the new 2012 catalog is here!

It's here! The brand new 2012 a muse studio catalog has arrived! There is an amazing amount of new stamps, 2 new color palettes (which means new inks, papers, patterned papers & ribbons) 2 new paper patterns (Venetian and Petite Polka Dot) and a ton of new dies (which are now made by Spellbinders exclusively for a muse studio) I, personally, am obsessed with the new Venetian color palette, it's so on trend for Spring, and more than a few of the brand new stamp sets, not to mention the awesome new Word Windows Die Set! anyway, enough about my favorites, check out the catalog so you can find your new favorites!

Here is the PDF of the2012 catalog and you can also see the catalog, and shop it in my online consultant shop. You can place an order there, and feel free to contact me with any questions!

blind box sale 2012

I have become sort of a craft hoarder, so in an effort to get making things again I have decided to ruthlessly pare down my supplies so that I'm not so overwhelmed by all my stuff!

The pictures you see here are just some of the awesome product that I split between these 15 "blind boxes." There is a ton of amazing product in each of these boxes that I either had multiples of, or just haven't gotten around to using. 99% of what's in these boxes is brand new (and the other 1% very lightly; it may be missing one sticker or a word's worth of letters)

The products split between boxes are from some of my favorite companies like; basic grey, american crafts, crate paper, cosmo cricket, hambly, studio calico, my minds eye, october afternoon, copic, ranger, hero arts, a muse, my favorite things, imaginisce, making memories, maya road & more!

Each "blind box" has at least;
- 35 12x12 papers including one 12x12 cardstock sticker/chipboard sheet
- 3 sets of Thickers
- 1 8x8 or smaller paper pad (these are missing a few pages)
- 3 tools/mediums (like markers, stickles, paints, embossing folders, etc.)
- 3 acrylic stamp sets (at least one large set around 4x6)
- 3 woodmounted stamps (sizes vary)
- 10 embellishments (stickers, buttons, brads, journaling blocks, chipboard, etc)
- 1 glimmer mist
- 1 mini album or alterable item

The "blind boxes" are packed in a USPS Medium Flate Rate Box (14x12x3.5) as carefully as possible, but some shifting may occur in the mail.

You can purchase them over in my etsy shop; leftandleaving designs

plaid at heart 3: buffalo plaid

a third installment in my favorite little mix series. this one is super cozy and comforting, like a favorite plaid shirt around the house.

01. "helplessness blues" fleet foxes

02. "switchblade" jenny and johnny

03. "i don't want love" the antlers

04. "come talk to me" bon iver

05. "in the dirt" s. carey

06. "look at you" my morning jacket

07. "don't carry it all" the decemberists

08. "more adventurous" rilo kiley

09. "i don't want to know" fleetwood mac

10. "the tree (feat. alela diane)" blitzen trapper

11. "back down south" kings of leon

12. " devil's in the jukebox" ray lamontagne & the pariah dogs

13. "diamond dancer" bill callahan

14. "the bump" deer tick

15. "atlas" fanfarlo

16. "40 day dream" edward sharpe & the magnetic zeroes

illustration via pencil bomb.

indie elves return - a new holiday mix

i actually have two finished mixes! this new holiday mix, as well as a new edition of "plaid at heart," which i will post later on. they would be great mashed together into a super cozy monster mix. hope you like.

01. "peace on earth/ little drummer boy" jack black & jason segel

02. "winter winds" mumford & sons

03. "donna and blitzen" badly drawn boy

04. "xmas time is here again" my morning jacket

05. "christmas after all" maria taylor

06. "all that i want" the weepies

07. "christmas is coming soon" blitzen trapper

08. "holiday" vampire weekend

09. "put the lights on the tree" sufjan stevens

10. "jingle bell rock" rogue wave

11. "listening to otis redding at home during christmas" okkervil river

12. "come on santa" the raveonettes

13. "silent night" bosque brown

14. "christmas time is here" au revoir simone

15. "baby, it's cold outside" she & him

16. "christmas lights" coldplay

it's heeeeeeere...

It's finally here! The A Muse Studio Holiday Catalog & Inspiration Guide! 40 pages of brand new Fall, Halloween, Winter, Christmas & Valentine's Day stamps, papers, dies, inks, washi tapes, embossing plates and more! Take a look at the catalog by clicking the link above, and then head on over to my online A Muse Studio Store right here to place an order! And remember, an order over $150 qualifies for free product and, during A Muse A Palooza, a free hostess stamp set! So, if you are placing a large order, or have a few friends who might want to order together, contact me about placing your order as a workshop! Just e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com

All the products have just started shipping and I've already had a chance to play with some of them! How much do you love that grey striped washi tape from the holiday washi tape set!? A Muse Studio already sold 4 sets of Washi Tape (Winter, Spring Summer & Fall) but now we also sell this Holiday set along with a really rich Metallic set! I decided to dress my deer up with a cute little ribbon scarf and add a little touch of the brand new "wasabi" green cardstock. I can already tell that it's going to be a new go-to color for me. This sweet little deer is from the brand new "Nordic Noel" stamp set, which I also used to make my next card...

... this guy! For this one, I went with a weathered patterned kind of look using a lot of the images from "Nordic Noel" the Versamagic watermark ink pad, White Embossing Powder and a heat gun. Then I added another little touch of Wasabi, the brand new Cherry Woodgrain Cardstock (also comes in Slate, French Roast, Sky and Latte) and another new addition to the A Muse Studio toolbox, Cherry Bakers Twine (also comes in French Roast and Onyx!)

My next order is definitely going to involve stocking up on some of the cute new Halloween products! They are so fun, and Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays to make cards for!

Until then, check out the catalog, place an order in my online shop or contact me with any questions!

Card Supplies:

Winter Gear Deer Card; Stamp Sets(Nordic Noel and Essential Sentiments), Cardstock (Cherry, Wasabi, Candy Cane & Sugar), Pigment Ink (French Roast & Cranberry), Grass Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Holiday Washi Tape and Foam Tape.

Noel Card; Nordic Noel Stamp Set, Cardstock (Cherry, Wasabi and Cherry Woodgrain), White Embossing Paper, Versamark Embossing Pad, Cherry & White Bakers Twine and foam tape.

spring into summer 2011 mix

finally! a mix that i've been promising for forever. it has morphed from an end of winter, spring beginnings mix to a reluctant pull from spring into summer. hope you enjoy.

01. "we turn it up" - oh land

02. "mine is yours (passion pit remix)" - cold war kids

03. "youth knows no pain" - lykke li

04. "all summer" - kid cudi, best coast & rostam of vampire weekend

05. "pumped up kicks (mndr 4-track remix) - foster the people

06. "burn it all down" - vhs or beta

07. "do it again" - holy ghost!

08. "shatter your lungs" - the get up kids

09. "coin laundry" - lisa mitchell

10. "triple spiral" - bright eyes

11. "holdin on to black metal" - my morning jacket

12. "what you know" - two door cinema club

13. "rome" - phoenix

14. "wait up (boots of danger)" - tokyo police club

15. "breaker breaker" - peter bjorn & john

16. "eyes wide (fool's gold remix) - local natives

17. "beggin" - madcon

18. "what part of forever" cee lo green

a muse studio plays well with others...

you can now officially shop from anywhere, online, in my a must studio consultant shop!

welcome back to my little a muse studio launch blog party! a muse studio happens to sell some awesome pattern papers, damask, mini gingham, polka dots and a few more, but i am a total paper addict and love to use scrapbook paper from all my favorite manufacturers too!

the infamous "to go" cup! i use this guy alllllll the time for every holiday, season and general card that i can think up because it's just so fun to paper piece! and now, with the launch of a muse studio it's been re-released in cling rubber with a whole bunch of perfect sentiments, an espresso machine and a couple of mugs in a set called, "the perfect blend." i love it so much, that this set was even in my friday faves!

(french roast ink pad, foam tape, onyx paper for the card base)

i am loving these bright, cheery colors right now, along with the mix of stripes and florals, blame it on the "botanica" section at anthropolgie! this brand new, "life is a song" stamp set is quickly becoming a new favorite for me, kind of for the same reason that i love "the perfect blend" so much, it's great for all ocassions, color combinations and super easy to use! it comes with 4 different birdcages and 2 interchangable chains, 3 birds, these cute music notes and a whole slew of sayings that can be mixed and matched. there is also a really nice "with sympathy" sentiment in this set. for this card i used a line of onyx twinkle stickers to make my own chain! it's nice that they come on a line of adhesive so that you don't have to worry about lining them up straight!

(tuxedo black memento ink pad, papaya ink pad, onyx twinkle stickers, cherry solid paper for the card base)

ohemgeethesepeeps! i love this little guy! and now, he comes in a fun set called, "for peep's sake" along with the sentiments "for peep's sake" and "to one of my favorite peeps" in a cute new font (i used my old stamp here), along with a spring chick, a buny with a basket and a couple of larger easter sentiments. lot's of cuteness in this one! for this card, i just stamped my peep 3 times, in 3 different ink colors, on a piece i punched and layered using my labels 4 nestabilities and then when the ink was dry i went over them with my quickie glue pen and sprinkled diamond glitter on top to give them that sugar loaded peep look!

(papaya ink pad, bubblegum ink pad, grass ink pad, french roast ink pad, quickie glue pen, diamond glitter, grass solid paper for card base, labels 4 nestabilities)

this is another awesome, go-to set! "happy everything" really does cover just about everything with mix and match sentiments and a cute triangle banner! i also love how large the words are! it makes it really easy to get a more masculine card if need be because it doesn't even really require an image stamp!

(french roast ink pad)

don't forget, one of the customers who places an order in my a muse studio consultant shop this weekend will win the "just my type" stamp set and R32 peach, BG10 cool shadow & W6 warm grey no. 6 copic original markers that i used in this how-to! just place an order this weekend and then e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know that you did so that i can make sure that you are entered into the drawing!

a muse studio - typewriter card step by step

you can now officially shop from anywhere, online, in my a muse studio consultant shop!

hey all! thanks so much for following along on my little consultant website launch journey! today, i'm going to show you how to make this cute. "typewriter thank you card." and, after this weekend is over i'll pick a lucky customer to win the, "just my type" stamp set and the 3 copics that we'll use to make this card!

the first thing i did is gather all my supples and pick a color pallet for my card. for this particular card i was inspired by those beautiful vintage royal typwriter colors we always see! the papers used are; slate solid, bermuda solid, vanilla solid, onyx gingham, school lined & bubblegum shimmer couture damask.

i love that the new a muse studio stamps are that quality red rubber that we all love, but with the ease of a cling stamp! another great feature, other than the fact that they come completely put together and pre-cut is that the image is printed on the cling part of the stamp, so it's super easy to place your stamp correctly! okay, on to our cardmaking!

step 1: cut a 1" x 1.25" rectangle of the school lined paper and use your slate ink pad to stamp "thanks so much" up towards the top and then distress the edges lightly with your tuxedo black memento ink pad. set this piece aside for later.

step 2: let's make our typewriter! go ahead and stamp your typewriter on vanilla paper using the tuxedo black memento ink pad and then circle punch it.

step 3: it's time to color, the photos above will make it easy to see what's what color wise as you go along. first use R32 peach to color the body of the typewriter. next use W6 warm grey 6 to color the return, space bar & sides of the keys. Lastly, use BG10 cool shadow to color the "inside" of the typwriter and tops of the keys.

step 4: now it's time to insert our little "typed" message. use your exacto knife to cut a slit along the bottom of the "paper roller". flip the typwriter over and put a small line of adhesive on the back, below the slit then flip it back over and slide your typed message in. lastly, put a small piece of foam tape behind the top of your typed message so that it looks like it's coming up out of the typwriter!

step 5: punch a scalloped circle out of slate paper and attach your typewriter circle.

step 6: make a bar 4 (3.5"x5") card out of bermuda paper by scoring and folding a 3.5"x10" piece in half.

step 7: cut a 2.5"x4.75" rectangle of onyx gingham paper and a 1"x4.75" piece of bubblegum shimmer couture damask and lightly distress the edges of both using the tuxedo black memento ink pad.

step 8: attach your onyx gingham straight onto your card so that it's even at the top and sides.

step 9: use foam tape or pop dots/squares to attach your scallop based typewriter onto your card so that it's to the right of your card and the bottom of your typwriter is even with the bottom of the gingham piece.

step 10: attach foam tape to your card as pictured above so that you can attach your "tabletop" paper at the same depth as your typewriter.

step 11: attach your bubblegum shimmer couture damask "tabletop" to the card so that it lines up nicely with the bottom of the typwriter.

step 12: cut a teal heart from the a sheet of heart twinkle stickers and stick it right onto your typed message. ta da! you're all done!

wasn't that easy peasy? think of all the different color typewriters you could make! i happen to be kind of addicted to this color combination right now, so i thought i'd share 2 other a muse studio cards that i've made using it!

scooter from the "ooh la la!" stamp set & sentiment from the "sushi & wasabi" set (which is another favorite!) also, don't you love that polka dot organdy ribbon? it's another addictive product from a muse studio!

umbrella from the "bridal beauty" set (i use this for all kinds of things, especially under the weather and bad day cards!) & sentiment from the "wild rose" set.

i hope you enjoyed my little step by step how-to! and don't forget, one of the customers who places an order in my a muse studio consultant shop this weekend will win the "just my type" stamp set and R32 peach, BG10 cool shadow & W6 warm grey no. 6 copic original markers that i used in this how-to! just place an order this weekend and then e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know that you did so that i can make sure that you are entered into the drawing!

don't forget to check back tomorrow for 4 brand new cards i've made to show you just how nicely a muse studio cards play with some of my favorite scrapbook papers!

friday five #42: a muse studio favorites

my a muse studio consultant shop is up!!!

before i share my favorites, i wanted to let you know about the changes to a muse's stamps. one of the best parts about a muse studio is that all the stamp sets come in a labeled dvd case and are totally pre-assembled cling mounted rubber! all you have to do when they arrive is open them up, grab the stamp you want to use and stick it onto an acrylic block! then when you're all done, just clean it off with a baby wipe and stick it back in the case! the switch from wood mounted to cling mounted means lower prices and easier storage with the same great stamp quality! anyway, on to my 5 favorites! i assure you that it was hard to pick just 5, you should see the length of my wish list!

01." foiled again!" - we all know that mustaches are huge right now, and i love this set because not only would these mustaches be awesome all fuzzy and flocked, but i love that they come with fun sentiments like "curses! foiled again!" along with a lot of really general sayings! (item #SBSP001)

02. washi tape - another huge craze right now! i love it bunched and folded like ribbon! there are 4 sets of 5 rolls available, one for each season! (winter set item #ESWW004)

03. "clever girls" - i think that this is set is going to be a sleeper hit! the sayings would be great with tons of images; "you rock my world", "dreams come a size too big so we can grow into them" and my favorite, "isn't it amazing what clever girls can do" and the images are pretty amazingly all purpose too! i can totally see using the clouds, bursts and sparrows on a ton of scrapbook layouts and cards! plus, i love the swirly acoustic guitar! (item #SISS014)

04. custom dies - not only does a muse studio sell some awesome spellbinders nestabilities sets, but they also have their own line of exclusive dies like these swallows and a set of sweet clouds (which are $5.95 a set!) there are also borders, ticket strips, triangle banners, butterflies, and die sets that coordinate perfectly with a muse studio stamp sets (which even come with positioning plates so you can cut your stamped image perfectly!) (swallows item #TAD0010 & clouds item #TAD0003)

05. "the perfect blend" - we all know that i use my a muse "to go cup" stamp like crazy (for just about every holiday and occasion) and now it's been re-released for a muse studio with an espresso machine, coffee mugs, a tea cup and awesome sentiments like, "thanks a latte", "let's venti", "how ya' bean" and "happy birthday to a regular joe!" among others! i can't wait to get this one in my hands! (item #SNSM047)

giveaway announcement!!!

tomorrow i'll be posting a step-by-step guide to making a really sweet typewriter card using all kinds of new a muse studio swag and i've decided to give you all a chance to win the stamp set & copic markers to make it at home! everyone who places an order through my consultant website this weekend (between now and 11:59 est sunday) will be entered into the drawing and i'll announce the winner monday morning here on my blog! (when you place an order please e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know so that i can make sure to enter you for your chance to win!) so, tune in tomorrow to get a look at the project and goodies and place an order for a chance at the prize!

you can access my a muse studio consultant store anytime by clicking on the a muse studio image in my blog's sidebar, or by going to; http://www.amustudio.com/missmorgan

coming this weekend...

it's time! this weekend is my big online a muse studio launch! crafty peeps may already be familiar with a muse's stamps from your local craft stores, i know that i have used them in pretty much every class i've taught. after 10 years, a muse has made a huge shift over into the world of home sales. now, the only place to nab some a muse goodness is through an a muse studio independent creative consultant like yours truly.

if you're in my area you can feel free to contact me about hosting a workshop, open house or catalog party. or, if you are close by, but not necessarily up for the hostess thing, although i assure you that it's easy-peasy, you might be interested in one of my 6 month stamp clubs. i won't type you're ear off with all the details right now, but e-mail me if you are interested! missmorganteaches@gmail.com

one of the best things about this new a muse studio launch is that if you aren't close by, you can still join me for some a muse studio fun! as of april 1st, friday, you will be able to shop for a muse studio goodies on my consultant website! so, even if we only see each other at trade shows or scrappy events, or are just blog friends, i can still help you out! i'm also planning on posting lots of little tutorials, projects and tips on my blog to get you as excited as i am about this stuff!

to celebrate the launch of my consultant website, which won't be visible until april 1st, i'll be posting a muse studio fun all weekend. here's the planned schedule;

friday, april 1st - friday five (a muse product edition) & giveaway details

saturday, april 2nd - i'll show you how to create a cute card start to finish

sunday, april 3rd - more great a muse studio samples

monday, april 4th - giveaway winner announced

i hope you'll join me this weekend!