Sorry I Have Been Gone For So Long

Boy has time gone by.  I wish I could say it has flown by but it really hasn't, I just haven't had time for stamping. Boo hoo.   What's been taking all my time.  Classes!! And not stamping classes.  I started Social/Emotion Development of Young Children and Human Biology in August.  Well, I finished Soc/Emotion Dev at the end of Oct which was enough credits for me to change my certification with the state to an Ed Tech III.  Which doesn't really mean much except I have completed more school, might have a better chance of keeping my job during the next round of cut backs and I get to do billing with medicare.

Human Biology is still have another 6 weeks of school left.  Do you hear someone crying on a weekly basis and you don't know where it is coming from?  That would be me doing my homework.  At least it has gone from crying daily LOL.  My friends and family only have to hear me whine for another 6 weeks and then I will be done with the classes for this year.  The tears have been worth it so far.  My grades aren't too bad and if I pass with an 85 or higher my job will pay for it.

I am slowly giving up my craft room. (did you hear me whimper?)  My oldest son moved back home during this past summer.  My youngest son graduated high school and thought he would be going into the service in the fall.  An asthma test ended his plans for him pretty quickly.  I never let my oldest son have his room back since I had painted it and made it into a craft room.  I thought one was moving in and one was moving out. So I made them share a room for "a temporary amount of time".  Now that it seems I am stuck with them both (love you boys)  and they should have their own rooms again.  So around taking lab exams etc. I have been trying to clean things out of the downstairs closet so I can decide what is the most important stamping supplies I need.  The rest will have to go into the garage until one of them decides to move out.  At the rate I am going, shortly after Christmas the boys should have their own rooms again.

Now that you have listened to me rant and rave here is a little thank you card I made for my stamp group in Oct.  It is a 3x3 card.  I used my clear stamping block as a background stamp.  I love that it doesn't always make a consistent image.  (Maybe if I had tried harder but it wasn't the look I was going for anyways.) The flowers are from Just Believe.  One of my all time favorite stamp sets!

Hopefully it won't be so long between posts. At the very least you know I will be back in 6 weeks LOL.  I do have  a couple workshops planned before then so I should have some photos ready to post.

Until next time,

VC Rocks Blog Hop 3, 2011 Antyhing But A Card

Here we go, hoppin' again!  I hope you hopped over here from Marisol's blog. Did she have such great ideas. Or if you hopped on my page first, you can get a complete list of all the participants here.

This month's blog hop is anything but a card.  One of my all time favorite categories ever!  I actually have two items for you today.  One is all about me!  Awhile back on the internet I found a few sites that people had made custom covers for their iPhone.  We for my phone (not an iPhone), I had gone thru a couple covers and breaking them when I had dropped my phone.  Don't worry my phone was fine, the covers-not so much....So I just gave up and stopped buying covers.  Until...so I had to search online for a clear cover, because the mall didn't have one.

I took out the cardboard insert that came with the cover and traced it on to Whisper White card stock.  Next, I got out my Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise and  Wild Wasabi stamp pads along with the set Flower Fest.  My name is a custom stamp I had made a long time ago before I knew about Stampin Up.  Maybe it is time for me to get a new one from Stampin Up.  Did you know they could make custom name stamps as well?

My second idea that is a SUPER SIMPLE idea that could be added to a spa gift  basket that you made yourself of course. (Hmm... maybe I need to make some bath salts in jars and decor elements)  I bought emery boards from the big department store.  Make sure they are brand that doesn't have the name stamped on them already.  I used the small solid flower from Just Believe.  I used the same inks as I did on my phone cover and randomly stamped the tan side of the emery boards. Be careful not to touch the ink right away.  It takes just a minute or two longer than it does on cardstock.  Don't you think they would make such a cute gift for someone, like the secretary, who keeps the school running smoothly?

Now, hop on over to Jane's blog, where she will have even more idea of what you can make with Stampin Up products besides a card.

Until next time,

VC Rocks Challenge

A challenge on VC Rocks was to use 2+1.  Select two colors from the same color family and the third color from a different family.  Black and white were free colors.  I picked Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and So Saffron.  I embossed them with the lattice embossing folder.

Part two of the challenge was to take the 3 colors, make them into a card and using only ONE verse stamp, make the card a congratulations card or a praise card.  I used "friend" from the Just Believe set.  I punched it out with the new decorative label punch.  I also added three rhinestones for a little bit of bling.

Until next time,

First Stamp Club

Here is the first card that was made for my first stamp club as a brand new Stampin' Up! demonstrator. Knowing I had one lady who had never stamped before; I worked at keeping my designs simple (not that I get overly complex to begin with). But I didn't want her to feel overwhelmed or that she needed to buy everything all at once.

I remember taking a challenge once a long time ago that was a "basic challenge". If I remember correctly, only two colors of cardstock could be used including black or white,one stamp pad and one stamp set. I happen to love black and white. Almost all my dress pants are black and I have many white shirts of different styles. So keeping all these things in mind-here is what I came up with.

As I was demoing (is that a real word?) this card-I showed how we could stop at just the black and white paper and it would be a very pretty card with simple elegance. Then I went to explain we were going to dress it up just a little bit with a few simple items. A basic black ribbon and a few rhinestones on the flowers.

It was a great first club and first demonstration. All the ladies in the group are very dear friends or coworkers. I was nervous before people arrived but once everyone was there and I started teaching, all the nervousness went away. They all seemed to have a good time too.

Since this was our first club meeting, the ladies drew numbers to see who would be the hostess. My coworker (the one who had never stamped before) pulled out the number one. She got to be the very first hostess and earn all the free goodies. Everyone was very excited for her. Hopefully, we will have just as much fun next month.

Until next time,

For My Hostesses

I made these date books for each of my stamp club members. I used Wild Wasabi and River Rock for paper. Just Believe & After Thoughts for stamps and a punch for the verse-raised with pop dots. And of course all stamp club days have been pre-highlighted for them :-)

Until next time,