Sushi for yer birthday!

Hey there!!! Are you all excited for the A Muse May release coming out tomorrow??? I gotta get my hands on the Mainly Men clear set, the To Go Cup, Egg Nest, Bird Bath.... the list goes on!!! Can't wait!!


I thought I'd share a card I made for my friend Rachel for her birthday this past Sunday!! Happy Birthday Rach!!! :D

Supplies used:
Stamps: A Muse Sushi clear stamp set
Inks: Palette Hybrid Burnt Umber, Copics, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Spica Gold Glitter pen (on chopsticks)
Papers: A Muse notecard, Memory Box Sprout, Soft Sky, White
Accesories: Fire circle rhinestone brad, Primas, American Crafts Ribbon, Sponge dauber, edge distresser.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Blessings to you,
Rhonda :D

VMAA SURPRISE BONUS CHALLENGE!!

Woohoo, the A Muse owner herself, Linda, graciously joined us and is hosting an awesome bonus challenge for the night entitled "Happy Days." This challenge has tons of creative freedom to it, just one word to inspire us, WEEKEND. We get to decide what that means to us and interpret it into a card. Many things come to mind when I think of weekends, but what I think of most are the many times we've spent hanging out with family either at my mom's place or my in-laws place, just sitting around the table chatting or playing cards. So many great memories for me from those times. Here's my entry:

I used Copic Markers to quickly color in the white silk flowers from Stampin' Up!'s Pretties Kit and paper pieced the table top. All stamps and notecards by A Muse, SU white CS, Memories Black Ink, SU Certainly Celery, Copic Markers, Cloud deco scissors, Ice Circle Rhinestone brad.

Thank you very much for stopping by and checking out my entries for the challenges tonight!! This has been a blast!! :D

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Blessings to you!
Rhonda :D

VMAA Saturday Night Fever

Have you got it?? :D Saturday Night Fever that is?? Woohoo!! I do!! :D This challenge is hosted by Jennie and the rules are, no color, only black and white!! So fun, just like John Travolta's suit in the movie!! :D Here's my entry:



Have you seen the movie Tristan and Isolde?? I just saw that the other night, so this card is inspired by it.

Main image and sentiment by Elzybells NA, Photo Corner stamp by A Muse, white CS by PTI, black CS by SU, Cell phone bling, Silver and Clear Spica Glitter pens used to color in image, black sponged around edges white layers.

Psst don't go anywhere, there's a surprise in store!! :D
~Rhonda :D

VMAA Do the Hustle sketch challenge!

Do you have that catchy tune in your head now?? :D Do, do, do, da do, da do, do, do.... Do the Hustle!! :D That's what this night is all about, doing the hustle, trying to get your creations done and posted within 30 minutes!! Eeekkk!! :D Here's the sketch challenge for tonight hosted by me:

And my entry:

Tiny Bird, Hi Friend and Branch stamps all by A Muse, Tinplate notecard by A Muse, Chocolate Chip and Cool Caribbean CS by SU, Doodlebug Swimming Pool Paper Frills, PTI white CS, Palette Hybrid Burnt Umber ink, colored in with Copics, Certainly Celery swiped along edges of white circle, SU Scallop circle and 1 3/8" circle punches used along with 1/6" handheld circle punch and dimensionals.

More to come!! :D

~Rhonda

VMAA Disco Ball Challenge

Our 2nd challenge for the night is hosted by Geeta entitled "Disco Ball." Hey, all that glitters is "Solid Gold!" LOL!! This challenge is to use glitter, not just the easy stuff like a glitter pen or Stickles, which we all love, has to be the messy kind that gets everywhere and is still on you days after the challenge!! :D Here's my submission for this challenge:

Notecards, ribbon and stamps all by A Muse, chipboard and glitter by SU, Tsukineko Essential Glue Pad used to adhere glitter to chipboard.

Thanks for hangin out with me! I've got a few more cards to post tonight so don't go anywhere!! :D

~Rhonda :D

VMAA is Here!!!

Let the games begin!!! Our 2nd Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts has begun!! If you'd like to join in on the fun head on over to the A Muse Addicts site, sign up if you haven't already, and feel free to poke around and play along if you'd like!! We have a 70's theme for this round just to spice things up a bit. The first challenge is hosted by Michelle entitled "Let it Be." The rules are no embellishments whatsoever! No ribbon, brads, glitter, nothin!!! Hopefully punches are ok! I consider those to be tools, not embellishments, so, pretty sure they're good!! Here's my submission for the challenge:

I paper pieced the heart and colored in the envelope. Main image and notecard by A Muse, sentiment by Elzybells NA, black and white CS by SU, Memories Black ink, SU Pretty In Pink Ink, Copic Markers and Marvy punches used here. Super simple card!! "Think Simple, Think A Muse," right?

More challenges are on the way tonight so stay tuned!!

HUGS and Blessings,
Rhonda :D

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

In honor of Earth Day, Jennie's challenge this week, on the A Muse Addicts site, is to use something recycled or reused on an A Muse card. Ever since she posted the challenge I've been singin the 3-R's song in my head by Jack Johnson, love that song! :D

My husband got a shirt recently that had this silver chain on it as the tag holder. As a kid I was fascinated with these chains, the way they come apart and then re-hook in. I'd do it over and over and over again, so of course I kept it thinking it'd come in handy one of these days. I also used a bottle cap on here that I pressed flat with my Big Shot machine. I was trying to remember where I read that tip but couldn't find the blog where I read it, so forgive me for that but it's not my original idea. Such a great tip though, I've tried hammering bottle caps flat and had no luck, maybe cuz I need a rubber mallet or something.

I wish my camera picked up sparkle, but I did add some Spica Glitter pen to the owl's eyes and wings along with the outside edge of the circle. I tried to pick up a little blue from the ribbon by using a Copic marker on the outside edge of the bottle cap. It's very subtle but worked great.



Speaking of challenges...... did you know this Saturday night from 6-8pm PST is our 2nd VMAA (Virtual meeting of the A Muse Addicts)??? It'll be a night full of fun, challenges, surprises and... PRIZES (direct from the A Muse shop)!! Hosted by Geeta, Michelle, Jennie and yours truly. You won't want to miss it!! Feel free to join us! All you need to do is head over to the A Muse Addicts site, sign up if you haven't already (it's free), get your stampin fingers ready and let the fun to begin!! :D

I've heard that this Saturday is also gonna be a fun day of sneak peaks from the A Muse designers and instructors so be on the look out!!

Blessings,
~Rhonda :D

What's Brewing?

Hi!  Happy Monday!!  It's a gorgeous, much needed, sunny day here today and it sure has put a smile on my face!!  I've been a busy girl working on a bunch of cards this past weekend.  Feels good to be stamping again, it's been too long!

I've been eyeing this Inkadinkado Coffee Ring stamp and although some people are super clever about making their own coffee ring effects on cards, I like having it in a stamp, no fuss!!  I ordered it recently from Frugalities online and figured it would be a good match paired up with the A Muse Cafe stamp!

So, what IS brewing??  I thought I'd post a little question: since most of us are coffee lovers here in the NW, I'd love to know what your favorite coffee is when you order from your local coffee shop and if you don't drink coffee, what's your drink of choice??  I'm pretty predictable, I don't like hot drinks much (burned my tongue one too many times) so I go for a "grande 1 shot, 2 pump (of chocolate), iced mocha"!!  (Basically iced chocolate milk with a shot of coffee!!)  A kid at heart!! :D  Thankfully we have a pretty nice automatic espresso machine here at home so I can make one each morning to fill my craving!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

~Rhonda :D

Aloha!

Are you all having a fun weekend so far? Ours is going pretty good, a bit out of the ordinary though, the Seattle area has been hit with a snow storm, very odd for this time of year! Doesn't seem right to see flowers in bloom, covered with snow! My kids are lovin' the pretty snow though.

This post is long over due! A couple weeks ago, we had a LOSTie Secret Sister reveal and with all the craziness of life, I didn't get around to posting pictures! My LOSTie Sisters on SCS are amazing, so talented and generous, such a great group to be a part of. My assigned sister was Rachel from Hope Stamps Eternal. She's the one who created my wonderful blog banner and just a great friend!


Since LOST is filmed in Hawaii, I tried to go with an island theme for the gifts and just some fun ideas. I got this super cute clear stamp set from Stampendous called Sassy Silhouettes and a few of the Skyscapes stamps to go with it. Very fun stamps but I'll need to play around with them a bit more, they're not my typical style of stamps to work with.

Here are some pics of the gifts I sent to her, the first group is of the handmade items: an altered picture frame with a pic of Sayid in it (one of her fave characters from LOST), a decorated box of NORI!! :D, an altered letter R, altered wood blocks that say LOST on one side and FOUND on the other, a clear top tin with some goodies inside, an altered wood egg which I turned into a LOST Easter Egg, a clear envie photo album filled with pictures of Desmond (one of her other fave characters from the show) and a Starbucks giftcard holder.


The next picture is all the goodies put together, handmade and store bought.

The last picture is of the awesome goodies I received from my LOSTie sister Edie!! She's so sweet and spoiled me rotten! She also sent me a super cute cupcake clear stamp set by Inkadinkado that she had sent separately, ordered from the Hope Stamps Eternal online store. Ok, I'll stop blabbing! Just wanted to share these fun goodies!!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!
~Rhonda :D

Well hello there!!!

My goodness!!  Has it really been over a month since I last posted???  I'm so sorry!  How are you guys!!  Are you still out there??  I hope I didn't make you all run away!  It's amazing how quickly the days go by and life keeps you busy.  I haven't done much stamping lately but plan to be doing a bit more in the next few weeks.  Maybe you guys read it on Jennie's post from last week but I went on a little trip to Vegas and got to meet Jennie in person!!  She's so nice and just as sweet in person as she is online!!  I just wish we had more time to spend together, our visit was WAY too short!!

Onto the post, although it's not A Muse, here's a card I made for my stepdad for his birthday this past weekend:

The inside says, "Happy Birthday Old Fart!"  LOL!!  This outhouse stamp is by PSX and I found it at a local thrift store a week or so ago!!  I had no idea why I bought the stamp and figured I was just crazy, but it made me giggle and I thought, for $1 I'll be able to put it to good use sometime.  I had no idea how soon I'd be using it! :D

Did you notice the roll of TP??? :D  I was so excited to try somethin clever with this stamp!  Here's a close up:

I wrapped some tp around a spiral (square) HPH clip.  The image is stamped on watercolor paper and colored in with markers and an Aquapainter.

Supplies used:

Stamps~ PSX Outhouse, All Night Media Wood Grain, Karen Foster Snap Stamps

Inks~ Memories Black Ink, SU markers (Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Orchid Opulence, Lovely Lilac, Summer Sun, Garden Green, Old Olive, Bashful Blue), Staedtler Black Fine Liner pen, Spica Clear glitter pen, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black and Close to Cocoa ink pads

Paper~ Watercolor, Lovely Lilac, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, toilet!! :D  LOL!

Accessories~ A Muse ribbon, Edge distressor, dimensionals, Antique Brass HPH, sponge daubers

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!  I sure miss all of you and miss my stampin' time!!  I'm hoping to get myself back into the groove soon!! :D

Big hugs for all of you!

~Rhonda :D