I've been playing around with ideas for upcoming classes.  The last classes I did were tag books and were so much fun that I want to go there again in a new way.  This is the naked uninked version of what I want to use for the new classes.  Just about everything you see here is a vintage find from my large stash or goodies.  I actually have enough to sell extra kits this time.  I'll list them here first if I have any leftover from the classes.  The next class I'm scheduling will be a spray ink class, I'm just waiting for confirmation on the date. Can you imagine this little book all sprayed up and sparkly or would you rather see it distressed and grungy?  Maybe a combo of the two.  I'm excited about teaching this one.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I lost my mojo a few weeks ago. I missed it so much. I need to get ink on my hands. It's good for my soul. I found it, and my spirit is singing. Guess where it was? It was hiding amongst a group of incredibly talented and creative women. To my great surprise I had a nearly full class last night and I agonized about whether or not I could inspire them. They paid good money to learn and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to deliver. Their light and creativity surrounded me and I taught and laughed and learned. Ahh, it's so good to have ink stained fingers. Thank you ladies for all of your creative energy.

I made this tag using my old neglected Tombow Markers. I forgot about those fun little guys. The stamp I used is an oldie, too. It was one of the first used stamps I ever bought and it's made by Rubber Stampede. Here's how I made the tag. First I stamped the apples using a dark red and dark green marker directly on the stamp. Then I colored in the image using lighter colors and a bit of the blending marker. I put the whole thing in embossing folders and embossed it right over the image and words. A bit of distress ink over the embossing makes it pop. That's a piece of vintage measuring tape up there at the top. Stop by 2peas for their free stamp camp classes. Every monday they're posting a new class, and this week is Stamping with Markers by Nichol Magouirk. Thank you for the inspiration, Nichol.

I really want to thank all of you for your support through these last few weeks. It was a rough road, but we all have to travel the difficult roads so we can enjoy the happier times. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

all things distress

This is a sample for a new class I'm teaching at Stampfully Yours in Escondido in November. I had so much fun getting inky with this tag book. I can't wait to see how the students change it up and make their own versions of this one. I'm planning to write my favorite quotes in here. Eleanor Roosevelt is sure to have top billing. It would make a fun little art journal or mini scrapbook, too. I'd love to hear how you'd use it.

Other news highlights around here this week:
*High School is still going well, even with homework.
*Hubby is flying out to visit with his family this weekend.
*I noticed on our walk today that the leaves and acorns are falling.
*We're up to our eyeballs in seafood. I'm officially a fishing widow or fish wife or something like that.
*Labor Day weekend around here means garage sale mania and a very happy fish wife.
*The stamping girls came over Monday and we stamped ourselves silly. I love stamping days.
*Tomorrow is yoga day, ahhhh

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a beautiful holiday weekend.

a new class

I've been having inky fun creating a new class. These are samples for the Alcohol Ink Jewelry class I'm offering this summer. We will be making 3 different pendants from vintage game pieces. As with most of my classes, the samples are just the jumping off place. Each student will be able to choose their own colors and design elements. So far, I'm scheduled at Stampfully Yours in Escondido on July 11th and at Collective Journey in Redlands on August 27th. I limit my classes to 8-10 students maximum, so you'll get plenty of personal instruction as well as the supplies needed to make all three pieces.

Oh, and I just have to say that I am completely blown away by all of the kind comments on my CFH blog hop post below. The other people in the hop had beautiful stories and cards to share. It was very touching to go through and read all of it. I finished up 14 cards similar to the one below to include in my next batch of cards. You can still hop through the blogs if you haven't already. There's some beautiful inspiration to be had. I'll be drawing a winner for the 3 month subscription later on today.

new class

Just a pic of some samples for my next alcohol inks class on May 9th. The link is over there on the right. I love teaching the techniques and then letting students run with them. I've got a few surprises up my sleeve for this one including all those new alcohol ink colors shown at the bottom and a surprise non card project.

We are having a great spring break. The beach was warm and sunny and gorgeous. We watched Kyle's rugby game on Saturday and then I spent my day outside in the gardens and park on Sunday while the guys went deep sea fishing. The flowers were plentiful, but the fish were elusive. Dinner out, some swimming, and a few new books rounded out our getaway. ahhhh

cuttlebug distress

Stop by Scrapbook News and Review this afternoon for some spring fling fun. We will have a new class up each hour. I'm hosting the first class, Embossing Distress, shown above. There will be a Spring Fling Crop area in the forum at 10am PDT that will be there all day. Hope to see some friends stopping by. It's free, you just have to register with a user name and password to post.

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.

black and white

I shipped off a whole package of these ATC's to England today. I don't do many swaps these days, but this one really caught my eye. The host of the swap, Lisa, is a member of the Stamp Shack and has really been blowing me away with her ATC artwork. When she decided to host her first swap with a black and white theme, I just had to join. I love the way a whole page of color coordinated ATC's looks. I also love to hold artwork in my hands. ATC's are such a nice way to do that.

Things around here have been a little nuts, so I haven't been posting much. After Mabel got kennel cough, then Shelly got it. As soon as they started getting better my hubby got sick. He's recovering from a pretty good case of bronchitis. It takes alot to keep him home from work and he's been home for about a week and a half. I think Kyle and I dodged the bullet and are still well.

My alcohol inks class was an absolute joy to teach. Some of the ladies are already signed up for another class with me. I have two more scheduled this year including a second installment of alcohol inks since they enjoyed it so much. We will be working on transparencies and metal next time. I need to get my samples finished up soon.

My anniversary sale was a great success. Thanks so much to all who stopped by. Be on the lookout for lots of additions in my etsy shop this weekend. I've been busy treasure hunting and have lots of ephemera and vintage patterns to list. A couple of other vintage surprises, too.

exploring alcohol inks

These are the samples for the class I'm teaching next weekend. I have some students who have already signed up. Yipee! It will be on Sunday, September 14th 1:00 to 3:30 if you can join us. The class fee is $25 and includes everything you need to make all these fun goodies. I can't wait to see what my students teach me this time. I'm hoping they use different color combos for whole different looks. I love that part of teaching. The link to the shop is over there on the sidebar if anyone local is interested.

In other news things are rolling along here. Mabel has a pretty good case of kennel cough that she caught from the neighbor dog Kyle was watching last weekend. Would have been nice to know the dog was sick. It cost me $100 for Kyle to make $30. Whatever. I got lots and lots of fun goodies at all the sales last weekend and I made a nice little profit from the scrapbook store yard sale. I should be able to buy everything I need on my credit for a while. Love that. My cousin won a 1 minute shopping spree at her local stamp shop and was able to rake in $400 worth of goodies into her bag in 1 minute. How awesome is that. She's coming to visit and stamp with me in November so we can use all those fun goodies. Hi Terry :)

Oh, and I just finished reading the first book in the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. I'm thinking that the weekend hubby is away cycling in Mammoth isn't the best time to read a vampire book. LOL...it was a good read though.

for the birds

I found a wonderful feather stamp and this pretty bird stamp just in time for the bird gothic arch challenge this week. I used a whole bunch of fun stuff here including some real feathers and vintage sheet music. I'm still addicted to buttons, so they are here, too. The bird stamp is memory box and the feather stamp is psx. I adore psx and know I've found a treasure when I can get my hands on one.

I feel like a little bird singing today. I just scheduled 3 more classes this fall. Yipeeeee...you can see the dates over there on the side.

Kyle's room is coming together nicely. I found the most amazing bedframe today for $35. Score! I just knew I'd find one and he said it's exactly what he wanted. How wonderful and the price was good for me. The expensive mattress and boxsprings are being delivered in the morning and the quicksilver bedding is ready to go on when they arrive. Grandma bought the blinds this week, so we will get those up this weekend, too. Almost there.

this n that

Just a fun friends card I made for a contest, but didn't quite meet the mark. I love it anyhow. The stamp is by inkadinkado. Don't those girls look like they are having fun.

Feeling just a bit sad that I'm not going to CHA this week. It was so much fun last time and I am consoling myself knowing I'll go in winter again. I won't miss the sore feet. I have to tell you that I've never had sore feet like that in my life. If you are stuck home like me, take a peek over at Craft Critique. We have a carnival of sneak peeks up for your viewing pleasure. I've had a ton of fun looking at everything. Maya Road is up there in my faves so far. I'd love to hear if you have any faves. Stay tuned for posting from the floor starting on Friday or Saturday from the Craft Critique team.

I'm teaching my first stamping classes in the next few weeks. There are a couple of samples over there on the right along with links to the shops where I'll be teaching. I'm hoping to teach something new each month. It's been a goal of mine for quite some time. I was out there in blogland reading last month and somebody posted a prompt...."what are you waiting for?" What indeed. So, I set out that day to get it moving. I'm really excited to start teaching again, to adults this time around. What are you waiting for?