Having FUN!!

I'm out for a girls weekend, having fun! Playing, creating, cropping, drinking, eating, laughing, cutting, gluing, singing and sleeping a tiny bit! Here's a picture of my friend Fran...

And Traci...

I created this piece, although unless it clears a little, I'm going to have to redo when I get home with clearer beeswax.

Have you ever been to a scrapbooking crop and pulled out a melting pot, some wax and a Kandi tool? Boy, you gather some spectators FAST!

Unity Candle pics here!

When was my last post? Whew, last Friday! Wow! What have I been up to?


Well on Friday night I taught the UTEE bead class at the Scrapbook Cupboard. I got a few great pictures off during the class, take a peek...

8 people came by for this Friday Feature. Friday Features was thought up by Jeanne but I'm the one who has been mostly teaching them. For only a $10 fee, you learn something quick and easy during the two hour class. For instance, we've done a basic on Dream Weaver Paste Embossing, played with Claudine Hellmuth's Paints, a basic stamping class, these UTEE beads and next month is all about Ink. Ink Savvy. It'll be a chance to stamp all the different types of inks in one place. You'll see their differences and their similarities. I'll have hand outs and it'll be mostly hands on all night. The Ink Savvy Friday Feature class is on Friday, April 24th and it's sure to sell out.

On Saturday, I went down to Johnston, Rhode Island to teach and play at Bella Art. I taught the Metal Embossing Basics class and was happy to take a peek around their store. It's a beautiful space, stuffed with lots and lots of stamps! Marianne was a wonderful hostess. Thank you to all those in class and perhaps you'll see me at Bella Art again someday!


Saturday night I was back at the Scrapbook Cupboard for the Circle Journal Crop. I'm the hostess/teacher for the Circle Journal at the Scrapbook Cupboard. I finally put my journal in. Wreck This! has been started. I think it's going to be a fun one!


Last night I taught my first Copics class. Copics 101. A lot of talking, a lot of knowledge and some play for everyone. I'm really excited about starting the Copic Collection Class next month. The first class is just about sold out and a second (encore class) has been placed on the books. You can find out more information about the Copic Collection here.


On another note... my Sister came over yesterday for Lunch. She's the newly married Mrs. Daley. She brought the wedding photos.

Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Loads of beautiful photos of her and everyone else. It was wonderful to look through.

The photographer got a great photo of the ring I made for the wedding as well as the Unity Candle. No one else in the family seems to have a good picture of either. So, I took pictures of the pictures to share here. I know that the pictures aren't mine. The pictures were taken by a photographer for Hudson Photography in Easton, MA. I give complete credit to them for taking the photo. I just really wanted to be able to share my creations here and silly me, forgot to take my own photos.

So, that being said... here they are... - sorry, you'll have to tilt your head for some of them. I really should have had them upright but I didn't want to loose anymore of the resolution...



I'm getting my things together to go away for the weekend. A long weekend away with some of my good friends. I can't wait, I need a little break.

What have I been up to?

Lots.

On Tuesday, I went to Blue Hills and taught the Metal Embossed Book Binding class. This is the last time in this format. I'm going to make them a little bigger now. I think people will like the new format and with the Large Molds from Ten Seconds Studio being discontinued, I decided that creating a book that you could use either a Kabuka mold or a Big Daddy Mold was in order.

Cyndy and Crystal were in my class again this semester at Blue Hills. Hi Ladies!! Cyndy is a big fan of paranormal books like me. She actually sent me a link to the Karen Moning books. If you haven't read them, you can get the first book in audio format free on her website. Good Stuff!

Wednesday and Thursday I spent gathering my ducks (and courage!). I am now the proud owner of KEP Creations. KEP Creations is the name of my new business adventure. This will allow me to keep my teaching career seperate from my employment career. With lots more promise on the horizon, I really thought it best to keep the two seperated. And... this will allow me to offer classes at the best reasonable price. ~ and we all want that, right! So, if you are looking for a metal effect teacher in your area, you can now contact me at KEPCreations@verizon.net.

Tonight I begin my 4 class tour of the weekend. I'm offering a Friday Feature tonight at the Scrapbook Cupboard on UTEE Beads.

Tomorrow I will be at Bella Art in Rhode Island for Metal Techniques 1 and for the Metal Embossed Frame. There is still some spots left in each class so if you are interested and you're in the Johnston, RI area give them a call... 401-383-0199.

Tomorrow night, I'll be back at the Scrapbook Cupboard for the Circle Journal Crop. We've got a great bunch of gals who get together every 6-8 weeks and work on each other's circle journals. This month I'm putting a new one in the fold. It's called "Wreck This!" and it's supposed to be ready for tomorrow night. I haven't started it yet. Yah, I know. But first I must work on my first CJ assignment, my friend Fran's "Bucket List". Awesome topic!

Sunday is my only weekend day home for the entire month of March. I'm going to spend most of it in my PJ's and snuggling with my boys.

***I know I promised a tutorial, several times over the last few weeks. I am working on it. It will get up there. Keep checking back. I WILL get it done! Thanks for understanding and for hanging in there!

One thing I am NOT...

A domestic goddess. Yuck!

After teaching at both the Scrapbook Cupboard and Ink About It, meeting tons of new people, making new friends, talking to old friends and having a BLAST! I enjoyed a little down time on Monday morning playing with some Copic Markers and my friend Susan. Last night I read and answered my emails and then took a nap. I snuggled with my boys and watched House. Oh, and baked some cookies...

But today...

Ugh...

I've spent most of the day cleaning house. Let me just say that watching HOUSE is a whole lot more fun than cleaning house. I really need a maid. Someone to come in and deep clean everything for me. My curtains, the crevices, the windows, you know that stuff. I look at those things and I look the other way... afraid. No, there's nothing creepy crawly, it's just dusty. With three cats, one medium sized dog, two active boys, a husband who is a mechanic, things tend to get dusty.

Tonight, I'm teaching a class at Blue Hills Regional School. I'm teaching the Metal Book Binding book. It's very cool. One of my most requested classes, actually! I'm going to revamp it for the Spring. Perhaps I'll get a chance to do some of it tonight while the people at Blue Hills are working on their books.

Tomorrow I have the day off. Off from classes, (and now from cleaning the house - since it's as clean as it's getting!). Tomorrow I hope I wake to find myself creative. I have ideas and they must come out!

Will I see YOU?

I'm kitting up classes for this weekend. Take a peek at the order of metal I got in yesterday!

So, today I've got it all out and I'm ready to finish cutting and packing for class. Will I see YOU this weekend?

Coming up...

Sorry about the double post. The 13 new metalheads one was supposed to have been posted earlier today. Hmmm...


I was busy making kits today. Kits for my upcoming classes. I've got a very busy weekend ahead of me and I'm a little afraid. No, not the teaching part. I can emboss metal in my sleep and I'm sure I could teach people how to do it while snoozing too. ...but I'm a little afraid because everyone in my house has had the stomach bug within the last 4 days except me. Maybe it'll pass right over me??? Please!! I feel a little like a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off. I shouldn't think about it. I'm going to get plenty of rest, lots of fluids and pray. Pray that I'm skipped this time around.






So anyhow, I've been cutting metal all day or making samples for next Friday's "Friday Feature - UTEE Beads" at the Scrapbook Cupboard. For only $10 I'll provide the materials and the know how and you can try your hand at - and then practice - making 3 different types of beads.

Now, I'm not a jewelry maker. But I know a thing or two about the melting pot and UTEE, so I put these together. In real life, these colors do look better together. I guess my lighting was all wrong.

But before next Friday, I have lots of other classes coming up. March is a busy month for me.

Let's see...On Friday, I'll be teaching Metal Embossing Basics 1 at the Scrapbook Cupboard. Then on Saturday, I'm heading back up to Ink About It for a sold out Metal Emboss Basics 1 and then the Mirrored Metal class (there's still a few spots I think!). On Sunday, I'm back at the Scrapbook Cupboard for Metal Magenta Cards (which is almost full - one or two spots maybe?) and then that evening, I'm teaching a private class. Next Tuesday, the 10th, I'll be at Blue Hills Regional School for the Metal Bookbinding Class. Whew! And even after the UTEE Beading class, I'm still going, going, going... I'll be heading down to Bella Art on Saturday, the 14th for the day for two classes.

And it doesn't end there...

I'm having a ton of fun. I get to meet lots of new people. I thoroughly enjoy the process of teaching and watching people learn. I love when they have that "Ah-ha!" moment. That's what is rewarding to me. I try to always ask after each class, "Did you learn something new?" Because that's my goal. To bring something to each of my students that they didn't have before. Often in class people ask if they can do something totally different than my example. My answer is YES! I'm just here to show you and teach you how it's done. I'm here to inspire, give your creative process with a jumping point. And if you jump and fall, I'm there to help you back up.

But I sure do love when students fly!

13 new metalheads!

Last Friday, the 27th of February I was here:

That's Ink About It in Westford, MA. I taught the Metal Embossing Basics 1 class for 13 enthusiastic students. Only a few had touched metal before so they were all newbies. Yah!

We had fun embossing, debossing, puffing, rubbing, sanding, spackling, stamping, cuttlebugging, wheeling, refining, buying and laughing! In two hours we completed 8 technique tags. It was a great time. I had a blast! So much fun, I think I'll do it again soon! (like maybe Saturday?!)

Thank you to everyone who came to class! You made it fun! I appreciate that you gave me a chance and let me come show you the ins and outs of metal embossing. I look forward to doing it again soon!

Some Acknowledgements...

Over the weekend I received my other Valentine's Blog Party Winning. I won two prizes that day, from two different blogs. This one is an adorable vintage heart with a Best Friend Label on it. I was awarded this by Rebecca, owner of the Just Giddy Blog. Don'tcha just love that name?!


Thank you, Rebecca! I love it!!

And the other day I was given a special blog award! Penny sent me this award...

The Premio Dardos award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.The rules are:1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.2) Pass the award to another 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. -

How am I suppose to choose 15 blogs? There are so many out there. So, if you feel that your blog fits the criteria of this award, it's yours! Let me know as a comment and I'll post a link to you blog here.

I completed my Copic Certification!

Yah! I'm now a Copic Certified Designer. I traveled to Absolutely Everything this AM and spent 7 hours with the wonderful Sally Lynn MacDonald. There were a total of 25 students in the class. I believe all were either store owners, employees or designers.

This morning I brought 5 Copics with me. That's all I owned. This morning all I owned was a Yellow Ciao, a Brown Ciao, a Red, Yellow and Pink "Square one".

This afternoon, I own a mixture of Originals, Sketches, Ciao's, a wide, a refill, a Spica (OK, I did own all those prior to going), some multiliners and 14 pages of notes on how to use them. Yes, I took 14 pages of handwritten notes on everything Copic. They also gave you tons of handout information as well as a couple of great resources. Oh, and a large bottle of Colorless Blending Solution.

I can now comfortably tell you the dfference between an Original, Ciao, Sketch and Wide and tell you how best to use them. I can tell you how to best choose your colors, explain to you the color family, clarity and intensity of colors. I can use the brush tips, the chisel tips, the pointed tips. I can refill a pen, change a tip and use the airbrush.

Whew! I know that's not all. I brought some metal to try the copics on and I had some mixed results. I'll test some more this week before putting it into a class. Right now I'll start my copic classes with just cardstock. Oh, yah... I know how to choose the best cardstock too! And the best ink, and how to test each one. I know why you should own a Copic Multiliner and so much more!

My first Copic Class at the Scrapbook Cupboard is Tuesday, March 17th. This class is already half full! I believe it will be rerun either the 16th or 17th of April as well.

Oh, and before I leave... I now know that before today I actually owned an E29 and a Y11 Ciao, a R39, YR21 and R11 Original. Now... well, I'm up to 23 colors total. Well on my way! Only 299 more to go....