the new busy

**EDIT: as i look at the 'scheduled date' on this post, i notice that it's about three weeks late. and since i figure you deserve to know what i was {{GOING}} to say, i'll just publish the old post part in RED. so then just look for the regular 'now' stuff in black at the bottom. cool? good.**

oh hey. yeah, so i think i owe you an apology. i've been absent from the blog as of late.

it's one of those things... school started, swim coaching continued, practice times got changed, the internet i'm mooching off of someone else in my apartment complex has been UBER splotchy and sketch lately, and then there's the fact that i've been doing more baking and cooking recently which has to do with a budget crunch in my world... should get better after October (which is still a long ways away!), and i just haven't been around.

so i guess that's my excuse? which, i hate getting as a teacher, but i figure you all should know what's been going over here.

moving on.

i made a quiche on sunday night! (this was after i made three homemade pizzas... crust and everything to have as a lunch option this week.) it was lovely. i didn't follow a recipe really, but i looked online at a few places to give me a starting point for portions. i took a picture. i know it's cheating to just show you a picture and not the recipe, but frankly, i'm too tired to link it up.

so how 'bout you search 'quiche' in Google-land and do what i did and make it up? i bet it'll taste awesome! i mean, it has eggs and CHEESE, right? right. so yes, we're good.

oh, and random fact #23: i still have sand in the front pocket of my hoodie from a trip i took to the beach this summer. VERY recent discovery, btw. i've even washed this thing a few times (well, maybe just one). so, i put my cell phone in there to keep it toasty (well, actually, more like to keep it handy) and i pulled it out a minute ago and it had all these little specks of sand on it. grr. annoying! (said like Gru from "Despicable Me" would say, "LIGHTBULB!!!" hehe... makes me smile every time!) just thought you should know.

fun fact #57: a little seventh grade boy cut his hair because of me and what i said in class. i felt bad. for about a minute. and then i realized it was beneficial to both of us that he could now see out of his eyes instead of swiping them to the side every 3 seconds.

that is all.

so back to the regularly scheduled program. ha! so swimming ended yesterday--we had our last meet of the season, and now all that is left to do is have an end of the year banquet and send out the lettering certificates, etc.

i have a project for you (well, kinda a project). i made a whole bunch of fall leaves from my Cricut. i used the "Stretch Your Imagination" and "Wild Card" cartridges. i cut a HUGE pile of leaves out of a HUGE stack of paper (patterned and sort of matching). they're now hanging around my apartment making my place look more fall-like. i went to the thrift store the other day and picked up all the ribbon/ bias tape that is holding all the leaves together.

doesn't it make my curtains and blinds look awesome? i thought so.

oh, and did i mention? i'm participating in NaNoWriMo again this year.

you might remember from last year how i took on the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days (about 1,667 words/ day). this year is going to be bigger and better! i'm getting a lot of students involved at school, and they're super excited about it... so great to see young minds trying something 'new' and 'hard.'

oh, besides the leafy garland, i've been doing some prep for a scrapbook retreat i'm going on in Nov. i went last spring with my co-teacher Jen, and we had a BLAST, and i got sooo much work done, and i'm totally looking forward to it this year. we're leaving school to go straight up to the Hilton in Seattle a few weeks before Thanksgiving to get productive (or not! :D hehe!) last year, i totally loved getting to know some new girlies and getting a new nickname 'Tonic.' ha! i think that all crafters have a magical bond, don't you?

anyway, that's it for today, sorry again, and please feel free to harass me next time i'm gone so long... i DO succumb to peer pressure in that regard! :D

congratulations tags

okay, uber quick post today because i have to get going... i'm on outreach with my church right now in Oregon :D

this card features one of the many tags i made that were featured in THIS post, and i just added an embossed damask pattern along the side and a Delightful Dahlia PTI sentiment in the corner. i made this super quick for a friend who just had a bridal shower. i also made a set of 18 cards for thank you's for gifts... perfect for a bride-to-be with lots of people to thank.

(the set of cards has a bunch of Heidi Grace hearts and some PTI Big and Bold sentiments... the inks are Versamark, White, and a purple from MS)

thanks for stopping by, i love reading your comments! who knows if i'll be able to drop by until next week, but hopefully. can't wait until i get to catch up and look at all YOUR lovely posts!

cupcakes galore :D

happy thursday!

hope your week has been going well... i know mine has been super busy, but fun. the Vacation Bible Adventure at my church is in full swing, and because of that i've been spending a lot of time at church, not crafting, bringing kids to the program, and taking naps where i can :D those long days/ mornings can wear you down!

well, since i haven't been crafting so far THIS week, i thought i'd show you some cards that i made before school got out (part of an order from a co-worker). these were requested because of the cute factor :D

i used a DoodleFactory image (cupcake) that i paper pieced and colored and glittered, and some PolkaDot Basics II for the paper at the bottom. i paired it all up with AC brown polka dotted ribbon, some brown velvet trip, and 'sweetie' from a Studio G set i believe. the inside of the card says 'happy birthday'.

and down here, we have more of the same design i made for a giveaway HERE. they were so cute, my co-worker wanted her own pair :D

well, that's it for today. i think i'm going to make some time in the studio today to post some cards based off of sketches... i want to try my hand at the 2sketches4you sketch this week! :D

thanks for stopping by, and for continually encouraging me with your comments--they always make me smile!! XOXO

i just love you

i've really been having a lovely week so far... yesterday i was commitment free as far as coaching goes... i went to see the water polo girls for about an hour and then went shopping. i needed groceries so badly. you know how it is when you're sick? you don't want to cook, bake, or do anything that isn't sleeping? yeah, that was me last week, and i still had school and coaching on top of all that (and it was STATE! for that matter).

so i got groceries. i was planning a dinner with some former college water polo players... one was up visiting from CA, and the other now lives not 30 minutes away from me (fancy that, seeing as we went to college together in Pennsylvania!) i decided i was going to make some pizza. i LOVE pizza. i made a veggie pizza (spinach, onion, garlic, tomato, cheese, and red peppers... it was DELICIOUS!) and two chicken bbq bacon pizzas... ah! so good :D i can still smell them. i definitely didn't need to make all that food, because i had leftovers, but i get to save them for meals the rest of this week! :D that's what i call planning *wink*

anyway, the dinner last night was awesome and fun... we talked and laughed so much. told stories, caught up, and just enjoyed each others company. it wasn't nearly long enough, but it was so relaxing, and just what i needed. today, i stopped by the grocery store again after a pretty quiet day at school (1/2 days for conferences this week, and no school on friday because of memorial day! yay :D), and then came home... made a CARD!

i based it off of Kazan's sketch #53 over at 2sketches4you... i decided to make this a quick card, since i was starting at 4:10pm, and i needed to leave the house about 4:30pm... i told myself... i'm only going to use what's on/ near my desk. so i grabbed the Linen stack from DCWV, some of my extra Cricut cuts, a strip or two of ribbon/ lace, and then an ink pad.

the results surprised me a little. i usually don't pressure myself to finish something this pretty so 'fast,' so i'm definitely pleased...

i tried to include as many details as i could... layering flowers and buttons, rhinestones in the corner, some stick pins, a tag with the sentiment, a wooden mini clothespin, and even a transparency i made with Staz-On ink and some overhead projector 'paper' (if you could call it that... maybe acrylic? but not quite...) the sentiment comes from PTI's Delightful Dahlia set... it was super elegant and seemed perfect for this type of card.

i love this old antique look, and even if that's not what i normally create, i can definitely see myself getting into it BIG :D i just like the soft touches and the details you get to layer on and add... so fun.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed--can't wait to hear what you have to say, your comments are so appreciated! :D

'hi baby' denami color challenge #1

happy sunny saturday!

i'm so excited for the sunshine we're getting here in WA--it's absolutely GORGEOUS out when we have days like this. i can even see a little bit of Mt. Rainier when i look out my apartment window.

well, i'm making this a short post because i'm going to be crafting with a friend, Helene, today... i can't wait to share my new craft studio with a crafty friend!

the challenge comes from Nami of DeNami Design. it's a fabulous color challenge, and i'm loving seeing all the entries--you have a little more time, maybe you want to make something too? if not, then there's always next time.

anyway, i used my Cricut for the baby safety pin, and then a DeNami stamp, 'baby.' i love the color combo--it's so bright and fun!

thanks for looking :D and have a sunny day!

mini card love

mm, i love mini cards for the ultra-satisfaction of being able to complete one of these 3x3's in a matter of minutes. plus, they're super cute to use as tags, or just as little notes in someone's lunch, etc.

these are valentine's themed, and this post will be super short, because i'm in the middle of a big life change (more about that to come), and i also have my first Etsy custom order sale to complete!

this card with the flower actually has flocking in that blue stripe... pretty fun, huh?

but now i'm back to my craft table--i need to get cracking at the bridal shower invites. i'll post some pictures of those when i'm done--they are in really pretty colors :D

2sketches4you Kazan's #43

yay, i'm back, and it's saturday! :D i've been trying to continue posting regularly so i don't get off track. today i'm posting some more of my Valentine's scrap cards that i've been posting lately (watch out--there's still more to come!) and i've really enjoyed seeing what comes out of that box and onto a card. most of the time i like the end result, even if the card isn't quite as much "me" as it normally is.

do you know what i mean?

well, here's a quick card--patterned paper from K&Co, a couple previous cuts from my Cricut (square outline and circle), and then some stamping, bling, and my fav. new doo-dad embellie with the hearts. what do you think? is this typical 'Ginny' style, or is this something different??

i know what i think, but want to hear what you have to say too :D
okay, on to the sketch i used for this card--it comes from 2sketches4you, one of my all time favorite sites for sketches.

this week, Kazan had a fabulous sketch (#43) and i couldn't resist playing along. i might make another card using this too!


i used similar papers and supplies as with THIS card earlier this week, and i just love that velvet silhouette paper so much, i *had* to use it again. these are all scraps, remember, so i pulled a lot of different manufacturers together--Bazzill dotted paper, SEI for the brown, DCWV for the silhouettes, some kraft and white card stock for the embellie and card base. the hearts are punches, and the ribbon is from Michael's.

mmmm, i LOVE that combo of bling, button, embellie, and pins on this card--somehow it all gelled, you know? thinking i'll have to send this to someone special ;)

i also inked up a lot of edges on this thing--definitely helps to tie things in, don't you think?

hope you enjoy and have a wonderful weekend--relax a bit!

Christmas gifts

okay, so first off--if you've been following my blog, you know that it's been AGES since i posted last. secondly, you know that i haven't been really commenting on many of your LOVELY creations. that being said, i'll try to make up for it a little today, and just know that i'll do my darnedest to encourage you in your beautiful creations :D

i made Christmas gifts for my extended family this Christmas. it was actually based off of something that Dawn McVey had posted a while ago and that i had discovered and really liked. i started creating these things around Thanksgiving, but of course, i didn't get them finished until right before the packages needed to be sent.

i like to call them "framed art." the best part about these is that they can come in any shape, size, or color that you could ever want, and i've already had a request to make one for a wedding present in the wedding colors. how smart is that? i might have to be brave and start listing these on Etsy... what do you think?

okay, so on to the frames. sorry for the bad lighting (and the above frame still has protective plastic around the corners... ick!)--these were taken literally seconds before they were carefully cocooned in bubble wrap and tissue paper for shipment.

i have a few favorties... this big one below is one of them :D (all big ones are 8x10 frames, little ones are 5x7)

^^that bow was just PERFECT! (i couldn't believe it :D)

here's one where i replicated the colors and lace for some mini frames (5x7)... that black lace is just too flirty and cute!

the coral ribbon really brings out the stripe in one of the square pieces.

ooh, and this next one just has "Ginny" written all over it--fun colors, etc :D

i loved how the papers i picked had some foil on them, flocking, or glitter, and it made parts of the art just a little more "special."

this shows a stack of them...

this is a variation of the first piece i made... for an uncle... so the navy background was good for that.

and a mini one (5x7) here in the "fun" colors. i actually designed the remaining little frames differently--they ended up being the same scalloped square shape as the big ones, just on a smaller scale.

oh my gosh... this next ribbon bow is divine. i am in love with the ribbon here... my fav bow by FAR!

this was for an uncle... so i tried to keep it masculine. greens, tans, navy, etc... did i succeed?

anyway, thanks for hanging in there! i have a shopping trip with my aunt, grandma, mom and sister to go on today... oh how i love shopping! :D

thanks for stopping by, and also for your lovely comments.

yes, Virginia

there is a Santa Claus. [famous line from Miracle on 34th St. you know this, yes?]

so i don't know how many of you knew about the deal that Macy's was putting on for "National Believe Day" on Friday, but they had this promotion. anyone named Virginia could go in to Macy's and get a free $10 gift card. yeah, simple, right? well, only if your name is Virginia.

and mine is! :D

GASP > i know some of you may be surprised to know that although i go by Ginny here on the blog (which is an honest-to-goodness nickname) my real name is Virginia. well... it is. it's a nice name--somewhat rare, and very unique. so i decided to get the gift card--i mean, who could it hurt?

so there's a good story for the day, right? can't get much better than that ;D i bought something already with the free money, but i can't share, because there's a chance that the person might be reading this blog post, and i don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone :D

also up on the agenda are some more banners. i really need to enter some cards for challenges, but still have my craft space covered with things for this project... we'll see if i can fit it in sometime.

i'm sorry about how out of order these pictures are... Blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me for some reason... again, i'm going with the pink, green scheme for these Christmas banners.

here i am... not looking my best, but still, it's me.

lots of goodies loaded up over here.

and oh.my.goodness... i have to tell you about how thrilled i am that i got to go to a concert tonight! i went with Paulina, her sisters, and my brothers to the TobyMac "Winter Wonder Slam Concert!"



i got to see this awesome performer... if you haven't heard about him before, he's one of the most popular Christian artists out there, and i absolutely love his sound--hip-hop/ rock/ r&b/ rap mix--> hard to describe, but just plain awesome.

he's getting older (as far as the concert circuit and for doing what he does on stage), but i am still totally in awe of his energy tonight. my ears are totally blasted out! :D

and to make things even better... he came down to the floor seats (which btw, i had AWESOME 6th row seats thanks to Paulina, best concert buddy EVA!) and he sang this close to us...and THEN... OHMYWORD... still can't believe it... he WALKED DOWN MY ROW. he got up on the chairs along the aisle that my brothers were standing on, and at this point i am basically hyperventillating... and he comes down, he's walking along the chairs, he's passing me while he sings, and i touched his arm as he went by.

(okay, side note: i know i totally sound like a groupie here, but seriously, i LOVE TobyMac... like a TON. and this had to have been the greatest concert experience EVER. ohmyword. so call me groupie, or whatever, but it ROCKED!!!)

and i could not believe that it had happened... still amazed. i came home with the brothers, and i know that i'll be a little hard of hearing for a while yet, and that my eyes will still be hazy from the fog machine, and that i'll remember this always.

thanks for checking in--hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

NaNoWriMo! + CPS #141

oh hey! well, i have something awesome to share with you today--it's my first banner EVER!

(also, if you haven't entered my blog-o-versary giveaway yet, then go HERE now!)

now, i had this idea in my head for school--i have a couple of students who are participating in NaNoWriMo with me (National Novel Writing Month--see more on it in my post HERE), and i wanted to do something special to encourage them...

so, with the help of my amazing Cricut, some new CK goodies, and the CPS Sketch #141 (and kind of a Caardvarks challenge, although this isn't a card [i'll make a circle card to post, i promise!]) i embarked on this journey of my first banner ever.

now, with 9 letters to create the word on the banner, i knew i wouldn't have any room for extra "in-between" spacer spots... so i decided i need my banners to be quite big to fit all the embellies i wanted to include.

so first i gathered all the supplies i needed, and broke out the blue card stock that i wanted to use as the foundation for my letters--i used the Simply Sweet Cricut cartridge to create the bases, as well as the letters (using white paper with the shadow feature, and then a *shiny* blue for real letter).

so here you can see the close-ups of each of the parts--i had sooo much fun making this, and even though it took a while (hey, i was watching Love Actually with my sister, Cecelia, too!) it was sooo worth it.

i have to tell you where i got some inspiration--Mish of PTI fame! she has been featuring some amazing mini-kits of office type paper supplies, and they've been so stinkin cute! :D and since this banner was going to hang in my classroom, i thought that things like paper clips, rulers, etc would be appropriate :D

i bought some October Afternoon goodies at CK, and one thing included the stamp set that has a ruler in it--had to use it here :D ooh, and that border punch that i've been eyeing for a while--it was a total deal at CK too!

you can see some of the bling i got at CK last weekend--i cut apart some of the pieces--they were way to huge to use on these banner bases, and i want to hoard them for a little while longer (good thing i got them in triplicate--hehe!)

see how shiny that blue letter is? it's from the DCWV Citrus Glitter stack, and i LOVE it! i wish i had a couple more pieces of that paper--it's fabulous.

and the felt, brads, and pencil paper are all buys from CK--couldn't wait to get home and use them. O.M.Gosh. can i just tell you that i am in love with Cosmo Cricket paper? it almost hurt me to use this stuff, but honestly, it fit the theme perfectly, so i de-hoarded :D the felt from CK came in packs of four 12x12 laser cut sheets with all these neat-O designs--i've already used some of the pink border for another card HERE.

these brads are velvety--i wanted to use a lot of texture on every single panel, and i think i love this "a" letter the best--or maybe not ;)

i think that the girls in my class loved these buttons the best--the yellow one is from DeNami Design, and the others are from my stash. here's another piece of the felt!

ooh, and here i'm using a yo-yo fabric circle (isn't that what they're called?) to embellish this second "n."

i don't think you can *EVER* go wrong with pompoms!

another close up--you can see some October Afternoon dictionary paper--it made some of my students do a double take :D

okay, so i got these little packs of pins that i'll be using more on cards--sticking them in ribbon, etc--aren't those little stars adorable?

another ruler on the "o" and some flowers--Bazzill and prima. more felt too :D

i really really love that ruler stamp--i can totally see myself using it over and over again.

okay... the "w" was the midpoint of the banner, and even though i didn't consciously plan this, i think it's my favorite panel of all. i grabbed a golf pencil out of our junk drawer at home and decided to use it here. then there's the bling...

and the felt/ ribbon keeping the pencil together...

and seriously--we're talking about NaNoWriMo here--WRITING! how perfect can you get? i would venture to say, you cannot!

some ric-rac, felt, brads, and a shiny heart cut with my Cricut (same cart.)

this is the "r." you might be wondering what i used to string this all up together--i used some thrift store bolt of trim--it had at least 7 yds of this white, and i thought--i can use this for somthing... right i was!

that flower, button, and felt heart pairing is just too cute, agreed?

ooh, here's the "i" where i used some bigger bling, a broken blue clothespin (w/ ribbon) and a chipboard piece :D

and omgosh--i tricked this next panel out with bling... cutie paper clip ($1 store!) and some more bling, Cosmo paper, and felt...

that crown is so top heavy--can you imagine if it was lifesize how expensive that crown would be? hehe :D

and last but not least, the "o."

i went slightly simpler--those buttons are just the perfect touch, i think.

here's a board-side view of the end of the banner...
when my students walked into class and saw this hanging on the whiteboard, they went up close and examined it--one of the girls asked me "Did you cut that out of a dictionary?!" regarding the October Afternoon paper (cause i'm an English teacher and cutting up a dictionary would obviously be sacrilege! :D hehe). the best part was when they asked me about it, and said, "Who made that?" and i got to reply, "I did." the look of awe on their faces was priceless :D and then there were a ton of girls who said, "Can you make me one?" hehe... they'll be papercrafters yet!

thanks for looking, and please let me know if you enjoyed this banner and whether you'd like to see more of them here on the blog.

hope you have a great day! XOXO