Paper Trufflez

Hi-ho, hi-ho, to the land up north I go!!!

It's a gorgeous, sunny day, and I'm headed to beautiful and super fun Granville Island for 2 days of rubbah fun!!!  YIPPEEEEEEE!!!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

 

Deep Sea Divin' Dude

Isn't this fun?  This design was the COTW in this week's A Muse e-newsletter!   The Deep Sea Diver just makes me smile.  I think we're all gonna have a lot of fun under the sea with him!  *chuckle*

Like my port holes?  *chortle*

Stamp images, note card by A Muse Artstamps

A Muse News: You're invited!

A Muse News: You're invited!.

Vi knows how to pick 'em!   Fun prizes, that izzzz!  Leave a comment on Linda's post (link above) for a chance to win! *grin*

The Muses have blown me away!

Summer amuse-bouche - A Muse Lounge.

The Muses have been bustin' out designs for the last 5 days that have had me bouncin' right off m' chair!  So fresh, fun, and inspiring!  We created a one-stop-link-spot in the Lounge, to make it easy for folks to see *everything* they've shared!  They're so awesome!

Our new Summer Release has just been unveiled on the A Muse website!

I designed a super fun printable box template that, among other things, makes a great pirate treasure chest!

I'm so ready for school to be out, backyard BBQs, and loads of sunshine!

Gosh, I love summer!  How 'bout you?

This is just so beautiful . . .

Kristina Werner shared it on FaceBook, and I passed it on there, too, but, I just gotta share it here, as well, for those of you that don't FB--it's just so amazing . . .


Beauty. Absolute.

Such a great guy card--esp. young adult age, UKWIM?

Lavender Giraffe: Waiting for da beach.

Tween, teen, young adult guy cards are often such a challenge--at least for me, anyway.

I keep thinking about this design by Dawn (link above).  The colors and tones just strike me as particularly appealing--I wouldn't have ever thought to try them; I have a habit of using bright colors all the time.  These are still bright, but, subdued in a sophisticated way.

I likey.  Muchly.

This is me . . .

All week.

Not a pretty sight . . .

Amuse-bouche: Rebus Greeting

Here's a tasty tidbit featuring our coming new Hippo (coming May 27)!  He's just so darn cute I can hardly stand it!   Our new Petite Gingham paper (coming May 27) is especially fun to work with--this design features Grass green!  You're already seen the Blue, Blueberry, and Yellow, right? 

So, you've figured out what the message in this rebus is, right?! *wink*

The Muses are just bustin' out so many fun creations with this coming release!  I have been marveling at their designs!  Here's a few more of my amuse-bouche that have been displayed the last few days on the AMN blog:

The one on the left features a fun new Palm Tree, and the one on the right, a rippin' Surfboard, and Sun!

And today's, which happens to be NOT a card!  *chuckle*:

Arrrrrr--Are you ready, kids? (I happen to love Sponge Bob, and I make no apologies for it)

  Avast, mateys!!! Arrrrrr!!!  Thar be more pirates sailin' the high seas!  Cast your spyglass HERE!

*chortle*

All stamp images & patterned papers, note cards, and ribbon are by A Muse Artstamps

The Stamping Shac:..................... THUD!!!

The Stamping Shac: Hang Ten *amuse-bouche* Style.


OH. MY. LAAAAAAAANTA!!!

amuse-bouche: Gonna Soak up the Sun, Summer 09

It's Day 1 of some sizzling summer amuse-bouche on the AMN Blog, and you can see some super CUTE designs we'll be sharing over the coming days.  Go, on!  You know you wanna see what the Muses have been up to.  -->  This way!!!

Things have been so busy--I haven't had any time to create just for sharing, but, I was able to concoct a quick morsel for today!  YAY!!! 

I wanna be there.  Don't you?  I dream of sandy beaches . . . most WA beaches are more rocky than they are sandy.  They're cool for exploring, and you can find some wicked tide pools to poke around in.   But, they're not the most comfortable for takin' a nap on a warm sunny day, if UKWIM . . . LOL!

I was a little hesitant to mat the scene with black, but, I think it made the whole thing really "POP".

I wasn't able to pick up as much of the detail in the shading when I filmed this (IRL you can see so much more, and I did put a little orange Stickles there on the lower left of Sun), but, I always get questions about shading with Copics.    I usually don't have a lot of time to crank out a card, and I'm horridly instant grat, so I *LOVE* the fact that many of our images have just enough open space to get that shading effect in easily and *very* quickly!!!   Most of the time, I only need to use two colors to get the shading I want! 

Keep in mind that I have absolutely NO formal art training.  And, I'm not an expert at any of it!!!

I now present to you Julie's no-high-level-thinking-skillzzz-involved method of Copic coloring the world: (insert very large, very cheesey grin here)

1. What direction do I want light coming from?  On paper, I get to make the call.  LOL! *wink*  In the example above, I've determined the sun is the light source, and light is shining down towards the umbrella.  So, my shading will fall to the lower left, given that the sun is in the upper right.
2. I pick 2 colors, one lighter, the other darker; related to each other in hues (i.e. pale red + a dark red, or a rich golden yellow + orange; in the example above, SUN:  Y17 Golden Yellow + YR16 Apricot, UMBRELLA:  R35 Coral + R29 Lipstick Red)
3. Lay down my lightest color first, and it's OK to leave some white space (because I said so) towards the upper right (where the light source is coming from), then lay down the darker color towards the lower left of my image, where the shading and shadowing would likely be. (No, I cannot guarantee that's precisely where the shade and shadows would fall.  I do what looks good/logical/more than likely to me, and art critics need to park their snarkies at the door if they disagree.   *hair flip* )
4. Grab the lighter color I started with, and in tight circular motions, begin blending the two colors together where they meet.  Some folks like "perfectly" smooth gradations of color when blending.  Me?  I don't really care.  Really, I don't!  I just blend until I like what I see at the time.  I'm a moody girl; mebbe tomorrow I'll want it perfectly smooth.  Then again, mebbe not. This unpredictable character trait of mine makes life such a thrill, eh?!  BAH HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Mess around with it.  You won't know what you'll get until you do. *wink*
I'm for realzzzz gonna have a sun-sational day because Mr. Blue Sky is here on The Rock! 

Hope you do, too!

P.S.  The Sky Blue Petite Gingham is bomb-alicious! 

All stamp images and patterned papers by A Muse Artstamps

Whiz bang!

Jenn Balcer » Blog Archive » Playing favorites.

Sometimes, I see something done with our stamps, that just makes me "thud".  Because it's beautiful.   In a highly unusual way.  Striking and bold, with a cunning simplicity, Jenn's design combines elegance and playfulness simultaneously in a way that makes my head swivel, and BONK!!!--I'm so riveted by it's gaaaaaw-jusness, I've run into a street pole.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up:  ...............................THUD!!!

A Mother's Day Greeting

 

This Mother's Day design is featured on the A Muse blog today!  You can read more details about its creation HERE.  And be sure from there to visit Dawn & Lori's blogs, too (links are posted at the AMN blog entry on this design).  They made some absolutely beautiful cards to share with you that I know you won't want to miss!

Hope all of you moms out there have a fabulous Mother's Day!