it's all about the details

back from louisville

Oh my goodness!  My trip to Louisville was very exciting, and I am again blown away that I have a job that allows me to travel the country AND share my enthusiasm for all things paper crafting! It was easy to fall back into the easy cadence of teaching - the intro, the concept, the execution, the questions, the fun, the closing. And these ladies were not quite as sleepy as high school seniors or as squirrelly as seventh graders.

Throughout Friday and Saturday, I taught four different classes, all that have been designed by a Paper Crafts Pro (like Kim Kesti or Wendy Johnson) or a friend of the Paper Crafts family (like Melissa Phillips and Wendy Sue Anderson). The students went away teeming with a million ideas and buzzing with the high that so much creativity had given them. And their comments were so positive!  It was really fun to share my story of how I got this job and to meet people who wanted my advice on their cards. I got my picture taken and signed an autograph (seriously???) and generally had a ball.

My teaching time was such a whirlwind that I neglected to take any pictures of the mayhem that is the CKC classroom. I was able to snap a photo or two of the pretty blooming trees outside the Kentucky Expo Center, though.  Sure wish the skies could have cleared just a little bit while I was there - but I still enjoyed the landscape!

And to top it all off, I was able to watch the MSU Spartans beats the Kansas Jayhawks with an old friend at a pretty sweet sports bar in downtown Louisville in a super cool and hip downtown area called Fourth Street Live!  And, to top it all off, the Spartans ended the weekend on an even higher note making it to the Final Four! Wooo hooooo! 

So all in all, hurray for Louisville and for CKC and for that Spartan victory!

Susan

ckc - louisville

Hey, everyone!  It's Friday morning, and I am currently in beautiful Louisville, KY, along the banks of the Ohio River mere miles away from Indiana.

And why am I in the Bluegrass State, you ask? I'm preparing to teach at my very first CKC!

I have the honor of teaching 4 classes to ladies who are SO excited to be there.  I look forward to the energy and enthusiasm of roomsful of people who enjoy my hobby as much as I do.

In one of the classes, I will be participating in a card swap.  Every student arrives to class with a stack of cards that she has handmade. Toward the end of the class, each lady will give one of her cards to everyone in the class, and she in return will receive 39 different cards from everyone in the room. I whipped up 40 cards to share with my pupils. Below is a sample of a few of them:

I thought I'd keep it simple. The sentiments were printed up on matte photo paper using my all time favorite font - Century Gothic. The patterned paper was mined from my scraps, and the flowers were punched out of scraps as well, using a chunky Marvy flower punch. I added  a little dimensional adhesive to the back of the flower to give it a kick. Totally went with a complimentary color scheme in many cases.  A fun way to play with color!

I'm sure I'll come back with many stories!  Stay tuned.

Susan

PS - GOooOooo Spartans!  Beat the Jayhawks!

PPS - Beth chose G for her lunch bag.

what's your type?

I am fascinated with personality tests. I firmly believe that understanding (and ACCEPTING) that people are wired differently saves a lot of frustration and confusion in personal and workplace relationships.

I've taken a lot of different personality tests over the years.

• There's the Lipstick Personality Quiz, which claims to be able to zero in on you based on the shape of your lipstick. (Susan and I are both Slanted/Original...oddly accurate for me...not as much for her.)

• There's the Four Temperaments Quiz, based on the ancient humors. (Susan is Sanguine, and I'm Melancholy/Choleric...which sort of seems to be a contradiction...but is quite true.)

• Then there's the Color Personality Test, which believes that your personality is set in childhood. (Susan is Yellow and I'm Red...which is my favorite color also!)

• Gary Smalley's Animal Personality Test has become iconic in my family. Dad's a Beaver, Mom's an Otter, and boy has it helped them to understand where each other is coming from! (I'm a Beaver like my Dad. Susan's a combination of them both--Otter/Beaver.)

• But the personality test that I believe is most helpful and also seems to have the most scientific base is the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator. I'm an INFJ (Susan's an ENFJ), which means:

• Introvert (People always seem surprised by this, but it's not about how I socialize...it's about where I get my energy. I thrive on alone time, think through a problem to understand it, need quiet to work, etc.)
• Intuitive (I think abstractly, see the big picture, think about future implications.)
• Feeling (and proud of it! I make decisions based on my value system or what I innately believe to be right rather than on data or set guidelines.)
• Judging (This is actually my most strongly-defined of the four traits...and it DOESN'T mean judgmental. It's all about loving order, neatness, routine. I live for lists and schedules!)

 

Identifying your personality type isn't about labeling. When you understand yourself, your work style, what makes you behave the way you do, you become more proactive about setting yourself up for success. And the minute you realize that people aren't acting the way they are just to tick you off, but because that's just how they operate according to their own personality traits, you'll begin to learn how to communicate and interact in ways that make sense to them to achieve harmony and reach mutual goals.

So what's your type? I have friends, colleagues and family members of every temperament, lipstick shape, animal personality, color and initials. We're all beautifully, wonderfully made creatures of God! Celebrate diversity--vive le difference!

Beth

can you guess?

So, my lunch box is looking a little worse for wear. I had bought it at Hobby Lobby awhile back, and I'm not sure it was actually designed to be a lunch box. I mean, it was lunch box shaped and all, but the material was not particularly durable. So its cute pink and black floral design has become stained and ragged.

I've ordered a new lunch tote, and I thought it might be fun to show you the finalists in my search. (I know, this is just about the deepest, most meaningful blog post ever!) Can you guess which one I chose? Which one do you like best?

Beth

rock me, amadeus!

I just started as one of the lead singers for a band called Natural Causes (one of the other lead singers is my friend Mark, who happens to be married to my colleague, cubiclemate, and friend, Cath). It's pretty exhilirating to stand in front of that microphone and channel my inner rock chick. Even though we haven't had any gigs yet since we're still in the practicing phase, I am enjoying this creative outlet. I had a former student on Facebook react with surprise that his former English teacher was in a band, but I tried to convince him that English teacher CAN equal rockstar!

me, rockin' it out!

Being a part of a group of talented musicians has really made me start thinking about growing up in a musical family. The Opel household was always filled with music as influenced by our parents. Our parents sang in the church choir, and the four Opel kids learned an instrument (all brass coincidentally!). We sang, we practiced the piano, we played handbells. There was absolutely NO singing at the dinner table (though we still tried!). And as we did our Saturday chores, music helped make it go more quickly. We'd load a bunch of LP's on the record player and set to work, learning every song by heart, and anticipating when the record would skip.

a little sampling of what was on our record player when I was growing up

As my three older siblings grew, so did my musical influences. The music of the mid to late 70's and early 80's become a part of our lives, endlessly blaring from the radio. Beth listened to Don't Go Breakin' My Heart and Philadelphia Freedom on the record player until the phonograph needle needed to be replaced. Paul and Kurt practiced riffs in the basement, and we used the TV rabbit ears as we sang Tragedy by the Bee Gees.

the list of musical influences grows

Eventually, I began to forge my own way in my musical quest - singing alto, playing trombone, listening to the pop music of the 80's like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, The Time, The Bangles, The Go-Gos, The Miami Sound Machine, Paula Abdul, Whitney Houston, John Mellencamp, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and Lionel Richie.

Today, I appreciate music in many forms from the commerciality of American Idol, to the campiness of Kid Rock, to the majesty of the organ cranking out Lutheran hymns. I've definitely got the music in me, and it's all thanks to my musical family! 

Susan

To hear my latest musical obsession click here - love the orchestration and techno 80's style of this song. It's a cranker, for sure! 

my version of march madness

As a former basketball cheerleader and resident of Indiana, the birthplace of basketball, NCAA March Madness is a time of excitement for me. I'll admit that I don't necessarily follow basketball (or most any sport) very closely throughout the season, but once it's tournament time, I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon and cheer! 

I have vivid memories of watching the championship game in 1989 between The University of Michigan and Seton Hall.  As a student at Concordia College in Ann Arbor, MI, a group of us sat in the basement of the manor and watched a heart-stopping game. Once the game had been won, a few of us hurried to downtown Ann Arbor to celebrate the Wolverine victory. The streets were filled with excited fans and the atmosphere was electric.

Surprisingly, I seem to have a wealth of NCAA tourney memories like: 

1. 2000 - The year that MSU won the title when we were in Indianapolis at a bar wearing green for the Spartans with our friends Mary and Wendy! 
2. 2001 - We watched the Spartans in the Final Four while on spring break in Minneapolis.
3. 2002 - We watched the Hoosiers lose to Maryland in the championship game from the Race and Sports Book at Fitzgeralds in downtown Las Vegas.

 

one of my most stellar scrapbook pages - LOL

That was a pretty good run for some of my teams: U of M, MSU, and the IU Hoosiers. And just so you know - that previous sentence is punishable by death in the state of MIchigan - to show allegiance for both U of M and MSU is utterly unthinkable, but since I haven't lived in my home state since 1991, I gotta show my love for ALL things Michigan. But, please feel free to pinch me VERY HARD if I ever start rooting for BYU, U of U, or Ohio State.  Now THAT would be unforgivable!

These days, I participate in a pool with my extended family. We are online at CBS Sports.com, and our pool is called Hillis Hoopla - alliteration and a play on words - do you love it or what? I will openly admit that none of my picks really have anything to do with what sort of a season the team has had. Rather, I always pick teams who have a cool name or a fun mascot or they are from a state where I've lived or a city that I've visited. I obviously have no intention of winning, but it gives me something to root for.

So my brackets have been chosen (Go Wolverines and Spartans and a special shout-out to the Syracuse Orange!), and I'm ready to see what happens this year! I so wish I could be in Detroit this year for the Final Four - no matter who is in the finals.

Susan

pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

St. Patrick's Day is at hand, and as per usual, Beth and I have been wearing green since the 1st of March, despite our non-Irish heritage. We just like any reason to celebrate, and green is really a pretty happy and springy color, agreed?

In honor of the approaching day, I'd like to share something that we feel so lucky about. When we moved to Utah from Indiana, we had the pleasure of gaining a whole lot of square footage in our scrapbooking room. For the first time since we started the hobby back in 1999 with a small drawer for all of our scrapbooking stuff, we were able to set up an entire room dedicated to all of our supplies and scrapbooks - and to be able to actually create there as well!

Starting from scratch really gives you the chance to reassess and to make the layout of the room as conducive to creativy and clean-up as possible. One of our prettiest ideas had to be storing many of our supplies by color. Alphabets are stored by color, cardstock is stored by color; there are separate compartments for each shade of ribbon. But you know what is possibly the prettiest sight in all of the world? Embellishment drawers for every color - double click the picture for the full effect.

Pulling out these drawers is like starting a colorful treasure hunt, and in the end, we often discover a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow - aka the perfect finishing touch to our project.

So here's to happy, no matter the color! And here's to green and every other color of the rainbow!

Susan

the eternal optimist

I used to really annoy my college suitemates when I got up in the morning, because I always wake up so HAPPY. While they would be slogging around in a grumpy fog, I'd be singing and whistling and greeting them with perky cheerfulness. Thankfully, my sister is an early bird, too, so we don't irritate each other when we are up-and-at-'em with merriment each day.

Though mornings are particularly positive for me, I have to confess that I've always been a really peppy and sunny person overall. I just can't help it! Is that so wrong? So today I thought I'd share a few of my favorite "glass half-full" quotes and poems:

Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of travel. --Margaret Lee Runbeck

in Just-spring

in Just-

spring       when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles       far       and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far       and       wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

 from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

     the

             goat-footed

balloonMan       whistles

far

and

wee

e.e. cummings

Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

--William Wordsworth

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Author unknown

 

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.  --Frederick Koenig

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  --Marianne Williamson

 

You are amazing. Life is beautiful. Choose to be happy today.
Beth

sooooo...what do you think?

Yep. We're diehard AI fans in this house. (American Idol, for those not up on pop culture.) So last week they solidified the cast for season 8, and here they are!

Any favorites? We're partial to Danny (church music leader and grieving widower). And Matt (reminds me physically of Michael Buble, sings with ultra-soul, and is from MICHIGAN!). And Adam (Broadway performer, amazing pipes, cool look). Don't forget Lil (she is ready to record music NOW) and Megan (shout out to quirky local Utah girl). How can you not love Anoop (what a personality--reminds us of our friend Mike) and Scott (he may be blind, but he can really connect with his music). Jasmine's a doll (and she sang well last week), and Allison is interesting (cool husky voice if she tones down the twitchiness). Michael is so likeable (family man and blue-collar guy) and Alexis is a pixie powerhouse (love that bluesy sound). Jorge won everyone's hearts (Puerto Rican crooner who isn't afraid to show his emotions) and Kris is cute (if not particularly memorable otherwise).

Who are you rooting for? Tune in this week for more excitement! I think it's going to be another great ride.

Beth 

totally cool concert

I'm not the world's hugest Celine Dion fan, but when Jennifer invited Kelly, Brandy, and me to help her use some comp tickets at Energy Solutions Arena in late February, we were happy to comply. My reason for going? I've heard a lot of great things about Celine's shows, and I totally appreciate great live music.  And WOWSERS! It was unbelievable - our 24th row seats were phenomenal and basking in the absolutely purity of one so gifted was nothing short of spectacular. I was NOT disappointed. My favorite song was "All By Myself" for the a capella part of the song - just splendid.

Thanks to Jennifer and Kelly for letting me use their pictures.

And finally I have something to rival that AMAZING Def Leppard concert *rock horns* in Vegas in the early 90's. But, the line for beer at the Celine concert was non-existent. So maybe Celine wins. ;)

Other totally cool concerts I've attended (not even close to the list that most people have):

• John Mellencamp (twice)

• Journey (sadly after the Steve Perry days)

• Kansas and Starship (in Laughlin, NV)

• Pat Benatar (My Rock Idol!)

• The Pointer Sisters (7th row)

• Heart (Amazing!!!)

• .38 Special (Three Rivers Festival - woot!)

• Paul McCartney (Pretty iconic, eh?)

• Jackal, Slaughter, and Damn Yankees (Can you say chainsaw solo?)

• Josh Groban (He is outstanding! And so cute!)

• Tony Bennett (At the Las Vegas Hilton)

What was your best concert ever?

A big congrats to our sixth poster Cheryl on Monday's giveaway post! Send us an e-mail at bopels (at) aol (dot) com with your address, Cheryl, and we'll send those special issues on their way!

Susan

PS - Hop on over the the Moxie Fab World blog to day to see some super cool greenness from my friend Cath (and all of her super sweet words about me!).  Thanks, Cath!