Gingham Ribbon

Have you been playing along with the A-MUSE-A-PALOOZA challenges? This week's challenge is "RIBBON". Since I am a survivor that word means more to me than an embellishment so I decided to make a pink ribbon card for a fellow survivor.....it gives a whole new meaning to pink gingham ribbon *wink*. (paper,stamps and twinkle stickers are A Muse, embossing folder and die are Sizzix)

Be sure to add your guess in the "How Many Yards of Ribbon?" contest to be entered to win a fun prize too!

13 more days to go!

Father's Day

I've seen some cute shirt & tie cards for Father's Day but the guys in my life don't really wear ties so I decided to make some shirt cards that more reflected their lifestyle. These cards also qualify for the challenge in the A Muse Lounge "It's a Guy Thing".



I would SO buy this bamboo shirt for my hubby if I could find it. Actually, my son has a blue one that's similar which is where I got this idea. This is more of the "snappy casual" kind of shirt that most of they guys I know wear. I scored a line down the center of the shirt and added some brads for buttons.

My Father-in-Law is a golfer and we get him golf stuff for every holiday so I thought this golf shirt was perfect. The shoe is a little big for the shirt emblem but it's the concept that counts! I combined a wood mounted sentiment with "DAD" from the Mainly Men Clear Set.......perfect!

My sister and I are cooking up a yummy BBQ meal for our dad tomorrow. I've got a margarita cake cooling as I'm typing this. I guess I better go work on his card........

Last Day of School!!

Today was our last of school! The past few weeks have been crazy with school projects and activities so it's a big relief to have it all be done! I've known for quite some time what I was going to make for the teachers as end-of-the-year gifts but between being too busy or tired and a little procrastination thrown in, I didn't start them until last night. This picture shows the backpack boxes and matching cards I made for Sam's teachers. He's in a multi-age class so there are 3 grades and 3 teachers. I simplified the original design for this backpack by making the flap out of patterned paper instead of adding a layer of patterned paper to accent the base color. A Muse Petite Gingham is so cute on these and there are so many colors to choose from. I enclosed the little cards (quick and easy) along with a Barnes & Noble gift card. Kayla is in middle school so we only gave one to her advisor and I added a little chocolate as a bonus. I also made "happy summer" cards for the bus driver and Kayla's aide at school and gave them some tasty treats.

Sam is moving up to intermediate next year. He'll be "low man on the totem pole" in the 4th-6th grade classroom which will be an adjustment but I know he'll do well. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that he was in Kindergarten. Kayla will be in 8th grade next year which will be her last year at this school and then on to highschool....yikes!

Now that we'll have more free time I'm hoping to play in some of the A-MUSE-A-PALOOZA challenges. If you don't know what I'm talking about, hop on over to the A Muse Blog and join the party!! There are challenges to inspire you, games to play and prizes to win!

Happy Summer!

Teachers and Copics

I had a fun weekend teaching classes at the A Muse shop. Thank you to all the fun gals that came to play with me!

Saturday we made some Terrific Teacher Treats just in time for the end of the year. What are you giving your teachers this year? I think I'm going to make them all backpack treat bags and enclose a gift card to a bookstore and a cute bookmark. I think I even have a head start on them!

Sunday afternoon we played with Copic Markers. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well since we were sitting next to the window. It was a nice, sunny day too! Here are just a few of the gals that were there.















This is Rachel and Saille. Rachel is a regular in the shop and brings her son in on Wednesdays to do the make 'n take. He's quite a good little stamper and always gets a sucker and a balloon too!















These 3 ladies are Paulette, Sparkle and Victoria and they are busy coloring away! If you could see Victoria's face, you'd recognize her from the A Muse blog. She was the honoree for A Muse's calendar project for 2009 and how cute is she in her A Muse t-shirt?

My next class is called "Getting Punchy" and we're going to make some fun things using edge and shape punches from several manufacturers. Please call the A Muse shop to register.

Is it summer yet?

Memorial Day weekend kicks off camping season here in the Pacific NW and means summer is on it's way. There's a little something else on it's way too, notice anything "new" in this post?

Don't tell my family that I was stamping instead of packing tonight. I just couldn't resist a little "amuse bouche" before I left. We are going camping but I'll dream that I'm going somewhere tropical.......with palm trees and beautiful sunsets. I do love a good campfire surrounded by friends and family though and we're supposed to have good weather. I plan to take some stamping goodies with me. We just got new Copic and Spica colors into the A Muse shop so I have lots of new stuff to play with!

I'm teaching 2 classes next weekend. Terrific Teacher Treats was rescheduled to Saturday, May 30th 4-6 pm (just in time for end of the year gifts) and Intro to Copic Markers is on Sunday from 2-4 pm. I still have a couple spots open so call the A Muse shop ASAP to register.

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Appreciation

It's National Teacher Appreciation Week, what are you doing for your teachers? My kids go to a non-graded school with multi-age classrooms which also means multiple teachers so I need to come up with easy things that I can make several of (Think simple, think A Muse!!).

The new anniversary set from A Muse was the perfect touch to set off these apple punches. This Limited Edition Classic Labels set is free with a qualifying order to celebrate A Muse's 8th year in business. Yep, you read that right.........FREE! Click here for more details. This set has SO many possibilities, you're going to love it!


I popped the apples up on foam tape to give them some dimension. I was so pleased with the card that I decided to make some thank-you notes in a similar design for each teacher. I may also add a little notebook if I have time. The apple punch is from Martha Stewart, the edge punch is Fiskars, Scalloped Circle is Marvy Uchida, circle and square punches are EK Success. All paper, stamps and ribbon are A Muse.

How about another tidbit?

I woke up this morning with the idea for this card in my head and I couldn't shake it until I made it a reality. Don't you just love these cute baby heads? There are so many possibilities for them! I've seen a lot of these flower pot cards are Splitcoaststampers lately and I thought the babies would make a nice bouquet. It is Spring you know! I think these little baby flowers would be cute as favors at a baby shower too. You could make them into pencil toppers or put them on suckers and arrange them in a cute pot.

I took my kids to see the stage production of "CATS" today. Wow! It was amazing! What I wouldn't give to be in the kind of shape those performers were in! The dancing and singing were incredible. When they sang "Memories" I got all choked up. Of course the kids are singing "Mr. Mistofelees" now.........what a great experience!