Black or White with a Pop

The challenge on the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog this week is black/white with a pop of colour.

Here's my take:

Now for the details. I've had this particular card in my head for a while and was so ecstatic that it fit this week's challenge that I forgot to commit all the requirements to memory. Silly me. The challenge actually requires you to create a one layer card using either black or white with one other colour for a little pop. So it's back to the drawing board to rethink this one. Maybe I'll be back later with a new and improved version that  accurately reflects the challenge. We'll see.

In the meantime, my "masterpiece" was created with a sugar card base, with images from Family Icons stamped in versamark and embossed in onyx, mounted on an onyx mat, and wrapped with onyx satin ribbon. I thought the ribbon looked a little plain, so I found some black crochet thread from an old project and tied the ends to give it a little flair. The heart was die cut from cherry woodgrain cardstock and covered in crystal clear glaze.

Hope you like it. And make sure to enter the A Muse Studio Challenge for a chance to win some fun prizes.

Hugs and kisses,
TraceyJ

Supplies Used:
Stamps: family icons
Cardstock: sugar, onyx, cherry woodgrain
Ink: versamark
Other: onyx satin ribbon, onyx embossing powder, crystal clear glaze

Monday Funday #7

Source: Uploaded by user via Tracey on Pinterest

Twilight: the saga of a beautiful young girl who ties herself for all eternity to a dead guy because of a teenage crush and a healthy dose of stubborn...

I hear it's romantic. I even watched the first two movies (on DVD with a freebie coupon) searching for the romance. Still waiting to find it, but maybe I'm just romantically challenged. Someday I may find it totally sweet that cold dead Mr. Smooth Vampire is so in love he's willing to let his one true die at age 17/18 so they be dead together forever. But for now I'll take my guys warm (and warm blooded) thank you very much.

In the meantime, enjoy the Twilight Convention (I know, right) coming to a town near you...

Hugs and kisses,
TraceyJ

Monday Funday #6

It might be time to get moving again...

Source: google.com via Tracey on Pinterest

Time to shake it back into shape. Watch out. My hotness is about to emerge from this 170lb fat cocoon...

Hugs and kisses,
TraceyJ

Monday Funday #5

In honour of Presidents' Day...

Source: aliedwards.com via Tracey on Pinterest

may our leaders finally recognise that it's smarter to work together. We the people are tired of all the posturing just to stay/get in power. And I really don't care which of you is "in charge" so long as the rest of you can make some positive changes for me and the people I live with in this country. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this sentiment. So guys, get it together, or get gone. I heard a rumour that this might be an election year...

Hugs and kisses,
TraceyJ

My A Muse Studio Top 5 Stamps

After drooling over the new catalog for the past week and a half, I think I've finally narrowed my list down enough to share. So here it is, in no particular order...

1.  Chevrons 

Love the clean graphic look of this set. I can see some really lovely CAS cards coming from this.

2. Papillon 

Because I just love butterflies.

3. Love Machines 

How cute is this set? Too adorable for words. Brings to mind my childhood love R2D2 and the equally hunky C3PO.

4. Family Icons 

Another cutie pie set. I can see some sweet shower invites and we're expecting notices with this one. Plus it's versatile enough for fun birthday cards and great scrapbook pages

5. Say It With Style

Because I can always use a good sentiment set... and so can everyone else.

I can hardly wait to ink these babies up, but I won't be getting them anytime soon. I'm in die collecting mode right now. I need to be ready when the new true 8.5x11 Grand Calibur is available from A Muse in a few weeks. In the meantime, take a look at the stamp sets that almost made the cut:

Venetian Background

Sunny Side of Life

British Invasion

Yeah, yeah. I got a thing for BBC America, home of Doctor Who. There's Kitchen Nightmares, and also The F Word with Chef Gordon Ramsay, Primeval (my fave), The Graham Norton Show (twisted and funny), Luther starring super sexy Idris Elba, and the original Being Human. You should check out Law and Order: UK sometime. It's really good, and I find it so  interesting to see how differently the detectives operate compared to the US version. Hmmm. Maybe I should try to get a little more sunlight...

Until later.

Hugs & Kisses
TraceyJ

Monday Funday #3

You know who you are...

Source: suite148.tumblr.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Hugs and Kisses,
TraceyJ

CAS Cardmaking Class Day 1

I've been taking an online cardmaking class presented by Kristina Werner, Jen McGuire, and Julie Ebersole which has taken me out of my lethargy and encouraged me to start creating again. I think I'll be using what I've learned the last two weeks to make a dent in my stash and finally send some cards to OWH for our heroes to send home. (Only the good ones will make it in the box of course) but I'll be sharing some of what I've made here on ye olde blog which has been sorely neglected the last couple of months while the mojo has been non-existent. My projects will probably not exactly follow the order of the class but I'm hoping to put each and every lesson to use.
First up is a little something based on a sketch shared in class. Since I'm trying to be methodical about using up my stash, I've started with one of the oldest paper packs I own - Tickled Pink by CTMH - which was released and retired a few years ago. My first attempt at a card was horrific. So I just decided to place each element as portrayed in the sketch. A little better, but still not all the way there. I know that once I do a few more cards my work will improve. Until then, here is the second attempt.

I love all the clean white space I see everyone creating with, but I can't seem to do it myself, so I inked up HA Small Stitched Flowers background stamp with some PTI Smokey Shadow I bought a few years back, took off some of the ink with a paper towel and stamped a plain white notecard. The blue scalloped cardstock was part of a scrapbook kit I bought when I was learning. It came in 8 colours and about 10 different shapes, so you'll be seeing them a lot in the next few weeks. The sentiment is from PTI Fillable Frames #1, stamped in Versamark, and heat embossed using black Zing. Butterflies are the smallest of the A Muse Studio Butterfly Trio dies.

The card qualifies for two challenges: Flutterby Wednesdays-Open, and Lollipop Crafts Wing It. Not too shabby if I do say so myself... and I am.

It was good to pull out my heat gun and get ink on my cheek again. Gotta do it more often...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

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