Wow!

I woke up this morning at about 7:30 - I'm trying to get back into the routine of having the kids go to school (which starts Wednesday).  I wake the kids, feed the cat and dog, get dressed and make breakfasts'.  I sit down to eat my breakfast and the phone rings.  

Figures...

I look at Caller Id and see it's my friend Susan.  Well she's already hung up, so I call her back.  She answers the phone...

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!"

My first thought is, "huh?"  Then she says, "You've won the Stampers Quest Trail Blazer Contest!!!"

WHAT!!!!  No way!  I did???  Are you sure??? - All these things are rolling through my mind as we continue our conversation.

But sure enough, thanks to everyone who voted, I have been annouced as the Trail Blazer Contest Winner for Stampers Quest Ezine.  (some people asked me what an ezine is - it's an electronic magazine.)

So, my entry was voted the best representation of the "Quest Theme"!  Wow!  I'm so thrilled!

I won a great prize pack as well as my blog will be listed on the Stampers Quest Ezine Artistic Guides Blog Roll!  I'll also have a spot as a guest designer and join the team with some mothly sketch samples.  How exciting!!!

I've been asked to provide step by step instructions for my card.  I'm going to post those tomorrow AM.  Check back here then.

A BIG Thank YOU to everyone who voted for me along the way. I'm so honored!!

Final Round...

With vacation all week and some other projects I had to work on, I didn't get to my Trail Blazer contest until this AM.  I'm really bummed too, because it's not really one of my best works.  But I had to submit something and I thought it fit into the theme of "quest". 

Yes, it's another scenic card but it's all done with a stencil system I bought while up at Maine-ly Stamps.  The stencil and the reflection tree stamp is from CC Rubber Stamps.  The mallard is by Repeat Stamps.  So this is a little different than the other scenic card.  I had fun with the stencil system.  It was super easy and fun to work with.

I really had a tough time trying to fit into the "Quest" theme but it appears as though I took the project a little too literal.  You can check out the other submissions and you're welcome to vote at the Stamper's Quest Yahoo group:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stampersquestcontests/surveys?id=2545626

Tonight I'm working on some class stuff while hubby watches the football game...

Whale Watching....

For our vacation we decided to stay home.  Mostly Patrick wanted to rest his back and we didn't really have the cash to do anything big.  But the ONE thing I really wanted to do was go whale watching.  And we did!

Take a look at the faces of these kids after we saw some whales!

It was quite an amazing day! Even though it took us about 1 and 1/2 hours to get to the whale but when we did, what sites we saw!  We mostly followed a Mom and her calf.  The Mom was slapping the water with her fins (they told us they were cleaning the barnacles off of them) and the calf was having fun BREACHING!  Yes!  We saw this whale breach about 6 times.  What an amazing site.  We never got a good picture of the breach but several of the splash.  Here are a few really good ones from the day...

Another amazing day with my family.

On vacation...

We're on vacation this week.  A 'staycation' if you will.  Today I took a road trip with Bobbi from Just Imagine Crafts.  She drove me up to Maine-ly Stamps in Kittery, Maine.  I didn't realize that Kittery was only about 2 hours away from my house!  I don't know where I've lived all my life!!!!! 

Anyhow, we headed here:

Main-ly Stamps is an adorable stamp store just North of the Kittery outlets.  We went up there to take a Stampscapes class from one of the owners, Richard.  He was a patient and understanding teacher.  Funny, witty and a great guy.  We made three cards.  I'll have to upload them but not now.  Tomorrow we are off to Plymouth for a whale watching tour.  I can't wait!  And hope the kids enjoy it.  I'm off to get some rest.

Masculine Card...

It's been a busy week here - as always.  With that being told, I didn't get to even start my Masculine Card for the Stampers Quest Ezine Trail Blazer contest until last night. 

...At about 1AM last night. 

I realized at about 11:30PM last night that I didn't have too many manly stamps.  I don't know why.  I have a husband, two boys, a father, a father in law, a brother, even a brother in law (or 2), a nephew, several grandfathers so why I didn't own many masculine stamps to choose from, I'm clueless.  I have the old stand-by Stampers Anonymous car stamp.  It may be an old Ford or other old car I'm not sure.  I love that stamp and even used it for a card I sent my Grandfather earlier this Summer but it didn't fit into the train of thought I had on the card I wanted. 

I really wanted to be able to use one of the sketches I was assigned for the Fall kickoff at My Creative Classroom.  I was going to kill one bird with two stones here.  And I did.

But not until 1AM.

I used the "Wintry Owls" stamp from Memory Box.  Along with a little wood grain paper and some Dark Chocolate Metal and I came up with this:

I think it fits the 'Masculine" bill but I suppose it could be for just about anyone.  I was going to give it to hubby for his birthday next month but while rummaging for masculine stamps, I found a "Rock Star" stamp set that I'll use instead. Yippee!

Don't forget, voting on the Stampers Quest Ezine started today and ends at midnight on Sunday.  This time there are 7 of us competing and only 5 can go on to the next round.  We're almost to the end!  You can click here to vote.

And on Monday, I'll be buying some "Masculine stamps" at Fran's Stampin Up party!  As Caleb says, "Be Prepared!"

The Metal Sampler is ready!

Here it is... my Metal Sampler...

I'm very pleased with it.  This is a class I've been working on.  I just love when something that's in your head makes it to real life and then looks even better than you thought.  I think this class is going to be a hit.  Honestly, this is like having three metal technique classes in one.  OK, you don't learn every technique I do in the Metal Techniques 1, 2 and 3 but you do get to learn many of the basics and become familiar with the metal.

I have two options for you to take part in this class. 

In person this class will be offered on Sunday, September 27th from 12-4 at the Scrapbook Cupboard.  All supplies will be provided and the project will be completed in about 3 hours.  You can sign up for this class immediately.

If you don't live in the area, I'll also be teaching this online through My Creative Classroom starting the following day, Monday, September 28th.  The class will span over three weeks and it doesn't come with any product, just complete instructions.  Registration for this class begins on September 1st.

Visit the sites to find out more information.

Waiting until the last possible moment....

OK, I still can't update you on the other thing from yesterday but I can show you what I've been feverishly working on today...

My class for TONIGHT, yes tonight!  Copic Collection class with Copic Markers using the Air Brush System at the Scrapbook Cupboard.  Here are the samples I made for class...

The card on the left will be the background for a stampscape image.  I made several of these to demonstrate how it's done.  The card on the right uses a Dream Weaver stencil.  The entire coloring of the image is done with the airbrush system!

And then the little mouse in the middle, he's colored in with Copic's and then we use a mask to airbrush the background. 

I finished typing up all the directions (you get complete directions WITH photos in each of the Copic Collection classes!)  And all directions are printed, now to collate and get dressed into some proper work clothes.  Only an hour to get dinner done and eaten before I must leave for work.

Phew.  I vow not to leave anything until the last minute again!  (...for today, anyway!)