So... I don't normally play "blog tag," but Sharon Johnson tagged me, and I LOVE her, so I had to play.. so:
Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger (see above), and also post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven (or as many as you can find who HAVEN'T done this) people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, here are my 7 facts:

1. I used to be a makeup artist for TV and film.
   
2. My son was conceived while I was on tour with a music group in Phoenix, AZ, so I named him Phoenix!!
   
3. My son's father has never met my son, and wants nothing to do with us. (But it's OK, 'cause we have a GREAT life "Just the two of us."
4. I used to have 14 piercings (body and ear) and now I only have 4.
   
5. I have had plastic surgery. (I'll never tell..... lol)
   
6. I LOATHE laundry.. It piles up on my bed, and in baskets until my dear Grandmother comes to babysit and graciously folds it for me. (I still have to put it away though.....)
   
7. I waited until I was 26 (and a single parent) to pursue my dream of being a high school music teacher. I plunged myself into debt, let babysitters raise my son 18 hours of MOST days, and got my degree(s). I received my degree/certification in the mail the other day and it was a VERY good day. I am now teaching at a magnet fine arts school in my city, and LOVING it.
   

So there... 7 random things.. I tag these people:
Kelly Albright
Colleen

And, for a card! I played today's colour challenge found here.
The colours we were to use were So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, and Real Red. As always I knew I could find a patterned paper that would coordinate with this CC, and I actually found it right away! To fulfill the "saffron" component I airbrushed Y21 with my copic marker and airbrush system along the edges of the main image. Have a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts (Santa), Amuse (Sentiment and snowflake); Paper: Bazzil and Basic Grey; Ink: Noir (Palette), Jumbo Java, Red Magic (Versamagic), Versamark; Ribbon (Amuse), Felt shapes (American Crafts), White Glue (Art Institute), Copic Markers and Airbrush system.

This week's featured stamper is Nitestamper, and here is the card I cased.

I changed the following:
- colour combination
- stamp set
- ribbon
- scallop punch instead of circle

This was a great layout, and an awesome way to feature patterned paper.

Supplies: Paper: Marigold Morning, Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp (SU!), Scrapworks, Papertrey; Stamps: Amuse, Hero Arts; Eyelets (WeR), Copic markers, Ribbon (May Arts).



Here are some pics of my trip to the pumpkin farm with my son, Phoenix!

I love felt! I hoard it, but I love it. lol. I just bought another pack of 12x12 felt shapes by Fancy Pants and I was sitting there trying to find a colour to match my card when it donned on me; USE YOUR COPIC AIRBRUSH SYSTEM AND YOU CAN MAKE THEM ANY COLOUR YOU WANT!! Don't you love "aha" moments? So I grabbed my airbrush, grabbed my camera (ofcourse) and documented my findings. Result: FABULOUS! I am appreciating more and more every day why these markers are so remarkable. (no pun intended haha...)

Directions:
1)Pick a colour of felt that will either be a good base colour, OR use white. (Which is what I decided to do for my first felt shape)
2)Spray shape with the lightest colour (similar to shading) and cover shape completely.
3)Spray with a darker colour to add depth. You could keep going darker, but I only used two colours on my flower.

I adhered the felt to the patterned paper with Aleene's Tacky Glue. Do you see the brown felt shape? It was originally a baby pink colour, and I airbrushed it with a deep brown. LOVE it!

I saw someone the other day use their Scor-pal to emboss their card front (notimetostamp) and I thought it was genius! so I tried it, and it's AWESOME! (I embossed a rectangle frame around the patterned paper. Thanx for looking and visit my SCS post for supplies!

Well the REALLY big news is Diana Crick of Scor-Pal has chosen me to be a member of her design team! Diana attended one of my card classes at Precious Memories when it came up that she's the owner/inventor of this famous tool!! I am working on my first tutorial for her website. Will be coming soon!



The other news is that my "Dancing Fool" layout I posted the other day was selected to appear on the Basic Grey website. I'm so excited! Here's the link.

Today's Featured Stamper challenge features TruCarMa and here's the card I cased. In her comments she mentioned the ribbon being her original inspiration for the card, but when it came time to it it didn't fit on the card...Well, I went with her original idea and added ribbon instead of brads. I used the new Amuse ribbon, which is yummy and sparkly in real life.

I, for the most part, kept her original design. I cut down on the layers, but LOVED the layout, so I stayed true to that (scalloped bottom included). If you click on the image you can see I covered some of the dots on the present with glitter, and some with Simple Shine (Crystal Effects). Love that dimensional effect. I cut out bella's legs/dress with an exacto. I LOVE that coming-out-of-the-picture effect. What's that technique called anyway?? Have a great week!

Supplies: Stamps: Presentabella (Stamping Bella), Amuse; Paper: Basic Grey, Bazzil, Papertrey; Ink: Noir (Palette), Jumbo Java and Cloud White(Versamagic); Ribbon (Amuse), Copic Markers, Simple Shine.

The LSS where I teach (linked on the right) had a staff crop tonight! I did more talking than cropping, but isn't that what crops are all about?? Here are the fruits of my (not so much) labour:
I did this card with the specific intention of using chipboard. I used the Basic Grey chipboard and coordinating die cuts (Stella Ruby) to make this SUPER quick card. I also couldn't resist using one of my new felt shapes by Fancy Pants since it went so well with the paper.

Supplies; Paper: Basic Grey, Bazzil; Ink: Jumbo Java (versamagic); Ribbon: May Arts; Felt star (Fancy Pants), Chipboard letters (Basic Grey).



My second completed project is this layout featuring my freak of a son getting his groove on. I toiled over this page, mostly because I have many embellishments for female-oriented pages, but none for little boys. (Go figure- I only have one child and he's a BOY)

To colour the chipboard arrow I used my brown and black Copic markers and the Copic airbrush system. No more paint for me! haha..

Supplies: Paper: Basic Grey, KI Memories, Bazzil; Ink: Jumbo Java (Versamagic); Thickers (American Crafts), Chipboard (Basic Grey), Journaling tag (Making Memories), Rub-on (Cosmo Cricket), Copic Markers and Airbrush system.

No patterned paper....BY CHOICE! I will do it if I have to (for a challenge or something) but it's always my preference to use patterned paper. In the case of this card, nothing matched the airbrushing perfectly, except for this piece of cardstock I had in my stash (Bazzil) so I thought, what the heck!

This is for Beate's weekend sketch found here.

p.s... I am house-sitting for my parents and I used my mom's Canon EOS digital SLR. Isn't the picture amazing!! I want a pretty camera SO bad.. oh the pictures I would take....

Supplies: Paper: Bazzil, Papertrey; Stamps: Stampendous (large snowflake), Amuse (small snowflake, penguins and sentiment); Ink: White Cloud (Versamagic), Noir (Palette); Ribbon (May Arts), Copic Markers and airbrush system.

The first time I saw this image I didn't know what to think of it. A skinny Santa? I didn't know if I was ready for that. I bought the set anyway, and haven't inked it until today. He's kinda cute now that he's all coloured, and the new modern twist on the old Santa suits more modern and geometric patterned papers with which I've paired him.

This is the second card I've done for today's featured stamper challenge, and I cased the same card. (I was on a roll, what can I say?)

The challenge is here, the card I cased is here.


Supplies: Paper: The Paper Company, Wild Wasabi (SU!), White (Prism); Stamps: Hero Arts Clear Set, Amuse (Sentiment); Ink: Red Magic (Versamagic), Noir (Palette); Ribbon (May Arts), Copic Markers, Glitter (Glitter Ritz), Mat Pack (SU!).

This past week has been one of those weeks, you know? I taught two classes at my LSS (LOTS of prep) and I was busy making out mid-terms for my high school students, and before I knew it, a week had gone by!

I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge, featuring Stampertammy. (Her card is here). I was determined to use my NEW stamp from Stamping Bella. Isn't it AWESOME?!?! I coloured it with Copic markers, and decorated the image with some white glue and glitter ritz micro-fine glitter.

To add special interest to the image I cut the rectangle so it appears as if the stirring stick is sticking out of the matte. I LOVE this look, and it worked out so well. I die cut a scalloped rectangle using a Nestabilities die and my Cuttlebug.

Supplies: Paper: Piggy Tales, Bazzil, Papertrey; Stamps: Stamping Bella, Amuse; Ink: Versamagic, Palette (Noir); Copic markers, Aleene's Glue, Glitter Ritz, Spellbinders Nestabilities die.

I saw Kristina's (kwerner design blog) directions for a small file folder album, and thought I'd give it a try. I actually had to go to Staples and buy a whole box (1oo) of files because I didn't have ANY in my house. Even though this is only half a file folder, it was still a lot of work, time, paper, and I don't know if I would do it again! I'm the kind of scrapper that likes to get a project done in an hour or less, and this was NOT that project.. ah well.

I had a bunch of old photos of me given to me and they have sat in my photo box for a LONG time. I find it SO hard to find papers to match that orangey-70's colour, but these papers by Cosmo Cricket worked pretty well.
Here's the cover. The monogram is a metal letter by American Crafts, and the stamps are Technique Tuesday.

Supplies: Paper: (Kraft, Cosmo Cricket, MME); Stamps: Technique Tuesday, Autumn Leaves; Ink: Jumbo Java (Versamagic); Accessories: Copic markers, EK punch, MME star die cut, WeR brads and ribbon, metal letter (American Crafts).

What a yummy colour combo: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and River Rock (all SU! colours). The first thing I do when there's a colour challenge is thumb through my scraps of patterned paper that coordinate with the challenge colours ( I have SO many scraps that I'm usually successful). It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, so I think my Grandmother who is hosting dinner, will receive this card.

I stamped "thanks" with a gorgeous alpha by Technique Tuesday, and "give" with my tiny snap stamps. I was able to line up the alpha using a clear block with a grid by Provo Craft.

For challenge details check out the link here.

Supplies:
Paper: River Rock, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip (SU!), KI patterned paper; Stamps: Alphabet (Technique Tuesday), Snap Stamp (Karen Foster), Leaf Flourish (Inkadinkado); Ink: Jumbo Java (Versamagic); Ribbon (May Arts), Felt Flowers (American Crafts), brads, Ticket Corner Punch (SU!).