So Way Behind

I feel like I am so way behind. :) It is partially from the art show, partially from the big cricut project, and partially from an amazing Kelly Kilmer weekend last weekend!

I will totally post pictures of my amazing classes this weekend soon but I forgot my journal at school today after showing it to everyone who would sit still enough to look. :)

The biggest thing I have to share today is how AMAZING my kids are! First the art show. You can see the awards they were given pretty clearly in the pictures but I took the photo before the pink collage face in the upper left hand corner of the first picture was awarded a Best of Show award for the K-2 2-D category! Some of the projects you see were done by Meredith, my traveling art teacher. :)


Also, my Kindergartners dazzled me today with their art smarts today! We were doing our usual critique that follows a project when I decided we needed to step it up a notch so we were sitting on the carpet in a circle and I gave them the sentence starter, " I like..." Now I have to tell you that the reason I gave them a sentence starter aside from the fact that they are 6, is that at least 50% of them only started learning English at the beginning of the school year. We were only to student number three when I heard, "I like my texture!" I was so excited I asked the whole class what is texture? At least half of the class pointed to their eyes and then rubbed their fingers together and said the way something looks or feels! The best part is that they were looking at me quizzically wondering why I was so excited. They just knew what they knew and didn't realize they were brilliant! By the end of class they had done a guided writing exercise with me and insisted that I take the chart paper outside to show their teacher. When their teacher asked if they could read it to her they chorally read the whole paragraph! I couldn't have been prouder of them!

I Couldn't Start Small

I took a class on how to use my Gypsy last weekend at Scrapbook Etc. last weekend. It was just a beginner class that would have been really helpful when I originally signed up for it but due to a wedding shower had to reschedule and take it several months later. Although I had managed to figure most of it out by now it really motivated me to try a whole project using my Gypsy. I had this great idea and didn't realize how big of a project I was creating! I promise to have pictures soon. Just now I am working in time to make art and the reveal will be worth the wait!

You should also know that I spent most of yesterday trying on bridesmaids dresses. (Like 40 of them!) The good news is that all of the girls found a dress that they love! Yay for 10.10.10!

Random Happiness

I thought I'd share a few totally random things that have made me happy lately.

1. The newest Hungry Girl Cookbook!
Can you say yummy? I L-O-V-E this cookbook! I can't say enough great things about it! I bought it one week ago today and have already tried five recipes out of it! I you know me you know what an accomplishment this is! How could you say no to guilt free Overstuffed Peanut Butter 'n Banana French Toast (pg. 288 people!) It has also made me start going over my other Hungry Girl cookbooks too!

2. Happy Mail! I received several cool surprise packages this week from in person friends and happy mail people and they were not even from my assigned person of the month!


Jamie has this great Happy Mail group! It is fun to meet new people even through blogland and it is kinda funny how you meet people that you want to keep in contact with even after the month is over!

3. Netflix video streaming through you Wii! Are you kidding me with this? Okay totally cool! I got my disk in the mail today. You just pop it into your Wii and magically a video store appears in your living room.


This is amazing because you can sign up one TV to video stream through the internet but now we can use the feature in the studio and in the living room! (99.9% of the time sports are on in the studio because that is were Jim's computer space is too. LOL!) The options of course are not endless but loads of cool movies that I have never seen before but wanted to! (I have a hard time sitting still through a whole movie without falling asleep. LOL!) I watched Matilda last night and am looking forward to this summer when I have a little more leisure time and will be trying to avoid the heat!

4. The most genius Mexican Food Restaurant survival idea ever from Donna! Ask for an order of corn tortillas when they bring out the chips! Of course I had to try this out and it was amazing! I put a little smear of guacamole rolled each one (of 3) up and dipped in salsa... yum and you get the whole dipping experience for less calories than 10 chips! I should probably mention my love for Top Shelf's light menu also or you'll wonder why I'm even thinking twice about chips. :)

Things Have Been Hoppin'

It has been busy around here! Monday was Jim's Birthday and even though he claims he is not celebrating his birthday any more I had to do a little something.


It is also that time of year again when I find myself busy putting the final details on the district art show that we do at Desert Sky Mall. All of the judging packets have been assembled, and all of the details have been double checked. My six sided panel is complete and wrapped and all the 3-D pieces have been selected. With a few more labels made, a little packing, and a sketch of how I want all of the schools tables to be set up I will be set to go. (Of course this doesn't mean that I won't worry for the next week that I forgot something or that something out of my control will go wrong. :)

I'm Not A Crazy Dog Person But...

we do have a little Easter tradition of taking picture of the dogs with rabbit ears. (It is really cheap entertainment folks!) It started the first year we had Bentley and I wanted to surprise Jim. She was small then and I could control her back then.


It is always a challenge to get a good picture of course because they want to run in circles and try to get the ear off so they can eat them for a snack but that is what makes it fun.

This years pictures:


The best picture EVER! (We will never top this one I swear Jim and I both cried we were laughing so hard!)


Happy celebrating today!

Revised and Remixed

First, revised. I thought the bird page was done yesterday morning but when I saw it yesterday evening it was asking for some tape. :) I still think I will write a big word on it - probably with glitter stickers- but thought I'd show the revision.

Now , remixed! I got a chance to play with the Braille birds last night. When I was adding them to the page they were SO WHITE! I decided to paint them with walnut ink and blot it off very quickly. They were cool but not cool enough so I colored their edges with a light green Stabilo Woody and smooshed it in with my finger. Again, cool but not cool enough. This part is my favorite....I colored the raised dots on the Braille and smooshed that around too! So fun and then they were perfect for my page! (Did you notice that I used the Luca stencil and an Itty Bittie too?)


Come and check out the birds!

Hello Birds!

As you know I am stencil crazy right now. I so can't get enough of them and I decided that I needed birds for my journal and thought you might like some too!


I used one of the birds from The Flock as a stencil and then stamped with Stazon permanent ink on an itty bitty birdy to create an embelishment. I also decided I needed birds with Braille on them so you can find those in my Etsy shop now too. (Now that I have them made I am hoping to play with them today too. LOL!)