Life is good.

Please sign up for round 2 of the A-Muse-A-Palooza ATC swap! If you have any questions, please email me!

Also, don’t for get to register for the weekly give aways for A-Muse-A-Palooza. Tell them Andrea Bentz sent you!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day!!! Being a mom is a tough job and you are all so appreciated by be for what you do. I can’t wait until Mother’s Day is a day for me someday. It has to be a blessing to be a mommy!!!

However, Mother’s Day was good. We spent time with both of our mom’s and celebrated them. It was very nice!  I was even reassured by my dog that I am the best mom a doggy could have.

I got to stamp some tonight so that was nice… I have really been trying hard to stamp everyday. I feel like when I stamp everyday my mojo sticks with me… it’s when I have a week or two lapse that throws a curve ball into my creative life.

I stamped for A-Muse-A-palooza again tonight. Please take the time to go and check it out- It is such cool, super fun even!!!

This bike riding chick is pretty cute. The creative elements are as follows:

Card base: Brocade Blue

Circles: Shimmer White, Pink Passion

Stamps: A Muse, SU! Canvas

Ink: SU! Pink Passion, Palette Noir

Accessories: Non SU! ribbon, SU! Markers, bling (on tires)

I am a huge fan of topiaries. Mr. LOL thinks they are dumb. I have several around the house and I think that they are so classy. For this card, I used A Muse acrylic stamps.

The creative process is as follows:
-A Muse, SU! Jumbo Wheel in rough texture

-Paper: Bashful Blue, Celery and Shimmer White

-Ink: Celery, Palette Noir

-Accessories: Oval Punches, Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen, Non SU! Ribbon

For some reason I just didn’t feel like this looked right, but it came together anyway. The “window” is cut and mounted on the Scalloped oval.
Creative Details:
Stamps: A Muse, SU! Paisley

Paper: Pink Passion, Bashful Blue, Celery, Shimmer White

Accessories: Scallop punch, Oval Punch, Queens & Co. Brad, Non SU! Ribbon, SU! Word Window Punch

I hope that Mother’s Day was everything you all hoped it would be!

Night night!!!

Andrea

A-Muse-A-Palooza has been so great that I have decided to open a 2nd round of ATC Swaps, due on June 15th. Please see below if you want to play!

A Muse-a-palooza

I am opening a 2nd round of ATC’s(artist trading cards, great tutorial at SCS here: ATC’s). I have 6 Spots for this round

Here’s the skinny on swapping rules:

1. 6 ATC’s - you get 10 back total (that includes 1 of your own)
2. The use of at least 1 A Muse stamp is required, you can use other manufacturers too, but A Muse is a MUST!!!

3.  2 or more layers
4.  One embellishment (brads, ribbon, stickles, etc.)

Swaps are due by Friday June 15th- NO EXCEPTIONS
I will swap them on Saturday, June 16th and they will go postal on June 18th.

Additional tips:

-Don’t forget to sign and number each of your ATC’s.

-Include a SASE for me to return them to you, with one extra stamp just in case, I will return it if I don’t use it

- NO meter strips

-Package all ATC’s in a baggie to protect it from the weather during it’s postal journey

-Email me at the contact me button, to ensure your spot and I will email you my info from there

Feel free to ask me any questions!

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Sign Up List:

1. Andrea SCS: Andee Cate
2. Kim, SCS: khowardga
3. Holly, SCS: Planet43
4. Jen, SCS: Jenrn
5. Amy, Propecia
6. Chris SCS: Inkohoots

I am A Muse-A-Palooza crazy!!! Have you registered yet? Checked it out yet? You need to!!!

I couldn’t stop stamping tonight. I made 4, yes 4 cards!!! Those couple of hours litterally flew by!

This card is for Kelly… we were talking about this AWESOME Brilliant Blue Audi convertible we saw at the dealership near work. We want it, but alas, we won’t be getting it.

The base of this card is Bashful Blue, I stamped “Cruiser” in Palett Noir and colored her with SU! markers. I watercolored Going Grey on the “ground” and then cut around the top half of the image to show the Bashful Blue as the background of the Real Red layer. The sentiment, Have a Spendiferous Day! is in Bashful Blue craft. I tied red grosgrain and some baby blue and white striped grosgrain to the side.

I love this A Muse image, Vespa Girl. Isn’t she cute?? The base is Real Red, stamped with Real Red and SU! Paisley Stamp. The Night of Navy layer matches the girls outfit. I wanted her to look like she was really going somewhere so I used SU! Going Grey to watercolor a “road”. The Road to a Friend Sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy. I finished off the card with some red stitched ribbon and navy organdy.

My SIL is have a baby shower Memorial Day weekend so I used the A Muse Maternity Dress to make her a card. I used Shimmer White on the base and main image. The strip of decorative paper is by SU! The dress is Real Red and the hanger Close to Cocoa. I added bling to the tie belt for some fun. The sentiment, Oh Baby! is stamped in Real Red. I finished off the

Lastly, we have Patch. He is one of my favorite! He is stamped in Palett Burnt Umber and watercolored as is the doghouse, The birdie from the A Muse Acrylic set, Animal Wishes, and stamped in Night of Navy. I also used the grass stamp with Old Olive and watercolored that too.

The base and layers are Night of Navy and Real Red. I pierced around the image and layers, and used a white gel pen to faux stitch around it.

So, did I feed you enough A Muse today?? I think so! Have a great night, TGIF baby!

Peace out!

Andee

I am curious what you all think of this A Muse Ambassador contest? Are you participating? Following someone else’s journey? Let me know what you all think!

So, this weeks A Muse-A-Palooza challenge is NO BLACK INK… easy, right? WRONG! I had a heck of a time, but came up with 2 cards that are pretty cute, if I do say so myself…

 This first card is A Muse’s Tire Swing stamp. I used Pallet ink in Burnt Umber and watercolored it with WCW crayons.

The card base is Pixie Pink and the polka dot paper is SU! Designer paper. The tree is stamped on Shimmer White, the scallop is Old Olive, the base, Pixie Pink. The faux stitching was added to the bottom and the piercing to the ovals for added “oomph”. The sentiment, Have a Beautiful Day, is stamped in Old Olive.

I adore the music player stamp- so flippin’ cute!!! The base of this card is Gable Green and the SU! Aida cloth BG is in Pink Passion craft and embossed with glassy glaze. As usual, I stamped the main images on Shimmer White in Green Galore, Pink Passion and Brilliant Blue. I colored them in with Pixie pink, Ballet Blue and Gable green. I added Stickles to the dials to liven them up. The ribbon is organdy from my stash ‘o ribbons.

Please, run over the A Muse-A-Palooza website and register… tell them Andrea sent you!!!

I am going to post twice today (shock!). Today is Gotta have it Tuesday and today’s item involves a MAJOR procurement (Hi CPD!!!) on my part…

I was at AC Moores over lunch and the hit the jackpot big time: They had a whole bunch of A Muse stamps!!!

**ETA** I had emailed Linda @ A Muse yesterday and I had mentioned that there wasn’t a place in central PA to get A Muse stamps… boy was I wrong!! Today was the best craft store day ever! *sigh* 

As you can see from my super ghetto looking picture from my camera phone (I am blogging from work, LOL). Don’t you just love the blurry in the front, focused in the back??

 I basically picked up every single one I could! They even had a few sets of acrylic stamps! I also got some MSE! Acrylic stamps and some Junkiz Salsa Celebration bling. I was flipping out!!!  I like A Muse stamps because they are such fresh and clean images. Their sentiments are to die for… I just love them all!

This is a short post, but I want you all to go to A Muse or your LSS, or where ever and get some A Muse stamps! Then, join my ATC swap on here or SCS *wink*.

When I saw this stamp by A Muse, named Pete, I had to get it. Mr. LOL’s name is Pete. I used Shimmer White for the main image, and stamped A Muse’s Small oval to mimic ice in Cool Caribbean. “Pete” is stamped in Palette Noir Hybrid Ink and colored in with SU! markers. The sentiment was done with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps. I used SU! paper in Real Red and more Shimmer White. The 4.25″ x 4.25″ note card is by A Muse ( I *heart* these). The ribbon, is some random ribbon from my stash.

As always, I appreciate your continued support. And PLEASE join my A Muse ATC Swap!!!

I totally missed the first challenge for the A Muse Ambassador!! But I am playing catch up here…

This first challenge was for us to use only black ink in our stamping, we could color stuff in though. This 5.5 x 4.25 Bashful Blue Base is featuring A Muse’s Splendiferious Day sentiment. The scallop is Gable Green and the main image is A Muse’s Patch on the Tree Stump stamped on Shimmery White.

All ink is Palette Noir Hybrid Ink. I watercolored Patch, the Tree Stump and background with SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayon’s. Patch is popped up with foam tape-he really look like he is sitting up there!

I hope you all enjoy my A Muse-a-palooza adventure over the next few weeks, don’t forget to go to A Muse and register for the weekly drawings, and don’t forget to tell them Andrea Bentz sent you!!!

Who dosen’t love A Muse stamps? If you don’t you’re crazy! They are super fun images and they have the best sentiments! This year marks the 2nd A Muse-a-palooza for Linda and her gang at A Muse. I learned this over at Jennifer Pebbles blog.

To kick off A Muse-a-palooza, there is a contest for an A Muse Ambassador. I figure I have as good a chance as anyone, right??? So, part of the criteria is to host a swap. I am hosting and participating in an A Muse swap… I would like to do ATC’s (artist trading cards, great tutorial at SCS here: ATC’s). I have 10 spots to fill, and will open a 2nd round if need be.

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Here’s the skinny on swapping rules:

1. 10 ATC’s - you get 10 back total (that includes 1 of your own)
2. The use of at least 1 A Muse stamp is required, you can use other manufacturers too, but A Muse is a MUST!!!

3.  2 or more layers
4.  One embellishment (brads, ribbon, stickles, etc.)

Swaps are due by Friday June 8th- NO EXCEPTIONS
I will swap them on Saturday, June 9th and they will go postal on June 11th.

Additional tips:

-Don’t forget to sign and number each of your ATC’s.

-Include a SASE for me to return them to you, with one extra stamp just in case, I will return it if I don’t use it

- NO meter strips (Jami taught me this)

-Package all ATC’s in a baggie to protect it from the weather during it’s postal journey

-Email me at the contact me button, to ensure your spot and I will email you my info from there

Feel free to ask me any questions!

–

Sign Up List:

1. Andrea Bentz SCS: Andee Cate

2. SCS: Novell

3. Amy SCS: Propecia

4. Emily SCS: Water Pixie

5.  Laura SCS: Sweetpeas

6. SCS: RachelHope13

7. Edie SCS: Edie32

8. Zauna SCS: Zeeps

9. Sarah SCS: Criminalgrace

10. Holly SCS: planet43

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2nd Round
1. Andrea SCS: Andee Cate
2. Kim, SCS: khowardga
3.
4.
5.
6.

I love and hate Spring. I have awful, severe allergies. I actually haven’t had symtoms like this in years. When I was a kid, my allergies would flare up right around grass cutting/tree flowering/ garden planting time. I thought I had outgrown it, but apparently I have not!

As I type, I am sitting here with a rash all over my face, my ears, nose and throat itch, along with my back. I am so sneezy and runny it’s just awful!

I haden’t felt inspired to blog in days, so I didn’t post. I didn’t stamp all week either. Luckily, I stamped yesterday so, I can resume some more regular blogging.

I decided to pull out my Island Blossoms Set. I haven’t used it in ages. At least these flowers don’t make me sneeze!

I forgot all about my long notes! I had to pull them out. The base is Cool Caribbean, the mat is Real Red and a scrap of SU! Designer paper (I don’t remember what pack it came in, sorry!). I stamped Island Blossoms on Shimmer White. I used Cool Caribbean Classic ink, and VersaMagic Inks in Red Magic, Key Lime and Straw.  The flowers are cut, layered and popped up with glue dots. I wanted the envelope to coordinate with the card so I added some small blossoms to that. I used some red stitched ribbon scraps to finish the card off.

I hope you are all keeping the sneezies at bay! And if you aren’t you can always enjoy the flowers via stamping like I do.