Hello to the two people who read this!!  ;-)  I have been completely remiss in posting on here, so please accept my apologies!  Life has gotten in the way of crafting over the last few months, but part of what has gotten in the way is the time I have taken to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  :-)

I began teaching in January, a new and wonderful adventure.  The kids in my paper crafting class are amazing-- they are so very open to the world of creativity.  It makes me so joyful to see them blossom and grow, learning to express themselves through art and paper.  I would like to post some pictures of the kids and their projects (I have taken pics of all of them for our final project-- a YourStory photo book for which they will design the cover which will contain pictures of them and all of the projects.)  I need to do some photo editing and/or get permission from the parents to post their faces on here, though, so stay tuned for these fantastic works of art!!

So I have loved the teaching, far more than I anticipated.  I have committed to teach through the summer at a summer camp, and I am looking at where to continue to teach art at various other local schools in the fall.  In addition to that, though, now that my kids will officially be in school all day, I have decided to take my design work to the next level. 

I have begun doing some custom design work for a handful of clients for weddings and parties.  This was a BIG step for me, as the level of seriousness and professionalism is just different in order to run a business.  I am finding, though, that as much as I was a little wary of having people directing my creativity, its been just the opposite!!  They are loving my work, and I am loving being able to bring them something spectacular for their event.  HOW FANTASTIC!!!

So with that in mind, I am moving forward to find an office space to meet with potential clients and get more of the non-crafting work done.  Thus, you should be finding me blogging more regularly!!!  I also want to start doing some instructional videos, as I love to teach, but I am trying to figure out the logistics of that, as I am not quite as computer literate as I would like.  Anyway, this is the last of my long postings, as I know you are here to get some inspiration and ideas, not to necessarily hear about my epiphanies! 

This is a card I made using Cricut cartridge Animal Kingdom, an older cartridge, but still a favorite!  My son's friend, who was turning 6, had his party at Jungle Island, and is a crazy animal lover!!  The patterned paper was from ProvoCraft, and the stamp and ink are from Close to My Heart. 

Hope you're having a great weekend!