Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters -

Welcome to the last Tuesday Morning Sketches of the year. Wow! It's amazing how fast the year has gone. I am looking forward to what the new year will bring. I know that Tuesday Morning Sketches will bring some great sketches, challenges, and sponsors. So thanks to everyone that joined us this year and I look forward to seeing your creations in the coming year.

This week's sketch has a lot of room to get your creative juices flowing. This week's sponsor is Soft Pencil. Sadly, I am still out of a printer. I really don't find the need to have one and all the expense. I just don't get to use all the wonderful digis that are out there. I hope you take the time to check out their store.


I love the SEI DP that I used on this card. It really screamed "new year" to me. I decided to go plain and simple. I have really been struggling with my mojo. A lot has to do with the clutter I have allowed to take over my craft room and it's seeping into the rest of my house. I was going to use my two week break to clean it all up and have I done that - NO! I still have a few more days...I hope to get to it soon!

Well I hope you like my card and I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a very Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello All - well it's interesting times here in Denver, Colorado. I can't believe that it's December 14th and we have had less than 2" of snow - since September. We usually have 2' of snow by now. It doesn't even feel like it's nearing Christmas. Then I was watching on television that Minnesota was dumped on (19" of snow). Don't be hogs up there - send some our way!! I have been so sick since about the middle of October. I rely on the snow to clean everything and get my allergies back on track. Looks like that's not going to happen anytime soon. It's going to be 64 degrees here tomorrow - amazing!

Melissa has a great sketch to work with this week. You're going to have a lot of fun with it. I hope you'll join us.

Which now brings me to the desgin on my card. I had hoped that if I made something that resembled the North Pole we'd get some snow. Now mind you - I hate the snow, but I'm even trying to do the snow dance. We need the moisture.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday Morning (Evening) Sketches

Okay, so I am a complete bone head. I forgot that it was Tuesday -- perhaps that comes from knowing that I was being observed by 5 principals today, and that I am once again sicker than sick! My apologies for posting in the evening versus this morning.

Melissa has a great sketch to work with this week. I flipped it because I couldn't see it the way she designed it. Now looking at what the rest of the design team did, which by the way is amazing, I have another card in mind to make, when I get the time!

I absolutely love this card. Melissa made a Christmas card a few years back with this Cuttlebug Embossing folder and I just had to have it. Of course it sat in a box for a couple of years. I was so excited to pull it out and use the sketch as my base for my Christmas card. I have made several so far. I hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by - can't wait to hear from you.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters,

Well I'm back!! I think I finally got things under control at school. Dealing with 29 students, planning lessons, and dealing with the first trimester of school - I finally have time for me.

This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have Doodle Pantry as our sponsor. Be sure to check out their store, they have some great looking digital items. My apologies to the sponsor...I still have yet to replace my printer and I'm not sure that I will - it's just another expense I don't need.

Melissa has a teriffic sketch this week. It's very simple and versatile. I think you'll have fun coming up with a wonderful design. I can't wait to see what you create.

It's been a "typical" fall in Colorado. We have had some amazing weather. I am not looking forward to winter and I hope that the snow stays in the mountains where it belongs and out of the city! We usually have our first snow fall for Halloween, but this year it waited until November 9th. I know that the season needs to change! I love the fall and it could stay this way all year as far as I'm concerned. I love going to my Close To My Heart's card club every month. This new set is a Kit on the Go called - Olivia. I didn't like it in the catalogue, but when Debi, my consultant made this wonderful layout with the set and I fell in love. I just had to use it! It represents my feelings about the upcoming change.



I hope you like it too! I hope that you'll leave a little note of hello. Thanks for stopping by. Have and awesome day.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Good Day Crafters,

It's another wonderful Tuesday Morning Sketches Day! Our sponsor this week is Artisan - Bee Crafty they have some great digi's you should check out their blog. Sadly, my printer broke and I just don't want to spend the money to purchase a new one.

This week Melissa has a great sketch and this week is a judged challenge. I can't wait to see what you create. I think this is a fabulous sketch. I enjoyed making my card. Melissa asked that we "Think Pink" in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. As many of you know this is something that is near and dear to my heart.

When I was first diagnosed I had a "secret sister" on Splitcoast Stampers and she sent me me this fantastic package. One of the items in the package was this awesome T-Shirt in my other two favorite colors - pink and brown. It had this sentiment that I totally did not get! This is why Melissa and Karin, my sisters call me Bambi. I think it took me about 2 or 3 days to realize it's message.

With my card, I couldn't duplicate the T-Shirt perfectly. My shirt is brown with pink lettering. It simply doesn't show up that way on cardstock. I hope you like my card. I hope it inspires you to remember to do your self exams and have your mammogram.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Trick-or-Treat smell my feet, give me something good to eat...

I remember my mother getting so mad for us saying that, but now we're grown-ups and we can say whatever we want! This is our theme today at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Today is a challenge! Our sponsor is the wonderful Deedee's Digis. I want to apologize to Deedee because I am again behind the eight ball and didn't get my act together and request my digi! She has some great images so be sure to head over to her blog.

This challenge is about yummy treats and how you package your treats. Now it doesn't have to be about Halloween. It can be for any occasion. I just happened to select Halloween because one of my teammates has three children and they come to read to me nearly every day after school because they know I have lollypops. Well I was shopping the other day and came across these huge lollies for $3.00 and just had to put these together for them.

I hope you like what I have put together. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters,

Today is a special Tuesday...not just because it's Tuesday Morning Sketches, but I am getting a huge award today. First, we have a fabulous sketch to work with as well as a wonderful sponsor - Meljen's Designs. Back in June I nominated myself for the "Adopt-A-Classroom" Award sponsored by OfficeMax and I won! I will be receiving the award today at 10:00 a.m. mountain time. I am so excited I hope that I'll be able to sleep. I can't wait to share photos. Oh, I get over $1,000 worth of school supplies and resources for my classroom. I am so happy...I don't have to spend the $1,000+ this year. I can buy stamps!!

Well, back to our regularly scheduled program...here is today's sketch.

Now, I was totally intimidated to put this together. I called Melissa and said, "How do I cut a hole in the card?" Well, it's too hard to tell somehow to do that over the phone. So I faked the hole and popped-up the frame to make it look like a hole. I love how this card came out. The image of the cupcakes was just so fun to color and create. I suggest getting this digi...it's awesome.



I decorated this card for today's celebration. I hope you like it!

Oh, one more thing...  tomorrow is my birthday. I can't believe it - I am turning 48. Yikes!




Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

JUGS 53

This month begins Breast Cancer Awarness. For those of you that know me this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. I just had my three year mammogram last week and instead of being told, "I'll see you in six months" I was told you'll either get a call or a letter. My letter arrived this weekend. I am very pleased that I am done with the every six months mammograms, taking horrible meds, and paying medical bills. Now maybe I can get my life back on track!!

I have really wanted to join in on some of the challenge blogs. I went searching today and JUGS is one that did something around Breast Cancer Awareness so I decided to join. The sketch is pretty simple, but boy did I ever have a hard time getting the sizes right!! I wanted to use my Cricut Pink Journey cartridge, I love the images.

Now, I didn't make this as a card. I can covert it to a card, or make it a postcard, use it on a scrapbook page, or as the topper of a calendar. I wanted it to be versitle enough so that when I change the sentiment from "Survive" to "Hope" or "Live" the women that I give this to can use it as a reminder to get their mammogram or do their self-examination.

I love how it came out and I hope you do too! Thanks for stopping by - have an awesome day!

A Birthday Case

Hello Crafters...I actually have a post for today. School is kicking my you know what! I really need to find the balance between school and my time at home doing what I enjoy - making cards and scrapbooking.

A week or so ago I was looking at some of the challenge blogs in hopes of participating. I saw this absolutley amazing card using my one of my favorite stamp companies products, Close To My Heart and I had to make this card. The card is made by a woman named Deneen and she did such an amazing job.

I had to modify my card. I do not have the new Impressabilities that she used to emboss her paper, so I got creative! I cut the paper with my Nestabilities and left it in the die. Then I placed the cut and die into the swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder. I layed in on the base plate, a B plate, with two tan embossing mats, and two cardboard squares. I finally got it to take the embossing that I was looking for. I think it came out pretty neat looking. However, I am disappointed with the shading. I stamped the image about 10 times to get the shading right and it still looks wrong.



I like the card very much. I do have a dilema though...is this a female card or a male card?? Perhaps both.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Good day crafters. Today at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have a great sketch and a great sponsor, Sweet n Sassy Stamps. When I first saw the sketch I thought, "Yikes!" but it's not as difficult as it looks. I really had fun putting this card together.

I was given these wonderful looking flowers called Anemone. I never heard of them. I went to Google and looked up the flowers, more for color than anything else. I learned that the word Anemone comes from the Greek word for "windflower." According to Greek mythology, the flower came about as a result of Aphrodite's tears over the death of Adonis. It's also thought to bring luck and protect against evil. I thought this was a good story. The thought behind my design was to create a crown around the flowers to represent Aphrodite.

 
I love how my card came out. I am not a "purple" person and then when I combined it with green and the bright splash of cranberry...I really stepped outside of the box. I hope that you like the results as well. I hope that you'll join us this week. I love looking at all your creations.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the design team to see their amazing creations.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Handmade Flowers and Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters,

Okay, it's been nearly 20 years since I made a flower arrangement. This week's challenge at TMS is to make handmade flowers. I thought, "Oh this'll be easy...HA!" Let me tell you. I began two weeks ago trying to make Kanzashi flowers. I did fine and made a couple of really cute ones, but when it came to making my card I was not at all happy with the fabric patterns I selected. I then tried to fold Dahlia flowers and total ruined about two 12x12 sheets of cardstock. No matter what I did I kept tearing the paper or didn't fold equally and they looked stupid. Then I went onto making paper roses. Of course I got stuck singing the Marie Osmond song!! 

Well, after all that and about 10 sheets of scrap paper I managed to get two paper roses!! I rolled and rolled and ripped and screamed and yelled...but I finally managed to get two...two roses! I am not really happy with this card, and I'm sort of embarrassed to post, but I guess it's not horrible. I've seen worse out there! I would certainly like to perfect making roses. I think this technique is really cool looking and I would love to get better at this craft. 

This week, Melissa is our sponsor. She has a prize already to go, so I hope you'll stop by and play along. 

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me some love!! 

Have an awesome day.  

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches and Prairie Fairy Designs

It's a beautiful Tuesday Morning Sketches day! I can't believe that we're a week away from the start of fall! Although fall is probably my most favorite season. It's not too cold and it's not too hot - it's just right.

This week TMS is sponsored by Prairie Fairy Designs. I selected the Cherry Blossoms image. I like that I have it as a digi because I can change the size to make a scrapbook page as well as a card. I love Cherry Blossoms. Although the blossoms are a spring flower I still love their beauty. I have been really intimated to color something this complicated, but I have been practicing coloring with markers and blenders and I think I did well, if I may say so!!

I decided that I needed to flip the sketch. The blossoms seemed to fade away when it was portrait oriented. I like the landscape look. Once again this is a great sketch to make a simple card or challenge yourself to something more creative. I can't wait to see what you come up with. I printed the image twice and layered the blossoms to give them some dimesion. I really wanted the blossoms bigger, but I spent a couple of hours coloring and cutting. When I stepped away from it and came back...I realized that I think it's perfect just the way it is!

I hope you like my card.

Have an awesome Tuesday!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Thinking of You

Good Morning Crafters,

I wasn't tired last night and decided that I needed to make another card. One of my co-workers lost her mother this past week. The children have been asking where Ms. Clarke is and it's hard to tell them why she is gone. I thought I would make this card and have the students that she services in my room sign the card.

I cleaned my craft room yesterday, of course after making two cards it looks like I never cleaned!! There is paper everywhere, scraps all over and stamps strung from one end to the other. I'll just clean it again when I get home from work.

I love this card. It came out a lot better than I expected. I tried stamping the section where I used bright pink with a darker yellow to match the DP, but it just got washed out. I like the splash of color. This is a stamp set I bought about a year or so ago and have never used it. When I was cleaning I was organizing my SU stamps and thought this would be the perfect image for a sympathy card.

I hope you like it. Have an awesome day!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

There She Goes #71

It was a beautiful day in Denver today. The weather was absolutely perfect. I had a very relaxing day. I had plans to make two cards, but my sister called because my nephew needed help with math. I wish that we weren't a million miles apart because it would go a lot easier face-to-face, but I'm glad we have the technology we have today!! I hope that he finished his homework and that Melissa didn't have a breakdown.

My card is for the There She Goes month long birthday party. This card is also for one of my favorite people at work - the school nurse. Noelle is awesome. I fell one day at school and it took all that I had to hold back the tears and she was so kind to me. She is just a wonderful lady.


This week's challenge at TSG is to use kraft, black, and teal. I really had to strectch. I managed to find a small scrap of kraft and I only have SU markers and used teal. I love how this card came out. I took me nearly an hour to draw the dots on the nestabilities die cut I used. That's because I cut the bigger one and didn't like it and had to do it all over again. I hope you like it too!!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches and Glitterbabe's Art

Good Morning Crafters

Tuesday Morning Sketches is being sponsored this week by Glitterbabe's Art. I selected a digital image from their freebie section...I did this because I happen to love birds and bird houses. So be sure to head on over and check out their selection. The sentiment comes from There She Goes Everyday Greetings.

This week's sketch is great. It appeals to those of you that want to make a quick and easy card and to those that want to really challenge their creative ability. For my card I totally broke away from my "pink and green" theme!! I also wanted to try coloring with a different medium - Sharpies. I love Sharpies. I came across this YouTube Video where the woman was showing how to use Sharpies like Copics - NOT!! Sorry nothing beats a Copic, I just can't afford them. So I used my Sharpies and I do like how it came out.


Well thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Don't be shy...leave me a message!!

Have an awesome day.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

TSG #70 and SSS #72

I am hoping that I make this just under the wire! I really want to play with There She Goes month long 2 year birthday party. Although I hate combining challenges together I decided I really liked the sketch at The Sweet Stop so I combined it with the TSG Challenge - 1, 2, 3: 1 piece of patterned paper, 2 solid cardstock colors, and 3 emblishments (I hope that paper piercing counts as an emblishment). I really like how this card came out. I just love this DP paper. I decided to combine it with orange.

This card won't be one that goes into the pile...I am going to give this card to one of the kindergarden teachers at school. Her birthday is coming up and as I said I plan on giving cards to all the staff members.

Well I can't believe that I had two posts in one day. I hope that I'll have another tomorrow or at least later this week. I have promised myself that I have to find a balance between work and crafting. I need the crafting time - it's been a real relaxing day and I really enjoyed it!

Hope you like my card too!!

Others' Kindness - Card Patterns #80

I am in the mood to make cards...even though my house looks like a tornado hit it! I am definitely not the domestic godess...I am the domestic devil!

Well I went through some sketch challenges and have decided to play in a few. Let's see how much more I can do tonight and into the night. For the first challenge I decided to play at Card Patterns. I liked the sketch and it's simplicity.

I've created this card for Katie, a coworker. Our district decided to come up with a "teacher-friendly" lesson plan system online. There was their first mistake. Most teachers that I know think an overhead projector is incorporating technology into their classrooms. Some of the teachers I know struggle at turning on a computer! I'm pretty technology savvy, and this system was far from "friendly." It had me in frustration tears. When I worked for Qwest one of my jobs was to take new systems and figure out how to "break" them. Katie promised that the Lesson Planner could not be broken...guess what?? I broke it! Our technology department was stunned - imagine that!!

Katie is a sweetie, although she is trying to learn the system herself, she came after school on Friday to give me a hand with where I struggled. We both walked through it and it was a success. Now I feel better and am at the point where I can help the teachers around me. The system will make my planning life a lot easier! We both walked away happy little teachers. I wanted to thank her for staying on a Friday night and for understanding my frustrations.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my card.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My Tribute to Sandra MacLean

Sandra MacLean is probably one of my absolute favorite crafters. I learned of her when she became a Trendsetter over at There She Goes. I instantly fell in love with her style. She is one amazing colorist. I just oogle (if that's a word) over her work. I wish that I could buy every card she makes!! I have been fortunate enough to win a couple of her cards. One such card is the one I have cased here. I have this card hanging on my bulletin board in my craft room. I look at this card daily.

About two weeks ago I was playing with my reinkers and a blending pen and I colored the image. Well tomorrow is one of our school staff's birthday. I don't care what they say at work - I'm going to give everyone a homemade card. So I took what I colored and made a version of Sandra's beautiful card. I didn't sew on the card, because my eyes are so tired that I didn't want to get crooked lines! I hope I did Sandra proud.

The next image is a card that Sandra sent as a personal gift to me. When TSG had their release last month, the new set Winning the Race had/has a special place in my heart. I am about to celebrate my 3 years of being cancer free. Well I contacted Sandra immediately and told her I had to have her card. It is just so amazing. She is the most amazing and sweetest woman that I have never met. She was kind enough to send it to me. I took it over to Michaels and had it framed. The photo does not do it justice, but it is just beautiful. Now I am seeking the most perfect place to hang my card.


This is my way of thanking Sandra for her amazing kindness and inspiring me everyday.

THANK YOU SANDRA!!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters, it's a wonderful day at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Today we have Robyn Fetish Digi Stamps sponsoring us. I was provided with this wonderful holiday image. When I first saw it I immediately thought of this wonderful book titled Mailing May which is a true story about a family that mailed May to see her grandmother. Of course the mail was sent by train. It's a great story.


I'm not real big on doing holiday cards outside of the traditional holiday, but I do like how this card came out. I love the simplicity of the sketch and I really like the blue DP from SU. It reminds me of a winter stary night.

I hope you like my card too!! I hope you'll join us at TMS.



Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches #59

Hello Crafters

It's another wonderful day at Tuesday Morning Sketches. This week we don't have a sketch, but a challenge. The challenge is to make a pocket card. If you haven't made one before, here is a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers. It's real easy and you can do so many different things with your card. This week's sponsor is Paper Pretties and they have some wonderful images to select.

When I selected this week's image and began to work with it all I could think about was the song, "Good morning star shine, the earth says hello..." I love these sunflowers, but oh boy what a challenge to select colors to color the image. I decided not to color, but instead paper piece the entire image and cut it apart. I love this image. The biggest challenge I had was my computer crashed and then my printer didn't want to work.


Oh well, what we go through to create a card. I do hope that you like my card. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches #58

Boo hoo hoo!! I only have 2 days of freedom left then I officially report to school. Not that I haven't been there setting up my room, but I have limited my time. I am so not ready for the new school year to begin. I keep putting off all the projects I have in my head for the school year.

This week, Melissa has a great sketch and another wonderful sponsor. I was thrilled when I went looking through our sponsor's, Deedee's Digis, blog and found some school images. I selected Bookworm. I think he's cute!

My original thought was to use Melissa's sketch as a bookmark. I didn't think that my bookmark did the image justice because I had to make it so small. I flipped the sketch and I love how my card came out. I acutally think I am going to make these as post-cards to send home when my student moves up reading levels or as a reward for doing all their work around reading in the classroom. I just love the worm and I know my students will love him too.


I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch. Be sure to head over to Deedee's Digis - she has some great stuff.

Well, have an amazing day! Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Digi Stamp: Deedee's Digis ~ Bookworm
Designer Paper: Imaginisce ~ Teacher's Pet
Card Stock - Bazzil ~ Pinecone
Bling - Rhinestone Stickers
Ribbon - Unknown

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Post-It Note Holder

Again on my sleepless nights I came across another wonderful blog. It was a blog for sewing tote bags, but in my perusing I found that she was an SU Demonstrator and has all these wonderful "how-to" videos. The demonstrator is Angie Kennedy Jada and her blog is Chic 'n Scratch. I'm such a visual learner and I just love watching this woman's videos. I saw this great Post-It Note Organizer and I thought what a great idea for the ladies in the office at school.

Well here is my take on the holder. I loved the stamp set I used a week ago and had to use it again. I plan on making different ones. I simply put what Post-It Notes I had in my house. I have an entire file cabinet drawer full of better colors at work, but were not allowed in the building until next week. I used what I had just to take a photo.

I did a terrible job on cutting the 1/2 circle for the folder side - I don't have an oval punch (like Angie does), so I made do. It was really quite easy to put together. This is one is mine, and I believe the ones I'll make for the office staff will be school themed.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome day!!

Supplies:
Stamp Set: Close To My Heart - Follow Your Heart
Designer Paper and Card Stock - Close To My Heart ~ Veranda 
Ribbon - American Crafts 
Bling - Crystal Stickers Elements

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches #57

Good Morning Crafters,

Thanks to all of you that joined us in July for our month long anniversary celebration. I enjoyed gazing at your beautiful work. I look forward to another full year of great sketches, sponsors, and your creations. This week Melissa has challenged us to another sketch. It's definitely a challenge! Our sponsor this week is Lexi's Doodles.

When I went to their blog to select an image to play with, I had a hard time making a choice. I finally settled on this darling duck called Lillie with Tulips. I think she's darling. I only colored her about three times. First, I did the shading and that looked terrible. It was as if my brand new sponge had four or five different colors of ink on it and I had a rainbow shade. Then I got the shading right, but used the wrong paper because my watercolors bled all over. Then viola I finally got it right...I just adore how this came out.

I can't wait to see what you do with this week's sketch. Thanks for stopping by.

Have a fabulous day!!

Supplies:
Digi Stamp: Lexi's Doodles; There She Goes - Sentiment
Designer Paper - DCWV - The Cafe Mediterranean
Card Stock - Bazzil, SU, and Close To My Heart  
Felt - Close To My Heart
Ribbon - American Crafts

Monday, August 2, 2010

Back to School

I can't believe that it's time for school...I just got out. I don't think I'll ever teach summer school again. I like my time off!!

I thought since I purchased my Cricut nearly three years ago. I really ought to put it to work. I am not sure that I like my Cricut for cards, because a lot of the cartridges require delicate cuts and I still don't have the "best" of luck with that...I do like my Cricut for my classroom. I purchased Decorative Calendars a while back and it sat in the cupboard. Well I pulled it out and made this wonderful calendar. I just love it!!


What took time was tying to get the days of the week cut at the right size and then line up all dates. I did have luck with the days of the week - they are cut at 3/4 of an inch and the dates are at 1 inch. I did extend my 12x12 by adding an additional 4 inches. I am debating on adding in the top left corner the words {8th month} but I haven't made up my mind yet.

Hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Blog Candy Winner

Good Morning Bloggers...

I had to laugh when I did the random.org thing (which I still haven't figured out how to copy and paste here). Last night at the There She Goes release chat party one of the partiers came in late and the deal is Jessica picks one person (randomly) to win all the released sets. Well last night's winner is today's winner as well. Michele L. you win!!

Michele, send me an email to sassytjw@gmail.com with your address.

Thanks to all of you that joined my blog-anniversary.

Have a magnificent day!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Close To My Heart Challenge

Please click here for my Tuesday Morning Sketches posting and here for my Blog Candy.

Late one night I was blog hopping and came across a challenge blog for one of my favorite stamps company, Close to My Heart. The blog's name is {Heart} to {Heart} Challenges. I immediately grabbed their blinkie and I just have to participate in their challenges. I have a lot of CTMH stamps that hardly get used, not because I don't want to, simply because of time. I look forward to their challenges to really ink up my stamps.

Their challenge this week is a color challenge. Creme brulee is one of my favorite colors and desserts!! As I thought about what I wanted to put together I cleaned my craft room and organized all my stamps, that sadly were laying all over the floor. I pulled out Follow Your Heart which came in the Veranda Workshop on the Go Kit. I pulled out the kit to check out the colors - no such luck, mostly blues. Then I pulled all of my kits and papers and found 1 sheet of vineyard berry in a summer paper pack. I was set!!

In deciding on how to arrange I remember I saw this amazing card by Diane Gilbert. I just had to CASE her card. What's interesting is that I started with my image, then gleaned inspiration from the Veranda kit and Diane. It's really a combination of three ideas. I love how this card came out.

I used vineyard berry as the base of the card. Creme brulee is the designer paper along with the sponged edges and sentiment. Garden green for the stem. For the flower I used blush and then did the rock 'n roll technique with vineyard berry on the edges.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing your opinion.

Have an awesome day!

Christmas in July and Tuesday Morning Sketches

Good Morning Bloggers,

Well it's going to be 95 degrees in Denver today and Tuesday Morning Sketches is celebrating Christmas with DRS Designs. This is our final week and once again you can select any of the wonderful sketches from this past year. For my design I chose sketch #12.

I used the DRS Design stamp set Ornaments Galore. I love love looking at Christmas balls. I have to say that when Michael's puts out all the ornaments I just love going over and gazing. My favorite are the red, clear, and iridescent ones. I just love how all of them just shimmer.

I hope you enjoy my card. I have to say it was incredibly difficult for me. I am not in the holiday spirit!! I am trying to gear myself up to going back to school - ugh! I'm sure all you mother's out there are so looking forward for the next few weeks to go by quickly. My last day of freedom is August 5th and the training and the meetings and the registration and the classroom set up begins. My students will arrive on August 19th with bright shinning faces wanting to know, "How many days 'till Christmas break?" It never fails, one student will always ask that question on the first day of school!

Thanks for joining us in our month long celebration I have absolutely loved looking at all of your designs. If your a TMS follower, I hope you'll become my follower and enter yourself for my blog candy which I'll be drawing for on August 1st.

Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Stamps: DRS Designs - Ornaments Galore; Close To My Heart - Card Commentary
Designer Paper - Stampin' Up (no longer available)
Card Stock - The Paper Comany (Scarlet Cover)
Brads - Recollections (Silver Circles)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Cherries Anyone!

Good Evening Fellow Crafters,

This is just a quick post tonight. I made this card a few weeks back and then went up to my friend Holly's home. She sat down with me and allowed me to play with her Copics. I have been wanting to learn how to use them for so very long now. She showed me how to color these delicious cherries. I think they're just great.

Of course now that I am home...have my own set of 8 Copics (just for this project), can I repeat what I did in her presence - NO!! I have made 18 of these cards and only 2 of them have the actual cherry image on them. My CTHM Consultant, Debi Squires is going to take them to her craft fair and see if she can sell them for me. I am going to bundle them in groups of 3. We'll see what happens.

Well I hope you enjoy as well!! I'll see you back here tomorrow for our final week of Tuesday Morning Sketches celebrations.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Digital Scrapbooking!!

Hello Bloggers,

For the past two weeks I have been taking a digital scrapbooking class over at Jessica Sprague.com. When I signed up for the online class I thought I was going to be learning some of the ins and outs of Elements. I didn't know I was going to be producing scrapbook pages. It's actually really cool. It's probably not something I would do for a scrapbook for myself, but what a wonderful scrapbook item that I can put together for my students. Actually, I can get my students involved and use this as reward...them using the computer. They'd love it!!


Well this is the first class project. It took me forever to put this together because I don't have any real recent photos of myself that were taken in "portrait" format. I think that's one of the draw backs to having a pre-made scrapbook page, whether real or digital, the format of your photos. This is the "Then and Now" layout so I scanned in my graduation photo and one of the school photos I took (it's one of my favorites). I hope you like the layout.

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome evening.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches Celebration

It's amazing how time flies. It is week three of our month long celebration at Tuesday Morning Sketches. This week our sponsor is Lindsay's Stamp Stuff and the theme is what reminds you of summer, you still can choose one of your favorite sketches over the year. The sketch I chose was #7 which was featured in week two.

The digi set that I selected is called Fancy Flowers. I just loved all the flowers in the set. So when we talk about what reminds me of summer of course it's - flowers. I am not a gardener, but I absolutley love to look at flowers.

I made this card pulling in what I also love about summer - the sunsets. I used dark blue and terra cotta. I think that some of the sunsets we have are just amazing. How could I leave out the sun - I just love this DP from DCWV called Cafe Mediterranean. Only when I cut the paper I thought I cut my image down enough to show the butterfly -- I didn't. I cut out one of the butterflies to add as an emblishement.

I hope you like this card. I love it!! I was totally amazed by my coloring abilities with this image. I used my stamp pads and a watercolor pen. I really took my time - the image I used was supposed to be my practice one, but I loved it and just went with it.

Well, thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see your creations. I can't wait to hear your opinion.

Have an awesome day!!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Seaside Serenity

Hello Everyone,

I have another post, wow two in one week!! I may just have another tomorrow, but my trainer and I are arguing about the amount of "non-movement" time I am having in a day. What does he know??

I am so excited with my new card. I recently purchased a set from There She Goes called By The Sea. As with all of Jessica's stamps, I just love it! I was having a dream the other night about sitting on the beach and just watching the ocean. I tell you I think I was born in the wrong state, I just love the ocean and Colorado would be the perfect state if we had one. My dream inspired this card.


I hope you like my card as much as I do. Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Celebration Continues...

Hello All!

It's another Tuesday Morning Sketches day. This week's sponsor is former original design team member Joni from Inktegrity. You're still free to select any sketch you would like, but this time you'll need to use one of Joni's digi designs in your submission. I found this amazing little train set (I love trains) and I just adore how this card came out. I selected sketch #36 which was featured on April 27th (week 43).

I have been tutoring one of my students this summer. He's the sweetest little guy, but he's what the education world calls twice exceptional. He is brillant, but yet has a learning disability and to top it all off his mother speaks Bosnian and his father Arabic. So this little guy is learning 3 languages. We have been working hard on his reading and understanding the sounds letters make to form words. He is struggling, but making a lot of progress. I'm really proud of his effort. Well this little man loves trains and knows more about trains than most conductors know, so how could I not give him this card of encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to hear your comments. Don't forget about my blog candy! (scroll down) - sometime today I'll take a new photo and post it on the side of my blog.

I have really enjoyed seeing all your creations! Can't wait to see what you make this week.