Simply A Muse Halloween Make N Take

These are the samples of the A Muse make n takes I will be doing next month at Cranberry Hill.  The cards are super simple - keeping in style with A Muse's mission statement.
I used the Copic airbrush system for the spider card. I cased the bat branch (the original card had an owl in it) and I'm sure the candy card has been done a million times.  I haven't used my diamond glaze in a long time.  It took me a little longer to come up with something for the rats.  

Michael Strong inspired Card

This card was inspired by Michael Strong and using one of his new origami bird stamp. I have tons of washi paper scraps left over from a large custom invitation order, so I'm looking for ways to use them all up.  This will be a one of the cards I will do for my class down at the Yu Ai Kai Senior center tomorrow.  Link to Mike's blog

Go Ask Alice - Graphic 45 Halloween

One of the projects I will be doing for my "Go Ask Alice" card class is making a mini photo album using the Alice in Wonderland Halloween paper from Graphic 45.  I really like to work with Graphic 45 papers.  Their vintage look is very much my style.

What a mess really looks like

Thought I would share a photo of my work table after a few days of work. I know there are those of you who clean up after each project or before you go to bed but I'm not one of them.  I'm always surprised at how small a space I can work on once I get going.  I guess I think if I stop to clean up, I will lose the creative spirit. Spent a few hours today cleaning things up before starting another set of classes.
Hubby is off diving for abalone today with the boys. Me and the fur babies are hanging out and getting things cleaned up.

Simply Halloween Card Class

I've been working in my studio for the last three days getting samples ready for my card classes.   I love to design for Halloween - it's my number one favorite! All these images are from one sheet of paper. The cards had to be simple in design so we could get them all done in two hours.  

One Day - Italy

One day I will visit Italy and and have lunch here.  Heather Bullard is an amazing photographer.  She has a great blog, just wish she would post more photos. :) Heather's Blog
 I love this photo so much it's now my screen saver. Italy is on my list of places to visit and hike through.  I heard there is good mushroom hunting too.

Great Marketing Photo

I'm a house junkie from way back.  I visit the "Hooked On Houses" blog everyday on my facebook page. I would move every two years just to be able to remodel the house if I could.  So well I was checking out the house blogs, there was a mega house posted up for sale in Oregon.  The family that is selling the house also has a line of children's clothing  (they have eight kids) and other misc stuff.  Being  a marketing person, I saw this photo and said WOW nice shot.  I'm guessing this is one of their kids too.  Makes me sort wish I had a little girl to dress up in one of their outfits. Here's the link to the site.  edensbouquet

Quick Bruschetta

I don't eat a lot of carbs and I'm not a big fan of bread.  Hubby went out and got a fresh loaf of bread (he is always getting jars of homemade jam from people) to have with his jam.  I decided to make a quick bruschetta using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (Trader Jose's) fresh basil (have a plant growing on my kitchen counter) and gruyere cheese. Toasted the bread and topped with everything else.  Very yummy!!!! 

Marcia's Cornflakes Card

There are some really talented ladies in my card making group, the Cornflakes. This card was made by Marcia (my SU dealer) using some of the new SU minis with matching buttons. Have to say SU really does come up with some great ideas to make card making fun and fast.
I plan on CASEing this card for my class down at the senior center next week.  Now back to cleaning up the studio - crazy kitten Squeak and big dog Annie just finished  their version of the Indy 500.

Necklaces by Laurie Jan

Had dinner with one of my card making buddies, Laurie Jan (her professional name) to swap some creative craft projects.  Her latest hobby is making things with beads. I picked out this way cool necklace. Love the colors and funky beads.

Hubby Named in Article from Sunset Magazine's Blog -

"Wa-a-ay back in June we introduced the new queen Flora. We were so proud and happy.
And then, a month later, our hopes were dashed. We opened Flora, expecting a booming hive and found nothing. No sign at all that we had a mated queen. Sure, there were bees working away, but where were all the eggs, larvae, and capped brood? All we could find were cells half full of honey.
Our mentors all suggested finding a queen-right swarm (a swarm of bees with their queen) and combining them with our now queenless hive.
About two weeks after our discovery, Doug Smith, beekeeper with the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild, let us know he was was cutting out a hive that had been living in a garage wall for the last six months. Did we want it?
Indeed we did! Doug graciously put those garage bees into one of our empty bee boxes, along with their garage queen and some comb filled with larvae and brood. Then in the evening, when all of the foragers had finally come home for the night, one of our favorite blog readers, Tina K. (Rescuer of Nugget) wrapped the whole package up nice and neat so we could take it back to Sunset that night.
The next day we opened up Flora so that we could combine new hive and old hive, and what did we find?
The hive was bursting with brood! Queen Flora had laid eggs out to the edges of the frames, even taking over territory usually reserved for a ring of honey (that's why Kimberley is smiling in the photo at the top of this post). Now the hive is full of bees, and every afternoon at 2, a cloud of young bees hovers at the entrance as they take their orientation flights. " link to Sunset article

The bees that went to Sunset Magazine

Cornflakes Card - Charlene

This is the card my Cornflakes card making buddies made for last month's swap. Charlene always comes up with something different.  One of the most surprising thing about this card is that it fits into an envelop without an extra bulge.  It's also a great way to use up your scraps.