Experimental Card and a Major Rant!

I'm not too sure how I feel about this card, but it did allow me to play around with some new Distress Inks and Stain, and a fun packing tape/glitter technique I saw here (such a fun video, you really have to check this one out!).  Oh yeah, I also got to use my new Tattered Florals die on some vintage book paper.  (Here's a tip:  if you like the look of vintage book paper, but are cheap like me, check out your local library's annual book sale!  You can get a box of books for $5 and they always have some ancient donations just begging to be cut up or altered!)  I really like how the flower turned out, just not totally sold on the rest of it.  Here's a bit of an angled view so you can see the dimension on the little banners and the flower:

I used this sketch for inspiration, but missed the deadline (really?  Again?!):

I'm going to enter this card over at Bearly-Mine - this week's challenge is "flowers".

Okay, now for my rant!  Ooooh, I hope you're sitting down for this one, it's a doozy!  If you read my post a couple of weeks ago, you might recall that Nolan was attacked coming home from the bus one day.  The hooligans were throwing rocks at him, some of them hitting him in the head!!!  Luckily, he wasn't seriously injured, just scared and angry.  I called the school right away, and the principal said she would deal with the culprits.  I left it at that, trusting that the children involved would learn their lesson and never do anything like that again.  Boy, was I wrong on that account!  Yesterday, Ailis came home bawling her eyes out with her brand new pants covered in chocolate pudding!!!  Can you believe the instigator is a girl in Grade 1, along with her brother?  They are quite the team!   No kid deserves to be attacked like that, but ESPECIALLY not Ailis, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body.  Right away the mama claws came out, and when Nolan suggested we march down to their house and tell their parents, I was just mad enough to do it, although normally I despise confrontation of any kind.  I decided to call the school first, however, and again spoke to the principal.  When I let her know what I was thinking of doing, she said I should not go over there, but to call the bus garage and let them know as well.  The bus garage was no help at all, seeing that nothing occurred on the actual bus.  I'm starting to wonder if the school will be able to do anything, either, seeing nothing occurred on school property.  GGGGGGRRRRRRR!  I'm just so mad, and I'm not confident this will be dealt with to my satisfaction.  To my mind, both kids should not be allowed to be unsupervised.  Obviously they cannot handle themselves on their own.  Maybe I should be going to the bus with my kids, to keep an eye out, but I don't think I should have to do that.  My kids should be able to walk the equivalent of two blocks without being physically attacked.  It's the principle of the thing!  What would you do if it were your kids getting bullied like this?  I'm thinking school district, media, police... but then again, I'm still hopping mad and probably not being reasonable.


Whew, that feels better, just to write it all out!  Feels like a load has been lifted somewhat.  I have a meeting at the school tomorrow to plan Nolan's IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for next year, so hopefully I can get some of this other stuff resolved at the same time.  I'll keep you posted!