A Muse Studio Cards....Finally

My A Muse Studio (a|s)  Starter Kit arrived on Monday.  So I was finally able to make some cards using A Muse Studio Products.  What better way to start off then by making thank you cards for all the wonderful friends, family and coworkers who provided words of comfort when my father passed.

For this project I was looking for a card that is mail friendly.  For me that really isn't that hard since most of my cards are pretty flat.  I do like to add a little button or bling here and there and the occasional ribbon or jute.  This time i challenged myself to make a single layer card.  I was almost successful.  In the end i did add some black rhinestones and pearls to help balance the card. I didn't get too crazy with the size of them so the cards should be fine for mailing.

In the starter kit, I received four (4) Sampler Sets that have various stamps for the many stamp sets offered by a|s.  The images I chose from the Sampler Sets are from the Beautiful Botanicals, Mad for Plaids and Friend to Friend stamps sets. For color I was going for a subtle but cheerful color.  Sky and Papaya fit the bill.  Papaya is going to be one of my favorite colors.  The ink gives great stamp coverage and dries very quickly. For the bling I used some pearls and rhinestones. I had black pearls but since I did not have black rhinestones, I took my black (100) Copic and colored them.  Another great benefit of Copic Markers, you can buy only clear rhinestones and white pearls and color match them to your project.  Works perfectly.

Now you are probably wondering about the cardstock.  At first when I flipped through the colors on my sample ring, I thought I wasn't going to like the weight of it. Then i pulled out a full size sheet and was shocked at the actual weight.  I think is great and will be using it especially for colored card base since it is white on the reverse.  This eliminates the need to line the inside of the card with a lighter color.  I only had 2 sheets of the white a|s cardstock and since I needed to make 15 cards (may need more), I pulled from my stash. 

See how the stamp image is on the reverse of the stamp?  This makes it easy to see the orientation of your stamps.  The stamps come ready to use right out of the case, no need to apply image labels. Just stick to your acrylic block, ink and stamp.

Supplies:

Paper: Stampers Select (Papertrey Ink-PTI)

Stamps: Beautiful Botanicals, Mad for Plaids and Friend to Friend (A Muse Studio, a|s)

Ink: Papaya and Sky (a|s), Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Other: pearls and rhinestones, Black 100 Copic

A Tribute...

My blog is and will continue to be 99.9% craft related.  There will be very few exceptions.  This post is an exception.  From my previous post you may know that my dad recently passed away.  For his Memorial Service, I put together a video slide show with thanks to family and friends who sent lots of pictures.  My dad played the electric bass and most of the music he played was jazz.  The two songs we selected for the video are songs that we know he enjoyed and that gave the slide show a happy feeling. They are Breezin' by George Benson and Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra.  This was my first time making a movie of any kind.  I first started by using Picasa and after a night of frustration, I started to use Windows Live Movie Maker.  Picasa is great for a basics.  Although I am definitely a novice i ended up needing more control over the pics and music and i couldn't get that with Picasa.

I hope you enjoy it.  I know I'll be watching it again and again.


(Click on the video and it will take you to it in my Picasa Album.  I didn't want to put it on You Tube and the upload to blogger was taking a long time with no indication that it was actually working)

When i first started putting this video together i was only going to use pictures my immediate family had.  I'm glad that I decided to ask more family and friends for pictures.  Just about every picture of my dad prior to my birth is a picture I had never seen until the creation of this video.  They made for many laughs during a time that could have easily been filled with sadness and crying.  There was still plenty of crying but we did have some great times looking at the pictures.  My dad was great.  I miss him a lot.

I'm Back

I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks.  I went home to see my dad because his health was rapidly declining and we were planning to baptize my youngest son while my dad was still with us but while i was there he passed away the morning of the baptism.  It was quite a shock to us because we all knew he was sick but didn't expect him to decline so quickly.  I'm so glad I had a a great relationship with him.  My sons loved him and he loved them back.  We have such great memories with him..fishing on his boat, visiting Orlando and Disney World, riding with him on his lawnmower, eating lollipops, flying kites....

I spent the last two weeks with my mom.  It was great being home and with her.  I love you, mom.  I took some images and my Copics with me, but never pulled them out.

I'll now update my blog with some cards i had previously done.  I hope you enjoy.