Big Heart Die project #3: Vintage Valentine's Card with Winter Stag!

What?! A Valentine's card that uses the Winter Stag stamp set? It's true! If you're not sure what the winter stag stamp set looks like, here you go (btw, it's on sale for 10% off through the end of January!):

This is such an awesome set not only for Christmas but for masculine birthday cards, valentine's and more. Be sure to take a second look at the stamp sets you own because there may be some sets that could branch out to other holidays and other cards or mini albums or banners or... :)

 So, what did I use for a Valentine's card? The swirly element. It's a perfect "romantic" touch for a vintage Valentine's card.

I wanted to give a nod to those wonderful old fashioned cards that had glitter and swirls and loveliness. How did I do?

The card base is cherry cardstock cut into the heart shaped card using the big heart die. By putting the fold just below the top of the die, you can create a heart card that opens to the top! You could do the same thing to the side. Love this die!!!

After the card was stamped, I used the quickie glue pen and the champagne glitter to add some highlights to the swirls. Then, I added some hearts from the heart die trio in different cardstocks and then used the quickie glue pen to add some dots of glitter on the hearts. The quickie glue pen is just an awesome tool! 

Here's the inside. It's the same swirly element from Winter Stag stamped in the same blush ink. It's okay if it overlaps because it gives it a great "layered" look. :)

This is what the full card looks like from the inside so you can see how it connects.

And, here's a view from the top. A great shape card! and, doesn't the champagne glitter look great on the cherry cardstock? This card will fit in an A2 envelope so you can see that it's a good sized die.

The sentiment and the center stamped element on the front of the card are both from Sending My Love. This set came out in the Valentine's catalog. I think it will be awesome for birthday cards as well as Valentine's cards. Wedding cards would be fun to make out of this too as well as missing you cards. Love versatile sets.

Have a wonderfully creative day!!!
All products used are available on my secure shopping site: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

New addition - Delayed blog post

I'll be back very soon with another Big Heart Die project but I forgot to create my post before I took on another project that took most of my time this week. :) My sister just had a baby and I've been helping take care of the big sister and brothers while Mommy recovered. :) We made Valentines with the Monster Bash set and googly eyes. Good times. :)

The kids have had a lot of experience stamping and they're pretty darned good (and independent!)  :)

Here's the other big brother. He was sleeping during stamping time but he helped me do some stamping yesterday. :)

So, here's the newest addition to the family sitting with me. Isn't he a cutie? He's so tiny!

I now have one dozen nieces and nephews (not all from the same sibling! lol!). I have even more great-nieces and nephews. Good times! :) So, I hope you'll forgive the delayed posting as I think this is a pretty good excuse. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Heart Treat Pocket - Big Heart Die project #2

Here's another Valentine's Day treat holder made with the big heart die. This one is super easy and has some other a muse studio dies as part of the look.

 

This is a  super easy project. Cut 2 big hearts. Put the fronts together and use a crop-a-dile and punch one side of the top of the heart. Turn them back to back and you'll have 1 hole on opposite sides of the heart.

Cool to only punch once and the punch will be level on both sides. That clever idea is from my friend, Sue, the engineer. It's always great to have an engineer around! ;)

So, now that they're back to back, use red-line tape to put them together from the base to about an inch from the top. Don't forget to leave the top open so you can slip a gift card or treat into the pocket.

Once you have the pocket assembled, tie on some sugar polka dot organdy ribbon and add the other die cuts. The bunny, flower and heart are all in the sweetheart/heartbreaker assorted cardstock pack. This is the small bunny die. I just love that die set! To finish off the project, stamp the sentiment in bubblegum ink on a piece of sugar paper and trim.

Here it is hanging up.

Have fun making heart pockets! All products are available in my online store: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Have a wonderfully creative day!  

Big Heart Box: Customized treats

In my previous post, there is a tutorial for the big heart box. Here are the customized treats that went inside.

You could do a purchased treat but I thought home-made cookies would be a better way to go. Put two or three cookies in the 2X5 gusset bag. Seal the top with one of the valentine's washi tapes (overlap and make a notched flag like shown for some extra cuteness!) and clip it shut with a mini-clothespin that was sprayed with splash spray. I just spritzed the clothespins with blush and then cherry splash to add color but did not saturate them. I did the same thing to the super cute 3.5" doily that is taped to the back of the cookie bag for a fun look.Now, this may look a little random on its own but when you see everything together, it's a fun gift!

I got in a baking mood on Sunday so I made 3 batches of cookies for my class to choose from for their cookie treat. The cookies in the picture are "Delinquent" Cookies. I got the recipe from my dear friend, "Trouble" . She was one in a million and lived a good long life! The recipe and story of the "delinquents" is at the bottom of this post. In addition to the delinquents, I made monster cookies and butter pecan cake mix cookies. yum!

If you have cookies, you have to have something to drink. Since milk is hard to keep outside of a refrigerator (and doesn't mix well with paper products..lol!), the next best option was cocoa! This is a super easy project. Pour one packet of cocoa into a cone treat bag. Add 16 mini marshmallows. Tie shut with blush baker's cording and cut off the top of the bag to about an inch above the tie.

Finish off your treat box with a card.This is a 3X3 card with a cherry chevron base, a cherry cardstock top and a little valentine's washi tape. A cherry twinkle sticker is perfect for the "flash".  The cherry cardstock layer is popped up over the chevron layer.

 

Here's the inside of the card - simple but great sentiment paired with the camera image. These are from the Sending My Love stamp set. Both are stamped in Titian Ink. A great brown with a tint of greenish gold that matches the washi tape perfectly!

And, finally, here's the finished treat box filled with the goodies. What do you think?

Make one for a friend, spouse, significant other, child, church member, Grandma or whomever. I guarantee, you'll make them smile! Change the colors and make it a birthday treat basket or an Easter basket. Or, put baby socks in it and a gift card for a new mommy. All kinds of fun options. Have fun crafting!

All supplies are a muse studio and are available in my webstore: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Trouble's "Delinquent" Cookies
Trouble is a nickname for a dear lady that used to live in our home town. She lived to be 95 or 96 years young. She was a wonderful woman who had a great sense of humor.

Trouble made cookies one time for her mother. The recipe was called "Delicious cookies." Her mother couldn't hear well so when Trouble told her the name, her mother replied "Why would they call them delinquent cookies?" She was so tickled that the cookies were named "delinquents" from that day forward.
These are a delightfully crisp and light cookie. 
1 c. margarine
1 c. oil
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. oatmeal
1 c. rice krispies
1 bag of chocolate chips

Blend margarine and oil. Cream in sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Mix well. Add rice krispies, oatmeal and chocolate chips. Drop on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.


Enjoy!

Big Heart Die Box Tutorial

The Big Heart Die from A Muse Studio is just wonderful! It's A2 card size and comes with a "love" script word as well. It will fit in most die-cut machines and is amazingly versatile. What? A heart die is versatile? Yep! It's true! I make four projects each month in my class. I decided to feature the heart die in each project for this month's class and wow - what fun it was to play with ideas! Here's what it looks like in its traditional form.

So, the first project has the most steps but you get a super cute result so I decided to make a tutorial to help you make one too. I hope you find it easy to follow!

To get started, you need to cut four hearts from cherry gingham cardstock with the big heart die.

1. Place the heart dies, pattern side up on the a muse studio scor-board. Put the tip of the heart on the 2 1/2" score line and the top of the heart scallops on the 2 3/4" line and score (basically you're scoring 2 1/2" from the tip of the heart). Do this with all four hearts.

2. Place the hearts with the patterns facing each other and use the small hole on the crop-a-dile to punch a hole on each side of the heart. I lined mine up with the bottom of the V of the heart scallop.

3. Lay all four hearts face down on the work surface. Arrange the hearts so the four scored lines make a square.

4. Fold up a couple of the hearts without moving them. Glue the bottom flaps together. Notice that the flaps don't overlap completely so don't glue the full base. You may find it easier to trace the edges with a pencil to mark where your adhesive is going to go.

5. Continue until all four of your hearts are glued together.

6. Fold up the sides. Cut 11" of seattle baker's cording to tie the sides together at the corner. Do this for each corner.

7. Here is what your box looks like. You could glue a square piece of cardstock in the base if you wanted to make your box more sturdy but it's actually pretty good as is.

8. I wanted to turn my box into a goodie box/tray so I added bag filler. Doesn't that look great with the big baker's cording bows and the super cute (and retiring) gingham paper?!

Isn't this fun? Check back soon to see what was put inside the box to finish off the project!

The big heart die is available through the end of February and you can find it in the Valentine's catalog section online. www.amusestudio.com/seleise


Have a wonderfully creative day!

Baby Boy Banner

A friend of mine is a new grandma. She gave 9 banner pieces to her stamping friends (including me!) and asked us to decorate them for her grandbaby's room. Another one of our friends had done this last year when she was a new grandma and it was so much fun to see how everyone approached the project and what colors and papers they used. I can't wait to see the finished project for this year's baby. :)

I finally got my part of the project done. I used a mixture of papers and supplies from A Muse, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Anns and Archivers. It was fun to play with the dinosaur punch (that I kind of forgot that I owned! - does anyone else do that? lol!). And, I had to add buttons because they just scream "baby" to me! I don't know why but they do.

I finished off the project with the retiring A Muse Studio cloud dies. Aren't they just the cutest clouds? A little sky pearl finishes the project off! What do you think?

Have a wonderfully creative day!

www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Retired List Update

Sold out product from the 2012 retiring list:
SNSH021 - cushioned in comfort
TAD0016 - snowflake trio die set

Here's the original list: https://www.securedcontent.net/amuse/pdfs/2012RetiringList.pdf
If there's anything you want, don't wait to order it because it's going fast! 

Here's the link to my online store: www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Have a wonderfully creative day!

Valentine's Card - Big Heart Die!

I am in LOVE with the new Big Heart Die from A Muse Studio and the Valentine's washi tape!!!! And, it comes with a great scripty "love" die as well so you can make super Valentine's anniversary and wedding cards!

Here's a vintage-y look to a valentine's card. I used a currant card base, seattle petite polka dot cut from the big heart and three layers on valentine's washi tape.

The "love" is also part of the heart die-cut set and it is also cut from currant and popped up. But before I popped it up, I wrapped the new blush baker's cording around the die cut. The new cording is thicker and more substantial. The cording will hold its shape when tied and it makes a great accent when wrapped around the die cut. Some pink sequins (yep, sequins are here!!!) finish off the look.

Here's a side view so you can see how everything is popped up. It's wonderful how a little washi tape and a simple die-cut can really make a card, don't you think?

Finally, Happy Valentine's Day from Essential sentiments finished off the card.

All products are a muse studio and can be purchased anytime online at www.amusestudio.com/seleise

Time for me to get back to sorting and re-arranging my craft area so I can get back to stamping again. I'm still trying to find the perfect arrangement so I can keep everything tucked into its own place. Wish me luck! :)

Have a wonderfully creative day!

Happy New Year!!! Specials!!!

Happy New Year!!! I hope you've enjoyed the holiday break! I have been trying to get organized and so far I've created a bigger mess but that means progress, right? I hope so! LOL!

I've got a post coming soon with a card but I wanted to let you know about the retiring list and the January Spotlight specials first! By the way, did you know you can find the monthly spotlight specials at any time by clicking on the third tab above these posts?

So, here are the monthly specials for January. Check out the paper pack!! It's so PRETTY!!!

And, the retiring list is out because the new catalog is coming on March 1st! Check out these great deals you can pick up on retiring stamps:

and products:

Click on the image to see it larger or Click here to see these lists larger as the jpg is a little hard to read. If you want gingham cardstock or bubblegum petite polka dot cardstock or the cloud dies or snowflake dies or any of these other wonderful products, grab them now!!

It's hard to see some of these wonderful goodies go but it's exciting to think of what might be coming next! Check back and I'll keep you posted!

Finally, it's a great time to become a consultant. Contact me if you're interested. :)

Have a wonderfully creative and joy-filled 2013!!!