Emerging Empathy!

💕💕💕💕 it’s the moments like these - spontaneously comforting a teething friend - that remind us why we do all the empathy coaching in the early years. 

Some days we may feel like these coaching sessions about thinking about how others might feel in any given moment or brainstorming ways to help make amends to friends we’ve accidentally hurt is falling flat ... but these moments arise to help remind us they ARE listening, learning and experimenting. They hear our words and observe from our role modelling of how we treat each other and then when the opportunities arise the experiment with trying them out!

Moments like this is why I LOVE the home childcare model because the mix of infants and preschools is the natural life lessons in learning those roots of  empathy from those who are younger and smaller than us and their ability to “remember” what it was like not so long ago to be “little”.  

Have an amazing weekend!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Life of a Home Childcare provider

LOL - I am sure we have all seen this meme of the ole woes of trying to sell something on the Internet!

Well now we have a home childcare version of it and it is hilarious!

I would like to premise by saying I 💕💕💕 all my clients, both past and present, they are true treasures but the struggle to find those diamonds in the ruff is real 🤣

To all the Sally's out there - I empathize!

Most home childcare providers I know dread when our crew graduate out of the program, not only because they take a piece of our heart with them when they go but, knowing that when they go it means having to advertise for new friend to join the program. Which means like the meme suggests having weed through 100s of ad replies of people who just don’t get how much time and energy it takes to professionally reply to all those questions that are basically already ANSWERED in the advert and if not in the ad most definitely on the website many providers often create to help minimize the time having to individually answer them by creating a website for frequently asked questions!

Have an amazing day

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Bang for your buck with Paper Pumpkin

If you’ve been interested in trying out the Paper Pumpkin than February’s Extravagant Birthday card kit is a PERFECT time to try it out ... purchase a prepaid gift certificate for one month trial and add the new Coordination Release Birthday Dies to your order to qualify to earn the Happy Birthday stamp set from Saleabration for FREE!

Purchase a 1 month prepaid code for paper pumpkin and subsribe to the Paper Pumpkin here before February 10th ...

Add the coordinating dies for the Happy Birthday kit to your order!

Earn the Happy Birthday stamp set pictured below for FREE! 

Not only does the kit coordinate with the Happy Birthday stamp set check out the sneak peek colour palette for this kit - it’s a stunner! Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Rich Razzelberry, Rocco Rose and Old Olive .... yes PLEASE!!!

Plus do not forget that if you subsribe through me you can join us for Paper Pumpkin kit class where we will play with our kits and I will share some 'alternative' ideas for the kit! Check the website events tab for more details on class options!



Happy Stampin'

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

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Coordination Product Release - coming soon!

I am so excited with this limited edition dies and paper options that coordinate with Sale-abration and Mini Catalog products ... currently its preorder time for demonstrator but you will be able to get yours February 3rd. If there is a product you want order early as these are currently only available while supplies last!  Check back on my website! 

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links 

Global Design Challenge Entry

Playing along with the Global Design Project -  Color Challenge #225 today ... so many great design inspirations being shared by the design team make sure to pop over and check them out!

This is my card entry a lovely clean and simple card design featuring the From My Heart DSP which pairs lovely with the Hearts Punch pack. I reused the sentiment from my January Paper Pumpkin 'Bee Ours' kit!

Love the combo of the Flirty Flamingo with the Real Red and Whisper White but admittedly tend to design just a wee bit outside the box when following challenges so added the tiny pop of black! Forgive me - but felt the card just needed a little something something on it to balance it out!

Speaking of a pop of black - I miss our retired black jewels. But did you know that you can create ANY coordinating color of rhinestone basic jewels  by coloring them with our Blends? 

So that is what I did here on my card - I colored the rhinestones with the black blend to get the pop of black sparkle on the card! If you do not already have blends just one more reason to add them to your wishlist - they are amazing!   

I am excited to be sharing this particular card tonight with my card swap as well! Card swap nights are to showcase quick and easy cards that can be put together in under 10 minutes - not always my strong design suit as I tend to do the layers and stepped up and techniques when I play for me - however I think I am getting better at being able to pull off a clean and simple yet stunning! 

Hope you enjoyed my entry and thank you for letting me play along!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret 
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links 
**images copyright Stampin' Up! 2020
 

Love Inspired Stamp a Stack

Card showcase from yesterday’s Love inspired Stamp A Stack!

First card we made featured the Love you to pieces stamp set for the sentiment, the Detailed Hearts Die and the Stitched Be Mine Hearts dies

 

 With this card we did a little stepped up fun with sponging the rainbow on the whisper white cardstock prior to die cutting in order to create the rainbow effect on the heart!

 

Our second card used the 'leftover pieces' from the first cards diie cut because well reduce, reuse recycle is our motto here ... paired with the Butterfly Wishes sentiment and the hearts punch pack from the current mini catty.

Our third card was a lovely clean and simple card design featuring the From My Heart DSP which pairs lovely with the Hearts Punch pack. Love the combo of the Flirty Flamingo with the Real Red and the pop of black! Did you know that you can create any coordinating color of rhinestone gems by coloring them with our Blends? So here we colored the rhinestones with the black blend to get the pop of black sparkle on the card!  

Our fourth card was also a quick and simple card that features the floral image from January's Paper Pumpkin kit exclusive stamp set paired with the heart doilies and the stamp set from the From My Heart Bundle and the smaller punch from the Heart Pack punch.

And our final card design was inspired by the Crackle Paint stamp set and used the Dandelion Wishes sentiment as well as made use of the 'little hearts' from the Detailed hearts die from another project - yes I am a paper hoarder and tend to save everything for some future use!

I did use a little splash of glitter on this one - you can color the Sparkle Glimmer paper like the rhinestones by sponging with a coordinating ink - so this mint macaroon glimmer paper that is now retired can easily be recreated with a little bit of ink and a sponge!

Stamp a Stacks are a lot of fun and a great way for you to create a stash of cards for loved ones for upcoming occasions - these cards were Love themed for use for Valentines, Anniversary or Wedding or those Just Because occasions! Participants get to make 10 cards total 2 of each design!

For more details in Stamp A Stack workshops please check out my website under the events tab!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links 

Calling all Wine Lovers

A huge thank you to the lovely Kay for sourcing me this amazing stash of wine corks to add to my loose parts collection ... corks are great for sensory play in water for sink or float discoveries, making impressions in play dough, for imaginative play as children use them as pretend food, money, make up daubers and more  in their role play. They build with them in block centre and pattern with them with other loose parts! In the art centre they make great paint medium for dabbing!

 But first they have a soak in Purify essential oil to help remove the wine aroma from them!

If you’re a wine lover remember to save your corks too for your community early learning program and support the reduce, reuse, recycle by up cycling these beauties into endless hours of play ♻️

Have an amazing day

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links 

Tie Dye Technique class samples

Good afternoon crafters - here are the cards participants made at our Thursday night Tie Die technique class.

Our first card and 'reference / practice' sample features  Coffee Cups framelits currently on the Clearance rack as well as the sentiment from the Gangs all Meer from Sale-abration in a color palette of Granny Apple Green and Night of Navy!

Second card features the Dressed to Impress stamp and die bundle paired with Granny Apple green and Lovely Lipstick color palette!

Our final card features the Under my Umbrella stamp and punch bundle and a color palette of Flirty Flamingo, Calypso Coral and Slate Grey - this was also the card use

The tie die technique is a lovely quick background technique that gives a nice layer of dimension and pop of colors for your projects! Fellow demonstrator Kelly Jolley did an amazing video tutorial for it so rather than recreate one I will just share hers here for you if you'd like to try at home on your own.

If you'd like to join us for a monthly techqnue class check out the events section on the website.  

Happy Stampin'

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

*post contains affiliate links

Gateway Drug

LOL I heard a fellow demonstrator make this reference today and it’s SO true ... the Paper Pumpkin is the perfect monthly subscription box for trying out paper crafting and it is so addictive - it’s a wonderful relaxation and great for supporting mental health!

Sale-a-bration is the perfect time to try out the Paper Pumpkin subscription boxes using the prepaid codes because you can earn additional FREE products to help you play outside the box with Paper Pumpkin alternatives!

Make sure to check out my Pinterest board for 'outside the box' alternatives for the various kits!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life 

*this post contains affiliate links

January Paper Pumpkin - Scrapbook edition

January’s Paper Pumpkin “Outside the Box” scrapbook edition ... paired the “Bee Ours” stamp set and kit embellishments with two card bases for my DSP strip and than used a dissected envelope for my corner edges along with the Detailed Hearts and Well Written dies coordinating with the Mint Macaroon and Highland Heather inks for this lovely layout I plan to use to journal a girls night out with my BFF!

Happy Scrappin'

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

*post contains affiliate links

Alternative Treat Bag

When you think “Outside the Box” with the Paper Pumpkin you can make use of features that you think you might not use into things you WILL - so this is an example of how you can turn the treat bag into a card if you’re more inclined to use a card than a treat bag!

I carefully cut the seams with my craft knife and than trimmed it up on edges and to the size desired. The photo light never catches the gorgeous foiling properly but it is a lovely shimmering delight!  

Current Paper Pumpkin subscribers are invited to bring their kits along come play with their box at January’s kit class ... those wanting to check out Paper Pumpkin without the subscription are invited to come play with one of my kits - check out the event page on my website for more class details!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links

Paper Pumpkin Outside the Box cards

Two cute cards created from 1 card base and a couple kit embellishments from January's 'Bee Ours' Paper Pumpkin kit.

I used the Heart pack punch duo to punch the two  hearts from the centre of the front and back of the 3x3 card base and than used my mini paper cutter to carefully cut the two parts of base apart along the crease and than shaved off a wee bit from the white side of base to create two different layered looks for the cards!

Than I used the mint macaroon and coordinating rose rococo inks to stamp images from stamp set. Plus the Blends are perfect for colouring rhinestones to create coordinating gems for any project 💕

I also reused my Hey, Friend sentiment stamp set from the Something for Everything December Kit - the Paper Pumpkin kits can be used over and over again and are a great way to build your stamp collection!

Current Paper Pumpkin subscribers are invited to bring their kits along come play with their box at January’s kit class ... those wanting to check out Paper Pumpkin without the subscription are invited to come play with one of my kits - check out the event page on my website for more class details!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links