Drift Creek Camp

It's time for a reminder that time is running out to sign up for the Fall Quilt and Scrapbook Retreat at Drift Creek Camp.

I will be there teaching some classes, and holding open-house style cardmaking time with my entire collection of stamps and an enormous selection of supplies. Details can be found here: http://www.driftcreek.org/Programs/Fall_Quilt_and_Scrapbook_Retreat
I'd love to see you there!

Many members of my husbands family, including us, will be getting together this weekend to remember Matt's grandpa Jake Leichty who passed away on Monday morning. The memorial service will be friday. I have already said goodbye to all of my grandparents, and am so glad that we have two wonderful great-grandma's on Matt's side of the family who are still around to be a great blessing and influence in my kids lives. I'm so thankful to the Lord for elder family members who bring a perspective to our lives that is so needed.

I feel like there is so much more that I wanted to say, but I can't think of where to begin. Writing does not come easy for me, but I thank you for following along with my thoughts.

I will be back in a few days with something fun, creative, and new...hmmm...
See you then.

See you at The Venetian!

I have several fundraising events coming up, and would like to invite you to join me in helping to raise some money. These cardmaking fundraisers are going to be open-house style events. I will have all of my supplies on hand, along with ideas, tips, and helpful advice so that you can just play with the supplies and make as many cards as you like.

There will be a requested donation of $3 per card that you make, although additional donations are welcome as well.

The first fundraiser will be held to raise money for my sister-in-law Kristen Leichty. She will be raising money for her 11 month long mission trip which begins September 6th. Kristen will be traveling to Europe with Radical Journey, a program of the Mennonite Missions Network: http://www.mennonitemission.net/Work/Service/RAD/Default.asp

So if you would like to be a part of the fundraiser, the information is below:
The Venetian Theatre
Albany, OR
Monday, August 25th from 5-9pm
*the cafe will be open with coffee drinks and soda available
if you are interested in attending this event, please shoot me an email at valonda1@juno.com



This is my little niece, Dominic. Dominic will be 4 years old in November.

Dominic had a g-tube placed when she was 14 days old due to urgent need of complete nutrition that would help her overcome all the challenges she presented at birth. These challenges included low birth weight (4.6 lb. at 39 weeks gestation), small head, an area of damage in her brain, two small holes in her heart and a severe bilateral cleft lip and palate.

She has received surgery to repair her palate and lip, but has been receiving 99% of her nutrition from her g-tube (a small apparatus surgically placed in the stomach allowing food to be deposited there directly, bypassing the mouth and esophagus). Dominic doesn’t experience food like you and I. She has oral sensitivities, poor oral motor skills, fear, and negative associations (like vomit or pain) with food that she needs to overcome. For Dominic moving food in her mouth in a way that is necessary to eat is not natural, it is hard work.

Dominic is medically ready to wean from her g-tube to oral feeding, but she needs some help. There is a therapy available in Washington called Rapid Wean directed especially for kid just like Dominic that could have her eating significant amounts of food orally in a matter of 14 days. (to learn more visit http://tofthouse.com/ )

Dominic will be entering this therapy in October, but does not have insurance that will cover the costs of this therapy. God has already been blessing Dominic and her family, and much of the money has already been raised, but as the time draws nearer, there is more that I want to do to ensure that Dominic gets the therapy she needs in order to continue growing and developing into the sweet little girl that God made her to be.

This fundraiser will be the same type of open-house style event as the previous one. If you are interested in attending this fun event, you can RSVP by emailing me (valonda1@juno.com).
The event will be held:
Friday, September 26th from 3-9pm
at Scrap-a-Latte in McMinnville, OR
Hope to see you there!

Bethany's card

Do you remember the posts awhile back about the fun I had teaching middle schoolers about stamping? Well, lucky for us, Bethany read the post where I was commenting about her card, wishing I had taken a close up picture of it, and she sent me this picture. I just love the whole idea of this card, and I think she did an amazing job. She created the beautiful Alcohol Ink background that she cut the flower petals out of , and added Stickles to the centers of the flowers to add a little sparkle. Thanks for sharing your card with us Bethany!

Back from Seaside, OR

Hi everyone,
I'm back from a great long weekend. I left Thursday for Seaside, Oregon. My husband plays beach volleyball and is a tournament director for the North Pacific Beach Volleyball Association, so this year I was helping run bracket boards for the 27th Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament. I am exhausted, but I had so much fun. If you live in the area you really should try to take it in. This tournament is huge! I don't have the exact numbers, but I believe there were over 900 teams participating in the various divisions of the tournament this year. Amazing! With this many teams participating, you can imagine that those of us taking care of keeping the tournament moving along were VERY busy recording wins and losses, etc. As a result, I didn't remove my camera from its case one time, so I don't have any pictures to share with you. However, if you are interested, you can find pictures from last years' tournament here: http://www.seasidebeachvolleyball.com/vbgallery.htm

Sisters

Don't you love this stamp? As soon as I saw it I loved it. I can't help but think of my sister Birdie when I look at this stamp. She loves nostalgic things, and she has light brown hair while mine is very dark, and she is taller than me(even though she is younger). I don't get to see my sister very often because she lives in Mexico City with her husband and two kids. BUT I will get to see her soon! They will be coming in October for about a month and a half. We are very excited to see them and to hug them all...especially her little guy Damien who we have not met in person yet. Anyway, its not all vacation, they are coming for. My niece Dominic is coming to have some intensive therapy. Dominic was born with a cleft lip and palette. She has already had surgery to repair those, but she will be receiving therapy to learn to eat without her feeding tube. This is going to be huge for Dominic and for their family. We are just waiting to see what God is going to do through this therapy.

About the card above. The Sisters stamp is made by Cornish Heritage Farms from their Sandra Kuck collection. I used a brayer to ink up the image with Tuxedo Black Momento ink by Tsukineko. The image was colored using Prismacolor pencils, and blended with a Copic Colorless Blender. The pink paper is by Making Memories and the patterned paper on the left is from the Urban Couture collection by Basic Grey. The words on the right were stamped with Walnut Stain Distress Ink by Ranger, and additional shading and edging was added with the same ink.
One of the details that I love is that I had this neat scalloped lace that just happened to line up really well with the scalloped edge of the paper. I love when things work out like that!

I'm back...for now

It has been a long absence, but I am enjoying my summer to the fullest. We have been on my husbands family farm for awhile. My husband helps out with harvest every summer. And the kids and I have been enjoying farm life as well.

Such fun to get back to my computer only to discover that my friend Lauren gave me a fun blog award. Now I'm really feeling guilty about my blog neglect, lol.
So here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

And here are some great blogs that I enjoy:(I still haven't learned how to add a proper link...somebody feel free to help out this poor computer illiterate)

1. Lauren Nwachukwu - http://www.everythingaltered.com/

2. Vicki Chrisman - http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/

3. Missy Coburn - http://johnmelissacoburn.blogspot.com/

4. Sharon Johnson - http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

5. Marianne Walker - http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/

6. Asela Hopkins - http://www.hopartstudios.typepad.com/

Well, I didn't completely follow the rules, but if you want to visit some great blogs here are some fun choices...enjoy.

Now, I came across this little tidbit recently...interesting:
"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe."

Cuttlebug Embossing Techniques

Get ready for a new class coming soon to a store near you (if you live in the Wilamette Valley *smile*). The new Cuttlebug Embossing Techniques class is currently being scheduled for the fall. The first ones will be in September. I will post the dates as soon as they are confirmed. Sooo...you have some time to save up for a Cuttlebug if you don't have one yet. Each class participant will need to bring their own Cuttlebug machine, and you will receive an embossing folder as part of the class. The class will include 10 different techniques and variations on those techniques. There are so many different looks you can get with these folders...SO much fun to play with.

I've been having a great time in the last week, with friends and family visiting from out of state, and out of the country too. My sister is here visiting from Mexico right now. She and her husband are pastors in the mountains of Creel. It is great to have her around for a little bit. We are hoping that all of us will be able to be together this fall. We haven't all been together since my dad died almost 4 years ago. In any case, having her here us a blessing, and we are thankful for each and every bit of time that we get to spend together. With that said, I need to go pack up my stuff and head to my moms house for a little more time with her before she has to leave.
Have a great day!

Young Artists

Just wanted to share a couple more inspiring pictures of young artists at work. In the photo above, they are working on a mini album. My sample is below:

Each person got to make it their very own. Stamping it in their own style and their own colors. They learned how to cut their own paper to get the different sizes of layers, stamped whatever they wanted in it, added the die cut words wherever they wanted to put them, and then learned how to use the Bind-it-All machine to put it all together. I love that every single album was completely unique and their own.
In my sample you might recongize some of the new Cornish Heritage Farms Scrapblocks stamps. Awesome 6x6" background stamps. I LOVE them! The kids loved using those huge ones too. The one on the front cover is Vintage Ledger, probably my favorite of the bunch, although I love all of the ones that I have...Vintage Ledger, Pin Dot, and Fine Houndstooth.

More Drift Creek Camp

Middle school boys are so funny! Look at the expressions on their faces. They volunteered to be in the picture though, so I'm guessing that they enjoyed themselves and ended up being pleased with what they made. I thought they did great! I wish I would have taken a close up of the card that the girl in the grey sweatshirt and jeans is holding...no names here... She made an awesome card by stamping those great Technique Tuesday flower petals on an alcohol ink background. She cut them out, adhered them to a white card, and stamped cute little tiny flowers between the petals before adding her sentiment. SOOO cute!
Remember that creativity and willingness to experiment that I was talking about? One the girls stamped this great Stampers Anonymous image on her face using Distress Ink. Surprisingly enough it lasted a whole day before finally being removed. And the cling mounted stamp was perfect for this because it had enough stability that she could press it evenly onto her face, but was flexible enough that she could wrap it around and get the whole image. She told me that she wants a tatoo that wraps around her eye like that someday. I wouldn't want a permanent image like that on my face, but I thought it looked cool on her in a temporary version like this.

Back from Drift Creek Camp

Have I mentioned that I love middle schoolers? I'm back from a great time at Drift Creek Camp. There were around 90 campers, and I'm not sure how many of them I saw, but I do know that we went through over 250 cards, and created more than 50 mini albums. I had a total of 12 different sessions with about 13 - 17 campers in each session. I love the wide variety of creativity represented in the great bunch of kids that came through. If I put a group of adults into a room full of supplies, gave them some basic instruction, then said, "Go for it, make whatever you want, and just have fun," I don't know what would happen. But when you do that with middle schoolers they just hop up grab some stamps they like and get started. They don't overthink everything, they just have fun creating. It is so refreshing. I will share more later, but right now I have lots of laundry and unpacking to do.

I'm off

This is my van last night when I was almost finished packing up my projects supplies...exciting!

More fun classes

Saturday was an awesome day of full classes at Stampin' Cat Studio. Including the first ever Crafty Secrets Bird Lovers Class, which went really well, and was actually over full. If you were hoping to attend that class and couldn't make it, don't worry, we will put it on the schedule again. One of the highlights of my day was meeting the sweet lady in the red shirt in the picture above. We had already gotten part way into the class when she mentioned where she was from, and all of a sudden I realized that this was the Tanya that I had been exchanging emails with...laughter and hugs followed. I love this industry!

I'm so excited! Guess what I get to do this week? Ok, I'll tell you. I get to spend my week at a middle school camp making cards and albums with 6 - 8th graders, and teaching them how to use Distress Ink and Alcohol Ink. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this. Call me crazy, but I love middle schoolers, and I love watching them experiment and try new artsy things. Middle schoolers are so willing to just try things and see how it goes. It's so fun to see what they come up with. Anyway, I'll be out in the woods enjoying nature, and of course, will be without computer access, so...have a great week everyone...until next time,