Beautiful Blooms

Hey there. This week on the a|s challenge blog we're asking you to share some beautiful blooms with us.

Here in Florida, it's hurricane season which means lots of rain and, yes, lots and lots of those beautiful blooms. Every day is a riot of colour as the warm sunshine and midday showers bring more and more blooms to life.

I've been obsessed with He is Risen since the 2013 A Muse Studio catalogue came out, so I chose to ink up and colour that gorgeous flower today. And here it is:

This beautiful bloom was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Sugar Cardstock and coloured with Tombow Markers (apricot, papaya, grass, lime, sky). The stamped panel was then sponged with Latte Ink and adhered to a Vanilla card base. The sentiment is from Letterpress Greetings - a stamp set that ships with a set of sugar notecards ready for stamping.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get floral...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

supplies used
stamps: he is risen, letterpress greetings
cardstock: sugar, vanilla
ink: memento tuxedo black; latte
other: tombow markers, sponge dauber

All About Colour

...is the challenge on the blog this week. And we'd love to see some of your favourite colour combos make an appearance.

I started with my new favourite colour - Mermaid.  I thought I'd let it shine by pairing it with Sugar and a touch of Onyx. So I ended up with this beauty:

A sugar panel was stamped with screenprint background and then swiped around the edges using mermaid ink and tied with onyx baker's twine. The sentiment comes from say it with style.

You have until Saturday, June 1 at 11:59MST to link up your creation for a chance to win a fantastic A Muse Studio prize.

See you there!

Supplies Used
stamps: say it with style, screenprint background
cardstock: sugar
ink: mermaid, versafine black onyx
other:  onyx bakers twine

Colourful Inspiration

There are only two days left to enter the latest a|s challenge.

Here's my creation this week:

This time around I chose buttercup, bubblegum, blush, and lemon whip.  The largest butterfly from the Papillon set was stamped on 1.75" squares and heat embossed, then sponged with all 4 colours and adhered to a bubblegum card front, and attached to a pebble card base. A sentiment from Hand Scripted was stamped on a piece of lemon whip cardstock.

Here's a reminder of our inspiration pallette:

You have until 11:59pm on Saturday, May 4 to link up your projects. I can't wait to see what you create...

Hugs and kisses.
TraceyJ

Supplies Used
stamps: hand scripted, papillon
cardstock: lemon whip, bubblegum, pebble, sugar
ink: buttercup, bubblegum, blush, lemon whip, versafine onyx black, versamark
other: heat gun, clear embossing powder

Colour Inspiration

I'm happy to be hosting on the challenge blog this week. Not too happy about how gray and drippy and dreary it is here with all the rain. Isn't it almost summer? I thought it might be fun to play with some bright colours to cheer me up, so this is what I did:

I chose to use buttercup, melon, apple, watermelon, and pebble. Since the colours were so bright and cheerful, I chose the flowers from Mod Backgrounds 1 (on sale in April). I randomly inked and stamped a panel of sugar cardstock, edged it with my slate Tombow marker and added it to a pebble card base. A sentiment from Contemporary Greetings was added to some more pebble cardstock and adhered with some foam tape. My ink smudged a little so I die cut a medium butterfly from some pebble scraps, stamped it with the Mod Backgrounds 1 woodgrain block using apple ink, and added it to the sugar panel.

Here is the inspiration photo:

(Photo from Design Seeds Blog)

I hope you find time to join us at the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog. You have until Saturday, May 4 at 11:59MST to link up your project.

Until the sun comes out again...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJeanH

Supplies Used
stamps: Mod Backgrounds 1, Contemporary Greetings
inks: apple, buttercup, melon, watermelon, versafine onyx black
cardstock: pebble, sugar
other: butterfly trio dies, Tombow markers

CAS on the A|S Challenge Blog

Here's a little inspiration for the current challenge on the blog.

I had an idea to make the chevron paper into more of a herringbone pattern, so I trimmed the paper into strips which were attached to my sugar card base. Next, I added a thin strip of wasabi cardstock. The sentiment is from the April spotlight set "Hand Scripted", and is stamped in wasabi and seattle inks. A few drops of wasabi splash! finishes off the card.

There are still a few days left to link up your creation for our challenge.

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Supplies Used
cardstock: sugar, wasabi, wasabi chevron
stamps: Hand Scripted
ink: seattle, wasabi, wasabi splash!

Spring Fling

A Muse Studio has a little something special for those of you looking forward to Spring - the April Spotlight.
Check it out:

This bright, fun colour combo is just perfect for beautiful spring projects. And combined with those gorgeous stamps?
Time to get crafting...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Happy Easter

Source: images.hkwholesaler.com via Lizbeth Padgett on Pinterest

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Time to Clean Up Your Act

...or at least get your CAS on with the A Muse Studio Challenge bloggers this week.

Linda has tasked us with creating some clean and simple projects, which can sometimes be a little difficult to do. It's a delicate balance between just enough to pack a punch and not enough to make an impact. So I decided to go with bright, bold colour and keep my layout as simple as possible. I stamped the flowers from Charming Gardeners and coloured them with some Copics. The floral panel was added to a pebble card base and edged with a strip of poppy cardstock. Then I added a sentiment from Cupcake Companion and called it done! What do you think?

It's so bright that it almost looks more complicated than simple to me. But hey, we are sometimes our own worst critics, right?

I'd love to see what you come up with, so head on over to the challenge blog and link up your projects. It isn't necessary that you use A Muse Studio products although we'd love it if you do. If you don't have a blog, you can link your projects from any online gallery, just make sure that you allow public viewing.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Supply List
stamps: Charming Gardeners, Cupcake Companion
ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black
cardstock: sugar, pebble, poppy
other: Copics, cupcake toppers dies

Tie It Up

The challenge on the blog this week is "Tie It Up". You get to bust out your stash of ribbon and twine and use them to create your fabulous projects.

Here's what I came up with:

 

I wanted something totally clean with the gorgeous a|s satin ribbons providing the colour. So I used a sort of rainbow ribbon ruffle to plan where I'd place each colour. I chose cherry, orange, saffron, lime, and bermuda satin ribbons which were adhered with some super sticky red tape. A sentiment from Essential Sentiments was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. I think this might be my new go-to ink for sentiments.

Find some time to play with us over on the challenge blog this week. You don't need to use a muse studio products to enter, and you could win some fun items to use in your new projects. The current challenge ends on Saturday, March 23 at 11:59 MST.

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Supplies Used:
cardstock - sugar
stamps - Essential Sentiments
ink - Versafine Onyx Black
other - a|s satin ribbon

Bring On the New Stuff!

Hello all. It's that time again. New stuff from A Muse Studio! Yes the new catalog is now available for viewing and there are tons of gorgeous new stamps, dies, and papers to drool over. Take a look:

What's inside?

Stamp Sets:
31 new stamps sets featuring a variety of art styles.

Cardstock:
3 new signature colors - Mermaid, Berry, & Apple.
4 new Petite Polka Dot colors - Papaya, Wasabi, Grapefruit, & Mermaid.
3 new Chevron colors - Papaya, Mermaid, & Onyx.
10 colors featured in the new Petite Pinstripe!
*Grapefruit *Cherry *Orange *Papaya *Wasabi *Bermuda *Mermaid *Navy *Seattle *Onyx

 Ink:
3 new signature ink colors: Mermaid, Berry, & Apple.
Signature seasonal collections now have 12 colors per palette.
Venetian palette has been transitioned to the main seasonal palette
*burano is now Poppy
*belini is now Melon
*lido is now Saffron
*rialto is now Moss
*titian is now Mushroom

 Dies:
New Pennant Die in 2 sizes. Perfect for custom banners!
11 stamp sets with matching dies.

Splash:
Now in 15 colors! New colors added to the line are Bermuda, Pistachio, Lime, & Mermaid.

Washi Tape:
3 new collections: Vintage, Tuxedo, & Keep Calm (which features one double wide roll!)

Ribbon:
Baker's cording in Navy/White.
Satin ribbon now available in Sugar.

New party supplies:
Paper straws now in 10 colors (these were the #1 wedding supply item in 2012).
Treat bags - added 2 new styles in 6 colors and 2 sizes.
2 styles of wooden spoons.

Pretty wide selection, huh?
Here's what I'm drooling over right now...

 

How about you?

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

CAS Gets Down and Dirty

I love the shabby chic and Tim Holtz vibe that so many papercrafters seem to pull off so effortlessly, however when I try, all I do is make a mess. I know! My blog is called Sticky Inky Fingers and my peeps can find ink on my face and elbows (huh?) without looking too hard. But for some reason it all translates to exploding pen on my cards.

That mean ol' Princess Judy over at the a|s challenge blog has made it her mission this week to take me far outside of my comfort zone (thanks a lot, Judy) to make some dirty/distressed/inky. I gave it the old college try and this is my creation:

First, let's talk oops. So, after a few practice squirts that did exactly what I was hoping, I got up the nerve to add the first spritz of wasabi Splash! to my card. BLURP! Immediately the ink came gushing out, covering almost the entire surface with just one spray of the pump. Aaargh! Nevertheless I gamely pressed on, spraying a little winter sky Splash! towards the top and some lemon whip Splash! towards the bottom, zapping the whole thing with my heat gun. A bicycle from Enjoy the Ride was stamped with StazOn Jet Black and some holiday washi stamped with Polka Dot Patterns was added below. Next, I opened the bottle of slate Splash! and tapped the pump so that a few large drops would fall on the card. The (retiring) cloud duo dies were cut from sugar cardstock and sponged in sky ink.

This project didn't turn out at all like I pictured it would, but in a way it's better, because it kinda looks a little like kraft cardstock (which I love). I guess I need some Splash! spritzing practice...

Head over to the challenge blog and try your hand at something inky and maybe a tiny bit dirty.

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

Supplies used
stamps: Enjoy the Ride, Polka Dot Patterns
cardstock: sugar
ink: sky, StazOn Jet Black, Splash! in wasabi, winter sky, lemon whip, and slate
other: holiday washi, cloud duo dies