Creative Grace

Simple is good

Simple can be fabulous...

One stamp, two inks, two washi tapes.  Easy.  I need to remember to make more cards like this :)

Washi-wonderful

How could I possibly resist a washi tape challenge??? 

Love the Moxie Fab World and their fun challenges, including the current washi tape challenge.  I made this card as a thank you for some wonderful support a friend extened toward me.  

Washi and a stache - it was a fun card to make! :)  

Mission 26

Hello blog friends!

Wow - a two month hiatus!  Perhaps that gives you some indication of how crazy the start of the school year has been for me.  Hardly any time to craft or even check out the blogs of my friends.  The good news is I'm emerging and back today for a very special post.

I got to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour on the streets of LA baby!!!!

And not just see it, I got to get up close and personal.  Amazing experience!  An old friend of mine is an employee of the California Science Center and sent out a request for volunteers to help bring the shuttle to its new home on a journey called "Mission 26" (the 26th mission of the shuttle).  I was so lucky to be able and share the experience with some colleagues and friends whom I had fun making a special card for to commemorate the occasion :)

Our shift was Friday night (as the shuttle was being prepped to travel down a freeway overpass while being towed by a Toyota Tundra).  We had a chance to take a few of our own photos before "getting to work" (acting as a docent to the many spectators that were patiently waiting for a view of the shuttle).

One of my favorite Instagram photos of the buisness end of the shuttle.

A fun sign and view of the rig that the Tundra would tow (the blue components were a part of the amazing "over land transporter" which carried the shuttle on the rest of it's journey).  The Tundra tow rig was necessary to reduce the overall mass as the shuttle as it passed over a freeway overpass.

It was a great evening and wonderful seeing so many excited and happy families.  We got lots of questions, but mostly worked as "papparazi" for the visitors, taking photos for them with their phones and cameras (as we could approach the shuttle for photographs).  

I LOVE this bumper sticker :)  It was attached to the Tundra truck that carried the shuttle over the freeway.  I was a little dissapointed to hear some folks commenting, "how come it's not an American truck", which I feel compelled to explain.  First of all, most of the truck is made domesically, Toyota is a major employer in the state.  In addition, Toyota is a huge, note: HUGE supporter of science education in California.  They are a long-time sponsor of the California Science center (the new home of Endeavour) as well as numerous programs to improve the quality of science education in the state.  In fact, I've personally worked on a grant aimed to improve science teaching of elementary teachers, funded by Toyota.  This was a great choice and a nice nod to Toyota.  

It was an honor to be a part of history :)

My good friend and I, positively *giddy* over the experience!

 

Happy Place Shark

Hello friends!  Are you ready for more Shark Week goodness????

I saw these super fun cards that my friend Glenda made for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - Designer Drafts and I KNEW I had to play along! :)

I've never played before, and only recently acquired my very own Paper Smooches stamp sets (happy happy!).  The challenge is to make a card based on this sketch:

Um, HELLO shark fin!!! :)  I love that Glenda and I see eye to eye on this one! LOL  I'll admit that I had already peeked at Glenda's post, so I had to think different on this one.  I remembered seeing this fun photo on Pinterest with a little fish all dressed up like a shark... and viola! My card was born :)

Oh, if only we could all be as jawsome as a shark!

Hope you are enjoying Shark Week! Check back later for more sharktastic cards!

{Shark Week}

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Happy Shark Week everyone!  In case you've been living under some kelp or something for the past 25 years and weren't aware, Discovery channel features a week of shark goodness that premiers tonight at 9pm (Eastern).  I got {hooked} on shark week many years ago when I was teaching at a local aquarium. Now, I'll admit I'm not really a fan of the drama-hyped episodes that occasionally get aired, but some of their shows are interesting with stellar footage and some good educational twists - and that's what I love.  Most sharks are not the big "bad boys" that first pop into our minds, and ALL serve critical ecological roles in their environments.  Sharks really could give a rats-pattotie about us, they aren't "out to get us", and yet many people have this twisted vendetta against them - I've even worked with very young children say that sharks are bad (astonishing).  As a human population, we have decimated sharks (some by as much as 90%). Tragic!  There is still so much we do not understand about sharks - but one thing that is painfully obvious is that these population declines are having negative consequences beyond what we could have imagined.  We have lots to learn and, at least for a week, Discovery helps bring attention to sharks.

I feel grateful that I have some wonderful friends with open minds (who support the geeky marine bio nerd in me) and have a great sense of humor!  I threw out a crazy challenge to them and they have agreed to help me kick off Shark Week with a Shark Week blog hop!  As an added twist, I challeneged them to use two of three elements in their card (1. a turqoise washi tape, 2. a stamped image of a little shark, 3. the phrase "jawsome")

Here is my card, with all three elements (and still getting used to the new camera...):

Hop on over to their blogs and give them some jawsome love! 

• Cheiron Brandon {My Crafty Life}
• Dawn Stein {Lavender Giraffe}
• Glenda Wyatt {Paper Scissors Rocks}
• Jenn Shurkus {Creative Chick}
• Stacy Koscielniak {Stacy Cakes}
• Tracy Falco {Crafty Insomnia}

I'll be back again this week with more shark goodness!  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butterflies for Riley

It's time for another baby post!  This time, very close family friends are expecting their first baby.  My aunt hosted the baby shower and as a special surprise to the mom-to-be, ordered live butterflies that each guest was able to release (what a fun idea!).   Unfortunatelly, the shower took place while I was on the road and I was unable to attend.

Since I knew of the "butterfly" plans ahead of time, I wanted to do something special to make up for the fact that I couldn't be there in person.  I commissioned my good friend, Jenn Shurkus to make a canvas for the nursery.  The only problem, is we had no idea what the room colors were!  There was no indication of a color theme by looking at the registry as the bedding was being hand made.  The only info my aunt and I were able to get from the mom-to-be was that it had chevrons, birds, and was pink, orange, and grey - but I wanted to make sure the colors were spot on.  After a lot of sleuthing, the nice folks at The Baby Guy sent me a photo of the bedding fabric so Jenn could color match.  I love how it turned out:

I know the butterfly stressed poor Jenn out, but I think it turned out so cute :)  I especially love the touch of grey on the border.  Thanks, Jenn, for making the canvas so quickly and shipping it out to me in time for the shower!!!

I tried to match my card to the bedding too:

and had fun wrapping up the gift...  

Just wish I could have been there in person!  Best of luck to the new parents!

Goodbye Chiquitas... and a little volcano goodness

What a great week I've had!  The hubby and I have managed to sneak away for a little road trip (and our first vacation in... well... we can't remember!!!) We decided we *needed* to do something fun this summer and, so, road trip it is.  We hunkered down at my parent's place in Oregon and managed to convince my parents that it was a great idea to do a Volcano Day (because, really, who doesn't LOVE a volcano???)  We trekked on over to Mt. St. Helens - a HUGE BUCKET LIST item for me.  

 

There is no question, this was a spiritual place for me.  I vividly remember this eruption as a child and am in complete awe of the forces at play here.  I am in love... Maybe next time I can convince the hubs to do the helicopter tour...

 
We all loved it so much we decided, quite on the '"fly", to make our way over to Mt. Rainier - another beauty, and perhaps the most potentially destructive, in the Cascade Range...

But, I digress, and know you have come for the cards.  I am sad that we are leaving in the morning.  It's getting harder and harder each time to say goodbye to my parents.  It's also hard to say goodbye to my nieces, the Chiquitas.  It's astonishing how much OLDER they are from the last time I saw them.  But I made sure we got in a little crafty time... and fireworks watching from the craftroom windows...

(Can you *believe* how BIG they are now???? Gah!!!!)  And to officially say goodbye... I leave each a special card at their spot on the craft table, to discover the next time they come to "grandma's" to craft.  I think they will love these cards...

They are just now *intrigued* by washi tape, so I wanted to use it two different ways - to inspire them :)

Goodbye volcano's, Mom and Dad, and goodbye Chiquitas...  Until we meet again...

 

Smile Dad

Happy father's day to all you Dad's out there!  Several friends in my life have become father's this year and are celebrating their very first Father's Day - it's very cool to see them in that role and I imagine they must be enjoying their very first Father's Day - Cheers Jesse, Michael, Hugh, and Brett!  

Today we will get to spend time with my hubby's Dad so I whipped up a quick card for him:

He likes to take photos, so I thought this would be a fun card for him. 

Today is one of those days, though, that makes me miss my Dad more than usual.  Inspired by my friend Jenn's video she posted on her blog today, I thought I'd send my Dad this fun collage.

Love you Dad :) 

Summer!

I've slept in for 2 DAYS STRAIGHT!!!! Hello summer break - I'm a happy girl (well, at least for a couple weeks until the summer jobs kick in).  I've been busy tackling some projects around the house I've been meaning to get to since about {forever ago} which also feels great.  

Before school got out, however, I was in a frantic state trying to acknowledge all those awesome folks who make my job a million times easier.  Besides my fabulous 8th grade TA's (see their card here) I wanted to give a huge shout out to a few other amazing people too.  I did a variation of the TA card for my awesome custodians:

I also made several thank you's for the awesome teachers and awesome volunteer Mom's who helped me run our character building program this year:

I just printed our logo onto cardstock (designed by our student's with the help of a volunteer graphic designer), added some washi and bling, piece-o-cake!

Finally, I made some personalized stationary card sets for our fabulous office staff:

Again, I kept it REALLY EASY {thank you washi tape} so it didn't take me too long, but yes, I've appreciated the extra sleep these past couple days :)

For all my friends still teaching - I do feel your pain.  I've felt it all year long when you got that extra few days at Thanksgiving or that extra Spring Break week or those snow days.  It's all a wash in the end right? A break from the norm at any time of the year is appreciated.  I wish you a speedy race to the end and students who take mercy on you in your fragile-almost-summer state.  

A nod to Mother's everywhere

It's amazing how life ebbs and flows - SO many people in my life are having babies right now.  It's quite shocking, actually.  My husband and I *may* have utterd the word "epidemic" :)  Although we've never felt that calling in life, we both love kids (I would hope so, considering I work with kids every day) and are perfectly content to be in that aunt & uncle / helpful neighbor role.  

Watching some good friends go through this phase is both beautiful and difficult to watch.  It's clearly exhaustive and so much hard work - and such a life altering experience for independent friends who have full lives and careers - but it is beautiful to see how much love fills their hearts.  No question, this is the toughest and most important job on the planet.  

So to all you Mom's out there - thank you for the tireless giving of yourself every second of every day to nurture your little soul(s).  No question you are at the top of my hero list!