I Have Told You Before...

Epiphany Crafts is extremely generous with their blog giveaways. Skip on over HERE and leave a little comment, they are giving away another tool and as I write this, I only saw 24 comments....your odds are still good! I use my EC tools a lot, I love them and I love how easy they are to use and easy for me to access right on my desk. I find that if I put it away where I can't see it, I just won't use it very often and this is the case with larger items like my Cuttlebug...

I linked some of my fave Epiphany Crafts tools over on the right. These are sold on Amazon and most of them ship for free when you spend $25. Anyone else addicted to Amazon? I LOVE it. I love their subscribe and save program, I find many of the items to be dollars below what I would pay at Target or my grocery store! I will share if you want me to. Do you buy a lot from Amazon? What do you buy?

Okay, now for a book recommendation. A few weeks ago a colleague at work suggested I read THIS book. She knew that I enjoyed the Twilight series. Oh my goodness, this book was better! I fell in love with the characters and i was little depressed when I finished the book in 2 days. Good news, there is a sequel!! I am going to preorder mine....on Amazon.

Will You Be Mine?

Raise your hand if you were up late last night working on your kid's valentines....I know I am not the only crafter out there....actually, i went to bed earlier than I thought I would. I made the girls photo valentines and we put them in cellophane bags with a cute little kazoo. You know I had to slap a doiley on it before I could call it done! I would love to have added some pretty baker's twine or May Arts jute twine....but I thought that would be ridiculous and a silly way to use my time. I did use the the twine on little gifts for my colleagues at work.
I edited Lily's photo and added text, but was too lazy to find it on the computer. Can't figure out why it wasn't in the same file as Emma's (below). I added the text in Picnic and I understand they sold out to Google. I wonder if Google will have the same options that Picnic has. Is it Picnik?
I made a little project for the Epiphany Crafts Blog. I really love using my Epiphany Crafts tools and I am really excited about the new shapes coming out like the pennant! If you haven't become a reader of the Epiphany Crafts blog, I highly recommend that you do, there is a tool giveaway every day...or almost every day! Super cute projects abound by the way!

Hope you had a lovely day!

Happy Heart Day!

Catching Up~

Epiphany Crafts is blogging these days! Indeed, if you are looking for a ton of fun ideas for your Epiphany Crafts tools, you will want to check it out. I have seen jewelry ideas, cards, a cute Christmas card holder and a fun craft for older kids (owl tic tac toe). I used my much loved Epiphany Crafts Round 14 Epoxy tool. It was my very first EC tool and I still use it all the time. Can't go wrong with circles can you?

I took these photos mid summer at the Del Mar Races Family Day. We loved it, the girls got a free horse Webkin, there were pony rides, face painting and a fun place to make your own Derby Hat ( as seen on the model above). I would definitely go again next year.

Can't go wrong with pictures of a grandad and his youngest grandchild. Love taking pics of Lily and my father in law.

I broke my sewing machine. Thought I would fix a little hole in a new pair of pants and somehow, the metal button snap thingy on the pants snuck its way under my needle and well, it didn't end very well. I hope to take it in soon to my local shop but....the owner, he always laughs at me and tells me to get a real machine! He doesn't care for my $125 Brother that I picked up at Costco in 2003.
Still teaching. I have moved schools and I am now teaching second grade to inner city students. I am so tired all the time! I love the curriculum, seems so interesting compared to kindergarten! I like my grade level team, in fact I might even say that I adore them and that is very important to me since I enjoy collaborating. I have never used so much technology....I wear a microphone to teach and my voice comes out in surround sound....I finally have my own document camera and laptop, that makes teaching easier for sure. Oh and get this, in a few weeks this school will be air conditioned.....um that is a big deal friends. BIG. I am the biggest heat wimp around...everyone knows that. I dislike all the warm weather in San Diego...

And 99% of my school district is not air conditioned. It's true! So if it is 100 degrees out, well the policy is to turn off your class lights, keep the students indoors and drink lots of water. There is no such thing as a heat day...there are no days off for extra hot weather, it is an urban legend!

So Sammy is super happy about the AC.

:)

It's a Good Thing

I'm not going to lie, I love the tools from Epiphany Crafts. If you want to pick up the STAR, SCALLOP CIRCLE or SQUARE, then now is the time to it. They are available on line right now from HSN and they are a great deal. If you want to see the tools in action, Brian Fogg, the owner of EC will be presenting tonight at midnight and again tomorrow at 7 pm Pacific time. Click HERE to get to HSN!

Scallops Too!

Okay, I have the HSN information for you. This card was made with the brand new Epiphany Crafts Scallop Circle Shape Studio. This tool, the new square and the fabulous new star will be available for purchase on Monday, Sept. 26 at 6 AM and early Tuesday morning at 1 AM. The past two shows have sold out of items quite quickly. Here is a link to the items online, perhaps they will be available for purchase ahead of time....I am not sure.
I made the ruffle from a fabric scrap and the pretty twine is from May Arts, of course! All the paper is October Afternoon. If you pick up a few tools from HSN, let me know!

Post Number Four Hundred

Stars I tell ya! Epiphany Crafts has created my favorite shape this time around. The star. It is a lovely star, the perfect size and I adore it. I had been wishing for this one to be manufactured and here she is!! This photo is Emma and her dad getting a haircut, in fact it was Emma's very first haircut and we took her to a fun little place called Pigtails and Crewcuts. They do parents as well. I love that girl's hair and wasn't sure about getting a trim for her, but they took her pretty hair and with about 7 minutes of trimming they made it gorgeous.
Close up of the fabulous stars. I made a mistake with this lay out. The top right corner with the red scrap of paper left over from punching stars. Underneath that scrap is my mistake, wish I had a photo to show you. I tried to do a few random lines of machine stitching and it just looked awful. Bad. And I fretted because the lay out was done, all was glued and I liked it before my mistake. So, the scrap was added and I am okay with it. You know how it goes.

This Epipany Crafts Shape Studio Star WILL be one of the shapes available on HSN (Home Shopping Network) later this month, in fact I think the show will be on in a week, next weekend. I will find out the details and post here and Facebook. If you have not already "friended" Epiphany Crafts on Facebook, do so now! You will have the latest product updates and there are often giveaways of these wonderful tools.
School Update...

This past Friday was a crucial day for all schools in the district, enrollment will be closely looked at and school reorganizations will soon be taking place. There is a ratio of teachers to students that they will stick to and move students and teachers as needed. I am pretty sure that primary grades will be organized at my site. This will look like closing my kinder class and moving me. There is a sub in a fifth grade class, so there is a very big chance that I will be replacing her. I would replace her before the district moves me to another school.

hope you have had a beautiful and productive weekend.

i have missed the crafty world for the past few weeks.

I am hoping to find some balance.

xoxox S

Squares, Scallops and Stars..Oh My!

Epiphany Crafts has been hard at work. There are three brand new epoxy tools being released this month and you are going to love them! Today I have an 8.5x11 lay out featuring the square epoxy Shape Studio and I love it.. There are also silver charms that coordinate with this size, you can make jewelry charms or just add them to your pages. This tool and the other 2 new shapes are going to be featured on HSN this month! As soon as I know the ate and time I will post it here. You can also keep up to date with Epiphany Crafts by finding them on Facebook.
I used my favorite Sassafras alpha stickers and just applied them to white cardstock and then used my new Square Shape Studio tool to punch them out with the epoxies.
I have beyond crazy busy with teaching! For now I have been assigned a kindergarten class. I am on the same school schedule as my children so we will have the summer off together and that was most important to me. I will know by the end of the month if this is the class and school that I will stay in. The district has a formula for how many teachers per students at schools and currently we do not have enough primary students enrolled to keep me on staff. I do have a job, I am contracted and protected and will not lose my job, it's just a matter of where I will end up. In the meantime, my kinder class is looking sparse! I am not buying anything until I know where I will end up! I would hate to spend a bunch of money and find out on Oct. 1st that i will be teaching third grade across town. I did spend $30 on colored duct tape. I just had to tape out some rows on my awful gray carpet that the kids sit on. There was no order...they were just sitting anywhere and everywhere...I couldn't take it!

Good news, this is a wonderful class. They still need a ton of training by me, but underneath their squirmy talkative touch everyone and everything bodies, there is a respectful class that is smart and very capable.

Have you had an Epiphany?

HSN coupon!! Right Here ! You can use it to get your Epiphany Crafts Oval Shape Studio for 15% off! That is a heck of a deal!

Still playing with the oval epoxy Shape Studio from Epiphany CRafts. Last time I checked, HSN still had the circle shape with 2 refills for a fantastic price...

Mr Beau Jangles....almost 10 months old and almost 100lbs. He is one BIG puppy.

Reminder

To set your clocks, DVR, TIVO...

Wednesday, June 15 (tomorrow)

HSN 8AM and 3PM Pacific

**Epiphany Crafts**

I suppose this is a reminder to myself as well, since I will be dropping one of the littles off at school.
This lo features the brand new Shape Studio Oval!! There is also a new square that I have not yet had my hands on.
The lay out below is one that was featured on the last HSN show, it got a lot of screen time, I showed the taping to my husband and he had a good belly laugh.
And there is still a marker ban in this house. 2 months ago I bought the other one a $1 marker and coloring sheet from Target and Lily got a hold of the purple markers and wrote all over my brand new kitchen cabinets that are WHITE! I love my kids.

Heading to HSN...

Epiphany CRafts will once again be featured on the Home Shopping Network! Set your clock for Wednesday, June 15, 8AM and 3PM Pacific time. FYI, last time Epipany Crafts was on, all the tools sold out in minutes, it was quick! I think it will be scrapbooking show, the last show also included Pink Paislee, not sure who else will be on during that hour. I do know that the Shape Studio Epoxy small and large round will be for sale and maybe, a new shape! I will have to confirm that.
In addition to my Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio rounds, I used a great polaroid stamp from Studio Calico and my new fave alphas also from SC. The stamp worked great for me here because my photos from Lily's birthday celebration at Build a Bear were less than great. Cropping them down for the stamp helped crop out all the noise/busyness, without being left with a teeny unusable photo.

For the stamp I used a textured white paper and honestly, I wish I had used a smooth white paper for stamping, but I had already starting cutting them out and I didn't want to do it again

He Plays

What's funnier than watching your 6'3'' husband go down a standard size slip and slide? I could watch this all day, but someone would probably end up with a lot of grass burns. We haven't busted the slipe and slide out yet this year, this pic is from last summer. What do you think is it time?
Lovely Epiphany Craft buttons here. I used the flower shape and round 20 (large) and round 14 (small). My little bunting is tied together with jute string from May Arts.

Lily and her Grandpa Jim

I would love for you to check out this lay out, it's a favorite of mine. I had the honor of creating it on behalf of Epiphany Crafts for Scrapbooking and Beyond magazine. Click here to see it and the directions to make your own.

Scrap, Scrap Scrappin' Away

I have been using my Epiphany Crafts tools like mad! The more I use them , the more I love them, it's true. Couldn't tell you why Emma has lost it here, I know that she recovered in about a minute. She was never a super emotional or dramatic child, but lately the water works have been coming quite freely and frequently. I am surprised that she still looks lovely , even making that terrible face....ahh.. youth.
OOOOO, look at that, I think the wood grain from Crate Paper looks SO good under The Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio. Of course that is May Arts jute twine right there, did you even have to ask?
Any one else out there obsessed with these Studio Calico alphas? I am hoping they come out with more colors this summer!
More pics from Hawaii, I will be scrapping Hawaii and Easter for another month, bear with me! I really like using wood grain papers for lay out base and this aqua and white wood grain from Lilybee is a beauty. Seriously, I may go back and pick up a few more. The little numbers and starburst are from Shabby Chic Crafts.

There they are, My Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio. I used Crate Paper again. have the Emma's Shoppe 6x6 paper pad. The smaller graphics are perfect with the Epiphany Crafts tools.
Thanks again for stopping by today. And thank you for the comments, I love reading every single one of them. Have a wonderful week.

Epiphany Crafts + Glue Arts= Happy Crafter

Epiphany Crafts and Glue Arts paired up this week to bring you crafts, scrapbooking and cards. Have you ever tried the Glue Glider from Glue Arts? It is one of my favorite adhesives for my lay out pages. I have never ever had a problem with the refill cartridge malfunctioning. It always goes on without waste. They have another Glue Glider now, it is the Glue Glider Max, it holds a lot more adhesive and I love the looks of it, but haven't tried it yet.

I am also a big fan of the Extreme Adhesive Squares. For the first time, I tried the Micro size, these are smaller than the regular .5 inch size. They worked perfectly with my Epiphany Crafts Button Studio 14.
Here are my 2 lil' bugs at the zoo a few months ago. Our passes have expired :( , so I am saving up for some new ones. Like the big scalloped border punch? It is one of my favorites and I use it all the time.
The paper I used came embossed with the leaves, it is by Bazzill.
A couple of finishing touches from Epiphany Crafts. One more Shape Studio Round 14 and My favorite, Button Studio Round 20.

Check out the Epiphany Crafts Face book Page all week, there will be tons of ideas with EC and Glue Arts.

Have you seen this? 2 Peas is offering Free Shipping with orders over $30!! This offer expires May 1. The code is listed to the right.......

May Arts and Little Yellow Bicycle are teaming up for a fun fun week of projects and Giveaways!! Click HERE to see what is up for grabs!