come in the new year...
Announcing - Dylan Michael Williamson,
I taught my canvas class last Thursday at Reminisce. It was lots of fun - a nice (and creative) group of women. It was so fun to see them take my idea/layout and make it their own. Fun stuff. 
Artist trading cards for a "raw art" atc swap over at the Embellished Circus. Freezing rain here - yuck.
Man, these weeks are flying by. Since I wrote last we drove to Des Moines to celebrate Thanksgiving. Dinner was at my Aunt Jane's house, and we got to meet her new puppy, Pedro. Hilariously ridiculous-looking. Then we drove back Thursday evening to eat with Bill's family (two turkey dinners in one day...mmmm....) Friday I worked the crazy day-after-thanksgiving sale at Reminisce and picked up supplies to make Christmas cards. I finished making 12 Friday night and should finish up the rest this weekend. 
Saturday it was back to Reminisce, and then home to put up the tree and decorate it while Bill and I watched X-men 3 - a pretty entertaining action flick. Sunday we went house-hunting, which has been our Sunday afternoon past-time for the past couple months and we found a house we love and will be making an offer on it this week. So exciting! *fingers crossed*
My mom made this stocking for me the year I was born. Craftiness runs in the family!
Not much to report since last week. I've been laying low and feeling very uncreative because I have some kind of head cold/virus that has knocked me on my butt for the past 6 days. I did manage to stamp some wrapping paper. My 3rd graders are stamping patterns with handmade stamps made from modeling clay, so I took the inspiration from that and made my own. 
This layout by Elsie - I will definitely have to lift this idea for one of my own. 
Bethany and Thor - who turned 18 and 25 respectively on Thursday. Since I finished all my grades (early for once!) and we had a day off from school on Friday, I drove over to Des Moines to help Bethany celebrate her birthday with a dinner at Taki at a cooking table. When we got home I gave her the mini-book I made to house pictures from her 18th year. 
We're having a contest at Reminisce for employee-made Christmas decorations. I finished my two entries up last night. We had to use the Reminisce holiday paper lines (which are so cute and shimmery) to create decorations or gift ideas to display in the store for the next couple months. Our VIP customers will be judging and deciding the winners. I made an altered wood frame (above) and a holiday card holding basket-thingie (below). I'm pretty pleased, I think they turned out cute, but the competition will be tough! I also finished a gift for my sister, which will have to remain under wraps until I head to Des Moines tomorrow to help her celebrate her 18th birthday!
A kindergarten student gave me this drawing on Friday afternoon. When I asked him what it was about, he told me that it was him and a friend "scaring away some girls". This cracks me up - especially the way the two boys have legs, hand, and feet, while the girls are still those "cookie people" as I call them. As if the boys are a little more evolved in his brain. And the red eyes and sharp teeth! I'd be scared away, too!
Hand-Carved Pumpkins!
Skeleton atcs
This afternoon we took a trip to Wilson's apple orchard with nephew Jake to pick out pumpkins to carve. He's never done pumpkin carving before, and it is one of our favorite traditions since we started dating, so we were excited. Our hope was that Wilson's would have a big pumpkin patch where we could pull the pumpkins right off the vine, but apparently that was not the case. We still had a good time choosing from the pre-picked pumpkins they had near the store entrance. 
Jake had a great time picking out the pumpkin and drawing the face, but he didn't want to have anything to do with cleaning out the insides of the pumpkin. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty at all. We were able to finally persuade him to pull out a few seeds and help punch out the face shapes. The final products turned out great! 
We saved the seeds so that I can season them and bake them for a tasty treat. Does anyone have a special recipe for cooking pumpkin seeds?
I've been fighting a cold this week, a little sore throat, drippy nose, headache, etc, so I've been trying to recouporate in the evenings on the couch. I have gotten a little art done for my swaps this month. Above are hand-sewn paper atcs. 
School has been busy. The artwork is piling up - that's a good thing - and a bad thing when it comes to staying organized and grading. My art club that meets Monday afternoon is all about mosaics - the three pots in the photo were made by my 5th grade students! Also, a student gave me this letter today - "and a good life" - I had to laugh!
...with excellent mail art this week! I received self-portrait atcs from Wendy (along with the skeleton halloween card) sewn atcs from Judi, and the skeleton atcs from Amy. Not to mention an awesome envelope of Halloween goodies from Kelli, which I don't have a picture of right now.
Reminisce holds a Marathon crop (what is a crop?) each year - the event started at 5:00 Friday evening - Bethany and mom drove over from Des Moines, along with Bethany's friend Jennifer and her mom. We stayed at Reminisce scrapbooking until 7:00 pm on Saturday. Crazy? yes! There were a few naps here and there but overall we were awake for at least 36 hours total (including Friday before the crop). Fun stuff! Last night my mom came home with me (the rest of the crazies drove back to Des Moines). We ate pizza and fell sound asleep before 9:00 pm. Then slept til' 11:00 this morning! This weekend I stayed up the most hours ever and slept the most hours ever. Yes, I'm a little punchy and grouchy. It was a fun challenge, and we got lots accomplished, but I would have to wait quite awhile before I do that again!
So, I came home and got ready to mow the lawn, and what should I come across but a backyard full of mushrooms! I suppose they were brought up by the unseasonably warm temperatures we've had this week. Alas, I wasn't going to mow around the mushrooms, so I took a few pictures before I mowed them down. 
Last night was our nephew's third birthday. He is growing up so quickly! This is a great age, he's talking up a storm and just saying whatever is on his mind. The theme of the party was "Cars" (as in the Disney movie) and it was all about the cars, including this cool racecar cake!
This was a view of my trunk this morning. I just thought it was funny - ah, the life of an elementary school art teacher. My kindergarteners are painting pictures of pumpkins and the fifth graders are doing papier mache (hence the flour). This isn't even showcasing the bag full of paint and yarn I was also transporting today.
Feeling very lazy today. Must have something to do with a long week of working and the gloomy weather today. I did manage to get 2 layouts done, along with some laundry and a cleaned-out closet. The first page has one of my favorite photos - it was taken in '97, my senior year in high school. I cannot believe that was almost 10 years ago. whaaat? Anyway, effer dare #40 inspired the layout. Then I decided to use the picture of B and I from the apple store this summer. It's a fun one. 
Wendy came over today to decorate some decos with me. It is always so much fun to make art with a friend - bounce ideas off of each other, play with art supplies and chat. We got lots accomplished - including this frog stamp that I finished carving. Now I want to use it everywhere! I also managed to clean house a little, do a couple loads of laundry, get to the grocery store and have breakfast with my in-laws. Very nice way to spend a Saturday.
Last night I finished the sample for a class that I'm teaching at Reminisce on October 19. I was a little concerned that it would be kinda cheesy because it was from a pre-made kit, but I was pleasantly surprised when I put it together. It turned out cute! It is a book to be filled with family recipes - it would make a nice gift, I would say!
