Thanks for your support!

The response to the A Muse calendar project has been phenomenal. I have a very good working relationship with my manager at UPS. When I contacted him last week and told him about this special project with which I was involved (but specifically said I was not soliciting a donation from him), he surprised me by emailing me back telling me he had sent Linda a direct message wanting to make a special donation. I also came to find out through a friend at work that my manager had sent an email with the link to the A Muse blog post about the calendar project to our entire department!

So, I made this card for my manager to thank him for his support. Several months back I made a stack of thank you notes using purple, the color for Hodgkin's awareness, to thank people for supporting me. I can't bring myself to use those cards for my guy friends--they're too girly! I think this card with the orange and brown colors works well for male recipients, whether they work for UPS or not! I was inspired by cards Julie and Geeta made, so tried my hand at blending several different inks on a solid block stamp. I like the effect, but I definitely need to practice some more so I don't have any white splotches where I missed inking! This card also features the birch tree stamp from the new A Muse Trees 1 clear set. Hopefully this card qualifies, as I think I am just making the deadline for this week's challenge on the A Muse Addicts site to make a "Just Because" card! I couldn't do the Stamp of the Week challenge because I didn't have any of those stamps!

I have been hard at work doing more A Muse calendars, this time the 4 bar type. I have them nearly complete, and just need to take them to Office Depot for binding. Once they're all done, I will post pictures! Too many projects in my queue and I know this next and final month before I have to return to work will fly by. I still have to make my Halloween cards. A friend is getting married early next year and I am making the invitations (75). Plus, I decided I would make a few perpetual calendar books for Christmas gifts. My parents recently asked me what was on my Christmas list for this year. I know what I want, but it's priceless and can't be bought anywhere--More Time!!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! Is it just me, or did this week creep by? (And I'm not even back to work yet!) Anyway, yesterday I met up with Rhonda and her youngest DD at Impress, then we went to lunch and made a brief stop at Target before coming back to my place for a whirlwind craft session. We joked that we had our own VMAA going because we had only 30 minutes to make a card before she had to leave! We both started our cards together, and then finished them on our own. I chose to use the pumpkin tent stamp, which is one of the stamps of the week on the A Muse Addicts site. This was a super simple card to make, and really puts me in the mood for fall (not to mention the cool, gray weather we're having today!). Stamps, note card and ribbon by A Muse; Memento ink and Koh-I-Noor pencils.
I thought I was finished with my calendars for next year, but since I got involved with the A Muse calendar project, I can't seem to stop making them! I have two more I'm working on now using A Muse's 4bar template, but thought I'd post the cover of the ones I finished several months ago. I made twelve of these 6 x 6 versions. The paper is from Basic Grey, the Urban Couture collection. The sentiment is a stamp I had custom made for me through Impress. 2009 is stamped out using A Muse's Birthday Builder set.

Have a great weekend! Don't forget to purchase your A Muse calendar if you haven't done so already. Remember, A Muse will match your contribution dollar for dollar until Sunday! :-)

Tuesday Greetings

Just wanted to share a couple of cards I created recently. I actually made three cards using the same color scheme, but I sent one of them off before taking a picture of it. So you'll just have to settle for seeing these two! Both cards use the orange sherbet 4bar note cards and brown vintage designer paper from A Muse. The first card showcases the acorn leaf stamp from A Muse's Leaf clear stamp set. The thinking of you stamp is also from A Muse and was punched out with Stampin' Up's word window punch.

The second card uses the the larger flower and three small flower stamps from A Muse's clear circle set. This card has several of my latest purchases from Stampin' Up: The sentiment is from the Best Yet set; I also used the tab punch and the scallop border punch.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Monday!

Mondays normally aren't that exciting. When I return to work in a few months, I KNOW I won't be happy when Monday rolls around! However, even though today is Monday, I'm super excited! About a month ago, Linda Carnell, the owner of A Muse Artstamps, contacted me about being part of her annual calendar project. Last year the project raised nearly $1200 for Scleroderma Research. This year, she wanted the proceeds to go to another worthy cause. I was astonished when she told me she had received several suggestions to have me select the cause! ME?!

Since I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease earlier this year, I decided to direct the proceeds to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It is an honor for me to be involved with a company like A Muse that believes in the importance of social responsibility. If you are so inclined, please visit the A Muse website and order a copy of the calendar. You will truly be helping a worthy cause!

A Muse Addicts Challenges

Rhonda persuaded me to post the cards I made at her house on Thursday. The first one is for the A Muse Addicts weekly challenge, which uses the Mainly Men clear stamp set. The second one is for last week's Stamp of the Week challenge, which was to create a card inspired by your favorite sports team. I love the Seahawks, so I made a card using the Seahawk colors, blue and green. I inked enough of the pennants from the banner stamp (Fancy Borders clear set) so I could write in "Go Hawks" on them, and colored them in with Koh-I-Noor pencils. I mounted that on top of the green asterix Pretty Little Paper and then on to the French Blue note card, which I stamped with the A Muse football stamp. I hope the Seahawks win their first home game of the season today. Go Hawks!!

More Fun with Rhonda

Yesterday Rhonda and I had another stamping play date. I wasn't feeling very inspired, but I did attempt a couple of cards for the A Muse Addicts weekly challenges. They weren't my best effort, so I won't post pics of them. However, Rhonda and I did have fun playing around with Photo Booth on her computer, and then we had her daughters take pictures of us with her digital camera. This picture is one of those.

Today I had surgery to remove the port catheter in my chest that was used while I was receiving chemotherapy. Boy, was it great to get rid of that! However, the sterilization solution the nurse used on me turned my chest and neck a really yucky shade of GREEN! Now I look like some weird alien! LOL! Can't wait til I can take a shower and try to get rid of that! I start daily radiation next Tuesday.

Life Is About Who You Love

Earlier this summer my local stamp store started carrying these wonderful kid saying stamps from Inkadinkado. I loved them so much, I've bought nearly all of them. Some of my favorites are related to love, and I got this idea in my head to make an accordian card with them. Last weekend I finally put my idea down on paper, and these pictures show you the end result. The last picture shows what the inside of the card says. The stick people stamp is from Wordsworth. Note card is from Memory Box. Someone very special will be getting this card!