My A Muse Studio Came

My HUGE package from A Muse Studio came with my starter kit. I'm about to give you the painfully honest review.But first here are some things I made:

Ok first I'll talk about the kit contents as a whole. I think it's a great kit. I went with the delux kit and I'm glad I did because I love the inks (more on that in a second) and I got the print paper as well. I mostly wanted the inks and the extra catalogs. I think it's a brilliant kit because you get the sampler stamp sets, they put together a wide range of the stamps they offer. They are fun sets. No Christmas I noticed. I wonder if they will change WHAT the sampler sets are ever? Anyhow they are a great sampling of the A Muse stamp line. The downside is if I buy the sets some of the stamps came out of I'll have doubles. My only complaint about the kit is that there should be more cardstock. Two sheets each of about 10 colors isn't enough for me. I feel super stingy making cards. Of course I'm used to having nearly unlimited cardstock. I'll just have to order more. But I wish the kit had two packs of the assortment and a whole pack of white.

Specific reviews:

Ink. I personally LOVE this ink. It sits so nicely on the paper and the colors are fresh and true to what you see on the inkpad. It is pigment though and does NOT dry quickly. In some environments you may need to heat set it. It's crazy humid here and I didn't have to heat set, but I keep hearing that it's smearing for people. That is a shame. I think I'm willing to run that risk because I'm such a freak about color looking right. I absolutely disliked most dye inks. So I'm happy.

Cardstock: It's totally different from all other cardstock I've used. It's more like cardstock weight paper. The color is fresh and vivid, but only printed on one side. I love this because the inside of cards is a nice white. I think it's very professional looking.

Print Paper: It's the same as the cardstock but with a print.

Stamps: this is important.! They are cling mounted, and come in DVD cases much like the new SU stamps. You do NOT have to mess with the sticker lables though. They are printed on the foam! So you won't have that sticker not being clingy enough issue some folks had with SU. I LOVE that! They are also already die cut for you. They stamp great.

I think the rest of the supplies I got are pretty standard. The cleaner works great, the ribbon feels good. OH! You get a swatch book with all the cardstock colors. I love that because the kit doesn't include all the cardstock colors so I can at least see them all.

I'll let you know as I discover any new characteristics of the A Muse Studio stuff. I plan to make an order next week, I need more of the cardstock.

Hair and A Muse

Look: I always want to dye my hair weird colors. Well I did. Hurray! I love it. I mean I super freakoutcrazy love it.

Also I signed up to be an A Muse Studio consultant! I'm so excited. I don't have anything to show you for that yet but I will.

That could be good news for you if you love a bargain. I'm thinking about selling off a large portion of my other stamps. I think I could get down to almost all A Muse. I'll keep you posted.

Bouncy Ball Nails.

This is my current nail polish job. I kept thinking this manacure reminded me of something. Then I realized what it was. THESE super bouncy balls I used to get from gum machines as a kid. Doesn't it look like that?

I did this with water marbling technique. If you are interested in that google it or look it up on youtube because there are so many great videos and I could never do it justice. The short of it is that you swirl polish on the surface of a cup of water then dip the nail into the water to catch the swirl design on your nail. I used scotch tape to tape off my finger tips so I didn't make a huge mess. Oh, and I painted my nails white first so the colors would really show up. Which was good because I ended up doing it so a lot of the white showed.

I love this manacure. In these crazy bold colors it really appeals to kids. My boys cannot stop looking at it. It couldn't be more fun.

Non Nail News:

I haven't stamped in a few weeks, but I did get the new A Muse catalog from my good friend Sherri and it's ADORABLE. I can't spend any more money for the rest of the month, but Sherri can expect an order from me next month. I do wish they were clear, but I'm sure there are just as many folks who are thankful they are rubber.

I've done two Zumba classes now. I LOVE ZUMBA. It's so crazy fun. My class is an hour of really intense cardio but it just flies by. I'm super uncordinated so I'm sure I look a fool, but I'm having fun. I did have to get new tank tops to work out in. I have a really long torso and super short legs. I don't really mind except clothes are not made for that. When I'd throw my arms over my head to do the dance moves in Zumba my floppy, stretch mark scarred stomache would pop out. It's all mirrors in there. It freaked me out. So vanity won the day and I got some el cheapo $7 Target tanks. I think they are strictly speaking sleepwear, but they are thin, long and cute. So I'll be the girl at Zumba in the sleep top. haha.

St. Patty's Day Nails

So I let Ethan pick my polish this time. I had a feeling he'd go for green. But when he handed it to me he said, "not a silly design Mommy, a classy design this time." After I got over the complex that gave me for a few moments I figured a kid would think glitter tips are "classy". I was right. The green is some shimmery Mabeline polish I've had for EVER. I half expected it to be dried out really. But it was ok. So two coats of that, then I painted just the tips with topcoat and dipped the tips of my nails into Martha Stewart Antique Gold craft glitter. After that I put about 6 coats of SV topcoat on top. It needed that to get rid of the catchy feeling of the glitter which was driving me INSANE. They feel all smoothe and normal now. :)

I bought a lot of polish lately. I must stop! I only have the two hands. haha. But anyhow I ordered online some black, gray and topcoat in a matte finish. I also got a metalic gold, metalic sliver, royal blue and a dark brown. Dark brown looks very trendy/hip on me, but I did it on Roniece yesterday and with her fab dark skin it looked really neutral/classy! So that polish is a WIN. I also figured out two things. 1. I can't swatch polish on Roniece. Her nails are way darker than mine and her skin is also way darker. It tells me nothing. 2. I CAN swatch polish on my boys! They have my same skin color so I can really tell what it will look like. Ethan thinks it's funny to have a handful of polish swatches. Stephen has entered the phase where he worries what people will think of him, so he's into me doing it, but requests it get removed before school the next day. *sigh* growing up.

In other news:
Calvin is HUGE. Super grown up looking to me. And a fatty too. I mean a nice round baby fat, the good kind.
I am still working out. I tried a Zumba class last night. I've never sweat so much in my life, but the hour class went by so quickly because it is so fast paced and the music is great. I'm really seeing results from all my working out/dieting. I decided on a reward system for myself:
15lbs lost - pedicure
20lbs lost - 1 hour massage professional.
30lbs lost - new jeans, nice ones, any brand I want.
40lbs lost - Brian said he would get me a Day at the Spa package.
50lbs lost - New Wardrobe
60 lbs lost - Brian said he would get me anything I want. Like a vacation to Alaska or something, although he'd REALLY like to go tropical with me if I'm down 60lbs and get me new bathing suits and all. *wink*

So I need to stay on it. Because I'm sore! I'd kick a baby seal right now for a massage.

More playing with my nails.

This is my newest nail art. I hand painted Chococat on my nail. It's not perfect, his ears should be fatter and more to the sides of his head and I have one of his wiskers sort of growing out of under his ear instead of nearer to where it should. But it's definately recognizable as Chococat, so I'm happy!

This really intense turquoise is two coats of Sally Hansen's Hi-Definition nail color in number 14 Spectrum, over two coats of Ulta's white polish. I love this HD polish because I've done it over a few colors now with totally different looks. It has a slight holographic effect to a purple-ish color. Fun stuff.

I'm really having fun doing my nails. I know it's such a simple thing, but making that 30 minutes or so every few days to pamper myself is bringing me great joy. All the kids in my life are enjoying it too. Kinda makes me wish I had girls so I could have all their little girl friends over for a nail art party.

TSG97 Get Crafty Birthday Girl

I needed a card for a birthday we are going to this weekend. The birthday is at Pump it Up which is a huge inflatable bounce house place that is apparently super fun. We are all looking forward to it. When I saw that the There She Goes challange for the week was to use kraft I knew I would do the challange for the card. I bought the entire March Release of new stamps last week, they were so stinking cute, so I had this adorable girl to make the card with. I was holding Calvin while I colored. I'm not totally in love with this coloring job and I'm thinking that's why. I didn't really focus on my shading or anything. Basicly just tried to stay inside the lines. :)

have a great day

Been a while. I'm not even going to apologize or make promises to do better. I'll just do what I can. :)

I did clean my craft room and made a fun card to celebrate: The girl is by The Greeting Farm and the sentiment is by Hero Arts, the print paper is from the line Cherry Delicious by Sassafrass. I cut several layers for the girl. Stephen tells me it makes it 3D. He might be a bit obsessed with 3D.

In Other News:

My new obsession is doing my nails. Fancy fun nails. I don't know how long this mania will last but for now it's fun. Here are my current nails: