It's a Girl!

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've done a Saturday Sketch, or posted anything for that matter. It's amazing how time just gets away from me (and probably you too). Isn't this week's sketch a fun one? This is Saturday Sketch 15, and you can play along and upload to Splitcoaststampers using keyword mytimess15.


Several of you have asked if we found out the gender of the baby. Our ultrasound showed that it's a girl! We haven't named her yet (and we figure we better come up with a boy name too, just in case she turns out to be a he). So, in her honor...
{It's a Girl! recipe}
Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, Polka Dot Background, Nursery Necessities (sentiment)
Ink: Pirouette Pink, Going Gray, White Craft, Basic Black
Paper: Pirouette Pink, Going Gray, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: scalloped edge punch, pink taffeta ribbon, 2" circle punch


Visit the other girls to see their take on this week's Saturday Sketch.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Holiday Card Class #5

Sorry I didn't get this one up earlier this week. It's been a busy one! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. We still have company. I've snuck down to the computer to quickly post this last card from my Holiday Card Class in October. Enjoy! {Wishing You Cheer recipe}
Stamps: Wishing You Cheer
Ink: Basic Black, White Craft
Paper: Brocade Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: stickles, markers in real red, certainly celery, yoyo yellow, brocade blue, basic black, and only orange

Holiday Card Class #4

This card is also stolen from Splitcoaststampers (I told you I needed a lot of help for this class). I think a black Christmas card is kind of unusual, but this one was so striking. I think this one would be extra special with some sparkle on the poinsettias. Of course, in our mass production class, we bypassed that option, but it would be a great way to dress it up a little.{Merry Christmas recipe}
Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Dashing DSP
Accessories: scalloped-edge punch, black brad

Holiday Card Class #3

Another card stolen directly from Splitcoaststampers. Okay, maybe this one's my favorite...I think the original card had ribbon on it, which I didn't do for the sake of trying to keep the cards fairly flat for mailing. I love this color combination and the little penguin image from Punch Pals. And don't you love the Top Note created with the Big Shot??? I used Bashful Blue craft ink to ink the edges of the sentiment flag. {Happy Holidays recipe}
Stamps: Punch Pals, Many Merry Messages
Ink: White Craft, Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Bashful Blue Craft
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray
Accessories: Top Note die cut, Big Shot machine, Marvy scallop punch, circle punch, 3/4" square punch, markers in Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, and Pumpkin Pie

Holiday Card Class #2

I think this card is my favorite from the Holiday Card Class. I saw several versions of this card on Splitcoast, so it's CASED from many people. I used a the 1/8" punch for the reindeer's nose. Since people were mass producing for the class, I left it at that, but I think it would be super cute to add a little more dimension and shine with some Crystal Effects. {Merry & Bright recipe}
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Riding Hood Red DSP
Accessories: 1/8" hand-held punch, creamy caramel marker

Holiday Card Class #1

Stolen from a design I saw on Splitcoast (as were several of the designs for this class), this card uses the snowflake from Punch Pals and the tree from Merry & Bright. The tree is stamped on very vanilla, and then stamped again on certainly celery, cut out and mounted with a dimensional. The sentiment is from Many Merry Messages. {Merry Christmas recipe}
Stamps: PunchPals, Merry & Bright, Many Merry Messages
Ink: Basic Black, Certainly Celery
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Certainly Celery
Accessories: none (gasp!), unless you count dimensionals

Still hoping to round up a card from Saturday's sketch. Until then, I have some more holiday cards from the class to post this week.

Late Saturday Sketch

Hi friends! I actually did Lauren's Saturday Sketch on Sunday, but I haven't had time to photograph and post it. When I first saw this sketch, I was thinking snowflakes, but I ended up with something completely different, a fall card.

I watercolored the images using SU! Classic Inks and an aqua painter (water brush). The little leaves are Sizzix die cuts. To create the texture, I used a stylus to make the "veins" on the leaves.


{Thankful Thoughts recipe}
Stamps: Thoroughly Thankful
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive
Paper: PTI White, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Sizzix leaf die cuts, stylus, aqua painters

I did a Holiday Card Class a couple of weeks ago and need to post those cards still. Plus, I have this month's stamp club to post. I will try to spend some time this weekend scheduling some posts because it seems I just get get to it during the week!

Thank you for all the well wishes and inquiries about how I'm doing these days. I'm feeling much better. Still constantly tired, but at least not so utterly exhausted I can't function. Half-way is quickly approaching. We'll be 20 weeks along in just over a week. We have an ultrasound scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving. If little one cooperates, we hope to find out the gender.

Saturday Sketch

Time for another Saturday Sketch. I used an old stamp set from Pink Cat Studio. First time it's seen ink though. The snowflakes are punched with a Paper Shapers punch. The silver glitter one is actually a silver glitter paper by Die Cuts With A View, and the patterned paper is by Memory Box. QT Owl is colored with Copics. Makes me almost ready for winter... {Warm Hoooliday Wishes recipe}
Stamps: QT Owl by Pink Cat Studios
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Memory Box, Die Cuts With A View
Accessories: Paper Shapers snowflake punch, silver brad, gray taffeta ribbon, circle punch, Coluzzle

Here are the other takes on Lauren's sketch:
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

One of my stamp club members just started her own blog. You can see Susan's first design at Lil' Bit of Ink.

October Stamp Club #3 and GSG2 Swap Card

This was the third card we made this month at stamp club, and it was also the card I designed for a Great Swaps Girls 2 swap last month. This uses the Season of Friendship stamp set from the Holiday Mini. The leaf stamp consists of the set of three leaves, which were individually colored with Really Rust, Sage Shadow, and More Mustard markers. The yummy ribbon is the chocolate felt ribbon, also from the mini. {Season of Friendship recipe}
Stamps: Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Accessories: chocolate felt ribbon, gold brads, markers in Sage Shadow, Really Rust, More Mustard

October Stamp Club #2

What's an October stamp club without a token Halloween card? I saw a card similar to this on Splitcoaststampers, and it looked cute and easy. I'm all about easy these days. Apparently, my photography skills are lacking because this photo and my last one are blurry. That means the next club card will probably be blurry too. Sorry about that. This card uses the Halloween Frights set from the mini-catalog and the new SU! Halloween DSP. {Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Halloween Frights
Ink: Basic Black, White Craft
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Whisper White, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Accessories: 1" circle punch, tangerine striped ribbon

Literally, as I'm typing this, I've just realized that it's Saturday Sketch time. Uh, oh! I completely forgot. I was busy this week preparing for my Holiday Card Class that met today, and the whole Saturday Sketch thing completely slipped my mind. Hmmm....guess you should go check out the design team member's submissions since I've got nothin' for ya! Bygones!
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

October Stamp Club #1

This is one of our stamp club cards for October, stolen directly from one of my favorite stampers, Angie Tieman. Thanks, Angie. I needed a little help this month. Or a lot of help is more like it. The card is cut with the Big Shot Top Note die. Snowman Santa is colored in with a blender pen and white craft ink, then punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. The edges are inked with white craft. {Merry & Bright recipe}
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Ink: White Craft, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red (for envelope)
Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, Big Shot, Top Note die

I love this week's sketch! Lauren made a snowflake card with it last week sometime, and that's what inspired my version today. By the way, did you read Lauren's big news last week? If you missed it, you can read all about it right here. I'm so excited about this...another opportunity to get even more amazing ideas from the stamping queen herself.

For this week's sketch, I used my new SU! Little Flurries felt snowflakes. I like the simplicity of this one.
{Peace recipe}
Stamps: Glad Tidings, PTI's Square Borders & Corners
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Basic Black
Paper: PTI White
Accessories: Little Flurries, rhinestone brads

You can see the rest of the team's creations here:
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Happy weekend! Oh, and Happy Anniversary to me (and hubby...six years)!

October Inspiration #4,#5, and #6

I decided to just plop the rest of the Inspiration card photos up here all together since I can't seem to manage to create a post during the week these days. {Mr. & Mrs. recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Pirouette Pink, vellum cardstock, Parisian Summer DSP
Accessories: chocolate grosgrain ribbon, word window punch, silver brad{For You recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Sage Shadow, More Mustard
Paper: Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Autumn Vine DSP, vellum cardstock
Accessories: circle punches, chocolate chip marker
{Thank You Tulip recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Short & Sweet
Ink: Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Basic Black
Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Garden Green marker

Come back tomorrow for the Saturday Sketch. I've got it all ready to go in the morning!

October Inspiration #3

Lauren didn't do a Saturday Sketch this weekend, but she was working on something BIG to share with you. You can find out what she's been working on at her blog.

I almost forgot that I haven't shared the rest of my Pick a Petal Inspiration class cards with you. I saw something similar to this on Splitcoast, so I decided to see what I could do. I used my new Big Shot and Bigz scallop die to create the card base from Summer Sun. Then I stamped one of the Pick a Petal centers and added twelve petals around it, cut out the image in one piece, and adhered it to the card base. The top layer is twelve petals individually cut out and glued at the tips on top of the other petals. I used the round scallop punch and a hand held 1/8" punch to create the chocolate center of the sunflower, and punched out a 1 3/8" yellow circle to mount behind the chocolate center piece. The center is popped up on dimensionals. {Sunflower recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Paper: Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Accessories: round scallop punch, 1/8" punch, and 1 3/8" circle punch

Saturday Sketch and The Truth

Welcome to another edition of Lauren's Saturday Sketch. Yes, I am on time this week! I know I've spent a lot of time neglecting my blog, and probably even more time complaining about being exhausted. It's true that every year, back to school time is so busy and so tiring. It really is the busiest time of the year for both of us (hubby is also a teacher). Moving just kinda makes it worse. This has without a doubt been the most challenging start of my career (and I thought last year was it). I come home and can't do ANYTHING, except eat dinner, veg out, and go to bed early. But, the truth...the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth, is this...We are finally (after many years and a miscarriage) on our way to (hopefully) having a baby. I've just made it through my first trimester. Turns out the whole pregnancy thing, while working full-time, is utterly exhausting! Nature's way of preparing you for motherhood, I suppose. Due date is early to mid April. Anyway, I've been very eager to let you all know WHY I've been such a slug with the whole stamping and blogging thing, but we really tried not to make a big deal of it until we got through the first trimester. I hear the second trimester is supposed to get better. I'm looking forward to THAT! And now, of course, we are happily anticipating being parents (so we can at least be exhausted together).

Lauren Meader

Tamara Harder

Maria Levine

Dawn Easton

Kirsten Dubosque

Kristy Vernon

MacKenzie Bruckler

Alicia Weiman

Visit the sketch girls, have a great weekend, and thanks for being loyal readers despite my absence from the blogging world.

October Inspiration #2

I saw someone on Splitcoast (sorry, can't remember who) use the solid petal from Pick-a-Petal to create a snowman's nose. Seriously cute! The eyes are made with the solid center. And that fantastic ribbon is from the Holiday mini that starts October 1. I have a thing for snowmen! Isn't he just adorable? {Snowman Christmas recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Only Orange
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: Bold Snowflakes wheel, candy cane striped grograin ribbon, riding hood red buttons, Coluzzle circle and oval

October Inspiration #1

This month's Inspiration Class uses the Pick-a-Petal stamp set. This is one of my favorite sets, and it's SO versatile. I tried to make cards for this class that show the versatility and offer ideas beyond the basic flower.

This card uses the petals as surfboards. On the green surfboard, I added white gel pen designs so it was similar to the other petals with white markings. The sand is made from torn and layered pieces of kraft cardstock stamped with the random splatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I embossed the waves with a Cuttlebug folder and trimmed layers of cardstock in a wave pattern. The sun was created with the round scallop punch (punched once, then turned slightly and punched again to created the little wedges).{Birthday Hugs & Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Pick A Petal, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Green Galore, Only Orange, Pixie Pink, So Saffron, Sahara Sand
Paper: Bashful Blue, Kraft, Pacific Point, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: round scallop punch, cuttlebug folder, SU! markers

Better late than never...

Here it is, Lauren's Saturday Sketch! See, I told you I made it. It was so nice to stamp on Friday night. This is all I made, but it it was relaxing nonetheless. I ordered this Stampendous Tiers of Treats stamp at my local stamp store this summer, and it just came in a week ago. I forgot all about it. It was fun to color. I used my Copics for this one. See my bright blue mistake? Yep, I was too lazy to start over. It was one of the last things I colored. Totally out of place, but oh well. The sentiment is from the Stampendous clear cupcakes set, can't remember the name. This card makes me want a sweet treat!

{How Sweet recipe}
Stamps: Stampendous
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black
Paper: Certainly Celery, Groovy Guava, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White, Crate Paper
Accessories: Groovy Guava ribon, dew drops, coluzzle (oval), circle punches, Copics

Life at school is still quite busy. I went in this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday to try to catch up. I unpacked about half of the boxes I still had left to do. I also rearranged my room so it's a little more functional. Parent Night is this week, and I anticipate things to ease up a little after that.

I made the card!

I promise...I made Lauren's Saturday Sketch card for this week (and still hope to make one for last week)! Unfortunately, I realized that I took my digital camera to school yesterday, and left it there. Which means, no card. Again. But, I plan to go up to school today and work, so I will bring it home, have a photo shoot, and upload the card tonight! While you're waiting, go on and see what all those clever girls did with the sketch.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

September Stamp Club #3

This club card comes directly from the 2008-2009 Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog, page 27. I needed a little help, already had this stamp set on hand, and I thought this card was adorable. It's the first time I've ever cased a card from the catalog just as is. {Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Hauting Halloween, All Holidays
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, Garden Green Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Accessories: black gingham ribbon, black brad, word window punch, 3/4" circle punch

September Stamp Club #2

This is my first card using the Fresh Cuts stamp set and the coordinating Fresh Cuts Notes. Yes, I've had it since June. This card doesn't really seem seasonally appropriate, but what I like about it is it's flexibility. It can be used for a wedding, baby (girl), birthday, thank you, sympathy, whatever. I kept it all monochromatic using Pink Pirouette ink, paper, and ribbon. The flower in the center is from Flower Fusion 2. {For You recipe}
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Ink: Pink Pirouette
Paper: Fresh Cuts Notes, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Flower Fusion 2, pink striped ribbon, silver brad

Keepin' it short. Still barely staying afloat at school...

September Stamp Club #1

I just love the new SU! owl set. For this first stamp club card, I used a bunch of leftover Hawaii Papaya scraps from the POM notecard set. I saw a card with a similar layout on SCS and used that for inspiration. The little owl is stamped in chocolate chip and colored in with blender pens and ink pads, except the little feet where I used the Going Gray marker. That little square scallop is one of SU!'s new punches. {Hoot-hoot hooray! recipe}
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Hawaii Papaya
Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, square scallop punch, blender pens, tangerine striped ribbon

I haven't yet made a card for Lauren's Saturday Sketch, but don't give up on me. Her sketch this week is so darn cute that I'm determined to play eventually! In the meantime, be sure to visit the rest of her design team to see the creations they came up with.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Oh, and I have to give out a great big thanks to Ashley over at Heart Hugs Designs. A couple of weeks ago, she gave me an award, but I've been so busy that I haven't posted it until now. The rules...

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours

5.Leave a message on the blogs of the blogs you’ve nominated

It so sad, but as I've said before, I haven't had time to visit my favorite blogs lately, and I think I've given almost everyone I know an award. SO, I want to pass this on to two of my newest blogging buddies.

1. Martha, she sends me nice emails and has recently started her own blog. Her work is so cute.

2. Katie, my new blogger and real life friend. Very talented girl!
3. YOU (that's right, you who's reading this right now), consider yourself awarded!

Stay tuned...

Good news! I have a few stamp club cards to share and some swaps over the next week or so. Woo-hoo! Plus, I'm working on some more cards this weekend for the next Inspiration class. So, it's safe to say, I should be back to posting a few times a week, starting this weekend. I had to finish a swap last night, so I was up late doing that instead of working on the Saturday Sketch, but I plan to make a card and get that posted today or tomorrow. Just wanted you to know that I'm still alive and well (mostly, anyway). Thanks again for hanging in there with me. Back soon!

Saturday Sketch Time Again

Well, a week has come and gone since my last post. I guess it's just that time of the year when all my energy goes towards school and the kiddos. This too shall pass. And hopefully soon, because I have this month's Stamp Club and an Inspiraton Class to get ready for. Plus, I have a bunch of swaps to get in the mail on Monday. That means soon I hope to be posting again at least a few times a week. Thanks for bearing with me. I miss all of you! I haven't even had much of a chance to visit any of my blogging friends, so I don't know what anyone's up to these days. I do appreciate all the comments I've been getting. All of my comments get sent to my email address, so I get to read each and every one. Makes my day it does!

Just in time for Lauren's Saturday Sketch and a little fall holiday action. I had these Karen Lockhart images I colored this summer. A good friend of mine (Hi, Beth!) was lucky enough to attend a Karen Lockhart class when she was teaching in Bellingham, but I couldn't go because I was scoring the state writing assessment for fourth graders. Lucky, lucky girl! Anyway, we ended up stamping and coloring a bunch of Lockhart images that day. So, I dug these out to go with our sketch and some patterned paper I've had in my stash forever. Belatedly, I realized I should have used the matching sentiment for these stamps, but it's late and I forgot until it was too late. It says this: witchie, witchie, screamie, screamie, happy, happy halloweenie. Is that cute, or what? Oh, well!{Happy Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Karen Lockhart, sentiment from SU! All Holidays set
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, Solar White, Pebbles Inc.
Accessories: prismacolor pencils, black brads, giant black brad by American Craft, silk flower, white taffeta ribbon

With any luck, I'll be back later next week with Stamp Club samples. Have a great weekend!

Off you go now to visit the other Saturday Sketch samples:

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday Sketch

I survived my first week (well, three days) of school. It was CRAZY, but it actually went better than I expected for my level of preparedness (which was: NOT prepared). Magically, my body and brain knew what to do, and everything seemed to run fairly smoothly. I am seriously looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning. In fact, as you're reading this, I'm probably doing just that!

For last week's Saturday Sketch, I had school on the brain. After this week, I'm ready for another vacation! I love all of Rubber Soul's stick figure images. This one is from the clear Vacation Collection set. I used some Crate paper and paired it with two of my favorite past In Colors from SU!, Cool Caribbean and Groovy Guava. I miss these colors! I just wish SU! would keep them around a bit longer. Don't get me wrong, I really like the new ones too. {Vacation recipe}
Stamps: Rubber Soul's Vacation Collection
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Cool Caribbean, Groovy Guava
Paper: PTI White, Groovy Guava, Cool Caribbean, Crate Paper
Accessories: Copic markers, paper flowers, dew drops, double-stitched guava ribbon

Stop by and see what the other gals came up with for this week's sketch:

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

If you have time to try out the sketch, either upload your card to Splitcoast using keyword mytimess04 or link it to Lauren's comments for today's sketch. Have fun!

September POM Close-ups

Hi! Remember me? I'm the one who used to blog here...

It's been a crazy week moving into a new school and getting the first couple of days going. My classroom is mostly unpacked. I still have several boxes floating around and nothing on the walls. Gotta get the kids to do some art to put up. The first two days have gone well. As usual, I'm still mourning the loss of last year's class, especially because I was supposed to loop up with them. I'm sure in no time, I'll be loving my new group just as much. Happens every year. I'm SO tired and ready for the weekend. I haven't even had time to read any blogs this week.

I wanted to do a quick post with the close-ups and recipes of those cards for September's Project of the Month class. All eight cards and envelopes are held together in this little faux tote that I borrowed from Katie Renz. Custom envelopes are courtesy of Cindy Lawrence. Go back a couple of posts, too tired to link...pathetic, I know.







{Notes & Tote recipe}
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, PTI White, Hawaii Papaya
Accessories: A2 envelopes (medium from SU!), word window punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, marvy scallop punch, wide oval punch, slot punch, 5/8" striped ribbon in tangerine tango and kiwi kiss, 5/8 chocolate grosgrain ribbon, white taffeta ribbon, vanilla/kiwi satin ribbon, wide chocolate double-stitched ribbon

I'm hoping my order arrives before the class. If not, I'll be using some of the new Haiku paper for this class too.

I'll see you this weekend for Lauren's Saturday Sketch.

It's Saturday Sketch Time!

Thursday was day one in the new building. I cried. All morning. Then I just stared at all the boxes and junk in my room and wandered the halls aimlessly in the afternoon until finally I mustered up enough energy and mindfulness to start moving furniture. Luckily, that was all it took for the overwhelming feeling to pass (mind you...SIX moves in six years...I was so not ready to do it again). Friday was much better. I finally started unpacking boxes, and feel like things will hopefully go smoothly this weekend. Hopefully, I can get the classroom all unpacked and set up before Monday. It would be nice to spend some time planning for the kiddos! We start school Wednesday. Sure hope the new building is ready for students by then.

Do you think there's stamping time in the midst of all of this? Well, normally, I would say no, but this time, it's a yes! I had to. It's Lauren's Saturday Sketch time! Can't skip out on that kind of fun! One of the great things about being on her design team that I was really looking forward to was exactly this...forced participation! So, tonight I created a card about, what else? School. First time inking up these Kim Hughes Making the Grade stamps and two backgrounders from Cornish Heritage Farms. More stamps suffering from time to purchase, but no time to stamp syndrome. I just went off to find you a link to my backgrounders at CHF, but couldn't find them. Ellen Hutson also sells them at her online store. I used markers to stamp the images and I colored in the tree by using inks and an aquapainter. The little apples have Sakura Glaze gel pen on them. Can't see it too well. Crystal Effects might have been a better choice.

I also set up my new light tent in a matter of minutes to snap this photo. Seriously, no time to bother with directions. Not the best, but probably better than I would have gotten otherwise. Thank you, Ebay! I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to test out the tent as time goes on. Anyway, ramble, ramble...Enjoy!
{School recipe}
Stamps: Kim Hughes' Making the Grade from Cornish Heritage Farms, AlphaNumber backgrounder, Lined Paper backgrounder
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, SU! markers in Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Real Red, Summer Sun, and Bashful Blue

Okay, things might get quiet over here. I will post those POM class close-up photos and recipes just as soon as I can come up for air.

September POM Class

So often, I'm blog browsing and I see something just so inspiring. I always think to myself...I've got to try that. Then, life continues on and I never get around to it. Well, I'm forcing myself to take the opportunity by offering a Project of the Month Class (POM). This is a chance for me to try out some of the great projects I see others doing. Well, just a few days ago, I was looking at my new friend, Katie's blog. Katie is a wonderful papercrafter who lives in my town. Just recently we met up. It was fun to meet a fellow blogger, and one who's local at that. We hope to stamp together sometime soon. If you haven't browsed through her blog, off you go now to Katie's Paper Haven. Such cute things! Anyway, I saw an adorable set of owl notecards with a little faux tote. I was inspired to use that idea as my first Project of the Month. Here's a quick peek at the sampling of my cards, which use the new and yummy Hawaii Papaya paper and the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I created a set of eight 4x4 cards and custom matching envelopes using this tutorial by Cindy Lawrence. I will post close-ups of all the cards and envelopes this weekend along with the recipe.

August Stamp Club #3

This was the third project we made for August Stamp Clubs. Simple, but I think pretty. I love that it uses my new favorite color, Baja Breeze and the new Upsy Daisy stamp set, currently on special for 15% off. One of the things I like about this stamp set is its versatility. It comes with thank you, birthday, and thinking of you type greetings, and there's so many techniques you can try with the silhouette image. The butterflies are from Flight of the Butterfly. They are cut out and glued onto the top note with the wings bent upwards for some dimension. Don't you just love this top note die cut? It's made exclusively for Stampin' Up! to use with the Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine, now carried by Stampin' Up! The new wide double-stitched ribbon is wonderful too.{Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Accessories: wide double-stitched ribbon in Baja Breeze, Big Shot, Top Note die cut

August Stamp Club #2

Here's another one of the August Stamp Club projects. This one showcases the Eastern Eclectic Style Watch. I used the Eastern Blooms stamp set that I got for FREE at convention. I was inspired by this card made by Ashley Van Camp. I just loved the color combination and overall design. I ended up changing the layout a bit, but I kept her colors and main image idea. I pierced little holes in the scalloped edge and popped up the flowers on dimensionals. I can hardly believe I made a card without ribbon! {Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Accessories: scalloped edge punch, paper piercer

Three more days of freedom...

We're supposed to have access to our new classrooms (the district moved us to a new building for the time being) on Thursday. Usually I look forward to the school year starting. This year, not so much. Last year felt hard (loved my students though), and I'm just not quite ready to start again. Partly because I have the daunting task of setting up a classroom from scratch and preparing lesson plans, all within a five-day time span. I know once I get there, I'll get excited and be glad to see the kids again, but for now, I'm dreading it a bit. On the upside, I have a job, and for that I am grateful!

Saturday Sketch

As promised, here's my take on Lauren's Saturday Sketch. I used my Unity stamps again. I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but this set was July's Kit of the Month. This close-up shows the glitter on the owl belly and tree leaves.
{Friend recipe}
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Basic Brown, Mellow Moss
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Crate Paper
Accessories: moss taffeta ribbon, stickles, Copic markers, SU! markers, Hero Arts gemstones, oval punch

I gotta run. Have eight gals here working on their Recipe Box class. Thanks for stopping by. Remember to go check out what the other girls did for Lauren's sketch. Also, you can upload your creation to Splitcoast using keyword mytimess02.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/

Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/

Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/

Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/

Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/

MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/

Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/