Nothin' Can Bug Me Now!

I've not been into the crafting mood much lately, but I did manage to make this card for a friend's birthday. She got me some Martha Stewart glitter and flocking for Christmas, so I wanted to be sure to add that to the card.

I have to get my rear in gear with graduation cards....commencement is on Friday! Which means Friday is my last day of school!!! Wahoo :) Watch out summer, here I come!

Hope you all enjoyed Memorial Day!

Short & Sweet

Hi everyone!

I just got home from a trip to Harrisburg with some of my students for the PA Computer Fair. Although they didn't capture any top prizes, we had a great time.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get a card created for this week's MyGrafico Challenge. I did want to share the challenge with you & pass along some NEWS!! From this point, all MyGrafico Challenges will be held at the MyGrafico Ning Site! It's a great community and we're all excited! You can join us with this week's challenge, our 50th!! Create a card using the color scheme of one of the following medals:

Cool, don't ya think? And here's the set up for grabs:

Just in time for Memorial Day! Hope to see you at our new challenge home!!

Final Countdown - Student Birthday Cards

I made my last birthday card for a student last week. It was for a sixth grade boy and it definitely stumped me for what to do for him. I'm happy with what I came up with.

I used my first CTMH set and some yellow MS flocking powder....that flocking was a huge hit and reinstated my 'genius' and 'super cool' status among my students. Haha!

Tonight I'm getting together with my 3 college roommates -should be a fun time. We're eating at Mad Mex and there will be margaritas involved :)


Details:
Stamps - Something Special (CTMH); Polka Dot Basics II (PTI)
Ink: Danube Blue (Memento), Versamark
Paper: Green (Bazzill), Brillant Blue (SU!), white
Accessories: Daffodil Flocking Powder (Martha Stewart), Nestabilities (circle & pinking circle)

Anyone Else Blooming?

Prepare yourselves....I love flowers! I planted my annuals and have a bunch of perennials in bloom. My rose bush that I planted last year had 96 blooms/buds last week. There will be lots of photos forthcoming....starting with this photo of some dahlias and coleus in a small pot on the back stoop of my sun porch. Aren't the colors gorgeous? I love spring!

Thanks to road crews....grrr!!

My normal commute is 30 minutes one way. I can handle this - listen to audiobooks, talk on the phone (I have hands-free!), sing along to the radio. My trip consists of traveling through rural areas of southwest PA....in other words, my main problem typically consists of deer!

BUT THAT ALL CHANGED AND REACHED MY BREAKING POINT TODAY. There is bridge renovation occuring in the town where I teach. I have to cross this bridge at least twice a day to get between the high school and the elementary school. For the past month, the lanes have been SIGNIFICANTLY narrowed which I really disliked. Especially when my new car is literally 3 inches from being creamed from an 18 wheeler. Today the bridge was reduced to one lane and they began to install the temporary traffic lights late this afternoon...that is right at the time when the high school and the elementary dismiss. (I know...smart!) I'm finished before the elementary dismisses students and I saw buses starting to travel to the school 20 minutes after dismissal time. My 30 minute commute turned into 55 minutes....grrr!

Here's another thank you I made for a student who had a piece of slate painted for me for teacher's appreciation week. This is my second piece of slate from a student & I must say that I love them both! This one is teacher themed and my other has a winter theme...both were great gift ideas in case you're in need of an idea :)

I LOVE the apple punch from Martha Stewart...in fact I picked up a couple of other punches this weekend. I think I've found my new obsession :)


Have a good night and thanks for enduring my grumbling :)

Wednesday With MyGrafico

It's Wednesday - time for a new MyGrafico Challenge! This week is a sketch challenge:

And here's the fun set that's up for grabs! Perfect for those dino-lovin' kids!

The design team used this set for the sketch and came up with some great cards!! Here's my take:

Fun, don't ya think? Hope to see you join in on the fun :)

Thanks for stickin' around :)

Hi....it's me, Stephanie...remember me?

I survived my busiest week of the year, and I'm slowly recovering to my "normal" self. Soon I'll have caught up on my cleaning, laundry, sleep, lawn care, and blogging!! I do have a bunch of cards to share with you - some thank you's for Teacher Appreciation Week and a couple birthday cards. I'm going to space them out while I'm finishing up the school year....only 13 more days!

This was a real simple and real quick thank you I made with some colored cardstock, rub-ons, and a circle punch.

Be back tomorrow with the MyGrafico challenge and another card...woo hoo - 2 posts :)

Happy Mother's Day (from Coco the Nut)

Today my mom came over, and we had a fabulous day. We went to a buffet at one of our favorite restaurants, did a little shopping, and watched The Blind Side. Of course I had to create a little card for her from Coco (my cat) and Fluffles from Stampendous is the perfect stamp for that!!

My mom loves purple, so the card definitely met her approval. Hope you all enjoyed Mother's Day!!


Details:
Stamps - Grasshopper Fluffles (Stampendous)
Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copics
Paper - white, Green Apple (Bazzill); Flower Shower matstack (DCWV)
Accessories - Nestabilities, gemstones

Caardvarks May Challenge

I finally broke out my Delightful Dahlia set & dies from PTI. I've had them since the release, but never got to inking them up. While I love the card I created (thanks to the great sketch from this month's Caardvarks challenge), I'm kicking myself for not creating one of the many cards that I need to make.

The Sketch:

My card:

I purchased some new Copics from Dick Blick this week. I've been waiting (and waiting) for PTI to restock their sets. Then it finally dawned on me that I should see how much it would run me if I bought them somewhere else....luckily, I found a great deal on the markers & shipping at Dick Blick. If you're in the market, I'd highly recommend them. The markers arrived on Thursday night, and I knew it wouldn't be long before I broke out the buttery yellow - I've been wanting them the longest!!

Hope you've enjoyed your Saturday. It's been super windy and colder here - yuck! Where's the sunshine when you need it? I bought a bunch of my annuals yesterday and decided to create my own hanging basket. I always do two urns for the front of my house with a mixture of calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, geraniums, spikes, and angelonia, but not my hanging baskets. My favorite greenhouse is not opening this year because the owner's wife died a few months ago. The greenhouse was her baby as anyone could clearly see from the flowers and plants they sold. I went a few other places and didn't see anything that came close to the caliber of hanging basket, so I guess it time to give it a whirl! I'll be sure to take a photo - probably after it's grown awhile :)


Details:
Stamps - Delightful Dahlia & Text Background (PTI)
Ink - Sand (Versacraft), Ocean Tides (PTI), Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copics (Y21, Y26, YR24, YG91, YG93, YG95)
Paper - kraft, white; My Mind's Eye Home matstack
Accessories - Delightful Dahlia dies, pearls, satin ribbon

Fall To Layout #89

Natasha posted another great sketch over at Clean & Simple Stamping tonight, and I couldn't wait to play along. I need a card for a coworker who always lends a listening ear, even though her workload is always overflowing. I think she'll really like this!

Details:
Stamps - Butterfly Dreams & Signature Greetings (PTI)
Ink - Ocean Tides (PTI); Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Paper - Very Vanilla (SU!), Dark Chocolate (PTI), My Minds' Eye Home
Accessories - Butterfly die (PTI), buttons (Foof-a-la), pink embroidery floss, gemstones, dimensionals

With Gratitude

I started this card a few days ago for the Caardvarks monochromatic challenge. I couldn't get the card going in the direction I was hoping and then was too tired to finish it before the deadline. I finished it tonight, yet I still struggled with it. I like all of the individual elements, but I'm not sure if I like it all together. Maybe it just needs some color :)

Two things I do adore about this card though are the woodgrain flower & the label cut from felt - ooh la la!!


Details:
Stamps - Woodgrain Background & sentiment from 2009 Anniversary set (PTI)
Ink - Sand (Versacraft), Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Paper - Very Vanilla (SU!), Dark Chocolate (PTI); Jillibean Soup Core'dinations
Accessories - felt, Labels One Nestabilities, flower punch, satin ribbon, button, Rustic Button Twine (PTI)

Wednesdays With MyGrafico & Mom

Good morning! I had jury duty today, but I was excused when I called to check in last night. Darn it.....I thought I'd get all this work done. Next week is my crazy week at school & then it should be smooth sailing...only 21 work days until summer vacation! Wahooo!!

This week's MyGrafico Challenge is perfect timing with Mother's Day on Sunday! Anyone have special plans. My mom & I will be going to one of our favorite restaurants and spending the rest of the day together.

This week's giveaway is this great set from Sarah Paris.

Just create a card using MyGrafico images and the following sketch & you could win the set for your collection!

And here's the card I made...the image actually comes from the companion set to this set and it's FREE!!

Isn't it pretty!! I shaded the edges of the label with some chalk and popped it up from the My Mind's Eye paper. They're hard to see, but I also added some pearls in the upper right corner.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team came up with over at the MyGrafico Challenge Blog


Details:
Stamps - Mother's Day sentiments (Sarah Paris for MyGrafico)
Paper - kraft, white, green, dp - My Mind's Eye
Ink - Copics
Accessories - chalk, Labels One nesties, satin ribbon (Offray), pearls, dimensionals

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Post...

Tonight I began to monkey around with Photoshop to see if I could create a new background. So far, I made some fun polka dots. I'm ready to add some more layers to the background, but I wanted to share my excitement over figuring this all out first.

UPDATE: Added some scallops & trim...wahoooooo :)