confetti by lexi

dessert in the great hall

 

here are two more for the harry potter series that got stuck in my brain.  i started off with the one below, dressing up the great hall for a dessert celebration in honor of gryffindor house.  i thought the colors looked funny, so i started over with a halloween theme instead, which was a little easier to work with.  then i went back and finished off the first--i just couldn't file it in the circular after all that!

 

i found the hogwarts crest online and printed it small.  i'm not sure the design needs it, but i figured i'd put it on one of them since i made two.  just in case the floating chandeliers and tons of desserts don't give it away, it makes it more obvious that it's the great hall!  plus, i'm a bit indecisive today, i guess.  so do you like one better than the other?

:) lexi

p.s.  the apple is the a muse apple dressed up without the stem and leaf and i stretched the original flames on the chandelier into candles.  the table is created by masking off a strip of the card and stamping the wood grain background stamp by all night media and tracing a straight edge to give it a better boundary.  just in case you were curious!

ready for potions!

 

when i was working on my a muse guest designer cards, i had several ideas for a harry potter series.  but i got stuck on the first one and had to move on, so they didn't make it into the package.  tonight i finally made time to work on that card and here it is.  i never had a big picture of what i wanted--just the table, books (sans cup + titles) and potion bottle (poison on shrink plastic!).  the table piece is layered on the inside of the front, so it opens just like a regular card.  the table is built from the small skinny oval and the stick of the broom.  i finally got the idea to have a stone wall background, so i cut the window with a craft knife and used shimmer chalks for the wall as well as the glow of light.  i also used them with my blender pen for the books.  now, all we need is for harry to walk up to the table and get to work!  hopefully i can crank out some of the other ideas in my head this weekend.

it's been a busy week...
:) lexi   

meet jack...

 
                       click here to pull the tab!

here's an advanced look at one of the projects i created for my halloween product review over at craft critique this week.  i thought scoopy's pocket card from the a*muse*a*palooza challenges this summer was a perfect match for my jack card idea. the article is scheduled to post tomorrow, so be sure to check it out along with the other great halloween articles this week and next!  and if you've shared a crafty halloween idea or project on your blog, you still have time to submit a link for the upcoming carnival.  i love checking out all the great ideas that carnival links bring!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

ghoulish eatings!

 

i have covered nuggets with stamped avery labels for so many years now, i can't remember when or where i first learned about it.  and since spooky sweets and holiday treats were introduced by papertrey ink, i now have more options for creating cool labels.  but today, i wanted to show any newbies out there how you do this without those cute little label stamps--don't get me wrong, i own and love them all--but the old way is still very cute!  basically, you just cover your page of labels with whatever images you want.  it's important to stamp them as close together as possible because the white spaces will be more obvious when you separate the labels.  i also like to focus on the center of the label since that is what will be on top of the candy.   (i folded my columns of labels so i didn't have to worry about the patterns mixing.)

here, i chose to use several of the small halloween a muse images and the lots of dots stamp.  i used these images to create lots of fun cards for my a muse guest designer series, and wanted to share something else to create with them since not many people send halloween cards.  this project also qualifies for this week's amuseaddicts challenge to use a stamp you haven't used yet--that would be lots of dots!  so go stamp some chocolate and then smile every time you decide which one to eat, while still keeping a variety in the bowl--yes, i'm weird!

:) lexi

ghosts of halloween past

i thought i'd share a little flashback of halloween invitations today and offer them up as a little inspiration for anyone planning a party this year.  halloween is big fun in our neighborhood and when mignon was in playgroup, a neighbor and i started throwing an annual trick or treat bash for the group and then it kind of exploded into something bigger until she moved away and i took a break from it.  i'll start with the pics and add some more notes below...

   

if you've been reading my blog a while, you might remember that i love the words of an invitation (including and especially, the rsvp!) as much as the images--they really help complete the story in a fun way!  catherine and i used to brainstorm fun words from known phrases, old invitations, online sources, etc. and tweak them to make them work for us.  the stamps are all retired su! i think, but there are lots of cute new images that would work for sure--think a muse!

i created most of these using my word processing program.  i think the last one was probably done in adobe indesign, which is what i use now.  on that one, i drew the bubbling cauldron on the computer and printed it with the words.  when i create these type of invitations, i set up the words with graphics i create if any, and format them exactly how i want them, four to a page, leaving room for whatever i'm stamping.  then after printing and cutting, i stamp and layer.  although i do folded invitations for some things, i create flat ones the most because they're so easy to throw up on a bulletin board and usually use a little less paper.  i also love adding a little teaser on the envelope when possible!

hopefully i can stamp something new for tomorrow!
:) lexi

shhh! don't blow it!

yesterday was one of my closest friends 40th birthday and i helped her husband and sister-in-law throw a surprise party for her--and boy was she surprised!  happy birthday, mich!

   

as always, when i'm throwing a party with a group, i was in charge of invitations and cake, so i thought i'd share them here.  we decided on email invites in the interest of time and secrecy, so i did a jpg to make it more fun and personal.  since i used the "don't blow it!" phrase with the cupcake on the e-vite, i decided to create an over sized cupcake for the cake--complete with an over sized cupcake topper and 40, yes 40 candles!  i just couldn't resist!

 

the topper says "so many candles ... so little cake!"  i love that phrase and it fit quite well!  i told michele we didn't have to light them all, but of course she wanted to go for it.  it took four of us to get them lit--check out that glow!

 

i also created a few extra circles like the cake topper and had them dangling from the chandelier.  michele was wearing one by the end of the party!  and i reduced the same image for personalized confetti--punched with a su! circle punch.

 

i love parties and throwing a surprise party was especially fun.  happy happy mich!  i'm so glad our surprise worked!

:) lexi   

a messy desk + name games

 

i've been saving this picture until the cards sitting in it were posted on linda's blog, which is today in part two of my guest designer series.  be sure to go there and find out how to win my favorite stamp.  gee, i wonder what that would be?! 

anyway, when i was stampin' away for the guest designer gig, my desk got a bit messy and i just had to take a few pics!  ott light on; a muse stamps to the left in empty su! boxes; finished cards and copic markers to the right; more stamps, cards, pretty little papers & twinkle stickers in front (and ribbon at my feet!).  always present of course is caffeine, here in the form of diet coke, and silly tv over on the far right + bits and pieces of clutter everywhere!  i really love my stamping spot.  of course i'd love a bigger version of this one linda posted from a martha stewart email last month--including the photo stylist to clean up after me!  i got that email, too, and thought the same thing.  but it's fun to look and dream!

you're probably overloaded on me today, but i feel bad that i haven't been able to follow through on the name game tagging yet--sorry and thank you nancy!  so here goes and hopefully some will be good for a giggle...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)  fritz volvo 
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)  coffee tollhouse
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)  ldal
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)  yellow monkey
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)  anne new orleans 
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)  dalle 
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”)  the pink margarita
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) joseph prosper 
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)  green tea chocolate 
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names)  edna joseph

some worked, some not so much!  if you feel like playing, copy, paste, fill in your answers and leave a link for me.  and thanks also for the sweet comments on the a muse blog today--it was lots of fun to come home to them after teaching computer lab this morning!

:) lexi

p.s.  i thought i'd point out that yes, my su! grid pad is upside down.  i love working on it, stamping off, testing layouts, spacing, etc.  but i used to hate when the pages curled up from my arm rubbing against it.  the solution was to turn it around so that the padded edge was near my arms.  so simple and now i love my scratch pad again!

i love new stamps...

 

especially new stamps that arrive so fast!  here's a first play with papertrey ink's new set take a bough.  hey, weren't the new releases *christmas* sets?!

so i sat down and started to create something christmas-y but i'm just not ready for christmas right now!  and then it dawned on me to use the bough and ornaments to create a halloween tree!  pottery barn puts seasonal items on sale well before the season is over and i got this really cool tree a couple of years ago at a great bargain, so that was my inspiration.  i usually decorate it with lollipop ghosts and let visitors take them.   it's one of my favorite annual centerpieces!

for my card, i wanted to use the ornament stamps and the making memories page pebbles--i love the two step ornament and the different patterns.  i also want to point out that there is an additional little branch in the set which enabled me to fill out the bough a bit to look more like a tree--nichole is a genius!  i thought the spider from spooky sweets made the perfect filler ornament, especially with the making memories spider web paper.  the webs on the paper gave me the idea to dangle one over the sentiment, also from spooky sweets.  the pot is from green thumb with one of the ornament strips for detail.   i'll have to take a picture of my tree when i decorate this year--it's a pretty close likeness!

enjoy!
:) lexi

p.s. the tree ends up being kind of tall, especially with the pot, so the finished size of this card is 9 x 3.75 and fits into a legal envelope.

desperate anatomy in trees...

a little tv show fun for the amuseaddicts challenge this week!

   
desperate housewives.  inspired by the show opener and the season 2 dvd cover.  i originally wanted to create wisteria lane, but i didn't have the right stamps.  michelle did, though, so check her's out!

   
grey's anatomy.  i didn't have any dr. stamps, so here are meredith's missing panties!  i also didn't have the a muse panties or a bikini, so i made them out of ribbon.

men in trees.  rock star is my man, and he fit on the branch, so i thought it was at least representative of the title.  and marin's always walkin' down the snow plowed street in nice, shiny clothes!

are you ready for a new season?  seriously!

:) lexi

spooky sweets revisited

 

here's the candy from last week with the matching bag.  nichole gave it an honorable mention for this month's guest star stamper over the weekend, so i thought i'd share the full picture here as well.  i had my eye theme on the outside as well as the inside!  i love these little coffee bags.  while i've used it here for the candy in order to showcase several spooky sweets stamps, the bag is lined so it would be perfect for cookies or other treats, too.  and the tab closure is great for keeping the contents fresh.

here's the other card i submitted...

 

i love halloween and it was fun to use an older set, faux ribbon, to create the look of patterned paper on the lower half of my card.  the spiders liked it,too!  thanks again for the 'mention nichole--it's always fun to play with papertrey!

:) lexi

thank you...

 
thank you very much!  i've been wanting to make and post a thank you card since the night after my a muse guest designer intro was posted, but i've been extemely busy with a few printed invitation designs.  (i'll show them eventually, but one of them was so time intensive, i need a little break first!)  anyway, i really appreciate the response to my intro and first round of cards.  so, what better way to say thank you than with my fave the rock star as elvis! 

his outfit is a combination of a white suit and a black & white striped outfit on the official elvis website--i had to go with a black suit because of the doodling to extend the sleeves, bell bottoms and collar.  the striped shirt was the perfect way to disguise the t-shirt and make the jacket stand out. i used my handy stardust pen for a little bling on the suit and mini jewels for bling on the card.  and since i wanted something to be white, i used a white sharpie to make the guitar stand out from the light blue card.  all stamps and paper are a muse + a little hand lettering by me. 

again thank you so much for your sweet comments both here and on linda's blog. and be sure to check back soon for more a muse cards in both places!  i also wanted to point out that if you want to see my previous a muse cards, you can either click on "think a muse" in the categories and get all posts that feature a muse or you can check them out in the new photo album i set up for only a muse designs.

big hugs!
:) lexi

guess who!!!

me, who!  so, what am i hooting about?  -->click here!!!<--

:) lexi

spooky sweets!

 

just playing around with papertrey today.  i absolutely *love* the label stamp and the small pieces in the spooky sweets set.  stamping labels for hershey's nuggets is one of those things that i learned early on and do consistently year after year for a variety of fun reasons.  and these stamps are perfect for this!  usually i stamp random images all over the whole sheet of labels, but i really like how the label stamp gives me different options.  mignon and colleen just had to have a one-eyed chocolate after dinner!

enjoy!
:) lexi

rock star loves football!

   

after the saints card, i had to get the rock star ready for a little college ball too.  first up, my alma mater, the university of texas--go horns go! (insert shaking cowbells)  with a little doodling, he's sporting the standard longhorn t-shirt and boots!  i love how tilting the rock star creates a variety of rockin' poses--this one was perfect for kick off!

 

next up, lsu for david.  although he didn't go there for undergrad, he's been a life-long fan and i'll cheer for them as long as they're not playing ut!  we had a great cottonbowl mixed marriage match up several years ago--texas won!  rock star's t-shirt says lsu on this one--it's easier to read if you know it's there.  and geaux = go in louisiana, especially when your maiden name is breaux!  as always, gotta love rock star--you can dress him up for anything...

rock on!
:) lexi

credits: all stamps, a muse; palette noir and burnt umber ink pads; su! orchid opulence pad; misc. copic and su! markers; pigment liner pen (shirt doodling); sakura glitter and white glaze pens; stickles; marvy circle punch and su! slit punch.

about the football:  i tried the slit punch on a whim for the saint's card because it was still sitting on my desk from another card and was thrilled that it worked so well.  punch it once on a small scrap, then flip it around and punch again.  add white details and voila!  don't ya love it when that happens!

stamp club saturday

 

yesterday was our monthly stamp club meeting at the local scrapbook store--and i finally got to go again after being out of town or going in too many directions the last few months!  we swap atc's on a given theme and this month's theme was food.  dessert is my favorite food group, so i went with this cupcake card.  i love how the tiny a muse cupcake fits so well in the martha stewart starburst punch and the twinkle stickers make the perfect cherry on top!  the making memories adhesive ribbon was a great (and quick!) way to add a little color and reminded me of sprinkles or confetti.

we also do a project and this month kim showed us how to make a card folio out of a folder.  our directions had been to bring patterned paper that would match a primary color since the folders were primary colors.  i packed in a rush and didn't have time to rummage through my papers--i figured i could always buy some there!  but i also brought the latest papertrey ink set beautiful blooms as a back-up.  nichole's images are great for making your own patterned papers and coordinating elements.  so after a half-hearted walk around the store, i ended up doing just that!

 

i was determined to finish the project so my stamping is not perfect!  but i love how i was able to coordinate the pattern piece and focal image perfectly.  as well as create a different matching pattern inside...

 

the two little stamped layers cover the slots where a business card would go and i even created a "handmade by" piece to cover the bar code on the back...

   

what a fun project--now i need to make a card set to put in the pockets and give it away.  thanks kim!

:) lexi

rainbow pancakes

 

this is the no. 1 breakfast request around here, especially when mignon and colleen have friends over.  on sleepover mornings, even if i don't feel like making pancakes, i must--it's expected!  the girls and each guest get to pick their color and whether or not they want chocolate chips in them.  (believe it or not, there are a couple of regulars who *don't* want the chocolate!)  as you can tell by the four colors here, each girly had a guest last night, so they had quite the colorful breakfast.  i also do this for holidays--orange with chocolate chip jack o'lantern faces for halloween; red and green for christmas; purple, green & gold for mardi gras, etc!  i have a big collection of wilton icing colors for my cake decorating that i like to use--vibrant colors, no mixing--but regular old food coloring works great too.  it's really easy to do and the kids love it!  another fun colorful kid breakfast is painted toast.  i'll have to share that one day, too!

:) lexi

game on?

 

i started this card during the first half of last night's game, but by the time i finished the boys were losing pretty badly, so i decided to wait and photograph it during the day and maybe save it for the first home game.  then i got the weekly challenge post on amuseaddicts--game on!--and i decided to post it anyway.  like the pirate ship, i wasn't sure at first what to stamp.  i knew i wanted to do a black and gold/yellow card, but i didn't feel like looking for my su! sports stamps and honestly i wanted to do something different anyway.  then i spotted rock star (he practically lives on my desk!) and the u2/green day song, "the saints are coming" quickly came to mind.  with the awesome energy the saints brought back to our city last year, it became an anthem around here--i'm partial to the live superdome version.  i hope the boys can pick it back up again now that playing the superbowl champs is out of the way!  oh well, check out the saints t-shirt and other gold fan fare rock star is sporting.  i think he's good for a touchdown, don't you?

:) lexi

p.s.  i forgot to point out that the football is punched with my su! slit punch from a scrap of brown card stock--punched once, then put back in backwards and punched again to form the football.  other than that everything is a muse plus my own handwritten sentiment and doodled t-shirt.

you're a hoot!

 

something fun and fairly quick for tonight.  i love all the little owls out there lately and just had to have the a muse one, especially after this branch was released.  what a perfect perching spot!  i wasn't sure what to do for the sentiment, so i did a google search on owl jokes and ended up at the barn owl trust kids' page.  i figured that was a good search to find a play on owl words.  i didn't find a lot, but this jumped out at me right away, so i didn't search for long.  plus i now have a couple of new jokes to throw at the kiddies!  some other phrases that came to mind were "any-hoo..." or "hoot! hoot!"  do you know of any great owl sayings i should use?

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

p.s. a muse note cards, stamps, ribbon & twinkle stickers + palette burnt umber hybrid inkpad and copic and su! markers.

a scoopy card

 

i found myself wanting to stamp a pirate card after last night's post, but i don't have any pirate stamps.  as i sat and thought about how to accomplish this, i remembered this awesome noah's ark card by scoopy--she didn't have an ark stamp!  after fiddling with various pieces and parts, using scoopy's card and the picture of the boat (at the bottom of this post) to guide me, this is what i came up with.  i *loved* her card, so i didn't mess around much with the original concept.  like she did, i embossed the blue portion of the note card with the cuttlebug d'vine swirls folder with my sizzix bigkick and glittered my yellow martha stewart starburst punched sun.  the body of the boat is a punched circle of a red striped a muse note card with the top trimmed off.  and the sails, free-hand cut pieces of black striped pretty little papers, edged with black by dragging them across the ink pad.  i also cut the flag free-hand out of black card stock.  the only stamping: the skull and cross bones selectively inked from the poison stamp and the dotted lines from the clear personal stationery set, both also a muse.  i drew the mast with a brown zig marker and the rigging with a fine black pigment liner.  who says you can't make a pirate card without any pirate stamps?!  thanks for the inspiration, scoopy!

:) lexi

a pirate's life

the pirate cruise was so much fun, i just had to share...

the new pirates had to seize the ship from the grown-ups,

 
 

swab the deck,

 

and fight amongst themselves.

 

they fired off the cannon,

 

found their booty on the buoy & heave-ho'd it in,

 

and then split the loot.

 

which called for a celebration, complete with music...

 

and dancing...

and tattoos!

 
 

honor among thieves, every pirate must take an oath.

 

once a pirate, always a pirate--your necklace is your badge!

 

aye mateys!
:) lexi

p.s. back at home, back to school & back to stamping tomorrow...  thanks for stopping by!