A little while ago Amy and Jen were thinking of buying some pigment inks, and they asked me to stamp out come colors for them. I have most of the A Muse Studio colors and several Fresh Ink colors, so I put together this chart for them. Since it has been a few days since I posted (my blog host went down!), I thought I would share the comparison here.

On each of the four panels, the Fresh Ink is stamped on the left, and the similar A Muse Studio color from my stash is stamped on the right. Here’s a list of the colors on each card, by column. (A Muse colors noted with a “*” in the photo are called by their original name, and have had a name change since I purchased my inks.) I will say that Turquoise is much more of a genuine turquoise color than it appears in this photo, and Birch/Seattle appear more brown in the photo than they are in real life - so sorry about that.

Panel #1
Left: (Fresh Ink) Red Currant, Strawberry, Tomato Red, Fuschia, Pink Lemonade
Right: (A Muse Studio) Cherry, Burano* (now called Poppy), Apple, Berry, Grapefruit

Panel #2
Left: (Fresh Ink) Peach, Melon, Ginger, Mango
Right: (A Muse Studio) Bellini* (now called Melon), Apricot, Lido* (now called Saffron), Papaya, Mermaid

Panel #3
Left: (Fresh Ink) Freesia, Turquoise, Navy, Mojito, Basil
Right: (A Muse Studio) Blueberry, Ocean, Navy, Grass, Fern

Panel #4
Left: (Fresh Ink) Birch, Provincial Gray, Putty, Blue Sage
Right: (A Muse Studio) Seattle, Slate, Pebble, Latte

Which colors are my favorites? Of those shown here: Tomato Red, Berry, Melon, Mango, Turquoise, Mojito, Seattle and Provincial Gray.

Hope this was helpful! For dye inks, I have mostly been using Hero Arts inks, and my go-to black ink is Versafine Onyx Black, though the Memento Luxe one is very good too (both of those are pigment inks). My go-to brown ink is Papertrey’s Dark Chocolate (dye) ink - love!

If you have any questions, please let me know and I will reply in the comments here. Today’s highlight: I rescued a very very floofy white dog today - you can see his pic on my Instagram feed - it made my day!

Suzanne

Welcome to Monday, everyone! Here’s a first for me: I made this card very early this morning, before going to work! Here’s to hoping that this great start to my day sets the tone for the whole holiday week! Did you have a fun weekend? I spent the day shopping with my mom and sister on Saturday, and yesterday my hubby and I ran errands and just hung out.

I used some A Muse Studio Squeeze the Day stamps and dies on this card today, along with the Lil’ Inker stitched rectangles and a plaid impression plate from PTI. These summery Lawn fawn papers seemed to fit the lemony theme pretty well.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment letting me know that you had found me here at my new home on the internet. I really appreciate it!!! The winner of the $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice is Joyce M.! YAY, Joyce!!! I am so happy for you! I will send you an e-mail!

Suzanne

Today is Day 2 of a 3-day release hop for Lil’ Inker Designs, and if you’re hopping along with the team then you may have arrived here from Sarah Jay’s blog, but if you’re lost along this hop, you can always head on over to the Lil’ Inker Designs blog to start at the beginning.

Today we are featuring projects made with the new Stitched Scallop border die - I used it to make the edge on these party hat cards. I wanted to make a set of birthday cards for my mom, since she’s always looking for more cards.

I cut triangles from some A Muse Studio polka dotted cardstock in a rainbow of colors to make the card fronts and backs, and used the Lil’ Inkers Gift Bow Topper die to make the pom-pom on top.

Then I decided to stamp the inside of the cards using the sentiment “You’re never too old to wear a party hat” from the previously released You’re Invited stamp set, and the banner image from the Mom and Dad Sentiments stamp set that was featured yesterday by our team.

I also decorated the envelopes - I selectively stamped three lines for a mailing address using the lines from the You’re Invited stamp set and added the color-matched banner once again from the Mom and Dad Sentiments stamp set from this month’s release.

There are two Lil’ Inker Designs $10 credits available as prizes to folks who comment along the way in this week’s hop, so head on over to the next stop at the Lil’ Inker Designs blog!

Have an awesome day,
Suzanne

I am back with a card for Day 3 of Pattern Play, this time trying to use up some hard to use patterns. I tried breaking up this bold pattern using Kristina Werner’s technique tonight.

I used some Amy Tangerine papers from American Crafts and rounded the top edge of the paper before trimming it into 4 sections. Then I stamped and diecut the feathers and sentiment from A Muse Studio’s Make a Wish set, later adding some gray twine and pearly rhinestones. This patterned paper is double-sided and the green paper is the coordinating paper on the backside of the rainbow pattern:

I love the bright colors on this so much!I am going to have to try this out some more, because I had all kinds of ideas of how to break up the pattern.

Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you have a great day!
Suzanne

I had a great time today at Liz’s house, where we had a holiday shoebox swap for 11 people. We could use any products that we wanted, but our card had to be assembled in 10 minutes or less. This was the card that I made and I just wanted to pop in really quickly to share it.

The striped cardstock, gold washi tape, and poinsettia dies are all from A Muse Studio. I paired them with an adorable sentiment from Hero Arts’ Holiday Sayings and the chartreuse strip that was diecut using PTI’s Half and Half die.

Hope you had a fun weekend! It was a busy one for us - besides the swap, we went to the movies for the first time in ages, I had chicken parm two nights in a row (so awesome!) and I went to see my grandma too. Now, off to get some rest!

Hugs,
Suzanne

We have a new CAS-ual Fridays Challenge today, and this week we’re challenging you to make a card for a boy! The prize this week is a gift card to Simon Says Stamp and a spot as our guest designer:

I used an A Muse Studio set called Ahhnouncing along with a SU! striped embossing folder. Very CAS but I think it makes such a cute card for a bunch of different occasions.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Suzanne

Hi friends! This morning I woke up and saw this challenge posted by Splitcoaststampers on Facebook, and wanted to play along. It’s the Hope You Can Cling to Challenge series in honor of breast cancer awareness and benefiting MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The particular challenge that I am playing along with is HYCCT1228, which challenged us to make a clean and simple card where the sentiment is the focus of the card. I used my favorite sentiment set from Neat and Tangled stamps and some cardstock, ink, and glitter from A Muse Studio.

This October also marks the 3-year anniversary of this blog, and I am so very grateful for all the fun and encouragement I have received from all of you. I love this hobby and am so flattered that anyone even stops by here! So, without gushing too too much, I am offering up some blog candy!

I’ve chosen a variety of new items from my craft room for one lucky winner to enjoy. Because the photo isn’t so great, here is a list of the items included in the prize package:

• A Muse Studio cardstock sampler
• A Muse Studio Fight Like a Girl Stamp set
• A Muse Studio Burano, Watermelon,and Shell inkpads
• A Muse Studio organdy ribbon in Shell & assorted twine/stitched ribbon
• Bo Bunny Rejoice 6×6 paper pad
• My Favorite Things Ice Skating Flopsey stamp set
• Paper Smooches Love Monkey stamp
• Papertrey Ink Heart-2-Heart #2 (balloon set) with die
• Stampin’ Up! Sprinkled Expressions
• Waltzingmouse Stamps twine and wood buttons
• 2 packs Recollections foam adhesive circles (1/4 inch and 1/2 inch sizes)

Most of the A Muse products were generously sent to me by A Muse Studio when they sponsored the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge a few weeks ago to promote their Fight Like a Girl free stamp set promotion. I have these inks and papers and ribbon already, so I am spreading the love! By the way, you still have time to order your free set and can do that by clicking here.

And the Waltzingmouse Stamps twine and wood buttons were sent to me by Claire Brennan, owner of WMS…well, because she offers some of the most spectacular customer service in the industry and is just as sweet as can be!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what your favorite crafty products are at this very moment! All comments received by November 15 are eligible for the prize. I will also ship internationally.

Thanks again SO SO much and have a fun day,
Suzanne
xoxo

This is my second post for today. For my very special CAS-ual Fridays post, please scroll down.

Hello! Happy World Card Making Day! I am psyched to tell you that the lovely Arielle Gordon has invited me to be the October Headliner on the Retrosketches blog! Woo hoo!

Knowing how much Arielle loves candy corn, today’s card was inspired by her. I used an A Muse Studio stamp set called Candy Corn Kisses, and paired it with patterned papers from Authentique Paper’s Enchanted line.

I used distress ink and glitter to decorate the sentiment panel, and diecut a button from patterned paper using a Memory Box die; it was colored yellow to match the candy corns.

I finished the button off with some May Arts black jute twine and added glitter to the candy before putting this all together. I think I need more colors of glitter.

I’m getting excited for Halloween! Have a fun long weekend!

Today is a very special Saturday for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge because we are helping A Muse Studio kickoff their promotion for breast cancer awareness month. For all of the details, please see this post on the CFC blog - there’s a random drawing this week just for commenting! (Our regularly scheduled prize for the month is also scheduled!)

A Muse Studio is giving away a free stamp set (plus $3 shipping + taxes) for this very special month. It’s called Fight Like a Girl, and it’s the set that I used on my card today. Our challenge this week was to make a card for a special woman in our life.