Hello!  Here’s a little Valentine quickie for ya!  I have been in a bit of a rut the last few weeks.  I have lots of new goodies, and have even had some time to stamp, but I sit down……and nothing.   I won’t tell you how long I fiddled with this card, way too long!   Also, the picture isn’t great, I snapped it with my phone in the dreary dark Seattle afternoon.  We’re supposed to get a lot of snow tonight, cross your fingers that I’ll be sledding with the kids tomorrow!

Design yammerings:  I started with just kraft, light pink, and brown.  It was a little blah, so I added the touches of red and it helped a lot.  I used three red hearts and placed them to form a triangle, because odd numbers and triangles are pleasing to the eye.

I used a couple of dies here, a cute mini envelope by A Muse Studio, and Heart Canopy by Memory Box.  The ribbon is by Martha Stewart and the inks are A Muse Studio.  The card base is Posh Natural White Linen.  That paper is thoroughly enjoyable and a new fave of mine.  ;)

If you’ve been taking the Clean and Simple card classes, let me know how you’re enjoying it.  I have been loving it so far!  I’ve picked up so many great tips!  If you missed the beginning, not to worry, you can sign up any time and have lifetime access to everything.

Thanks for stopping by!

JILL GRACE!

I had to laugh when I realized Jill was the winner.  Everybody knows I LOVE me some Jill, and she sent me the most gorgeous Christmas card this year,  but I promise that there wasn’t any shady business with the winner selection process! 

Congrats, Jill, enjoy the class!

Have you read about this upcoming class yet?   See above there, where it says “& Friends”?  Well…get this……I AM A FRIEND.  I KNOW!  Lol!  These card classes are always excellent, I hope you’re signing up!

About this class:

Join Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire and special guest teacher Julie Ebersole for Clean & Simple Card Making!

In this class we aim to take the mystery out of creating a minimalist card that looks “complete,” and wow you with numerous tips and techniques for clean and simple cards!  This upbeat and inspirational class will include nine fabulous guest artists (including me!), discounts to our favorite retailers, giveaways and a few surprises along the way!  Clean and Simple Card Making will feature over 25 new card ideas and over 15 instructional videos.  What better way to start the new year than with a wealth of new ideas to add to your card making arsenal and simplify your creations!

Class is January 9-23, 2012, but class materials (videos, pdfs, etc.) will be accessible for a lifetime.

You can see an intro video, read all the class details, and register here.

Giveaway time!

Leave me a comment on this post by December 26th and I’ll randomly choose one winner to receive the class for free!

I used one of my favorite sets from the new A Muse Studio Holiday Catalog, it’s called Fresh Foliage.   Cute, right?

I stamped the leaves in french roast, cranberry, and pumpkin, then outlined each with an E41 (pearl white) copic marker.  Outlining it just made each one pop, I love the effect!

The cardstock is also a new color, pebble.  I am IN LOVE.  It’s my new go-to neutral, I can’t even keep it stocked up because I’m using it so fast!

Ok, enough gushing about pebble, keep hopping!    NEXT STOP ——>  The lovely and talented Kristen Watson!

Studio Stampers Blog
http://www.studiostampers.com

YOU ARE HERE
http://www.cleanandsimplecards.com

Kristen Watson
http://branchandsky.blogspot.com

Kathy Hatzke
www.kathatstamps.blogspot.com

Karen Crisp
www.papernstamps.blogspot.com

Kari Bell
www.karikards.blogspot.com

Lisa Wakabayashi
http://dragonfliesandcats.blogspot.com/

Veronica Zalis
http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/

Lisa Chapman
http://www.piesafepapergoods.blogspot.com

Lianna Vigil
http://llamatales.blogspot.com/

Angie Schellenberg
www.gypsypaperie.blogspot.com

PRIZE!  A random comment will be chosen from the blogs listed and the winner will receive a sampler of all of the A Muse Studio button colors!  You need these buttons in your life, so comment on every blog to increase your chances of winning! 

Jennifer and Susan took a little summer hiatus from their awesome One Layer Wednesday challenges, but they’re back this week and I am thrilled not only to play along, but sponsor the prize!

The theme is baby cards.   I went a little non-traditional for a baby, but babies are both stinkin’ and cute, am I right?    hehe!  It’s fun to use these little background stamps on one layer cards.  They add another layer, more color, and help anchor your images so they’re not just floating in space.

I hope you’ll play along!  I put together a prize package that I think you’ll love, check out the challenge details and the prize on Jennifer’s blog!

The holiday catalog just launched yesterday, so I decided to share a card made with all new goodies!

New products used on this card:

Pebble cardstock & ink - A beautiful, must-have neutral!

New heart dies and felt!

This adorable set called Tweet Heart:

One random comment will be selected from one of the blogs on the blog hop and the winner will receive a bag of mixed A Muse Studio buttons!  Leave comments on all of the blogs for more chances to win!

————>     Thanks for stopping by, now hop over to Kathy’s Blog!

Krystie Hersch http://www.cleanandsimplecards.com/

KathyHatzke  http://www.kathatstamps.blogspot.com/

Karen Crisp  http://www.papernstamps.blogspot.com/

Kari Bell  http://karikards.blogspot.com/

Lianna Vigil  http://llamatales.blogspot.com/

Kellie Maggio  http://iscrapyouscrap.blogspot.com/

Angela Schellenberg  http://gypsypaperie.blogspot.com/

Veronica Zalis  http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/

Ok, on to my post…..

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Happy Saturday!  Did you happen to stop by the Studio Stampers blog this week?  Kari Bell gave us an awesome inspiration challenge!

Here’s the card that I made:

I started with a leafy branch from the set Wild Rose.  I wanted to capture that pretty peachy-pink blossom, so I colored some meadow mix flowers with Copic marker.  There is a champagne glass in the picture, so I used clear twinkle stickers to capture the look of glass, I colored them using the same pink Copic.

The wood box is a big element in the photo, so I used a piece of latte’ woodgrain paper and twine to bring a little bit of a rustic look.  I wanted to use a french sentiment, since the writing on the box is in french.  The “Merci” from Ooh La La was perfect!

This is why I love inspiration challenges so much…I would have never put these together on my own.  Challenges really help you branch out (no pun intended!) and try new combinations.  I’m very pleased with how this turned out.

I do wish the picture was better.  I had to contend with this the whole time I was photographing it:

Tuffy kept sticking his face in the frame and yelling “CHEEEE!”  The joys of two year olds. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

We focus on a different team member each week.  They bring you a challenge and there are lots of great samples to inspire you.  I hope you’ll take a moment to play along!

The lovely and talented Ronnie Zalis is our first featured team member.  She picked a gorgeous inspiration photo, and I had a great time playing her challenge yesterday!

I drew inspiration from the pretty drink at the top, pink and green, and polka-dots!  I used one of the stamp sets that’s on sale right now, Tini Time.

Sets:  Tini Time, Polka-Dot Patterns

Ink:  slate, blush, sage, currant, YG03, G20, C00

Paper:  sugar, currant, blush

I made this for my sweet friend, Jill Grace.  She was working on her thesis, and asked several of us to guest blog for her.  I was happy to help!  I wasn’t able to post this when I was with blogger, it was down for weeks and wouldn’t let me, but I can bring it to you now!

It’s good timing, too, because I used products that just went on sale today!  A Muse Studio introduced a new feature called A Muse Studio Spotlight.  Five stamp sets are 10% off, and a coordinating assorted pack of paper from June 15th to July 15th.   See the list of sets and projects made with them here.

The set that I used above is called Keep Swimmin’:

In non-crafty news, my sweet little Elsa graduated from preschool yesterday!  Eek, I can’t believe I have a kid in elementary school now!  To kick off summer vacation, we’re headed to the zoo today.  Moms- are you ready to have your kids home all summer?  It sounds good in June, but talk to me in August.  hehe!

My A Muse Studio team is back this month with another fun blog hop!

My card is another design that I used as a make and take for a recent stamp show.   Everything single thing used here, images, paper, ink, embellishments, is from the starter kit!

Oh, and I didn’t sew on the card, that’s a stamp.   Thanks again to Julie Ebersole, a couple of her cards inspired this design.  I should probably just put that as part of my siggy, since I seem to say it on every post!

If you’re a feeblitz subscriber, you’ve missed some posts.  I moved my blog to a new host and changed the URL, so it took me a while to move all my peeps with me.  I hope you’re all back now!

Leave comments as you hop for a chance to win a sampler of A Muse Studio pattern papers!  I’ll select a random winner from one of the blogs, so comment on each blog to increase your chances of winning.

Hop over to Lianna’s blog next  —>  Llama Tales

Krystie Hersch – You Are Here
Lianna Vigil  http://llamatales.blogspot.com/
Kellie Maggio  http://iscrapyouscrap.blogspot.com/
Kari Bell http://karikards.blogspot.com
Kristen Watson  http://branchandsky.blogspot.com
Veronica Zalis  http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com
Kathy Hatzke  http://www.kathatstamps.blogspot.com
Kelly Spivey  http://www.southpawpaperarts.com
Lisa Wakabayashi http://dragonfliesandcats.blogspot.com
Karen Crisp http://www.papernstamps.blogspot.com
Kristie Hartfeil  http://krismybliss.wordpress.com
Angela Schellenberg  http://gypsypaperie.blogspot.com
Heather Wroe  http://wroedeo.blogspot.com

My card used all products from the  A Muse Studio starter kit:

Deluxe Kit

Thanks for looking!