confetti

messages from mars!

how about a few visitors from outer space today?  i received a request recently for personalized alien notecards and little green men with lots of eyes immediately popped into my head.  of course, they needed a flying saucer style space ship, too!  i hope james enjoys writing notes on them!

:) lexi

more mommy notes

here's another recent mommy note design, this time for the mom of two girls.  pink was to be the main color and she requested a flower for big sis, and a bee for little sis, bea!  how perfect is that?!

:) lexi

pink princess

cakes have been one of the things keeping me busy lately.  here's a pink princess one from this past weekend for a little girl turning four.  she saw the cake in a book or magazine and fell in love.  and i was happy to bring it to life for her.  every little girl needs at least one pink princess cake in her life!

:) lexi

paper games

i couldn't resist posting another picture of the fun pads i highlighted in my craft critique article yesterday--these are some of my favorites!  i also wanted to share that if you only think you'll make a few pads here and there, you can buy just the padding compound and create your own makeshift press to hold your papers together while they dry.  while the pad-it x-press is a great tool, the cost and size might not be worth it unless you plan to make a lot of pads.  i sell mine as well as make them for gifts, so for me, it's more than paid for itself.  in fact, if you want one of my designs rather than recreating the wheel, you can always email me or check out my etsy shop to see what i have on hand!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

pad-it x-press ~ craft critique

i get a lot of questions about how i make notepads, so when i was looking around my studio for something to review for craft critique, i decided to write about my padding tool, the ellison pad-it x-press.  the press, along with the padding compound that came in the kit, make pads like the ones above easy to produce.  notepads make such great gifts!  click here to read all about the pad-it x-press and see a few more examples of the pads i make...

enjoy!
:) lexi

the date is set!

when my soon-to-be-new-sister-in-law asked if i could make a card for her to send to her potential bridesmaids to ask them to be a part of her special day, i immediately thought of this card from last spring.  she loved it too, so i reworked it just a bit, adding the perfect words to make her request.  i love when i can re-use a favorite design for a something new!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

it's larry & bob!

if you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile, if you like to waltz with potatoes up and down the grocery aisle, have i got a cake for you!  a veggie tales cake--another fun one...

yum!
:) lexi

school shopping bazaar

we had a shopping event at school yesterday along with a picnic and the opening of the book fair--lots of fun!  i packaged up a variety of hand stamped cards and created a few notepads for it, and still have a few available.  so if you see something in the basket that you want (other than my dolly helper!), just let me know...

:) lexi

monster cakes!

it's all about halloween these days!  my 8yo was "vip" at school this week and decided on monster cupcakes for her special snack to match the season.  so the girls and i got creative with candy and icing!  i love looking at candy in different ways and putting the silly-scary faces together, trying to make each one unique.  we're actually making them again tonight for a cake walk tomorrow!

yum!
:) lexi

ek success ~ craft critique

in addition to being a muse release day--yay!--i also have an article up on craft critique today.  we were given a variety of products from ek success to play with and my box was all about halloween!  of course, i had to throw in some of my favorite halloween sentiments from a muse to pull it all together and i thought i'd share a couple of those here, too...

be sure to click over to craft critique and read the whole review.  once i started creating, it was hard to stop!   plus, there's a chance to win an ek success slim line medium bats punch!  in fact, there are several articles in the series, each with a chance to win something fun...

tgif!!
:) lexi

amuse-bouche :: pink woodgrain!

welcome to release day--i hope the amuse-bouche have done their job of whetting your appetite for the main course of new a muse goodies!  i had to pull out modern wood block again and stamp it in pink this time.  the crisp woodgrain pattern is so cool and i love the idea of creating different wood colors. i thought the new fancy alpha set coordinated nicely with the wood, so i stamped hi with it.  one of the nice things about a clear alpha set is that you can build your word on an acrylic block and see right through it for perfect placement.  this is one of my favorite font styles, and with the versatility of clear stamping, i know i will reach for it often.  the acorn from day one was just the right image to balance the sentiment and the ribbon was the perfect finishing touch!  don't forget to check for more inspiring ideas on the a muse news and the blogs of my fellow muses.  and then it's your turn--fill up your shopping cart with new stamps, pearls, and shimmer couture papers and get busy...

happy shopping & stamping!
:) lexi

amuse-bouche :: chrysanthemum thanks

it's day four of amuse-bouche, well late in day four--but better late than never, right?!  today i have a new flower for you, chrysanthemum open.  and as the name implies, there's another chrysanthemum and it's solid.  flowers are great for so many occasions and both versions of this one are so pretty!  this thank you sentiment runs a close second to big thanks from yesterday.  i love the mix of fonts and the dots--it's just so cool!  and we can't forget the new shimmer couture color--pink!  you've probably already made the rounds today, but if not, don't forget to check out the a muse news and all the other usual suspects for more sweet treats...

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

amuse-bouche :: big thanks

welcome to day three of tasty a muse appe-teasers!  today, we're adding lime, robin's egg & ocean to the shimmer couture color line-up. the full sheets, with white on the back, are perfect for creating card bases of various shapes and sizes, and a square of espresso was just what this design needed!  big thanks is definitely one of my new favorite sentiments--i've always loved big, clean, & simple!  here, it is perfect on a band of lime, paired with a few punched butterflies in robin's egg damask, each accented with a triple strip of mini blue twinkle stickers--now available in a blue pack!!  the damask design was great for punching symmetrical butterflies, too! i hope you're enjoying the delicious amuse-bouche this week.  there's still more to come, so stay tuned to the a muse news blog, the muses' blogs, and, of course, here...

enjoy!
:) lexi

amuse-bouche :: please join us!

it's day two of tasty amuse-bouche and a muse is serving up a harvest feast!  more of the new shimmer couture paper--apple and mango, in both solid and damask.  and more new stamps--modern wood block, flatware, and a great new sentiment.  every feast needs flatware!  and how cool will it be to stamp blocks of woodgrain in any color you want?!  i cut a small snippet of it here for my sentiment, but the image is a bit bigger.  it's definitely one of my new faves!  don't forget stay tuned to the a muse news blog and those of my fellow muses for more treats to feast your eyes on...

'til tomorrow!
:) lexi

amuse-bouche :: autumn elegance

sorry i've been mia--i continue to be busy catching up and keeping up--but it's amuse-bouche time again and i just can't stay away!  there are some really delicious new a muse pretties on their way to stores now and to the web store soon, starting with this luscious new paper, the shimmer couture collection.  i tried to capture the sparkle on film, but you really have to see it in person.  and if new paper and new stamps weren't enough, how about a new creative candy--pretty pearls, shown above in chocolate!  i had to go big and use a lot of them to create a nice textured acorn.  like the twinkles, there are so many uses for these little baubles!  if you haven't already, be sure to check out the a muse news blog and my fellow muses' blogs for more tasty autumn treats...

happy snacking!
:) lexi