Coaching

Since it appears no one really looks here, I wanted to use this for some thoughts.

My children play sports - the Squirrel plays softball (high school, rec, and travel) and the Turkey plays baseball and basketball - and I've got a lot of friends with kids in sports.  I've seen a lot of personalities and behaviors in the coaches we've had and that we've played against.

I want to address this post to anyone out there that coaches - QUIT only focusing on the "raw talent" kids!  If you would invest time into the others, you might find you've got a great player on your hands!  Just because a boy "plays travel ball" doesn't mean he's where all your time should be spent.  In fact, often he's the LAST one you need to work with.  Let's work on little Terry's infield skills.  He might turn into a pitcher later on.....  The other kids notice who you are giving attention to and they pick up on who you think are the better players.  That snowballs into them treating those kids different - telling them they aren't good players, yelling at that player when he/she does something wrong (coaching from the field), etc.

Another thing, it is NOT all about winning!  I'm not saying give everyone a participation medal - anyone who really knows me KNOWS I don't agree with that.  What I'm saying is you should be promoting a bond between your players and teaching them the game.  I've seen MANY girls quit playing softball at the 10U level because the coach stuck them in the outfield every game and it's boring out there!  And let's try players in different spots.  I'm all for teaching a girl to be a great 1st base player, but if your team is down with very little chance of making a come back, is it really going to hurt to try Sally at short?

And can we stop with the "Daddy/Mommy"coaching?  I get that your child is the best out there, but how about YOU coach and don't let Jimmy tell you where to put his friends?  Just because he wants his friend Sam to play 2nd doesn't mean that's the best spot for him.  Sam may be a GREAT center fielder!  And little Jimmy doesn't have to play the whole game either.  He'll be OK, I promise.  In fact, you may find that he LIKES sitting an inning here and there.  It may also prevent him from having to have surgery at a young age due to injuries.

Let's be nice to each other too.  There is no reason a coach should call another coach and fuss at him about "talking" about him.  Let's use the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do to you.  In other words, don't talk bad about someone, don't steal players from another team, don't try to "fix" a player because you don't like the way a coach taught them to do something (unless it isn't working for them - ie, if a weird looking batting stance is working for a girl, LEAVE IT ALONE).... I could go on!  These kids hear and see how you treat each other and they tend to emulate those actions toward that coach.  This also applies to the league board where you are coaching - if you don't agree with something, stick it out and either run for the board next time or find another league.  Turkey was on a baseball team this year where the coach got mad at the league after the FIRST GAME of the season.  He not only QUIT as the coach, but took his son and some of the other (travel ball) players with him, leaving the team to scramble to find enough players to make a team and a coach.

The Squirrel is on a rec team right now and the league has ONE other team in her age group.  It's a GREAT dynamic between the players on each team as well BETWEEN teams and the coaching is great.  I wish I could invite you to see it.  The coaches are all coaching ALL the players without stepping on each others toes.

Irene is here

Well, Irene has arrived and she has already brought water into Jack's Creek. For those that don't know, that's where it floods teh easiest in New Bern.

Hi everyone!

I doubt anyone even reads this anymore, but here's a new project I just finished!

This book was covered using Pink Flamingo paper.  The only thing that is NOT Stampin Up is the flower....  The stamp set is Jumble Alphabet.

True Friend cards

For my mother's birthday, I made her a pack of these.  She had commented that she liked the color combo on something else I had made, so I went with that :)

This is Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Rub Red, and Chocolate Chip.  For the "flowers" I used the Rock-n-Roll technique :)  The patterned paper is retired.

More cards

OK, let's try to get some things posted.... It's been about 2 months since I posted anything creative!  YIKES!

So, here's a card I made.

Cute right?  Blush Blossom, Pale Plum, and Sage Shadow.  The stamp set is One of a Kind.

Technique cards

OK, the next 4 cards will be ones I created for my Technique class on Jan 30.  This first one is using the Crayon Resist technique.

The colors are Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Chocolate Chip.  I sponged the Pretty in Pink on the Glossy White paper.  The stamp sets are Priceless and Cuddles & Tickles (retired).  I also used the Sweet Feet wheel (retired).  I did change all of the retired out for my class though :)

Snow....

If that's what you want to call this!  LOL  It started as I was taking Emma to school - around 7:45am and ended shortly after I took this pic - 8am!  LOL

Don't you SEE the accumulation?!?  OK, let me show you!  LOL  Squinch your eyes and look at the BASE of the bench legs (where it attaches to the deck).  NOW do you see it?  LOL  That was IT!  But if you look at the first pic, you can see it was coming down pretty hard!  Oh well, maybe another day (year! LOL)

Yikes!

No real crafty posts for the WHOLE month of February!  Sorry about that!  I'll try to post regularly about SOMETHING.... How's that work?  I plan to focus more on scrapbooking this month, but I'll try to take pics and post those too :)  Hey, I know!  I'll post the Stampin' Up updates you need to know here!  If you're a customer, please let me know that you are reading!  You can post anonymously.... just add your first name to the message, so I know who it is :)

I made this card for my father-in-law's birthday.  I took it down to show Michael and let him sign it.... Do you know WHERE I found it last night?  Take a guess....  Michael brought it BACK UPSTAIRS to my craft room!  LOL  A lot of good it did to make it!  His birthday was LAST week!

The colors are Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White. I used the Misting technique on the Heartfelt Thanks flower.  The sentiment is from Elegant Cheer.

AMAZING blog to check out!

It's NOT stamping related (right now), but you REALLY should make Laura's blog a regular stop! http://lauraevangeline.blogspot.com/ Talk about insight into life in Iraq! I LOVE visiting her site!

Smile!

OK, I normally don't post things like this, but the story is SO amazing!  Take a look!  I saw this on someone else's blog.

Diary gift

Well, since the class was cancelled this weekend and I promised to have new stuff for you on Monday, here's the diary I made for Emma to give as a gift to a friend next weekend!

I bought the paper, ribbon, AND composition book at Walmart. The paper pack came with the 3D flower and the sticker letters. I also punched out a frame that came with the pack. I added tape to the back, and put directions for them to add a pic :)

Enjoy!

New addition!

Well, since I don't have anything crafty to share, I thought I'd share the newest addition to our family! Meet Cody!He's a mutt! LOL We KNOW that he's terrier, shi-tzu, dachsund, chow, lab, but there may be more! LOL He's SUCH a sweet snuggle buddy!

Oops!

Well, I'm busted! LOL I don't have anything to post today! I DO have about 6 cards I need to make, but I've been swamped.... OK, so I DID make ONE card in the last couple days, but I can't show it to you NOW ;) It's for the technique class on Sunday! If you're reading this and would like to join us, we're meeting at my house this Sunday (Feb 15) at 4pm. We'll make 3 cards (1 per technique) and get the directions on each technique for $15! E-mail me if you are interested!

Glittery U

Well, I'm going to go ahead and post this since Michael NEVER looks at my blog (of course, I say that and this will be the first time he'll check it LOL)!  When I asked Michael what he wanted on his Valentine's Day card, he said "U".  I know this isn't what he meant, but I had to!  LOL

VERY simple (notice a theme?)  Creamy Caramel base, Rose Red mat, Whisper White, and Sticky cut letter with light blue glitter.  I HOPE he'll keep it on his toolbox at work ;)

Heartfelt Misting

This one was fun to make!  I tried a new layout and like how it turned out!

I didn't get a good picture of the card closed, but the picture above is of the flap closed.  For the main image, I sprayed the stamp with water.  For the flap cover, I sprayed the paper, then stamped!  The colors are Handsome Hunter, Ruby Red, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, and Cameo Coral.

Always masking

Now this one.... My second try at masking.... I LOVE IT!  LOL

VERY simple, but SO pretty!  Colors are Whisper White, Real Red, and Basic Black.

Masking Camper

OK, I made this card and I think it's nice, but I have to say, besides the colors, I am NOT loving this card!

See!  The colors are Creamy Caramel, Handsome Hunter, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip.  I masked the camper, then stamped the trees.  The trees didn't stamp well, so I had to stamp over them again.  THEN I tried to add a sun in the corner, but I overdid it and ended up covering it with this tag.  SO not pleased with this!

Eat Cake

Well, I LOVE this card (OK, the colors are the BIG pull for me!)  Jean (Bizet at Splitcoaststampers) did an AMAZING job on hers! I just hope mine is HALF as good as hers!  SO check mine out below, then head over to Jean's gallery and take a look at ALL her creations!

I used Eat Cake (retired) for the image.  The colors are Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White.  I added the dots with a white gel pen and the brads were from the Target $ spot a few years ago.

Last one of mine for now

We should be back to my CASEd cards on Monday.  If not, I HOPE to have something posted by then....  Aren't you SO proud of me for posting the ENTIRE month of January?  So I cheated a LITTLE and pre-wrote ALL of these, but hey, I got them done, right?  In case I DON'T get back, just know that Emma is in Cheerleading, Basketball, Sparks, school, and girl scouts.  And around that we have to visit family, start soccer practice, start ANGELO'S soccer, keep the house clean, eat, and other day-to-day stuff!  ARGH!  LOL

This card uses Pretty in Pink as the base, Rose Red My large square and the sentiment (Warm Words - retired) are Rose Red.  The DSP is Ski Slope (from the Holiday 08 mini - no longer available) and the snowflakes are also from the Holiday 08 mini - Felt Flurries.  The envelope is stamped with images from Snow Flurries (retired).

Hope to see you Monday!

Back to mine!

Just for a few days!  These are a couple Christmas cards I made to send to Canada.  And of course, to stretch these out and make a WHOLE MONTH of posts, you'll get one today and one tomorrow!  Aren't you proud of me?!?!  LOL

VERY much in LOVE with this card!  I didn't want to give it away!  The base is Baja Breeze. The large square is Kiwi Kiss and the small squares are from Holiday Wishes (fate currently OK, but when this posts, it may already be retired) and one of them is from Ski Slope (Holiday Mini, unavailable after January 18).  The ribbon is the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon.  The sentiment (Warm Words - retired January 19) is stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.