Thank A Teacher! PP297

Miss E is finishing her first year at pre-school which was terrific thanks to an amazing teacher.  I taught elementary school for over 30 years but still can't imagine handling a class of three year olds!  Miss Bobbi Jo does it with style and grace - and a fabulous smile!  I pick Emma up from nursery school and see first hand all of the fun projects and lessons her class has worked on.  So this note will go to Miss Bobbi Jo thanking her for making Emma's first classroom experience wonderful!

I played Tic-Tac-Toe with the Paper Players!  Yellow - Die cut - Paper Clip!  I used the Noted and Teacher's Pet Sets from Sugar Pea.

Love the New In Colors Sew - PPA302

Nicole's Sketch at Pals Paper Arts gave me a chance to show off the new in-colors.......pretty shades of green, blue, peach, purple and pink!  I used the retiring hostess set Love You Sew and stamped the sentiment in Dapper Denim.  The spools are Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, Dapper Denim and Sweet Sugarplum.  The cardstock is Dapper Denim and Flirty Flamingo. Boy would I love to be in on the meeting where they decide the names of the inks! 

It has been a busy week in my craft room as I removed all the retired items from the bookshelves behind my desk and put them in another bookcase across the room. Then it was time for paper shuffling making room for a big June order! Here is my room all straightened up - only happens once or twice a year!  Don't you love to see everyone's craft spaces? I do!

Hope you play along at Pals Paper Arts!

Spring Blooms - FMS238

Kim's sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches was the perfect opportunity to show off the new set Swirly Bird - so many pieces - so many possibilities!  I kept it simple for its first inking - just bright flowers to say hello.  Around here the lilacs are just blooming - my favorite whiff of spring!

  

Awesome! PP296, PPA301

It is not quite as summery here as this card looks.......but soon!  When you live up north and the temperature cracks 60 that's good enough!  It was a good day for soccer, ice cream and getting the boat out of storage and back into the lake!

OK maybe it was a wee bit chilly out on the open water but we are a hearty crew........that headed to the nearest restaurant on the lake for a warm supper!

I love Laurie's sketch at the Paper Players this week! I used images from Grateful Bunch and Tin of Cards.

The spring colors at Pals Paper Arts are delightful!

CAS.....not! FMS237

My card style is definitely CAS but I have decided Clean and Simple is a total misnomer!  I have never ever completed a card on my first attempt - this was attempt number four!  The photo below shows the progression of my work.  Panel #1 has a red smudge courtesy of my pinky. Panel #2 was a total disaster as I dropped my stamp while peeling it off the Misti lid.  And then there is panel #3 that has the teeniest navy smudge due to a spot on the magnet holding it in place.  Ahh yes white space is fabulous but shows every tiny smudge!

I think I've made a CAP card.....Clean and Persnickety!

I excited to be hosting this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I do hope you play along!  Have fun with my sketch - I will be around to check out the gallery!

Stamp Sets:  Special Delivery (Sugar Pea), Rain or Shine (Sunny Studio)

                                                            Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, Smoky Slate
                                                            Paper:  Night of Navy DSP, Red Foil, Whisper White

Wild Things......PP295, CTS172

Not sure how wild these giraffes are - they look pretty sweet to me!  Perfect to welcome a new little one into the world!

LeAnne's Wild Thing Challenge at the Paper Players is such fun!  Hope you play along! The giraffe family is made using the Giraffe Trio Diecut by poppystamps on SU's Into the Woods Designer Paper.

Loved this sweet sketch from Cas(e) this Sketch!

Family News - PPA300

It was lots of fun catching up on family news at my mother's birthday luncheon. Keaton is studying robotics - Bob and Cindy just returned from a New England brewery tour - Peter is in training to climb a lower section of Mt. Everest - Bernie is headed to South Africa  to work on a game preserve - Emma has started soccer - Erin is planning her family camping trip -  Mike and Ria are off to Bermuda....wow! But I brought the table to a halt when I said "Well I just got back from a shoebox swap in Ilion!"  To mere mortals outside of the stamping world that is a very strange sentence indeed.........

Anyway this card is off to our swap's hostess who graciously shared her beautiful stamping space with us and organized everything perfectly!  It was a fun day.......and I didn't need a Sherpa guide, bathing suit or bug spray......

                Great sketch at Pals Paper Arts this week!

 Stamp Sets:  Awesomely Artistic, Helping Me Grow, Hardwood

Paper:  Something Borrowed DSP, Mint Macaron, Sahara Sand

I Like Big Books! FMS236

This set from Simon Says Stamp (To Thine Own Shelf) is such fun and I do love a good book!  My Tuesday afternoon job at the library keeps me up to date on all those new releases!  Yep I am one of those diehards......no kindle for me......has to be the hardcover edition.  I rarely go anywhere without a packed bookbag!  Never bored with a good book along but I will confess that I have started a book more than once and about two chapters in I think......uh oh this sounds familiar.......

I took a few liberties with Rita's sketch this week - hope she's not mad at me!  That's what I get for not printing the sketch and creating just from memory!  It's a fun sketch - hope you try it out this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

Happy Mother's Day! PP294, CTS171

With Mother's Day and my mother's 91st birthday happening the same weekend we had reason to celebrate for sure! Here's our four generation picture from our family gathering. Amazing how hard it is to get four people to cooperate in the same photo!

I love the soft colors Jaydee chose for this week's challenge at the Paper Players!  I used a stencil to shade in a background area and then stamped the flowers from Number of Years over it.

                                       Another wonderful sketch this week from Cas(e) this Sketch!

                       
                                                  

So Sweet! FMS232

While sorting my stamp sets and moving retired ones to their own shelf I came across a set I have hardly ever used called Countless Sayings.  That big bold sentiment was perfect for this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  I stamped it on a sponged panel of distress inks spattered with a bit of water.  And then for the umpteenth time I vowed to use ALL my stamp sets more than once......and not just those favorites that seem to get inked daily!  Of course I say that about my closet as well when I vow to wear all the clothes that are hanging in there ........ and not just my favorite jeans and a sweatshirt......

I love my talented friend Jen Mitchell's wide open sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Have fun with it!

Hello You! PP293, CTS170

A splash of bright balloons add a festive look to this bicycle from Pedal Praise, an early Paper Pumpkin kit.  And when you turn the strings from Balloon Celebration upside down you discover they work perfectly with little balloon images from Party Wishes!  I love those little discoveries!

My amazing friend Nance Leedy has a fun bicycle theme for us this week at the Paper Players!

Oh that talented Hannelie designed a cool sketch at Cas(e) this Sketch!

Stamp Sets: SU Party Wishes, Pedal Praise, Balloon Celebration; Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings
Paper: Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Botanical Gardens DSP
Ink: Memento Black, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Mint Macaron