Our Favorite Tulips

Every May we head up to Door County to see the tulips. Every year I take pictures of our favorite tulips on our favorite stone wall. And every year I still scrap them because they are beautiful!

 I beyond love this paper from Simple Stories. The colors are not your normal spring colors. The pink is more of a salmon tone, the yellow is a mustard shade, the blue is a little muted from aqua, and the green is a light olive. Different but beautiful!

I love the chevron in the paper, I love the quote and the butterflies. I did a lot of fussy cutting to make those butterflies pop, but it is pretty awesome!

 The blue stamp is from Close to My Heart. I borrowed it from a gal at the crop I went to.  I'm thinking it's one I might need for my collection.

I'm looking forward to all the spring activities to come! I miss my bike, my runs, and being outside in the fresh air. I'm ready to garden and have more daylight.

Ice Day 2013

This past April we had some crazy weather. We had snow the day I threw my cousin's bridal shower, the next weekend we went hiking in our shorts, and the week after that we had a 2 hr delay for some ice.

This past weekend I went to a crop. The temp was 34, so it was all rain on the radar. Little did I know that the ground was so cold from our -20's snap that everything froze on contact and the pre-treatment and the salt were minimally effective. So come leaving at 11pm I was in for a nasty surprise. It was a major skating rink. I've never driven in anything so bad in my entire life. Next time I will heed the warnings a bit better.

So I created this page in honor of the ice this spring. I was able to walk on the grass because it crunched under my feet this day. Saturday was completely a different type of situation.

 I've been hemming and hawing about this page. I hated the paper I had picked. I eventually came upon the navy and red color combo, and it struck me! I used some plain Coordinations paper for this page. I cut the snowflakes out using my Silhouette. I strategically placed each one on the page, and then cut them out.

I used my iRock and some Paper Studio gems to bling up the otherwise plain snowflakes. My Smooch ink was an absolute mess. It was clogged up and would not spray nicely.

Here's to hoping for a warmer spring and no more ice. How many days til Groundhogs day?

A Special Award

Over the weekend my friend Mandi nominated me for the Liebster Award. I was very honored to be nominated for this! I started my blog as a way for my family to keep up with me while I was away at college. It has grown to be such a great place.

 This is an aware for bloggers who have less than 200 followers. After being nominated you have to answer the questions your nominator asks you, and tell 11 random facts about yourself. Then you get to nominate anywhere from 5 to 11 of your favorite blogs!

 11 Random Facts about Me:

1: I am a bilingual special education teacher. I teach grades 1st-5th this year. I have a lot more boys than girls this year. I teaching a combo of Spanish and English. I find myself thinking and processing more in Spanish these days. I even dream in Spanish now. I will stutter over a word trying to figure out how I want to say it in English.

2: I got through a 5.5 year Bachelor's Degree Program in 4.5 years!!! I took some crazy 18 credit semester, and went 3 years straight-through the summers, to get out sooner! It all paid off in the end.

3: I got into my job thanks to some nasty weather. I got the interview based on a mock interview as part of a graduation requirement thanks to bad weather. The district I student taught with offered to let me mock interview in town, instead of drive 3.5+ hrs in bad ice back to the university. It paid off and they called me back for a real interview!

4: I am starting my Masters Degree!!! It's a bit complicated to explain, but I'm very excited to be going back to school. I absolutely love to learn and enjoy taking classes.

5: I have the most ridiculous food allergies. I am airborne allergic to apples. I'm allergic to a great deal of raw fruits and veggies. I have some gluten intolerance issues as well. 

6: That being said I still love to eat and cook. I have a weakness for a good dry sharp cheddar cheese. I could like on Fettuccine Alfredo, Dr. Pepper, and Sour Cream and Onion Lays. I'm a total food snot and a restaurant snot. I don't see eye to eye on my family about this. My sister and I do love a certain winery because they carry awesome cheese.

7: Right now I don't miss an episode of Big Bang Theory and Modern Family. I think I've seen every episode from both of these series. I just love Sheldon-since I spend my days with a bunch of mini Sheldon's.

8: I love to exercise. I run, bike and my newest obsession is kickboxing. I feel super guilty doing any type of project if I haven't exercised. I especially love to be outside when I can. But in the winter you will find my at kickboxing class.

9: I'd much rather be on an outdoor adventure than crafting. I'm a big believer of making the memories when I can....and scrapping them in the winter. When it is nice you will find me hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, pretty much anywhere on the water. I love to take my camera along on these days. I love being at my relatives houses and in Door County.

10: I've never traveled abroad. I've been in Canada for a few hours way back when I was a kid before you needed any passports or ID's. I would like to visit Central America/Mexico and Europe someday. I absolutely love to travel and I love to learn new things. I like to take my pictures and my new knowledge back to my classroom. Someday I want to immerse myself in the culture of a Spanish speaking country.

11: I'm a secret Disney lover. I've only been there once but I want to go back again. I never got to see the fireworks thanks to Chrysler's horrid road side assistance. I missed them on my birthday because the tow truck took 3.5 hrs more than what they told us to show up. I love roller coasters and all those amusements. Pinterest only makes the craving worse.

Mandi asked me the following 11 random questions:

1. Do you have a hidden stash of treats in you scrappy space. Since I have my own apartment, I don't really have to stash anything, unless my sister comes to visit. Otherwise I usually have Dr. Pepper and something salty in the pantry. At school you would definitely find a stash of treats in the file cabinet :) 
2.  Do have any pets? Sadly I don't have any pets right now. Since I am starting my Masters Degree, I decided this was not the time for a pet. I wouldn't be able to get home between work on the nights I have class to take care of a pet. Someday I would love to get a dog- preferably a pug.
3. How often do you go grocery shopping? Only once a week. Anyone who knows me in person knows I'm super organized. I make a menu for the week and shop only once. I do pretty well with sticking too it. I clean all my fruits and veggies after I grocery shop, so I can pack quick lunches during the week. In the summer/early fall I will hit the farmers market in addition to the grocery story on Saturday mornings. I love my fresh local produce!
4. What is you favorite type of craft do you like to do? I enjoy scrapbooking the most. I love to capture the story along with the pictures, and preserve it for the future. I enjoy the learning that comes with trying new techniques and experimenting with different medias. Photography also goes hand in hand with scrapbooking, so I enjoy taking pictures as well.
5. What are you looking forward in the new year? I'm definitely excited for starting on my Masters Program! I know this will further my classroom and my teaching. Other than that, I'm just looking forward to winter being done. I'm about ready to hibernate until it is done being cold or just plain icy.
6. Are you messy, organized or some where in the middle? OCD organized. I love my label maker. My scrapbook loft has a place for everything....even if it is the floor on occasion. My students clean up and put everything right back where it belongs, and I barely have to say anything. I like everything having a place and putting it all away. I have the most beautiful kitchen cupboards.
7. When you was little were you a girly girl or a tomboy? Are you still like that now? I think I was somewhere in the middle as a kid. I liked to play sports but I also enjoyed cleaning up and getting girly. I probably am a little more on the girly side now. I definitely put on make up and do my hair for work every day. I have fun getting dressed up for weddings and fun events! I love buying fun shoes!
8. Where is your favorite vacation spot? Why? It would be a tie between Door County and Florida. I love the beach and being on the water. No matter what I enjoy the family time wherever we are. I really like taking adventures and trying something new, especially with my camera in tow. Both of these places have all my favorites: swimming, beach, relaxing, shopping, and outdoor adventures.
9. Favorite ice cream? Play dough- its a cross of blue moon and cookie dough. It's obnoxious but I'm definitely not the only grown up at Wilson's walking out with a big cone. I can only find it at a few places all across Wisconsin. They don't sell it in the grocery store for some reason, so it's a treat!
10.  Favorite hot drink? I'm really enjoying the Caramel Brulee Latte's from Starbucks. I love ANYTHING with caramel in it. And this is just up my alley. Thankfully Starbucks is way out of the way from work, so I don't go often.
11. What site is your go to source for inspiration? I go to Pinterest and follow the usually linky party. I'll end up on blogs for ideas, You Tube for techniques, and of course shopping sites. I start there and see where it goes. I like to look at sketches for scrapbooking and I try to save videos for snowdays.  

My 11 questions for my nominee's:

1. What do you normally blog about?
2. Where do you call home?
3. Do you have any pets?
4. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
5. What is your favorite season?
6. Where do you look for inspiration?
7. Where in the world would you like to visit?
8. What is one weakness of yours?
9. Where is your favorite vacation destination?
10. How long have you been blogging and why did you start? 
11. What are three goals you have for the future?

And last but not least by nominee's are:

1. Nicole: from my LSS here in town: http://shezigzags.blogspot.com/
2. Susan: from the old Creating Keepsakes board: http://ott2scrap.blogspot.com/ 
3. April: from Skrap n Chat: http://livewelllaughoftenscrapmuch.blogspot.com/
4. Jennifer: from the old Creating Keepsakes board: http://midwestscrapgarden.blogspot.com/
5. I Teach Dual Language: a favorite bilingual blog: http://iteachduallanguage.blogspot.com/

My New Bike

As I'm getting this post typed up, we just called our third cold day in a row. Which means we have to start making days up in June. I'm actually getting a little fried of crafting. I've been couped up for over 50 hrs straight now. But these spring pictures are helping me get through a little bit. And watching HGTV while I scrap.

 

I made this page after I made my first real purchase after getting my job this spring. I'm a big fan of bike riding, and I've never bought myself a high end bike before, so I splurged!

I cut the circles out of my patterned paper with my old Creative Memories cutters, and then used veneers and gelatos to fill the space. The twine is from The Twinery and I made the journalling card.

 The paper was from  Basic Grey, I don't remember what specific line. I really liked the green, blue, and tan tones, as they all are very fitting for Wisconsin weather.

 I am having lots of fun with my Silhouette. I've been downloading lots of different fonts, to match my different pages. I have not experimented too much with shapes yet.

 I am also working on blending with my Distress Inks to make my journalling tags match the pages better. I need to get a few more colors to complete my collection, I might just have to stop by Archivers before they all all gone. I'm very sad to see they are closing, I really enjoyed my runs down there to shop.

 I absolutely love the bike veneer from Studio Calico. My entire family enjoys biking, so I know these will get great use. I'm thinking spring here, stay warm!

Happy Cold Day...from the Artic

Well the windchill here is -42 right now. I enjoyed my day off from school scrapbooking all day long. Otherwise I would not be blogging during the work week. And at 11am we got "the call" that we are off on Tuesday. I was able to finish days 1-20 of my December Daily. So the master plan of Tuesday morning is lesson plans for next week and then back to scrapbooking.

I am excited to share this page with you. I took these pictures in April of 2013. Hard to believe three month from now it will be warm again and I can wear shorts and go running. It seems so far from impossible right now.

 I found this lone piece of Echo Park paper laying in my stash. I think it is from the Walk in the Park Line. I started this layout back in November, and could not figure out how to finish it off.

 I've been playing around with basic shapes as a means for embellishing. And I have a renewed love of Stickles lately. Which I was Christmas shopping at the hardware store I came across the perfect organizer for my veneers-in the fishing lures section.

 The blue paper was plane when I started. I used my Studio Calico chevron stencil and gelatos to add some pizazz to my page!

 I'm starting to play around more with the fonts on my Silhouette. I've been using a lot of script and cursive fonts for my December Daily, so I wanted something bold for this page.

This is one deceiving sunset. You would not know how cold it is outside. The sunny skies made me want to run all day today.

Perfect Pedicure

My sister and I like to go get pedicures before fun events-weddings, vacations, etc. I finally snapped a picture while we were enjoying our massage chairs waiting for our toes to dry. I'm trying to scrap more of the little traditions we share and enjoy.

 I had this one lone piece of Echo Park paper laying in a basket. This was the perfect colors to go with my flip flops and toe separators. I think it is from their Walk in the Park line.

 All these embellishments turned out perfect. I changed the colors of the flowers. The mint and pink flowers were both shades of turquoise and pink, but the wrong shade. So I used my Faber Castell Gelatos to give them the perfect color! These were from the metallic pack, so I also used the blue to offset the embossed background paper, and the purple of the veneer butterflies.

 The title is made from Thickers, and I used my cuttlebug to emboss the blue paper along with the gelato to give it more sparkle.

And I just had to share this cute shot of my newest snowman to my snowman collection! I only had on the lights of my tree when I took this, and it was such a cute picture.

As I'm writing this post I'm sipping my hot chocolate, dreading the weather to come. We have a high of -10 for Monday. You did not read that wrong....negative ten. The speculation of a day off is already swirling through the school. We will see if I get an extra scrappy day. Until next time-Stay Warm.