Look Out World!!

There's a new student driver!

Keenan got his permit the day before Thanksgiving. Of course, with all of the snow and ice he hasn't gotten much practice yet. He's hoping that the weather clears so he can get more time on the road.



See that key? It's one of those "blanks" that you get sometimes, inviting you to come in for a car giveaway. You know... the ones that never open the car??? LOL! Keenan kept this key from some mail that we had gotten a while back. While I was working on the page I said, "I wish I had a car key." He said, "Wait just a minute," and went to his room, coming back with this key. He laughed and said, "I thought you might be able to use it for something at some point."

Boy do my kids know me!

Latest Projects

I thought I would share a couple of my "challenge" items from the Challenge Master website.

The December altered assignment was to alter a notebook. I have been meaning to do that for a while now, so it was very timely.



I used a lot of odds and ends on this one. I LOVE the way my distress ink blended. I really need to get that out more often!

For the December tag project we were to make Christmas tags, of course. I tried to make a couple a-la-Tim Holtz.....BUT they didn't turn out like his. I'm pretty happy with them though.



I'm really enjoying the challenges, and I think you would too. So.... if you are snowed in, like me, and you need some inspiration.... hop on over to Challenge Masters and join in the fun!

New Challenge Board

Sitting around here on my snow day and I got to cruising the web. While I was going through old bookmarks and deleting sites that no longer existed, hadn't been updated, etc. I discovered a brand new one.... (At least it was new to me!)

Challenge Masters seems like a great place to get inspired. If you are into challenges, this is a great place to visit. The gals are very friendly and have a gallery where you can post your finished projects too.

I've placed a link to their site in the sidebar. Just click on the membership badge and it will take you straight to their website, where you can check out their blog, forum, gallery, and all of the other fun stuff!

Snow in Kentucky means 2 things........

1. A snow day....
2. Scrap time!!!

The snow actually came on a weekend this time, so number 1 (a snow day) didn't happen, but I DID get time to scrap yesterday.




This page came together very easily. I will admit that I used a sketch, so the design part was fairly simple. The fun was in picking through my supplies and deciding what to use. (That always has been my favorite part of this hobby.)

I've also been busy creating things for Christmas: cards, sock cupcakes, gifts for others.

I've really missed crafting, cutting, and scrapping. Life has just been so uncooperative of late. Deep down in my heart, I know that if I'm to find the time to relax and enjoy my hobby it is up to me MAKE the time. I suppose I just need to think about it more and determine HOW.

My Latest Christmas Project

While sifting through some old magazines and idea books recently, I saw a project that I really wanted to try. It is a spelling book for beginning readers.

My nephew is in kindergarten and it so excited that he is beginning to read. One of my co-workers also has a young son who is just beginning to learn letters and sounds. I decided this would be the perfect gift for them.

My co-worker's son is CRAZY about Handy Manny, so I decided to create my own version of Manny's hammer for the cover of his book.



The outside is really cute, but the inside is where the magic comes alive!



I stamped three sets of alphabet letters, with the vowels in red and the consonants in black. I laminated all 3 sets + 3 blank cards. Each stack was punched and I used binder rings to put the whole books together.

When the child is ready to spell a word, he or she just flips the cards around on the rings. I added the blank cards so the child can use 1 stack, 2 stacks, or 3 stacks of letters at a time. This allows him or her to learn just the alphabet, by revealing only 1 stack of letters, create 2 letter words, or 3 letter words.

I REALLY like the ending result! My husband wants me to show it to the kindergarten teachers at school. He has seen similar items at teacher stores, and they sell for a LOT of money. I would really like to create a few and sell them, but for a much lower price than they are available for commercially.

One of My Latest.....

I thought I would share another of my "projects" with you....it's not a layout really.....

I work with several other GREAT teachers at school. We middle school teachers really try to stick together and be supportive of each other. One day as we sat eating lunch we got to talking.... (like we usually do)

One of them said something about their own space around and behind their teacher's desk. They even had a nickname for it, "Fortress of Solitude". That was their way of telling students that they should NOT be behind the teacher's desk. One of my fellow teachers actually said, "You know... we need to get a sign made."

To me there was only one thing that I could do.... take my stamping abilities and create signs for them. I stamped the actual slogan, "Fortress of Solitude" and used Glimmer Mist and Smooch spray to create a more "rustic" background. Then I embossed a wide strip of paper with a "brick" embossing folder and used my distress inks to color the brick wall itself. I added some black stamped "graffitti" including the year.

When I took them to school I had each teacher autograph the wall on his or her sign with his or her own name. I framed them in simple little frames. My team members were shocked that I had actually created such a thing for them and they LOVED them! The students are in shock that I could actually create something like that...LOL!

Finally!!!

I finally took the time to sit down and get some pages finished.

Alas.......I must confess that I did not complete these pages in one sitting.

I actually started them several weeks back at a crop. They have been lieing here on my scrap table, teasing and taunting me.

I have looked at them and considered finishing them, but just couldn't find the energy, creativity, or time.

I finally decided that enough was enough... I WOULD get them finished!



This first page documents my daughter's 13th birthday. Since the cake was tie-dyed I decided to use tie-dyed looking paper and "groovy" accents.



I feel like this page still needs something, but I'm not sure what.... I did this page to tell about the gifts that my daughter and son hand-selected for each other last Christmas.