CraftyEngineer

FOR SALE...

Stamps for sale... on the sidebar on the right

ETA 7/24/08 - Updated the lists. Check it out and email me if you're interested!

Color Inspiration #17 - My SON's version - KWerner Style

My 6 year-old son wanted to stamp with me tonight! Dare I say this is a habit, now? I'm not convinced yet... 5.75 years of not wanting to - I still need more convincing. But tonight he wanted to stamp...

So, I asked him of the four colors (Regal Rose, Red Rose, White and Sage Shadow) which he wanted as a card base. He said "GREEN".  Boys. Humpf. So, I gave him the Sage Shadow card base and then let him pick some scraps of the other three. Then I said which stamp would you like to use? Oh, the sheer delight on his face that he could use one of my "work" (i.e. A Muse) stamps! He picked the cute little penguin... although I have no idea why since it's a 100 degrees here. Whatever.

So, here's his rendition of Kristina Werner's color inspiration challenge.

He didn't want any sentiments on it. Just a bunch of penguins. And some of those TWINKLE STICKERS! He's a bit obsessed with those. I mean, in general, not just for stamping!

Well, I think he did a smashing job. AND now he knows I'm posting this tonight. So if you would be so kind to leave him a comment, I'd certainly appreciate it and I know he'd be thrilled!

Thanks so much!   

Color Inspiration #17: TAKE THREE - KWerner Style

One more... I'm telling you this color palette is familiar to me. Although, I don't think Sage Shadow is the green I use with the Rose and Regal Reds.

The other two cards I did for this challenge were more not the A Muse style, I think. But this one, I tried to be more A Muse-y... :)

The eyelets are SU! and are Sage Shadow. Who knew that I had those? Apparently, not me. One day, I will use more of my stash of stuff.

You all know how much I love this image. Her dress just screams to be glittered. Of course, I think next time I use this stamp, I'll glitter her up in a colorful party dress!

Images by A Muse Artstamps
Card stock by Stampin' Up!
Accessories by A Muse (twinkle stickers - clear) and SU! (eyelets)
Copic Original Markers, Quickie Glue Pen, Art Crystal Glitter, Memento Tuxedo (HA!) Black, Crop-a-dile, Cuttlebug

I'll be back with one more... A VERY SPECIAL GUEST ARTIST ;) Hope you join me!

Color Inspiration #17: TAKE TWO - KWerner Style

Okay, I had a couple of "designs" in my head today that I wanted to try with this color scheme.

Here is card #2 for Kristina's color challenge:

I used the new Madiera stamp and embossed it with clear embossing powder for my background, as well as stamped off the regal rose image behind the sentiment.

Just something different.

More designs to come.

Color Inspiration #17 - KWerner Style

These color inspiration challenges are a good exercise for me. Gets me outta my color zone. BUT this week, these are colors I've actually put together before!

SU's Rose Red, Regal Rose, Sage Shadow, and Whisper White.

I was telling Michelle Clark that I did a card (for my Mom's birthday in May 2007!!!) with these colors before... her response... "You have to make a new one!" Yeah, I know. I'm just sayin' that these colors aren't so foreign to me (unlike that pumpkin pie with baby colors last week - SHEESH!).

So, here's my card. I made it in less than 15 minutes yesterday evening.

  All images by A Muse Artstamps (clear Sushi set and Tree stamp)
  Card stock by Stampin' Up!
  Designer Label Punch by  Stampin' Up!
  Copic Original Markers, Spica Clear Glitter Pen
  Clear Embossing Powder, Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
  Regal Rose Ribbon (SU!)

  Have a great day!

Lifesavers.

There are some retired stamps from A Muse that are hot and heavy in demand... you're a lifesaver, ring buoy, and lifeguard chair. I *think* they retired last year just as I was getting on board with A Muse. I thought they were cute and like many of you out there, I didn't get them.

Fast forward to this summer. As I've mentioned a bit, our summer has been less than fun around here. And well, I *needed* those stamps because a few of my dear friends saved me on more than one occasion. And you know how it goes... when you get it in your head that you NEED something, you gotta get it.

So, as many have done, I searched high and low for them. I called many stores across the US, tried all the connections I have (which aren't many btw ;)). Finally, I ended up talking to Stephanie at the Paper Garden in Sacramento. You may have heard of her and her store through Linda or Julie. Both have been there recently teaching A Muse classes. Anyway, Stephanie was super sweet and so very helpful. I explained my situation to her and she sold me her personal stash. THANK YOU STEPHANIE! I hope to get to meet you some day. You rock!

If you got a chance to look at my first video tutorial, this is the card that I showcased. But I didn't really show the card. So here it is...

All images by A Muse Artstamps (retired)
Notecard by A Muse Artstamps
Blue CS (brilliant blue) by Stampin' Up!
A Muse Ribbon
Copic Original Markers
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Stampin' Up Word Window Punch and 1/2" circle punch

Thanks for checking in.

Copic Markers - Lazy Stamper Take Two...

There is some discussion going on over on the Addicts board about inks, paper and Copics. So, I am posting this for that discussion. Okay, you may remember this post I did in January about Copic Markers and what ink to use....

Now, I've revised my "test" to include Memento Inks. I taught a Introduction to Copics class at Memory Depot (here in Austin) in May. I made this chart up for that class. If you're interested in attending an Intro to Copics class at either Memory Depot or Stamp Antonio, be sure to let them know at the store. They are taking names and phone numbers to let you know when the class will be offered again.

Ok, so on to my test...

here were my steps:

1. open ink pad
2. ink up stamp
3. stamp paper
4. close ink pad
5. clean stamp
6. color with yellow copic

* I list my steps only to show you the time I spent between stamping and coloring... NOT much at all.

ADDICTS - Stamp of the Week Challenge

Did you hear that today is the start of our BIRTHDAY PARTY? Yes, it's true, our little group of over 800 A Muse Addicts turns ONE! And we're celebrating in style! If you haven't joined us yet, come do so... you have to register but it's free and we're all inside there having a PARTY!

For the past year, Jennie, has been our challenger. Every week, Jennie challenges all of us with not one, but TWO challenges: there of course is the weekly Friday challenges and then the STAMP OF THE WEEK CHALLENGE on Mondays. She is so incredibly talented. She is the driving force behind our themes for the Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts (VMAA - coming on August 2nd!).

Today is the start of our celebration! We begin with the Stamp of the Week Challenge. And did I mention prizes?? PRIZES!!! Go check out the addicts and play along!

Here is my card for my pick of the stamp of the week... how could I not pick "ROCK STAR"? :)

All images by A Muse Artstamps

Note cards by A Muse Artstamps

Twinkle Stickers by A Muse Artstamps

Thanks for looking...now go play the challenge for yourself!

Birthday Cards!

I am so deeply touched by all of the cards I've received for my birthday this year. I set up a photo album of all the cards I received. Please check it out if you get a second. LOTS of inspiration there... and a bit of purple ;). For those addicts out there, I don't know how Michelle told you about it... she won't tell me, but I know she worked hard to do this for me. So, Michelle, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You're the best!

Thanks go out to:

Amy Hannan
Pamela Fredrickson
Kim Raymunds
Nancy Pope
Rhonda Maynard
Vicki Alberson
Sarah Jay
Kathy Kilbane
Bethann Eckweiler
Adelina Starace
Tinla Woo
Aileen Blackmore
Janice Spry
Connie Heitner
Amy Ybarra
Victoria Fry
Kimberly Linley
Janice Bracht
Tracy Clemente
Dawn Stein
Sharon James
Edye Giordano
Lori Barnett
JoAnn Fannon
Michelle Clark
Jennie Moczan
Novell Eckstrom
Kat Green
Katie Stilwater
Teresa Ehteshami
Elena Shacochis
Jeanne Collins
Susan Nakata
Lara Hoefer Moir

I hope I haven't left anyone off. If I did, please let me know. It, of course, is not intentional!

Thanks so much for making 40 more fun!

My Birthday Present!

So, I don't know if you know many engineers. And even if you don't, you probably know at least one male that likes gadgets. We, stampers, are not too different. We all have our wants of the latest tools out their for paper crafting, don't we? Well, I fall into to the "want-a-new-gadget" category just like the other engineers I know... only, I also have the crafty gadget desire too. Poor DH. :) So for my birthday this year, I requested one of these: 

I have an older Sony Camcorder for those family videos and such. But I wanted a little video camera to keep with me and to be able to make tutorials and stuff. The tutorials... well, that's assuming you care to see any, of course. I've been playing with my new video camera and it's SUPER cool and super easy to use.

Now, don't laugh at me. I made a tutorial. The "what I'm teaching" on this video is readily available all over the web but nonetheless, I thought I'd show it...mainly to test out my new gadget. I would love to hear your feedback on it. I don't like hearing my own voice but that's okay. And the lighting isn't the greatest... so I need to work on that too.

Hope you like it... My very first video tutorial... how to make a bow embellishment:

VMAA TV TIME - SAVE THE DATE!!!

You are cordially invited to attend the third
Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts
on Saturday, August 2nd
at 8pm Central.

If you are not a member of the A Muse Addicts site, join today. It's free and we have LOTS of fun stuff happening there this next week!

Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge.

This week's color inspiration challenge on Kristina's blog is another tough one for me. I think I like doing these for the sheer reason they make me put colors together you would NEVER see me do otherwise. This week, the colors are Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, and Certainly Celery.

I think it's the pumpkin pie that messes me up. It's not one of my colors. So, I did my card. It turned out NOTHING like I had planned. But oh well, sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces.

The sun is Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla. The card base is the Soft Sky.

All images by A Muse

All cardstock by Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping by.

And she turns 40.

40 years ago today, my mother gave birth to a little girl.

Being a mom myself now, I *truly* believe that moms should get a present on their child's birthday. Seriously. They do all the work.

We've had a heck of a summer here and by "heck", I really do mean the other word. My entire life I've marked my birthday as the middle of summer. Well, our summer hasn't really had a chance to start around here and now it's already half over. Earlier this week I decided that the one person I wanted to spend my day with (besides my immediate family, of course) was my mom. So, I did. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to do so.

Somethings I learned in 40 years...
- if your child wants to wear his Spiderman costume to Target, let him
- if your too busy to answer the phone, don't
- the way you greet someone (when they wake up, when they walk in the door, etc), sets the tone for the whole day
- if it is close to meal time, do not discuss major life decisions
- no day but today (musical RENT)
- those that love you are not trying to hurt you
- if you set your attitude to happy, life is much more enjoyable
- no one can make you feel inferior without your consent (Eleanor Roosevelt)

I have to thank so many of you out there for all of the cards, well wishes, and love. You are the best! I'll show you all the cards soon. They are all so beautiful!