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This past weekend was my May Team Meeting, where members of my downline bring a project for the rest of the team to create. I love this sharing of creativity and opportunity to craft where others have done the prep, LOL! Here are some of the great projects we made on Saturday.  Liz Wheeler  Mimi Powless
Diana Galloway (one on L was her project from March, which she didn't attend due to illness). So fun to see everyone's style...next time I'll show you more! Last few days to sign up for my Monthly Card Class Come make 5 great paper crafting projects. Suitable for novice and experienced crafters. Cost: $20 - includes all supplies.  New Catalog Open House and Retired Products Rummage Sale Saturday & Sunday, June 4 -5, 2016 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Nancy's Craft Room Scottsdale, AZ Come see awesome new products from the 2016-17 Annual Catalog and enjoy a free make-and-take project. Members of the Nancy's Nifty Notes team will be selling retired products both recent and vintage! Save at least 50% off catalog price. Come early for best selection!
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I know, I was supposed to be back 9 days ago...but I had a very busy 9 days and didn't get a chance to blog. Maybe you appreciated the respite, too? The last two weekends have been full of both socializing and paper crafting. First, I spent a weekend in Pine, AZ, which is high in the mountains northeast of Scottsdale almost 2 hours away. A couple of times a year I am fortunate to be able to have a long weekend with friends working on cards. It's billed as a scrapbooking weekend, but all kinds of activities are welcome. Most of the participants this year didn't do much of anything, which is always a welcome activity for us busy women! I usually take Paper Pumpkin kits and extra supplies to work on. This time I took the March kit, Pocketful of Cheer, and the April Kit, Lovely Little Wreath. Here's some of what I made with each:
I did actually make the wreath in the kit, but it sold to one of my friends immediately and I didn't get a picture of it! I also made these cards...and still have plenty of leftover "leaves" to use on more. The upright leaves look a lot like Arizona cacti!
Next time I'll share what kept me so busy this past weekend. Last few days to sign up for my Monthly Card Class Come make 5 great paper crafting projects. Suitable for novice and experienced crafters. Cost: $20 - includes all supplies.  New Catalog Open House and Retired Products Rummage Sale Saturday & Sunday, June 4 -5, 2016 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Nancy's Craft Room Scottsdale, AZ Come see awesome new products from the 2016-17 Annual Catalog and enjoy a free make-and-take project. Members of the Nancy's Nifty Notes team will be selling retired products both recent and vintage! Save at least 50% off catalog price. Come early for best selection!
It was an article in the local paper that caught my eye. I was getting in my few minutes of adult time while my 8-month-old son had his brief afternoon nap, and there it was. All about mothers who had connected and formed a supportive community after leaving their jobs to raise their children. It was as if someone had reached her hand out of the pages of that paper and said, “Here we are…come join us!” And I did.
Nine months earlier my husband and I had moved to the small city where we knew no one so that he could pursue his Ph.D. The fact that we were about to have our first child hadn’t stopped us from making this momentous change to our income or lifestyle of working over 40 hours per week in Washington, D.C. In fact, it seemed like the ideal time. What I hadn’t planned on was just how alone I would feel. While my husband/best friend went off to his new life of graduate courses and research assistantships, I was home with our baby. At first it was great, nesting and playing house and loving this little being who we’d so eagerly anticipated. As the months went on and my husband was spending all his waking hours on campus or studying, and our son didn’t fall into a nice, routine schedule, or sleep through the night, I realized just how isolated I was. And then, one cold, gray January afternoon, a glimmer of sunshine from my newspaper in the form of a local chapter of F.E.M.A.L.E - Formerly Employed Mothers at the Leading Edge (just changed from “at Loose Ends,” which I felt certainly applied to me!). A playgroup with babies all born within a few months of mine provided instant companionship and a few solid friendships. Evening meetings connected me to more mothers who were at different stages of the parenting journey and could provide insight, perspective and advice. These meetings also featured presentations and activities that provided knowledge about a variety of topics…beyond parenting and into exploring ourselves and our society. Mom’s Night Out opportunities, family activities, volunteering opportunities both within the organization and on behalf of other worthy causes, book group! Suddenly my calendar was full of opportunities to get out and interact with others, and I loved it. The Internet was exploding, too, and suddenly I was connecting through email discussion groups (for some reason called “loops” in our organization) with Nursing Moms, Toddler Moms, Pregnant Moms (once I got pregnant with our second child), and socially/politically active moms all over the country. Now even in my at-home time I could interact with “my people” anytime I wanted. 3 years after joining F.E.M.A.L.E, I had held 2 volunteer board positions in my chapter and had so many friends in the group that I didn’t have to cook dinner for a month after our second child was born. Such a difference from after the first one! As my life circumstances changed, F.E.M.A.L.E. was there. Now we were in a preschoolers-with-younger-siblings playgroup, and there was always someone to hold the baby while keeping an eye on the older one while I went to the restroom. Trust me, that’s huge. Soon, the husband was finishing his Ph.D. and searching for a job, which took him out of town quite a bit for several months. No problem, we got a HOOTOWL (Husbands Out Of Town Or Working Late) playgroup started, so that we could meet at a local family-friendly eating establishment with a play area and not have to always tackle the dinner hour alone. Then in 2001 came the new job, and relocation to a town with no chapter of what was now called Mothers & More. Again, the first months were fine, since we were setting up a new home, meeting the neighbors, and getting the oldest started in Kindergarten. But I felt the loss of personal interactions despite my continued online involvement. That fall, Mothers & More held its first convention and I got to meet up with members of my former chapter as well as many, many others from around the country. I cried on the drive home, and decided to start a chapter in my new town. As soon as I walked in the door, my husband knew. Thankfully, he was incredibly supportive. Setting up the chapter was a challenge I threw myself into with gusto, and by our one year anniversary had over 30 members. I’m happy to say that when I took a step back from active leadership once my younger child started Kindergarten others were ready to step up and keep the chapter running. 15 years later it is still in existence, though sadly the chapter I originally joined has long since folded. As both of my kids transitioned from playgroups to school full time I transitioned my online activity from the Toddler Moms Loop to the Seasoned Moms loop. This was for those of us moving beyond issues with potty training and weaning to teachers, bullies, setting limits and letting go. Many of us had made this journey together from the Nursing Moms Loop, so there was a lot of familiarity in the names and stories, which fostered a real sense of community. The discussions started ranging far beyond just issues with our kids, into medical, marital and employment dilemmas. Led by an outstanding moderator, the loop truly fosters an attitude of openness and acceptance that has allowed us to explore wide-ranging topics often considered taboo, including politics and religion. We have shared stories of our past, and of our hopes and worries for both our futures and those of our kids. We have vehemently left the “mommy wars” outside our domain, feeling that each of us is able to make the best choice for ourselves and our families. Times of triumph and tragedy alike are marked with the sending of virtual pomegranite martinis (pomtinis) and {{{hugs}}}. We joke that we were getting so well-seasoned that we became downright spicy! In 2009, after a few small, informal meet-ups between loop members, we decided to hold our first getaway weekend, with over 20 members attending. Many have said they were nervous about traveling to spend time hanging out with people they’d only met online (something we were warning our ‘tweens and teens not to do!)…but it soon became quite clear that putting a face and a voice with a name on the screen was the best thing ever (along with a few real pomtinis)! It was so much fun that we have continued to meet in a different city each fall, welcoming newcomers who have the opportunity to attend, and missing others whose lives keep them from joining us. Five years ago my family moved again, but this time I knew that many of my closest friends would “move” along with me on the Seasoned Moms Loop. We are all growing older, and our issues are shifting again. Many of us are launching our teens into the world of college and jobs. Some of us are supporting our children through difficult periods of adjustment to adulthood, often due to learning disabilities or mental health issues. We have more members who are getting involved with caring for aging parents, or serious health issues with themselves or close family members. Whatever comes along, we are there for each other more than ever, both online and sending tokens of our love, including notes, gift baskets, or flowers. In the last couple of years we have had informal discussions on the loop about the viability and future of Mothers & More, and some of us have participated in official discussions with committees tasked at looking at those issues. Often, our loop members felt that the organization in general didn’t meet their needs anymore, and chose to drop their memberships. Many of us, however, remember what a lifeline it had been to us in the early years of parenting, and continued our memberships in that spirit. When Mothers & More decided to purge the online loops of non-paying participants, an alternative email group named SpicyMomsPomtini was established and most of the activity of the Seasoned Moms transitioned to it in a prescient move. The end of Mothers & More as an entity, while sad for many of us who were so positively affected by the organization, will not be the end of its legacy. Many, many enduring friendships were forged in its playgroups, meetings, leadership structure and online loops. Those of us in the SpicyMomsPomtini group will continue to support and meet each other in real life and online, and inviting others to join us. This week I'm showing you the projects we made in my April class...look for my May class schedule below and sign up to attend so you don't miss out on making the next batch of designs!  Often in class when my students pull our their piece of Designer Series Paper (DSP) for the card, they say they wish they could show off both sides because they're so beautiful. This card features a Curtain or Drapery fold in the DSP, which allows both patterns to show. I will note that sometimes both sides are really nice, but don't necessarily play well together! Fortunately I was able to find 3 sheets of designs from the Birthday Bouquet DSP that worked well to make these cards in class. I used the instructions in Debbie Henderson's video to size, score and cut the DSP. I didn't have the same DSP as she used, so I changed up the colors to reflect the Birthday Bouquet DSP. In my last class session I realized that we could put the bottom, left edge of the DSP flush with the bottom, left corner of the card base and cover the gap at the top with the ½" strip of Watermelon card stock. If we were using a larger sentiment that might not be a good option. The sentiment is from the Sunburst Sayings set. (FYI, there's a very similar one in the Sale-A-Bration set, Party Pants, with the script and block lettering on opposite words.) We stamped and punched three of the smaller balloons from Balloon Celebration, as well as balloon strings on the left panel of DSP. The bow is from the Bow Builder Punch. The dimension on this card is great, but it is all flat enough to mail really easily. I hope you'll give it a try and send me pictures of your creations! May Classes Technique Class: Watercolored Images Friday, May 13, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm, Nancy's Craft Room Come learn some tips and tricks for creating one of today's hottest trends: watercolored images. A variety of techniques will be explored. This technique class is more about exploration and practice than producing cards...you will take home plenty of samples. Supplies: if you own AquaPainters, please bring them to class. I will have some available for anyone who doesn't own one. Everything else will be provided. Cost: $20 RSVP by noon on Wednesday, May 11. Monthly Card Class Come make 5 great paper crafting projects. Suitable for novice and experienced crafters. Cost: $20 - includes all supplies. Paper Pumpkin Sneak Peek At OnStage Live last month we not only got to see May's Paper Pumpkin kit, we were able to make a sample card and take pictures of the entire kit.
I'm loving the orange corrugated card stock panels, the intricate die-cut card bases, the great, simple sentiment stamp set and the yummy Pool Party enamel star embellishments. Wouldn't you like to have this set that includes everything you need to make at least 8 cards with envelopes? Then be sure you're subscribed to Paper Pumpkin no later than May 10! There are 2 ways to do this:
This week I'm showing you the projects we made in my April class...look for my May class schedule below and sign up to attend so you don't miss out on making the next batch of designs!
I CASE'd another one from LeeAnn Greff. This card features a couple of fun techniques: the first is sponging the flower from Remarkable You in an ombré effect, the second is the tone-on-tone embossing effect with the leaves on the Basic Black panel, and the third is the decorative punching at each end of the sentiment banner.
The ombré effect is made by sponging a light layer of color all over the flower (in this example I used Rich Razzleberry, but class participants had a choice of several vibrant colors), then building up the layers of ink as one moves towards the stem. The flower is then snipped out and layered with Dimensionals over another one stamped on the Whisper White circle and roughly colored in with a Stampin' Write Marker in the same color. There are also light Smoky Slate speckles stamped on with a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge. The circle is mounted on a Basic Black Deco Label Framelit. The leaves from Remarkable You are stamped randomly on the Basic Black layer in VersaMark, then heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. So easy, yet so striking! The sentiment banner is made with the retiring Curvy Corner Trio Punch. Just insert one end of the 1" strip into the filigree side of the punch, being sure it's all the way against one of the rails and all the way in, and punch. Flip it over and insert the same end again, and punch the other corner. Rotate to the other end and repeat. LeeAnn has a video to show you exactly how to make the card at the link above.
May Classes
Technique Class: Watercolored Images Friday, May 13, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm, Nancy's Craft Room Come learn some tips and tricks for creating one of today's hottest trends: watercolored images. A variety of techniques will be explored. This technique class is more about exploration and practice than producing cards...you will take home plenty of samples. Supplies: if you own AquaPainters, please bring them to class. I will have some available for anyone who doesn't own one. Everything else will be provided. Cost: $20 RSVP by noon on Wednesday, May 11. Monthly Card Class Come make 5 great paper crafting projects. Suitable for novice and experienced crafters. Cost: $20 - includes all supplies.
For the next few days I'm going to show you the projects we made in my April class...look for my May class schedule below and sign up to attend so you don't miss out on making the next batch of designs!  This card, CASE'd from LeeAnn Greff, features a neat washi tape and punch trick. We stamped the sentiment from Birthday Blooms on a scrap of Whisper White card stock, then added two strips of It's My Party Designer Washi Tape. The Decorative Label punch was centered and punched, creating a great effect. The large image from Birthday Blooms was stamped in VersaMark and embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder on a Mossy Meadow card base. A strip of English Garden Designer Series Paper was layered with a strip of Rose Red card stock and applied to the card base. Another strip of Rose Red was flagged with the Banner Punch and layered under the Decorative Label piece. Rhinestones were added as an embellishment. When I first tried to make this card, I wasn't happy with my placement of the embossed flower on the card base. I set it aside, and once this one was completed decided to try a different version:  This one is rotate 90° and has a strip of Birthday Bouquet DSP. I omitted the layer of card stock, and used strips of DSP from the same pack instead of washi tape on the sentiment label. Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper is the accent strip, and Candy Dots are the embellishment. This is a great layout to use up some smaller pieces of DSP! Paper Pumpkin Sneak Peek At OnStage Live last month we not only got to see May's Paper Pumpkin kit, we were able to make a sample card and take pictures of the entire kit.   I'm loving the orange corrugated card stock panels, the intricate die-cut card bases, the great, simple sentiment stamp set and the yummy Pool Party enamel star embellishments. Wouldn't you like to have this set that includes everything you need to make at least 8 cards with envelopes? Then be sure you're subscribed to Paper Pumpkin no later than May 10! There are 2 ways to do this:
May Classes Technique Class: Watercolored Images Friday, May 13, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm, Nancy's Craft Room Come learn some tips and tricks for creating one of today's hottest trends: watercolored images. A variety of techniques will be explored. This technique class is more about exploration and practice than producing cards...you will take home plenty of samples. Supplies: if you own AquaPainters, please bring them to class. I will have some available for anyone who doesn't own one. Everything else will be provided. Cost: $20 RSVP by noon on Wednesday, May 11. Monthly Card Class Come make 5 great paper crafting projects. Suitable for novice and experienced crafters. Cost: $20 - includes all supplies. |
Meet NancyI've been paper-crafting since 2006, and an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator since 2010. I love sharing my craft with others, either through classes or by creating special cards and gifts that meet their needs. Join me in creating fun! 
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