Check Out My Newest Teaching Tool!

So do you want to know what is taking up most of my time? I got a new "toy" in my classroom that I am trying to figure out how to use. It's one of the coolest things I have ever seen and I want to make sure that my kids can enjoy it today so I spent ALL weekend researching and working with it. It's called a SMART Board and it's basically a fancy shmancy interactive white board that is hooked up to a computer. Here is a video that shows exactly how it works and I have then uploaded a video of Nick playing with the one in my classroom! Take a look! If you haven't seen one of these, it will blow your mind!

It's Magical Monday....

And I have failed again! I have to figure out how to start prioritizing my time because I obviously have been too busy lately! It's usually not a problem, I just am not used to being gone all day so I tend to forget how limited my stamping time now is. Anyway, even though I don't have a card for you, I wanted to make sure that you took a peek at the "There's Magic In The Air" blog so that you can see this week's FREE digi stamp as well as the challenge that Nina has given us. I am off to school for now! I hope to get a card completed later this evening!

A TSG Reunion!

This week There She Goes is celebrating their one year anniversary and to help them celebrate they have asked me and my fellow TSG alumni Denise and Wendy to join them for a little reunion on the TSG blog! If you check out the TSG Reunion blog post and leave a comment you will even have the opportunity to WIN 3 MINI SETS! :D Exciting huh? I know this week has been quite busy for the current Trendsetters because they have been sharing sneak peeks f from TONS of new sets! My card was created with one of the new mini sets called "Polka Dot Blooms" and it will be released TONIGHT! This stamp set was a little scary for me at first because it's so many little pieces but once I sat down and started creating, I seriously couldn't stop! I had this idea in my head and couldn't get it out! :D Want to hear the best part? This set will be SUPER CHEAP! A whoppin' $5! Anyway, for my card I paired the stamps with some fun Crate Paper that I picked up at the Jacksonbelle store. I loved the colors in it and was amazed at how closely they matched some of the new SU! In Colors! I sponged the edges of my card and added some ribbon for a final look!

Thanks so much for checking out my blog today! I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday! I am off to my classroom now so that I can play with my brand new SMART board! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's an interactive white board and it is AMAZING! I will try to get a video showing you how it works! Anyway, take care!

FRIDAY!

You don't know how wonderful Friday's feel during the school year! I am SO thankful that we only go to school Monday through Thursday. I would go crazy if I had to go all five days! Haha!

Anyway, welcome to another Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge! Taylor has provided us with a fairly easy sketch this week and I was very grateful for that. I guess you can say I needed a break! :) For my card I pulled out the beautiful To the Nines dsp from Stampin' Up! (can you tell I've been on a Sage Shadow kick?) and paired it with my Upsy Daisie stamp set (which is still one of my all time favorites)! I added dazzling diamonds to the flowers and sponged Close to Cocoa over the edges. The circles were cut out with my nestabilities and popped up on dimensionals. I then stamped the sentiment, added dazzling diamonds to it, and stuck it on with a piece of hardware!

Well, that's it for today's card. My good friends Leanne and Hillary are coming over today sto stamp and we are then going to have a girls' night! :D I'm so excited! Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card as well as this week's featured sampler: Lori Craig! You should also check out this week's Our Friday Friend: Lisa Hjulberg over on the SASI blog because she is playing along with us this week too! I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! There aren't very many this week but they're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley
Monika Davis
Stephanie Hargis
Vicki Chrisman
Lynn Mercurio
Jackie Pedro

Unity Hip Hop Winner!

And the winner is.....


Jennine (Craven) Chambers who said...

What a beautiful card!

Congratulations! Email Eryn to collect your prize!

Eryn@unitystampco.com

The Very Last Hip Hop! :(

I am sad to say that this is my very last Hip Hop for a couple of reasons. First of all, my guest position ends next week and second of all, things are changing with Unity. You will have to stay tuned to find out more but I guarantee you it will be a great change! :)

Anyway, you should be hopping from the fabulous Natalie's blog! If not, make sure you start at the Unity blog! :D This week's hop is showcasing the seriously amazing September KOTM! Ok, when I say amazing, I mean it! This is probably my favorite kit EVER!

So for my card I used the gorgeous wedding image and coordinating sentiment that can be found in the kit. I paper pieced the dress so that it would match my card and added some pretty pearls to it. The paper I used is Stampin' Up!'s Nouveau Chic. The sketch is from yesterday's SCS Sketch Challenge. I'll spare you the boring details for today but if you do have any questions, feel free to let me know! :D

So now that you've seen my card, hop on over to the crazy talented Heather's blog! She is sure to blow you away!

Before you go, I did want to share these two pictures with you! :D On Saturday I met up with some friends at the Scrapbooking Expo in Colorado Springs. Hillary (and her baby Ruby) and Leanne (and her baby Mason) met me down there and I was then able to FINALLY meet my dear friend Maria! :D I knew she was sweet but I didn't even know the half of how sweet she REALLY was!

Here is a picture of Leanne with sweet baby Mason, Maria, and myself! Besides the fact that I look like a sweaty mess, I really love this picture!

After we left the Expo, my husband and I met up with some of our other good friends for supper! Here is a picture of me with my very favorite little boy (their 3 yr old son)! He's my joy on a cloudy day! :D Can you tell we like each other a lot! ;) He calls me "his Stephanie" and I call him "my little sir".

Bad News...

I was not able to get my Jacksonbelle Challenge card done for today. Am I horrible or what? To be honest, Sunday night was awful and so the rest of Monday was ruined as well. Nick and I went to bed at a decent time Sunday and I am not kidding when I say it took me well over 4 hours to fall asleep! Talk about frustrating! I have a feeling part of the reason I was so restless was the fact that I knew school was starting the next morning and I needed to get plenty of sleep. Apparently I was so aware of it, my body couldn't focus enough! Grrr! Let's just say that I was pretty exhausted by the time school got out and I couldn't concentrate on ANYTHING once I got home. I hardly had the energy to make supper, let alone sit down and get crafty. Ok, so now that I am done with my excuses, do you forgive me? I sure hope so! :)

This card is one that I created a week ago for the There She Goes sketch challenge. I used the "Tea For Two" set and paired it with my Cosmo Cricket Everafter paper. I paper pieced the teapot and teacups and then popped the teapot up on dimensionals. The card stock used was Really Rust and Very Vanilla and the sentiment was embossed using Basic Gray ink!

Well, that's it for today's post! I'm off to my second day of school. Yesterday went very well and I am hoping that today will be even smoother! So far I am pretty excited about this group of kiddos. They seem to be a fun and energetic group. I just hope I can keep my own excitement up for them!

Until later, take care!

It's a Boy! :)

Welcome to another Magical Monday! :D This week's challenge is to use this adorable little image with the inspiration challenge that Nina has posted over on the There's Magic In The Air blog! Since our good friends just had their baby boy last Friday I decided to make this card for them! I water colored the image with my Stampin' Write markers and blender pens. Just a note about water coloring with digital images. If you have a laser printer, the ink doesn't smear as much but I have found that with ink jets (like my own) if I print on watercolor paper and heat set the ink, it tends to bleed less. I then have to be careful to not touch the lines of the image with my blender pen and very little with my markers.

Well, I have to keep this short because today is the first day of school and I want to be there extra early! I hope you all have a very Magical Monday! :D

Only those who risk...

I just love that quote! It's so true! :D However, I am one who tends to not take risks so I suppose T.S. Eliot could teach me a thing or two! Hehe! So anyway, I created this card a week ago and it was posted on the Unity blog but I decided to share it here too. Both of the stamps used on this card are from the Unity August KOTM. I colored in the butterfly with my Prismacolor Pencils and gamsol and paired it with some beautiful SU! Cottage Wall dsp! To embellish the card I added some Rich Razzleberry ribbon, dew drops, and a sweet library clip!

That's it for today's card! Nick and I took a much needed nap this afternoon so this post is a little later than I had planned. Now we are headed for the school so I can check up on any last minute changes before tomorrow and then we are going to do something fun! We are not sure what that is yet but we know it will include us spending time together by ourselves! :D Yippee! I love evenings like these! I hope that you too are enjoying your Sunday afternoon/evening and for all of you teachers who are going back tomorrow or sometime soon, GOOD LUCK! :)

I'm needing Him today...

Front
Back

Do you ever just get sick of being hurt time and time again? That's where I am today. I am fighting another battle from within and I really just need the Lord's strength to help me up. My struggles have absolutely nothing to do with stamping but this is the best place for me to vent and share my frustrations. To be honest, I'm tired of it and I don't feel like trying anymore. I'm sick of pleasing others. I'm sick of allowing myself to get hurt and upset. I have had a hard week. Ok, really it's all been happening the past few days but it feels like an eternity. I'm to the point where I am making myself sick, literally. I don't sleep and I stress myself out. I won't be able to hold myself up much longer because I have been shoving my feelings in for so long. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings so I allow my own to be hurt. Oh how tiresome that can get.

Somehow, the Lord has provided for me. He knows what I need and He is so good. He has blessed me with a supportive husband. He sent me my dearest friend on the day I needed her the most. He has given me the gift of joy through one sweet little boy when I was not able to feel it myself. He even went so far as to have my father call me just to see how my day went even though He knows my father HATES the phone! It's the little things like those that help me to see how big our God really is and how much He really does love us. He comforts us when we need it, He gives us strength when we feel we can't give it much more, and He loves us unconditionally. He truly is a Holy God.

Now that I have poured out my heart. I want to share my project. I created this for Patter Cross's His Holy Name challenge. Now for those of you who have heard of this project you know that I am WAY behind! :) I don't care though because I really want to do it still. The first name is Holy. As I get ready to create these pages I leaf through the verses and write down the ones that mean the most to me and really speak to me. I then spend the entire week reading those verses, praying about them, and memorizing them. Obviously there are more than one! :)

I purchased the 7 Gypsies photo holder and have decided to create my layouts on the cards that fit the holder. The cards are approximately 5x7 which is about perfect for what I want to fit on them! I cover the cards in the patterned paper of my choice and print the verses in a coordinating color. For this layout I choose to use Cosmo Cricket's Everafter paper and stamped images from the Unity August KOTM. I added the embellishments and sponged the edges for a distressed look.

Here is what it looks like on the holder. We have decided to keep it in the living room so that our company can enjoy it as well. I can't even begin to express how excited I am about this project! It has already helped me in more ways than I can even imagine!

TESC79: Fabulous Teacher!

Good morning everyone! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday so far! I sure hope so because it's time for this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge! I am showing you another back-to-school card because I just HAD to ink up Miss Teacher Anya from The Greeting Farm! Isn't she fantastic??? I have had her for a month now and am just now getting the chance to play with her!

So this card is for the most amazing teacher I have ever met. She really is fabulous! Every year for the past 4 years her boss has approached her and asked her if she would be willing to teach a new class and every year she says "Yes."! That is amazing to me. She has literally written a new curriculum every time! If you have never had to come up with a curriculum than you have no idea how much work it is! Anyway, this year she is feeling some serious pressure and I know that for the first time she is honestly not looking forward to school starting. So who is this fabulous person? My mom! She's amazing! She's my best friend, my mentor, my shoulder to cry on! That may sound cheesy, but I mean it from the depths of my heart. She is always there for me! Ok, I am tearing up right now so I had better stop. The hardest thing about being out here in Colorado is the fact that I am so far away from my mom and dad. I LOVE YOU!

Ok, so on to the card details! I colored Anya with my Prismacolor Pencils and OMS. The colors were pulled from this fabulous Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper. After layering on each layer, I then stamped the sentiment "you're fabulous" from the Verve Uplifting Phrases set and punched it out. I then layered it on the circle and scalloped circle and added the vintage brads. After popping up my circles I then added a clip to the right side of my image. My last piece was to add the ribbon. I felt like I needed to tie in the ribbon somewhere so I pulled out a piece of retired SU! ribbon and tied it on!

Well, that's it for today's card. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card as well as this week's featured sampler: Lori McAree! I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! There aren't very many this week but they're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

Hip Hop Thursday: Back to School Style!

Welcome to another fabulous Hip Hop! You should be arriving here from Wendy's blog. If not, start here at the Unity blog! :)

For my card I used this fun school house from the August KOTM in celebration of school starting back up. It means I have to go back to work but I can't tell you how excited about that I actually am! I look forward to teaching some youngsters! :D I used yesterday's SCS sketch challenge for my card and pulled out some of my retired SU! paper. I felt like the colors in this paper were perfect for a school theme! I stamped my school house, colored it, and cut it out so I could pop it up on dimensionals. I then added some So Saffron ribbon as well as 3 brads and a fun clip! Other than that, I think you can pretty much figure out the rest of my card.

So now that you have seen mine, hop on over to Renee's blog so that you can check out her fabulous creations!

A Card...Just Because!

Can you believe it? I am posting a card just for fun! Not for a dt requirement or a sketch challenge, just because! :D I must admit that I am pretty excited! Want to know the best part? It's a Stampin' Up! only card! Woohoo!

Now, I have to tell you that this is not my design and some of you have probably already figured that out! :) Debbie Olson made this card and I knew that I had to CASE it! Isn't hers gorgeous? So here is how I made mine! First I cut my base out of Whisper White and layered on some Taken with Teal. I then stamped on a piece of Soft Suede with the fabulous flourish in the Friends 24-7 set. After finishing my stamping I then layered it on top of the Taken with Teal. The next step was to add a strip of Thoroughly Modern dsp at the bottom of the card and then a piece of Taken with Teal that had been punched with my Scallop Edge punch! I paper pierced the scallops on the Taken with Teal piece and tied some Soft Suede ribbon on top! The sentiment on the tag is also from the Friends 24-7 set and attached with some linen thread! That's it! Easy peasy!

Well, that's it for today! I am a working women again. Us teachers go back to school today and so it will be meeting after meeting I'm sure! I can't say that I am looking forward to the meeting part but I am certainly looking forward to having the kiddos back!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday: A Sketch!

I have been struggling to get a decent picture of this card all day which is why I am so late posting. However, now that I finally got an O.K. picture I have to run which means I will have to give you all the details a little later! :( Stick with me! I promise I will be back later!

ETA
Ok! I'm back! :D I have been neglecting my blog lately due to the fact that I have been working like crazy in my classroom. Today was my very last day of vacation and how did I spend it? In my classroom! Haha! At least I can say I am ready for Monday now. :D I promise to post pictures of the finished room soon!

Now would you like to hear the details of this card? First I cut a piece of Going Gray cs and sprayed it with some Shimmerz Spritz. I then punched the bottom of it with my new Martha Stewart Snow Flurry Edge punch! I then layered on some gorgeous Crate Paper and dripped some Crystal Effects down the front for an icicle feel. On top of the wet Crystal Effects I shook on some Dazzling Diamonds so that it would sparkles! :) I then tied on some May Arts ribbon and added a row of rhinestones to the bottom of the card! I stamped the sentiment and embossed it with silver embossing powder, punched it out, and popped it up on dimensionals. The final touch was the snowflake (cut with my Big Shot) which was covered with more Shimmerz Spritz and embellished with a Daisy D rhinestone!

Well, that's it for today's card! Make sure to check out this week's challenge details on the Jacksonbelle blog as well as the other Jacksonbelle girls!

Kristine Breach ~ Ink Something

Tobi Crawford ~ Tobi’s Place

Mitzi Koons ~ Stamps Jubilee

Loretta Lock ~ Love to Create

Jimmi Mayo ~ Stamping & Shopping

Bethany Paull ~ It’s Not All Black & White

Michelle Philippi ~ Inside My Own Private Idaho

Carly Robertson ~ Paper in Bloom

Shemaine Smith ~ Scraptastic

Lynda Benden: Stamp Act

Melissa Bove: Keepsakes By Melissa

Jennifer Buck: The Buck Stamps Here

Jill Dunn: Ink Genious

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden

Heather Lee-Reppen: Ink on my Ear

Lindsey Botkin: Embellished

Magical Monday!

Welcome to another Magical Monday! I must admit that this is my favorite Magical Monday YET! :D This week Nina has challenged the design team to create a gate fold card using this gorgeous image which is called "Beached Boat". Isn't this image just fantastic? I love all of the detail that she put into it. It's perfect for a masculine card! If you would like to snag this digital image for free then head on over to "There's Magic In The Air"! Nina is giving it away free this week only! :D Also, if you decide to play in the challenge, you too can be entered to win a yummy prize! All you have to do is use this image and create a gate fold card, post it online, and link it to the challenge post!

For my card I printed the image on water color paper and colored it in with my Stampin' Up! markers and blender pen. I sponged the edges with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink and applied a SU! rub-on to the bottom left corner. I then cut and folded my card stock and layered on some BasicGrey paper. After attaching my image I stuck on a button that would hold the card shut and paper pierced around both panels. The twine was a final little touch that I felt really tied the whole look together!

Well that's it for me today! I am enjoying my last two days of freedom before I have to go back to school! I will be back tomorrow with another Jbelle challenge so don't miss it!

It's a Rainy, Dreary, Day!

Today's card is using this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge! I used my sweet Rachelle Anne Miller Lily & Milo stamp on my card and watercolored it with my Stampin' Write markers and blender pen! After I was finished with my water coloring I then added some dazzling diamonds to certain areas for a little bit of sparkle! The patterned paper I used is my new SU! Cottage Wall paper! I LOVE purples and thought this paper was absolutely gorgeous when I saw it in the catalog. Well now that I have it in my hands I have realized how right I was! :D Ok, so I changed the sketch a little bit. The sketch includes a rectangle that hangs off the lower right side but since my image wouldn't allow it I put it on the upper right side! :D

Well, that's it for today's card. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card as well as this week's featured sampler: Julie Lacey! I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

A Loving Hip Hop!

Hehe! I just couldn't resist! Since today's Hip Hop is featuring the fabulous new August Incentive Kit "Sending My Love", I decided to dedicate this post to just that...LOVE! If you sign up to be a Unity Kit of the Month member during the month of August you will get this kit free! Before I move on, you should have hopped over here from the very talented Robyn. If you didn't, make sure you start at the Unity blog!

Ok, now onto the details! I have two fun projects to show you today! The first project is this card. I used the ADORABLE mailbox as my main image and I paired it with some Honey Pie dp from Cosmo Cricket! The arrows on the paper reminded me of cupid so I just knew that I needed to use it! :D Anyway, I stamped the image on watercolor paper and then used my SU! markers and blender pen to color it in. I added some stickles to the flag, butterflies, and grass since I didn't want them to be black. I then sponged the edges of my paper with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen ink. I sewed around three edges of the card and threw in a button for some added texture.

The next project I have for you is a little gift bag that compliments the card! I used my Fancy Favor Bigz Die to punch out the bag, put it together, and closed it up with some ribbon. I then stamped the sentiment and punched it out with my circle punch. I stamped the envelope on some dp, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals. The circle was then layered on some chocolate chip card stock and I applied rhinestones around the entire thing!

Well, that's it for my projects! Next on the hop is that very creative Heather! Now, since I decided to dedicate this post to LOVE I am going to share some of the things I love with you!

My husband!

My family!My friends!
My job!
The mountains!4-Wheeling!

and...STAMPING!

Now that's not ALL I love, it's just a short list. Now you have a glimpse into my life and I hope you enjoyed it!

Your Next Stamp 1st Design Team Call

Ok, I am definitely going out on a limb here but I have found a new stamp company that I just ADORE and they are currently searching for a new design team so I thought..."Why not?" You can find their dt call here! The company I am talking about is called "Your Next Stamp" and it's name is perfect! Haha! If you don't know what I am talking about, check it out yourself! SUPER CUTE! They just opened up a couple of weeks ago and I can already tell that they are going to be a huge hit!

Ok, so their requirement for us was to post two of our favorite cards. Now, I have lots of favorites but I decided to focus on two that showcase different coloring skills that I use (most of their images require coloring) so I decided to show off my prismacolor pencil technique and my watercolor technique. I am not sure that you will agree that they are my best but I definately feel that they are two of my very favorites! :D

OH MY WORD!

I just happened to stumble upon a couple of blogs that are giving away some fantastic loot this week! You need to go see what is up for grabs because it is HUGE! I have decided to start a category in my sidebar for all of the fabulous candy I stumble upon so that you guys have the chance to win as well! :)

Here are the two that I currently have listed:

Steph's "Thank You" Candy (which is some of the best I have seen yet)
&
Bev's AMAZING Candy (which is LOADED with stuff)

Jacksonbelle Tuesday: No Stamping Allowed!

Well good morning everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your week so far. I have spent a lot of my time in my classroom since I have to go back in just 8 short days! Now, I am kind of excited to start back up but I know that once I do, I will be missing my stamping time. Thank goodness we still get Friday's off! :)

Anyway, today's Jacksonbelle Tuesday challenge was to create a non-stamped card! Now, for some this may seem kind of tricky but I actually quite enjoy making cards this way. It's a lot less pressure (in my opinion) because you don't have to worry about smudging any ink or coloring out of the lines! :D Besides, this week's featured product at the Jacksonbelle store is Shimmerz and I had been DYING to use my new Shimmerz Spritz! For my card I pulled out two flowers from my SU! Pretties Kit. I sprayed some Eucalyptus Shimmerz Spritz on the big flower and painted some Hottie Pink Shimmerz Blingz on the smaller flower! I also added some Hottie Pink Shimmerz Blingz to the plaid paper as well so that it had a little bit of sparkle. The designer paper that I used is BasicGrey's Leomande pack and the ribbon is May Arts Ivory Satin ribbon! I finished the card up by using a Stampin' Up! rub-on as well as some Daisy D Rhinestones!

Well, that's it for today's card! Make sure to check out this week's challenge details on the Jacksonbelle blog as well as the other Jacksonbelle girls!

Kristine Breach ~ Ink Something

Tobi Crawford ~ Tobi’s Place

Mitzi Koons ~ Stamps Jubilee

Loretta Lock ~ Love to Create

Jimmi Mayo ~ Stamping & Shopping

Bethany Paull ~ It’s Not All Black & White

Michelle Philippi ~ Inside My Own Private Idaho

Carly Robertson ~ Paper in Bloom

Shemaine Smith ~ Scraptastic

Lynda Benden: Stamp Act

Melissa Bove: Keepsakes By Melissa

Jennifer Buck: The Buck Stamps Here

Jill Dunn: Ink Genious

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden

Heather Lee-Reppen: Ink on my Ear

Lindsey Botkin: Embellished

Introducing Kacey!

Isn't she cute? This is one of the newest releases that Nina has designed and her name is Kacey. You can pick her up in digital form over on the "There's Magic In The Air" blog! Trust me, you will want and NEED her! :D Don't forget that there is also a challenge that you can participate in! This week's challenge is a really fun sketch. All you have to do is create a card using the sketch Nina has created and include Kacey and you will be entered into a random drawing to win an not yet released digital image! Head over to the blog to see what the other designers have done as well! I will post more about this card a little later. A couple of friends are on their way to stamp with me this morning so I need to get ready for them first! Thanks for stopping by!