A Muse Studio

Tell Your Story with our NEW Digital Kit - Momlife

I'm excited to share our new Digital Kit with you today.  I designed this kit in honor of my wonderful mother who is celebrating her 82nd birthday TODAY!

Our new Momlife Digital Kit includes six 3" x 4" journaling cards.  All of our Digital kits come with an easy to print PDF file that allows you to print all of the cards on one page.  For those of you with photo-editing software, this kit also includes JPG and PNG files.  

Our kits are great for making quick and easy cards!

I cut a Classic Tag from the Best Mom Ever ribbon card.  The yellow is a great match for our Papaya Petite Polka Dot cardstock and makes a bright and happy card.  

I'm having so much fun with our new Stitched Circle Window dies.  I started by cutting out Best Mom In The Whole World with the straight edge window die.  

I stamped the two smaller Modern Zinnia stamps on Blush cardstock in Blush pigment ink and Cotton Candy dye ink.  I then die cut a Stitched Circle Window in the card front.  

These words only partially describe my sweet mum!  

My mom has always been my best friend.  I used one of the Word Windows dies to cut out the words Best Friend and popped it up with 3-D foam.

Of course, these cards are fun to use in your scrapbook too!

These cards have lots of white space which is great for journaling.  I also really like how the white space lightens up my pages.    

The Momlife kit is now available fin our shop.  Want to get this kit for free? Join our Newsletter TODAY to receive a coupon to get the kit for FREE.  

Happy Birthday, MOM!  I love you so much.

 

New Spring Digi Kit - now available!

Happy April!  I love the month of April because everything starts to bloom pretty much everywhere in North America... especially my favorite bulb flower - tulips!  Isn't this photo of the Canadian Parliament buildings in Ottawa gorgeous with all the tulips in bloom?!

(Photo credit OttawaTourism.ca)

One of my former jobs was working in PR for the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center in Toronto. I loved learning about all aspects of growing flower bulbs in Canada and especially about the Tulip Legacy Story and the birth of the Dutch Princess Margriet in Ottawa (Canada)nin the 1940s.  Princess Julianna (Magriet's mother) sent a gift of 100,000 tulips to Canada as a show of gratitude for her stay in Canada and for the role Canadian soldiers played in the liberation of the Netherlands in WWII.  Princess Julianna eventually became Queen and continued to send tulips to Canada every year during her reign.  If you love tulips as much as I do, you will want to plan a visit to Ottawa for the annual Tulip Festival that happens every year from late April to early May.  It's spectacular!

WELCOME SPRING DIGITAL KIT

Our new Welcome Spring Digital Kit is all about what's blooming in your garden.  I love to take photos of the changes in my garden each season and around the neighborhood.  I am new to living in the Carolinas so it helps me to remember what blooms throughout the year and has been very helpful in planning my garden which is definitely a work in progress.  

This kit will be a fun addition to your scrapbook this month.  The Welcome Spring Digital Kit includes six 3" x 4" journaling cards.  There is an easy to print PDF file that will print all six cards at once.  It also includes PNG files if you'd rather print/edit the individual journaling cards.

Here I've used the kit to add some interest to my tulip pics.

You can also use the journaling cards for your cardmaking too.

 

Here I used the leafy card as a background for my bunny.

So cute!

I used our stitched circle dies to cut out the Happy Spring for this clean and simple card.

The chick from our Happy Spring stamp set looks right at home on the striped background.

I added a few flowers from the Sweet Easter stamp set for fun!

This card is sweet all on its own but even better with some of the flowers from the Sweet Easter stamp set.

 

Our new Welcome Spring Digital Kit is available now for only $2!  This is a digital product so nothing will ship to you.  You will receive an email with instructions on how to download the kit and helpful printing tips.

 

Happy crafting!

 

Love Story Journaling Card Kit - February Freebie!

Hey friends!  I'm excited to share with you an awesome new Journaling Card Kit - Love Story - that is a Freebie this month.  

This kit includes six 3" x 4" journaling cards that are perfect for your scrapbook but also fun for cards and other crafty projects!

Check out these ADORABLE cards that I made with the kit.

Here I used our Fishtail Tag die to cut out the heart & arrow image. The Happy Valentine's Day sentiment is from our Essential Sentiments Too stamp set.  I am LOVING our new Herringbone cardstock!

Here's a fun card for your sweetie!  I stamped the Redwood Background in Seattle ink.  The hearts are from our Scallop Heart die set.  

This next card is simple and sweet!  I cut the circle from our Stitched Circles die set.  The pinked circle is cut from a piece of cardstock that was first wrapped with the pink mini hearts washi tape from the Mini Heart Duo Washi tape assortment. 

This sweet card is going in my scrapbook.  Crafted, The Art of The Taco, is one of our favorite spots for a date night!  We used to have to drive 30 minutes or so to Greensboro, NC but they just opened one in Winston Salem.  yes!

These are one of my favorite things to make... heart sandwiches!  There are all kinds of heart foil-wrapped chocolates in stores right now.  Use our Scallop Heart dies to make sweet sandwiches.

Here's a side view.  So easy!  

Head on over to our website to download the Love Story Kit today.  

Have a crafty day!

Tell Your Story - Getting Started

Scrapbooking has never been easier but getting started can be overwhelming with so many options available! Take a look at this short video that I put together about essential tools for pocket-page scrapbooking.

 

Here's a handy list of tools with links to get you started:

Paper trimmer - a good quality, portable rotary trimmer is a must!

Album - I love the faux-leather albums we carry from Simple Stories.  Six awesome colors to choose from  They come with a starter set of pocket pages but you will need more.

Pocket Page Refills - the most popular are 3" x 4", 4" x 6"" and the 3"x 4" & 4" x 6" combo.  These pockets are true to size whereas many other albums are not.  Note: pocket pages from other brands are not interchangeable ... stick with one brand!

Good scissors - I love my Fiskars Teflon scissors! Always sharp after ten years of heavy use!

Photo Crops - An easy way to size your printed photos to get them in your album

Zippered Pouch - This is my favorite accessory - the 6"x 8" zippered pouch.  It has holes to fit in your album so you can store your photos, journaling cards and scissors in it for convenience. 

Adhesive - acid-free and refillable this Tombow Dots Roller is the best adhesive I've found!

Corner Chomper - I love the look of rounded corners and this Corner Chomper will cut through a stack at a time!

Journaling pens - I love my Tombows!  These markers have a brush nib for hand-lettering and a bullet nib that's great for journaling.  Lots of great colors to choose from!

++++++++++++

I know it can be overwhelming to start something new so please let me know if you have questions about pocket page scrapbooking in the comments below.

Have a creative day!

 

Tell Your Story in 2017

Scrapbook.  Merriam Webster defines Scrapbook as:

a blank book in which various items (as newspaper clippings or pictures) are collected and preserved

This sounds like a simple-enough description...  something that can easily be accomplished, right?  Yet for some reason, we seem to make this much more difficult. We've got photos everywhere (phone, tablet, camera, computer) but no longer seem to print them. Getting photos into an album seems to require a Herculean effort these days. Right?

Last year I tried to make a page/week album.  52 weeks.  7 photos per week on average.  364 photos.  This was going to be EASY... or so I thought.  It turns out that some weeks I had a LOT more than 7 photos and other weeks I had none.  Some months I was on top of my project and other times life got in the way.  It left me with an album that is half done and a feeling that I somehow failed.  Oh la la!

For twenty seventeen I am taking a different approach!  I'm going to simply add photos for every month. If I have 7 photos - great!  If I have even more - yippee! To make this easy, I've created a  3" x 4" journaling card for each month plus a 6" x 8" cover page for my album.  I've also created some "everyday" type 3" x 4" journaling cards that I can use throughout the year.  I made these to share with my local Crafty Ladies scrapbooking group (we try to meet monthly) and thought you might enjoy being part of our group too - virtualy!

You can get your FREE copy of my 2017 Tell Your Story Kit here.  I've also created a short video that you can watch here.

 

Want to join our group?  Email me ([email protected]) and I will add you to our Virtual Scrapbook Group.  I'll be sharing our progress, meeting goals and prompts (to help keep you motivated!), tips & tricks and add-ons to the 2017 Tell Your Story Kit. 

New to pocket page scrapbooking?  I'm working on a getting started video that I hope to share this week so stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

It's here... October Collection now shipping!

Woohoo!  Who's excited for October?!  Have you pulled out your fall sweaters yet?  Started decorating for Halloween?  It's a GREAT month and we've got an AWESOME collection for you!

The October Collection features:

• 4 stamp sets, 3 with matching dies
• Two digital kits
• Pie box die and add on set
• New dye inks - marigold & creamsicle
• Harvest Shimmer Couture Cardstock assortment
• Two gorgeous sequin mixes
• and more!

Let's take a closer look.

HAPPY HELLO
SVSD124 set of 13 stamps - $22.99
TAD0263 matching die set of 9 - $24.99

This set is filled with gorgeous leaves that is perfect for fall cards, scrapbooking and treats.  

Our Lunch Sack die looks great embellished with these pretty leaves... and A Muse Studio Toffee twine and Grass Buttons.

SECOND SPRING
SSSC043 set of 17 stamps - $17.99
TAD0262 matching die set of 10 - $16.99

 

 

 

AUTUMN WISHES
SSSQ051 set of 8 stamps - $28.99

 

 

 

TURKEY DAY
SSSG044 set of 21 stamps - $19.99
TAD0266 matching die set of 9 - $17.99

 

 

PIE BOX

TAD0264 pie box die - $29.99
TAD0265 pie box add-on die set - $37.99

This box makes me absolutely giddy!  The pie box die is a great die all on it's own.  There are so many fun ways you can use this... advent calendar trees, reindeer head, candy corn, etc.  Fun!  Combine it with the add on die set to make pie and you've got a winning combination.  I have not seen anything else like it!

The add-on set includes a scalloped edge crust, lattice work and the pie crust side views (those are the hockey-stick shapes.)  The flower-shaped die is the self-locking dollop of whipped cream.  I'll see if I can put together a quick video for you on how to assemble the dollop because it is ingenious!

Think of all the pies you can make.  What's your favorite?

AUTUMN DAYS DIGITAL KITS
DKTA16M Autumn Days digital kit - $4.99
DKTA16M Autum Days Colorblock digital Kit - $4.99

Our digital kits are so fun and versatile.  
Autumn Days includes eight 3" x 4" and two 4" x 6" journaling cards.

Autumn Days Colorblock Kit includes four 4" x 6" and four 3" x 4" journaling cards that are great for journaling and embellishing! This kit was designed to coordinate with the Autumn Days digital kit and together make a winning fall combo!

Tell your story this fall with our new October digital kits!

DYE INKS & SPLASH

We're excited to add two new dye inks to our collection - Creamsicle & Mariglold!  There is also a new Creamsicle Splash.  Here are the four Dye inks that we now carry.

SEQUINS

We LOVE our sequin assortments.  Check out the two YUMMY sequin assortments for October:

PUMPKIN PIE
EASQPKM - $3.95

AUTUMN LEAVES
EASQALM - $3.95

HARVEST SHIMMER COUTURE CARDSTOCK  

Our gorgeous Shimmer Couture Cardstock is making a special appearance for October.  This paper is AMAZING!  The shimmer finish is so pretty and this paper die cuts BEAUTIFULLY - like no other paper I've tried!  The Harvest Shimmer assortment comes with 6 sheets each of grass, papaya, french roast, currant and orange for an amazing price of $12.99! PASSHVC

There's so much to LOVE with the October Collection.  You can Download the flyer for more inspiring ideas right here and shop online 24/7 right here.

Have a beautiful day and happy crafting!

 

 

 

A Little Birthday Fun!

It's our 5th Birthday and we have been doing lots of celebrating this month.  We hope you'll join the party and have some fun with us!  We're doing three GIVEAWAYS over the next three days and you can win some free birthday loot!  Today I'm doing a giveaway right here (keep reading on how you can enter).  Tomorrow there will be a giveaway on our Facebook Page and Saturday on Instagram.  THREE chances to win!  Woohoo!

Today's prize is the new OMG Cake stamp set and matching die ($35.98 value!)  To enter, simply post a comment on this post telling us the name of your all-time favorite A Muse Studio stamp set. 

Here are some fun ideas on what you can do with your prize...

 

 

Cake for breakfast?  Oh yeah!

In your scrapbook!

Have a Party!

I used this stamp set in a Workshop last night and this sentiment was a big hit!  Several of the gals are members of Weight Watchers and were super excited about it. 

My favorite A Muse Studio stamp sets of all time are:

• Keep Swimming (2011)
• Wish You Were Here (2012)
• Big Celebrations (2013)
• Nine Lives (2014)
• You Da Man (2015)
• You are Magical (2016)

I look forward to hearing everyone's favorite stamp sets.  I will pick a winner on Saturday afternoon so you have until then to post your comment.

Good luck to all!

Linda

 

 

December Daily

Creating a December Daily album is a fun thing to do and it doesn't need to take a lot of time, money or effort.  And, I'll bet you can use a lot of the products that you already have on hand.  The thing I love about making a December Daily album is that it is a time-limited, manageable project... and my kids LOVE the results!  One of the highlights of our Holiday each year is pulling out the Christmas decorations and looking back at December Daily albums we've done.  Now that my girls take their own photos (hundreds each week!) they are contributing more than ever to our December daily.  

Here's what you need to get started. 

December Daily essentials

• Mini album (4" x 4" or 4" x 6" or 6" x 8" are all great sizes!)
• Pocket page inserts
• stamps, dies and embellishments
• photos
• YOU

BUDGET

Of course, as we all know, you can spend a LOT of money on papercrafting projects, right?  However, you can make a fabulous album for just a little money.  Start with one of our 4" x 6" Kraft Scrapbook albums.  They are only $10.99.  You'll receive an assortment of 12 pocket pages to get you started.  Add a package of refill pages for $3.99.  To simplify the process and have a consistent look throughout your album, purchase our Dear Santa Digital (printable) kit for only $4.99.  The total cost for your December Daily album is less than $20!

This month I will be sharing a wonderful December Daily album from one of our Designers, Kristine.  You'll see that Kristine incorporated the Dear Santa Digital Kit in her album and it looks fantastic!  I know you are going to be so inspired by her pages.

COVER

Here's a look at Kristine's album cover.  Simple and very pretty!  Kristine chose a Kraft album with a cherry fabric binding and added a simple snowflake using our Snowflake trio stamp set and the date using our Even Taller Alphabet die set. 

I love the drops of Marshmallow Splash! ink behind the snowflake and the Cherry Twinkle sticker in the center of the snowflake.  Simple details elevate this project from simple to simply wow!

 

Here's a peek at Kristine's 1st page!  One of the things you'll need to decide is how you wish to number your days.  We have several die sets that are great options...  Big Numbers, Tall Alphabet (includes numbers) or Even Taller Numbers.  Also the Five Points Alphabet stamp set includes numbers 0-9 so that could be a fun option as well.

A December Daily album can help make the holidays the Most Wonderful Time of the year!

Tell me... do you make a December Daily album?  If yes, how long have you been doing it?  If you haven't tried one, what is holding you back?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Have a crafty day!

Spring Preview: Everything's Rosy Patterned Paper

This has been without a doubt the MOST requested product by our customers and Creative Consultants.  You've seen snippets in other Preview Posts but today I'm going to give you a better look.  And, we're going to do another GIVEAWAY!  Yes... I'm going to give away FIVE packages of our Everything's Rosy 6x6 Patterened Paper. Details on how to enter will be at the end of this post so keep reading. :) 

Here's the scoop on our Everything's Rosy Patterned Paper:

• 12 on-trend patterns in rich vibrant colors
• Great for cards & scrapbooking
• Die-cuts beautifully!
• 3 of each pattern in every pack, 36 sheets total, $5.99
• One-sided, white on back
• text weight

All A Muse Studio paper products are printed with soy inks on FSC certified, environmentally friendly papers, printed in Seattle, WA.

Here's a great Preview that shows 4 of the new patterns used in one of our scrapbook pocket-pages that's just awaiting photos.   Did you know, we now offer pocket-page scrapbooks making it super easy to tell your stories?  My girls LOVE them and it's an activity we do on the weekends together. 

This next Preview shows two more patterns on the Basket.  (Basket die is from our NEW Easter Basket die set also available 3/1/14). The background is our Petite Polka dot cardstock in various colors inside a Medium glassine envelope.  So pretty!

To enter today's GIVEAWAY, simply post a comment on this post telling me which is your FAVORITE A Muse Studio product and one that you've never tried but would like to (click here to view our products online).   We'll do the drawing tomorrow (Thursday 2/27) at 1:00 pm EST.  

Hope you are having a GREAT day!

 

 

Related articles

Spring Preview: Many thanks!

Spring Preview: Hello again!

Spring Preview: Easter Basket

Spring Preview: Hello!

Calendar fun - 2014 scrapbook prep!

While my girls are still away on holiday break, I thought it would be a good time to begin prep for my 2014 scrapbook!  I wanted to create monthly cards that can easily be slipped into my album after the photos are printed.  Our free 3 x 4 2014 Calendar download is perfect for this!
(To find all of our FREE calendar download files, click here.)

I printed the calendar pages on our Slate Petite Stripe cardstock.  The fine stripe gives it visual interest but does not detract from the actual calendar.

My main scrapbook goal this year is to get our favorite photos into an album... just make it happen!  Too often I try to get overly creative and end up with a mad scramble to finish the annual album or it remains incomplete.  I am determined to not let that happen this year and A Muse Studio's scrapbook system makes it easy and really do-able.  Scrapbooking for real people I say!

I whipped up these calendar cards in about ten minutes tops from start to finish and plan to finish the rest tonight.  I am also planning to use these cards to mark the dates for special events throughout the year.

January

 

February

  

March

 

And, here's a peek at all three ready to go in my album.