Where did November go?

Not one post to mark the month.... but I have had a lot going on family wise so that's the reason. And I have a bunch more 'stuff' going on this month ( I know, don't we all ) but I wanted to let anyone who is still out there know that A Muse is having a great Ho Ho Holiday sale:

 I know it's a little hard to read, so feel free to e-mail me directly if you would like a more legible copy, or just go ahead and visit my e-store to see the pretty pictures.  For those of you who got the 20% coupon with your breast cancer awareness set, please know that this can't be used in addition (no 50% off) but you can combine products in the same order; as in you can order items not in the sale, use the 20% off coupon and it will magically be applied only to the non-sale items.  Confused?  Just e-mail me and I'll be happy to help you out.  And don't forget to check the sets featured in the December Spotlight in the sidebar.  You might notice a change to the format of the Spotlights - instead of all the projects being featured at the beginning of the month, we will now be featuring them throughout the month so make sure to check back regularly.
I am sorry for the lack of new postings.  Normal service to be resumed in the New Year if not before, I promise.

Owl have one of those, please

Another save from A Muse - how adorable are these treat boxes?  Find the template here and the assembly instructions below:

These adorable owls are  so easy to make.  To make them, you'll need a piece of  Seattle grey cardstock that measures 8" x 2-3/4".  Score at 3", 3-1/2" and 6-1/2".  Make diagonal cuts from the 6-1/2" line to the center to make the beak. (If you're like me and you have a hard time following these kinds of instructions, grab a piece of paper and sketch it out before you start cutting your good cardstock.  I promise, it will make sense once you draw it out!)

Cut Pebble cardstock with large scallop dies.

Adhere scallops to front overlapping.

Stamp the sentiment on a scrap of Pebble and adhere over one of the scallops.

spray onyx/white Baker's Twine with  splash and then add that to the sentiment layer.

Stamp chevron on Seattle beak area with Seattle ink.

Eyes - punch circles from Lime and Onyx cardstock - we used 1" and 1/2" punches

Trim a tiny triangle from Onyx cardstock for tip of beak. (Or you could use a black marker to color the tip.)

Hold beak down with a glue dot after adding candy of choice.

Did you spot the orange and black baker's twine?  Make your own with our Onyx Baker's Twine and Orange Splash!  The possibilities are endless! Cut a length of baker's twine, spritz some Splash! into a plastic container and roll the twine around in the Splash! ink.  Let stand to dry.  Colored twine in an instant!

All supplies A Muse Studio and can be found in my online store.  And if you haven't claimed your free breast cancer awareness set yet, whatcha waiting for?  Add that to your cart immediately !

Halloween Cupcakes - A Muse Studio Blog

How cute are these?  There are many things I love about being an A Muse Studio consultant and currently I am loving the fact that our creative team is there to take up the slack while my mojo is missing.  This project is featured on the A Muse Studio blog, together with the instructions on how to put the project together and a link to the witch boot template.

I can take no credit for the picture or the instructions, but I can certainly share the cuteness with all of you!

Breast Cancer Awareness

This blog is a happy place for me, a place to connect with other card makers and not a place where a visit should leave you feeling sad, so let's just explain my long absence by saying I had a sharp reminder of how precious family is lately.  My sister in Scotland faces a long road to recovery after suffering a brain aneurysm  but we are thankful to still  have her.

I haven't been feeling too creative lately, but yesterday my "Stamp Out Breast Cancer" set arrived from A Muse Studio and it made me reflect on what has happened and resolve to get over myself a bit!.   In  most cases, aneurysms can't be foreseen or prevented, but breast cancer can.  And A Muse is doing their part to raise awareness by making this set available free ($3 shipping applies) to everyone who wants it.  So I can either wallow in my own misery, or I can share hope - and since I have been doing more than my fair share of that lately, I sharing the message.  No cards yet, but if you go to my online store, you will see "click here to order your free stamp set"    It looks like this:

See that cute little push pin?  That's to use on your calendar to remind you to do your monthly exams.  What calendar?  Why these calendars :


A Muse Studio 2013 Calendar b/w

A Muse Studio 2013 Calendar color

Hope to be back to blogging more regularly very soon :)  

100 Cards In 100 Days Challenge - completed!

 100.98

 100.99

100.00

My 100 cards in 100 days challenge is completed!  I squeaked in by the skin of my teeth, with 6 hours to spare and some of the cards I made in that last mad dash were duplicates or just had very minor changes, but I did it.
To be honest, I found the pressure of HAVING to create 10 cards in one afternoon a little stressful !  Lots of time spent creating nothing much that I liked led me to a quick dash to my LSS, where I found some new Tim Holtz stamps, which found their way in to my basket.  They have been on my wish list for some time now so I rewarded myself for finishing my challenge in anticipation of doing so using my new stamps.  Follow the logic there?
Anyhow, here are the last 3 cards made for the challenge.  Thanks for hanging in with me until the very end.

CASology Challenge #9 - Family

The CASology challenge blog is new to me, but the concept behind it fits right in to my desire to improve my cards so I was excited to find it.  

"Each week, we'll study clean and simple design using a cue word as our inspiration.  The design team will share their CAS creations and a little bit about their designs to inspire you to create a clean and simple card of your own!"

This weeks word was Family.  This little house from the Hero Arts "Right At Home" set was the first thing I thought of.   This set was designed for Operation Write Home - 25% of the profits of all the OWH /Hero Arts sets are donated to OWH so you get this super cute set, and you help our heroes at the same time.  Win, win!

  

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Here's one of the cards that went off to Operation Write Home last week.  No pieces of rubber were harmed in the creation of this card...... it came from a Basic Grey card making kit that I picked up in a sale at my LSS last year.  I used to have a slight obsession with BG paper - anyone else feel the need to buy two pads of their favorite?   One to use and one to keep?  I think Scarlet's Letter was  my all time favorite but really, I pretty much loves them all.  One day, in the next twenty years or so once I've used up all that's already in my stash, I may allow myself to buy some more.....

Retro Sketches #27

Loving the sketch challenges!  I found another to play along with - and  this time I've even managed to finish the card and upload it before the deadline.  Amazing what a three day weekend can do for you... .  Meet Retro Sketch # 27.

And here's my card, fitting right in to my spooky September theme.  

Moxie Fab Repetition Challenge

It's taken me a long time to come to realization that you can actually learn how to make your cards better.  I know, obvious, right?  But not to me - I thought that some people were just naturally more talented at it and I was doomed to forever feel like a second class card maker.
And while I'm still fairly sure some of my favorite card makers just have more of an eye for color and design than I do, taking online classes has helped me  A LOT.
So when I saw the Paper Crafts "Card Design " edition, I was delighted.  "173 tips to design like a pro?"  Sold.
This card was made using the guidelines for Balance/Repetition as well as the guidelines for color - a gallon of orange, a quart of black and a pint of currant.    The repetition design element was featured on the Moxie Fab blog too - as soon as I saw the challenge, I knew I had the perfect stamp for it.  It's the skull from the A Muse Nevermore set, one of my current obsessions... 

Challenged by challenges

This is a card I made for a challenge. Which challenge I have no idea - I do know it never got posted, so I probably missed the deadline, which is something I do A LOT.   One of the reasons I started a blog in the first place was to be able to participate in challenges, so why do I have such issues with actually doing it?  It's one of the worlds mysteries...
Anyhow, this card was in the package of cards which went off to Operation Write Home this week.  Most of the cards I make end up with this organization which I am proud to support.  If you are looking for a home for some of your creations, please check out their website and consider sending some love their way.
Also included in the bundle of happiness was a bunch of Halloween cards - they had to be in the shippers hands by the end of August in order to make it out to the troops in time for them to send them home for October, if you see what I mean.
I'm saving those for Spooky September, so I had to dig deep to find a card to share, which leads me back to this lonely card which never got posted .  See, I did have a point!
Thanks for all the ribbon suggestions.  I knew I couldn't be alone with that challenge either.
And Lynne, I wish we lived closer too.  I suspect we would have a lot of fun!

All supplies: A Muse Studio