Field Trip Thank You's

I needed to make a few thank you's to send out to parents who chaperoned our class field trip to Carnegie Science Center. We had a great time! The kids explored the submarine. This is this first time I've visited it as well. Wow, it was tight!! I couldn't get over the sleeping quarters. The guides on the sub were fantastic - the kids learned that the Navy referred to the water fountain as a scuttlebutt, so they've been having fun with that one in school. We also watched an IMAX movie on Egyptian pharaohs and participated in a demonstration called Pharaoh Phrog. The named changed to Princess Phrog when we found eggs in the middle of the dissection. The demonstrator was the best I've ever had, so the day was a big success.

Here's a card I came up with. I knew that I wanted to use this cute set from Stampendous. I picked it up at Archiver's a while ago. While blogsurfing, I came across Jen's SFYTT sketch challenge (you can check it out here). I'm happy with how well the sketch worked with the images.




Plus, I got in Super Bowl colors!! Go Steelers!!!

Details:
Stamps - Stampendous School for Max, SugarLoaf Thank You
Paper - So Saffron, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, DP (DCWV)
Ink - Basic Black, Real Red, Brushables & Bic Mark-It markers
Accessories - polka dot ribbon, red brads, Nesties, pop dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Clean and Simple

Today's challenge at SCS is to create products that are clean and simple. I had a lot of fun with this challenge and decided to make four cards with a folder to hold them all. I was a bit disappointed with the Inkadinkado stamps not producing the crispest images, but overall I'm happy with how everything turned out.

Folder:
(directions below)


Opened

Notecards:

How I made the folder:

1. Take a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock

2. Along the 11" side, score at 5" and 6"

3. Along the 8 1/2" side, score at 6"

4. Fold at all scores and cut out small 5" section between 5" and 6" score (below the score)

5. I used a corner rounder on all corners, but that is optional.

6. Use a glue dot at each edge corner (2) to create a fixed pocket

Here are the details on what I used:

Stamps - Inkadinkado Birds Galore

Paper - Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Blue Bayou, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, White

Ink - Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue

Accessories - Gingham ribbon (Michael's), Prima flower, button, paper piercer, white gel pen, corner rounder, glue dots

Bye, Bye Cupcake

So...I got started on my third Taylored Expressions challenge based on the sketch by Donna with full intentions to use my cupcake stamp that I challenged myself to. This sketch involved a patchwork background. I chose my DP, cut out inch squares, and adhered them to the card. Then it struck me - I've created a great background for a Halloween card.



Details:
Stamps - Stampendous Changito Mummy and Bugs & Hisses
Paper - Cricut DP and cardstock
Ink - Basic Black
Accessories - purple brads, Brushables markers, SU punch

Completion of all nine challenges is not looking good. My eyelids are awfully heavy, and I doubt I'll have another cancellation tomorrow.

Cupcake - Part Deux

Okay, I jinxed myself. I thought I'd have all this time to work on the challenges, and the next thing I know the day is coming to an end. Ugh!! I'm so much better with deadlines. I stew over things way too much when I have lots of time.

Anyway, here's my second creation for the Taylored Expressions challenge. This card is based on Jami's sketch. You'll notice that I used the same cupcake stamp. I think I am going to try to complete all nine challenges using this one. It'll be interesting to see how different it can look. I already know that I need to avoid the pink cupcake with the next challenge. Hmm...maybe red velvet. Yummy!

My card:

Details:

Stamp - inque boutique Yummy Birthday

Paper - DCWV (The Christmas Stack - '07), SU Tempting Turquoise

Ink - White pigment

Accessories - Paper piercer, white gel pen, ribbon (Michael's), glitter glue (JoAnn's), rub-on letters, Nestabilities

Name Game

So... I was taking a short break to eat and checking out some of my favorite blogs, and I came across this fun questionairre about your name at Toni's blog, Moved to the Mountains.

Here's mine:
What's your full name? Stephanie Dawn Jake
What do your parents call you? Dad calls me Steph. Mom calls me Stephanie
What do your grandparents call you? Mostly Stephanie or Steph. My grandpap would call me Poncho (to this day no one has a clue why and no I didn't wear one as a child :) My great aunt would call me Stephie, which I hated.
What do your friends call you? Steph or Stephanie. The teacher across the hall from me calls me Jakester. In college, I'd get Stefano - too much soap opera time :o)
Do you like your name? I never minded my first or middle name, but I hated my last name. I'd be teased relentlessly thanks to the wrestler Jake the Snake Roberts. Ugh.. I still cringe. Luckily, I don't mind it at all now except when people misprounce it. Come on, does it look like Jakee?
If you could change your name, would you? Nope
What would you change it to? n/a
Do you like pet names (sweetie, honey, babe, etc.)? Doesn't bother me.
Does it bother you when people use your middle name? No, but I think I'm in trouble. Thanks mom for pulling the three-name calling when I was in deep doo-doo!
Who named you? Mom and Dad, and it's an interesting story like Toni's...
Are you named after someone? Mom chose Stephanie after her dad couldn't pronounce Penelope correctly (Pen-a-lope). Thanks, Grandpap - I could be Penny Jake! She found the name Stephanie looking through the TV Guide. I'm named after Stefanie Powers the star of Hart to Hart (there's a throwback.). My dad chose my middle name, Dawn. My mom loved it until she found out it was the name of his prom date.

Cupcake Time

There quite a challenge going on over at Taylored Expressions to celebrate one year of cupcake challenges. There are nine sketch challenges to participate in, each with sweet rewards! The frosting on the (cup)cake is one lucky gal who creates for all nine challenges will win her choice of 5 of the January releases or a $75 gift certificate. Wahoo!! I rubbing my Buddha's belly as I type this :)

I wasn't sure if I have time to to get to all nine challenge. With school cancelled due to the ice storm, I think I will. Keep your fingers crossed. I plan to update my blog after I finish each challenge. The deadline to complete all nine challenges is tomorrowing evening, so there's a good chance I'll be in the drawing. Yea!!

So, drumroll please...

Challenge TECC53TV:


Here's my first card. Cupcakes are encouraged, so I may have to use the same stamps for a few of the challenges since my cupcake supply is low. It may be interesting to see the same stamp used in nine different ways. Hmm...maybe another challenge!

I used Liquid Applique as the cupcake's frosting and added some beads as the sprinkles. I just love how it turned out! The middle cupcake is on pop dots to allow it to stand out a bit more. My navy layer was embossed and I rubbed white ink over the dots to make them pop a bit more.

Details:
Stamps - inque boutique Yummy Birthday
Ink - SU Pretty in Pink, Night of Navy
Paper - Cricut teal & pink, SU Night of Navy, DP Making Memories-Aqua PolkaDotScarf
Accessories - Nestabilities, buttons, navy hemp, Fiskars Treading Water border punch, Liquid Applique, pink beads, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

L-O-V-E

So I was browsing some of my favorite blogs, and I came across a great challenge at Lauren's Blog. The challenge is from Pink Cat Studio's Design Team and requires participants to create a card that uses elements which begin with each of the four letters in LOVE. What fun!! Don't you think?

Here's what I came up with:


My LOVE elements include:
L- labels (or love sentiment) (or layers)
O- one ribbon
V- Valentine card
E- Elegant Eggplant paper and ink(or embossing)


I came across the label card technique at the Hero Arts website, and I CASE'd a card by Shari Carroll. Check it out here. I just came across the Hero Arts site last week, and I've really enjoyed checking out all they have to offer including some fantastic contests and loads of inspiration.

Details on my card:
Stamps - Inkadinkado Hearts (97637)
Paper - White, Elegant Eggplant, Ruby Red. Inkjet labels (sponged with Elegant Eggplant ink)
Ink - Elegant Eggplant
Accessories - White grosgrain ribbon, letter stickers, white embossing powder, Fiskars Treading Water border punch, pop dots


Hopefully the weather reports turn out to be right, and school will be cancelled tomorrow. I have a few ideas I'd like to work on, and the extra time would be great!! I will curse the cancellation at Easter though when I've lost my long break :)

Knock Knock...

Okay, this card may be my favorite of all time. The only downfall was the amount of time it took to put together. I got home from Panera (yummy!!), and I wanted to create an entry for the Hero Arts Valentine Challenge. There's some amazing prizes up for grabs, and I really want to be in the running.

Front of card


First opening:


Inside of card:


I knew that I wanted to use my 'Whoo Loves You' set, particularly the owls and the branches or trees. After a little brainstorming, I came up with making a Knock Knock card. I found a Valentine knock knock joke on the web and followed that with thinking of a layout. At first, I thought I'd create a tall card with the punchline on the inside of the card. Then, I changed my mind and went with a tri-fold card. Boy, what a good decision. I'm just so happy with my creation. I really tried to handwrite the joke, but I'm way too critical of my handwriting. So, I resorted to printing clear mailing labels to attach to the card.

I used a 12"x12" piece of cardstock cut in half then scored at 4" and 8". The card contains lots of dimension and glitter - perfect for Valentines Day!

Now, I'm off to clean up the mess I made. Ugh!!

Got Cake?

This fun little guy was created for Toni Armstrong's blog candy contest. Check more out at her blog, Moved to the Mountains.

The image is from Inkadinkado's Humorous Birthday set. I just love all the fun sayings. I flocked the little bear and added some stickles to the cupcake frosting to put atop some fun polka dotted DP.

Gina K Release Party

Tonight was the Gina K release party. What a great collection of new sets! I just love the sentiment sets and Warm and Fuzzy. One of the challenges during the release party was to create a card using the posted sketch.

Here's my card using Gina K's just be-claws set. This is such a fun set, and I love to pair it with some sandpaper. I made welcome back to school cards this summer using these images, sandpaper, and googly eyes. They were a big hit.

Say the Right Thing

What a long day today! My students stayed with me all day long (no breaks, my poor bladder), so they could watch the inauguration. It was such a wonderful thing to watch them get so excited about this historic day. Unfortunately, this long day at school compounded with trying to rescheduled a field trip that was cancelled last Friday because of weather left me with a pounding headache. So my stamp time turned into naptime.

I did think I'd post this website here after posting it at SCS. If you're in need of a saying for a card, head over to http://www.craftsayings.com/sayings. You can find loads of sayings for topics including birthdays, spouses, chocolate, coffee, and more.

Here are a few of my fav's:

• A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is who can find such a man.
• Dirt Free House. The dirt is free.
• Confucius say: Man with unchecked parachute likely to jump to conclusion.
• There is always something to be thankful for. When you cannot pay your bills, be thankful you are not one of your creditors.
• Getting over a bad experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.

Have a good one!!

Stationary

I have some birthdays coming up, and I think I'm going to give out stationary sets. Here's a notecard using Hero Art's Monogram Alphabet set and Kelly Panacci DP (Atomic Turquoise - what a name!). I really like the combo of blue and green. I forgot about the ribbon sticker that I bought awhile ago. I couldn't believe how well it went with the DP. After looking at the photo, I think I'll go back an pierce the scallop.

Here We Go Steelers!!

2008 AFC Champs!! Let's go for the 6-pack!!

Aloha

It must be Murphy's Law that if you wake up early and shovel snow, it will start snowing again when you finish and continue snowing until it looks like no one shoveled at all. Ugh!!

So to brighten my mood, I decided to use my little penguin surfer and create a card for SCS Inspiration Challenge. Today's inspiration comes from the pages of Pottery Barn Teen catalog. Where was Pottery Barn when I was growing up? Everything is so great! I used this room as inspiration for my card:

I just loved all of the textures in the comforter, not to mention the room colors. The surf board prompted using my Snag 'Em stamp.

So here's my card. I played around with whether or not to color in his beak (or mouth). I'm happy that I did; otherwise, he looked a little pastey (kinda like me this time of year :)!

Recipe

Stamp - Snag 'Em Penguin Dude

Paper - Night of Navy, Chocolate Chip, Light Blue (from Archiver's), White

Ink - Basic Black, Brushables Powder Blue (Ink and Tint), Brushables Pure Orange

Sentiment - computer generated (Dream Orphans font)

Accessories - navy hemp cord, orange brads

Love is Ruff

I had a great time completing challenges at the VSN on SCS. I'm exhausted now, but I figured I'd post the details on my bulldog topper before hitting the sack.




Front/Back






He was so simple to make.



1. Cut tan cardstock 3" x 6". Fold in half.


2. Cut 1 large and 1 small circles out of brown cardstock. Cut each circle in half. Large circle half serves as lower lip. One small circle half will be the bulldog's brow. The other half will be cut into thirds. Use two of the thirds for ears.


3. Cut two very small black circles for eyes.


4. Cut one small pink circle. Cut in half, then cut into 2/3 for nose.


5. Cut two white triangles for teeth.





I got the idea from Ed Emberley's Picture Pie 2 book that shows how to create so many things using circles. I've used this book with my students to make a variety of things. The different types of mice to make are fun!

Well, I'm off to bed now. I really should finish cleaning up the stamp room, but I think I'll leave it until tomorrow. Maybe the stamp fairy will come :)!

Hero Arts - WHOO LOVES YOU?

I bought the cutest Valentines' set last night, and it's been a great addition for the VSN going on today at SCS. Check out the two projects I've already used the set on:

Love Me Tender Challenge:

This challenge required the use of something soft in your design. My little squirrel is flocked, so he's definitely soft. I added stickles to the tree and love how it turned out.

Hope Chest challenge:

For this challenge, we had to create a container of some sort to hold special items or to give to someone special. I purchased this cylinder container at Michael's on clearance right after Christmas. It had 'Merry Christmas' all over it until I covered it with DP and ribbon. I'll be filling it with Buckeye Balls (chocolate covered peanut butter balls) for a Valentine's Day treat.

Let the Challenge Begin

I love VSN at SCS. I've always worked best on a deadline. Otherwise, I overthink things and get overwhelmed with my thoughts. The 45 minute deadline forces me to make a committment and get the job done.


So, tonight's warm up challenged me to make a scrapling ( a card around 1.25" wide made from scraps). I've never made one before, but I know I'll be making more in future. How fun and simple! I used my Hero Arts 'Happy Everything' stamp of the hugging chick and some fun ribbon I found on clearance from Michaels.




Can't wait for tomorrow's 12 challenges!!

Ribbon Blossom - SCS Technique Spotlight

So, here's my first attempt at a ribbon blossom. I've seen so many beautiful blossoms created by Pam Bassett - http://indigostudio-4hounds.blogspot.com/. so I was excited to try out her tutorial for this week's SCS Technique Spotlight.



My blossom tops an altered candle tin from Pier One. I purchased a few of these last year for $1 each. I'm not totally satisfied with the blossom. I think when I give it a shot again I'll use thinner ribbons and attach the blossom to a card. The blossom does look cute on top of the tin - it will make a cute birthday gift for a co-worker!