They are called X-cubes and I found them at Office Max.  For my tiny space, they work great because I can sort the colors by color family, and see exactly what I am looking for.  I have a color chart on the wall to the right of it, which I use frequently to get the exact color that I need in my project. 

Die storage was really a dilemma for me.  I wanted something small, but yet could store quite a few dies in one spot.  Have you ever been searching frantically for a die, and just could not find the darn thing?

  

.....I tell ya, that drives me crazy!

But fortunately I found this Magnetic Storage Book at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago,  and it works great!  All your dies can be placed on the magnetic sheets within both sides of the book, and you can see exactly what you are looking for.

Here is what the book looks like when you open it up....

Because the magnets are so strong,  I decided to put the piece of white cardboard (that comes with the book) within book before I close it, so that my dies do not get separated. As my die collection grows, I am planning to purchase more books to keep them all in, and label the sides so that I know the contents of each.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my storage ideas.  Have a great day!

~ Doris

My Creative Space...

I know of many people that have a room dedicated to their craft making, unfortunately I do not.  Because all our rooms were spoken for within our house,  I converted a walk-in closet that is within our office into my crafting space.  I tell ya, it is amazing what you can put into a small space! 

My husband, cut a board to fit on top of my plastic storage units, and we put quite a few coats of varnish on top of it to keep the surface smooth and clean.  As you can see, I have all my Copic markers at my fingertips, as well as my embellishments, ribbons, cutting devices, as well as all my stamps.  Within all the drawers I keep my stamp sets, as well as my paper.

And of course, I needed to have a place for my Big Kick!  So I decided to put it above one of my storage units that hold my many stamp sets.  I didn't want it to get dusty, so when I purchased it, I kept the plastic cover that was surrounding it.

This is where I store my A Muse Studio ink pads.  I wanted them to be 'at the ready' when I am stamping, therefore I wanted to put them on the wall.  Behind my chair, you will see these two plastic containers.  I found them at Joanne Fabrics, but I am sure you could purchase them at any craft store.  They stack on top of each other.  But instead of doing that, I drilled a hole in the back of them and mounted them to the wall.  My ink pads fit perfectly within them, and I labeled the sides with the color of the pad, so that I could get exactly the color I was searching for.

But what about punches?  Well I have a space for them as well....

All my Marvy punches are in a shoe rack on the back of the door.  I have them all sorted by size/color so that I can easily select the punch I need for my project.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my little crafting space.  It is small...but hey, good things do come in small packages!
Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Doris

The July A Muse Studio Spotlight

Today is the day!  The day of the release of the July A Muse Studio Spotlight...which highlights special products, at special prices.



I am so excited to show them to you too!

We have five stamp sets that are on sale... 

Birthday Builder
Graphic Sunflower
Swanky Background
That's the Ticket
Tini Time

In addition we have a special cardstock assortment called "Sorbet" which contains four sheets each of the following colors: 

Watermelon
Buttercup
Apricot
Sage

Lichen

Click on the Studio Spotlight link on the right side of my blog to learn more.  Spotlight pricing is good thru midnight Eastern time on August 15, 2011. 

Have a wonderful day!

~Doris

 

On the road with A Muse Studio....

via amusestudio.shuttlepod.org

I have some exciting news to share.  A Muse Studio will be going on the road!

This is your chance to use new products, learn new stamping techniques in a classroom setting, and meet some talented...and very fun...A Muse Studio staff.  To see where we will be, and when...just click on the link above.  I know you're gonna have a great time!

~Doris