Sorry.....

Wow, these last few weeks have been more than I can handle!!!  I can't believe I haven't had time to do anything crafty.

I promise!!!!  I'll be posting something this weekend.

A|S Goodies and some cards

I had planned on stamping all day, but of course life has a way of getting in the way of fun time. I uncle passed away. He was the oldest (and the only brother) on my mom's side of the family. Not sure when the funeral will be. The family is doing well.

I did manage to take some pictures of more goodies from my A Muse Studio kit. I can't say enough about the ink. I love the colors, the coverage, and the dry time.

While the name of the color is on the back of the ink pad, I printed labels of the color names for the lid. I've already gotten ink smudges on the inside of the lid. I would hate for my lovely ink pads to be ruined because the wrong lid was used... can you imagine having some of the slate ink smudged on the lemon whip?

I went one step further and printed another label for the side of the ink pad. I am storing my ink pads "upside down" and stacked by season (spring, summer, fall, winter). Someone had told me long, long time ago that ink pads will last longer stored upside down (which makes sense and I can see why SU and CTMH ink pads come the way they do).

I can't wait to test out the paper flowers with my Copics. I've always loved working with A Muse bling.....tiny, but so cute...and it adds that perfect "something" to a card. Because the blings are small, I use wood putty on the end of a pencil/pen to help me place the bling on my card. For my next post, I'll take some pictures of how it's used.


The colors of the ribbon are amazing. I love the bright colors of the satin. And who doesn't love stitched ribbon. LOL

While I didn't have all day to stamp, I did manage to make a few cards today.

I ran the first A Muse Shoebox Swap at the shop last month. It was a fantastic turnout and the ladies came up with awesome cards. Maureen, a swapper, made a delicious wedding card using the Shimmer Damask paper. Here's my version of the wedding card. (BTW....if you're in the area, our next Shoebox Swap is next Saturday - March 26th - contact the shop if you want to join us)

I turned to my wood block stamps for this card. The branch stamp wasn't long enough, so I used my copics to extend the branch a little bit. I cut out the little birdie and used foam tape to adhere him to the cage.

Of course I couldn't let a stamping session go without using glitter!!! I love the look glitter gives a card, but I'm quite messy when it comes to working with glitter. It ends up EVERYWHERE... including on the cats.

With Easter just around the corner, I wanted to have a go with my new Egg-stravaganza set. I love the designs in this set.

That's it for today. I'm planning on driving to Portland on Friday for the CK Convention with a friend. This is the very first convention of the year for CK and I have never attended the one in Portland before. So, it will be very exciting. Bellevue is the last CK Convention of the year and with it located just across from my work, I've attended and volunteered for the last 4-5 years. I'll report back on my next post what goodies I bought.

Happy stamping!!! Hope everyone has a terrific week!!

Blessings

Tough Couple Weeks

It's been a tough couple weeks. With it being tax time, work has been keeping me extremely busy. This means that I have less time to craft....BOO!!! My blog has been neglected the last couple weeks, but stay tuned for my next post. I plan on making cards all day on Sunday....YAY!!!



In the meantime, I did create a couple charts to keep track of A Muse Studio markers. I'm all about making charts. While I try to stay organized, it's sometimes not so easy to keep up. I hope you will find these charts useful.

A Muse Studio Copic Color Chart:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_4VBEaO0RDXYWRmYTFjN2EtNjQ1Ny00OTcwLTliMmYtMGMyYzA1ZDQ0NWNm&authkey=COnr_OUC&hl=en
A Muse Studio Tombow Color Chart:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_4VBEaO0RDXMjQ5YzIxYzAtNjJlNy00NDUwLWI0MzUtMjVkYjNmNTg0ZDE1&hl=en&authkey=COyx2PsK

I also tested out the ink and absolutely love it. It has wonderful coverage and the dry time is amazing. And the colors are DE-LICIOUS!!




That's it for now. Remember to come back to see what cards I come up with!! :D

A Muse Craftastic Night

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a busy, fantastic one. It started on Friday evening with a "Craftastic" night with Rhiannon Christianson. I was able to spend some time with her before the crafting night began. Before we got started with my question/answer period with her, she shared some exciting news!!

If you hadn't heard, Paper Craft Magazine reached 25,000 fans and gave away some amazing prizes. 20 winners received a year's subsciption to the magazine and 5 winners received a mystery box. She WON a mystery box. I was so happy for her. I couldn't believe how heavy that box weighed!!! It was COMPLETELY filled with all kinds of goodies....paper, stamps, embellies, powders, sticker....you name it, it was in there!! Congrats to Rhiannon!!!!

Now, getting back to the night...It was an awesome time with making terrific projects, snacking on delicious munchies and getting some questions answered about AS. Oh...I can't miss mentioning Rhiannon's amazing cupcakes!!!!....strawberry cupcakes with strawberry jam filling and marshmellow frosting. YUMMY!!!!

Here are the projects we completed:

All of the projects were made with stamps from the new consultant starter kit. There are 4 sets of stamps in the starter kit that are exclusive (not for sale in the catalog - only available to new consultants). Here are pictures of those sets:

Sampler set one

Sampler set two

Sampler set three

Sampler set four

Before I met with Rhiannon, I received some great questions from people. I imagine many of you will have the same questions. There may even be questions you haven't yet thought of. I thought I would share all of questions & answers:

1. When does the quarter start?

The quarter starts on March 1, 2011 with the launch of AS. The quarters are based on calendar quarters. So, first quarter ends on March 31, 2011. The second quarter ends on June 30, 2011.

2. You receive an extra 10% discount to use on one consultant order within the first 45 days of joining AS. When does the 45 day start?The 45 day period starts from the date your agreement is accepted by AS. So, if you signed your agreement on March 1st, but didn't get approved until March 2nd, your 45 day period starts on March 2nd.

3. May I use other "stuff" on my cards/projects as long as I don't promote them?Yes, you may use other products that are not AS. The question is why would you? This is YOUR business, so you want to make as much in sales with AS product. It's understandable if you want to use something that AS does not provide.
4. Am I allowed to use my Cuttlebug or Grand C instead of the Big Shot?This goes in line with question #3. Yes, you may, but you want to promote AS product, including the Big Shot, to help you make sales.
5. What is the quarterly minimum?Again, remember at this time the quarter started on March 1, 2011 with the launch of AS. The quarters are based on calendar quarters. So, first quarter ends on March 31, 2011. However, you will not be required to meet your minimum this first quarter. The next quarter ends on June 30, 2011. Within the quarter, you have to have $300 worth of retail sales. The retail sale is using the catalog price for AS product.
6. May I post other blogs on my blog as long as they are not asking for sales?Yes.
7. May I be a member of a design team of another company?Yes, as long as you are not involved in direct sales with that company.
8. Are all AS paper 8 1/2 X 11?Yes. They are sold in packages of 20. Please refer to the catalog (hard copy or online) for the choices that are available.
9. May I make up flyers to promote parties and such using AS on the flyers?You are an independent consultant under the umbrella of AS. This is YOUR business, so you may promote your business any way you want. Just make it tasteful. LOL!!
10. Am I assigned a consultant when I sign up?If you have not requested to be under a specific team, you will be assigned a consultant who is closest to your area. Once the AS website is fully functional, new consultants will be able to sign up under their preferred consultant by providing that consultant's ID number. While the website is being perfected, the consultant should email joinus@amusestudio.com to let AS know the name of the person(s) signing up under you.
11. On the new consultant checklist, it recommends opening a separate checking account for my business. Is this necessary?This is just a suggestion. You are not required to open up a separate checking account. Some people may find it difficult to keep separate their personal finances from AS business and may run into "funding" issues. If you are able to manage both your personal and AS business using the same checking account, that is your perogative. Keeping a separate checking account is just a prudent business practice.

Thank you to those who sent me their questions. If anyone has other questions or want to become an AS independent consultant or place an order, please contact me.

Thank you for visiting....I'm still working on my new blog, so please bare with me during this "under construction" mode.

I hope to get a weekly post on here, so be sure to follow me.

Blessings.

Want to learn more about A Muse Studio??

For all you locals (WA state), A Muse will be having a question/answer night on Wednesday, March 9th at 7PM.

http://amusenews.typepad.com/a_muse_news/2011/03/want-to-learn-more-about-a-muse-studio.html

If you can't attend and have questions, email them to me at bjlee717@comcast.net and I will get your questions answered.

Taking orders

I will have a busy, busy, busy weekend. Tonight I have a night of crafting with my upline, Rhiannon Christianson. I hope to bring back lots of ideas and information about A Muse Studio.

In the meantime, I am taking orders, If you want to place an order with me in March, send an email to me -- bjlee717@comcast.net. In April I will have an online store and it will be much easier.

You can view the online catalog here: https://www.amusestudio.com/ourproducts.asp. The link is at the end of the paragraph.

I hope to hear from you soon!!

A Muse Studio

Hello everyone. I'm actually new to the blogging world, but have been an avid stamper for years. My first post will be about A Muse Studio. On March 1, 2011, A Muse Studio launched their new consultant business. This is very exciting and a HUGE opportunity. Of course, I would sign up to be one of the consultants. Please visit https://www.amusestudio.com/index.asp. During phase 1 of the lauch, we want to introduce and promote A Muse Studio. On April 1, 2011, phase 2 will allow consultants to release their own A Muse Studio website for customers to purchase A Muse products directly.

If you would like to join A Muse Studio, as a consultant, or be a customer, feel free to contact me. You will get an amazing deal on their starter kits for a limited time, so it would be best to join NOW!!! You can see the starter kits at https://www.amusestudio.com/index.asp. You may join us as a consultant directly through the website, but please let me know if you have joined by emailing me.

Now, a little information about me. Like I said, I have been an avid stamper for a few years now. For a long time, I was in the mode of being a "collector" (maybe hoarder is a better word...LOL!!!). It was A Muse that really helped me become a creative stamper and actually use my stash of stamping goodies. I joined A Muse in February 2010 to work at their store on Saturdays. I am currently still working at the A Muse store (in WA). If you have stopped in at the store, I am the one that teaches the Make n' Takes on Saturdays (11:30-1:30). I also work at special A Muse functions such as release parties, holiday open houses, swaps, etc. I wish I could work there full-time. By day, I am a financial advisor working in Bellevue. I have 2 cats that love to "help" when I'm trying to craft. :)

Well, that's it for now. I better figure out this blogging thing and get some samples of cards posted.

Blessings.