CraftyEngineer

PROUD mom!!!

So, you've probably heard me whining about how neither of my boys like to do art... well, Kindergarten changed my eldest! THANK YOU to those special teachers out there! ;) Remember this post?

My son turned 6 in June and my mother gave him, yet SOME MORE art stuff. I was thinking what a waste of money BUT my son has used all the things she's given him. WOHOO. Then came the dreaded thank you cards. I was going to cheat this year and do the fill-in-the-blank ones that you can print at the Family Fun website. But I asked him what he wanted to do... know what he said? "Mom, (when did I lose the "my" from Mommy????) I'd like to stamp some thank yous". REALLY????? OMG!!! OK!!! So, off he went. Now, getting him to actually write in them was a different task for a different day. But in the end they were mailed off and the world was in balance again.

So, that got me thinking... Hmmm... I really want to encourage this stamping behavior. I asked the powers-to-be about having a kid contest for AP or sometime. Wouldn't that be fun? He could make a card and other kids around the globe could make cards and they could all be put online (the cards, not the kids ;)) and boy wouldn't that ahem, boost his ego? So, the powers agreed and this week's AP challenge is for Kids to make cards AND/OR to make kid themed cards.

Here's his card.... (btw... he's asked me EVERY day for 3 weeks if his card is on the internet yet...Oy vey!)... Now, to be fair... I did cut the paper (I have scary paper cutters and those really shouldn't be used by children)... but that's ALL I did. he was SO thrilled that he got to use my good stuff.

Here are the details of the challenge:

• Get out your stamps and let your kids create the cards!  No kids? Then create a kids-themed card!
• The card must feature at least one (1) A Muse stamp image
• Upload your child's card and/or yours to your gallery on Splitcoaststampers.com, taking care to include the keyword AP08KIDS1 (for your child's card) or AP08KIDS2 (for yours) in the photo description or keyword box.
• When you're finished, copy the url/link of your upload and post it in the comments area of this post by midnight, SATURDAY July 19th. (One day earlier than usual.) 

Aren't you impressed? Okay, well, you should be... this is the boy that when in preschool, I never got any artwork to take home. The teacher would say "Yeah, he didn't want to do it". Ho hum. But look at him now!

He's a BIT obsessed with the twinkle stickers. He thinks they are the same thing that Indian ladies (Indian = from India .... like my family) wear on their forehead. They are not, in fact.... but who am I to stop him :)

Stamp Salado Photos...

WHEW! What an amazing week. I can't believe it's over and I can't believe I survived! :)

More fun coming this week online though... Julie Ebersole is teaching a free online class with the purchase of an exclusive online only clear set. She's teaching through the Creative Classroom. Read about it here.

Here are a few photos of the class today at Stamp Salado. That store is SO CUTE. I love it. Every time I go, I just walk around looking at all the stuff! Fabulous, I tell you! If you've never been, you need to go. Just a happy, happy place. And Sandy the owner is the best! Super nice and super fun. Thanks Sandy for a great day!

More fun to be had this week...

One last sneak...

And here we are at the end of A*Muse*A*Palooza! I can't believe how fast this week has gone.

This Madeira stamp (left most picture) is part of the new release, as is the inside sentiment "Christmas wishes". I'll be teaching this card today at Stamp Salado. I was trying to get a different look...something a bit more elegant. I like the way it turned out. Do you? The Madeira stamp is inked up in Metallic Gold Ink (Encore). It is very striking on the Swiss Red note cards. I love that ink because it gives the metallic look without having to emboss!  The embellishments are the micro dot Twinkle Stickers from A Muse (TW101).

Happy Sunday!

More class photos...

Two more classes down in my A*Muse*A*Palooza 2008 tour... ha ha ha... says the MUSICALLY challenged "rockstar"!

We had a fun time today at Memory Depot... lots of cards, lots of people and lots of fun! I added the photos from both classes to my AP photo album.

One more *sneak* tomorrow and then I think I'll go back to SUMMER. :)

Second last *sneak*...

I dunno if it's still called a sneak this late into the week, but I'm gonna call it that. In all fairness (and y'all know how OCD I am about being fair), I need to show one card from each class I'm teaching. I wouldn't want my other classes to feel left out! So, this is from the Jolly Holidays class that I'm teaching this afternoon at Memory Depot. Tomorrow, I'll show my last "sneak" from my class at Stamp Salado (tomorrow afternoon)!

Back to this card, if you click on it to enlarge this photo, you might be able to see the score lines that frame the dove. The dove is covered in Art Institute Transparent Crystal Glitter. So sparkly!

A Muse Images
Tin Plate Blueberry Notecards
Black, White Cardstock
A Muse Black Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
Memento Black Ink
Quickie Glue Pen
Crystal Glitter
Scor-pal
1/8" hole punch
Copic New Leaf Marker

Happy Saturday!

Pictures from the Winter Wonderland Class last night

Last night, I taught a Winter Wonderland class at Memory Depot, here in Austin. We had a full house. It was fun... a little hot but fun, nonetheless. Some of my friends from my real life (i.e. not ones I met stamping) came out. That was fun! And then there were some new to A Muse ladies... fun, fun, fun! And of course, the gals from Splitcoast....

Check out the pictures... I uploaded them to my AP photo album here....

Thanks for looking!

Another sneak peek... A*Muse*A*Palooza 2008

Here is sneak peek at the new images from A Muse. I'll be teaching this card at Memory Depot tomorrow morning in the Make it Merry class at 10am.

The inspiration for this card is the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. I haven't been there at Christmas since I was a kid. I thought the sentiment worked well with this and made me think of 9-11.

Images and note cards by A Muse Artstamps
Memento Tuxedo Black, London Fog
Copic Markers
A Muse Twinkle Stickers - stars

Thanks for checking in. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Color Inspiration #15 - KWerner Style

Kristina Werner's color inspiration was posted yesterday while I was in San Antonio. When I got back home today, I quickly made a card and then ran off to my next A*Muse*A*Palooza class.

Here are the colors for the inpsiration challenge:

The colors are SU! based but I even though I have drawers full of SU! cardstock (LOL!), I used my A Muse notecards... everything matched pretty well, except for the SU! Really Rust, so I used a scrap of that.

Here are my substitutions:

SU! Chocolate Chip => A Muse French Roast

SU! Close to Cocoa => A Muse Chocolate Kitchen

SU! Certainly Celery => A Muse Moss

The colors are Fall-like. I'm still stuck in summer colors... probably because it's 100 degrees around here these days.

Anyway, here is my card:

So, how did I do? Chocolate Kitchen (close to cocoa) with French Roast (chocolate chip), a little SU! Rust, White, and then a strip of Moss (certainly celery). And a little bling, of course.

Images: A Muse Artstamps
Paper: A Muse Artstamps and Stampin' Up!
Colored with Copic Original Markers
Clear Twinkle stickers by A Muse

I had a blast tonight at Memory Depot here in Austin. I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Enjoy!

Stamp Antonio Pics from AP 2008

I managed to snap a few pictures last night at Stamp Antonio's AP class. I've set up a photo album for my adventures in teaching AP 2008 this week. Check it out!

Hi ladies! I had a great time there. The classroom is so spacious! It's wonderful!

Off to teach my class this evening!

Where in the World is Boris?

Are you playing along in the Where in the world is Boris game on the AP blog? I have a picture, too... but it's not part of the game... it's just for fun. How could I not do this? Come on, why do you think my login on Splitcoast is TexasLonghorns?

Hee hee heee... :)

Hook 'em Horns!