Using a Sketches

I have often said to people that I don't really have original ideas.  If it were up to me to sit down and create a card. craft or layout on my own, I would not be able to craft! I thank my lucky stars for the very creative ladies (and men like my husband) who are willing to share their talents with me so that I can "borrow" their art to create my own.  

This is where sketches come in.  Sketches are card or layout ideas that are just that: drawings of general card or layout ideas to give you a starting point and you go from there with your creativity.  You pick the colors, embellishments, etc but use the layout the person gave you in the sketch.  It is a wonderful starting point especially for beginners.

Here is the link to the sketch I used for this card: Sketch Challenge: Cricut.com. I used option #3.  Here is the link to the RAQ's Sketch Challenge on Cricut.com, there are a lot of sketches linked on that page.

 BTW, I did make all three of these sketches.  

I was using this challenge thread in order to begin my card making journey.  

Music & Cupcakes

Today I am sharing my daughter's birthday invitation. It is the first time I tried stamping two colors on one stamp.  I realized I never shared the invitation on the blog, so I pulled out the photo to share.

The cardstock is Coredinations.

The blue paper is handmade paper we found on vacation in NC years ago,

 that I just held onto because it was pretty.

I used cats eye inks for stamping.

School Safety

As a parent, I do my research of the schools where I send my children.  I check out the curriculum, I check out all the things I feel will make the school a good fit in my children's education process. I have been remiss in checking out the safety standards at the schools.  We have made specific decisions in the education process of each of our children, decisions we stand by for the most part. But in the future these decisions will  be made with more questions outside the education only spectrum based on what I learned this morning. I will ask in the future what the procedures are for campus safety and security.  I will never again make assumptions. 

My two older children drive themselves to school but I am still the driver for my youngest child.  Our path takes us past the school that her siblings attend.  As I drove by I noticed there were two school district vehicles blocking the entrance of the school.  Odd but it is also the end of the year for the senior class, I thought maybe they were trying to stop any senior pranks from getting out of hand. 

School Lockdown in Wilmington, NC  

(not our school)

Less than five minutes later on my trip back home the school entrances were blocked by sheriffs deputies; all cars were being turned away. I pulled over to ask what was going on since I have two children attending.  I was told they had to lockdown the school because there was an "incident" in the neighborhood.  I asked the deputy if she was sure it was outside the school because I have two children in the school, she said yes it is defiantly outside and they were just there to protect the students. 

School Lockdown in Chester, PA neighborhood

(not our school)

This is where I get a bit "mother-bear".  I called the other school to alert them of what is going on.  First, it took 5 minutes to get through on the phone.  Second, when I did get through on the phone I was questioned about what part of the neighborhood the "incident" was in.  Was it on the east side of the road or the west side? It is a four lane road that separates the schools, would a criminal not cross the road?  Where was the police activity, etc?  I am not sure if the school even took me seriously or thought I was being "overprotective" and a "helicopter" mom.  But I think if the sheriff's department and the public schools felt the "incident" was serious enough to put deputies around the school, the private school that I pay a small fortune for should at least have a few male teachers (who have planning periods) walk the perimeter of the campus for a while. 

But that is just my opinion!

Traci

Cigar Box

My Magnolia Challenge this month was to alter a cigar box.  The month started out very eventful with me not understanding the directions and thinking the box had to have feet as a theme.  I am not a fan of "feet", I don't even like pedicures.  So, I told my partner to find a different theme for me.   I was very red in the face when it was explained to me that they meant the box should to have little feet on the bottle to raise it off the surface it was sitting on. When I went back and read the instructions a third time it was more clear. :-)

So, off I went to find a cigar box because I wanted to be authentic.  I did not want to use a box from a craft store.  I figured it would be easy, I live in the Cigar Capital of the world.  There is a guy who sells cigars right outside my office three times a week.  But lo and behold: he doesn't sell his boxes. So, this task was not as easy as I thought it would be. But I did not give up.  My husband and I were traveling on a quick get away weekend and checking out antique and eclectic stores in CT, when I found the coolest cigar box. It is wooden with a deep brown finish.  It was almost sad to cover it, so I decided to leave some of the original wood showing.

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The finished box!

The original box, found at a really cool store called It's MINE! outside Mystic, CT. If you are ever visiting the area I really recommend you check it out.  The proprietor was very friendly and he had all kind or great items.  I even found some really neat antique keys for a bargain. 

This is the inside before I started working on it.  I love how the lid is not hinged but had a slot to hold it up.

I used Tim Holtz Ideaology Paper, the flowers are from Iamroses and have a light hint of green glimmer mist (which doesn't show on the photos).  The pearls are from Recollections and the lace is from Celebrate It, the ribbon bordering the lace is from Bluemoonscrapbooking.com.  Can you see the feet peeking out?  They are just wooden feet from Michael's that I used Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to color.

This is a better view of the inside of my box. This view gives you a better view of the stickpins. I had the pinheads from a swap, I had been wanting to use them but never had the right item to put them on.  I bought the beads in Mystic, CT at a great bead boutique called You've Got to be Beading!  Great place and they even have a few scrapbooking supplies.

Hope you enjoyed the box!

Traci

Gold!

My kids are all musical. We run from one music event to the next most weeks of our lives. From the time we had children we decided that they would have piano lessons as soon as they were old enough.  Each of our children were successful in lessons and played for years.  But our youngest daughter has reached a goal that we are very excited to share; she received her first Gold Cup for three consecutive years of Superior ratings at Festival.

Trophy she earned, it took a long time for her to receive it but it was worth the wait. 

Video of her playing at a recent regional competition, she won first place with a Superior rating. She is attending a State competition this weekend in south FL representing her school.  Sometimes music lessons seem to take over our lives but then I hear my kids play, I see their joy and it is worth it.

A Whole New Day

Six years ago my youngest daughter started school and I was left to an empty house. I had homeschooled, my kids, had no hobbies, no interest and no idea what to do with myself now that my house was so quiet. I was lonely, bored and to be honest a little depressed. I started walking the mall three mornings a week because it is not and muggy in Central FL but once the mall opened for the day, I also stayed and shopped. Even though most of the shopping was sale racks and items we "needed". The shopping was wreaking havoc on our budget.

I was given the opportunity to volunteer at my oldest daughter's school a couple of days week.  I thought this was a great opportunity.  I could get out of the house, I could meet other moms and not spend money. So, I jumped into volunteering with enthusiasm.  After a few months, volunteering I was approached by the person in charge and offered a part-time job at the school.  She said, I was there so much I may as well get  paid.  I talked it over with my husband and we thought this was a win-win situation. I could work just while the kids were in school, it was my daughter's school and the other two kids would not have to be in daycare. I was a perfect situation for a mom.

Years have gone by and I have changed jobs, that "perfect" job at the school turned into something other than perfect. It turned into the job that ate my life. I found another part-time job that was more flexible: who knew a school would not be flexible? Anyway, six years later, I am watching my children quickly grow up. Becoming who they are going to be and I am missing those things because I am so busy in the evenings.

Finally, I think I want to slow down and enjoy peace and quiet and enjoy me.  I have never just had quiet time just to have quiet time. So, today I am starting a new journey of being a stay at home mom again.

Traci

Mother's Day, Part 2

I am addicted to Pinterest but I have an issue with pins that lead to no where. I am not talking about pins that are supposed to lead to no where, the ones that are random jokes or just someones thoughts or a place they like those are not an issue. But if you are going to post your crafty ideas or a recipe or something to inspire someone at least give instructions or a hint to where people can find instructions!  So, that is my little pet peeve about pins.  

So, one pin in particular was a cute card that was a flower pot.  The first time I saw it was a few weeks ago. It was an Esty.com link.  I did not want to buy the instructions. Well, I figured I would be able to find the instructions free somewhere. So, I passed. :-) 

The next time I saw the card it was the pin that never opened. It just sat and sat and sat with the little needle spinning. Forever. 

This week when I saw the card and clicked the pin, it took me to a Stampin' Up website that I had to join. I have never been to a Stampin' Up website that I had to join: ever!  But I felt like I was being challenged with this Flower Pot card. It was calling my name! Game on, challenge accepted. 

I used the basic tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers Pocket Card for the base of the flower pot. I have used this tutorial for about five or six cards now and it is awesome.  Once I had the base made instead of just scoring the front of the card at 1 1/4", I scored the back as well.  Then I carefully cut the larger part of the card at an angle. I did not measure; I just "eyeballed it". Then turned it and did the other side.  Sorry I know that it not great instructions but the base of the card ended up 2 1/2" and the top is 4 1/4". 

The border of the flower pot was created using a Martha Stewart punch, the butterfly is the Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch and the flowers are from Iamroses.com.