I'M BACK!

So for all of you that have been wondering if I fell off the face of the earth....I have not! The last year has been VERY hectic for me. I am finally divorced! And yes, that is a good thing! I have started a new business and wanted to share with all of you. I am still selling Close to My Heart if anyone is wondering but I have put that on the back burner in the past year. Currently I am selling Thirty-One. It is an awesome company that sells bags, purses, totes, etc. that are so much fun and affordable! Each month there are great customer and hostess specials so go to my website and check it out. www.mythirtyone.com\stacieschultz Most products from Thirty-One can be embroidered to personalize your purchases. SO MUCH FUN! You choose the material for your bag and the color of embroidery. You even choose what your bag will say. I will soon post photos of some of my products but for now...check out my website!

National Scrapbook Day!!!

So May 1st was National Scrapbook Day and I made sure that I set aside some time to actually be crafty that day! I hung out on the Pink Stamper's blog for awhile on Saturday and completed some of her 12 challenges that she had going on. Below are photos of some of the challenges that I did. They are not in any particular order as Blogger is not allowing me to arrange them how I would like at this time...enjoy!

Challenge #7
Challenge #2

Challenge #9

Challenge #8

Challenge #5

Challenge #12

Challenge#1

Easter is almost here!

I cannot believe how fast time has gone by in the past 5 months. It feels like it was just New Year's and now we are sneaking up on Easter. When thinking about Easter I thought what fun it would be to create a few cute Easter baskets for friends, family members, and loved ones. Below is a photo of two of the three Easter baskets that we will be making at my first meetup class on March 28th at 4:00 pm.
If you have not already signed up and would like to attend some of my classes or at least find out when I am offering fun gathers please go to www.meetup.com and search for The Eau Claire Createive Crafters Group. You will find this photo there and more information about this class. The cost is $10.00 and the class is being held in Eau Claire, WI. If you would like to attend the class go to the meetup website and RSVP so I know you are interested and all you have to bring is a basic supply kit that includes things like a scissors, glue or double sided tape, and a fine point black marker if you have one. Not shown in the photo is a sample of the lamb basket that we will make.

A new beginning...

As I had popped on to see my blog off and on in the past 5 months I have needed and wanted to update but just couldn't get to it. Now I am back and after some rough times, I am ready to have a new beginning. I have started a new group called The Eau Claire Creative Crafters Group on www.meetup.com and can't wait for the meetings to start. The first meetup that I have scheduled is March 28th at 3:00 pm and then I have a class scheduled for afterwards at 4:00 pm. If you go to the meetup website and search for my group you can sign up and then get updates when I schedule new meetups. The first class I have scheduled is to make three super cute easter baskets and the cost is $10.00. More details can be found on the website. Watch for another post with photos...coming soon...you can also see a photo on the meetup website!

Many of you already know that things have been rough and I have had some marital problems in the past 5 months. I am ready to get to my blog and keep everyone updated on new fun things. With starting my meetup group I hope to promote Close To My Heart, stamping, scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking through CTMH, paper crafts, Cricut, Gypsy, Design Studio, and handmade gifts. If there is anything else you would be interested in learning or finding more information about feel free to drop me a line as I am always open to what people are looking for.

Close To My Heart Regionals Convention

So as some of you already know, this past weekend I attended my FIRST Close To My Heart Regional Celebration. I had a blast and was definately worth the money!!! We got lots of free products to use and create some fun projects while we were there. I left Eau Claire Thursday evening to head to Minneapolis. I drove...which was a huge accomplishment for me because I am not a cities driver. I got us there in one piece with the help of a little GPS...thank goodness! The convention was all day Friday and went until 5:30 pm on Saturday. There were business classes each day and then creative sessions where we even got to create a journal that isn't even out in the catalog yet! We also got to see a sneak peak of the Jan, Feb, and March stamps of the month sets. It was a fabulous time especially to spend a few days with 300 ladies that have the same hobby and love for a company as I do.

Below is a photo of Jeanette Lynton - the founder and CEO of Close To My Heart!

It was nice to see that Jeanette made it all the way to Minneapolis to share these few days with us!

Below is a photo of my working during the Friday creative session. It was a ton of fun and you will have to check back soon to see a photo of the layout that I am working on in this photo. Friday night I also attended the 5 hour crop that they held. I didn't bring anything extra to work on as I just finished up this layout and talked to all of the fun ladies. As you can also see, I got my hair cut again...love the new shorter hair. Fun, easy, and quick. Gotta Love It!

I am going to be trying to keep up on my blog more consistantly. I hope to be able to post every couple days and I would really like to start some new things such as showing some CTMH products and comparing some supplies that you might not have ever used before. I am also hoping to be able to have a Technique Tuesday or a project a week or something along those lines. The gears in my head have been turning since the first business session and I can't wait to get my CTMH stuff going again. I am going to try very hard to set aside CTMH time and not let my teaching take over my entire life!!

And my last photo for tonight is my precious little JAIDYN! I missed her a lot while I was gone this weekend but it was good to get away. She is so much fun right now and is learning more and more words. Today Jaidyn started saying "nine" (mine) and she now can call me mom instead of "bampa" or whatever else she felt like calling me. I am loving to hear all the words she is learning to say. I am guessing that it won't be long until she will be talking 24 hours a day. :)

Stay tuned for more fun photos from the CTMH Convention...

Photos...finally the photos!

I have finally gotten my act together and gotten the photos of my two duct tape totes that I created. The one below that is red, white, and black (Chippewa School colors of course!!) is a smaller purse size. Really fun size. I took this to the CTMH convention this weekend (that post comes next!!!) and it fit my camera and other little things that I wanted to take with me. Just the right size!

Below is a photo of both of my tote bags. The teal and black one is the first one I made at a class and I ended up adding some velcro at the top to keep it closed. The smaller one sits nicely and is a bit more sturdy. Gotta love the things you can do with duct tape!!!

Just so everyone knows...

I do plan to have a class on making duct tape tote bags. I am thinking that I will leave it open to create a bag of choice. I don't really care what size you want to make and you can even decide when you see my two bags when you get to the class. I was thinking of having the class at Down Memory Lane so it is a public class but then I am also wondering who else is interested because I was also tossing around the idea of just having a class at my house or at one of my schools in Chippewa Falls. Leave a comment here or send me an e-mail if you have interest in a class and that will help me decide where I want to have my class.

Duct Tape Tote Bag

Tonight I attended a class at one of the local scrapbook stores and created my very own duct tape tote bag. It was a ton of fun and fairly easy to put together. I cannot wait to try to create a smaller one or different sizes of them. They could work out for cute little gifts. I made mine teal and black...watch for a photo soon. I am heading to bed for the evening but hope to post a photo sometime tomorrow after school.

Yes I am still here...

I know that many of you are probably wondering how everything is going and if I survived my first few weeks of school. YES YES YES...I certainly did survive and am loving it. As most of you already know, I am no longer working at Down Memory Lane (the scrapbook store) as I got a teaching job in Chippewa Falls. I am teaching at the alternative school there, one of the elementary schools, AND the high school. I was so scared of the high schools but at this point, they are my favorite! At this point, I somewhat dread going to the elementary school each day. I never thought that would ever happen! I think it is just so early in the year and the kindergarteners and 1st graders are not into the swing of school quite yet. Those are the only kiddies that I teach...the REALLY young ones. They are fun but they never close their mouths or sit in their seats. There is constantly things being blurted across the room or kids coming to me asking me to tie their shoes or if they can go to the bathroom when they just had a bathroom break before class. I also get a lot of hands in the air wanting to tell me about their birthdays or their teeth or their shoes. I even get lots of stuff that I don't want to hear and try to get them to stop talking mid sentence because I feel like I shouldn't be hearing the words that are coming out of their little mouths. Oh kids - they can be so cute and funny and SO frustrating at the same time. Gotta love them. My alternative school guys are pretty good. The first day I asked them to come up to the front of the class to come look at something that I wanted to show them and they all just sat there and stared at me. That day I thought I would have my hands full as I had to think long and hard to figure out how to get them to move off their lazy butts and how I could motivate them. After a few class periods they are much better...they will actually get up and walk around if needed. There are 12 boys and 1 girl at the alternative school and the majority of them are really fun to work with. Now for the high school and that darn computer animation class. I haven't really stressed about the class much, yet kindof just slid by at this point. We have been working with a program to create our first project so we haven't even started on the animation program...that starts this week. Let the stress set in! I am still waiting to figure this darn thing out. I worked with it a little bit and then school crept up on us and I started to focus on things that were taking place at that time and set the animation stuff aside. Now the time has come to begin frantically (AGAIN) getting ready for that part of the class. Overall, I have had no problems with my older students, just those little guys. I even had to send one kindergartener to the principal's office already...after his 2nd class of Art. Oh how those little tykes can be a CHALLENGE! So overall school is good.

I have been keeping busy with trying to get things situated for my Close To My Heart convention in Minneapolis in the beginning of October. CAN'T WAIT! Should be a ton of fun. Just trying to get the rooms situated and we will be all set. Oh, I cannot forget, I still have to create my 16 cards for my card swap that I am participating in but that shouldn't be too hard and shouldn't take TOO long.

My mom and I have been super busy lately with trying to get a bunch of "stuff" created. We are going to have a booth set up at a chuch festival this weekend near Mondovi. Should be lots of fun. We have created lots of fun creative things that we hope everyone likes. I am hoping to get more of this stuff in my Etsy shop in the near future so you can all see it and purchase any of it too.

Well, I am off to bed now as the week is only about to begin. This week is going to be a LONG one as I am taking a duct tape tote class tomorrow night (super excited!!) and then lots of other stuff. Noah's first teacher conference, Nate has two meetings, Scrapbook Til Midnight this Friday night at Down Memory Lane, and the festival fun on Sunday. Wow what a fast week this will most likely be. I hope to be back soon to show you some of our fun creations!!!

Doc Martens

Here is the photo for those of you that are looking for the photo of the Doc Martens shoes that I have for sale. They are a womens size 8 and tan in color.

Like I mentioned, they have only been worn a week or two and are like new. I am asking $85.00. If it were my choice I would keep them but they keep bothering my neck when I wear them. There is nothing wrong with the shoes, if I was not a chiropractic patient, I would most likely be able to wear these shoes just fine.

Please let me know if you have any questions...

Cricut Cartridge Storage Box

As many of you know, I own a cricut and over time have collected a large assortment of cartridges. I do not like to take each cartridge, booklet, and overlay out of the box each time that I use it and find myself not putting them back where they belong when I am done so I began looking for some type of storage and organization. This however, was hard to find. I personally don't care for the cricut storage boxes made by Provo Craft so I decided to get creative and make my own. I have created my own cricut mini boxes using the Design Studio and my Cricut, that hold the cartridges themselves and then I created an organizational system that works for me. To organize my cartridges and booklets I simply tie a different colored ribbon on each booklet and then staple a small piece of that same ribbon onto the mini box that houses the coordinating cartridge. I also write the names of each cartridge on the top of the mini boxes so I can easily see where each cartridge is. I can then locate the booklet by matching up the ribbons. This box fits up to 13 cartridges, booklets, and overlays.
Below is a photo of my storage box full...

I have decided to sell these cartridge boxes to anyone that is looking for a unique way to store the Cricut cartridges. I am selling these for $22.00 (plus shipping if you are not local). You can either order one from me to be shipped to you or picked up. You can also visit Down Memory Lane in Eau Claire and pick one up there. I am willing to make arrangements to meet you or drop one off to you if you are local.

Each box comes with 13 assembled mini boxes, 13 different colored ribbons, a brief description of how the system works, and a photo. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to place an order.
justletmecreate@yahoo.com

a few things have to go...

I am selling a few Close To My Heart stamp sets and paper packs that are all brand new and NEVER used. Below are photos of each item and prices. Keep your eye on my blog for upcoming items for sale as I plan to go through some of the items in my scrapbook room and let a few things go that I haven't used or rarely use.

D1198 The Gift of Love - - $20.00 Shipped

(I will get a closer photo so the sayings can be read)

D1140 Miracle - - $20.00 Shipped

C1252 Abundance Borders - - $18.00 Shipped

C1243 A Friend Is - - $18.00 Shipped

X7060B Heirloom Level 2 Paper Pack - - $12.00 plus shipping

~~Level 2 paper packs come with 12 patterned papers (2 each of 6 designs) AND 10 cardstock sheets (4 sheets neutral, 2 each of 3 colors)~~

X7073B Abundance Level 2 paper pack - - $12.00 plus shipping

~~Level 2 paper packs come with 12 patterned papers (2 each of 6 designs) AND 10 cardstock sheets (4 sheets neutral, 2 each of 3 colors)~~

so after two and a half weeks of waiting...

The principal from Chippewa Falls High School FINALLY called me the other day and offered me the high school position as well. I AM SO EXCITED to have a teaching job next year. I cannot wait to get started with all of my preparing. I will have a ton to prepare as I have never taught high school before. My teaching load is going to consist of Kindergarten and 1st grade and 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. I am a little scared about that....such young kids and then such old kids. A big difference but I am up for the challenge. I do not know my schedule yet which kindof stinks but that is ok. I will have to contact the other high school teacher (who either just had a baby or will be next week) after the 4th of July weekend and see if she can tell me a little more. All I know is that I will be teaching at the elementary school every day from 11:00 until 12 something.

I wish I had more time to post my creative stuff but I haven't had a lot of time to create anything. I am making Tinkerbell invitations and Thank you cards for Jaidyn's birthday. I cannot believe she turns two NEXT WEEK! She will be two on 7/7 (Tuesday) but we are having a party for her on Sunday (7/12). We are having a Tinkerbell party and I think it will be so much fun. I was bummed on her 1st birthday because we just had a really small party at the campground when she turned one. Now we are going to make up for that and I have a large list to invite. I know that not everyone will probably make it but as some of you know, we have a small house and hope that we can fit everyone in!!! :) Keep your eye out for a photo of her invited and Thank you cards.

We also have our house for sale. Last night a lady came to look at it and I actually know her a little bit from the scrapbook store as she shops there from time to time. So when she came to the door she said...."Oh Stacie...I know you from the store." So that was nice that I already was familiar with her a little bit. She seemed to really like the house and actually asked if she could bring her realtor back to the house later last night because they were looking at some other houses in the area together. They came back and she showed the realtor everything and explained to the realtor how her stuff would fit in our house. I think she really likes the house so we will see if we hear back from her!!

Now off to packing for a fun weekend of camping. Gotta go make a pan of bars, pick up some strawberries, run to get some more Tinkerbell stuff and lots of packing. I don't like packing too much especially since it is for 4 people and a dog. But at least the house is clean and my brain is ready to hit the road!

A quick update...

So I have been waiting to hear back from my interview at the High School in Chippewa Falls and the principal FINALLY called me today. They have not yet made a decision but I am one of the TWO TOP FINALISTS! That is exciting but I still have to wait a week to hear their decision. He is going to be out of the office until later next week so he said they should have a decision by Thursday of next week. So I guess I won't just be sitting around wondering what is going on...just waiting for Thursday to come. I also got a call today from Eau Claire asking to set up an interview for the part-time middle school position that they have not yet hired for. It would be traveling between all three middle schools. I am hoping to get the Chippewa High School job so I don't have to worry about things but I will just have to wait and see.

Saturday I am going to go to Down Memory Lane and spend the day having fun. Of course I will probably have to make some cards for classes in July but otherwise I am going to chirp away on my Cricut and work on the baby album that I FINALLY started for Jaidyn. Maybe I will post some of my creations then. Sorry for the boring stuff lately!!

Until then....lata

I finally got a job!

So this is just a really quick update for all of you that have not heard from me lately. I have been busy with the house, finally got it for sale...only a sign in the yard though. I had been waiting to hear from Parkview Elementary school in Chippewa Falls for a week and thought for sure he had offered the parttime job to someone else since it had been so long since I had interviewed. Well he called me on Wednesday and left me a message and then he called back on Thursday to offer me the job. It was kindof a weird day because before he offered me the job Chippewa Falls high school had called me and asked for an interview for their parttime position that they have open. I am hoping that the two work out together and I could get the high school job too just so I can be more involved. The job I have been offered is only two hours a day but it still GREAT because it is a permanent position and if more time opens up for the following year most likely I can get it. I am excited...so glad that I got this small job so far!

Gotta go lay down...I have a terrible sinus headache and I am stuffed up and runny nosed. My head and face hurt...wow I hate allergies!

just waiting here...

So I have been waiting to hear back from my Chippewa Falls interview but it hasn't been on my mind too much. I have just forgotten about it and will let whatever happens happen. I won't be too upset if I don't get the Chippewa job as it was a very small position but it would get my foot into the schools there again! The principal said he wanted to hire at the end of this week or early next week so I am guessing since I have not heard yet and it is Saturday, that I did not get the job....but who knows. I also talked to my neighbor who is an art teacher at Northstar in Eau Claire and they are hiring for a traveling position along with Delong Middle School. It is a much bigger position than the Chippewa position so that would be better but I would prefer elementary art! Delong and Northstar have not started interviewing yet so I am waiting to hear from them as well. Wow...my life is full of waiting lately.
On a side note...hopefully a much happier note for next week...
My dad showed our house to a lady that we know on Thursday afternoon and she loves the house. We don't have the house on the market yet as she said she wanted to look at the house first. I cannot imagine that we could sell it before even putting it on the market but that would be AWESOME!! So we are waiting to hear what she has to say next week. Since we had the house all nice and neat we decided to put a for sale sign in the yard and an Open House sign in the yard and some around the neighborhood for today. The open house is from 9:00 am until noon. A LONG TIME since no one has stopped yet and it is 10:15. I know...I am somewhat impatient. It was interesting last night though, because after we put the signs up we saw a car drive by the house REALLY slowly and the people in the car were looking at the house...so maybe it will help. More waiting. :) My life is just a waiting game I guess.

Gotta go get ready for my class today at 1:00. I am so excited because I am teaching my first Cricut Design Studio class and I can't wait to show everyone in the class how the program works.

bad news, good news, and all there inbetween

So I heard back today from my Eau Claire interview and of course...the usual, bad news. The principal offered the job to someone else. BUMMER! But on a better note, I had another interview this morning in Chippewa Falls - my favorite district to work in!! This job is a very small position only being two classes per day in the middle of the day so that kindof stinks but I would take it in a heart beat if they offered it to me. No hopes up this time!!! This was my third interview in Chippewa in the past few years so I don't have my hopes too high. I will just wait til early next week to find out that I didn't get the job...no biggie at this point. I have a terrible attitude right now and I am sorry for that but when you have worked at a school three different times and the lady that currently works there says only good things about you, why do they choose someone else... Enough about that...onto teacher gifts.

Today was Jaidyn's last day at daycare with Krissy! Krissy was so sad to see Jaidyn go as she is the only girl at daycare. Jaidyn is leaving so I don't have to pay so much for daycare this summer for Noah and Jaidyn. They will be going to my friend Lisa's house to play with her little guy, Tiege. That should be tons of fun. Since Jaidyn's last day was today I decided to make Kris a bye bye gift. I decorated a Close To My Heart My Creations Cube. She absolutely loved it!

I decorated the cube really simple so Kris would have room to put larger photos on it. She doesn't get much time to create things or scrapbook so this was great for her!

waiting, waiting, and more waiting

Today was a LONG day...it started by getting up at 4:40AM to get ready for my interview. I felt well prepared by 6:30 when I left the house. I feel that the interview went well and the other Art Teach at South sat in on the interview and she felt it went well too! I am so excited and can't wait until Wednesday when I should find out if I got the job. Chippewa Falls also called me this afternoon to set up an interview for Wednesday morning at 8:00 am...I certainly have something with early interviews!! I am hoping to hear back from South before Wednesday morning so I know if I got the Eau Claire job so I don't have to go through the Chippewa Falls interview if I got the Eau Claire job. The Chippewa Falls interview is only for the elementary position which is a very small position and would most likely be paired with the high school opening as well. So I am hoping for the Eau Claire job since it is a full-time position!!

It is so hard to wait! But I will certainly keep everyone posted!

Oh So Much to Share...

I am going to make this short once again as I have lots that I should be doing right now. I just got home from getting my hair cut for my interview on Friday!!! I am so excited for the interview...now I just have to land the job. It is here in Eau Claire at South Middle School, where I have taught numerous times. The catch this year though is there is a new principal. So by this time next week I should know if I got the job. Now I have lots to do before 7:00 AM Friday morning...and yes, I did just say 7:00 AM. When the principal asked when I could make it on Friday I left it up to him. HE chose 7:00 AM! I am used to getting up at 7:30 so this may be a challenge. :)

Now moving onto the next subject of this post is my Sunday Close To My Heart Club. We are meeting on Sunday, June 28th from 1:00-3:00. The cost is $5.00 to be paid in advance to me or dropped off at Down Memory Lane. Below is a photo of the three circle cards that we will be creating this month!

Stay tuned for more information on the job situation early next week if not before!!

more blog candy...

So if you went to check out the last blog candy that I had directed you to you may head over there again!!! The same lady has another awesome blog candy giveaway going on so head over and leave her a comment on her blog.

It is always fun to see if you could win something for no reason at all!!!

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

more and more job applications...

So as many of you already know, I have been applying all over to find a teaching job for next year. I am super excited about next year as there are openings all around me even though some of the districts are not doing so well. There are openings in Fall Creek, Chippewa Falls, and of course...my favorite place, South Middle School. I am so excited with the experience that I have had in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire to have these openings come up but now is the long wait and then interviews - if I am so lucky to get one - and then the waiting game again. The Eau Claire application is already in, now onto the Fall Creek application which is due this Friday...yes is TWO days. Time always seems to fly by when filling out applications and it comes right down to the end to get them in. Yuck, I hate that! Then once I get the Fall Creek application and letter done TONIGHT, in the next couple days I will be moving on to the Chippewa Falls application which I have filled out twice before so nothing new there!! :) I know that all of my fans at Down Memory Lane and Joanne will miss me there but I cannot wait to get a job. Keep praying for me to earn my place with a classroom of MY OWN for next year! I will certainly keep everyone posted. Now back to this application!...bummer...would much rather be scrappin!