Birthday Fun

Today is my birthday, and I must be getting pretty old if my Mom is referring to me as "plenty-eight!" Today was nice, and it was capped off with a lovely dinner at my parents' house with my entire family and dear family friend "Aunt" Joy.

Here's what Mom put on her blog about our dinner plans:
We'll start off with wine (for the tall folks) and appetizers of Brie/crackers and spinach-artichoke dip. The main entree is pork tenderloin, served with salad, Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans with Mushrooms and Cheese, and of course, French bread. I know that's a lot of cheese. So fire the cook. We'll be heart healthy tomorrow!

It was all delicious! Green beans are my favorite veggie anyway, and these were DIVINE.

More about the presents later... The plenty-eight birthday girl is tired!

4-H DPA Success!

Ansley and three of her close friends (two pictured here) all took FIRST PLACE in their categories at the regional 4-H Cloverleaf DPA (4th-6th grade District Project Achievement) competition. Her speech was on the Havana Brown cat breed, and she did a fantastic job! (This is not just a proud momma speaking; my fifth graders have participated in CPA for as long as I've been teaching here- I think 11 years?- so I have sat through many a speech!)

I am so proud of every single kid who participated in DPA, whether they placed or not. Researching a topic, writing a speech, creating some posters, and then getting up presenting their topic in front of an audience takes a lot of courage and determination. Also, our county had 81 participants. Go, Union County!!!


Here's part of our group for their "crazy" photo op after the more serious group shot.

A few more of the participants...

We won't mention any of the secret crushes going on in 6th grade right now!

After church today, I think we are going to come home and relax a bit (in between loads of laundry and other chores). I am excited to get to see my parents again since they have come back home from their winter "retreat" to warmer weather. :)

TGIF and an Altered Journal

After a VERY stressful weekend at work, it is so nice to relax and unwind this evening! I am scrapbooking a bit tonight. Yes!

I wish I could go into detail about some of the things that have made this week so stressful, but most school/classroom "business" is confidential. One really sad thing that happened that I can share is that one of the students that we have worked so hard with has moved to Florida to live with his grandparents. While I think that he will really benefit from this move, I am so sad to see him go. We have worked so hard with him (and against him sometimes), and we won't get to reap what we've sowed (BTW, by "we" I mean my co-teacher and me). The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways, though, because his move opened up a valuable opportunity for another student. I can only pray that it is all for the best!

Another great thing about this week was going to dinner last night with my fifth grade co-workers to celebrate our outstanding teacher of the year. Mrs. Hughes, you deserve this honor! We had her reception months ago but were finally able to get our team together for a good time. I haven't laughed so much in a long, long time!!! Dinner was great! To top it off, we presented her with a journal in which we had all written a special message. (I was honored to be asked to "jazz it up" a bit before giving it to her.)

Here's to good friends and the little blessings in life!

P.S. Please send good thoughts our way Saturday morning as Ansley presents her 4-H DPA (District Project Achievement) presentation!

Quote of the Week

"My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather."

~Loire Hartwould

After snowing most of the day yesterday (What is up with that?!?), today was an incredibly gorgeous spring-like day. Here's hoping Spring puts in a few more appearances before the end of the month! (Hopefully things will slow down just a little bit so that I can create a few new things to share too!)

Enjoy the weather no matter what it may be!

More March Card Class "Stamples"

Here are the other two cards we made at my card class today. They both measure 3"x6". It was extra fun welcoming two new stampers! Thanks for coming, Lynn and Nancy B.!

This pinwheel card just screams fun to me, no matter what your age. We turned it as a side-fold/vertical card, but it would also be cute horizontally. Here's a pattern to follow to create your own pinwheel. Do NOT cut all the way to the center! We used the Caboodle paper pack and embellished the card base with the stamp set that comes with the Caboodle Workshop on the Go.

What technique do you have to use with the You Rock paper pack? The Rock 'N Roll technique, of course! This technique and a 3-D foam square really help the star on this card POP.

It's not too late to get your own "A Little Everything" stamp set. Let me know if you haven't gotten one yet and I can hook you up. Thanks for looking!

A Little Everything Swap Cards (March CTMH Stamp of the Month)

Here are my monthly stamp of the month swap group's cards. Didn't they all do a great job? We used the You Rock papers with the CTMH stamp of the month, A Little Everything.

Clockwise starting at the top left: Carla Ramirez, Tanya Stone, Yours Truly, and Chris Hill


Top left: Taralyn
Bottom left: Pam Berry
Right: Camy Eisentrager

Finally, we have Bridget Mahler's lovely creation using the Caboodle paper pack. Have I mentioned how versatile this stamp of the month is?!?

Daffodil Days

Aren't these gorgeous? I wish I could say that I grew these, but my daffodils aren't blooming yet. These beauties are a gift for my Mom through the Relay for Life "Daffodil Days" program. Unfortunately for her, she's still out of town, so I get to enjoy them. (I did email her a picture at least.) Happy spring!

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

This afternoon we decided to make a GREEN cake for St. Patrick's Day! (One year when the girls were much smaller, a crazy leprechaun visited our house while they were at school and got green glitter EVERYWHERE! He also managed to make a mess of things around the house while he was at it.)

Our culinary creation is actually a lemon cake (one of our faves) that Macey and I dyed green. It turned out quite lovely, except for the big sag in the middle. That has never happened to me before, so I attribute this calamity to another naughty leprechaun.

I thought about adding green sprinkles and green sugar to the frosting, but we're all sweet enough. ;)

Yep, that's green milk with our green cake! Maybe we should have had green eggs and ham this morning.

Quote of the Week: St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic.

~Adrienne Cook

5 Foods Every Woman Should Eat More

Here are the five foods every woman should eat:
1. broccoli
2. onions
3. leafy greens (especially kale, spinach, watercress, arugula, cabbage, turnip and collard greens)
4. beans (We already knew they were good for your heart!)
5. wild salmon

To find out why and some recipes, click HERE.

Obviously this PSA wasn't brought to you by Lindt, Godiva, Hershey's, nor Nestles. Chocolate should definitely be on the list! I can eat all of the first four, but that last one, blech!

CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop: Liquid Glass

Are you familiar with Liquid Glass? It is one of my favorite CTMH products! (OK, I say this about all my stuff, but really, liquid glass is something you HAVE to have!) Since I love it so much, I joined this liquid glass blog hop. We have about 10 stops on the way, so be sure to visit them all. You may have arrived from Carol's blog, so keep on hopping (link to the Kristie's blog at the bottom).

Not only does liquid glass let you add some shine and gloss to whatever you put it on, it is also the best adhesive I have ever used. It does dry to a high-gloss finish, so remember that if you don't want it to show on your project.

For my card, I used liquid glass to create the cracked glass technique. A lot of people use clear embossing powder, but I like to cover my image in a few thin layers of liquid glass (letting the layers dry after each application). Then, start bending and almost folding your image so that the liquid glass cracks. I finished this image off by rubbing a bit of Chocolate ink onto the cracked glass so that it seeped into the cracks. The ink wipes write off the clear face of the clock image. (Let me know if you have any questions, as I do not have a supply list handy at the moment. I did use the CTMH Silhouette paper pack and Make It Count stamp set.)

This card is especially meaningful to me right now because this passage was read at my uncle's funeral this weekend. No matter what your faith, these are such true words.

Thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over to Kristie's blog!

March Card Class "Stamples"

The beautiful artwork of my talented downline Michelle totally inspired this month's card class! She graciously agreed to let me copy her ideas. Thank you, Michelle!

Here are two of my cards that you will have the opportunity to make on Sunday, 3/21, at 2 PM at my house. We'll also have some "manly" cards too, following this same general idea (minus the flowers). We'll be creating our cards with the incredibly versatile March stamp of the month, A Little Everything.

The Creme Brulee card uses the March stamp of the month exclusively, paired with the Verana papers. Can you see the addition of the Create-a-Shade pearlized paint brushed on the flower? I absolutely love the Just Blooms Spring Blossoms!

The Tulip card also uses the Just Blooms Spring Blossoms and the March stamp of the month, but I also added flourishes from the Playful Flourishes stamp set and used the Perfect Day papers.

On a personal note, my sister and I are headed south today to go to my uncle's funeral. We'll be back tomorrow night.

Sweet on Spring/ODBDSCL5 Challenge Card

Crazy title, right? Several things inspired this card. The sketch came from Our Daily Bread Designs. I thought that it was so lovely, and I already had the Juniper scalloped circle cut (leftover from another project).

My color scheme was inspired by the Close To My Heart Dare to Dream campaign ad (at right) and the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger "Sweet on Spring" photo.

The center flower is not one large stamp like it might look like. The stamp is actually four petals, so I stamped them tightly six times in a circle to create the flower. The center Sparkle was just what it needed for a little bling.



To add pink to the Veranda palette (Juniper, Garden Green, Creme Brulee, and Cocoa), I colored part of the B&T with my Blush marker and added Blush polka dots. I also sponged Blush ink onto the Veranda B&T to soften the edges and help it all blend together. The Blush polka dot paper is from the Jingle collection. I finished it off with Colonial White ribbon. Since I couldn't decide on an occasion, I'll stamp a sentiment inside when I decide who the recipient is.

Happy spring!

All supplies from Close To My Heart except the Martha Stewart scalloped border punch: Follow Your Heart stamp set; Veranda Creative Basics, Veranda My Reflections, and Jingle My Reflections paper packs; Blush ink and marker; Sparkle

RIP Uncle Mickey

My mother's brother passed away this afternoon after an extended illness. Knowing that this would happen sooner rather than later doesn't make it any easier on the ones left behind. There is much consolation, though, in knowing that he IS in a better place. I can only imagine the hugs and kisses and laughter in heaven as he is reunited with his son, mother, sisters, and others who have gone before.

This picture is one of my favorites even though it was waaaay before my time. The story goes that my Grandmother wanted the portait with all the girls, so Mickey drove them to the studio. The photographer talked him into sitting too, though he obviously wasn't thrilled about it. My mom is the cute gal standing next to her mother, and that's Aunt Nan on her lap.

Gift Bag & Clip

For as long as I've been stamping, I've been decorating plain ole' brown paper lunch sacks as gift bags. Have you ever tried a white paper lunch sack? They can be quite lovely too! (Did you know that you can turn a few of these bags into a little mini album? Let me show you how to create either project!) One word of caution: be sure to place a piece of cardboard INSIDE your bag before attempting to stamp.

I'm not sure where I saw the idea first for a clothespin to hold the bag closed, but here's my version. I used the same liquid glass and prisma glitter technique that I showed you in my video tutorial (scroll down a bit if you want to find it to watch) to create the "M" monogram. This time, however, I cut down the square a bit, following the Baroque alphabet stamped image, and mounted this one (with 3-D foam squares) onto a smaller Dimensional Element Perennial chipboard flower that I covered with the lovely Veranda B&T. I used liquid glass to hold the chipboard flower to the clothespin on which I had already glued a strip of coordinating B&T. I think that's all the steps, but let me know if you have any questions!

All materials are from Close To My Heart except the paper bag and clothespin.

Mojo Monday #128 (on Sunday)

Whew! This card for the Mojo Monday sketch #128 almost didn't happen. I cut it close on the time limit, but things have been busy here (as usual), and I'm a bit under the weather (cold/sore throat). Yesterday we did get to leave Mayberry and head South because Logan had to go to a viewing (the mother of one of his groomsmen). The girls and I hit the outlet mall, so we definitely got the better end of the bargain! (Our big score was them each getting a $10 pair of Osh Kosh jeans.)

Anyway, back to the card! All supplies are from Close To My Heart. I stamped the vine on the left side of the card in Cocoa ink. Then I stamped the flowers in Creme Brulee on the Vanilla Cream side of a piece of B&T from the Veranda collection, cut them out, and adhered them to the card. A little ink distressing, a little scissor distressing, a little flower layering, and voila! (Let me know if you have any questions about anything. I'd love to know what you think of my card. Thanks!)

Materials: Veranda Creative Basics paper pack (which includes the Creme Brulee ribbon), Veranda My Reflections paper pack; Follow Your Heart stamp set (only available with the Veranda Workshop on the Go); Cocoa and Creme Brulee inks; Cocoa marker; Dimensional Elements Perennials (chipboard); Just Blooms Spring Blossoms collection (paper flowers); Spring Blossom brads assortment

Techniques: distressing with ink and markers; scissor distressing

My Favorite Layout

This layout is one I have been wanting to create for a while. Hopefully it helps capture the love I feel for my family, especially my two precious daughters. They look so beautiful in all of these photos! (That's my husband and me too.)

If you're needing a little spring, maybe these photos will remind you of prettier days to come!

Sorry that I didn't think to take any close-ups of some of the details!

Let me know if you'd like to know about anything here. You can't see it well at all, but I used liquid glass and glitter on the "Flowers" part, and it is sooo pretty in person!

What do you think of the addition of Spring Iris to the Veranda paper pack? I went out on a limb with that one but loved the way it turned out.

The layout pattern is the "Visual Texture" from the fabulous Cherish how-to guide from Close To My Heart. (All materials/supplies are from CTMH.)

Techniques: paper pleating, sponging Just Blooms with Vanilla Cream and Spring Iris inks, paper piercing, coloring ribbon with markers, direct-to-paper distressing, coloring metal accents with StazOn ink, adhering prisma glitter with liquid glass (on cardstock and on large brad), printing computerized journaling on B&T paper

{Layout 2010 #13}

CTMH Follow Your Heart 3"x3" Thank You Card

This darling stamp set is one of my favorites! You can get it right now with the Veranda Workshop on the Go kit (which I will be featuring later this spring). I actually combined mine with the Topstitch paper pack, using the same card pieces and pattern I cut for my Open House earlier this month.

CTMH Caboodle Workshop: Scrapbooking and Card Making

This month's workshop is fresh, spring-y, and fun! We've got something for everyone, beginner and advanced, whether you're a card maker, scrapbooker, or both.

Join me on 3/27 to create some or all of these beautiful projects. If you can't attend the workshop, you can still purchase the kits with instructions to create your own at home. They're a great value!

The scrapbooking portion of the workshop will begin at 1:00, followed by card making at 3:00 on 3/27. You can attend either session or both. (You only need one kit to create everything!)

Here are your kit options:
Budget Kit: Caboodle Level 2 paper pack and Dimensional Elements Booksmart ($17.90)
Basic Kit: All of the above plus full-color workshop instruction guide and exclusive B-size stamp set ($29.95)
Best Kit: All of the above plus Tiny Tabs and Sweet Leaf Designer Ribbon Rounds ($41.85)

Please order your kit no later than 3/15 for the workshop on 3/27. (Prices are before shipping/handling & tax.) Thanks!

March CTMH Card Class: A Little Everything

Did you enjoy the March stamp of the month blog hop? Weren't there some fabulous ideas?!? You are going to get to play with this versatile stamp set at my card class on Sunday, 3/14.

If you plan to give cards at all this year (and who doesn't?), you're going to want to attend this card class to make your own! Nothing celebrates relationships like making it from your heart (and your hands). We will create a set of all-occasion cards using the March stamp of the month, A Little Everything. We'll make thank you and birthday cards suitable for both genders, plus try a few new things with Just Blooms paper flowers. (Don't worry, they won't be on the "guy" cards!)

Class will begin at 2:00 at my house. Please let me know if you can come no later than 3/13 so that I can prepare adequate materials and be sure to have enough seating. Invite a friend! The class fee of $5 will be waived with a minimum $25 order placed that day.

I'm also preparing a special add-on workshop for that afternoon: create a binder to hold and organize these cards and more in style until you're ready to give them. Complete details and project photos coming soon, but go ahead and mark your calendars now!

Prima Flowers Giveaway

Click right HERE to enter Prima Flower's Big Secret Promotion Giveaway. You have until Thursday. Good luck!

If you don't have a blog, don't worry, you still have a chance to win.

That's Right! Prima is giving away two more AMAZING prize packages in conjunction with our BIG SECRET!

We want EVERYONE to have a chance to win so we are changing the rules a bit.

• Please copy this write-up and link us on your blog, Facebook, or any other site that you frequent (please follow their TOU).
• Then post here with a link to your blog, Facebook or site post for your chance to win BIG with Prima!
• One US and one International winner will be chosen on Thursday, March 4th, 2010.

And we are getting closer and closer to revealing our secret-it won't be long now!

Just a couple more days of suspense!