Creative Grace

Guest blogger {Dawn} - submerged in numbers

Today's special guest is the one and only Dawn Stein! I had the pleasure of being on the A Muse Instructor Team with Dawn for a couple years.  I'm so happy she decided to take the *plunge* and design a card to share with you all.  I chose her card to post today as I had my final for my quantitative analysis (statistics) class this week! Eeek!

As you can see, I love Dawn for her humor her big heart.  Take it away Dawn...

There are so many reasons this card is perfect for my friend, Jill.  You see, she is working hard on her thesis and taking a statistics class all at the same time.  Instead of creating beautiful cards in her spare time, she doesn't have any spare time.  That's where I come in.  She sent a shout out to some of her stamping friends to help her with her blog while she finishes her school projects.  Of course, I said yes.  Her challenge to us was to make a Graduation, Encouragement or Pity Party card.  Graduation, Encouragement cards, got that.  But a Pity Party card?  What in the world is that?  So, that is the card I chose.

Actually once I got started, it seemed quite easy.  Think about Jill, what is she feeling sorry for herself about?  That darn statistics class.  All those numbers swirling around in her head.  Must be making her crazy!  So out came my brand new dominos Cuttlebug folder.  Plenty of numbers on that.  Will make a good background.  What else should I do?  How about using the Submarine stamp?  She loves submarines.  The reason I bought it was because of her.  I know!  I can make the background a swirl of numbers and she can be floating around in them.  Just used the direct to paper shading method and the background was finished.  Used Doodlebug sugared paper for the waves.  Good.  Now what to use for the sentiment?  "Woe is me" was running around in my head the whole time I was thinking of what to do but there isn't a stamp that I know of that says "Woe is me". So, I made my own.  Soon she will make it to the surface in her submarine and be able to claim success over her new degree.  Hang in there, Jill, to the victor go the spoils.

Dawn - I am sublimely thankful for you! :)  I love that sub... *sigh*

 

Up to {a lotta} goodness - part {3}

Wow!  I really thought I'd get to this post a lot sooner - last week was a blur!  

I was so honored to be asked to teach a card class to a fabulous group of K-12 Alliance teachers (see previous post).  A couple weeks before the class, I got a text asking me for suggestions for a title for the class.  I admit, I was useless! I had my brain in *thesis land* and came up with a couple boring ideas.  So, apparently the team planning the professional development weekend proceeded to throw out random words, with two words being chosen as the title:  Scale and Design.  

Perfect for a bunch of math and science peeps!  

For the class itself, I had to take on the premise that no one would have any stamping or card-making experience, which led me to keep the cards very straightforward as I really wanted everyone to just have fun.  The most important thing to me was teaching everyone to properly ink the stamps (we all chanted, "don't squish!", LOL).

Soooo... without further ado, the cards:

I was really challenged to make a card that was "math" oriented, so after a few attempts this was what I ended up with.  I figured it would suit our math teachers well, and would be a cute valentine that the teachers could give to a loved one :)

This card might look familiar - it's one of my favorite designs I did a while back (click here).  I love it and I think it's so much fun to stamp on the maple cards. The sentiment, "you make a difference", would be the perfect card to give to a friend or teaching colleague.  It's amazing how just one person saying something positive can make a difference to a teacher.

I *HAD* to make a card with the sub!!! *HAD TO* :)  I love how this "Swiss Cheese" border punch from EK is the perfect bubbly companion.  Speaking of sub, did you know that Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute now has an Alvin Cam!!!!!  Alvin, the first "manned" Deep Submergence Vehicle - the first to discover living things at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and famed for discovering the Titanic wreck, is undergoing a multimillion dollar "facelift", enhancing the submersible's ability to explore the ocean depths, and you can peek in on the journey (click here).  Because I'm so in love with Alvin, and am a huge advocate of innovative scientific exploration and research, I'll also let you know that you can find out more about the project and even make a donation to this non-profit institution to support oceanographic research (click here).  

The final card is this cutie - I love this rocket and *really love* the sentiment.  Again, I figured this would make a great valentine.  The orange Washi Tape is a nice substitute for ribbon. 

So, what do you think?  I have to admit, I had a ton of fun designing cards for teachers!

Thanks for your patience in waiting for these cards to get uploaded and thanks to those of you who take a little time to leave comments on my posts - I appreciate hearing from you! :)  I'll be back in a few days to share a very special card for my *paper ho's* (I didn't get a chance to mail them until yesterday - and I figure they get first dibs on seeing them! LOL)

Have a great week everyone!

 

Calendar time!

Oy!  I've been busy!  I'm actually home from work this week recovering from surgery (sinuses... ick) so I've been occupying myself with my yearly project of making calendars as gifts.  There are so many wonderful people at my work that I want to acknowledge, so I make them calendars each year using the adorable template that A Muse makes.  The added bonus is that A Muse makes a donation for each calendar template they sell!  This years proceeds benefit Water 1st, an organization that works to implement community-managed projects that integrate water supply, sanitation, and health education in regions of the world that that are a part of the global water crisis.  You can read more about this and find the template here.  

 

In the end, I will have made 40 of these bad boys!  All of my paper is printed and cut

 

And I've started my designs... I'm almost half way through! (You know I HAD to use the sub!)

Perhaps this calendar project might inspire you to give a homemade gift (only crazy people like me make 40).  Remember, this is a gift with the added bonus of benefiting the wonderful organization of Water 1st! 

10-year Anniversary!

Wow... time flies!  My husband and I are celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary today. Here is the card I made for him:

If you follow my blog, you will totally *get* this card! It says a lot for me to admit I love him more than subs! LOL

He's such a great guy - he has no problem making me a card, and even did a great job cleaning up the materials.  I'm impressed that he chose brown ink over black (way to go babe!) and that he managed to center the sentiment on the front!

 

We might need to work a little on pressure though ;)

I thought you might enjoy seeing our wedding picture.  We had a fun, no-fuss wedding with our closest family and friends who traveled to Maui to join us.  I can't believe how young we both look!

We had a great day celebrating today.  The summer months are lean for us (no teacher paycheck for 2-months so we are on a super tight budget) but we made sure to do a couple fun things.  

We finally got to see Spamalot and had an awesome dinner at a favorite restaurant.

 

Happy anniversary babe!

A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA challenge: ribbon

Today is the last day for the ribbon challenge on the A Muse blog and lounge.  I'm a little late to the party, but managed to get a special card done, just in time! 

He he he... I figured out how to use the sub on this one too! :)  I figured these three beautiful ribbons would make a lovely water background.  I'll be sending this card to a special friend who could use some submarine goodness.  (All stamps, ribbon, and twinkle stickers by A Muse.)

Another stamping challenge will be posted tomorrow along with other activities you can participate in! The countdown has begun and there's only 11 days left before A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA begins!  Check out the A Muse website to be a part of the fun.

So square!

Have you been checking out the A Muse website for all of the great A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA fun???  There are lots of great challenges daily, and weekly stamping challenges.  I made a special card for the challengee this week: "square"! 

Of course, I had to use the sub!  I'm also especially lucky because I'm visiting Heather and she had to photograph my card for me so I could upload it for the challenge in time as I don't have my computer with me.  :)  Official Heather photography, yay!

Don't forget to sign up for an A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA class to be the first to see the amazing new stamp release.  You can see my class schedule here. 

All paper, stamps, and twinkle stickers from A Muse.

It's a Guy Thing!

There's a new fun challenge on the A Muse Lounge: It's A Guy Thing!  The challenge is to make a card for a special guy in your life.  

I've had this idea "swimming" around in my brain for a while now, so thought this challenge was the perfect excuse to make it...

Come on... how could I *not* make this card? ;)  The submarine from the new summer release by A Muse is getting a lot of use in my craft room.  This is, of course, a deep sea scene complete with black smoker and Riftia tube worms (made with the palm tree silhouette stamp), and (sigh...) Alvin.

I can't wait to see all of the cards everyone will create this month!  Be sure to register on the A Muse lounge so you can too! 

All stamps and paper by A Muse.

Happy June

Needless to say, I *had* to completely redesign my June calendar page when I saw A Muse's new summer fun stamp release!

I removed a couple port holes (because Alvin only has one starboard view port) with a little masking and gave it the proper paint job :)  Alvin is stark white with a red top.  My guess is that it allows for Alvin to be easily spotted by it's ship, the R/V Atlantis, when Alvin has surfaced.  

A happy June indeed!

Submarine stamp and calendar template by A Muse.

Simply Sublime

It's my Father-in-law's birthday and thus a very special card is needed.  So, I used the most special stamp in my collection! :)

I made the ocean by punching various sized circles and attaching them to the paper (looks complicated, but it's actually quite simple).  This also gave me a chance to use my fun glitter chalks to make the sky and highlight the clouds (much prettier in person, the photo just doesn't show the glittery effect).  

We are giving him a gift card to a favorite bookstore, so I made a pocket for that on the inside of the card.  

I *had* to use the new submarine image from A Muse.  I have a feeling everyone will be getting sub cards from me this year! :)

All paper and stamps by A Muse.

Requesting launch altitude and permission to dive into amuse-bouche...

Did I ever tell you I got to dive in the deep-sea submersible Alvin??? :)  

It was the coolest thing in the whole wide world.  I was simply speechless on the dive, processing everything that was going on, completely over-stimulated. It went by in a blur.  It was wonderful. When I got back home all I wanted to do was make cards for all of the great crew and scientists I had the pleasure of working with on the cruise.  But, I had a hard time finding stamps for the types of cards I wanted to make.

A Muse... you were listening to me, weren't you? 

Did you do this just for me?

You knew this would be my favorite stamp in the new summer release, didn't you?  Maybe my favorite stamp of ALL TIME!

I'm just so happy...

Needless to say, I still wish I was there :)  You can read about my adventure here.

My mind is spinning with ideas for sub cards... An Alvin one is a MUST, then there's a little yellow one I have to make, and not to mention cards of the sub on fun adventures.  I'm glad summer is here! :)

Do you need the sub too?  I totally understand.  Check with your local stamp store since they get these fabulous stamps first!  You can also see more fun amuse-bouche on the A Muse blog and the blogs of the other girls in the creative team.  Have fun on your expedition!

All paper and stamps by A Muse.