Creative Grace

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!

 

Up to {a lotta} goodness - part {2}

I had a great weekend! 

I had the immense pleasure of introducing card-making to a fabulous group of educators!

Last fall, I was approached by the K12 Alliance  to be their "Saturday night speaker" at their annual staff developer training.  (This is the grant-funded program I'm proud to be a part of where we work alongside math and science teachers, bringing best-teaching practices to classroom across California).  I immediately jumped at the opportunity!  The team of teachers and administrators who participate in the program work so hard all day on leadership practices, pedagogy, and unit design - an action packed day leading to inevitable brain exhaustion.  To help everyone recoup, the coordinators schedule something different on Saturday evening - something to hopefully help everyone recharge their battery.  Boy - were they in for a surprise! LOL

I was asked to develop a 90-minute card class for about 70 math and science educators!  

Yes, I said 70! Eek!

Following the initial excitement of the prospect, I'll admit I did freak out a teeny-tiny bit.  Fortunately, I was able to get a jump start on everything during my winter break since I'm so busy once school starts.  I started with the premise that no one had any paper crafting experience, so the cards had to really straight forward in their design.  I could expect people to make about 4 cards in the 90-minute time frame - but with so many attendees, I'd need two kits for each card to accommodate everyone. (Enter Jenn Shurkus of Colorful Creations in Cape Cod, MA to the rescue!!!  Jenn saved the day by loaning me an extra set of stamps! Jenn - you are a goddess!)  

The next challenge was all the prep - the hours and hours of prep! LOL  I was so lucky to get help from my hubby (the punch master) who makes punching 70 pieces of paper seem effortless, and my friend and fellow K12 Alliance peep, Susan for helping me cut paper.

The next challenge would be the ability to help everyone who needed it.  I made photographic directions for how to assemble the cards - you know, "scaffolding" - teacher lingo :)  I also expected that many people would need one-on-one assistance.  Enter the Paper Ho team!

Both Susan and Laura were generous enough to lend a helping hand.  These ladies are not only my professional mentors, but wonderful friends with crafty experience under their belts.  Perfect!

The end result was a really fun time!  I imagine it helped that everyone *needed* some time to play, be creative, and just laugh.  It also probably helped a lot that wine was served with dinner and somehow, most of those wine glasses followed several people back to the room.  

I think this was their first time handling such a large stamp! (you did fabulous ladies!)

I love how he raised his glass and card for the camera! LOL

A Paper Ho in action!

Touching a Copic for the first time *ooooohhhh!!!!*

I loved the creative *twist* so many put on their cards :)  I have a feeling some spouses will be getting some fun valentines.  I can't share all of them with you though, we had some creative guys in the audience, LOL

Everyone was completely fabulous and had a great time!

I want to express my gratitude to this fantastic group of educators who are a true inspiration, working tirelessly to transform math and science education in California.  It was a joy being able to give my time to bring them a little, much needed, play time!

I'll share close-up photos of the *teacher* cards made in the class in my next post - stay tuned!  

Big changes ahead!

Happy new year!  Can you believe it's 2011 already?  Mind-boggling I tell ya...

I thought this would be the perfect chance to share a couple little peeks of the calendars I love to give as gifts.  

I honestly lost count of how many I gave out this year.  

It was a team effort - I just didn't have time to do it all myself so my hubby printed and cut all the paper! What a great sport (well, he did give some away too, so that's fair, right?)  Despite all the work, I think they make a nice gift.  Even nicer is A Muse's recent announcement that the proceeds from the calendar template raised more than $6,000 for their charity of choice.  (If you are on Facebook, you can read more about this huge accomplishment here).

2011 will certainly be a big year for changes!  To start, I'm looking forward to completing my coursework and thesis and FINALLY earning my Masters this summer! Yahoo!  It will be a hard road getting there, but I can smell it! :)  

As I'm sure many of you are starting to ponder, another big change is A Muse dissolving their instructor program.  I expect that great things are ahead for A Muse, but I sadly won't be teaching any more A Muse classes, and without the wonderful support I received from them, I'm afraid it's rather cost prohibitive for me to teach at all.  I started out in the instructor program because of my own personal love of the craft and the products and people behind A Muse.  In the end, I've grown a lot and I've been so lucky to be a part of a dynamic team of amazing muses (I love you all!) in addition to meeting and teaching so many amazing people I'm proud to call friends.  I want you all to know how much I've appreciated that and how much you have enriched my life.  

So, with a new year come new horizons.  I'll likely maintain my blog as long as people still read it (a comment now and again does help with encouraging the blog author, by the way ;) and will keep up links to my fellow "former" A Muse instructors so you can continue to enjoy their work.  I will also forever be a die-hard A Muse fan and will play with them any chance I get :)

I'll leave you with  little homage to just some of the amazing women and little women whom I've had the pleasure of enjoying our craft with:

Here's to a new year full of new possibilities!