And Another week flys by....

How is it possible that times just zooms by like that. I can't believe it's been a whole week since I posted and I haven't had a chance to take any more pictures!

What happened?

On Tuesday Joshua completed his Eagle Board of Review and he is an official Eagle Scout!!!! It was an amazing experience and I am so proud of him. There are two eagle scouts in our troop right now so we're working to plan the Court of Honor together. Right now it looks like it will be on or around October 11th. This definately isn't the end of his scouting career though... he's already an 11 year old scout leader and he's going to work on the Rendezvous Staff.

Cycling - I started to bike commute!!!!!! I have been talking and dreaming about it forever and I finally started taking the steps to transition to bike commuting and I am so stinkin happy!!! It was fun!

The family Josh babysits for is on vacation, which means I have a chauffer who would love to have my car anytime I'm willing to give it to him.... so it was the perfect time to experiment with riding my bike home from work.

Thursday I rode from work to the gym. I had a meeting in Santee so I went to the gym, showered and changed. It was a pretty short ride, just a little over 3 miles and I wished I could ride further.

Friday - I rode from work to my Dad's house. It was about 6 miles and pretty much the same route I would take all the way home, except home is 9 miles and the last three miles have some incredible hills. It took me about 40 minutes, but a lot of that was figuring out where to go, traffic lights, etc. I think it will be much faster next time.

I'm planning to ride Tuesday and Wednesday and then I'll ride Monday-Thursday when school starts. It is so exciting to have a plan.

Well hopefully I'll post again, before another week flys by!

A Weekend of Stamping Fun....

When I first figured out that I did not have enough vacation to go to my family reunion, girls camp and convention, I was a bit disappointed. I knew it would be hard so I decided to find other things to do during convention....to keep my mind off of it. Boy did I end up doing that!!! Little did I know that July would end up being such a whirlwhind that I wouldn't have time to think about anything else anyway.

On Friday I taught a virtual class for consultants and Saturday Gail and I hosted a mini-convention for the local consultants that couldn't make the trip to Florida. We had a blast and everything went really well.

I was kind of busy and didn't take too many photos of the day, but I'll be taking photos of all the items over the next couple of days and I'll post them.

Here are a few for now....

This is the front of the My Creations album we created....



Here's one of Jan's amazing samples!! She brought a ton of great covered journals. I'm all inspired to go make a few for gifts.

Our Challenge project. We gave everyone two sheets of patterned paper and one sheet of cardstock and allowed them to add a neutral cardstock.... and we challenged them to create something... Problem was that we kept them so busy, they didn't really have time. We were surprised that anyone was able to complete it. I love what they came up with!

Rather than load this entry up with pictures of everyone, I figured I'll include one or two people pictures with each entry... and so here's Michelle and her guest Barbara.

Got Scraps? Paper Beads

Ok, I can finally share my latest obsession!! Paper Beads. It's a great way to use up the little leftover strips of paper and create unique jewelry. I had no problem making the beads.....it's the jewelry assembly I needed a little help with. Thanks to Rian, I just got a little mini lesson and I'm good to go.

Gather your paper scraps....

Cut your scraps/strips into triangle strips. I played with this a lot....

• I used a ruler and carefully drew perfect triangles
• I cut triangles from cardboard and used traced them

and finally... I figured out it was quicker and easier to just line it up on my papercutter and go for it. They don't have to be "perfect."

The width of the wide end is the length of your finished bead. I like mine to be about 3/4 inch. I cut a bunch of strips and carry them around in a zip top bag to work on when I have time. It doesn't matter if they get wrinkled from hanging out in your bag...it's a very travel friendly project.

Put a little gluestick on the strip, starting about 1 inch from the end of the widest end. Do not put it all the way to the end or you will glue your strip to the toothpick. :-) As you roll the paper, adjust it to make the bead even. It will be awkward at first, but you'll get the hang of it. I like to put a little drop of liquid glue on the narrow end to fasten it. It seems to hold the best.

Place your finished bead on a toothpick and roll across your versamark pad and then dip into embossing powder. Heat until melted and then dip in the powder again. Heat until melted. I kind of roll the toothpick between my fingers while heating. It helps the melted powder to stay even around the bead, instead of dripping to one side.

I like to use Ultra Thick Embossing Powder and then I only have to heat/emboss twice. If you use finer powder, it will take approx. four dips to reach the same thickness.

(Sorry no pictures. Check back in a couple of days and I'll try to add pictures of that part of the process.)

Here's a sampling of my finished beads. All papers used are from Close To My Heart. Starting with the green beads and moving clockwise, I used....

Creative Basics Boom Di Aida Collection
The next section has a mixture...dark beads are from It's a guy Thing, light beads are Sonata
Next is Majestic Blue - my favorites!!!
Purple beads are from Paper Garden as are the next section
Black beads are Silhouette
and the center section is Creative Basics Silhouette collection

Once you've made your beads you can turn them into unique jewelry...

You can also use the beads on cards or scrapbook pages, create zipper pulls for bags or backpacks, earrings, necklaces.....

I have a few more I'm creating. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Level 1 Book Tutorial

Hi there everyone! A year or two ago I designed a fun way to create a 6x6 book using a Level 1 paper kit from Close to My Heart. It was a monumental moment. I didn't copy!! haha!! I guess we're all entitled to a little inspiration once in a while.

I've shared this with my customers a couple of times and a few other consultants and this year I'm sharing it with the Virtual Convention for Close To My Heart consultants. Life, vacation, illness, son's surgery....all got in the way and I just now took the pictures so I have to post them here. Too late to post them on the VC site...

Mary will be hosting the class for me on Saturday, while I'm teaching at the mini-convention we're hosting for local consultants. I sent Mary the book I made below. Feel free to ask questions and leave comments!!

Step 1: Cut all of the pre-printed cardstock to 6x6



When you are done you will have (16) 6x6 squares



Step 2:

• Cut one piece of your colored cardstock in half to create (2) 6 x 12 sheets
• Cut one of the 6 x 12 sheets in half to create (2) 6 x 6 pieces
• Cut a piece 2.5 inches by 6 inches from one of the 6 x 6 pieces

The picture below shows what you should have when you are done.

Step 3: Score your 6 x 6 piece of cardstock every half inch and then accordian fold

Step 4: Score and fold your 2.5 x 6 inch piece one inch in from each edge along the 6 inch side. You will end up with a 1/2 inch section in the middle. See picture below.



Step 5: Arrange your pages in the order you want them in the book. This is a little tricky to explain so lay it all out and check it as you go.

Take the piece that you have chosen for your cover and adhere it to the flap of the accordian fold as pictured below.



Then take the next piece and glue it (back to back) to the front piece. By doing it this way, you will hide the "mechanics" of how you put the book together. (Please note, you will do the same thing for the back of the book.)

The next five pages are the inside of your book. To create the pages you will glue two pieces of your printed cardstock back to back so that there is printing on both sides. (Remember to lay out your pages ahead of time so that you can see which pages will face each other, etc.)

Take the first page and glue it to the back side of the next accordian fold. It actually doesn't matter whether you glue it on the front or back, just be consistent throughout the book. Either glue them all to the front or all to the back.

After you glue in your pages, repeat the steps for the front cover to do the back cover.

This is what the pages will look like after you've glued them to the accordian fold.


Step 6: Add your "binding". Glue the 1" flaps to the front and back of the book. Do not put any glue on the 1/2 seam in the middle.

All done.....

Now it's time to embellish and personalize. As you can see you have stickers, two sheets of texture paper and 1 1/2 sheets of cardstock that you can use to personalize your book. You can use the papers to mat photos, create journaling squares etc.

I didn't add a title or anything to this book because I sent it off to Mary so she could use it for herself or give it as a gift.

Feel free to email me or leave questions/suggestions in the comments. I love comments!!!!!!!

3 Months = a Century

Yep, that's how long it took me. Three whole months to ride 100 miles (100.55) on my bike. In the interest of full disclosure, I probably rode more like 125 miles, but there were a few times when the odometer wasn't working, or I forgot to turn in on. (duh) I think I'm starting to get the hang of it, so hopefully the next 100 miles will go by much quicker.

Yesterday Jane, Brenda, Candace and I rode around Lake Murray. We ended up being in two groups. I'll give you a few details and you try to see which group I was in. Leave your guesses in the comments.

Group #1

A little quicker than group 2

One member had a cute little bell that they rang as they passed people.

Both members wore helmets.

Both members called group 2 cheaters

Group #2

A little slower than group 1

One member wore a helmet.

One member was a bit mischievious and found an "alternate" route.

Both members took the little detour on the last lap so they could be in front of group 2.

Both groups laughed hysterically at antics of group 2

So... do you think I was quicker or was I a cheater?

See I do still stamp!

Not the greatest picture quality, but I stamped it. I took a picture of it and I posted it, so I'm thinking it's a good day! I took the picture with my phone. (anything to play with the new phone. hahaha!)

This is July's stamp of the month - Life's a Jungle. I absolutely love this stamp set! It is so stinkin cute.

colors combo: hollyhock, autumn terracotta, barn red, buttercup
Coloring technique: I stamped the elephant and cut it out with an knife to make it a stencil and then sponged the elephant with hollyhock.


Bicycle News - I'm too busy to have a blog for cycling, a blog for family, a blog for crafts...so you're going to get it all here. You can skim the parts you aren't interested in. :-)

Jane, Candace and I went for our new "Thursday Ride." The plan was for me to ride to Candace's and then we'd all ride down to the lake, do a couple of laps, ride back, eat dinner and relax in the pool/jacuzzi. Here's what really happened....

Condensed version:
Jane got a flat
Jane had new innertube, but left pump on other bike.
Josh brought us a pump (thank goodness he just got his license)
New innertube didn't work.
Patched old innertube.
Something funky was up with the brakes. (Yes that's a technical term.)
Guy named "Rick" stopped, helped, adjusted, and we were off.
Made it to the lake and Jane went flat again....
Dawn and Candace rode home, got truck, returned, picked up Jane
and then we all ate and went in the pool/jacuzzi.
Grand total of miles ridden - 4.5
It was so fun, we've decided to make it a weekly event!
At least I learned how to change a tire!!

Here I am!

Man, when you get out of a routine, it's so hard to get back on track. I have lots to tell and lots of pictures to share (after I take them!), but to get back on track I will share a couple of things I have on my camera now....

My last crop/workshop was on flag day so I encouraged everyone to wear their red/white/blue and their flags... and they did!!! We had a great time and the potluck was awesome!

After taking about a week off the bike during graduation and hubby's home time, I'm back at it and went for my longest ride so far. Now I know that this photo doesn't show me on the bike, but the bike had to get there somehow...right??!!

Jane, Candace and I drove down to Coronado and rode along the Silver Strand from Coronado to Imperial Beach and back. My magnet on my bike computer wasn't quite aligned and it took several adjustments to get it working. I finally got it fixed at the halfway point, so it appears that we rode almost 16 miles!! Woo Hoo! I'm used to riding hard hills around the house and I never dreamed I could ride that far. Now I can't wait to ride more!

I'm still not too adept at handling a bike and taking photos and I haven't added any cool gear to the bike so that I can stow my camera easily....so this is the best picture I could come up with. At least you can see water and sand. I guess I'll have to go again and try to get better photos :-) (I got a new phone - Palm Centro - so I'm thinking that might help a little.)