Holiday Pencil Packs

I'm back! I hope everyone had a good week! I took a holiday break to spend some time with my family. It was great to be home for a few days. Now it's time to get back to craft fair season and the work world and everything else. :)

Here's one of my new craft fair items. It's a pencil pack - 4 holiday pencils in a handmade holder. What a cheery little gift or stocking stuffer! I had a hard time keeping the pencils from my youngest niece and nephews as they LOVE pencils! The sentiment is from a│s mini holiday messages and the cute little snowman is from a│s holiday tags. These are great sets that can be used so many different ways.


Have a wonderfully creative day!
www.amusestudio.com/seleise (consultant #1379)

Rosette and Embossed Holiday Card with Tutorials

Can I just say that I LOVE the A Muse Studio cardstocks, especially when layered together?!!! Here is the candy cane, onyx polka dot, onyx, vanilla and twas the night before Christmas!! Don't they look yummy together? Yes, the candy cane is cream and red not white and red so don't order it thinking you're getting white. But, it's fabulous when paired with other cream based papers and they all look great on the kraft cardstock!!!  Don't you agree?

Rosettes are huge right now so I had to jump on that bandwagon too. Plus, they're just fun to make!! This one is made from an 8.5" X 3/4" strip. I scored every 1/2" on the patterned side and then flipped it over and scored the 1/4" between each score line. This gives you the "hills and valleys" for the accordian fold so that the paper doesn't "break" and show the fibers. After you score, fold to the bump (the hill not the valley) and make the accordion. When you have the folds completed, trim off 1/4" from one of the ends. It doesn't matter which one. You're going to attach the ends together to form a circle. Use some super stick tape (1/8" works best) and tuck your trimmed end in the valley of the first fold on the other end. I should have taken a pic. sorry. Basically, you're just hiding the raw edge in the valley of the first fold. Then, very carefully push the circle flat and glue it to a 1 1/4" circle base. A hot glue gun is probably your best bet but I made this rosette with zip dry. You just have to hold it a couple of minutes until the glue dries.

The teeny tiny bow is in the Cherry satin ribbon and was made by using a fork to tie the bow. Seriously. :) I will be purchasing the a│s bow maker tool but I haven't had a chance yet. I had seen this on the web a couple of years ago and had meant to try it but you know how you see too many good ideas and don't quite make it back to all of them... yep. that's me too. So, I googled and here's the link to the pdf that Diana Gibbs created. I don't know Diana but this is a fabulous tutorial and I appreciate her sharing it with all of us: http://dianagibbs.typepad.com/files/how-to-tie-a-fork-bow-with-diana-gibbs.pdf

The final fun part of this card is the shimmery center piece. The shapes are all cut with Labels 3 nesties. I love this set!!! I probably use it more than any other. I made a frame with a circle nestie on the black piece. Under the frame is a vanilla cardstock labels 3 piece.  Now, how to get it sparkly? Stamp the sentiment from mini holiday messages with memento ink and then press a versamark ink pad all over the top until that piece is covered with the clear ink. Cover the inked piece with diamond embossing powder and tap off the excess. Hit it with the heat gun until the embossing powder is melted (the sentiment shows through more clearly). You'll have a sparkly image and a fabulous accent on your card.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the November card class projects. I guess now I need to think about December's class. All products are a muse studio: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

Gingham Coffee Window Bag

Oh my gosh - I apologize for the delay. I've been on aunt duty and thought I would have time to post but ... too busy making cookies and reading stories and getting hugs. :) ok - now to crafting fun...

Tis the season to share goodies and here's a quick treat bag that's perfect for the giving process. These coffee window bags are AWESOME! Yep - they're in the A Muse Studio catalog and they come in kraft and white. Add some gingham paper, some red/white baker's twine and a snowman die - and get to gluing! Isn't the gingham snowman darling? I love it!!!

A spellbinders oval and scalloped oval paired with a sentiment from Mini Holiday Messages and some twinkle stickers and there you go! A cheery treat bag for your home-made goodies or coffee beans or whatever. :)

There's one project left from my November class so come back in a day or two. :)

All products are A Muse Studio: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

Snow Globe Cool Yule Card

Here's another fun Christmas card. I love snow globes and the snow globe die from A Muse Studio (a│s) was a must have item. I've made a couple of fun projects with it and can see many more fun things coming in the future. :)

I don't know if you can see it but I sprayed the globe with the shimmer spray after the trees and stars were stamped. I love the effect it gives the globe. :) I stamped the vanilla cardstock globe with the trees from Cool Yule in Cherry Ink. Then I stamped the stars in pebble and put a pile of them at the bottom to hopefully indicate that the globe has just been shaken and the stars are settling back in at the bottom. I sprayed it with the Stardust Shimmery Spray next and then layered it onto the sponged base. Another option would be to shimmer up the whole card front but I wanted just the globe to have shimmer. The base is onyx woodgrain and the sentiment is on the smallest labels 8 spellbinder die. The card base is the onyx polka dot cardstock and the words are Twas the Night Before Christmas cardstock. Love it!!! 

The card continues inside and the stars are falling from the sky like snowflakes. Isn't it fabulous that the inside of the a│s cardstock is white or cream? I love that!!! No layering needed. It makes me happy. :)  I'm kind of digging the trees in the cherry red ink. What do you think?

I was in a red/black/cream and white mood for my class on Monday so all four projects that we did fall in that color family.That's unusual for me but it was kind of fun! All of the products used on this card can be found on my secure shopping site: http://www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Check back soon because two more projects from my November class are coming. Have a wonderfully creative day!

Cocoa Treat Bag with a Glittery Clothespin!!

Here's one of the projects we made in my class tonight. It uses the 3" X 1.75" X 5.5" brown bags that a│s carries. I love this size of brown paper bag - big enough to be able to stamp on it but small enough that it can hold just the right amount of something to be a good gift.  :) 

This bag actually holds a bag of cocoa and two mini candy canes. YUM! The design was inspired by a Halloween bag that Lori Barnett created. It's so cute that I had to make my own version for the Christmas holidays. :)

To start, I cut off about an 1" or so off the top of the bag. I didn't want my bag way longer than my cocoa packet but if I used a longer cocoa packet, I would have kept the bag as is. :)  The closure on top is made from the largest Labels 3 die. The candy cane paper is FABULOUS for a bag topper! It's cream and cherry red colors go well with the black and cream polka dot paper and the vanilla circle.

The red/white baker's twine ties around the topper and then a mini glittery clothespin holds the tag to the bag. Note, the clothespin doesn't come glittery. The mini clothespins are tiny little wonderful clothespins. I LOVE them. They're just soooo cute!!! And, to glitter them up is super easy. Take a 1/8" piece of super stick tape and cover the top of the clothespin. The tape is almost exactly the same size as the mini. Then, simply dip the clothespin in cranberry glitter and voilà - a glittery mini wonder! The great thing about using the super stick tape is that you don't have to wait for it to dry. The clothespin is ready to use immediately. I love that! :)

The mug and sentiment (from Holiday Tags) was stamped in memento ink and colored with a lipstick red copic. Then, the quickie glue pen was used to trace the snowflake and the lip of the cup (to create a sugared rim look) and cranberry glitter was added. Clip the sentiment to create a "flag" to go off the edge and then clip the tag to the bakers twine with the glittery clothespin.

A fairly quick and simple gift to brighten up the holidays. These would make great party favors, classroom gifts, co-worker gifts or even placecards - just add the name to the bag. I think I'm going to add some of these to my craft fair creations for the the upcoming craft fair. What do you think?

Have fun creating your own little bag treats and hope you make some glittery mini clothespins to finish off the look!

All products used were A Muse Studio. Shop online anytime: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Click on the Spotlight Specials tab just below the blog header to see the great goodies on sale until December 14th! And, there's a great Black Friday promotion as well.  I'll be sending in an order on Friday, November 25th so let me know if you want in on the promotion (free shimmery onyx damask notecards with any order - yummy!).

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

Winter Wishes

Whew - how is it Sunday already? We had another craft fair yesterday and I was working like crazy this week to get things done so did not get back and get any posts up. I will try to be better this week as I have 3 weeks before the next craft fair. :)

This is the other swap card I did for the holiday swap. I sprayed shimmer mist on the card base which gave it a delightful shimmery look (and puts a big reflection in a photo!) on it which is super cool! It makes any card look shimmery. Can't wait to play with that some more! I did a little stamp surgery on my Winter Wishes set. Since the stamps are rubber, I cut the sentiment from under the snowmen so I could use the snowmen by themselves in this design. The beauty is that I can fit the two pieces back together and use them as one piece as well. Love that about unmounted rubber stamps!

This card has the snowmen and sentiment from a│s winter wishes, the decorative "flakes" from a│s tini time, blackberry, onyx, sugar a│s cardstock and a│s blackberry ink. (a│s is amuse studio). You can pick up all these supplies anytime at my online shopping site: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Have a wonderfully creative day!!! I will be working on my cards for class tomorrow night! Good times!

How Ya' Bean?

Swaps - what a fun thing to do!!! I recently participated in a swap with some former angels who have joined A*Muse Studio (a│s). It was so much fun to see so many wonderful ideas!!! I was truly inspired. Here was my starter kit swap. Thinking of joining a│s? Look at these goodies you get to play with if you do!!! fabulous!!!

This card features a stamp from Graphic Sunflower - doesn't it make a fantastic background?!!! And, the "to go" cup, espresso beans and sentiment are from The Perfect Blend. The inks and papers round it all out - love the gingham and polka dot together, don't you?!!!

You can shop for these wonderful products anytime on-line at www.amusestudio.com/seleise (consultant #1379).

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

The Best Teachers...

a│s School Days is a wonderful set to use for those great teachers in your life. This a great one layer card with just a bit of french roast grosgrain ribbon. Stamp the ruler in french roast ink first, add the sentiment and apples in cranberry ink and then add the ribbon. Easy peasy. :)

Even better - add a row of apples and another sentiment inside!

Have a wonderfully creative day!

Wild Rose Congrats!

I can't get enough of the a│s Wild Rose stamp set. I adore it!! It's great for sympathy cards, birthday cards, get well cards... you get the idea - versatile! Here it's in use as a congratulations card.

I love the blackberry and polka dot cardstock layered on the vanilla cardstock! And, the wild rose stamp border makes such an awesome detail in the center of the card. The organdy ribbon really sits on it well, don't you think? And, you can see in this second shot that one of the roses was stamped and then cut out and popped up again. Such a pretty detail. I'm loving the slate and blackberry inks too. It's a perfect color combo for the recipient of the card!

Here's the inside of the card. I used a sentiment from the a│s Make a Difference stamp set. Love that set!! Oh and the congratulations on the front of the card is from the a│s Essential Sentiments stamp set.

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

Ornaments and Magnets

These little ornaments and magnets are so fun to make and have on display. They're part of my new craft fair items this year. I may even get my etsy site open and post some there but we'll see how time works out for that. :) I used the A Muse Studio school days set, the TAC Hello Snow set and the A Muse Studio polka dot paper in many of them! I love snow globes and this ornament gives that effect with the snow inside.What do you think?

Here are the magnets! Great way to brighten up a file cabinet or refrigerator or any other metallic surface! 

And, here are some of the ornaments! Check out the button and ribbon hanger on top. love it!

These are great gifts to add to a stocking or tie to a package or to give to a co-worker, don't you agree? I will try to post a few more of my holiday treasures soon.

Have a wonderfully creative day!!

Cupcake Kind of Day

Here's a super quick - tone on tone - cupcake kind of day card using the A Muse Studio Oven Joy stamp set. A little bling by the sentiment adds a fun touch. If I were to make this card again, I would make the sentiment piece larger so that it covered up the cupcakes. I think you know why. lol!

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!