confetti by lexi

you da' grad!

when i was looking for challenges the other day, i stumbled upon the new cas-ual fridays challenge blog - weekly challenges devoted to clean and simple design.  that's what i'm all about, so of course i had to make time to play!  this week's theme is graduation (CFC4), so i took a break from the summer sun (school is so last week around here!) to make a graduation card.  i decided to have a little fun and go with a playful card - maybe for a college, or even a high school, guy.  i was originally thinking of something more traditional, but when i started looking through my stamps, the new a muse|studio foiled again set jumped out at me and everything just fell into place.  square scrap, brad & tassle, mustache and sentiment - clean and simple and oh so cute!!

:) lexi

chevron chic

after stamping the simple chevron flower card last week, i found the moxie fab chevron chic challenge, and had to play along there too - i love chevrons!!  i'm not sure how "innovative" my designs are, but the papertrey ink chevron stripes stamp set is extremely innovative to begin with.  i love that there are different line styles and widths that you can stamp individually or use to build a more complex pattern.  these three lines were already on my acrylic block from the last project and as i started building a multi-colored background, it reminded me of a vintage afghan - chevrons plus vintage, even better!  hello from the very first papertrey ink set was the perfect small sentiment, allowing the chevron stripes to take center stage.  i know i'll be making this card again in different colors!  the next best part of creating it was when i trimmed the larger pattern piece to size.  the resulting sliver was a more simple chevron insignia type emblem, like you might see on a military uniform.  i almost threw it away, but then inspiration hit and the second card came to life.  it pays to let the scraps hang around for a while!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

papertrey may blog hop challenge

today, i decided i needed to stamp, so i went looking for a fun challenge.  luckily, i didn't have to look very far before i came across the papertrey may blog hop, challenging readers to showcase their favorite take on flowers.  my favorite take on pretty much anything is clean and simple and i've been bitten by the chevron bug, so here is the result -  a simple chevron flower of gratitude.  with only two days left of school, gratitude is definitely the word of the week as we say thank you and good bye 'til next year!

enjoy!
:) lexi

groovy bird-day!

as promised, i have another "right now" card with one of my favorite stamps from the a*muse*a*palooza release.  groovy partridge is just so... groovy!  and such a groovy image needs a groovy layout and fun colors to go with.  once i decided on "groovy punched squares" and just the right colors, i thought they needed a little tone-on-tone pattern, so i stamped them--the orange with tin plate, the green with eucalyptus (stamped a few times).  for perfect placement, i stamped first, punched after.  i paper pieced the partridge to match the sentiment band, and added each of the other colors to the stripe detail and tail feathers with copics.  the end result is clean and graphic--perfect for the card style clean and graphic challenge in the moxie fab world.  if clean and graphic is your thing, too, you have until august 2nd to play!  and because i didn't use any patterned paper or embellishments (and kind of made my own!), this card is perfect for a splitcoast "dare to get dirty" challenge just faux you.  it's been a long time since i've been able to play challenges there or anywhere, and i miss them.  hopefully i can start adding them into my routine a bit more...

:) lexi

a*muse*a*palooza pj party!

tonight was the a*muse*a*palooza pajama party and i did it!  four cards, thirty minutes each.  i tried to join in the fun chatting, but had to stop and focus to get it done!  so here they are...

jennie's theme:  *hot* ~ and since i finally saw eclipse last night, this card immediately came to mind because, "let's face it, i'm hotter than you."  i'm totally team edward, but i love that line!

donna's theme:  *beach party* ~ a camp fire on the beach is the perfect place to start a party!

michelle m.'s theme:  *water* ~ a muse has so many great water-y shades of paper and images that can jump right in!

glenda's theme:  *summer food or beverage* ~ let's get together for something apple green!  bottoms up!

it's been a while since i stamped four cards in two hours just for fun.  hopefully i can do a better job of multitasking next time...

'night!
:) lexi

seeing spots

it's the final countdown--a*muse*a*palooza is almost here!!  the theme this week is spots, so today, i have a quick card for ap challenge #4: spots!  i thought it was a perfect time to pull out one of my old favorite mod dot note cards and now i'm definitely seeing spots.  way back when i started falling in love with a muse images, i made a few cards similar to this.  in fact, here's one from a*muse*a*palooza '07, think pink!  i decided to make this version all about enjoying the summer ride, using images from the recent summer fun release.  i love them all, so it was fun to use so many at one time!  i hope you'll a muse yourself with spots, too for a chance to win, and for another chance, be sure to play this week's game--can you spot the difference?  it's also your last chance to participate in the badge contest.  of course, if you're lucky enough to live near an a muse selling shop, you'll be able to continue the fun in person.  all of the instructors are cutting and kitting as i type and have lots of fun planned!  if you're stuck without a shop like me, stay tuned to the a muse blog for more online fun and sneak peeks, too!  and soon, it will be christmas in july for everyone...

happy stamping!
:) lexi

p.s.  if you love the mod dots note cards, head over to a muse--i "spotted" them on the sale pages!

true love twilight style!

another week of a*muse*a*palooza countdown fun brings ap challenge #3: twilight!  can you tell?!  i don't own several stamps that i wanted to use for this challenge, so i've been thinking and thinking the last few days what to do.  i was so stuck on the stamps i didn't have that i was having a hard time coming up with something else, but finally this clicked.  it's super simple, but so are the book covers that inspired it.  i'm really happy with the outcome!  there's still time to create your own twilight inspired cards--how does the word "twilight" inspire you?--and there's also a *little* time left to play this week's game, where's eddie?  click, play, and possibly win!!

happy stamping!
:) lexi

it's all about the ribbon!

i've been busy stamping behind the scenes and working on orders lately, but i managed to find time to create a card inspired by ribbon for this week's a*muse*a*palooza challenge #2: ribbon!  as soon as i saw that ribbon was the challenge, i thought of the rooster card i did last summer and wanted to create a new version of it.  i love all a muse ribbon, but since yellow is my favorite color, i'm pretty partial to this one--and it makes such a fun sun!

so have you created with ribbon for the ap challenge #2 yet?  you have until sunday night, so get stamping!  you can also still participate in the badge contest, and play this week's game--how many yards of ribbon?  so much fun as the countdown to a*muse*a*palooza continues...

:) lexi

feeling square!

the countdown to a*muse*a*palooza 2009 is here!  it's the 4th annual of this fun a muse event and i've actually participated every year since surfing into the countown for the very first one.  of course, back then, i never imagined i'd be on the a muse design team!  there will be lots of fun & games over the next few weeks as we get closer to the big party in july.  my favorite is the weekly challenges, so i stole a few minutes today to stamp something for ap challenge #1: square!  having such an open ended challenge was perfect, because i've had this idea forming every time i've walked by my girls on the computer.  they've been playing club penguin quite a bit, and this week is "adventure party" in penguin land.  palm trees, surf boards, and other summer island objects have popped up all over the ice, which made me think of pairing old faves baby penguin and igloo with open palm tree, surfboard, and sun from the recent summer fun release.  and "square" gave me the perfect backdrop--an older square a muse card, with square layers behind the cool summer scene.  i think it's a little cluttered, but as mignon said, so is club penguin!  and since she's the expert on that, i didn't take anything away.  so go play with squares--i can't wait to see the different ideas the a muse fans are sure to come up with.  and don't forget to check back daily for more fun on the a muse news blog--the badge contest and secret squares game are going on now...

have fun!
:) lexi

paper crafts blog tour

in honor of creating keepsakes/paper crafts new online store and the latest edition of paper crafts gourmet available for pre-order and coming soon, i have a project and recipe from pc pro alisa bangerter to share.  looks yummy and cute!

Enjoy Halloween Tag
Designer: Alisa Bangerter

SUPPLIES: Cardstock: (ivory) Dye ink: (Black) Stewart Superior Corp.; (Summer Sun) Stampin' Up! Specialty ink: (Mango Lemonade color wash) Stewart Superior Corp. Color medium: (black chalk) Craf-T Products Accents: (black brads) Making Memories; (chipboard bat, moon) Melissa Frances Fibers: (black striped ribbon) Pebbles Inc. Font: (Black Family) www.dafont.com Adhesive: (foam tape) Finished size: 3" x 4 1/2"

1 Make tag from cardstock. 2 Crumple tag and smooth out. Spray edges with color wash; let dry. Apply chalk. 3 Ink chipboard moon; let dry. Chalk edges and adhere. 4 Ink chipboard bat; let dry. Adhere with foam tape. 5 Print sentiment on cardstock; trim and tear edges. Chalk edges and adhere with foam tape. Attach brads. Attach ribbon with brad.

Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits
by Alisa Bangerter

This is a perfect recipe to pull out if you are short on time because there is no rolling or cutting. The cheese and garlic add extra kick to a plain biscuit, and kids love them. They are the perfect accompaniment to serve with soups or stews, and are great served with a salad.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 1/4 c. milk
Chives (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is fine. Add cheese and mix well. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chopped dried or fresh chives if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 minutes.

looks like a great project and a great magazine, too!!

:) lexi

39 for the 1st time!

it's my birthday today and i'm in austin to pick up mignon from camp.  isn't this a cute cake?  geeta and fellow austin amuseaddict rae ann planned a shoebox swap for while i was here and they surprised me with a cake and treats!  last year when i was on my way to camp, i emailed geeta about austin stamp stores and we realized we went to the university of texas at the same time--small world!  it was great to actually meet her this year along with the other austin addicts.  everyone designed beautiful cards for us to make and we almost all used different stamps!  i'll share the rest of my pictures when i get home, but i thought this one should be posted today!  the amuseaddicts do birthdays well--here are a few cards sent by the brak (birthday random acts of kindness) group...

these came throughout the week--fun stamped mail is the best!  i'll have to come back later with who made the cards, but i wanted to at least get them posted for now--thanks guys!

:) lexi

yellow warms my heart

 

heather at one little spark decided to start a challenge feature on her blog called share your spark fridays.  i don't always have time to play every challenge i want to and it's not even friday anymore, but when i saw that her first challenge was to use yellow, i just *had* to make time to play.  yellow is my favorite color!!  it's funny, because i don't use it in stamping much, but my studio is yellow and i'm drawn to it all the time.  in fact, i picked up this paint card at lowe's last week as a potential inspiration piece--before heather's challenge and i wasn't even there to look at paint!

 

when i picked it up, i knew right away that i would use my saltbox studio flower basket to mimic the table cloth.  then, while i was working on it, other elements of the pictures started taking shape in my design.  the punched grid offered the hint of a window and the perfect touch of white, the diamonds from the floor became my "table" in the form of the a muse cottage brown argyle note card strip, and the straight line of the brown edging on the rug inspired me to stamp the sentiment in brown and include the dotted line on either side of it.  maybe it's the yellow, maybe it's how it all came together, but i'm just so excited about this card!

thanks heather!
:) lexi

ewe hoo, carole! i want to play...

just when i thought i needed to take a break from stamping sheep, i came across carole's post on being full of sheep and i just had to create my own saltbox version of "the diana sweater" she posted!  my black sheep is jumping right in to find his place in the mix.  i love the simple color scheme of red, black and white and the sweater provided such fun inspiration and memories.  i, too, adored princess diana and loved to see what she was wearing and where she was going--it was definitely part of being a young tween/teen in the early eighties.  thanks carole!  and i hope that sweater comes back in style for you...

:) lexi

play time!

well, not really, but i did manage to squeeze in a little bit of play time!  and since i was tagged by geeta and needed to play that, i thought i'd make playing the subject of my card.  i was also working on homework for julie's class on simply great card design at my creative classroom.  for the next week, we are to find inspiration and sketch ideas and notes based on it.  i'm not so much of a sketch girl, so i skipped ahead to the finished card!  but my grid pad has lots of notes and practice stamping on it--do you think that counts?  my inspiration for this card is the way these two clear stamps from the saltbox studio are positioned in the cd case, with the jumping one above the standing one.  i didn't place them that way on purpose, but it makes me think of playing leap frog every time i open the case, so i finally made it happen.  *and* i hand wrote the word play, so that makes it work for the amuseaddicts weekly challenge.  gotta love a three-fer!

now, for the current game of tag.  it's pretty much the same words i had to write about when i was a muse guest designer last september (posted here), but i went ahead and wrote about them again for the game--a little shorter to the point this go 'round.  as for who to tag?  how about you!

Stamping style -  clean and simple
Inspiration - everywhere--nature, magazines, shopping, etc.
Color - yellow's my fave, but i love 'em all
Work space - little & messy, but all mine!
Perfect day - having time to play
First job – teaching pre-k
Wildest dream – to travel around the world
Family – very girly--poor david!
Beverage - iced coffee, diet coke, margarita
Biggest challenge - going to bed on time & then waking up in the morning!

happy stamping...
:) lexi

p.s.  the sheep are from the saltbox studio, let's and the doodled scallop are a muse, and happy day is elzybells.

hello spring

another quick post today!  i've been busy working on a tool review for craft critique, so i only have a card from that to share.  all stamps are from the saltbox studio; paper, ribbon and twinkle stickers from a muse.  surprisingly, i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've inked up this basket!  as for the article, you'll have to wait until it's posted to see what it's about.  meanwhile, there is a lot of great info there from our reporters who attended cha--it's so fun to read about all the new goodies coming out and plan future purchases!

I also want to say a big thank you to rhonda for awarding me the excellent blogger award--she's quite the excellent blogger herself!  if you're looking for more, check out a few of the "people to read" linked on the right...

happy blog-hopping!
:) lexi

oh happy day!

 

sorry, no stamping today--i was distracted by a little sickie home from school *and* my new laptop is here--isn't she pretty?!  so i've been busy setting it up, transferring software, figuring out new features, etc. while hanging out with mignon.  since there was never a solid diagnosis on my problems, i was advised not to completely transfer my user settings from the old computer, so it's taking a little more time than it could have.  but that's okay because, finally, no more shut-downs!  and my adobe software seems to be working properly again.  seriously, that was taking so much time these last few weeks, especially with the saltbox studio release.  i was using the sick laptop, a slow desktop and my iphone to keep up--and a lot of restarting, waiting and a little retyping, too.  i will be even more excited when i finally get caught up on *everything* again...

:) lexi

 
p.s.  i keep forgetting to say a big thank you to tracy clemente at eat, sleep, stamp for giving me this sweet award!  so many blogs make my day that i just can't pick ten, especially now that the award has traveled a bunch--pick a few from my "people to read" list and you'll have your day made, too!  :)

nearing the end!

 

this last week has been so very busy with stuff like this.  printing, cutting, folding, stamping, etc. etc.  i finally feel like i'm nearing the end a little.  so in honor of that, i thought i'd play the recent tag game i was hit with--thanks jen and erika!  i'm supposed to share 7 random facts about myself and since i've done this one before, i thought i'd focus on now...

1. i have made almost 800 christmas cards recently, with 100 more to go.
2. that's not counting mine--hopefully by friday!?
3. in the last three weeks i've also created a handful of other invitations--people still have birthdays and parties this time of year!--as well as notepads, stationery and stickers--great gifts to give!
4. i've been going to bed around 2:00 or 3:00 every morning.
5. my tree is up and keeps me company!
6. my shopping is not all done.
7. but, even with all that, i still love christmas!

and the countdown continues--7 days to go...
:) lexi

p.s. if you'd like to be tagged, let me know and i'll be happy to pass it on!

and the winner is...

here he is in all his glory!  when i counted, i got 17... but, i didn't even think of the fact that i used the word *cards* and one of the designs was a *mini-book* until it was mentioned in the comments!!!  so for that reason, both 16 and 17 were counted as correct.  for those of you who missed one rather than leaving off the book, you got lucky!  now, on to the random winner...

linda ss!!!

who covered her bases and said both!  congrats linda!  send me your address and i'll get your very own rock star in the mail!

to everyone, thanks for playing along!  i wish i had one for all of you.  definitely think about adding rock star to your next a muse order.  i've had a lot more fun with him than i ever thought i would--you really can dress him up for anything!  and i'm sure he'll make an appearance here from time to time if you need a little inspiration!

thanks again ~ you rock!
:) lexi

 

penguin surfing + another chance to win!

 

                            rock star, rock star...
            how do i love thee?  let me count the ways!

linda posted the "lexi-winners" today--congrats to mary, pegg and teresa who now have a chance to fall in love with rock star too!  i hope i get to see what they create with him!  and, again, thank you so much to everyone for the sweet comments you left on my guest designer posts over there--they really made me smile!

so, how about one more chance to win my guy!  i have an extra rock star along with a you rock! stamp and an assortment of a muse cards to give away, so i thought a little scavenger hunt would be fun.  hence, the love poem...

it's pretty well established that i *love* the rock star...
            but it's up to you to *count* the ways!!! 

so i'll give you until monday night (8pm cst) to figure out how many cards i've posted here starring rock star and i'll pick a winner from all correct answers!  {hint: one of my post tags will get all of my a muse posts in one place!}

i guess i need to go figure it out too!  see you monday...

:) 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!