Rustic Branches

This card was made with the fabulous Pine's Rustic Branches set. To think that I almost didnt purchase this set! Its awesome and so versatile, it can be Christmasy or springy or even fall like. Love it!
Supplies: PTI rustic branches, kraft cardstock, pure poppy ribbon. copics, versamark ink, palette ink, and white embossing powder

**** In Non Crafting News*****
I started seeing kids in the science/computer lab today. Oh it is so much fun to teach science. Today we had a little fun with dry ice! The fourth graders had fun with rulers, static, and styrofoam beads. So much fun stuff.

After work I made the dreaded trek to the gym. Another day, another spin class.... this guy who instructs this class is crazy hard! And its like the harder it gets the happier he is. I think he thrives on sweat and pain. I thought I might pass out, I ended up taking off after 45 minutes because my blood sugar once again started to crash. UGH! I think I might have to start bringing juice instead of water, of course this just adds back the calories I am trying to rid myself of! Oh and it would probably help if I quit eating candy. So tomorrow is another day, hoping I will do better.

I am so sorry....

its been a week since I managed to post anything! I had a long week at work and then a wonderful trip to Napa with my very best friend. So its been busy, busy around here. I made this card with PTI's guidelines stamps, snowflake serenade stamps. I used my copics to color. Dew drop ink (gold) and palette ink (black). This was a time consuming card. Definitely not one you would want to mass produce.

True Strength is Delicate

This card is made with the Remember set from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the image with palette noir and mounted it on pure poppy. I colored it with my copics and then wrapped some pure poppy ribbon around it and stamped the sentiment onto it. All ribbon and paper from PTI. I have no clue where I got those pearls.

They Massacred My Show!

This my friend, is a a tragedy! This show, these people, are so NOT the original. I would be ok with change, I wasn't expecting a carbon copy but this was down right awful! Awful writing, awful acting, awful directing. Not a thing I liked about it. Not one! I had invited two friends over for the premiere. Both friends are women, in their 30's like me, and both were big fans of the original show. We got some wine, some appetizers and we settled in with high hopes. Those hopes were dashed to ribbons in the first five minutes and it got worse from there! One of my friends actually left because she said sleep was just more important than a show this stupid! When I got to work today there were others who had watched. I could not find a single person who liked it. I did find a couple of luke warm reviews on the net. One person even said the girl who plays Niomi was a good actress! What?! She is the one we thought was the worst! I do know they will have three less viewers next week.

Happy First Day of School

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is my first day back at work. I usually bring in a little something for all the teachers. We work in an area where the teachers dont receive much in the way of gifts, etc. Especially not the way the teachers receive gifts where my kids go to school. I always like to bring in a little something to help kick the year off right. I saw this idea somewhere else... I am not sure where and I apologize for not linking you to the original idea. These little guys open up like match books and hold a square of Ghiradelli chocolate. YUM! All supplies are Papertrey Ink with the exception of the copics I used to color the owl. The stamp set is Wise Owl by Alli Miles (who left me a comment the other day, and it was all I could do not to swoon. LOL).

New Card

This card is going to a teacher friend, hence the apples. I made this using PTI's fabulous set wise owl. I freehanded the apple tree branch. PTI cardstock, dew drops, and some copic markers round out the supplies. Its the first time I have ever watermarked a project and I realized I probably should have either a listed the stamp image copyright PTI or I should have said designed by Michele. In any case, not fixing it now but you all know that owl came from PTI and Alli Miles specifically. Working on a new watermark as I type.

My Life of Leisure is Coming to an End

So there has been a distinct lack of posts this week. I blame this on the fact that my husband refuses to be a CEO, lawyer, or Prince. If he would just do one of those things I might have enough money to abandon my career and become a full time lady of leisure. Unfortunately the man wants to follow his heart and not a giant string of dollar bills, not to mention he wasnt born the son of a queen... so I guess I cant really blame that on him, can I? So in an effort to keep myself in stamps, ink, and more paper than my local scrapbook store stocks, I will be returning to work on Tuesday. I think I have mentioned before that I teach, specifically I teach science to grade school kids. Its a good gig... way better than teaching first or second grade, which is what I did previously. Insanely better than selling knives, which was one of my first jobs. This year, due to lack of funding, I had my hours cut so I will only be working 4 days a week. That gives me one extra day to get the house clean. Oh who am I kidding? It gives me and extra day to play with my paper and stamps.

It's Blog Hop Time!

It is time for Papertrey ink's monthly blog hop. This month's challenge was to alter a CD case. I honestly wasnt going to participate because I could not think of a thing to do! Then today, about 45 minutes ago, I came up with this! Behold, the CD case mini first aid kit. Perfect for a teacher's desk, student locker, stroller, or car glove box! I used PTI white cardstock. I stamped the Wise Owl with PTI chocolate ink and poppy ink. I colored my owl with my copic markers. I drew in the little first aid kit and colored it with prismas and copics. Finally I punched the tag out and hand wrote the title. The background paper is from Marcella by K. I got it on clearance at Target.

Camping

or how I was tortured this weekend!
So we went camping this weekend. And I dont mean camping in a motorhome or camping at a place with a pool and showers. I mean camping with pit toilets, no hot water, no showers! Just dirt, hard ground, bugs, and smelly out houses. Wow, I make it sound appealing dont I?
Now I am not some city girl with no experience getting dirty. I was a camp counselor for 5 years. I went camping with the family when I was little. I am not a total novice. However I find, as I grow older, that I like a bed. I like a hot shower, I really like clean hair. I do not like bugs, especially in my sleeping quarters. I like indoor plumbing, I do not like bathrooms where you cant flush! But I am a good sport and the hubs, he likes to camp. So I go, on occasion, although I do complain a bit.

It was pretty tolerable back in the early years, when we were first married. Of course I was all of 22 back then as well. Now I have two children to bring with me. They are 5 and 8. They love dirt. They love no baths. The are all for dirty hair, bugs, and sleeping on the ground. They do NOT like the pit toilets, so there is that we have in common. My boy pretty much rolled in the dirt the entire time we were there. My girl relished in the fact I didnt make her comb her hair or wash her face. When I bathed them tonight, the water was black. I had to scrub the tub after each bath!

There was one highlight to this weekend camping trip and its name was: Wine. Ah yes wine, I think I had a bottle. Or maybe two. Its amazing what good wine can do. I forgot the dirt, I forgot the bears, I forgot the fact I had to sleep on a half inflated air matteress (are there any other kind?) with my husband, trussed up in a sleeping bag and dirty sweats. Yes, the wine turned it all into a nice fuzzy glow. I actually went to sleep in my dirty clothes with scuzzy teeth and I didnt even care! (Way more information than you needed right?) So this leads me to my recommendations...

* if you can avoid camping in a tent, DO!
* if you can choose your vacation, go for a real bed!
* look for campgrounds with showers!
* avoid camping with small dirty people, or try to stick them in their own tent!
* if all else fails, drink copious amounts of wine! You can delay the pain until the next morning!
HAPPY CAMPING!!

Flowers

I made this the other day when I was playing around with my prismas. It uses the floral frenzy set from PTI. Thats a super set with lots of possibilities... and to think I almost didnt buy it! I do have a bit of an addiction when it comes to stamps from PTI, hard to believe I only started stamping last November when I see the vast quantity of stamps before me!

Tooting My Own Horn....

I WON!!!! I won guest star stamper over at Papertrey Ink. I can't even tell you the amount of excitement I felt about this! First I screamed, then I jumped up and down, then I screamed some more! In anycase there were so many awesome enteries.... you should take a look at the GSS submission gallery, so much inspiration. You can see all the winners and honorable mentions here.

Butterfly Kisses

Happy Wednesday Internets! Today I give you a card I made using butterfly kisses and guidelines. I stamped the guidelines with versamagic cloud white on PTI Kraft paper. I then used butterfly kisses and Aqua Mist to make the butterflies. The only thing I dont like about this card is the sentiment... I dont know it just doesnt look right, stamped where it is. But enough work went into this card that I didnt toss it.

Something Crafty for You...

This is another color on black card. I stamped flowers from PTI's floral frenzy set in versamagic cloud white and then I colored on the white with prismas. I went over some of the flowers with glossy accents so they really pop off the page. The ribbon is from my stash and the epoxy element was made with stamps, prismas and glossy accents and then cut out with my new fiskars finger tip knife. (That thing ROCKS!)

Why Do They Call It a Slumber Party? No One Is Sleeping

I am currently writing you from hell, little girl hell to be exact. I am hosting my first slumber party as a mom. Sigh. I remember the slumber parties of my youth with such fondness. You know a bunch of friends, snuggled down in sleeping bags, telling ghost stories, playing light as a feather stiff as board, eating cake, having pancakes for breakfast. Such a wonderful, carefree time. So much fun to be had. I have another memory too- its the memory of my mother saying NO!! everytime I asked to have a slumber party. At the time I thought she was mean, really mean, the meanest mother ever. Now I see she was smart, really smart, the smartest mother ever!

My dd is 8 today. She begged for a sleepover, she pleaded, she told me I would be the best mom ever. She promised she would keep it small, she promised they would be asleep early. I listened. I am stupid. I currently have 6 little girls in my living room watching Enchanted (which is a great flick, as far as kid flicks go). I think watching may be over stating it. I mean the movie is on, but no one is paying it any attention. Currently they are all getting crushed ice out of the freezer. Why? Probably because I finally told them no more "juice" and soda. (The sugar is oozing out of every pore.) So they getting ice, spilling it on the floor, crunching it, putting it down their pajamas, screaming (nothing is worse than little girl screaming.). Its nearly ten! I am so tired. They are not going to be sleeping anytime soon. The energy level is so high the room is buzzing.

Did I mention the boy? Ah yes, my boy. He is in there with six girls. They are torturing each other. He is bugging them, torturing them really. Of course they are egging him on. I have threaten him with bed repeatedly. This could go on all night. It probably will. Did I mention I am tired? This party started at 4. We painted ceramic figures, we crafted cards, we played games, we ate pizza, we ate cake, we opened presents, we played in the fort, we drug out every toy in the house. It has been non stop since 4. They leave at 10:30 am. I should have made it 5 am.

Did I mention my husband thought this would be the perfect night to pull some overtime? yeah he did. Convenient. So here I sit with all my little slumber party memories turned inside out. Just as it is with nearly every thing else, slumber parties are oh so much better if you are a kid. It loses quite a bit when you are on the mom side of things. So now its back to the living room to referee the ice fight going on during the Enchanted viewing.

Color on Black

This is something I just learned, you take white pigment ink and stamp on a dark background. Next you take out your prismas and color on the white ink. So easy and pretty!

Happy Birthday to my first born!!! Baby girl is 8!! I feel old.

Gym... continued

OMG I was just reading my stat counter page and I saw someone found my blog by searching, "girl with six pack abs". Bhhaaahhaaaa!!!! Sorry sweetie, you wont find that here! (Ever!)

BTW: went to the gym, nearly was killed by the girl with the six pack abs, skipped core because I had the beginnings of an "insulin headache", the precursor the previously mentioned Steel Magnolias moment.

The Gym

I hate exercise. I mean hate. I dislike it immensely. I do not like sports. I do not like to watch them, I do not like to play them. I hate them all with an equal passion. I suck at them. I have two left feet who do not listen to me. I dance like Elaine on Seinfeld. I am completely uncoordinated, I trip and fall even at the ripe old age of 35. Seriously when it comes to things of a sporting nature I am severely screwed up.
Unfortunately for me I also possess a fat gene. (Actually I suspect I have many many fat genes.) Lets just say my ancestors were never going to starve to death. I put on weight by looking at food. I think chocolate bar and I am rewarded with my fat cells swelling. I actually put the chocolate in my mouth, I have instant poundage. Because of this stupid fat gene (or genes) it becomes necessary for me to exercise. If I dont I will end up being one of those people so fat they cant leave their bed and the next thing I know the Discovery channel will be making a documentary of my life.
On top of the fat gene I also have type 1 diabetes. I wear an insulin pump. This helps make exercise slightly more difficult. If I exercise too much or too long my blood sugar bottoms out and I have a my own personal Steel Magnolias moment. ( You know the one, where Julia Roberts freaks out and they have to pour orange juice down her? yeah, been there and done that.)
Ok so now I have two strikes against me uncoordinated, nonsports like and freaks out easily. But yet I drag myself to the gym. 4 times a week is my standard. I need to go 7 times a week. Seriously, my doctor said so. But I average 4. Rarely less, lots of times more. My standard is spin class. (Indoor cycling to music) If you have never been to Spin let me tell you it is hard. Some classes harder than others. My usual class (I go 3x a week to spin) is taught by a lovely girl, who is thin and fit and toned, with six pack abs. She looks awesome in spandex. She looks awesome sweaty. (I however resemble a large sow.) She has scary arm muscles, I know she can kick my ass and probably my husband's too. The other class I frequent (also spin) is taught by another lovely thin girl with six pack abs but her arms are a bit on the wimpy side. I am not afraid of her. I think I could squash her. LOL.
So my point? What was my point? Ah yes, today is spin day. With the first girl, the one who can kick some ass. 45 minutes of spinning and then 15 minutes of core work. Core work? Whats that you say? Core work is designed to make you hurt for the next few days. It involves lots of crunches, push ups, crazy leg lifts, these scary things called gliders, balance work. (Did I mention I have no sense of balance, I cannot stand on one foot for any length of time!) So on spin days like today I tend to have conversations with myself. They go like this:
Me: Gotta go change for the gym. gotta get the kids ready.
Self: You dont want to go there. She will kill you today. She is probably going to have race day.
Me: Eh, I can do it, I have been doing it for a year now.
Self: Yeah a year of all this work, have you lost any weight?
Me: Well no, but you keep convincing me to eat ice cream and cookies
Self: Well we deserve a treat.
Me: All this work, nothing to show for it
Self: Well we could just quit
Me; No because then the Discovery channel will be calling.
Self: All right fine, go get dressed but you will be sorry in an hour when you finish your tenth push up. You will wish you had listened then.
Me: Yeah I know.

Coloring

I love to color, be it coloring books and crayolas with my kid or fancy markers with my stamps. I already own prismas and watercolor pencils, pastels and paints from art class college days. However I decided to take the plunge into fancy markers and buy some copics. I tell ya, I was so giddy picking those things out. I have a pottery barn dreams and a walmart budget so I currently own 6 copic markers. LOL. Anyway I used those six to color this card. The stamps are from the Guidelines set by PTI. Cardstock and linen vellum also by PTI. I have no clue where that ribbon came from, thats what happens when you are a supply hoarder! Hope you enjoy.

Coloring Solid Stamps

The other day I ran across a tutorial done by Jennifer Mcguire on coloring solid stamps. It looked intriguing so I decided to give it a try. Here are the results.

So what do you think? I used Dewent water color pencils. I have primas and like those too... but they were buried and my derwents were sitting right there.

Random Stuff

Couple of scrappy pages I managed to crank out the other night. Mostly MM product... cant remember all of it, some has been in my stash forever. Time to actually use some of that product! I took out my alpha stickers the other night to reorganize them and I was embarrassed by the sheer number that I have! YIKES!

In other non crafting news we are finally painting the clubhouse. Pics to follow. I let two 8 year olds (my daughter and her friend) and my son (he is 5) go to town with the painting. YIKES! On one hand they did alot of the work, on the other hand there is lots of cleaning and umm... fixing...smoothing... touch ups to be done. All the trim still needs to be painted and the actual walls need to be touched up, some quite a bit. They chose yellow... its called baby duckling. And green trim, English garden. I think it will look pretty good. Hopefully will have it done by the end of the week.