Conversations with Bradley

Me: Bradley, what do you do with your ears?

Bradley: Hear music! What do you do with your mouth?

Me: Eat yummy food. What do you do with your nose?

Bradley: ...Pick boogies!

Tomorrow...

I think I'm ready for tomorrow. The first day of school always makes me nervous - and I don't even have a class this year! It's just all the excitement, newness, wonder... All those emotions get all tangled up and bounce around in my stomach the day before school starts. Once I actually get to school and get working things are always fine - I LOVE what I do. I am really going to miss having my own class, but I know I am going to enjoy leading this wonderful team of teachers.

I made this today to put on my desk as a reminder to everyone else I work with that this is something that I believe and want to share with them. I used the new SU! Big Shot, new SU! paper, and new SU! card stock! I finally had some time to play with some of my new SU! products - though I haven't even had a moment to put the stamps together.

But I didn't have too much time to play, because I had to do a dress rehearsal (and a lot of ironing for the entire week's worth of uniforms) for this little darling...

Watch out, Pre-K, Chloe Beth is ready for school!

Party!

My darling niece, Alyssa, was born on the first day of school last year (highly inconvenient, I might add, for her teacher-auntie!). This year her birthday falls on a Wednesday, which happens to be the 3rd day of school. Not nearly as dramatic nor inconvenient. Her party, though, will be next Saturday at my house. I made the invitations, which my sister wanted to keep simple. I wanted to make cupcake-shaped cards that slipped out of cupcake wrapper-shaped envelopes but she did not want to deal with complications. And I'm glad I didn't go there because tonight she told me she needs 8 more invitations. By tonight. I love her.




ps - I still have a killer cold! Ugh!

Caught a bug

And not the fun Cuttle variety. My husband, son, and I are not pleasant company right now - what with the fever, coughing, congestion, and general grumpiness. Especially considering that Tuesday I went back to work full time. Oh, and did I mention I also had to do more allergy testing, and a 3-hour glucose tolerance test on Wednesday?

I DID get my new SU! order placed on Monday, AND it has already shipped so I'm really excited about that. Hopefully I'll get to play with some things this weekend. And, I got a really sweet RAK yesterday from Kristine, just because she is lovely. You can actually see it on her blog. :)

I've got to go get ready for work and find some medicine! I hope everyone has a fantastic day - I am quite certain it will be better than mine!!! :)

*BLINK*

Just a little over four years ago my little girl was finally allowed to come home from the hospital at barely 5 pounds....

And now before I even had a chance to let it all sink in, my baby girl is starting pre-k.

We are starting her a couple of weeks early because we want her to have a couple of weeks to get used to the big class. She's been in day care since she was 18 months old, but it's a private in-home center where there are only 7 other kids so I'm worried about culture shock. She'll get to participate in the last two weeks of the summer club program before the official first day of school - August 25th. Hopefully mama can hold it together!

{SMOOCH}

This is the last of my DT "audition" entries - an altered item. I figured that most people would alter a journal, notebook, tin, etc. I wanted my entry to be different, something unique. So, I altered a wooden spoon. What's with these short spoons, anyway? You can't stir with them or you get burned, and they aren't really good for serving. I challenge YOU to drag out your forsaken wooden spoons and do something crafty with them! If you decide to be creative, post it on your blog and link back to me so we can see how many people get in on the fun. :)

I'm kind of bummed because I forgot to take a picture of the complete project. I actually mounted this (8.5x11) on a piece of 9x11.5 orange Bazzill card stock - the same paper that the letters are die cut out of (With my Cuttlebug, of course). I'll have to take a picture of it next time I'm at A Scrap Affair.

I used the same designer papers as on the other two projects (by KaiserCraft), SU! chipboard letters and inks, buttons (by American Crafts), Crystal Effects (SU!), and my trusty ProvoCraft Sew Crafty Mini sewing machine. I used white acrylic paint on the wooden spoon, and then I distressed it with sand paper. The flowers are all hand cut with my Paper Snips from the designer paper and adhered to the spoon with Modge Podge. I used 2-way glue to adhere them to the page. Lastly, Mini Glue Dots (SU!) keep the spoon where it belongs.

What do you think?

DO WANT!

Oh, my! I think this new Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog has the most things I want since the 2005-2006 catalog! I'm not done pouring over it yet - I have Bible Study tonight and I have to put it down! ACK! :) But, seriously, there are so many things in the catalog that are totally in line with the current scrapping and stamping styles found in some of the other popular companies. Now WE have cute owls, die cuts, scallops, more chipboard, and of course more awesome paper.

I was a Stampin' Up! customer for a few years before I became a demo and while I totally believe in our quality and craftsmanship, there have been times when we haven't had the most up-to-date selection. So, it is just wonderful to be able to offer my customers (and me!) this new catalog with such fun things available - especially all the new die cut stamps. (Not everyone finds it relaxing and therapeutic like I do!)

Well, I have to go get ready, but I'm making my Big List and I'll share it with you when I'm done. Oh, and SU! is actually offering a discount on all the NEW stamps in this catty! Check out my SU! website (link to the left) for the deets!

Boys are mean!

Well, not ALL boys. Some boys grow up to be pretty nice fellows who will engage their kids in quiet games so mama, who has a killer headache, can rest for a bit...and then hop online for a moment to update her blog. THOSE boys are wonderful. :)

Here is my DT application layout - it's 12x12 uses pretty much the same supplies as the other project. Bazzill card stock, KaiserCraft designer paper, Staz-on ink, I die cut the letters with my Cuttlebug, and I used SU! card stock for the letters and journaling, and some SU! stamps (from the Priceless set - an absolute staple for me!). All the mini flowers and the large flowers on these projects were cut freehand - thank goodness for my Paper Snips!

That's my adorable niece several years ago. I'm odd, I guess, but I just love pictures of mad or sad kids. Well, I like pictures that show a range of emotions, and pics that capture a tantrum or incredibly pouty mood - well, that's part of that child so I like to have those moments saved along with all the happy times.

(click on image to enlarge in new window)

Well, today we are riding out this ugly weather from Edouard (and thanking God that it's not as bad as they thought it would be). So, I'm going to get back to my kiddos...they are upstairs putting daddy in their "zoo" and I don't think he's quite ready to be a monkey! :D Happy crafting!

A fantastic Affair

As you can see by my new little button in the left sidebar, I'm now a member of the A Scrap Affair Design Team. I love the way Meredith allows her DT members to design every other month so those of us who work full time AND have families still have plenty of opportunities to design for ourselves, too!

For my DT "audition" I had to submit a card, a layout, and an altered item so Meredith and the DT coordinators could assess my skill and style. I'll share each entry with you over the next week. For all three projects I had only 3 sheets of double-sided designer paper by KaiserCraft, a box of multi-sized buttons by American Crafts, and a couple of sheets of Bazzill card stock. Well, those were the products I was demoing. I got to use my own things to fill in the blanks.

First up is the card I did. I like making square cards (but not the extra postage!) because I love the balance that they allow. I used my ProvoCraft Sew Crafty Mini to do the stitching, my Cuttlebug to do the embossed swirls on the card stock, flowers by MM and Prima, Felt Fusion flowers by SU!, chipboard letters by SU!, ink by SU!, and brads by American Crafts.

I enjoyed the colors of the DP and really like that it was patterned, but also has depth of design. I like layers and I'll take them any way I can get them. It was also lovely because it was double sided and gave me greater freedom to explore the color combinations and design elements of the paper - which will be more evident when you see the next two projects. :)

6x6 Recipe Card

I've been doing the recipe card swap over at Courtney's place for 2 months now and I'm having SO much fun! Here is my entry for the One Dish catagory. I can't wait to see what everyone else did.



Materials (all SU! unless otherwise mentioned)

Card stock: Whisper White, River Rock, Night of Navy, Only Orange
Stamps: Tart & Tangy
Ink: Kiwi Kiss
Other: Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots embossing folder, 2-way Glue, Button (craft), 1 1/4" circle punch, Paper Snips, mini glue dots