Fun with the Cloud Punch

When I won the Fiskars Cloud Punch, I knew I'd be punching lots of fun clouds.  (A description of how I did the sky is here.)  

What I didn't expect is how well the cloud punch works as ice cream!

Here's my latest cloud/ice cream card.  The whole thing is made with scraps.  I added Glossy Accents to the cherry to make it shine.

 

I love when a punch does double duty!  

The Awesome Ed Emberley

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I liked to draw when I was a kid. No surprise, right? Strangely, I don't think I ever took any drawing classes, but I do remember checking out lots of library books from the 741.2 section of the library about how to draw. (No, I didn't actually remember the exact Dewey Decimal Number of the "Drawing - Technique" section, but I did remember it was in the middle of the 700's.) I think I was around 6 or 7 when I first discovered Ed Emberley.  

Ed Emberley's books have been so popular for so long that I assume most of you know them. For those who don't, he has published 80+ books (I had to look that up too) that teach elementary age children how to draw by using very simple, illustrated step-by-step instructions.

Last year, Trevor's godmother gave him Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book and ink set and he was smitten. A year later, he still loves it.    

Here are some of the critters Trevor made this week.  

Here are some of mine.

After making some from the book, I started making up my own. Trevor immediately guessed, "Rainbow!" but I wasn't done. More fingerprints.

Once I added the brown thumb, pinkies, and index finger, he knew what I was making.

Turkey!

This gave him an idea. I watched as he did blues, greens and purples, then added the browns.  Peacock!

I should mention that the area around Trevor's school has a ton of peacocks. We regularly see them moseying down the sidewalk or on a neighbors' lawn (or roof) on our walk to school. I love that.

You know, I should check to see if my own goddaughters have any Ed Emberley books yet. They obviously make a really good gift for budding artists. Any other Ed Emberley fans out there?   

First Grade Homework

This week, Trevor came home with the classic Thanksgiving homework assignment called "I Am Not a Turkey."  His job was to disguise a turkey as something else so that the turkey can avoid becoming dinner.  I know some parents dread them, but I LOVE creative assignments like this.  In fact, I loved the assignment so much that I couldn't resist playing along while Trevor did his.  

I got out our markers, crayons, paper scraps, googly eyes, and a bunch of other stuff and we got right to work.  So much fun!  I knew right away how I'd disguise my turkey.  "I am not a turkey... I'm Mickey Mouse!"   

 

Trevor insisted that anyone would know that mine was a turkey and not Mickey Mouse.  He was far more thorough in disguising his own turkey as a space alien (right down to the nametag that says "Space Alien").  I love all the eyeballs.

What's your opinion about creative homework, either as a parent or when you were a kid? Love it, hate it, or somewhere in between?

Quick and Easy Handmade Notebook

I love notebooks. I always have at least one in my purse, my car, and and even my suitcase. In other words, I'm never without a notebook.  Ideas are constantly popping into my head and I have to be able to get my thoughts on paper before they disappear forever!  

Here's a fun notebook I made recently. 

It literally took five minutes.  Supplies: piece of chipboard, white copy paper, piece of patterned paper, Crop-a-dile, stick, rubber band, and letter stickers.  

Cut the papers to the same size (mine are 4x6).  Punch two holes at the top of all the papers.  

 

Line up the papers and thread the rubber band through one of the holes.  Insert the stick.

 

Insert the free end of the rubber band through the other hole, going from back to front. Catch the end of the rubber band with the stick. 

 

Here's what the back looks like.

 

I added letter stickers of my intials to the front.  (Yes, I know my last name starts with d and not J.)  Done!

Not only was this notebook quick and easy, but it costs me nothing.  The patterned paper was a scrap.  The white papers inside were the bottoms of things I printed that didn't cover the whole page.  I found the stick.  The rubber band came on our newspaper.  The chipboard came in the envelope from the USPS when I ordered stamps.  Trash to treasure!  

Black and Gold Thank You

I've been writing articles for Scrapjazz for awhile now, but I've only recently started checking out the contests and challenges in their forums.  When I saw the November card sketch challenge, I knew I wanted to play along.  

The sketch is very simple - just my style!  I recently uncovered a piece of shimmery gold cardstock that I'd embossed on a friend's Big Shot way back when.  I decided to use that as my background.  As to what color to pair with the gold, that was a no-brainer.  My high school colors were black & gold (go Matadors!) and I've always thought it was an elegant combination.

Here's my card: 

 

And here's the sketch:

As you can see, I followed the sketch very closely.  I think the embossed dots, the scalloped circle, and the extreme shimmer of the paper add interest.  Overall, I'm really happy with it. I might have to try this again with some other color combinations!