Back to School

It's that time of the year again - the beginning of the school year. I go back on Tuesday, my last semester before student teaching, and my kids go back on Wednesday. The past week - and the next couple of days - are about getting last minute things ready. I took the kids back to school shopping and I have a few things to get before I start, namely a parking pass and one last book.

But beyond the necessary school stuff, my mind is still on creative things... I had so much fun at the crop I went to a couple weeks ago. Of course, I didn't get a whole lot done as I figured - way too much fun socializing to get a whole lot of scrapping done, but that's sorta the idea. Fun giveaways, new techniques, delicious lunch from Panera's, and so many sales that I just had to take advantage of... but I did at least get a start on the paper bag albums that I had wanted to make. I have one more thing to add to the covers before I can post a picture.

Also, Michael's had a sale last week on Fimo polymer clay so I picked up several colors to play with. Right now, I'm experimenting with mixing colors, Skinner blends, and making rose buds. I had so much fun in my Ceramics class last semester and this seems like a natural segue. It's not exactly the same type of clay, but many of the same techniques I learned easily transfer over to this kind of clay - plus I can bake it in the oven instead of having to wait for a kiln. I have a little free time today so I'm going to play a little more with it - maybe with textures . Pictures to follow...

Looking for my niche

For a while now, I've been looking for a new scrapbook forum to join. It seems that everytime I find one that I really enjoy and seem to connect with the members, it ends up shutting down. Since it's happened to the last forum I called my scrappy home, I've been on the search for a new regular spot to hang out and, so far, I just haven't found my niche. I will continue to look though, since I really crave sharing my creativity with like-minded crafty folks and finding some much-needed inspiration. I could really use some recommendations.

In the meantime,I'm gearing up for a crop with my friend Diane this coming Saturday. I haven't been to one in a really long time and I'm very excited for it, not only for the visiting but also for the large amount of time I'm setting aside to just create. I certainly don't get much of that in my everyday life with kids, housework, and school. We'll see how much I get done though... I usually end up spending a lot of time talking and not a lot of time working.

I think what I want to work on at the crop are some paperbag books. Both my boys just completed baseball season and I have a bunch of pictures from their games. I'm thinking a book for each of them for Christmas presents... and maybe a blank one for my Etsy shop. I guess I need to print out some pictures today and look on the internet for some inspiration. Maybe I'll find a new scrappy forum in the process.

Like a headless chicken...

I sometimes wonder if I thrive on being so busy. Though I feel a bit stressed when I have so much on my plate, I seem to also be the most productive. I suppose as long as I'm taking the time to slow down periodically, and know how much I can handle, then it's ok.

Right now, I'm juggling part-time work, raising 2 rambunctious boys as a single parent, serving on a Design Team, getting my portfolio ready for review for grad school admissions, and the everyday hassle of running a household by myself, in addition to possibly moving for the third time in the past year and a half. *Phew* Yes, it's a lot, but I do enjoy always having something to do. I suppose it's better than having nothing to do? That's what I tell myself, anyway.

About a week and a half ago, I posted my Ad/Art Challenge at Ch{all}enge Masters. I chose a vintage Coke ad from which to garner inspiration. Here's the end result:

Of course, being a multi-tasker, I could not just create a project for only my challenge and no other reason, so I decided to not only make a set of the cards for a Christmas gift, but to also create some packaging for it to make it worthy for my portfolio.

And still, in true MJ fashion, I still couldn't leave it at that. The card packaging I made was a box, which I then altered for this month's Altered Challenge at Ch{all}enge Masters... using this fabulous sketch for the current Design Dollies Sketch Challenge!
Before:
After:


So, yes, as you can see, I am a master multi-tasker... And now, while my kids are off with their dad at a movie, I'm going to get a few things done around the house while it's quiet. Or maybe I'll just look at a few more challenges and see how I can combine them with what I still need to get done for my portfolio review.

Photo of the Week

While I was working with paint for one of the challenges I did for the cybercrop last week, I thought it would be fun to let my kids paint too. Here is B getting in on the action. They are finger paints but he insisted on using a brush. Whatever gets the job done!

Lost Thursday

Right now I'm really missing my Lost. Two more weeks till it comes back on. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to sharpen my portrait drawing skills by drawing a Lost character every week. Per R's request, my first character in the series is John Locke, played by Emmy Award winning actor Terry O'Quinn.


Drawing rendered in B pencil and charcoal pencil on sketchpaper.

Locke is the "Man of Faith" of Lost, believing that it's his destiny to be on the island - an entity unto itself - and that the island has a plan for all the inhabitants. Locke puts so much faith into the island that it's contagious (to me at least!). He's had to overcome so much adversity in his history that I love to see him prevail on the island.

So we now know that he's not one of the Oceanic Six. (I'm not surprised there) What does happen to John Locke? I'm hoping to find out sooner than later.

A Couple More . . .

Here are a few recent layouts that I did at MBI's cybercrop last weekend.



This last layout won one of the challenges there with the prize being an 8x8 Daisy D's paper pack. Yay!

Recent Layouts

These are literally the first layouts I've scrapped since January.





This last one I did for a challenge to create a monochromatic layout at
Memory Book Inspirations. Strangely enough, I have the most difficult time with monochromatic challenges. One would think it would be easy to pick out shades of the same color to work with, but I guess I just like to work with several colors. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out though. Anyway, this layout won the challenge and it's featured on MBI's home page as well as their April newsletter.

Speaking of MBI, they are having a weekend crop starting this Friday. It's sure to be a lot of fun filled with challenges and games. I hope to get at least one layout done! :)

Pinewood Derby

Our Cub Scout Pinewood Derby was held Sunday night. J built his own car to race against his friends. His vision for the car was a wedge of cheese. He and his friends have some kind of fascination with cheese -- not sure what that's about. Anyway, with R's help, he cut it and sanded it, then painted it and added some mouse stickers.




J was so excited to bring home a first place trophy! His car beat out all the cars in his den - 11 in all. J's car also raced against all the winners in the pack and his car came in 2nd place overall out of 35 cars. It's always fun to see what kind of creations the kids come up with. One shaped his car into the form of a pencil, there was a spiderman car, a firetruck. The boys get so creative and they always have fun at the Pinewood Derby no matter what place their car finishes. It's always our favorite Cub Scout event.

Who doesn't love a good contest?

I found a great new scrapping community the other day called Scrapbook Deals 4 u. I'm loving getting to know everyone there, and not only is there a great store with some amazing monthly kits, but they are also having a fun contest and the winner gets to be on the DT with 4 finalists as GDT.

Here are the deets.

Care to join me?

Brought to you by the letter B

We drove down to visit with my parents over Easter weekend. For weeks, B kept asking me when we would be going to Grandma's house. I put a sticker on the date on the calendar so he could easily see how many days until we would be there, but apparently it wasn't soon enough. Some days he would insist that we go right now, complete with dressing to coat and boots. In the meantime I suggested that he call Grandma and Pappy on the phone. He spent the last few days before our trip chatting up my mom on the phone.



We left on Saturday for our visit. On the way, we stopped at the local Walmart to get a few snacks for the trip. At the checkout, the familiar blue and white handicap sign was posted at the side of the conveyor belt. B asked me what this meant. I told him that it meant that anyone in a wheelchair could use this lane because it was wider and they would be able to fit easier. B, in typical 3 year old fashion, looked at me and said, "No, it means sitting on the potty."

This kid cracks me up.