Copic 101

Thanks to my friend Donna letting me know about this class, I was able to participate and really enjoy myself at Sally Lynn MacDonald's Copic 101 Class held at Creative Inklings in Lahaska, PA. She traveled down from Connecticut to teach. We made the cards pictured and two more besides. She is teaching a Copic certification class in March but I doubt I will be able to get a seat...they let the enthusiasts like me in last. Oh, well....

*****Whining Alert******Whining Alert******Whining Alert******
This has been my first post in a bit because the 'flu saw fit to tear through 2/3 of my family. I'm praying it skips my son. My husband started out last Friday feeling blahh. He made it through the weekend and into work on Monday and Tuesday but relapsed and added a few nasty symptoms to his repitoire for Wednesday and today. I started Sunday night with fever, chills and a killer headache. I had off Monday, went in for 1/2 day on Tuesday and have been home Wednesday and today. I feel considerable better so will gladly go into work tomorrow.

Swim Team Page

This page was done for my son's album. He proudly swims in the summer for Eddington Seals. I cut the swimmer and title on my Cricut Expression and had the DP and stickers from a cute little scrapbook store I found in Williamsport, PA. The funniest thing about the picture is that my son isn't in it. We got stuck in traffic the night they took it and missed it. He was not upset at all because he said he knew what he looked like. Gotta love the logic of a seven year old!LOL!!

PageMap (Inspired by Carol)


Carol over at Crazy for Crafting posted a PageMap sketch and her awesome page a few days ago. I really liked the page and decided to give PageMap a try. The result is found below. About the only thing I can tell you about are the flowers...I got them in the Michel's floral department on clearance just for this page. I plucked them off their stems and popped a large brad in the center of each one. The rest is bits and pieces I had laying around.

2008 Put to Rest

My Christmas tree was packed away on New Year's Day and the stockings are nestled in their Rubbermaid container waiting to make an appearance next Christmas. We've seen Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler (very cute if you were wondering) and played Apples to Apples (great game the first 15 times you play it) until I must confess I want an orange. My husband seems happy with his Play Station 3.

I am sending Maria a big THANK YOU!! Pictured are the contents of the box she sent as my secret sister in a SBS2 Holiday Swap. If you've never visited Maria Bell's blog I highly recommend it!

Tomorrow it is back to the daily grind. I've had 12 glorious days home with my family so I really can't complain. Teachers are usually just as bad as the kids about returning to school but I have to say that I'm not sad to return tomorrow. The whole family needs to return to a more regular routine.

I managed to complete five scrapbook pages in the past few days. I'm only going to post one tonight and then stretch the rest out into the next week.
This was done to commemorate the first snow of the season. We had a dusting in October. I used my Cricut Expression to cut out the letters. The paper is DCWV if my memory serves me correctly and the snowman is a sticker, probably Jolee. We haven't had much snow since but we have had a couple of days that make you think you are in Siberia. Brrrr!!!!

These are variations on the theme "winter". The penguin stamps are from a company called DenamiDesign. The snowman and some of the stickers are from a leftover sheet of winter stickers I had from a project that was finished over a year ago. The snowflake brads and ribbon are also left over from some long forgotten project.

I like them all to varying degrees but mostly, I enjoyed the time I had to make them. Time is such a luxury these days that it has been a joy to slow down and be able to enjoy my family and a bit of crafting, too.

This New Year's, rather than make a list of resolutions that rarely see the end of February, I have started a list of all I have to be thankful for--sort of Thanksgiving in Jarnuary.

Here is part of my list:

For the first time in about five years my mom was able to leave her nursing home and spend Christmas Day with my sister and brother (an ambulance transported her to and from). I was sad I wasn't there to take part in the day but am looking forward to seeing her during Spring break if we can find tickets in the budget.

My dad is doing great after bypass surgery this summer. I talked to him and his wife on Christmas Day and they both sound good.

I have a job I still find joy in after 15 years. There are definitely good days and bad days but as long as no one gets me started about No Child Left Behind I still think there is hope for my students and this country in general.

I've made some awesome blogging friends who have done so much to brighten 2008 with kind words of encouragement about things crafty and not-so crafty.

I wish you all a healthy and happy 2009!

Classroom Craft

I volunteered to put together a simple craft for my son to take into class. This is what I came up with. I've converted most of my music collection to a digital format so I was happy to find something to do with all the cases.

Winter Joy

This card came together late last night. The stamp is from Eat Cake Graphics via Paper Garden. The snowman is a Sizzix die. I had fun with my Copic air brush system on this one, playing with the sky. The ribbon and letter beads were left over from some long ago project.

This little ornament came together with the SU's Deer Friends set. I am providing a craft for my son's second grade class. I'm not too sure what I'm going to do but I have started playing around with my craft supplies to see what I can come up with that 22 seven year olds can handle without driving thier teacher crazy.