wow!

I am blown away by how many people have taken the challenge this week to make a tea time arch. It has been such a pleasure to log in and visit everyone's blog.

Things have been a bit nuts here since we returned from our grand rugby adventure a week ago today. I am not a huge sports fan, but I completely enjoyed the entire experience of seeing the international 7's rugby tournament. The games are only 14 minutes long and the stands were filled with avid fans from all over the globe. Did you see Heather's note on the post that rugby players are hot. Oh, my I have to agree. Also the fans were the most polite fans of any sport I've ever seen.

My sweet hubby has posted some great photos of our time there on his blog if you'd like to see them. My brother in law is quite a celebrity in this venue. Kyle was so taken with everything that he has decided to play rugby. His first practice was last night. He was rather sore in the legs this morning, but still as enthused as ever to play. The only downside to this new interest is that the closest team is about an hour's drive away. I'll be busy running my taxi service for the next two months.

I am gearing up to teach a class Saturday afternoon and have scheduled another class for March 14th. Both of the classes are linked over to the right if anyone local is interested. If you have sent me an email lately, I haven't received it. Someone hacked our email accounts to send out spam. Honestly it's not me trying to sell you viagra. So, we changed all of our passwords, but my own email account seems to have been frozen and I haven't received anything since Feb. 21st. They are working on trying to repair it and retrieve my emails. It's always something.

tea time

I'm so thrilled to be hosting the gothic arch challenge this week. My new tea themed stamps from this lovely etsy shop made my subject choice easy. I do enjoy a good cup of tea. Afternoon tea is such a luxury that I decided to make this one in a black and white theme with pearls. The base for my arch is a piece of vintage wallpaper. I stamped the lady and teacup on other pieces of the same wallpaper and cut and pasted them on. The flowers are from a gorgeous pack of autumn leaves stickers. I finished it off with liquid pearls and hero arts pearls.

I hope you'll find time to play along in the challenge this week. Thanks for stopping by.

out of town

The snow keeps falling, so we made command decision to leave it behind for a few days. We are at my parents' tonight and heading to San Diego in the morning. Off to see the International Rugby Tournament and catch up with my brother in law. He coaches the Hyde Rugby team in DC. Fox Sports is airing an amazing documentary about these outstanding young men that is airing quite a few times this week. I'm so excited to meet these wonderful young men, and see the sport live. My guys have been to this tournament before, and they loved every moment of it.

I'll be back next week or when it stops snowing.

gathering

I do love a treasure hunt. I think in my former life I was definitely a gatherer in the hunter/gatherer group. I like nothing more than going to a yard sale or thrift shop and digging though it all to find a gem. So, you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of attending a yard sale at the scrapbook/rubber stamp store where I teach. I wasn't able to attend the first sale last fall, but I did sell lots of goodies. This time I just went to shop with the big credit I had from the fall sale.

It snowed on Friday and my guys dug out my car for me. I got up bright and early Saturday morning, drove down the mountain, and picked Mom up on the way. We pulled into the parking lot of Collective Journey and parked right in front. The ladies in line got a good giggle out of our arrival with snow on the car. We went in with a plan. Mom knows my style and I told her things I was looking for...vintage, collage, nature stamps and anything with Ranger on it. I do love my ranger products. She started at one end and I started at the other end. We met in the middle with our arms and baskets full of treasure. These are the goodies I brought home. The only thing I bought that's not in the photo is a Ranger brayer.  I opened it up and put it away before I thought to take the photo.  The best part is that I didn't spend a dime, it was all purchased with the credit I had from the last sale.

Since the sale, I've been thinning the herd. You know taking out the stamps that need new homes. I've sold a few and plan to trade in the rest this weekend at the most wonderful little stamp store, GeeGee's. The wall of stamps has been rearranged and cleaned up. It's still a work in progress, but I'm getting there.  So, does anyone have any melting pot tips for me. I got it to use with UTEE and have dreams of using it for beeswax. I just don't have any beeswax yet. I will very soon, though! Don't you just love a great bargain?

new resource

SNR Card Universe is a free site just for card makers. There are tutorials, sketches, videos, blog links, and more. We just launched it this week. I hope you'll stop by and check it out. This is a part of the larger Scrapbook News and Review online magazine. We also have regular calls for all types of artwork, so check those out if you'd like to be published.  I hope you'll stop by for a visit.

hearts

The gothic arch challenge this week is hearts. I dug out every heart shaped item I could find for this one. The arch base is vintage wallpaper. I used punches, handmade paper, ink, paint, stamps, grunge board, chip board, metal charms, ribbon, stickers, vellum, pearls, and rhinestones. Thanks for stopping by.

catching up

Just a quick bit of random stuff. I've almost recovered and dug out from the CHA madness. I've got some deadlines looming, so I'm creating stuff I can't share yet. Darn it. I won today on the Maya Road blog. They had lots of fun peeks with giveaways and I was there every day peeking. I stopped by their booth and fell in love with the clear Maya Mist. It's just sparkly like you can't believe and you can spray it on anything. The video I took of it didn't turn out well. In fact a bunch of the stuff I tried to shoot was blurry. That's what I get for taking my new micro tiny camera I guess.

I actually worked today. It was my 4th substitute teaching day since I started back in October. The jobs have been pretty scarce. The retired teachers get first pick and I'm sure their retirement money took a dive with the rest of us, so I can't blame them. I just wish I could work a bit more. I taught middle school PE today. Such a fun age, but so turbulent for them. There is so much drama with those middle school years. Not a single kiddo I chatted with felt they fit in. Each and every one said the social stuff was really tough. You see we had free play time today, so I made time to check in with them. I've known most of these kids since kindergarten. It's been a few years since I've seen some of them. I wasn't able to teach for a few years while we home-schooled Kyle. If you have a young teen in your life, be sure to let them know they are special to you and that they have unique gifts to share.

Tonight I hosted bunco at my house. I've been playing with the same fun group for about 6 or 7 years. We play each month of the school year and take summers off. Tonight was a Valentine Tea theme. I made little sandwiches and very pink cupcakes for dessert. We had all manner of tea and a little wine, too. Fun times. I'm lucky to have such great girlfriends to get together with every month. You know the bunco part is just an excuse for a girls night out. LOL

here ya go...

Oh my, a girl just can't put her feet up and rest. I see the people are wanting details from the comments and emails. And, I'd be bugging me, too. Really we all want to know what's new and fabulous, don't we. In fact that's the question I asked almost everyone I chatted with while I was there. CHA was wonderful. I really did have quite a bit on my schedule which left little time for walking the floor. I was able to squeeze in four classes. I'm in love with beeswax and I think I need to play with it lots and lots. It smells like art time in Kindergarten and that is a very happy place for me. I did not see Paris, much to Kyle's dismay. I did see Suze Weinberg who is witty and funny and so much more entertaining than Paris. A woman actually screamed "It's you!" at her like she was a rock star. She said "well, who else would I be." She just cracked me up. I guess that does happen to crafty rock stars, but I wouldn't know. Not a single person screamed at me, but I did get to meet lots of folks that I only knew as little avatars online. I made up little bags of bath salts with my cards on them to hand out. I hope that helped to relieve some of those tired feet. I used them and my feet were much better than last year. Ok, on to the photos, which is what you stopped by for anyhow.

May Arts Ribbon...yummy...
For my moose loving friends...Hanna Stamps
New goodies from Spellbinders:
Studio 45...the yummiest papers ever!
7Gypsies....such a great booth:
Cosmo Cricket...love these game like spinners:
Who doesn't love Jennie Bowlin...fabulous milk bottle buttons:
Art Declassified is my all time fave stamp company....
and more art declassified loveliness...
These are a few things I made in classes...MSE:
Golden Paints class samples:
Magenta class was fabulous:
Kandi gave an intro to encaustics:


Thanks so much for stopping by. There are absolutely tons of sneak peeks out there. Happy blog hopping.

why am I awake at 4AM?

I've been busy all week making lists, packing, buying new little things I'll need.  I went to bed last night ready to rest up and charge the batteries for a very busy few days ahead.  I'm going to CHA this morning and didn't have to get up until 6, a full 8 hours of rest was planned.  So here I am thinking maybe I can sneak in another hour if I get back in bed quickly.  No time for a nap today.  

Just in case somebody out there (hi Mary) doesn't know what CHA is, it's the Craft Hobby Association trade show.  I'm going with two hats this year.  I'll be there representing Scrapbook News and Review with a press pass and I'm working a bit for Fiskars to help pay the hotel bill.  Mostly, I'm hoping to learn new things, catch up with friends, see all the new releases, and just play for a few days amongst all things crafty.  I've got my camera batteries charged, gel insoles for my shoes, a cute new bag and sweater, and adorable business cards.  If you'll be at the show, stop by the Fiskars booth and say hi.  I'll be working a make and take Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.  

On a side note, today is my sweet hubby's birthday.  Stop by his blog and wish him a happy birthday if you have a minute.  He and Kyle are going down to look at the boat they are taking on their big 4 day fishing trip to Mexico this summer and are having a seafood lunch.  We had cake last night for an early celebration.

Thanks for all the sweet notes about my MIL.  It looks as though surgery is in her near future.

I'll be back home late monday night with stories and pictures.  I'm even bringing two cameras just in case I need a back up. 

family

Families are not easy.  We have crazy expectations of each other and sometimes that gets in the way of our relationships.  Please keep my mother in law in your prayers tonight or send out good vibes or whatever it is that you can do based on your beliefs.  She was diagnosed with lung cancer today and we won't know much more than that until more test results come in.  We don't live nearby and we are not close, but we are praying for the best.  My husband is out of town for work training and I just wish he were home so I could give him a big hug tonight.