Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!! :) Just wanted to share with you a simple Halloween card I made for a friend! We fortunately made it through the hurricane okay without losing power, and my thoughts are with those who are still dealing with the aftermath of this huge storm.

Here is today's Halloween card.

I used PTI's Limeade Ice patterned paper with a PTI Limitless Layers square scallop die and PTI Winter Wisteria ribbon. The stamp is from the dollar spot at Joann's. If you use pigment ink, then the acrylic stamps usually stamp okay.

Have fun trick or treating and Happy Halloween everyone!!

Monster Munchies

Hi there, thought I would pop in and share with you some monster treats I made! Hope your Halloween preparations are coming along well. Alexander has got a costume, but not sure if we'll be able to actually trick or treat with the hurricane headed our way, yikes! Praying that everything works out okay for everyone and that it's just a lot of rain.

So onto the treats for today, Monster Munchies. Those mischevious monsters have teamed up and have broken into the treat bag to steal all the treats! :) The top monster is feeding a real candy corn to the other monster.

I used the Monster Bash set from A Muse Studio to make these treats. Love that set: it's got the cutest little monsters. I also used the Halloween washi tape and a glassine bag, so you can get a peek of the treats inside. Gotta watch out for those monsters: they hide under your bed and also love candy apparently! ;)

And here's a peek at Alexander's costume this year. He is all decked out and ready for Halloween! Arr, arr matey! 

His favorite show on Disney Junior is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so I just had to dress him up. He also really loves that hook. When he wore it at the kid's Halloween party this past week, he never put it down! :)

Have a great Halloween!!

Free Stamp set!!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, A Muse Studio is giving away a FREE copy of the "Fight Like a Girl" stamp set (retail value: $18). It is an exclusive stamp set available only through October. They are available free to everyone, one per customer. There is a $3 shipping and handling charge and that's it!

The free stamp set is available at my web store here:

www.amusestudio.com/monicak

Also included in the package is: a 20% discount on a future purchase (expires Dec. 31), a postcard to be entered into a giveaway, and information about breast cancer awareness. I have been, like so many others, affected by breast cancer. My grandma passed away from breast cancer when I was 8 years old and she was only 61. Breast cancer awareness and prevention is so important. These stamps are perfect to cheer someone up and to encourage those who have or are currently trying to fight cancer!

Giveaway Winners!!

Thanks so much for those who entered the giveaway! We had a nice trip to Europe and Alexander got to meet his grandma for the first time. And now he will be celebrating his first birthday in 4 days!!

I'm so sorry for the delay in posting the winners. So without further delay, the winners are:

The winner of the "If You Dare" stamp set is random.org #2:

Jennifer Rzasa!

And the winner of the $10 crafting gift certificate is random.org #5:

Sonja!

Congrats to the winners, and I hope you enjoy your prizes! Please email me by clicking on the email in my sidebar and I'll mail you the goodies.

Have a wonderful and sunshine-filled day!

Halloween treats and another giveaway!!

Hope it's okay that I'm jumping into Halloween already! ;) I thought I would share with you some Halloween treats I made. They're great to hand out at Halloween to friends or co-workers and could work for school treats too.

 

I actually made these treats last year, a couple months after giving birth. It was such a crazy time and I'm not quite sure how I managed to make these! However, I didn't find time to post it so wanted to share it with you now. :)

I used the A Muse Studio stamp set, "If You Dare", which I'm giving away a copy of at the end of this post.

Here's a closeup:

I attached a diecut using the fun A Muse web die, which measures 2" wide and looks great on lots of projects. If you have the PTI web dies, I'm sure those would also work great as well. The stamped sentiment was heat embossed with A muse white embossing powder on a diecut tag and then wrapped overtop the thin treat bag. I cut out the stamped spider and dangled him over the web to add some whimsy and fun. It was so much fun making these.

I'm also doing another giveaway!!! Both giveaways are open to everyone including international readers.

Giveaway #1: "If You Dare" A Muse Studio stamp set 

This is the stamp set I used on the project above and it's so fun to stamp with! It is rubber stamps on cling mount and I'm giving away one copy of it.

Giveaway #2: $10 gift certificate to ANY online crafting store of your choice (Papertrey Ink, A Muse Studio, etc.)

All you have to do to enter both giveaways is be a follower of this blog (click "follow me" to the right) and comment on this post! That's it! ;) Also, it is not required, but if you spread the news about this giveaway on your blog or anywhere else, you may enter twice!

You have 2 weeks to enter this time, which is when I get back from my trip. I will choose two winners by random.org on September 10, 2012 and so you must enter by September 9th at 11:59 pm to be eligible.

Thanks as always for stopping by and good luck with the giveaway! Have a wonderful, sunshine-filled day!

Winners of the Giveaway!

Thanks so much for all of you who entered my giveaway. Only a few people entered, so you all had great odds of winning! ;)

It was fun reading your answers where you love to travel. To answer my own question that I asked of you, my favorite place to travel is London (obvious from the last post, ;) and my dream vacation would be Bali or Sydney (or maybe both since they're somewhat close)!

First of all, I'm posting one more giveaway in a few hours so if you don't win this time, you still have another chance!

Without further ado, the winners are:

The winner of Stamp It magazine is random.org #7:

Miriam Prantner!

And the winner of the $10 crafting gift certificate is random.org #5:

Amy!

Big congrats to the winners, and I hope you enjoy your prizes! Please email me by clicking on the email in my sidebar and I'll mail you the goodies.

Remember, if you didn't win this time another giveaway is being posted today so check back by if you get a chance! Have a sunny day!

It's holiday crafting time! :)

I just love the time of year when everyone gears up for holiday crafting! It's so fun to see all the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas things being made!

A Muse Studio has just recently released it's 2012 Holiday catalog filled with lots of stamps, dies, papers and other fun things to help make some of these fun holiday items.

The holiday catalog can be viewed online here: https://www.securedcontent.net/amuse/pdfs/2012ASHolidayCatalog.pdf

Or you can order a catalog from me directly by emailing me at: amuse1303@gmail.com

To help celebrate the launch of the new catalog, I'm offering a free holiday catalog with any purchase over $50 and a free stamp set with a purchase of $150 or more (my choice, but will offer options for you to choose from) through Dec. 31, 2012.

Also, if you place an order over $150 you will also receive $25 of free product too, if you contact me before ordering. To get these free items, simply email me and I'll mail them out to you. If you have any questions, as always I'd be happy to answer them too.

Thanks so much for those who have ordered from me before, it is so appreciated! As a thank you, ALL orders placed during the holiday season will automatically receive a handmade thank you card from me using the new holiday supplies and also a little sampler product to play with too.

All products from the holiday catalog and main catalog are available from my webstore here:

www.amusestudio.com/monicak

Also, there's still time to enter my giveaway here: http://www.craftinginsunshine.com/2012/08/british-invasion-card-and-giveaway.html

British Invasion card and a Giveaway!!

Hope you're all having a nice summer! Did you get a chance to watch any of the Olympics? We really enjoyed watching the Olympics and are going to London in a few days, so thought I'd post a card celebrating London.

I used the A Muse Studio stamp set called, British Invasion. It is my favorite set, and I just love all the architecture icons in the set. London is such an awesome city.

And here's the inside:

The happy birthday icon is a remake of the London tube "mind the gap" icon and the bottom has a piece of washi tape. (I also had to blur out the message that I wrote to the recipient.) 

In late celebration of the Olympics, because it's my birthday next Friday and also because it's been so long since I've done a giveaway, I thought I'd post a new giveaway for you! :)

GIveaway #1: Paper Crafts Stamp It magazine

I recently won an embossing prize package on the Paper Crafts connection blog, and one of the things included in it was a copy of "Stamp It" magazine which I already own! So I thought I would pass it on to one of my blog readers!

To enter this giveaway for the magazine you must be a U.S. resident (International readers, keep reading, there's a giveaway for you too).

Giveaway #2: $10 GCF

I'm also doing a giveaway open to everyone, including international readers. It is a $10 gift certificate to the online craft store of your choice (PTI, A Muse Studio, etc, or anywhere else that sells gift certificates).

To enter either giveaway, you must also be a follower of this blog, so please sign up to the right if you're not yet a follower. It's not required, but would be appreciated if you'd like to spread the word about the giveaway too! In the comments below, specify if you are interested in just one prize, otherwise you'll be entered into both giveaways! Also, in the your comment mention where your favorite place is to travel and where your dream vacation would be! You must enter by this Weds, August 23 at 11:59 pm. I will choose 2 winners by random.org generator on Thursday. So enter quickly, because it will be over in a few days!

Thanks for entering and have a very sunny day! :)

Lovely Layers mini cards

It's been awhile since I've been able to place a PTI order, and on a whim last month,  I added Lovely Layers and the square dies at the last second. And I'm so glad I did! It's been so much fun playing with them, and I've seen the coolest things made with them too. When I was experimenting with them, it seemed like they would make a nice mini card set. So I made several in many colors. The cards are 3-1/4" square.

For the first one, I used the negative diecut of the leaves to frame the flower.

I also made a softer, more feminine version.

The small sentiment is from the Mixed Messages set. So many of those mini sentiments fit perfectly in the flower's center and it's very simple to switch out the sentiment, if you need it for a different occasion. I embossed the entire  base of the card (front and back) using the Simple Stripes IP (love!), which adds a nice texture. Then I matted the inside with a piece of white cardstock, to keep from writing on the texture.

This one is similar to the first, but matted with a different square.

And the last one has a diecut similar to the first one, but I embossed the background with the woodgrain IP.

I added dimension to the leaves using the rock 'n roll technique, graduating to a darker color as I got to the end of the leaves. It helps to make the leaves pop and glow a bit more!

If you know any tips to line up the stamps with the diecut, I'd love to hear it! I had such a hard time lining these up. Here's a couple of tips I learned when using Lovely Layers: if you stamp on the diecuts, mat them from behind with the same color paper. If your stamping isn't exactly centered on the diecut, it somewhat helps to disguise it (for example: white on white). Also, I learned this tip and it makes a huge difference: stamp in versamark ink first, then ink up your stamp. The stickiness helps to hold the ink better so you don't get gaps in your coverage.

I'm entering this set of 4 cards into A Passion for Papertrey's Anything Goes challenge! It's been awhile since I played their challenge, and it's fun to be participating again!

Also, here are some updated photos of Alexander taken today. He's almost 10 months old now. He's got two teeth on the bottom and is getting four new teeth on top. He loves to jump in his jumper and has started to stand on his own too!

Then a few minutes after I took the pictures, I looked over at him and he had passed out in his jumper.

The first time he's done that, haha! Guess he jumped so much he wore himself out. :)

Thanks for taking a look and have a very sunny summer day! :)

Keep Calm and Stamp On

The past few days we've been watching the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration on TV that's been taking place in London. It's been really interesting and inspiring to watch the festivities and to see Britain get excited that she has been Queen for 60 years now! I love London and we travel there each summer on our way to Croatia.

So I thought I'd share a card inspired by England. The stamp set I used is by A Muse Studio and is called "Stamp On". It's so fun to use this set and is a great card to give to fellow crafters. :)

The sentiment I used is a play on words of the popular phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On". That phrase originated from a poster designed during World War II, which was found years later in a British bookshop.

Here's a video, explaining the origin of the phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On". Very interesting history with an inspiring meaning.

I made a few of the cards to have on hand.

The background paper is the A Muse color Lido in the Venetian patterned paper line. The sentiment was heat embossed with A Muse detail white embossing powder, which is a great EP. 

The back of the card was stamped with an image from the A Muse stamp set, "Hand Stamped", which has a bunch of different handmade by stamps. A nice way to finish off a card. :)

There is also another great A Muse stamp called, "Keep Calm", if you like the "Keep Calm and Carry On" sentiment.

Thanks for looking and have a sunshine-filled day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day! :) Just wanted to let you know that during this Memorial Day weekend, A Muse is having a special! If you buy at least $50 worth of any product, you will receive 3 rolls of 10 yard satin ribbon for free! These retail for $6.95 each, so it's a great deal with a total value of $20.85. The colors included are bermuda, cherry and vanilla.

Also, a reminder that the inks are 20% off through the end of this month. So if you buy $50 worth of ink, then you get the 20% discount and 3 rolls of satin ribbon free! There is more about the ink special in this post here: http://www.craftinginsunshine.com/2012/05/muse-studio-inks-20-off.html.

The sale ends this Monday night, May 28th, at 11:59pm. The ink sale ends May 31st at 11:59pm. You do not need a coupon code for either of these sales. They will be automatically added.

If you are interested in the sale, items are available for purchase from my webstore here:

www.amusestudio.com/monicak

In Honor and Memory of Janelle

Many of you know Janelle Hayes from her crafting blog, Show and Tell. For those that don't know, for the past 9 months, she has been fighting an inoperable brain tumor and yesterday I found out the sad news that she has passed away. Janelle was a very sincere and kind friend who touched me and so many others with her kindness. She was also a very talented crafter, whom I admired greatly. I made this set of notecards for her a while ago after she was diagnosed, but never posted them. It seemed fitting to post them now.

I used PTI's Four of a Kind stamp set heat embossed in gold on PTI CS (Hawaiian Shores, Lavender Moon, Aqua Mist and Lemon Tart). I also used the set "Everyday Blessings", which seemed especially appropriate, since Janelle was such a spiritual and caring person.

Here are closeups of the cards.

"Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he smile upon you." Numbers 6:24-25

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13

"Faith is the substance of all things hoped for." Hebrews 11:1

Janelle, you will always be remembered and thanks for blessing so many of our lives with your kind and gentle spirit. You will be greatly missed.