i have wonderful news...

hello tracey, momma, friends old and new!

i have been sitting on a little nugget for awhile...a little bit of news that i have just wanted to scream from the mountain tops in excitement!

a couple months ago, shortly after convention, i got a call from a stamper near chicago named amanda.  she proceeded to tell me how much she admired my work and wanted to know if i would be part of the design team for a new challenge blog called 'the paper plunge'.  if you've read the first post of this blog, you'd know it is a dream of mine to be on a design team, so 'heck yeah'!

wait for it...

taaa daaa!  my first ever card as an artisan designer for the paper plunge blog:

our very first challenge is themed 'fall'...a card, scrapbook page, or a 3D project is what we are looking for.  

i used the following:

stamp sets:  for all things, dictionary, gorgeous grunge

ink:  early espresso, cajun craze, cherry cobbler, crushed curry, old olive, versamark

cardstock:  early espresso, cherry cobbler, very vanilla, vellum

misc:  burlap strands, very vanilla seam binding ribbon (dyed with reinkers and water), blendabilities (to color the back of the vellum) and autumn accents bigz, clear embossing powder

soooo...if you are reading this post and would like to take 'the plunge', please visit our blog, which debuts tonight at midnight, and play along with us...tell your friends about us...come and be inspired by us!  we would be humbled to have you check us out!

"when you wake up in the morning, pooh," said piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"what's for breakfast?" said pooh.  "what do you say, piglet?"

"i say, i wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said piglet.

pooh nodded thoughtful.  "it's the same thing," he said.

my face hurts from smiling at the possibilities this new adventure holds for me...i hope you find something exciting about today...even if it IS just your breakfast!

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

peace be with you-

leslie

Lovely as a Tree-the paper players #214

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

i'm tellin ya...the school thing is really getting in the way of stamping!!!  GAH!  i come down to the lady cave with wonderful intentions and then i'm dead-dog-tired and my creative mojo is gone!  i promised myself i would get a card up today no matter what...so here goes...

this card i made for the paper players #214...a masculine clean and simple birthday card.  as i post this, however, it dawns on me that i am not a clean and simple kinda girl.  it's that simple.  my sister tracey always reminds me to stay true to who i am and layered and fussy is me!  (however, i'm going to work on that!...just once in awhile, anyway!)

stamp sets:  lovely as a tree, itty bitty banners

ink:  momento tuxedo black, espresso

cardstock:  espresso, cherry cobbler, very vanilla

misc:  cherry cobbler seam binding, blendabilities markers, sizzix framelits dies, nuetral candy dots, glue dots

as dr. seuss once wrote, "today you are you, that is truer than true.  there is no one alive who is youer than you."

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

peace be with you

bloom with hope-mojo monday 358

hello tracey, momma, friends old and new!

i can't believe the computer has won again!  i wanted to link this card to the mojo monday challenge-#358 and found it impossible to 'find' in my picture library or any other 'album' i saw it in.  the picture was mocking me all night long.  it was there, in several places, until i tried to upload it...GAH!  so what does one do when a computer is not cooperating?  turn it off and try again.  so i did.  and it worked. and the link was closed.  i cannot believe it.  :(

i decided to share this very pretty card with you anyway.  the sketch was so easy to create with and the gallery has many beautiful cards.  i hope you like what i did!

                                                          

stamp set:  bloom with hope

ink:  momento tuxedo black

card stock:  very vanilla, old olive, old olive designer paper (last years)

ribbon:  very vanilla seam binding

blendabilities markers:  wisteria wonder and old olive

extra:  stampin' dimensionals and chalk marker

chalk marker, you might say?  yes!  use a little stroke to highlight the petals and leaves.  love this look!!!  again, i layered some of the petals, not the whole flower.

and yes, tracey, there was a whole lot of fussy cutting going on!

i leave you with this:  "frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success".  through my frustration and tears, i solved my problem with uploading pictures.  i am ready now.  i learned what i have to do.  bring on the next challenge!

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

peace be with you

just a little catching up with you...

hi tracey, momma and friends old and new!

i had an open house on friday...it was fabulous!  the girlies got to play with and create a few things, including a beautiful CASE(d) card from stampingwithsandi.com.  thank you sandi for sharing such a lovely card...i truly appreciate it!

this particular card has been all over pinterest and i just had to make it.  sandi used the new in color colors from stampin' up!...which i do not own.  therefore, i improvised!

stamp sets:  work of art and everything eleanore

ink:  bermuda bay, crushed curry and memento's tuxedo black

i also took some time to discuss my ideas for inspiring, creating and sharing in the upcoming year.  i'm so excited to be able to play with my friends through technique clubs, fun nights, stamp-a-stacks, paper pumpkin and workshops.  some friends who do not like the whole notion of paper crafting are eager to begin using project life by stampin' up!...a memory keeping system...during a once a month crop night!  haha, amy!  i knew i could make you come join me in one way, shape or form!

i think it is only fitting, after using sandi's card above, to leave you with this quote by the emperor, marcus aurelius: "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".  now don't just sit there...go forth and CASE something!

oh wait...one more thing...

i have lots of stamp sets that i bought because i saw A card-meaning 1-that i just to make...and then i put the set away, never to use it again-GAH!  such is the case with mosaic madness!

...and another thing!  i am not very good at 'clean and simple'.  i tend to overdo the layers and sponging and fussy cutting...you get the idea!  

so- i created my own challenge:  mosaic madness made simple.  this is what i came up with:

stamp sets:  mosaic madness and sassy salutations

ink:  old olive, cherry cobbler, cajun craze, crushed curry and chocolate chip

a few gold sequins finished the look

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

peace be with you-

leslie

back from stampin' up!'s annual convention

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

it has been at least ten years since i attended stampin' up!'s annual convention, and boy, was i glad i went!

first of all, the excitement of being surrounded by 4,500 people with a common interest is overwhelming to say the least!  the stories, advice, classes, motivational speeches...all make me want to continue building a business to share what i love!

another wonderful piece of the convention are the swapping of cards.  i brought with me fifty each of three card fronts, as well as 60 full cards for an organized swap.  These were my creations...

although i have been home for a few days now, not a day goes by that i don't pour over my treasures, trying to decide which card i will use as my inspiration for the day!  here are a few of my favorites...

 

 

along with the knowledge i gained and the swaps i traded, the friends i made were truly my favorite part of convention.  believe it or not, i met the best people right on the plane out of philly!  megan, helen, jessica and jill adopted me right off the bat and invited me to go on a tour of the salt lake with them.  i found myself in their wonderful company a great part of the time...talking about stamping, actually stamping, eating and hanging out at the pool.  the time, or should i say therapy, with megan was wonderful.  she was so easy to talk to and we had so much in common.  God certainly places people in your life when you need them the most!  i look forward to meeting up with those great ladies soon!

speaking of friends...there were so many people i will always call friends, even though they are nameless.  you know the old saying, 'it takes a village...'?  well i found out it takes a village to complete a card...in time for an organized swap.  so many wonderful people cared enough about me, a total stranger, to help me complete my shell card, get on a bus, and off the bus in time for my swap.  i didn't ask them, they just wanted to help!...and i suppose the frantic speed at which i was working while sitting in stampin' up!'s home office quiet area spoke volumes!  paige from orlando, i am forever in your debt!  this is me, stamping at stampin' up!

now here is the crazy part...my spontaneous, romantic, wonderful husband, john, drove all the way to utah (from nj!) so that we may drive home together and experience the amazing sights (or sometimes lack there of...thank you western kansas) of this great nation of ours, on the 2,200 mile trek home!  it was a great surprise...one i will hold dear for a very long time!

stampin' up!'s a company i am very proud to be a part of...great product, leadership and ideals.  i used to say, when i am retired from teaching, i wanted to organize bras in walmart.  i change my mind...i want to move to utah and be a picker in stampin' up!'s warehouse!

i leave you with this quote by the author anthony j. d'angelo-"without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community."

thank you for stopping by.

peace be with you

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