Just WOW!!!!

Wow, did May just fly past?  I can hardly remember what happened in May...so much going on...both on a crafty level, as well as a personal level...those who are close to me know what happened...

So, let's jump into the thick of it....I'm busy busy busy preparing for many classes that I have scheduled....(see my teaching schedule to the right)....

That said, let me summarize the classes....COPIC, Silhouette, Eclips, Acrylic Albums, Vacation Albums, and more....

On top of all that, I just finished a whirlwind day of teaching at The Crafty Scrapper.  It was a Private Reserve class that was filled up with some wonderfully crafty ladies who are also my friends.  We enjoyed working on a Texas License Plate album for their travels, as well as the travels of our locals....we spent the entire day together, starting with lunch at Tuscan Slice....all I can say was that they nearly had to roll me out of there...  :)  Sooooo delish!!  Then we had our class....tons of fun and that was followed by some major shopping!!

I personally want to thank the staff at The Crafty Scrapper for opening their store for our class, and being so helpful and delightful throughout the day!!  A special shout out to Gena!!  You ROCK, girl!!

We ended our day together at Spring Creek BBQ!!  YUM YUM!!  I think our out of towners really enjoyed gettin' their grub on....all I can say is "dessert anyone"!!  Or better yet, can't wait to see you again soon....Safe Travels, dear friends!!

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Happy Happy Birthday........well, almost

Need I say more?  See you all there....  :)

A little bit of this....and a little bit of that....

So, I've been busy working on projects for upcoming classes and events.....I'll do a quick recap here, for those of you who haven't been keeping up...  :)

April 6th - I'll be teaching the 3rd in a series of classes on the Eclips machine from Sizzix.  We will be focusing on creating cut files from jpgs, and more....

April 13th - Make~n~Take Birthday Bash.....we'll be creating a western tag using the Eclips machine and Tim Holtz's western stamp set and the Stamp2Cut feature.

April 20th - Disney Boardbook Class....we'll be using Maya Road and October Afternoon products, along with a bunch of other products to capture our Disney memories....past or future....

Then in May, I'll be teaching a general TRAVEL Boardbook class....for those of us who don't always travel to Disney.

(PHOTO COMING SOON)

June - in June, I'll be teaching a Summer Acrylic Album....titled "We All Scream"....then the following day, I have a private class that I'll be teaching at the Crafty Scrapper.  I'll be having fun with a group of ladies....locals and internationals....  :)    Can't wait!!

(PHOTOS COMING SOON)

That should take us through this 2nd quarter of 2013.......

I hope 2013 has been a crafty year for you thus far......until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

A little bit of this....a little bit of that....

Wondering what I've been working on?  Well, the title pretty much sums it up....

I'm working on Class Kits, Class Samples for all my upcoming classes, a sample for the Make-n-Take Madness at the Crafty Scrapper, and or course working on fused glass projects.  Of course that's not all I do with my spare time...I do try and work in some LEGO projects, as well as some video gaming, and time with my loved ones.  Oh, and let's not forget working on the plans for our Disneyland vacation.  Mr. Bear has never been to DisneyLAND, so this should be a fun adventure.  I haven't been since 1997...so it's long overdue.

I've also recently decided that I want to try Project Life with a Disney flair....ala Project Mouse....so I've been acquiring items for that project to begin.  Why?  Because I will probably be teaching a bit about Project Life and how it works, etc...in other words, I'll be heavily involved with my tablet and laptop.  As if I don't get to sit behind a computer all day at work...lol....

All this, and a bit of sleep.....no wonder my hair (the hair that remains) has quickly turned gray...lol...

I think I'll end this entry with a sample of one of the many things that I've been working on....can't show the entire thing, so I'll leave it at this...

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Ooooh....

Yup, guess what...I just updated the class schedule again.....lol....told you to keep an eye out....you just never know when a class you've been asking for will be offered....

Until next time...I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Classes, Classes, and more Classes....

Yup, it's a busy time of year....I just love teaching....maybe it's the big ham in me, I don't know...but I really do love teaching what I know....

So, I'm just posting to say that I'm updating my class schedule.....again!!  Keep an eye on it, it gets updated all the time...

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Disney bound...

No, we're not headed to Disney.....until later this year....but I did work on a Disney boardbook, as you may recall...the sample is complete, and filled with pictures of our last trip (2011)...so I'm excited to be showing you a sneak peek of a portion of the cover...and yes, that Tinkerbell is Chipboard, so she's nice and sturdy....gotta love those pop dots.....the sample will be heading to The Crafty Scrapper this weekend to be displayed....the class isn't until April 20th....so plenty of time to decide if you want to take the class....I hope you do....we're going to have fun in this class....AND I think I'm going to have some trivia during class....Disney trivia, of course.....hmmmm, should I do prizes!!??!!  I think so....  :)

Anyway, I certainly hope you can make it to my class...

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Some Teaching and Visiting...

So, over the weekend I had the opportunity to teach a class on using Gamsol with your colored pencils to color  your stamped images.  The ladies had very good questions for me, which I was able to answer, and we created a couple of cards after we did our practicum (yes, I teach with practicum in every class)....I believe in a total "hands on" approach before we begin our projects.

We began with this very simple bear from Inky Antics (Benton Bear is his name)...and they have a nice selection of Benton in various situations....we utilized the My Favorite Things Hexagon border die for this card.

Then we progressed to this card, with Pampered Benton....what a fun card this was to make...we also utilized Spellbinders dies, and a die from Memory Box, as well as a 1" circle punch to finish it out.  What do you think?  Not too bad, eh?

After teaching, we departed and headed to the Scrapbook Expo being held at the Gaylord Texan.  Well, that turned out to be a reunion of sorts.  I ran into some old friends, and many of my students (current and former)....it turned out to be a great visit, and just wish I had more time to spend chatting.

So, did you get the chance to create some things this weekend?  Or did you catch up with some old friends?
I hope you got to do both.

Well, until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

A Sneak Peek

Ok, so I finished my new class sample for my upcoming Disney Vacation Mini Boardbook class, and thought it might be nice to post a picture as a sneak peek (and to prove I've actually been busy crafting...lol)....I'm using a Maya Road boardbook, and using October Afternoon's Cakewalk line of papers...along with tons of other product.

I hope you've had a chance to be crafty....if not, get to it!!  ;)

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Classes, Classes and more Classes...

So I'm busy working up samples for upcoming classes.  I've taken a few snippets of pics to post here, since I'm not ready to show the finished projects....yet...now remember, these are just snippets, so they might not even be totally in focus...but you'll get the idea...

First up:  April class...

Next up is MAY!!

Yes, you guess right....mini books...April's project will focus on Disney Vacations, while May's project will focus on general vacations (non-Disney)...

As for June, I don't have a snippet yet...but I can tell you that it will be an Acrylic book....and the title of the class is:  We All Scream....I think you get the idea  ;)

Anyway, I hope you have a chance to be crafty this weekend....

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Working on Samples...

So, as I've stated before, I'm busy working on classes and as such, have been working up class samples.  First up, here's a tag I've made using the Tim Holtz Stamp2Cut system, along with the Eclips....it's to attach to the etched jar that we'll be making in class.

Also, I'm working up a Disney vacation boardbook.  Here's the beginning stage on my cover.  I've worked on several pages inside, but they're even less developed than this cover....check back later for developments on this class project.

I hope you've having the chance to work on some projects of your own.

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!

Going Old School

Yup, I recently decided to organize my scrap stuff...and in the process came across some OLD Sizzix Sizzlets...among them are some of my old faves....never used them, but had to have them at the time....so without further ado....

 

Also, in the process of working on the project for my class in June, I decided to give the Cricut Stamp Making Kit a try....here's my observations....if you follow the instructions on the back of the kit to the letter, the material cuts like butter...however, when attempting to use the stamp, I got less than stellar performance....I believe that it's due to the same issue that most acrylic stamps have...you have to "scratch" the surface before using them...in other words, acrylic stamps usually have a "film" on them that needs to be broken, in order for the ink to properly adhere to the stamp, for a clean stamped image.  But that was just my experience.  Overall, I'm still playing with it, and haven't given up on it.  Next, up, will be an experiment with the Cricut Embossing Folder making kit.  I'll post my results here as well.

 

Until next time, I hope you have a RIPArts kind of day!!