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,

I love summer!

I love it that my husband is a teacher! We have been having lots of fun since school got out. Of course this has resulted in me being very negligent in my blogging, but hopefully you can forgive me. The picture above is from a couple days ago. As a family we went to Scotty's Playhouse, an incredible indoor playground at our church. It is open to the public at no cost, built in memory of several children for our church who are in heaven now. If you would like to learn more about Scotty's Playhouse and the See Ya Later Foundation formed in honor of Scotty Banke, you can check it out here: http://seeyalater.org/Templates/ScottysPlayhouse.html
The next day, we took the kids fishing at Small Fry Lake, a part of Promontory Park. Small fry lake is a 1 acre lake, specifically for children to go fishing at. It is free, and is stocked with trout. The drive there is beautiful, and so is the lake. I love how they have made every part of they lake very easy for children to fish from, there are well-kept bathroom facilities on site, and just up the road is a tiny play area with a covered picnic table right there. So we fished for as long as the kids wanted to, then had our lunch right there by the slides and swings. It was such a perfect day, and that is even without catching any fish.
Noah wanted to hop right in the lake and catch them with the net. We could see them jumping, but we didn't get there until mid afternoon...not exactly prime time for fishing...so we didn't get to eat any fish. But then again we didn't have to clean them either :).

We have also been working on our landscaping some. It's always nice to see that project progressing. And, yesterday, I went to Portland with my friend Amy with no kids. I love my kids, but I rarely enjoy a relaxing shopping trip with them along. It was great. We had a long list of things we needed to do since she is going on vacation soon, but even with that list to take care of we had a great time. How can you go wrong when a day involves Starbucks, chocolate, The Container Store, and a beautiful $89 skirt for $15?

Guess what I did last night? Put together Crafty Secrets kits!!! That's right, it's coming up this Saturday. The first Crafty Secrets Bird Lovers Class...yeah! In spite of my blogging absence, everything is going along great. With days this good it is sometimes hard to find my way to the computer, but I will do my very best to keep you informed and throw some inspiration your way. In fact...stay tuned. I will post some fun projects with some brand new stamps soon.

New Class Pics

This is one of 4 cards we will be making in the Hero Art Thanks Phrase CardArt class coming up in August. The stamp will be included in the class fee, and we will learn some great techniques, as well as a variety of ways to use this wonderful stamp.
AND...here are more glimpses of the fun you can have in the Ir-resist-able Art Backgrounds class. This photo shows just a small portion of a couple of papers I made using the techniques and supplies we will be using in this class. I promise to supply loads of inky, messy fun! As well as some great ideas of ways to incorporate these spectacular papers into your projects.

Well, I guess "summer" has hit. Yesterday was Hannahs last day of Kindergarten. She's ready to go buy a new backpack and start first grade. She has no real concept of "summer break". It could be a long summer. Luckily we have some excitement to break up the length of summer...harvest. The kids always love being with their grandma and grandpa on the farm during harvest time. I love it too. The smell of grass seed harvest will always bring back lots of memories for me since I grew up on a grass seed farm too. And guess what, the end of the school year brought a pleasant surprise with it...warmer weather. The next five days or so are supposed to be in the mid 70's. Just perfect!

Now its REALL Y time...

It's time to announce a winner of this fun prize pack!!! Thank you SOOO much to each of you who participated!!! I've enjoyed reading your comments, and knowing that what I write does actually get read, it doesn't just disappear into the giant world wide web. Know that each of you are appreciated.
No computed programs were used in this drawing, we did it the old fashioned way. I wrote out the names on little pieces of paper, and my daughter drew a name, and the winner is...TINA ...YEAH! Congratulations! I will get your prize to you ASAP. I hope you have lots of fun with it!

Now, on to other things. Guess what I got yesterday??? A cuttlebug! I've had the embossing folders for a little while and had been running them through my pasta maker, but while the pasta maker worked, it was definately not ideal. It is so much easier to use them in the machine they were made to be used in. And of course I'm oozing with ideas. And yes, there is a cuttlebug techniques class in the works. Let me tell you...it's going to be a good one! I know I say that all the time, but really, my excitement level as I prepare this class is right up there with the Texture Tiles Sampler class. More details to come as soon as we get this class onto the schedule.
Today I've got sample boards to make so I'd better get busy...
Until next time,

It's Time...

This simple little card is just a teaser. It's time for the giveaway, and this card is just a quick idea of what you could do with your prize if you win. Thanks to Scrap-a-Latte for being a part of this great giveaway. Ok, enough talking, let's get to the prize package...
Prize includes some of my favorite items: Botanicals stamp set by HOTP, 5 White linen weave cards w/ envelopes, 1 set of Sweet Chips Chipboard Die Cut Shapes by Crafty Secrets, 25 Mauve flowers from Prima, 1 Chalk Ink Cats Eye Inkpad in Charcoal by Colorbox, 1 set of 50 self adhesive Pearls by Kaiser Scrapbook, and 1 1/2 yds each of green velvet ribbon by May Arts and Sienna Brown Crushed Velvet Ribbon by Maya Road.
Now, what do you have to do to win? It's simple, just leave a comment on my blog telling me something you love about papercrafting/stamping/etc. and let me know if it is your first time visiting my blog or if you've been lurking around for awhile...lol. Oh, and if you REALLY want to win, send your friends over to enter the giveaway too. If they write in their comment that you sent them, I will enter your name in the drawing again. Oh, and I know some of you are new to this whole process of commenting on a blog, so if you have trouble, just shoot me an email. My address is now listed on my profile. I think that's it, I will draw a prize winner on Saturday morning sometime, so between now and then, spread the word, and GOOD LUCK!