Let's get "Hoppin" Amuse Studio Style

Welcome to the July A.Muse|Studio Blog Hop! - This is my first time participating and I'm excited about being a part of Krystie's Team Who sadly this month was not able to join in on the fun but come join me and the other A.Muse ladies and see what fun and creative ideas are in store for you.

You should have arrived here from Veronica's fabulous blog.

If not you may want to head on back to Kathie's blog for the start of the HOP. A complete list of the participants will follow at the end of my post.

I kept my design Clean and Simple to really show off the sweet little bunny and the bright cheery colors.
Stamps: Bunny Business
Polka Dot Patterns
Card Stock: Orange, Sugar (White)
Designer Paper - Orange and Grass Gingham
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Orange
Copic Markers
Ribbon - Lime 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain
Clear Twinkle Sticker Gems
Circle Nestabilitie Dies and Foam Mounting Tape

Next up on the hop is the fantastic Lianna's

blog.

Kathy Hatzke http://www.kathatstamps.blogspot.com/
Karen Crisp http://www.papernstamps.blogspot.com/
Kari Bell http://karikards.blogspot.com/
Lesa Wolfe http://www.thepaperpundit.blogspot.com/
Lisa Wakabayashi http://dragonfliesandcats.blogspot.com/
Lisa Chapman http://www.piesafepapergoods.blogspot.com/
Veronica Zalis http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/
Ida P.Krause http://faithartistry.blogspot.com/ - You Are Here
Lianna Vigil http://llamatales.blogspot.com/
Kristen Watson http://branchandsky.blogspot.com/


All supplies can be purchased by clicking on my On-line Store link at the top of the page on the right hand side of my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you all had a good time.

BC220 - Floral Frenzy

Happy Friday! Let's get right to the point today. This weeks Blogger Challenge is all about Flowers! Who doesn't love flowers?

I made 2 (very different) cards for todays challenge.
First up is a card that I designed around some patterned DP from SU - (retired Sweet Pea). I love the soft feel this paper has.

All Card Stock/Papers are SU
Sentiment is Hero Arts
Ribbon-SU
Felt Flowers-SU
Punch-EK Success
Pearls - Zva

Now card Number 2 is really a change as it has a much bolder feel about it.

I love Black, White and Red together and just threw in the green for added interest.

Stamps: Amuse.Studio
Papers-Amuse Studio and SU Whisper White
Embossing Folder-Cuttlebug
Black Pearls-Zva
Red Sprinkles - Annabelle Stamps
Punch - Martha Stewart

Try as I might after about 30 photo's I gave up on this one. I just could not get the sentiment to show up clearly in the photo after resizing it. It's much sharper and clearer in real life.
Now it's your turn to join in on the Floral Frenzy by linking your card below.



I'll leave you today with a fun YouTube Video of Coleen dancing at her Kindergarten Graduation. Try not to notice what she does towards the end of the video (Did any of your kids do that?)




Have a great day.

BC219 Three Cheers For the Red, White and Blue

Happy Friday! - It's time once again for the Blogger's Challenge. First let me say, WOW to all 66 enteries from last week. Lots of great inspiration.
It's getting harder and harder to pop by and leave comments on everyone's blogs but I try my best so if I've missed you I apologize.

Now for this weeks challenge. I've combined 3 different challenges for this card.

Blogger Color Challenge (Red, White and Blue)

Cupcake Inspirations #117

The card is based "loosely" on the Clean and Simple Sketch 146

- I did change some of the sketch elements so I am not entering it for the challenge but I did want to give them credit for a great sketch that helped to inspire my card.

I started out to use a little Rocket image on my card but it just didn't seem to fit the design once it started coming together. Instead I utilized the image and decorated the inside of the card as well.

So now it's your turn to play by linking below:



Card Details: Stamps: StudioG (Happy 4th and Rocket)
Circle of Stars - Source Unknown as this was sent to me by a friend and there is no indentifying marks on the stamp.
Inside Sentiment - Celebrate by Graphistamp
Card Stock: Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White
Designer Paper - My Mind's Eye - Parade-Celebrate Stripes
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers used on Rocket
Cuttlebug Star Embossing Folder
Star punches-SU
Star Border Punch-EK Success
Bakers Twine
Red Faux Jewels

BC218 - Things With Wings

"I must hurry and catch up with the others, for I am their leader!" - My brother use to race Bicycles and this was on a T-Shirt he wore. It pretty much describes this week for me.

Coleen started swimming lessons on Monday and my Step-Son flew up from CA the same day. He came up to drive my husband's truck back to CA and wouldn't you know it showed up with no money! He spent 4 days here (until he could get some cash to head back home) and as you know when you have company not a lot gets done. So I'm behind on commenting on last weeks cards and hope to get that accomplished as well as this weeks Blogger Challenge.

This weeks theme: Things With Wings...(pretty open field if you ask me) so I went with this,

Card Details:
Stamps: TPC Studio-Airplane and Trail
Sentiment: Hero Arts
Card Stock: Real Red, Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Whisper White-Stampin'Up!
Designer Paper: Best Creation Inc.-Transportation
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pacific Point-SU
Other: Star Punches-SU
Baker's Twine
Loopy Punch-MS
Glitter - Art Institute

Please feel to join in on the challenge and link below:

BC217 - Get Your "Macho" On

Welcome! - I've been nursing a sprained ankle or a pulled tendon in my ankle all week. I'm not sure what happened but it really hurt. I'm happy to say I'm not so "limpy" today as I was earlier in the week. Still going to take it easy on the foot though for a few more days.

On to today's Blogger Challenge. We are tackling the challenging "Masculine" card this week. Here is what I came up with. What's more "manly or macho" then a Cowboy!

For this card I used a "retired" Stampin'Up! set - Bronc Buster. I embossed the image and then sponged the color on.
I used colors to match the paper that I had picked out. The pattern is, Horsin'Around Happy Trails by Flair Designs. I'm not sure of the lighter green paper as there was no name on the back of the piece.

I wanted to add a lot of "texture" to this card so I created it in different ways. I embossed my punched border and the paper that the stars were punched out on. I added the linen thread and did a "scruffy" looking tied bow and also distressed the edges of the card stock. Along with the texture of the embossing powder I think it all worked well together to give this a more manly feel.

Here are Close-Ups so you can see the texture a little better.

The Horseshoe charm was dyed with a Copic Marker (E19) as it was originally Gold Colored and I wanted it to match my color scheme better.

The card stock colors: Chocolate Chip, Apricot Appeal, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla are SU.
Punches: EK Success, SU
Embossing Powder - PSX-Woven Tapestry

So now it's your turn to show us your "manly" creations. Just link below:

Taking the Plunge

Guess What I decided to do? Well it's Open Auditions for the Gallery Idol Contest So I decided to take the "plunge" and enter a card just to see what happens. The Open Audition Theme is: Congratulations and here is what I came up with:

I've never tried out before but I thought I'd give it a shot.
Keeping my fingers crossed!

Card Details:
Stamps: There She Goes - Love Birds
Card Stock: SU-Bermuda Bay, Real Red
Designer Paper: My Minds Eye-Love Me DO "Love Birds"
Copic Markers
Spica Glitter Pens
Oval Nestabilitie Dies
Punch-EK Success
Red Grosgrain Ribbon-SU
Heart Sprinkles - Annabelle Stamps.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

BC216 One Sketch - Two cards

Welcome and Happy Friday. Before I get started with today's BC Challenge I'd like to share this picture of Coleen taken on Monday at her Kindergarten Graduation (I know how cute is that!)

She was just adorable and I had to share. Later this week on my personal blog I'll have other photo's and a little video of her dancing at the graduation so hopefully you'll check it out.

Now on to the BC June Sketch Challenge. Today I have not 1 but 2 cards to share with you using this sketch.
Here is the sketch:

Here are my cards:
The first version is my "feminine" version of the sketch.

I bought the stamp during my friend, Teresa's visit a couple of weeks ago. It's from Hero Arts and I just love it. I just used a portion of the actual stamp for this card.
I love the way the DP looks after I embossed it with the embossing folder. Sort of made it look like material.
Here's a close up of the ladies:

Supplies: Stamps-Hero Arts
Card Stock-More Mustard-SU, Coordinations and Bazzill (I like to spread the love around with different companies)
Baker's Twine
Measuring Tape Ribbon-Offray
Buttons-A.Muse Studio
Copic Markers
Circle Nestie Dies

Now on to the "Masculine" version:

I had a hard time getting a decent photograph. I think it's just due to it being a (manly) card and we know how difficult men can be sometimes!
Here are a couple of closeups of the detail on this card.

This one is going to "Hubby" for Father's Day.
Supplies: Stamps - A.Muse Studio
Card Stock: Basic Black, Always Artichoke-SU
DP-Creative Imaginations
Brads-SU
Embossing Folder-SU
Ink: More Mustard-SU and Memento London Fog
Clear EP
Paper Distressing Tool

Now it's your turn to play along. Just link up below:


Have a wonderful weekend.

BC215 Pets

Hello and Happy Friday!
This week the Blogger Challenge Theme is: PETS-What a great theme. If you're a regular on my blog you know by now what my favorite pet is, Yes it's a "Cat" and we have 6 of them in our house. So for my card today I naturally chose to use a cat image.
Here's what I came up with:

I wanted to showcase the row of furry feline's but didn't feel like coloring all of them so I just left them uncolored and then used another image to color. Stamps: The Cat's Meow-retired SU
Card stock: Very Vanilla, SU - All other colors are from Chatterbox - I've had them for years so I don't know the exact color names. The DP though is Sunny Plaid from the Sunroom Collection.

I have to confess that I purchased another punch just for this project. I've been wanting this punch for some time now and even looked at it last week while my friend was down for her visit but didn't buy it then. However it seemed like the perfect time so I went and bought the Paw Print punch yesterday and I'm glad I did as it really added to this card.

Okay I just have to show off the "perfect prop" for this card:

This is, Captain Cuddles the youngest of your furry feline family members. He just happened to get up on the couch while I was taking photo's so I had to take his picture with the card. Isn't he adorable!


It's been quite the week here with pets. Sunday evening Coleen was in the basement playing with her pet rats (Cheesy and Wheezy) when she came upstairs screaming and holding something in her hand. She was hysterical so it was hard at first to understand her but we managed to get her calmed down enough to find out that she had accidentally shut the door on one of the rat's tails and it had come off. Yes, it was icky since the bone and tissue were exposed. She was crying and quite upset. We managed to get her calmed down and after her mom got home we researched on the Internet about what we could do since it was a holiday weekend and taking the rat to the Vet would have been an ER call and way to expensive. After talking to the on-call Vet we just bathed the rats tail in Saline Solution to help stop the bleeding and waited until Tuesday to take him to the vet. He ended up having to have a portion of his tail amputated but I'm happy to report that Wheezy is home now and doing just fine.

Please note that Blogger is having "issues" right now with some people's blogs (mine is one) when trying to leave comments. If you don't have the feature (Name/URL)and don't see a comment from me it's because I am unable to post comments on certain blogs if that option is not available to me.



Now it's your turn to play along. Just use the link below to show us your Pet themed project.

BC214 Make it Shimmer (and easier to photograph)

Happy Friday! - Yes, I'm up "late" with my BC Challenge but for a very good reason.

One of my dear friends, (Teresa) came down for a visit today and we planned to do some stamping together. Oh my that girl brought a ton of stuff with her and then I took her to our local JoAnn's because I needed some Shimmer Spray for this challenge and we spent $$ there and laughed, talked, laughed some more, stamped a little and the time just flew by. I did finally manage to finish my card so here it is:

Before my friend got here I had decided on a sketch and used this one

from the Sweet Sunday Sketch a couple of weeks ago. I followed it as closely as I could but I think I did change a few of the elements but I still like how it turned out.

It's very "difficult" to photograph cards that shimmer but it looks cool in real life.

Here is the best photo I could get of the shimmer that I added to the DP and the Die Cut leaves:

Details:
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, More Mustard, Whisper White-SU
Stamps:SU Animal Stories, Sanded BG (stamped on the die cut leaves and then sprayed with Shimmer Spray)
Designer Paper, DCWV-Safari Chic collection
Shimmer Spray - Copper Tim Holtz
SU-Copper EP
More Mustard Grosgrain Ribbon
Punch-Optic Dot from Martha Stewart
Brads-Pink Hedgehog Crafts
Nestabilitie Oval Dies

Sizix Die-Branch w/leaves

Sadly I didn't get any photo's of my friend and I stamping together but here's a pic of the two of us just before she got ready to leave:

Now it's your turn to show us your shimmery creations. Link back here:


Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday.

BC213 - Inspired by

Happy Friday and Happy Birthday to my Hubby!!! - He doesn't read my blog (sadly) but he knows I post his cards here though.

This week Lisa gave us this Inspiration Photo to work with for our challenge.

I love the Ocean even though I don't get to visit that often so this picture really was inspiring to me. The first thing that caught my eye was the Wall Paper in the center panel. My problem...no dp with a map on it and no Anchor stamps. What's a girl to do? - Why go shopping of course! I found some DP (DCWV-Tradewinds Matstack) that had a piece with a map on it so I was off and running.

Next up what stamps to use?...I do own several "beach themed" stamp sets and a Sailboat stamp but I really wanted something a little different. That's when I remembered that I had a stamp in my stash that hadn't been inked yet. It's a little $1 stamp from Inkadinkado.

Here's what I came up with using my paper & stamps:

I decided to stamp the image directly onto the patterned paper and color it with Copic Markers. I added a bit of White Gel Pen to the Seagull and some sparkle to the Sun with a Glitter Pen. You can see this better in the Close-Up

After coloring the image I mounted it on a distressed piece of Apricot Appeal card stock. - I was inspired here by the tones of color in the right hand panel of the Inspiration Photo.
To complete my card I added some Baker's Twine, Black Brads, a Punched Wave Border and an Anchor Charm which I just happened to have in my stash already!

This is going to be a Birthday Card for Hubby.
You can play along by linking your card below:


Card Details: Card Stock: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal (SU) Designer Paper-Die Cuts With a View
Stamp: Inkadinkado
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers
Other: Baker's Twine, Black Brads, Anchor Charm,
Washed Ashore Punch-Fiskers
Paper Distressing Tool.

BC212 Let's Get Sketchy

Whew....After a LONG wait Blogger is finally up and running!

Today the Blogger Challenge group is showcasing this wonderful sketch:

Here's what I created:

I started out by picking out the patterned paper I wanted to use since the sketch had lots of layers I needed something that would be match well. As luck would have it I had some paper by My Minds Eye-So Sophie line that worked great.

Next I picked my stamps (or in this case a single stamp) from A.Muse Studio (Beautiful Botanicals 2)I stamped the Leafy background with Versamark Ink on Bermuda Bay-SU card stock. Then I stamped it once on some Sugar(AMS)cs with Fern Ink(AMS). I added butterflies punched from the patterned paper. Added some pearls (Dyes with Copic Markers) and ribbon. The darker green ribbon is from AnnaBelle Stamps and the smaller ribbon is SU.
Punch: EK Success

I left off a sentiment and will put one on the inside when I figure out what I want to use this card for.

So now it's your turn: Link you card below so we can see how you interpret the sketch.

Friend to Friend

Hi! - Welcome to my blog. Usually I don't post on a Wednesday but today I'm sharing a card that I recently created for an (Anything Goes) swap on another Yahoo Group I belong to. It's a pretty easy design but I like how cheery it turned out.

All Supplies on this card unless otherwise noted are from
A.Muse Studio.
Stamp Set: Friend to Friend
Card Stock: Sugar(White)
Buttercup, Sage
Basic Black-SU
Gingham Check DP
Copic Markers
Spica Glitter Pen
Pearls - Dyed with a Copic Marker
Flower - Dyed with a Copic Marker
Lemon Whip Flower Ribbon
Punch-EK Success
Nestabilitie Dies

Don't forget you can purchase A.Muse Studio stamps etc...from me. Just click on my On-line Store icon. I'd love to have your business.

BC211 - Back to Nature

It's Friday!!! We all know that means it's time for the Bloggers Challenge and today we are celebrating: Nature.
What a great theme.

Today is also my oldest brother, Russell's 60th birthday.
So in honor of his birthday and his love of Nature (hey, that worked in great) here is the card I created for today's theme and to give him for his birthday.

Details: Stamp sets: The Great Outdoors-Inkadinkado
SU-It's Your Birthday
Card Stock: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Whisper White-SU
Designer Paper - Cosmo Cricket - Mr. Campy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Always Artichoke. - The background was done using a Petal Point Pigment pad - Wildflower Collection from Colorbox.
Other:
Prisma Color Pencils - For the flowers
Shimmer Spray (Homemade using Hairspray and Gold Aztec Pearl-X Powder)
Punch: EK Success
Linen Thread-SU
Brads-Pinkhedgehog Crafts.
Nestabilitie Dies
Paper Distressing Tool-SU

Your turn to give this a try. There is a lot of room for creativity with this theme so have some fun and show us your work by linking your card below:


Have a wonderful day. - Off to bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for my brother.

BC210 and I'm so tired

Happy Friday & Congratulations to William and Catherine!
Did you watch the wedding. Call me Crazy (I know I'm calling myself the same) but I actually stayed up ALL NIGHT to watch every detail live as it unfolded. I went to bed at 6:00am PST and got back up at 7:15 to walk Coleen to school and then headed back to bed for a few hours before getting up again. Needless to say I'm a bit "rummy" this afternoon but it was a lovely wedding and it was history unfolding right before your eyes so I'm not sorry I stayed up to catch the Nuptials.

So today's BC Challenge is a Color Challenge:

Now you will see from my card I used different shades of Green and Blue (more subdued tones)but I kept the Rose color as close to the photo as possible.

My card was done using the current AnnaBelle Sketch:

The card details:
Stamps: Sentimental Bluebells and Backgrounds By Design 3 - AnnaBelle Stamps
Card Stock: Pear Pizzaz, Bashful Blue, Rose Red and Whisper White (also Papertrey Select for the floral panel as it works better for Copic coloring).
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rose Red and Bashful Blue-SU
Copic Markers: G82, RV32, RV34
Other: Circle Nestabilitie Dies, Moroccan Screen Embossing folder, Rose Red Grosgrain ribbon, Blossom 6mm Sprinkles (AnnaBelle)

You can join in on the fun by linking below:


Have a great evening, I'm going to bed early!!!

Once Upon a "Monthly"? Challenge

Hi and Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and spent happy times with your loved ones.

It's time once again for Elena (The Redhaired Girl)and I to post our cards for the,
Once Upon a Monthly Challenge we started last year. Of course I've been a bit of a procrastinator and so it's become more of a bi-monthly challenge but one that I truly enjoy. You will not want to miss the darling card that I received from Elena for the challenge. Here's a bit of a peek:

So PLEASE stop by her blog, check out her fabulous and oh so cute card with some wonderful little ribbon flowers that you will just fall in love with. I know I did. Then don't forget to leave some comment love because we all like to hear that our work is appreciated.

For the "theme" this time around Elena picked (Ribbon) and not just tie a plain old bow but something different. Well I must say I found this to be a challenge because I'm more of a tie a plain old bow type of stamper (I'm still trying to figure out how to use the Bow Easy). But I persevered and after some searching I found this tutorial on Becca Feeken's blog (Amazing Grace) and decided that I could handle this one. Thanks Becca and Elena for getting me out of my bow tieing "rut" and coming up with something that I really liked how it turned out.

So here is my card:

Not a great deal of stamping on this card since the only thing stamped is the sentiment.

Card Details:
Card Stock: Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay,Whisper White.-SU
Designer Paper: My Mind's Eye-Bloom and Grow line
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Apricot Appeal-SU (sponged on).
Sentiment Stamp - AnnaBelle Stamps (Easter Hope)
Other: Butterfly Die - A.Muse Studio
Nestabilitie Circle Dies
Pearls - A.Muse Studio - Dyed with Copic Markers
Border Punch - EK Success
Orange Satin Ribbon - A.Muse Studio
Needle and Orange Thread.

That's it...the tutorial is easy to follow and the result looks fabulous(IMO).

Have a wonderful week and try not to eat to much Easter Candy (come on you know you'll eat some)!

BC209 Ribbon and Lace

Hello and Happy Friday! It's been a challenging week. Cricket got sick from chewing pieces of Coleen's Super ball on Sunday but I'm happy to report after a trip to the Vet and some Medication she is doing much better. There is an update and video on my personal blog if you want to watch her in action with one of our cats. Link on my sidebar.

Today the BC Challenge is: Ribbon or Lace. I actually have 2 cards to share today.

My first card features a CAS design. I struggle with this type of design as I always think it needs "just a little more" so when I don't add extra's I tend to think of the design as plain. What do you think?

On this card I tried the crumpled ribbon look that I've seen on other people's cards. I used Sticky Strip tape and ruffled as I went along. Needless to say my ruffles aren't very evenly space (I need more practice). Then I added a punched flower and a simple sentiment to complete my design.
Card Stock: Pear Pizzaz, Textured Crushed Curry, Designer Paper from Cosmo Cricket-DeLovely
Ribbon, Ellen Hutson,
Sentiment-A.Muse Studio
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Punch - MFT
Brad, Pink Hedgehog Crafts

For my 2nd card I went a bit fancier with the design.
I started out picking out my stamps: There She Goes - Buckets of Love. Don't those Daisies just make you smile.
I colored them with various Copic Markers and added some sparkle to the pink hearts with a Spica Glitter Pen.
The DP is from SU and that sweet Daisy Ribbon is from A.Muse Studio. I used a punch (Martha Stewart) to create the look of lace and added 3 tiny punched hearts for a bit of whimsy in the upper right hand corner.
Card Stock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Cool Caribbean, Pretty in Pink,Whisper White and PTI Select White.

So now it's your turn to show off some Ribbon and Lace.


Before you go I want to wish you all a Blessed and
Happy Easter!

On This Day

I married my best friend! - Today is our 19th Anniversary.
No really big plans but we'll head out to dinner.

I usually "buy" him a card as it's hard to create guy type Anniversary cards and he doesn't seem to mind if I make it or buy it. Today however I whipped this one up for him.
He recently begin playing Guitar again so I thought this would make a good Anniversary card for him.

There are a couple of other pics of us on my personal blog. Link is on my sidebar if you care to take a peek at how young we were way back then.

Stamps are from A.Muse Studio
Card Stock - SU (Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink - SU Pacific Point
DP - Bella Blvd.
Brads: Pink Hedgehog
Chain Punch - EK Success.

BC208 Spring is in the Air

Hey it's FRIDAY! - Life is here is slowly returning to normal.
Greta and Coleen are moved in now and we are working out the "kinks" of having two extra people living in our home but so far it's going fairly well.

So for today's BC Challenge we have this wonderful sketch as the basis for our cards.

Here's what I did with the sketch:

Isn't that bunny cute! - I just got the set (Bunny Business-A.Muse Studio) and had to ink him up.
He's colored with Copic Markers: (YR04, YR07, YR09,YG05, YG21,YG23, YG25,R37, W4, W5,and W8)
I cut a template and sponged on the dirt road using, French Roast pigment ink (A.Muse Studio)- Here after to be referred to as AMS.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Card Stock: Tangerine Tango-SU
White cs - Papertrey Ink
Designer Paper: Polka Dot pattern is My Mind's Eye
Other patterns: Source Unknown as they are from a packet I won.
Orange Brads: Queen and Company
Ric-Rac- Source Unknown

So now it's your turn to play along. You can link up below using the Mr. Linky tool.


Have a wonderful weekend. - Coleen is being Baptised this Sunday and we are excited about that. I'll share pictures soon.

BC207 Inspirational Butterflies

Hip Hip Hooray it's Friday!!!
So are you ready for some "Inspiration" - That's the theme of this weeks BC Challenge. Our list mom, Lisa gave us this photo to work with.

Now I must admit that I was indeed "challenged" by this one.
I looked and looked at the photo and thought, ("What was she thinking?") After awhile I just decided that I wanted to go with the colors of the photo. To me they were: Blue, Green,White and Black (although Lisa saw Brown).

Then I wanted to add some sort of element that might resemble the way the photo's were grouped. I settled on adding an embossed background that had some of the patterns I saw from the photo. - You see them too, right?

I'm not sure if there were any Butterflies in the Inspiration photo's but with the lovely flower photo I imagined a butterfly landing on the bloom and voila' they landed smack on my card too!

Details: Card Stock: Basic Black, Whisper White (SU) Sky and Sage from A.Muse - Designer Paper, DCWV.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and White Pigment (SU)
Embossing Folder-SU
Butterfly Die, A.Muse
Punch-SU
Pearls-Zva

Don't forget you can get in on the FUN by linking your card below:


Also if you take a close look you will now see that I have included an Emblem at the top of my Blog with a direct link to my A.Muse Studio On-line store.

Cricket gets her stitches removed today and she is doing amazingly well since her surgery two week ago. Will update with another photo soon.

Have a wonderful weekend.

BC206 - It's all about birds and a Cricket Update

Happy Friday! - Gosh I was going to use the title: It's For the Birds until I did a Google Search on the phrase and found this information: - I decided perhaps that wasn't such a good title after all.

Anyway today's Blogger Challenge is all about our feathered friends (unless of course you are traumatized by birds after seeing the Alfred Hitchcook movie, The Birds). Let's hope that's not the case.

For my card today I tried something different. I was visiting my BF Allison's blog today
and she had posted a card using the SCS Technique (Bargello). It looked pretty interesting so I thought I would give it a try. Not sure I got it right but I think it turned out okay. The patterned paper I used (Rustic Chic - Wingit Collection) Hey, I just noticed the reference to birds with my paper...I digress
Anyway the patterns had different patterns within the pattern if that makes sense so once I cut the strips, mounted them and then cut new strips it sort of took on a different look then what I thought it would.
I decided to use the Peacok Image again from my Hero Arts-Sketched Birds stamp set. Then I picked my ink: A.Muse Studio's Ocean and Grass. I inked up the Peacock with the Ocean ink and then dabbed on the Grass ink with a Q-Tip before stamping it on the white card stock. I added some small Green pearls (Zva) and then mounted it on Pear Pizzaz card stock.
I also used some Twisted Paper which I've had for years. Mine came from Making Memories which apparently doesn't carry the stuff any longer. I did find the same type of stuff carried at this store - Personally I think it's a "cool" product even though untwisting it is a bit tricky and hard on my hands.
My sentiment is also from Hero Arts and was stamped with A.Muse French Roast ink. I also added some tiny little green pearls (again from Zva).
Other card stock used: Chocolate Chip and Taken With Teal (SU)

Don't forget that you can participate in the BC Blog Hop by leaving a link to your card. You can find this at the bottom of my post.

Thank you all who sent well wishes, prayers and kind words about our puppy, Cricket. She's doing remarkably well since she had her leg amputated last Wednesday. You can view a video of her on my personal blog:
or view directly on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpWoZ6tVL5U
It's just amazing how quickly she's adjusted to life on 3 legs. I'll leave you with a picture of her and Coleen taken yesterday.

Have a great weekend.

Birthday Gift Cert. Winner

So who won my Birthday Gift Certificate....



True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 26
Result:
14
Lucky #14 turns out to be Lori who said this:

Pretty card, Ida! Love the sparkles on the flowers. Hope you have a fantastic birthday!

March 19, 2011 8:22 PM

Lori, Please contact me (via email) with your mailing address and the web address of the On-line store you'd like to spend your $25 Gift Certificate at.

Congratulations! - Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday.

BC205 A Sketch and an Announcement

Happy Friday! - Before I get to this weeks Bloggers Challenge I want to thank all of you who left well wishes and said prayers for our little puppy, Cricket. She came through the surgery with flying colors. I talked with the Veterinarian this morning and she told me that Cricket is up and moving about and doesn't even realize her leg is gone. She had very little blood loss during the surgery, has been eating well and the incision is healing nicely. Best news of all is that we get to bring her home this afternoon! I'll keep you updated on her progress but again thank you all for your concern and well wishes.

It's a SKETCH challenge this week. Here is the sketch we were given to work with.

Here is my card:

So you can link up your card as well:


This is my very first card using my new A.Muse Studio products. Yes, I signed up to be a Demo for A.Muse Studio. I'm not sure just yet how that is going to go but I do enjoy their line of stamps and hopefully I'll have an On-Line store soon.

Life has been a bit "crazy" here lately so I haven't had a lot of time to work with getting things off the ground.

Also I just wanted to mention that I am no longer on the AnnaBelle Design Team. Andrea decided to switch DT members to allow new people to come in. I so enjoyed my nearly 2 years there and had a blast being a part of the Design Team.
I hope you'll stop by the AnnaBelle blog
and check out their sketch for this week and welcome the new DT members.

Also if you haven't already entered a chance for my Birthday Blog Candy

you have until 10:00 pm PST today to comment for your chance to win. The winner will be announced on Monday.