Thursday, March 31, 2011

Blog candy giveaways.

I have posted links on my side bar to several places where new blog candy is available.

Angelwood's has 3 possible groups of stash available to 3 lucky winners.
Morti's Mad Ramblings Candy Giveaway!, for all sorts of crafty goodness.
Pixies Crafty Workshop for stamps and papers, lace, and ribbons,
Sisters Crafty Creations has lots of fun stuff that is all wrapped up and will be a surprize to the the winner.
LazyCatsCardsStamps and flowers and charms, oh my!



Go check them out! Looks like fun.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WOYWW #95 and the Easter Egg Kids Class

The week has passed so fast and so many things to do around here! I love WOYWW and snooping around the other desks around the world. If you would like to see what I am talking about go to the Queen Snoops blog, Julia Dunnit, Stamping Ground and check it out!


This is a picture of my desk today! Horrible mess I know but I been pulling out supplies to make some stuff for my classes this next month. There is organization there but it isn't obvious from the picture. Usually what I do is pull out what I think I will need and put it on the small table behind me so when I get to working I can just turn around and grab rather than having to get up and wander around to find it. It works for me. I am going to make cards, tags, an altered art project, a layout, and a wall hanging for the kids class next month. Sounds like a lot of fun!




I enjoy working with children! They are like small sponges absorbing all sorts of information and actions. A couple of months ago when I told a friend of mine that I would like to work with kids and teach them how to do altered art and paper crafts I didn't think that I would have as much fun as I have had playing with the classes. I was worried at first cause I didn't have a clue how they would work out but...my oh my, is this ever fun!!

This past Saturday I had some fun with a group of gals making an Easter egg wall hanging. The eggs are one dimensional and we painted them with just water color boxes and had all sorts of fun decorating them with stickers, cutouts, and bling in various shapes and forms. It is a combined effort by me, the store, the kids, and their parents, or grandparents. I supply the ideas,the the store supplies the equipment and supplies, Mom and Grandma supply the help that 5-8 year old kids might need, AND the kids supply the creativity and craftiness.

I now have seven girls that come to class but usually only 3-4 make it to class any given month. I have had some mothers ask if their son could come and it would be a lot of fun if they did but so far none have materialized. This month Ainslye, Kalli, Kaitlin, and I posed for a picture with our finished projects. All 3 are beautiful redheads! If you click on the picture and take a close look you can see each girls individualism coming out in the project. We need to remember to thank Mom and Grandma for helping us this week cause there was a lot of tying of knots and assists needed!




This was one of two classes I did this week and this one was a lot more fun than the older girls...but then they were fun too!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

WOYWW #94

YAY! Today is Wednesday and it is time for WOYWW! If you want to join in or just check out what is going on visit the Queen of blog snooping Julia Dunnit at Stamping Ground to find out what it is all about!

My desk has kind of spread out this week into the kitchen! I am trying to get ready for a scrapbook class on Wednesday and have been putting the kits together tonight. We have a total of 10 people signed up tonight so thought I would make a couple extra so that any late sign ups would be covered.




I love my Cricut and Big Shot and do a lot of cutting for the classes myself instead of having the class do it during the class time because they only have limited time and I like them to leave feeling like they accomplished something. I showed a picture of the layout last week so if you would like to see it again go here. Anyway I have been busy cutting out the eggs, grass and lettering tonight and putting it in baggies.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words regarding my doctors visiting and my health issues. I went to two appointments last week and learned absolutely nothing more than I knew before I went in! I get so frustrated sometimes I could scream but...I will persevere. I have another appointment this week on Thursday! I don't have very high hopes.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

WOYWW #93

Another month half gone and this week has flown past faster than the ones before. Today is Wednesday so that means it is time for WOYWW and if you would like to follow along, and maybe even play along, check it out at Julias blog Stamping Ground.

Here is a picture of my desk this week. If you are going by my blog posts and my presence on the web then then it looks like I haven't done much of anything but I have been so busy both with my crafts and life.

A few weeks ago I showed you a picture of my work area with all the stamps, my TV and some of the storage drawers to the right of my desk. This week I thought I would give equal time to the left side of my desk and show you my paper and "stuff" stash. Both of the tall towers are the paper holders. The one on the right holds Stampin Up! and Close to My Heart print papers. The drawers on the left hold mainly Tim Holtz, Graphic 45, Webster Pages, and most of my 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads. The boxes in the book shelf are also full of papers. I use up a lot but I can't lie to you I am a paper horder!!! My desk is made out of two file cabinets that have a wood plank top and I store all of my card stock in those drawers. On top of the tall drawers there is a Clip It storage round for my flowers, buttons, and bling. The tall paper rack there is a bunch of Just Rite stamp sets and mounting blocks. The bookcase has my Cricut and Jukebox plus the first shelf holds new DVD cases a plus other stuff I can't figure out what to do with!!

I am blessed to have a husband that allows me to indulge in my crafty goodness and since I have become disabled it has been a blessing to 'shop' in my own store instead of having to buy new!

I thought I would share one of the things I have been working on this week...an Easter layout. I just love it! Makes me feel happy. Here is a close up of the Easter basket that was made out of an envelope and paper weaving. Each egg and the bunny are tags where you can put pictures.
I will try and post some more projects later today but I am not making any promises. It is currently 0230 in Oklahoma and I am going to bed. I have a date with a neurologist tomorrow and I hope he can tell me what is going on with my neural system! I will blog hop tomorrow. Night!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

WOYWW #92

It has been another short week and as Wednesday arrives I am looking forward to hopping around the blogs to snoop around an see what other people have on their desks and what they are working on. The only place I know that you can get away with that is at the Julia Dunnit, Queen of Snoops blog called Stamping Ground. Head on over there and check it out.

My desk is loaded with all sorts of fun stuff I picked up at Leslie's tonight after class. I am looking for ideas as to what I can do with Bo Bunny Papers and of course all the lovely Idea-ology ephemera! Leslie got a shipment of stuff in yesterday and today and was more than willing to share it with me. :)

The Tim Holtzish tag classes are a success the past two months and we have more people asking to join the groups and to even do more altered art work. Sounds like a lot of fun to me!

On a happy note I received a couple of really nice surprises this week and thought that I would share them with you.

I was picked as a third place winner of a contest over at Paula's blog and won lots of lovely flowers, papers, and a small easel to display projects on. Take a look at Paula's blog, Paula's Paper Playground. Thank you Paula! I hope you are having a good time in Spain!




Lavinia at Lavinia's Paper Emporium awarded me the Liebster Blog award. Thank you Lavinia for saying all the nice things you said about me and the blog, it means a lot to me that someone likes my work and what I create. Part of the Liebster Blog award entails nominating 3-5 other Blogs that are newish and deserves recognition. I will have to give this some consideration so be watching for it in a later post.

Hope everyone has a good week. I am off to snoop around the blogs. Unfortunately I only made it to about 2/3 of the blogs last week due to some problems...namely my headache, and it was a big following last week! Hopefully I will make it to all the blogs this week. I really enjoy seeing what everyone is up to.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tags Class

I am doing another tag class at WLS next week. I have gotten quite a few comments from people about my creativity and the ideas I come up with. Folks I am clueless where the inspiration comes from. One time I am all frilly and the next I am grungy. I love the bipolar aspect of my work. Keeps me flowing and happy!

Back to the topic at hand. The question I was asked by several people about these cards was..."Do these tags have a story? They sure look like they should have a story"... Yes, Yes they do! Most of my tags have a story when I am making them. Sometimes Tim Holtz type tags puts me in an introspective mood and draws on my memories. I think that is why I like the grungy aspect of the work is because life isn't always so bright and shiny.


This first tag is all about a journey through life. Check out the collage of various paper bits.




I loved the look off all the papers in the Lost and Found Paper Stack and just tore them up and combined them into a collage for the journey tag. These things have meaning for me! The clock is because time is limited and I need to remind myself to stop and smell the roses.





This man reminds me of my Uncle Carl...my grandmothers brother.



Carl was a Marine on Iwo Jima in WWII and was wounded and sent home. Grandma and Carl's other two other brothers weren't as lucky, there wasn't any "Saving Private Ryan" for their family, and they were killed in the South Pacific. Carl was always so dapper and chic when he wasn't in the throe's of his alcoholism...he brought back with him from the war! Carl was unique!







The third tag is about hope and after listening to a debate in our town about funding education I wonder if there is any hope.





The story here is the tree of life is behind a fence for protection and we as parents and citizens should protect our children. The children in the class picture are the future and need us to help them what ever it takes. This tag deserves a hope ticket!





There is a method to my madness I tell myself. Some days it flows without rhyme or reason. Nope I am not certifiable...well not by my standards just working in another part of my brain. Thanks for visiting. Leave a comment if you wish. Let me know what you think.


Supplies:
Tag
Tree die cut out
Fence Cutout
Picture
4 flowers
4 brads
Adage ticket
Hinge Clip
Buttons
Philosophy Tag
Type Charm
Lg Round charm
Flower ribbon
Muse token
Locket key and faceplate
Mini paper clip
Memo pen
Ribbon
Tiny attacher
Inks: Barn Door
Chipped Sapphire
Vintage Photo
Walnut Stain
Embossing folder

Whiskey Can to Gift Can!

I finished making my recycled whiskey bottle can tonight! YAY! I love to get things done fairly quickly so I don't leave them sitting on my desk! I think it turned out awesome! The base box is a scotch whiskey can that my husbands whiskey comes packaged in. I covered it with a 12"x12" sheet of Stampin Up! Morning Sunshine designer paper which was a bulk buy item for demos a couple years back. I love the little blue birds!



The border around the top is a Martha Stewart large edge punch called bangle bracelet that I cut out of Pacific Point card stock and adhered to the can after running it through the Xyron. I glued the blue Dew Drops to the center of each link. The label is cut from Pacific Point and Whisper White using the Spellbinders Label #4 die and the Big Shot. I don't know why I made 4 layers but I think it turned out okay that way. I used the Pacific Point ink around the edges of the white. I used clear Dew Drops on the label. The bird is cut out using the two step bird punch from Stampin Up! in the Pacific Point and Not Quite Navy card stock. The flowers are from Prima and all leaves are cut out of Going Green using the Martha Stewart leaf punch and the 2 Step Bird punch. The ribbon is a satin that I had in my ribbon bag that turned out to be long enough!



To finish off the can I cut a circle out of the Morning Sunshine designer paper and glued it to the center of the tin top. Using the clear Dew Drops I made a ring around the outside of the circle and put flowers in the center. On all flowers I added a little bit of Diamond Stickles to give them a little bling!




I still have 6 of the cans left to do something with so stay tuned!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WOYWW #91

It has not been a good week for me so I have immersed myself in to crafts in order to cope with it! I went last Wednesday and had the MRI and nothing showed up so now I am being referred to a neurologist in Oklahoma City for a workup. My doctor says he has done as much as he knows how to do and he feels I would benefit from a referral...okay I am game because I am still clueless as to why I lose balance, have a lot of pain, have memory loss etc. They diagnosed me with an auto-immune disorder (?What kind?) with fibromyalgia and then told me (more or less) to learn to live with it...okay, but why does something new show up every other week? Sorry I don't mean to be such a Grinch but I am so tired of all of this!

This is what my desk looks like this Wednesday and I am still working on getting the room straightened away. I do a little bit every day but when I get in there crafting it is like taking one step forward and 2 steps back some days. I love my room but I have amassed such a stash that I need more room to store stuff like the pieces of wood, chipboard 3-D's etc.and this room just doesn't have closet space or shelving to do that. God forbid I get rid of some of it I may need it next year!


This next picture is of what I am actually working on tonight. It is a can that my husbands Scotch Whiskey came packaged in. I hate to throw it away so I thought it would make an excellent gift container to give away! Chuck had 8 of these jewels stashed back in his office so when he went to cleaning I grabbed them out of the recycle bin. I will get it finished tomorrow or the next day so check back to see what it looks like finished!


I had a lot of fun with the ladies at the all night crop/craft session last Saturday. I posted about the crop here.
It has been a busy week for me. I did manage to get around to all the blogs again this week finally finishing up late on Monday. I really enjoy seeing what everyone is doing and what their work areas are like. If you want to see what I am talking about drop by Julias Stamping Ground and check out WOYWW!