As you may have heard, A Muse Stamps has gone into the home sales market, like Stampin' Up or Close to my Heart. The demo starter kit seemed like too good of a deal to pass up for $99 (+$15 shipping + tax), so I went ahead and joined up. I'm not planning on being any super seller or anything, but if you're interested, let me know. I may set up my own webpage that you can order from (it won't be live until April 1st, though), or if you're interested in placing an order before then, you can leave a comment and I'll get back to ya. You can see the catalog
here.
This is what you get in the starter kit:
A couple close-up shots (click to view larger):
My review:
Copics: They sell copic originals, which I have never used. Instead of a brush tip, they have a bullet point, which is definitely intriguing. I used it to color a small area and it was nice to get into the nooks and crannies.
Clear blocks: Very nice thick blocks with indentations on two sides for a better grip. Since Unity isn't selling their blocks at the moment, these were the nice upgrade I've been looking for. You get five of them, including a big background one and a long skinny one.
Inks: These are pigment inks that dry to a chalky finish. They seem pretty nice in the small samples I've done.
Paper: Now this is the part that is really going to cost me!! Their paper is fabulous. It's like the paper they use to make store-bought notecards. It's thick enough to not be flimsy, but not thick like PTI. The cool part is that it is white on the other side, so when you make your cards you don't have to add an extra sheet on the inside to write on. The colors they sent are very pretty (well, except that darn orange! But I guess it's a nice orange if you're into that sort of color). They also send color swatches of all their colors, with the color name and family (there are four seasonal color families) printed on each swatch. I would like to see them print a color combo chart, especially since they don't have any multi-colored patterned paper from which to get color combo ideas.
Bling/pearls/memento ink pad/paper flowers/adhesive/glue pen: All of these are products you probably already have.
Stamp scrubber & cleaner: The cleaner has a familiar blue tinge to it, but I haven't actually used it yet to compare to Ultra Clean. The stamp scrubber is a little smaller than Stampin' Up's, but has the same type of pads in it.
Stamp sets: A nice collection of images and sentiments. These are "sampler" sets, so there are 2 or 3 stamps from a multitude of sets. Yes, that means if you buy the actual set, you will have duplicates, but I still think they're a good deal. They are mounted on cushion cling, with the images already on the cling. They suggest you cling the block to the case, that way you can put the stamps back in their spots and instantly see if you are missing any. I found it tedious to get the stamps in and out of their space, so I'll probably just chuck the scrap.
After all this product talk, are you ready to see some A Muse cards? Ok, here are three quick CAS cards I made last night.
This is for a friend who has been stuck in the hospital recently...I thought the caged bird was appropriate. This is French Roast and Currant ink stamped on Sky paper. I colored the small pearls with a brown copic before adhering.
This patterned paper was actually the back of the A Muse welcome letter (it's also available in the catalog). I stamped the dandelions and sentiment using French Roast, then adhered it to a French Roast base.
This final one is also for the Splitcoast's CAS challenge today. I cut the rocket out of the box (or should I say "out of the oval?") and colored with copics and a metallic silver marker. I used a star dust pen to add stars on the PTI Smokey Shadow background. It's a wee little 3x3 card.
Now, don't worry, this blog won't be turning into All A Muse All The Time, but I hope you enjoyed a little peek!
This card is for PTI's Make It Mondays challenge of using partial embossing. Instead of just leaving part of the cardstock off of the impression plate as shown in their video, I cut a scrap piece of paper using the fillable frames #4 die and placed that between my green cardstock base and the impression plate, as shown here. Then I placed the embossing mat & B plate on top and sent it on through. It still left a slight impression--maybe I'll try some chipboard (aka Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie box--people, have you tried these yet? They are so yummy!) next time. The stamping was all done with Peeled Paint distress ink. I used the Mat Stack 2 die to cut out some Echo Park paper, and the Limitless Labels dies to cut the circle & scallop circle. The paper & ribbon are Ripe Avocado.
