A Monster Ate My Book:

Happy Sunday.

I made a few little things over the past week, and started a bigger project yesterday. Hoping to finish that up and also get a chance to color and make a few cards today.

But I'm reading a good book. And I'm right at the last few chapters. So I probably won't be productive until that's finished. It's the only thing I can think about this morning.

The only reason this blog is getting an update is that I am waiting for my coffee to brew...then I will be snuggled in a corner until I finish that book :)

Here are the little things I made this week:

These are super fun Monster bookmarks. I created a lesson with them and my Jr. High Art class made them on Monday. My High School kids that saw them all wanted them too...so I was handing out my sample and having to make a new one all day :) My daughter saw the sample too and wanted one, so I came home and made a pile of "pieces". She and Hayden went to my craft room and made a few of their own. They are adorable when they are chewing on the corner of your book!! There is one on my laptop corner at school too. Makes a person giggle :)

And the cupcake wraps were a request. When Kyla made cupcakes I though we should test them out:

Coffee is done brewing. I'm off to finish that book!

Have a great day :)

It's Bear-able...

Tuesday!!

It's time for a free goodie.

And we can celebrate a little because even though it's Tuesday, it is officially the middle of this school week. Our fair is always on Labor Day weekend. And the majority of our kids either participate in fair events, or will be there hanging out. We don't have school Thurs.-Mon.

It's nice to ease into the new school year this way. We get to start back up, become exhausted, and then have a loooonng weekend to recover :)

Makes things a little more bear-able. Sorry. Couldn't resist :)

This little cutie will be perfect for cards, scrapbook pages, and more! If you want...you can dress it up any way you choose, or check out some of the already "dressed" ones in my shop:

Looking for digital stamps to color and decorate your own way? They are in my Etsy shop.

Hope you are having a wonderful week...no matter how long it ends up being. 

Always,

Rhoda

Happy Halloween...

It's time for ghost and spooks. Freaks and fairies. Oh...and don't forget the super heroes.

An interesting day of school. We really shouldn't even have school today, they are so hard to focus and get on task. They think it should be a free day, and will even say so. I'll be wiped out by the end of the evening. :)

The good thing, is they will all crash tomorrow, when all the sugar wears off. Makes for a quiet day!

I had minute to make a new print:

A fun compilation of coffee goodness. That's a Latte Love.

Hope you all have a festive, fun filled day.

Rhoda

I Want My Mummy!

Is it to soon to do the "Friday Happy Dance"?

I love Fridays because:

• It's the end of the school week (guess that was a given).
• We get to wear jeans (ever other day of the week it has to be something other than jeans...and I love my capris, but not as much as I love my jeans!)
• We get out at 2:30 instead of 3:30 and we don't have an extra 30 minutes of contract time. We get to leave when the kids do, as long as we don't run them over the parking lot.
• Hubby and I cuddle and watch a movie.
• The kids make forts and play anywhere and everywhere in the house :)
• I know that on Saturday, I get to sleep in. Sometimes I wake up at the time the alarm is about to go off, smile, and then snuggle back into the blankies.

I'm sure my list could continue, but I think you get the idea.

To celebrate the upcoming Friday, how about another treat? This one is part of my Halloween Kids digi stamp set, but I thought it would be nice to have him for some cards before the holiday comes along.

I want my mummy!! You can download this free treat here. I haven't colored him yet, but I think he will make a great card.

Enjoy. Off to do my Friday Happy Dance :)

Rhoda

I Want to be a Princess

It's been a busy week.

School.

Kids.

Power outage.
That was fun! Most days I like to warm up a half cup of coffee when I get home from school. Yesterday was a cup of coffee day, for sure. I put my cup in the microwave. Hit the 1 minute button, and there was a HUGE kaboom outside. Gun shot loud. Earth shattering kaboom (said in my best Marvin the Martian impersonation). A transformer blew. Somewhere in the neighbor hood. Right as I pushed that button.

I had some left over roast that I was planning on turning into shredded tacos for dinner. Figured I would just warm it up on the bar bq. No power. No problem. Then it started to rain. Not a sprinkle that you could still bar bq in. A downpour.

We ran to the grocery store. Grabbed a roasted chicken. Problem solved :)

School today.
We had two assemblies. One for the K-6 and one for the 7-12. It was an introduction to a program called Rachel's Challenge. I think that the kids took away a very important lesson, but it was an exhausting day. The kids were challenged to be compassionate, spread kindness, dream big and write down their goals, and remember to tell their loved ones how much they care about them.

The kindergarten went back to their room after their assembly and worked on a poster about their dreams and goals and then shared it with the high school students. They wrote down what they want to be when they grow up.

I want to be a fireman.
I want to be a ship captain.
I want to be a professional skateboarder.
I want to be a teacher.
I want to be a princess.

Yep. We had a number of big kids who could relate to that. Even I did. I loved Cinderella when I was little. It was my very first Disney movie that I remember and it was extra special because my dad took me. We had to walk in a Montana blizzard to get to the theatre. He bought me hot chocolate to warm me up along the way. I can still see the snowflakes swirling in the street lamps. It's one of my favorite memories.

Now I have other big dreams. But it's still nice to think about being a princess.

Dream Big!

Rhoda

I Heart Cameras...

The school year has started. I teach the Annual class. The picture taking was in full force this week. Dress up days for Homecoming.
Floats for the parade.
Spirit walls in the gym.
The parade.
The games.

In honor of all that, and the camera that is permanently connected to me right now, I have finally colored my camera illustrations and created a print: Camera Love.

Take a peek when you get a minute.

Go Tigers!

Rhoda

Wahoo Friday!!

And the week is done!!

Crazy how four days can be so long, and yet so fast at the same time. When you think about all the things that we accomplished this week (and you yearn for a Friday), it seems long. But, when you think about how fast it really went by, it's an amazing contrast.

Either way. It's done. We survived. :)

Our homecoming game is tomorrow.
We spent today working on decorating the gym walls.
One wall for each class.
And the floats.
Go Darby Tigers!!


I'm the Freshman advisor. All I have to say is that, even my "after school" cup of coffee hasn't helped. Or the  two mile walk.

Might need a nap. And then a movie with my hubby.

No major plans for the weekend. Some time being creative. Some house cleaning. And maybe some reading.

Ahh. Weekends.

Happy Friday,

Rhoda

And We're Back

Here we go.
Another school year.
My day starts with 7th grade English, is filled with 7-12 Art, and ends with Yearbook.
Should be good.

I'm ready! I think...


Hoping to have some time to post pics of my latest cards, later this week. Last night, we had a major thunderstorm and the colors were crazy because of it.

I did have a chance to make a few new items for the shop.

Here are few:

Spellbound (and there are matching frames to go with!)

Autumn Splendor (there are clip art and digital stamps to go with this one!).

There is another kit, called Rustic Quarry. You'll have to peek on the side of my blog or visit the shop to see it, and the matching frames :)

Happy Monday and Back to School,

Rhoda

Is It Tues or Wed?

I sat down to reflect on the week, and the activities that have filled my day, and realized that it is actually Wednesday, not Tuesday.

Oops. I lost one in there somewhere.

Two days of teacher training down. Now we have two days of meetings, some work time in our rooms, and a community open house. Busy.

I left my coloring (that I started over on) placed on the china hutch. It's still there. Calling to me. These sweet birds. Some are colorful and others are dull black and white. I feel so sorry for them, but there is nothing I can do. I have to go to school. They will sit uncolored until I get home and find some free time.

And ideas for new graphics. Swirling around in the edges of my brain. Just waiting, but not very patiently :) Might have to take some paper and sketch today during the "business" portion of the morning. Shh. Don't tell.

How about another cute set of birds? I had a hard time choosing between these and the penguins, so I might as well share them both, right?

These adorable little tweeters are in black and white line drawing form too, if you want to do your own coloring.

Happy Wednesday!

Rhoda

Back to School

Yep. I'm back in school. Back to teaching.

And wishing I was home coloring and making cards.

Yesterday, I colored while the kids were swimming. Kyla came out of the water to get a drink. While she was standing by me, a beetle flew in her hair. She started squawking, and shaking her hair.

Water....flew....everywhere!

And all over my coloring.

Not a big deal with the Copics, but the ink from the print out smeared. It worked for practice. I just played with mixing markers and then came home to start over.

Lesson learned. No wet kids by your art work!

Some fun things in the shop:

Colorful Penguins

These are what I was working on coloring. I printed them out in line art. I am going to make cards with them, I think :)

Happy Monday and back to employment,

Rhoda

A Great Week in Art...

This week we have been so busy finishing up symbolic self portraits.
After that, I taught them to make their own altered album. Some wonderful person in the community donated matting scraps. I cut them down to 5x7 and we are adding pages and spiral binding. They are furiously digging through scrapbook papers, magazine pages, and the paint. Some very amazing pieces of art are forming :)

We have also been avidly watching our Donors Choose site. I posted a project for new art tables. Ours shake when we erase and were not meant for art. We have had 4 donation and only need a handful more to make our goal. It's been very exciting :)

And, now it is Friday and we all get a break for a couple of days!! Someone needs to tell Mother Nature that tomorrow is May. She didn't get the memo here in Montana!!

Have a great weekend :)
Rhoda

Motivating Art Students...

I have a few students who do not motivate themselves intrinsically. That's normal. It's my job to find a way to motivate them (even if it isn't an intrinsic motivation) and then hopefully they will learn to motivate themselves over time.

On more than one occasion I have mentioned that I sell my work. Either on eBay or Etsy. A few of them perk up when I say this. A select few want to try it themselves, but still need to produce a product first.

My dream is to someday arrange a student auction. They would submit their finished piece and then we would hold a community event for them to share/sell their work.

Until then, I'm teaching a few about Etsy. One student has even listed items with my help!! He has created horse shoe hangers with custom animal designs. Here is a peek at one and you can visit his Etsy Shop as well :) Please support and encourage where deserved...

Happy Tuesday,

Rhoda

IntrinsicART

Back to School, Back to Winter

School is now back in session.
Winter has come back with a vengance. Yesterday we had temps in the 40's and rain. Overnight, it all froze and we are expected to have a low of -6 tonight. You just gotta love Montana weather!

I am still working on my journal. Mostly deciding what to fill the pages with. My previous blog only used up about half. Now to figure out the other half. I want to add some doodles to it as well.

Each day that I teach Art, I become inspired by all the images and colors and ideas I see. By the time I get home, it has all drained out of me and I stare at my things like a zombie. If only I could bottle it up and open it when I have a minute!

Hope you are having an inspired day. Here is looking forward to the weekend :)

Rhoda