We Got Spirit, Yes We Do!!!

Woot Woot!!! Oh yeah!!! Remember Homecoming?? Remember high school football games, cheerleaders, Pep Rallies... all those things??? Wow... it seems like forever ago for me! LOL But, I can remember... and what I remember the most is the SPIRIT!!! Boy did our school have it!!! I bet yours did too. But... after talking to Melanie Muenchinger, she informed me that NOT every school did these "spirit ribbons". Well... ha... I said... "must have been ONLY the COOL schools that did... we did!!" HA!! Melanie created a beautiful spirit ribbon, which is included in her "School, Sports, Spirit" set and I couldn't wait to add MY touch to it with PURPLE, of course!!! She hung a football and basketball from it so I decided to use a punch and some crystal lacquer to make what I hope looks like a button pin. A little more ribbon around my nesties and that was it. I didn't want to go overboard because I thought her drawing needed to be "showcased" more. But trust me... at school... there were WAY MORE things hanging from our spirit ribbons!

Don't you LOVE this new Moonlit Fog Pure Luxury paper??? I tell ya.. it mimics whatever color you put with it and I see a touch of purple in it here.

Have a great day and keep up the spirit even though you may not be in high school anymore. *smile*

Back to School...

When I decided to stamp the duffle bag from Melanie Muenchinger's newest set, "School, Sport, Spirit", I knew I wanted to use my son's middle school colors because as he gets older and heads to high school... the one he will attend has the EXACT same school colors!!! Now... when I keep the card and decide to give it to him a couple years from now, it will still work. LOL I know... I'm just smart like that. Thank you, thank you... hee hee I decided to do a CAS (clean and simple) card since I wanted to use the bus DP and didn't want to much to distract from my image. The brads I got a year or so ago and sadly, don't remember where they came from. Of course, the pennent came from Melanie's, "Sporty Accessories". I LOVE how she puts so much thought into her prior releases and somehow ends up joining them all together for great combinations later. Don't know when your schools started but my kids just did Thursday, August 27th and I'm never sure if that makes me happy or not. Getting kids up early for school is never fun for me and the older they get, the harder it is to drag them out of the house. Of course, the first few days are fun... but give it a...... week. LOL Have a great day and if you have school age kids.... keep yelling... they'll eventually get up. *smile*

Skate On!!!

My card today was made using Melanie Muenchinger's, newest sets, "Sports, School, Spirit". I LOVE ice skating and watch it every chance on get on TV... Olympics or not!! It was the one sport I actually enjoyed as a kid! And, honestly.... all five of us kids learned on our own. My parents just got us all new skates one year for Christmas and we went at it!!! What fun memories. One place I skated often was actually across the street from our house behind the other homes where a baseball park was. It was usually just a big empty space until one year the parks people decided to push some snow aside, open up the usual "concession stand" and make us a skating area. It was small but boy did we have fun!! There was nothing in the way of our skating, just a snow pile in a square and a little metal shack beside it where we put on our skates and went in to warm up now and then. My card was also done using the "brayer technique" that I learned from Sharri Seffens. You all know how much I love purple!!! I HAD to skate with a purplish sky AND purple ice!! Hee Hee I used my Stardust Glitter pen to made the blades shiney and more metal like. Wow... nothing was nicer than a new WHITE, sharp blade pair of skates!! I also clear embossed the lower half of the card and used my inkssentials white opaque pen to draw in some blade marks on the ice. I took a close up so you could see the shine from the ice. Ok I admit.... it was on my last attempt at skating not long before I had children that I took my niece out to "teach" HER to skate that I got my blade caught in a crack (we were on a lake) and fell and broke my wrist. Ya ya... she did wonderfully without much help from me and I tell you what... I can still hear that bone break just like the guys ACROSS the lake who were playing hockey did!!! UGH. So... my skating days ended and now... I can dream of them again with this new image from Melanie's set. *sigh* Ohh to be young and carefree. LOL Have a great day and if you can't get your skate on... just stamp one!!! *smile*

So Blue......

Today I wanted to share a card that I decided to make after going to my Copic Certification course in Wisconsin. I learned SOOOO much that day. It was going to be a long day... or so I thought... 9 AM to 4 PM. But, it was so interesting and so FULL of information that time just flew by! One of the first things they taught us was using the "grass" technique as Sally called it. Pushing down with your copic and whisking up and away. Creating sort of "grass" if you will. It was fun and a great way to show how you could add shading and depth to your picture. Well, needless to say... she gave us a frog to practice on. Now I laughed when I realized the sample Copics I had were teal. But... I started coloring in this little toad and I tell ya... I fell in love with him! LOL Now I can't tell you what stamp company he is from, for she never told us. But I do know.. I LIKE HIM! AND... I decided he needed to really glow with those eyes! LOL Not only did she show us the "grass" technique, which is you look at the lower portion of his belly, legs, you can see he IS darker and that's where it starts, but she also showed us how the Blender Pen can make those spots just right for such an animal. I just think he's adorable. And, I gotta say... he kinda looks like a poisonous frog, dontcha think??? LOL No wonder he's so lonely and blue. Who'd WANT to be with him???!! LOL Oh I crack me up! I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder to give my card front a bumpy look 'cause it IS a toad card! And I thought the dotted ribbon went well with his dotted tummy. I wonder... hmmmm... WHO will end up getting my poisonous toad some day??? Hee Hee Hee

Have a great day and don't touch poisonous toads!!!! *smile*

I'm Here For You

So much excitement has been going on lately... on StampTV, in my personal life, and even at work. Seems there are times when things just are more than a person can take. Sometimes, I think I'm at my best when I'm under stress. You know, they say a woman who is super busy is one who can get a job done and is very organized. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to do so much. Well... I hope I am like that. But I do know that when there is stress and pressure.. I'm at the top of my game. Normally! LOL Don't hold me to anything at this point! HA The other day I showed you a card I made my father-in-law. Well... though I want to let him know I care and pray for him daily, I also think it's important to let my mother-in-law know that I'm here for her as well. I cannot even begin to imagine my husband being so ill. I know none of this is easy for her either. We joke that she's "Momma Bear" and you don't mess with "Momma Bear", but... even moms/wives have times when they need a little help and support as well. She's a wonderful "Momma Bear" to many people is what I've learned thru the years. It's not enough she cares for her husband, but his brothers were recently diagnosed with cancer as well. And what does she do in the middle of her own turmoil and stress... she goes with them to the doctors/hospital, when she can. It's hard to tell a "Momma Bear" she has to stop saying yes and start saying no and even though we try to tell her to take care of her and her husband, she does what she can for the others as well. The true meaning of a mom, huh? She never stops caring, supporting and doing without if she has to. I made this cute Magnolia card to remind her... she doesn't have to do it all alone. Sometimes all us mom's want is someone to listen. Someone to hear what WE are feeling and nothing more. Well... I'm told I'm a good listener. So... I'm here for her and I hope she knows that. I didn't always think I was such a good listener or someone you could sound off to until my sister was going thru divorce and SHE told her "soon to be ex" that if he ever needed anyone to talk to... he could come talk to me. Well that just about blew my socks off. I mean.. sure, I was willing... but, to know that your sister would suggest to her "soon to be ex" that HE could talk to ME.. I was shocked. I think it hit me then that... ok, so maybe I AM good at listening. And.. I appreciated her trust in me that even HE could confide in me and I'd never share it with even her. That spoke tons to me. So I try... I really do.. I try to let people know I care and that I'm always within ear range if that's what they need. I can't fix everything, but I can sure lend a shoulder.

Have a blessed day and listen... it does a heart good. *smile*

Preview Day 2 - Sports, School, Spirit

I'm soooo excited to be posting a Preview for you today of Melanie Muenchinger's newest set, "Sports, School, Spirit". This is just ONE of Melanie's sets that will be revealed Thursday night at the "Release Party" on SCS.

My first card is done using Melanie's, "Inspiration Mosaic" set from last month's release. I stamped the grid on Gina's K's Summer Fabrics digital paper then paper pieced the Stars and Stripes digital paper paper in the corners and middle of the grid (BOTH of these digital papers are FREE on STV!!). My card base is Gina's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight, In the Navy. My next layer is Gina's NEW MOONLIT FOG cardstock and it matches the Momentos London Fog ink!!! When I first saw this newest grey, I thought it had a greenish hue to it, but as I began using it with my Navy, I thought it had a blueish hue. I love it when a color coordinates with so many others and really gives off just the right tint no matter what you use it with.

Next I stamped the trophy, ribbon and helmet onto some Pure Luxury Layering Weight paper and colored them in with my Copics. The trophy "cup" is colored in with my Sakura Glaze Pen to add shimmer. I also went around the blue ribbon's circle with my Stardust Glitter Pen.

Now, who can design for an illustrator that actually LIVES in Texas without adding a star to that football helmet?!!! My star came from Lazy Days of Summer and fit just perfectly on Melanie's helmet! How cool is that??!!! GO COWBOYS!!! (Ok, I admit, I'm a Dallas fan myself after having lived there for 6 years.)

For more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog as well as Melanie Muenchinger, the illustrator of Sports, School, Spirit. For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Lee, Lynn, and Theresa as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members: Tina Gilliland and Vicki Dutcher Don't forget about our Release Party on SCS starting at 7pm CST on Thursday, August 27th. There will be contests, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too. We'd love to have you join us!