bloom with hope-seize the sketch #23

hey tracey, momma and friends old and new!

boy do i love being home for the summer!  i have spent some wonderful time in the woman cave just creating, thinking about creating, wondering what i'll create next...just being!  i should be working on my swaps for convention, however, lee ann's sketch for seize the sketch #23 caught my eye.  i have wanted to used the bloom with hope stamp set...and this is what i came up with:

 

i'm really digging the blendabilities!  i think i'm getting the hang of them, thanks to all of the great tutorials out there!  this card was pretty straight forward to make...again-gah-i had to fussy cut!...but only a little bit this time.  a little side note here-when the edges of my cutting are not perfect, i take a regular stampin' write black marker, and using the brush end, run it along the edge of the not so perfect cut to 'finish' the look.  i think this is a must to making your cutting look close to perfect!  also, this great tutorial from linda coughlin at the funkie junkie will show you how i made this great bow without wasting ribbon.

stamp sets:  bloom with hope, blooming with kindness

inks:  memento tuxedo black, crumb cake

blendabilities:  cherry cobbler, old olive, pumpkin pie

cardstock:  crumb cake, black, vanilla, cherry cobbler

embossing folder:  beautifully baroque

framelits:  labels collection

edgelits:  finishing touches

ribbon:  cherry cobbler seam binding

my dear friend laura, a stamping newbie, was here this evening getting some tips and techniques on cutting paper.  after i showed her a few other tidbits, she asked, "you're going to start up the stamping clubs, right?"  that simple question nudged me into thinking...am i ready to take a leap of faith with my stampin' up business?  i think i have been afraid to go past the hobbiest that i am because i'm afraid of failing.  i was really good at this ten years ago...and now for some reason or another, wonder if it will be different.  so i sit here tonight reminding myself that a leap of faith is a personal willingness to take a chance.  i have to trust my own strength and ability to handle whatever that leap may bring.  it may be different this time around, but maybe a better different and not a different i should be afraid of!  so i proclaim here and now, i am ready to take a chance at letting my dreams become my realities.  (whew!  that's exciting to say out loud!)  i'm excited to watch my business grow...as soon as i get back from convention, that is!

the academic author and professor at the university of south alabama, louise e. boone, wrote:  "don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.  the saddest summary of life contains three descriptions:  could have, might have and should have."

thank you for stopping by...i appreciate you!

peace be with you

choose happiness-the paper players 201

hi tracey, momma and friends old and new!

my dear husband treated me to a box of goodies from stampin' up for my birthday...boy, have i been having fun!  i feel like a child at christmas, finding it difficult to decide what to play with first.  I think it is no surprise i chose my new blendabilities...stampin' up's new alcohol markers.  well, needless to say, it has been a process in learning.  i have watched many tutorials and have gone through a great many flowers trying to find my style/technique...and...i'm still working on it!  i will not give up!

i had fun creating this card using a sketch by nance from the paper players.  if i told you how many marigold's i colored in and have only one card to show for it, you may actually feel sorry for me!  however, it was fun just relaxing in the woman cave, with some country music playing! (i swore a long time ago you would never catch me listening to that genre, but boy oh boy, i am hooked!)

     

ink:  chocolate chip, crumb cake

cardstock:  old olive, chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, naturals ivory, crumb cake

stamp sets:  choose happiness, hardwood, flower patch

misc:  blendabilities pumpkin pie and old olive, burlap, naturals candy dots

for the 'fence', i stamped hardwood in chocolate chip on crumb cake and then cut the pieces apart.  i sponged the edges to give it the weathered look.  i reassembled the parts to get this really neat effect.

*this card was chosen by ann from the paper players' design team as her top pick!  i'm am giddy with excitement!

my sister always says, "fussy cutting' again, are we?"  i can't help it...i need an intervention!

today is the first day of summer for me.  my beach bag is already packed and i'm hitting the road with my book and iPod as soon as i press 'post'.  it has been a wonderful school year and one i will hold in my heart for years to come.  the students were wonderful...full of character, wonder, insight, humor...and i loved mostly every minute of it.  this past week, i received so many lovely gifts from my class, but believe me when i say, it's the notes that the students and parents write that i love.  their words of gratitude and love remind me of why i do what i do. 

on the flip side...a couple of dear friends are leaving my building.  raylene is moving back to kansas to be with her family and alejandro is going to a different school district.  these are truly two of the happiest, kindest people i know.  they were such a presence in our school...and their absence will be felt throughout the school come september.  it is said that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.  i'm truly blessed to have worked with both of these amazing people i can call friends.

I leave you with this...

“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.” 

― Jon Katz

thank you for stopping by...i appreciate you!

peace be with you

peaceful petals-ppa 205...and more

hi tracey, mom and other friends old and new!

i decided pals paper arts sketch challenge #205 would be the inspiration for the wedding card my friend alli wanted me to make for her.  for some odd reason, i struggled with this a little, just wondering what to do with the top and bottom strips...i liked the way it worked (hope alli does, too!)

set:  peaceful petals, one in a million
ink:  crisp cantaloupe, pear pizzaz, stazon black
cardstock:  crisp cantaloupe, very vanilla
embossing folder:  beautiful baroque
die cuts:  spellbinders's nestabilities lacey circles and standard circles
misc:  stampin' up large and small pearls, aqua painters and sponge daubers

*Note:  i am so excited to share...my card featured above was the ppa design team 2's pick of the week!  i am so humbled and honored to be chosen among such incredible talent!  thank you ppa!


believe it or not, i've been quite busy stampin for friends...everyone needs a card this time of year...wedding, graduation, mother's day, father's day, etc.  i am overwhelmed and very grateful for everyone who wants to share my artwork with loved ones!  here are a few things i've been putting together...

some of these are the ideas of others...with a little tweaking.  i'd like to give credit where credit is do, but i do not know who should get the credit.  thank you to all for sharing your talents with the world...it really helps break through the mental non-creative walls that sometimes creep into your mind!

today is my father's birthday...he loves to read his kindle, listen to music, take naps and go out for breakfast!  more than that, he loves my mother more than one can measure and truly believes his family is the most important thing in life.  he is a wonderful man with such a great sense of humor and a tender heart.  he has always been my measuring stick when it came to men in my life...

i have many wonderful memories of time with my father, too many to share, but one stands out that defined my dad's love for me...i was in high school track-i did the hurdles.  my parents didn't come to many meets, with work and all, but unbeknowngst to me, he did come to a regional meet one saturday.  i was on a relay team with the most incredible athletes and we should have gotten first place.  i, however, blew it when i went around one of the hurdles.  we were disqualified because of me.  with my chin on my chest and crocodile tears streaming down the front of my shirt, there wasn't a person in the world who could take away my hurt...until the moment i reached the locker room and heard my dad voice behind me. "hey-you want a lifesaver?" he asked. (if you are really young, you won't understand the line)...it meant the world to me that my dad was there, at that moment on that day.  he made it all ok, without saying another word.  

i love you dad, today and forever, more than you know...

honor your father...

thank you so much for stopping by...i appreciate you!  until next time...

peace be with you

oh please, stampin' up! pick me!

below, dear stampin' up! friends, are my samples for your consideration!

         

                                         

flower fest...mojo monday #340

hi tracey, momma and friends old and new!

i'm on a roll!  i decided to play with mojo monday's sketch #340.  it's such a versatile sketch i'm sure to use again and again.

if you are a die-hard stampin up kinda girl, i apologize for using retired everything...but i love this set and these colors!  the 'cleanliness' of this card is so not me...even john said so.  it's my attempt at thinking outside my sponge-all-over-everything box!

stamp sets:  flower fest, curvy verses

cardstock:  regal rose, white, dsp subtles, sage 

ink: versamark, stazon black

embossing folder: polka dots

misc:  winter white embossing powder, pink silk ribbon

i am eager to hop on my motorcycle on this beautiful day...i hope you are enjoying yours as well!

until i stamp again...

peace be with you

by the seashore-fms #130

hi tracey, momma, and anyone who stopped by to visit!

i have had this wonderful set from stampin up, by the seashore, for such a long time and it was collecting dust!  i was so happy to be able to put it to paper using linda's fun sketch from freshly made sketches #130.

as i mentioned before, the stamp set i used is called by the seashore.  the cardstock i used is vanilla, pool party, marina mist and chocolate chip.  i used pool party, marina mist, chocolate chip and crumb cake inks.  i know it's hard to see, but i stamped doubles of the conch shell and the sand dollar and layered the top pieces using stampin dimensionals.  i sponged the shapes with crumbcake ink and a sponge.  the background paper is vanilla card sponged with pool party, marina mist and crumb cake.  i splashed a bit of water from a paintbrush and dried the paper with my heat gun.  i then ran it through the sellabration's decorative dots embossing folder.  i finished it off with pool party seam binding ribbon and...tadaaa!  i have a feeling it is not clean and simple, but i really like the look.  as my sister said, it's me!

speaking of...it was about a month ago when my sister and dear friend, laura, went down to my woman cave to stamp.  it was the kind of sweatpants-wearing-hair-in-a-headband-no-bra-chocolate-eating-wine-drinking-make-the-card-up-as-you-go-along kind of stamping night.  it was fun.  we got to talking about how much i really wanted to win a challenge.  (i guess i need to play to win...but that's not the point!) all of a sudden, laura put the last little rhinestone on her card, smiled a crazy grin and clapped with glee.  she's not five.  the point is, she felt like a five year old...at christmas!  she was ready to burst-because SHE made such a beautiful card.  she didn't know she could make such a beautiful card.

all of a sudden-GAH!  mental head slap!  that's why i do what i do...it isn't about how many people comment on my work, or not comment.  it's not about whether i win a challenge or not.  it's about helping my friends create little pieces of love they can't wait to send to someone special! that's not to say the day i actually win a challenge i will be sad...nooo, i will be overjoyed.  until then, though, i need to realize my stamping is much more important. i think i AM making the world a happier place, one card at a time!

dr. roopleen, a motivational speaker, said, "listen to that little voice inside you.  sometimes it can whisper meaningful words of wisdom and make more sense than the deafening noise of opinions and judgements outside."  i need to spend more time listening to my little voice.  i love what i do.  i do what i do with great love.  i really want that little voice to calm the deafening noise with a quiet, "shhhh! i'm working here!"

until i write again-
peace be with you

peaceful petals...mojo monday 331

hello tracey, mom and other friends new and old!

the weather here in new jersey has been lovely...if you love cold!  however, in the words of my pop...if you stick around a bit-it will change!

snow days for teachers mean catching up on important things-like report cards and progress reports, laundry and cleaning bathrooms.   for me, however, snow days are a gift and should be enjoyed as such.  they mean time to be still and enjoy the things i love, whether it is reading, baking or catching up on some shows i haven't seen in awhile.  this snow day meant time in my woman cave where i am finally getting the pretty pictures out of my head and onto a card!

this particular card is for the mojo monday sketch #331 julee created.  i loved playing with this one!  i've wanted to make a card using one of the new sets from the spring stampin' up catalog called peaceful petals...a beautiful flower set for when you are in the mood to sit and do some grown-up coloring therapy!  and...i just had to use this color combination as well!

stamp sets:  peaceful petals, en francais
cardstock:  pool party, vanilla and chocolate chip
inks pads:  pool party, chocolate chip, crumb cake, stazon timber brown, wild wasabi and marina mist
extras:  square lattice embossing folder, chocolate brown satin ribbon, subtles candy dots

i used my very favorite aqua painters with reinkers to color in the flowers and petals.  although it is hard to tell, i softened all of the cardstock  by sponging the edges with the same color (except on the vanilla i used crumb cake).  for the sake of my very sparkly mom, i used dazzling diamonds on one of the three i made this go around...  i always say, if you are going to take the time to make a card, you may as well make a few of them!  having said that, you can only imagine how long i sat and colored...three chick flicks worth of time!

recently i attended a district workshop...and like all other workshops, there is always an ice-breaker.  this particular day, after stating our name and position, we had to tell everyone a goal we had for the new year...'balance' was a recurring theme for many teachers in the group.  i think many people all over the globe struggle with this idea...and i have to say, there is no balance to be found on a snow day for me...no balance between work and play, between healthy and junky wonderful food, between time with others and time with myself...oh no...it's all about being downstairs, me and me alone, surrounded by my wonderful stamp sets, inks, papers and other beautiful materials, diet pepsi, my choice of movies and some chocolate!  some may say it might be selfish...i say it's what makes me a better wife, mother, friend and teacher when i return to the reality of life upstairs.


i leave you with this quote:  "we spend our lives asking the question-'what do people want me to do?  who do they want me to be?'  but this is a betrayal of our inner truth.  we should be investing our lives in the pursuit of discovering who we are and what we are meant to do."― Elizbeth Grace Saunders

i loved that you stopped by today!
peace be with you

oh! by the way...thought i'd share this little card i made my momma in honor of her birthday...
thought it was a cute way of sending her a little cash to spend on the things that make her happy!