Splitcoast Ways to Use It #170 Challenge

Happy Friday! It's off to a better start already as I woke up with a migraine yesterday and the whole day was pretty much shot from there. Much better now! I did go to my stamp room late last night and try to start working on something. The Splitcoast Ways to Use #170 Challenge looked interesting: find a way to use a photograph in your project.

I have some old photos I've collected from antique stores, flea markets, etc. so I started playing with this one. I got stuck and gave up and went to bed at 2 a.m., but this morning it just clicked. The card turned out very simple, but I really like it. It's a long card, size 9 1/4 x 7 1/2, scored at 3 3/4. The "Proud Moment" stamp is from Heidi Swapp (never before been used-go me!) and the print paper is a scrap I had laying out from this project from the Target $1 spot long ago.

Now for the freaky part. I had looked at the back of the photo last night and thought it was really cool because it said "Lloyd Parman. New yellow car." It is a cool car, right?! But this morning when I finished the card and went to put the dimensionals on the back, I noticed the date: June 13, 1947. Wild, huh?!

Also, don't freak out about the number of dimensionals I used! I don't normally use that many, but the photo is old and was wanting to curl up around the edges, so I applied them liberally...this time!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?

Recipe
Stamps: Heidi Swapp.
Cardstock: Kraft, Target $1 spot paper.
Ink: Basic Gray.
Accessories: Flirty ribbon (retired), Library Clip (retired), dimensionals (a lot!).

Wednesday Dig It Out and Use It Up #7

It's Amy Butler contraband! True, it's fairly new contraband, but I'm still proud of myself for actually *using* it, so I'm counting it for my Wednesday Dig It Out and Use It Up Challenge! Very simple card, regular size, made of SU Basic Gray and Bashful Blue with the Amy Butler gray/cream polka dot paper and bluebird scallop leaf piece. The rhinestone brad and ticket corner punch are SU, and that's about it! Easy peasy! I tried to add *more* but I just didn't like it when I did.

Have you seen this iTunes commercial? I'm really not "hip" on today's music, but I am loving this Cold Play band after seeing these commercials! I was talking to some co-workers about it today and they're like, "Ummm, yeah [idiot]! That guy is Gwyneth Paltrow's husband!" Oh! I knew she was married to some rocker...turns out he's cute and sounds like Bono (but not as good, of course!)! Yummm!

I't's only 8:00 and I'm trying to stay awake, ugh! I had a bad headache last night, so went to bed at 9:00 with the heatpad. Mistake. Woke up at 11:30 and then worked on stuff until 3:30. Went back to bed until 6:30 because I had to get up and get ready for day two of the RTI conference. It was a good day, but now I feel like I'm officially on Summer Break! Yay!

Hope your week is going well! Are you all ready with your Father's Day stuff? Let's see it, post a link! I mailed mine this afternoon, schwooo! Thanks so much for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?

Got Sketch Challenge

Hi guys! Happy Tuesday! I ran out of time to post this morning...I'm attending a two-day RtI Conference in Mesquite, and I should have gotten up earlier. Lazy me, sleeping in until 7 a.m.! Anyway, I made this last night based on a pre-class sketch challenge from my new Got Sketch 101 Class. I know Jenn signed up (yay!), did anyone else? It's really cool, and I'm looking forward to catching up on a lot of scrapbooking!

It's a pocket card, and here is the inside piece that pulls out, like a tag. I'm going to write my message on this part.


This next picture shows how to make the jagged edge border that's peeking out in white. You use the small star punch, sorry the photo is blurry. I *think* I first saw this technique on the same Jenn's blog, Stamp Your Heart Out. Isn't that right? For the jagged edge around the chipboard circle, I just did that freehand with the paper snips on a circle I cut out with my Coluzzle. My stamp club members will remember that from this project, it was a big hit, lol! (I'm teasing them...some members did not care for all that cutting! lol!) I first did it on this card, I just love it for some reason.


So what are you up to tonight? I should keep working on cleaning and organizing, but I received a little box from SU today with Fresh Cuts inside, plus a few more goodies. Check out the SU special this month with the new catalog sneak peek set Fresh Cuts by clicking here!



Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?

Recipe
Stamps: Stamps of Authenticity, Take A Number wheel, You Make Me Happy (retired).
Cardstock: Whisper White, Berry Bliss DSP, Love Me DSP (retired).
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Creamy Caramel ink cartridge.
Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters Chipboard, Heat & Stick Powder, Heat Gun, Light Pink Chunky Sprinkles Glitter, small Star Punch, Flirty Ribbon (retired), Coluzzle, Stapler, Corner Rounder, Paper Snips, Paper Piercer & Mat, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip.

Beate's Weekend Sketch #51

Schwooo! I just barely managed to squeak in with Beate's Weekend Sketch #51 last night while watching Hairspray on HBO. I never could get the "hi" quite how I liked it, but it was getting late (1:00!) and John Travolta kept cracking me up in the movie, so I was a little distracted!

Another felt flower tip...here I squished the Old Olive felt flower in brown Staz-On ink to change the color. I used a rub-on popsicle stick so my fingers wouldn't be completely inky. When finished, it was pretty saturated, so I used a heat gun to help dry it along. (BTW: It had a great chemical smell, if you like that sort of thing! lol!) The back side of the flower was kind of a brown-olive distressed look that was neat too. I might use that side next time. If you give it a try, link to your creation here so we can see it too!

Lastly, there's been a lot of talk among my Great Swap Girls about signing up for this Got Sketch 101 Class, and I finally caved and did it. Do you want to join us?! It starts today, you still have time...plus, you work at your own pace. I've been reading Valerie's blog forever, she's really awesome. It seems like a great challenge to get you working and using your stash, so come on, join us!


Recipe Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alphabet. Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DSP, Spring Break DSP. Ink: Brown Staz-On. Accessories: Pure Color Pencils, Old Olive Poly Twill Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware Kit, Jumbo Eyelet, Felt Flowers.

Hi & Hello

It's a miracle! I *finally* managed to stamp and finish a card! I've been trying since Friday, schwooo! That was scary! lol! I actually started this card a few weeks ago...well, I had the Groovy Gauva large scallop circle (thanks to Coluzzle and the Slit Punch), the small felt flower, and the Blue Bayou square card...I just finally managed to do something with them.

What first started this card was the small felt flower. Yes, it's a SU pumpkin felt flower and I decided to see what would happen if I heat embossed it with white powder. And that's what happened! I smushed the entire flower in the Versamark pad, covered it with Winter White embossing powder and heated it up. It covered pretty well, but I repeated the whole process one more time to be safe. I've been experimenting some more with these flowers and will share in a few days.

I was really wanting to sew around the edge of this card and the edge of the scallop flower, but I was just too lazy! So I compromised and used the zigzag stamp from All in a Row to at least get the effect around the edge of the card. The brown twill ribbon and the little white label are from Martha Stewart. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank you all for your super sweet comments the last few days! Everything is sinking in and I'm feeling better. I went with DH to see Iron Man today. He's been waiting patiently for me for weeks now...stuff kept coming up and I kept putting him off. We actually had a bet between Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk (he doesn't understand the need for another Hulk movie, which I agree with, but it has Edward Norton, Jr., come on!!). I'm afraid he's going to win, because Iron Man was awesome!

I've also read several comments asking for instructions on how to make those little mini albums that I made for my students and how to put them together, so check back tomorrow for that!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped today?

Recipe Stamps: Hi and Hello, All in a Row. Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava, Afternoon Tea DSP. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark. Accessories: Jumbo Eyelet, Crop-a-Dile, 1/8" Circle Punch, Slit Punch, Coluzzle, Dimensionals, Pop Up Glue Dot, Felt Flower, Winter White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Martha Stewart Brown Twill Ribbon & White Label.

Amazing Art from Ms. Nguyen

Warning: not stamping related!

I had to share this most amazing and thoughtful gift that one of my fellow third grade teachers, Ms. Nguyen (Vina), made for me and had the students sign in secret! Isn't it incredible?! It's a painted canvas with a picture of the third graders and teachers on it. The students came out of P.E. one day a few weeks ago telling me they had a secret. I bugged them about it for awhile (I'm bad!), but then things got so busy I forgot about it. I was blown away when they gave it to me yesterday. She also made one for Ms. Myrick, but I didn't get a picture of it, darn it.

Here is a picture of Vina after her class went down in the tug of war. This was taken after about 3 students crawled off of her, ouch! What spirit she has, right?! I think she had the smallest students out of all three classes, so they were toast in the tug of war. But don't feel too bad for them, they were FAST and won everything else, even winning the overall trophy, the Silver Swine, for the highest points of any class on Field Day. Go Ms. Nguyen!


I was hoping to have a card to share today, but I'm having trouble leaving the school phase and entering the summer phase (I know, blasphemy!) and finding my stamping mojo! Myrick, Nguyen, and I had such a good year together and with these students, it was very special. They're not coming back to our school next year, and I'm not teaching third grade, so it's feeling very sad. I decided to accept an RtI position within our school where I'll be working with small groups of struggling students. I feel good about my decision, but it was still difficult packing up my stuff, knowing I won't have that classroom (that I painstakingly painted two years ago!) with my own students next year. But I'm very blessed and it's all good, so I'll be back tomorrow with some new *hopefully* fabulous stamped stuff!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today? (I know, I'm a hypocrite!)

Even More Dry Embossing and Last Day of School!

Happy Thursday! Happy Last Day of School! I was trying to find a card to show quickly this morning and found this one. I made it when I was playing around with the Pick A Petal Dry Embossing Template, trying to think of stamp club projects last month.

I survived Field Day...barely! It was really very fun and the kids loved it. It was hot as blazes, but we had a strong wind which helped a lot.


Lastly, here's what a teacher's dining room looks like come summer vacation! Ack!


Hope your week is going well! Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?

Oldies but Goodies (?)

Ack! I have nothing much new to share (well, one so-so card that I was too lazy to go photograph!) so I thought I would dig out some OLD cards that I posted on Splitcoast moons ago...cards that I loved...but hardly anyone else did! lol!! These were from back in the day when I scanned my cards, before I had a digital camera! Inconceivable!

This second card, with words from the Word by Word Background stamp cut out, I *loved* so much! Do you ever have a card like that, where you think it's the absolute best, and you show it to people and they're like, "yeah, it's okay."? It's funny, isn't it?

Hope you're having a good week! I've been working my tail off at school to be finished by Thursday. DH walked in on me in my office bawling like a baby while finishing up my grading, wailing "I can't say goodbye to these children this year!" He's laughing at me! Maybe it's just pms. I'll have to get it together by Thursday! Tomorrow is Field Day from 8-12, can you say hot and miserable?! Maybe that will snap me out of it!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today? (I haven't, darn it!)

A Little Dry Embossing (Part 2) & Stamp Club Challenge Cards

Happy Monday! Does this card look familiar? Yes, it may remind you of this card, one of my May Stamp Club projects. I did not have enough white flower rub-ons, so I made this version using the black flower rub-ons for the second stamp club group. Which do you like better? I think everyone knows that Bashful Blue is my favorite, but I really do like the way this Wild Wasabi/Rose Red version turned out.

Speaking of Stamp Club, these are the great cards that members made this month for their challenge. (Yes, I know, there weren't as many this time...I was shocked by the lack of challenge card stamping!! lol!) Each member was given a Brilliant Blue card base, a large chipboard star, and a small star punch out from polka dot Jersey Shore DSP. Lori won the random drawing for the prize this month, congratulations, Lori!

Card by Lori Franklin:

Card by Beverly Mohler:


Card by Hoai Nguyen:


Card by Vina Nguyen:


Hope your week is off to a great start! The last day of school for the kids is Thursday from 8 - 12:00. We have a large ceremony where they receive their awards, etc. Then the last scheduled day for teachers is Friday, BUT we received GREAT news today: if we have everything done and our room check-out complete, Thursday can be our last day too!! Whoo! Hoo! Do you think I will have everything done by Thursday?! lol! Okay, off to finish entering those grades in the computer...gotta kick it into high gear now...

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?

p.s. I broke down and ordered Fresh Cuts today, sigh/yay!. If you're one of the ones responsible (you know who you are!), I'm holding you accountable! lol!

Recipe Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment. Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Whisper White, Cutie Pie DSP. Ink: Staz-On Black. Accessories: Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Chipboard Heart, Black Flower Rub-On, Scallop Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Button, Pick A Petal Classy Brass Embossing Template, Light Table, Key Tag Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals.

Scrapbook Sunday #14

Yikes! I haven't had a Scrapbook Sunday since April 20! I'm not sure if this really qualifies, but I'm counting it anyway! I started making the little memory books for my students last night at a crop with my girlfriends. (One of my students told me Friday you don't call them "girlfriends", they're your "homegirls"...it doesn't quite sound right when I say it though!)

You may remember I made them last year too and I showed the inside of one as my very first post, ahhhh, fond memories! lol! Last year I only had the class photo on the cover, and we all wrote memories of 3rd grade in each other's books. This year I took more photos, though, so I expanded the book by an extra set of pages (...at Lori's strong urging!) to include the photos.

The book consists of three 6x12 pages, scored at 6" and is bound together with a bamboo skewer and elastic hair band. Let me know if you have questions about it, I can post some more pictures showing it. They're very easy and fast. I stamped some "schooly" images in Versamark so they can still write the memories over them, and I stamped three more important "message" stamps in Black Staz-On throughout also.

Hope you're having a great Sunday! I slept ALL day yesterday, except for when I went to the crop, so I'm way behind. Ahhh, but it was worth it! Need to finish grades, laundry, mini albums, etc before I'm off to see Sex and the City with my homegirls (thought I'd give it a try there) at 4:00 to be followed by margaritas at Margarita Ranch! Mmmmm, how decadent!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you stamped something today?