Melting Pot...

If you had asked me before last night, "Hey, Kim... tell me more about the melting pot..." I would have gone on this long talk about the Ranger Melting Pot designed by Suze Weinberg. But now... there's another Melting Pot in my life...

My friend, Bernadette had a birthday last week. So a few of us got together and brought her out to The Melting Pot in Natick, MA to celebrate. Wow! Was it good. It's an experience. There was two different cheese fondues, a platter of meats to cook in a fondue, a Ying and Yang Martini and then the chocolate fondue...

Let me tell you, I was having nearly no problems with the fondue until the chocolate came out. Then everything went beserk!

I am so not a fondue professional. You know, I even had a fondue party at my house in June, where Sue C. taught me the fine art of fondue-ing. ~(I have a video of her doing it, which I've watched a few times but will not load here as I value her as a friend and she'd kill me!! Let's just say the strawberry wasn't sliced and they were big!) ~ But once the chocolate came out, it was over. I was done.

Bernadette threatens that she's going to post the picture of me with chocolate on my chin, cleaning chocolate off my boobs. Yah, it was bad. BAD! I don't know what it is with chocolate. I can't control myself, I guess. My hands must have gone all shakey, I dropped things in the pot and I needed the rescue spoon. I just plain made a mess! Check it out...

Can you see the drips to the pot in front of me? And the line of drips to the pot to the right? Well that was after I cleaned up the drips directly in front of me, on me and on my shirt. Eh gads! It's the chocolate. It's an addition. I just can't seem to control it. At least this time I didn't have a chocolate hang over. Yah, it's happenned, ask Kerriann. It wasn't right.

So, I give the NEW Melting Pot in my life a thumbs up! It was a great time! A perfect way to celebrate a friends birthday!

It was a great weekend!

I've had a busy weekend. On Friday night I was at the Scrapbook Cupboard doing demos on the Quickutz Silhouette. Congratulations to Susan Stokinger for winning a brand new Silhouette Craft Cutter Machine! What a great prize!!

On Saturday morning I got up extra early and drove to pick up a few friends and then headed off to Topsfield, MA. It took us about an hour to get there once on the road and when we arrived at Absolutely Everything, people were already milling around waiting for the excitement to begin. Our 3 hour class with Tim Holtz was great! Kerriann, Jean and I had a fun and relaxing time. I say relaxing because we painted most of the time. Take a look at some of these photos...

Do you see the ticket in the upper right hand corner of the third picture?? That was a WINNING ticket!! What did I win??>>>> all sort of distressing goodness! Just my style!

And I just love this picture. I'm not sure if it's the evil grin on my face or Jean's surprised and possibly scared look...

Yikes!

So here are a few photos of the finished project. It's gorgeous...

I knew many of the techniques we did in class but I've had the advantage and opportunity to take some of Mr. Holtz' classes at Ranger Industries and at the Sue Gilman show. It is amazing what they teach you at these classes. I'm extremely fortunate to be able to go to them and learn the latest tips and techniques. I did learn something new on Saturday, the covers. It's a really cool look. BUT! don't have your cover rub up against any acrylic paint. It doesn't dry. It just stays wet and gooey so I will have to remember that for the future.

After the class, Kerriann, Jean and I went to lunch, then visited Ink About It. It's another great stamp and scrapbook store on the North Shore. It's within 45 minutes of Absolutely Everything so it's common for us South Shore people to visit both stores in one day - or so that's what I've heard from others. ;-) Ink About It has tons of stamps. And all kinds, acrylic, unmounted, mounted, foam... if it's a type of stamp, they have all of them. I had to buy this stamp by the Artful Stamper. It's called "Signs of Peace" and I think it's gonna be perfect with some Pearl Colored Metal!! I might have to make several of them for Holiday cards. Hmmmm... I just joined a Christmas Card Swap... maybe this will be part of my design. Once I spent my quota of cash at Ink About It, Kerriann told us about an Ice Cream store in the area. So off we went to Kimballs for some yummy ice cream!

Saturday night, Caleb had a pack meeting where he got his Pin of Light. He got this for participating in 3 of the packs Summertime projects or gatherings....

There was a fabulous speaker after the ceremony. The Man that came to visit the boys is a volunteer Search and Rescue Scout. He had hiked over a mountain that morning searching for a man lost in the woods. He had left his house at 6:30 that morning and when he got to the pack meeting that night, he was soaking wet. The Boy Scouts promote this program called Hug a Tree. They went over all the important facts about safety and survival if you're ever lost in the woods. If you're a hiker or have kids, take a few moments to visit the Hug a Tree Link and read what it's all about. You never know when it could come in handy.

Then yesterday we spent the day cleaning the house getting ready for my gathering of friends. I had about 9 friends over last night for some cocktails and snacks. It was a great ending to a fabulous weekend.

Sneak Peek...

OK, my project that I have been working on is not done yet and now that I look at the time, I can honestly say it probably won't be now until Monday or Tuesday. I am doing Quickutz Silhouette Demos tonight at the Scrapbook Cupboard, in honor of their QK Extravaganza. If you are within driving distance of the Cupboard and you'd like to come down, we're hosting make and takes and demo from 4-9PM today. At or about 9PM, we'll be drawing some winners of prizes. The Grand Prize is this...

That's a Quickutz Silhouette Craft Cutter with an MSRP of $369.99! WOW!! All for coming down and spending a few minutes with me tonight!!

Tomorrow I have to get up extra early to drive up to Topsfield, MA and take a class with Mr. Tim Holtz. A few of us are traveling together so it should be a great time! We are taking the Festive Windows Class from 9AM-12PM. Then we will spend a few hours together having some fun, visiting some other local establishments in that area (it's about an hour + from me).

Saturday night we have our first Pack Meeting for Caleb's cub Scouts and then on Sunday, I have a gathering of friends coming over. So, I'll spend all my time cleaning the rest of my house and preparing food. So, you won't see the finished product until Monday or Tuesday. But here's some more sneak peeks...

On Monday or Tuesday, I'll explain the significance of the red wash before painting it black. It's cool, you'll see. And no, it's not crackle paint.

Lovin' this blogging thing...

Did you see the comments in my last blog post? Did you see who commented about my weird fact number 7? The Anonymous commenter... Yup, that's right... a relative! She's related to me. ~Hi Annemarie!!

This blog posting thing has proven to be one of the best decisions I've made. My Brother, Mother, Grandmother, Aunts, Cousins, Sister... they are all reading my blog. I think that everyone should start a blog. (did you hear that Kerriann?!!) It's the best way to keep family up on what you are doing. It's almost better than a phone call. I can post pictures and videos, you can live in the moment with my family and I.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this new adventure. Not only do I get to reach out to family but I've met so many wonderful people through my blog. Some are strangers that have something in common with me, some are friends whom I speak to daily, some are people who I'm just starting a friendship with. This blog has been a great way to reach out to those that I might not have spoken to again, a lost phone number or a changed email address. Whatever the case may be, highly suggest blogging.

OK, tomorrow there will be a project posted. I've been working on this thing for a while and I'm gonna finish it tomorrow. I've been too busy this week with Fall clean up. My house is clean, laundry done but no crafting has been done. Tomorrow that all changes. Tomorrow I will create and finish a beautiful project. Check back then!

And hey... if you are an old High School Classmate or a friend whom I haven't spoke to in a while, why not send me off an email to say "Hi!" I'd love to hear from you!! And thanks for reading my blog!!

Oh, man! I've been tagged!!

My new friend Shirley tagged me. Shirley teaches some fabulous classes at My Creative Classroom and since I've been with them, Shirley, Colleen and Jeri have been super helpful and welcoming. What! You've never heard of My Creative Classroom? Well, get your browser on over there and check us out! We've got some classes on just about anything creative!

So here are the rules...

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my facts:

1. I played the clarinet in the marching band throughout high school. That included football games.
2. I hate football. Love the Red Sox but could do without those 3 months of lost Sundays.
3. I earned a full scholarship to college. All I had to pay for was some books and all those parking tickets. (I went to college in Boston!)
4. While in College I worked part time at the Holiday Inn after classes and on the weekends I worked the Night Audit, yup that's 11PM - 7AM! That's still the times when I do my best work!
5. I love anything Vampire or Werewolf! My favorite author is Laurell K. Hamilton and I've read every Anita Blake novel she's written. ~The good, the bad and the very risque!
6. I've traced my geneology back to the Mayflower and beyond! My son Caleb is named after his 13th great grandfather, Caleb Church! Bryce was named after a Red Sox pitcher, Bryce Florie.
7. OK, this is the real weird one... My husband and I are related. WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY back! Further back than Caleb Church. And if you're say 'ewww', think of this... parts of both of our families come from Massachusetts and have been here for a very, very long time so this isn't too abnormal. If you have relatives off the Mayflower, I may just be related to you, too!

OK, so I'm supposed to tag 7 people. I don't really 'know' 7 friends that blog. I know ...um.... ok.... 2. Yikes!

Bernadette? Lynne?? Could you help me out??? I need more blogging friends. Kerriann? Susan? Dana?

A review of Walnut Hollow...

I've been down and out the last few days. I've caught the cold and can't seem to shake the snuffles. So no art today but I promised a review of the new Walnut Hollow Creative Metal products a few weeks ago and here it is... I bought the mini tool set, which came with 6 interchangeable points to use. It's a 8 piece set, the interchangeable points, another one being the long tube you screw the pieces into and the last being a foam mat. I thought this would be a real economical way to get people into metal effects. The cost of the set is only about $9 + change but while it's a cool idea to have one tool with interchangeable pieces, I wasn't happy with it. The tube that you hold is too thin to continually hold for long. While I was using it the stylus piece started to unscrew, which as you can imagine was annoying. They don't have a pointed tip for real fine refining, just the small ball stylus. The set also comes with a ball and cup so essentially you get two balls with the kit. One smaller than the other. There's a deerfoot used for erasing and two different small wheels. OK, there's another problem with this set. There's no place to put all the small pieces. The set just comes in plastic packaging and once you open it, the packaging doesn't snap together so the pieces float about. I can just see myself loosing all those pieces.

I purchased the mat set as well. For only $5 + change, this was a good deal. The foam is a similar density and size to that of the one from 10 Seconds Studio. The acrylic mat isn't as sturdy as the one from 10 Seconds but it'll still do nicely. It's actually pretty flexible but still has a nice density that will allow anyone to create wonderfully pieces of shiny, metal art on it.

Now for the worst part. I actually paid good money on the "Design Sheets" and "Design Borders". They were about $5 a package and each package included "3 unique plastic design sheets". But the plastic is so thin and so pliable, you can't get a good image on the metal. I'm not sure you'd get a good image on paper, either. The impressions on the plastic were too deep as well. Deep images coupled with thin plastic make not a great surface for embossing metal. I was extremely disappointed about this. I was hoping that Walnut Hollow would make some decent metal molds. Oh, well. It's too bad too as I kinda liked some of their mold designs.

After trying these products from Walnut Hollow, I'm still partial to my 10 Seconds Studio products and will remain so. If you'd like to try metal effects and, I still recommend 10 Second Studios for all your metal crafting needs.

It was 'Hair'larious! and some art today too!

So today I was in a pretty creative mood. I was working on a new class that I need to get done for November and a Halloween decoration that I'd like to have for the house. While I was in my studio working on this...

and this (yes at the same time)...

I heard Bryce in the bathroom. The water was running in the sink but I didn't think anything of it. He likes to play with his bath toys in the sink and I figured that was what he was doing. I was busy creating and listening to the new audiobook I downloaded, Bitten by Kelley Armstrong and didn't bother to go look to see what the munchkin was doing. He's 5 and as I said, he's played in the bathroom sink before with his boats and lego guys so it wasn't anything that concerned me.

He was in there for about 10 minutes before I decided I needed to use the bathroom. (I guess the sound of the sink just made me need to go!) So I got up, walked to the bathroom, and as I rounded the corner, I said, "Hey Bud, whatcha... **gasp**" Yup! I gasped. He had taken his scissors and was giving himself a haircut. Well, realistically in some spots he was scalping himself!! See the missing clumps in the front and on the left side of this picture...

I asked Bryce what he was doing and he told me... "I'm making myself handsome!" Ahhh... NOO! You're not! was what I was thinking. But I didn't tell him that. I just looked at the spots of totally missing hair and grabbed my camera. I even took a picture of the sink. Look at all the hair!!!

Ehhh gads! He did all this with a pair of kid scissors. I couldn't believe it! I can hardly get those things to cut paper half the time, he must have been sawing away at his hair!!!

Well, I took one look at the hair, poked my fingers through the mess to see if it could be salvaged by me and decided that this was a job for the professional. Enter, Auntie Erika...

Aunt Erika was woken by me and came over before Bryce had to go off to school. He ended up with a buzz cut because there was nothing else she could do for him. I think she said this was a 3 or a 2. Bryce hates it. He's cold and he doesn't like the way it looks. Aunt Erika told him that next time he thought he needed a hair cut to call her and she'd come right over. We even went through the steps of how to call her on the telephone. ~Press number 7 until you see the number pop up, then press talk and wait for her to answer.~ We even tried it a few times to make sure he 'got it'. I think he did.

I finished my project too!, a little later on. Not the house yet, that needs a little more paint but my inked metal file folder is completed. I'll let you know later what it's for...

What are you watching?

I have a few projects I'm working on. One I'd like to show you but I didn't finish it before I had to go teach my Quickutz Silhouette class tonight, so I'll do it tomorrow and post. So, while thinking about what to write about, I realized... why not tell you what shows I'm watching. You may or may not care but since I'm thinking this is my 'blogbook' (kinda like scrapbooking but blogging instead), I may like to know in the next 5 years what I liked. So here goes...

I'm loving Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsey, man! He's bustin' butts all over the place. And the restaurants he's saved, I'm sure many, many other people would love for him to come and help out. Kitchen Nightmares is on Thursday nights at 9.

Starting next week I'll be watching CSI and Grey's Anatomy. Thursday night's have always been a busy night and this year, I'll have to wait until one of those shows are online to watch as my DVR will only tape two things at a time.

House is on! YAH!! Tuesday's at 8. I've watched since the first show and that "Mr. Little", he's not so nice anymore!!!

Bones. LOVE ME some Bones! David Boreanaz. I've been watching him since he was Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They are on at 8 on Wednesday's. I understand, though in a few weeks Pushing Daisies will be on at that time too. So, I'll be DVRing that night as well. Pushing Daisies was so fresh and fun last year, I can't wait for the new one. I did watch some of Private Practice last year but I have a tough time watching Obstetricians do their 'work' so I might just skip it this year. I've seen her cut through too many people.

Let's see, Desperate Housewives. Hmmm... I only watched some of the episodes last year. I'll give it another try but it might not be a regular thing. And I'm not watching Heroes again. Last year was a bust for me.

Oh, I did - on the advice of Susan - try out Fringe the other day. I'll do it again. It was pretty cool.

Then not on network stations... I love watching new episodes of Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters and Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor. I also love it when those How's it Made shows are on. It's interesting but I don't need to see everyone, only if I'm doing nothing else but blogging about what shows I plan on watching this Fall Season. You know, like now. They are making a pontoon boat. Pretty useless information but interesting to know.

One more non network show I'm loving... True Blood. It's on HBO. I LOVE it! I wish it was on every night. It's based on the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire Mysteries. I've owned the original book for years. YEARS! And believe it or not, I've never read it. You better believe I am now! And then I'm sure I'll be moving onto the next in the series. If you've got HBO, give it a try.

So, there's a little about me. Tomorrow I'll be back with a cool project!

Happy Birthday!! and a cute Bryce story...

Today is this guys birthday...

That's hubby in his garden earlier this Summer. Today, the man I've spent nearly 16 years of my life (that's exactly 1/2 of my life - can you believe it??!) with is 36.

Although... he had been leading me to believe he was turning 35 up until about a month ago. See... I kinda lost track of time. Just a little. I kept thinking that he was going to be 35 and I'd make references about how 'old' he was going to be. (Ahhh... can't remember that because you're going to be 35 this year... or yah, can't do the fun things you used to do because you're old - almost 35, ya know...) So I was ribbing him about his 'nearly 35' status. And he never corrected me. I know why he never corrected me but I'm not sure he'll admit it... HE forgot too! Yup, I know it. He forgot how old he was until we had to think about the years. 2008 subtracting 1972 HAS to equal an EVEN number. We had a little chuckle about it when we figured it out. I guess we now know when age no longer matters... after you turn 35. It's all a blur after that.

I'm good with that. I'm still 32 for another few months **hehe**.

I have another cute Bryce story today. No photo, unfortunately. I didn't think of it at the time. I didn't know it was going to be cute. See, it's getting cold here in Massachusetts. Autumn is on it's way and I've been fighting a cold for a few days (does that explain my lack of posts?) so I've been really cold at night. Today I decided was a good day to take out the comforters and wash them.

~We have 3 cats and if it's not covered in plastic, it's theirs to lay on and when you haven't used it all Summer long, the cat hair piles up and really... it's just easier to spend the 15 quarters to wash it again.~

So off to the laundromat Bryce and I go. I bring my two comforters, my detergent and my 10 dollar bill. Bryce is a big helper and puts one of the comforters in a big loader for me, I put in 1/2 the detergent and stroll over to get quarters. HE, plays with the machine and figures out how it closes, opens and decides to load the other comforter in another machine. So, we're all set, he adds all 15 quarters to one machine and BAM!

the machine starts. He jumps back, looks at it and giggles. WOW!

B: Mom, what an awesome show!!

M: Yes, Bryce. Would you like to put the quarters in this machine?

B: Yup, One... two... three... four... ...(2 minutes later)

BAM!

The next machine starts.

B: AWESOME!!! Wow, look at that one, it is all soapy. Look at all the colors.

M: Yup, it's pretty awesome. Ready to go?

B: Nope, I'm gonna stay here and watch the show.

M: What! It's a 23 minute show, let's go pick up Mom's books at the library.

B: No, Mom, this is the BEST SHOW EVER!!!

I tell you. If I'd have known that laundry was the best show ever, I would have bought a side loading machine so my kids could watch that rather than rot their brains with Spongebob or ICarly. I did manage to convince Bryce that we could go to the library and come back and still be able to see the 'end of the show'. So we did that. Who'd have known that watching laundry spin was such a great show? I know of someone who's watching her laundry spin tonight and she's not as thrilled as Bryce. For her, I hope it was a quick show!

Metal Bookbinding...

Sunday I had my Metal Bookbinding class at the Scrapbook Cupboard. I only have the tools for 10 people in any of my metal classes. This class had 9 people. They were 9 very busy people for 4 hours! They all did a wonderful job. Here are some photos of their finished projects...

I must have missed someone's album. I'm bummed. I thought I had all 9 but the photos only show 8. As you can see, though, they are all beautiful and all different. Everyone's inside pages were so colorful and the templates and colors that people chose were beautiful. I remember talking about something, looking over and seeing Karen's book and stopping, just to say... WOW! That's a beautiful page! The colors she used were stunning. A nice mix of blues, purples and irridescent colors.

We used what ever colorwashes and sprays we had and made our own. We had Glimmer Mists, Ranger Color Wash, Memory Mists, older Luminarte Mists and then made our own. One way to make your own mist is by using Mini Misters, Perfect Pearls, Reinkers and Water. Mix about 10 drops of reinker into a mini mister, with a small scoop of perfect pearls and then add water to the rest of the mister. Shake well and mist away! We made another mist by adding Ranger's Dimensional Pearls to a mini mister and filling it up with water. Not too much Dimensional Pearls, just a small squirt will do. While I haven't done it before, I imagine too much dimensional pearls might clog the squirter on the mister.

We used other Ranger techniques for some of the other pages and then some stamps on top of them. Each book got 4 signatures and then we bound everything with a long stitch. I couldn't find a long stitch I liked so I made up my own directions. If you want to find out how, we are having another Metal Bookbinding Class the first Sunday in November. There are already a few people signed up, so if you are interested, call the Scrapbook Cupboard soon! This is definitely one book you won't want to miss!

All sorts of altered classes...

I had my sold out Melting Pot class last night at the Scrapbook Cupboard. Everyone walked away with a melting pot and a better understanding of what to do with it. We completed a whole bunch of techniques and at the end I just let the ladies use the rest of their UTEE on creating mini donuts, altered hearts and any of the mold and pour molds I own. They had fun doing it. The best part was watching and looking to see what colors really go well together. For example, Rob (yes, I have guys in my classes now and again) created a mini donut using clear UTEE mixed with Red Hot To Dye for and Platinum. If you haven't tried that color combo, I really urge you to. It was stunning! Another woman in class was eyeing it and we were both hoping he'd leave them behind!! He didn't. Oh well... I guess I have to make my own.

I have a Mold-n-Pour Mold of a gargoyle and that was a hit with the guys. Paul made a few and I believe Rob made one. I love the gargoyle. He's especially cool when you create him in Black UTEE and then brush on some beeswax and a little bit of metallic perfect pearls. Boy does he look cool. I'd show you the picture of the one I have but I think Bryce broke it. I'll have to make another and post him. Maybe next week. I'll put him on my haunted house... Hmmm...

So, tomorrow's class is I believe sold out as well. When I spoke to Bev this afternoon she told me I was 1 away from being sold out and that someone was there looking at the class right then. I would've waited to see if they were really interested but... well, that would have been tacky, right? Oh, no. That's not why. Really why I couldn't stay on the phone was that Bryce was screaming my name. The poor guy has a double ear infection. Caleb and I brought him to the doc this AM while Patrick was helping out a friend. So, we now have our meds and hopefully plenty of rest for the little guy.

While Bryce was resting today, I put together the stuff needed for tomorrow's class...

While the store carries everything, I hate to leave anything at home that I used on the book. So, I've been packing my templates and tools. Colors of spray and inky binkies. I only have 7 clean ones so unless I go do some laundry, they'll have to share. Oh, and I need the boxes. We need the boxes so glimmer mist, memory mist, homemade mists and colorwash doesn't go everywhere. Everyone will have access to an apron too. Which reminds me, I need to pack mine! OK, Done.

My Silhouette class for Thursday is sold out. I believe we will put another on the schedule but not until November or later. And the Christmas Card Camp with Donna is just about full too. Whew! I'm waiting to hear from Blue Hills about how many in those classes and I have another 'gig' in the works. It's a go, I just need to get on the ball. I was hoping to get it done today but the little man needed my attention. Oh, and of course my class with My Creative Classroom. That's on too. It's surprising I have time for my little man!

Oh, I almost forgot... I promised I'd post a picture of my Beeswax Canvas I made of my Mom. I totally forgot to show the ladies last night. Silly me, huh!

I believe my mom was 18 in that picture. I did this canvas years ago now and always said I would add onto it. Too much 'empty' space to the right there but I haven't found what I was looking for. They've yet to create an embellishment that strikes me for that.

I'm off to relax and read the newest book that came in the mail today...

It's actually no longer in print that I can see. But many resellers are selling it at cheap prices, so this was actually less than 10 bucks and that includes shipping. I've thumbed through it once so far and it's looking promising. I'll let you know.

Goings on...

I didn't blog last night. Sorry. I've been busy. Super busy. So busy I forgot to eat breakfast busy. Oops! Breakfast is the most important meal, you can't forget that!!

Anyhow... about yesterday, ...you know now that I'm writing this I can't remember everything I did yesterday. I know I did dishes, laundry, got the kids off and back from school. I did the Scrapbook Cupboard's October calendar, blogged for SC, went over to SC to take pictures of Donna's Class, started the newsletter and co-hosted the chat over at My Creative Classroom. Whew! Could it be that that was enough? No, I'm sure not. I know I spent some time reviewing my notes on the melting pot, getting geared up for Friday night's class. It's sold out! WoW! I'm so excited that all those people are interested in learning more about a melting pot. It's a great tool to own. It's one of those tools, when you take it out you play with it for about two weeks straight. Then it sits there for about a month or two until you realize you love it and need to play again. Or at least, that's how I play with my melting pot! For those people in tomorrow nights class, the information I gave you about what the class is about was wrong. We're going to do MORE than we did last year in the class. You're going to leave with some awesome projects!! And if you'd like some more melting pot techniques, you can come back next month for an altered Autumn Beeswax Canvas. I'll try to remember to bring the canvas I did about my Mom. I'll dig it out and bring it tomorrow. I'll try to get a photo for the blog too!

So, we had a full day here at home today. I finally got my muse to come back home. She was missing for about a day and I tell ya... she didn't want to come back tonight. She must've been on a bender. She struggled and struggled but finally we were able to create something beautiful. First take a look at the mess we made...

And look at all the mistakes I had to make before she finally (my muse that is) sobered up and played nice...

And while I have no proof that my muse was drinking... let me just say some of those 'tries' above aren't up to par! I finally was able to be one with my muse and we created two beautiful cards. Here they are...

The first card needs a saying. I'm thinking we must have a stamp at the store that says "Happy Holidays!". I hope. Or I'll dig out one of my own! Both these cards are for the Christmas Card Camp that Donna and I are hosting on Saturday, September 20th. I believe there are a few spots left. Last I heard there were 4 but I could be wrong as I didn't catch a count this afternoon when I spoke to Bev. So, if you are interested in creating a metal snowman... call the Scrapbook Cupboard at 508-378-0008!! We're creating 8 cards that day. I'm teaching 4 and Donna's teaching 4! You'll walk away with 4 little snowmen and 4 little mice. Oh, ya... my mice. Well... one is done but I might jazz it up a bit. Now that I'm in the groove, I need to keep it flowing.

So, what else happened today? Lots! Patrick is sick. Poor guy. I hope he gets better soon. He's got a show on Sunday night and since he since about 80% of the time, he better rest that voice! Of course he has a cold with a sore throat!

My Mom came over today. We walked, had lunch, chatted about my Sisters and Brother, made plans to do a Pumpkin Patch hayride next month and then BAM! We saw an 18 wheeler take out part of the tree outside! Two houses down, this 18 wheeler just took a branch right off the tree!

You know, that picture makes it look so small. It was bigger in real life. I swear it! It must have been the photographer!!

I called the DPW and they came right down and took care of it. Of course it happened just about the time the bus was dropping off the boys. They thought it was neat! You know, that 18 wheeler... it never stopped. Just kept driving like nothing ever happened. Maybe that's where my muse was... drinking with the truck driver!!! Hmmmm...

I received the new metal kit from Walnut Hollow today as well. I'm gonna write a review about it. Monday. Review Monday, remember. If you are tempted to buy it, wait until after Monday and I'll explain the good parts and the bad parts about the kit and templates. I promise!

More fun will be had tomorrow...

Wanna Chat?

If you didn't get your My Creative Classrooms Newsletter, here it is...

My Creative Classroom Fall Semester Kick-Off!
*September 8th-12th

New Teacher Chat!*Come meet the brand new instructors we've added to our roster of talented teachers. Get to know some of them in our scheduled chats this Wednesday, September 10th. Topics to be discussed include: supply organization, upcoming classes, new teacher favorite crafts.

10am-12pm CST - Come meet Kim Fairbanks and Talitha Norris! Kim specializes in paper crafting and Talitha makes the most beautiful, woven baskets.

8pm-10pm CST - Come meet Kim Parkinson! Kim is certified in Ranger Industries Inks and Embossing Powders as well as 10 Seconds Studios Metal Effects.

Games and Prizes*Join in on some games and enter the drawings for prizes! You could win a FREE seat in one of our brand new courses. We have made it so simple to win! We don't want you to have to work to enter the raffle, we want you to have fun! Games like:
New Instructor's Scavenger Hunt-Get to know our new teachers by reading their profiles. Fill out the New Instructor's Scavenger Hunt "quiz" and your name will be entered in the drawing for one of the prizes.

New Instructor's Chat-Come meet our new teachers and see what great creative ideas and classes they will be offering. For those who participate in either chat, your name will be entered in the drawing for free class seats.

Upload your photo to your MCC profile. This one is super easy!

You will have to visit the MCC Student Activity Center to learn more ways to win!

It's all happening in the Student Activity Center!*

*To enter the MCC Student Activity Center you must be a registered user of My Creative Classroom. You will be prompted to log on or create a new user account when you click on the link.

Special Offer!*$5 Off-One, New Teachers' Workshop! During the MCC Fall Kick-Off we have a very special offer to our current newsletter subscribers. Receive $5 off when you sign up for one class offered from our new teacher, for many of our workshops this is a 40-50% savings. Below you will find a list of our newest MCC teachers, simply click on their names to see the classes they are offering. We have six new instructors; offering an amazing array of classes.

Kim Parkinson
Corina Brouwers
Krystie Bohmer
Kim Fairbanks
Janet Gade-Malone
Talitha Norris

To redeem your coupon:

Choose the workshop you wish to attend.
Email MCC with your name, email address and the workshop name.
Include the coupon code, MCCNT08, in the email.Once we have verified you are a newsletter subscriber we will send you a special invoice. Just pay the invoice and we will enroll in the class. But HURRY, this is a limited time offer. You must email us by September, 14th.*This is a limited time offer. You must email us by September, 14th 2008. Offer not valid with any other offer.

See you in the classroom!
Jeri Parks, MCC Founder

I hope to see some of you there tomorrow night. I'll be online in the Student Activity Center from 9-11PM. Come just to say Hi! or come for a long chat. Either way, I look forward to seeing some of you there!

Scrapbook Cupboard happenings

We had an employee meeting tonight at the Scrapbook Cupboard. Can I just tell you how lucky I am to work there? Not only do I meet great people when I'm there but I work with a bunch of great gals! And my boss is always super nice and very generous. I could ask for anything more!

While we don't have meetings too often, when we do get together, the ideas really get flowing. We have some fresh new classes coming this Fall and Holiday season. We're even implementing 'Express Classes'. How cool is that! You can now come in and take a class during the day. We have 3 talented teachers able to do a few daytime classes a month. Very exciting. We've had some Saturday or Sunday classes before but not week day classes. I think it's a cool idea! I can't wait. My first 'Express Class' will be a mini grungeboard album. It'll be on Thursday, October 9th from 1-2PM. It's only $15 and you're bound to learn a new technique or two. Here's a photo...

I'm sure you've seen it in the store before. I made it at a trade show last March but now you can have the opportunity to make one!

The October calendar isn't quite done, we're waiting on a few descriptions but if you are impatient, you can always view it online.

Bev tells me my Book Binding class is a hit. I brought in my sample this morning and several people signed up today. If you can't make it to the one next Sunday, we'll be doing an encore class in November. I'm working on a few other classes for October and November and I might have another announcement coming soon. But that's for another post. This one is just about SC.

Let's see... my Melting Pot class on Friday is sold out but I'm going to be doing a canvas using beeswax and the melting pot next month.

If you haven't signed up for the Silhouette class for Thursday, the 18th do it NOW! I'm only taking 6 people and I believe there is only 1 spot left! If you don't know how to use your Silhouette, this is the class for you!

Donna and my Christmas Card camp has 4 spots left! Donna tells me it would be helpful if I had my samples ready - that then the class would be sold out. She's right, I know it. I'll get them done tomorrow. I promise. Look for pictures. See now I'll be held accountable. The blog will hold me accountable. :-)

I think that's it' for the rest of September. As I said, I've got a few more things in the works but that's another days post. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We're back to school tomorrow. And homework starts...

Prom was great... & a class done!

The prom was wonderful! ... insert music here... There was festive fun in the air, mixed with bad girl hair - or just bad hair, pegged pants and some Bon Jovi. Eeek. Now that doesn't sound like me, does it? It was all for Kerriann. She's celebrating a birthday this weekend and she's an 80's nut. I didn't graduate high school until 93 so I only remembered the later stuff. But once I got going, I remembered Def Leppard, AC/DC, Megadeth, Quiet Riot, older Metallica and a few others. Traci and Kerriann. Well they were all about Bon Jovi and a bunch of other bands I'm not sure I remember. Oh, well. It was a BLAST anyhow!!!

Here are a few pictures of Kerriann doing Traci, Mimi and my make up and hair...

After getting all 'dolled up' we were ready to party!!!

The show was great. I do recommend it. Bring your dancing shoes as there's a lot of party dancing. They even taught you how to do the "Beat it!" dance and "Thriller" too. We had seats right up front, close to the stage where we got to see all the action. Our night was hosted by Sabrina Blaze, a drag Queen from Providence, RI. We had the school jock, geek, president and bad boy as well as the cheerleader, the validictorian, swedish exchange student, nerd and even the gay friend trying out for Prom Queen. It was jam packed with High School silliness. It sure was an awesome 80's prom!

After getting a good night sleep and taking a much needed shower to remove pink 'teasing' from my hair, I got to work on finishing my bookbinding class. Nothing like finishing it last minute. I know, I know. But it's done and... in my opinion... FABULOUS! I couldn't be happier with it. It's jammed with techniques. The class is Sunday, September 14th from 12-4PM at the Scrapbook Cupboard. Call to sign up if you are interested... 508-378-0008. You'll learn metal embossing, long stitch book binding, plenty of masking and misting, misting with templates, a few Ranger techniques and you are guaranteed to learn something new. Ok, well... even if you don't, you're gonna have fun! Here are some pictures for you to see what I'm talking about...