Card Sets

I had several ladies host one of my baby showers.  I wanted to give them a token of my appreciation.  The only thing I could think to do was to put together a set of cards for them to use.  I started with a package of the pre-scored cards and envelopes that you can buy at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.  They are a little smaller than a standard A2 card, but it was ok.  I copied some of my favorite past card creations as well as played with some new to me stamp sets for the others.

There were four cards in each set.  Each card had a different sentiment.  I thought about doing a similar style and then changing the sentiments to the cards would "match" but I wanted to do so many different techniques and use different stamp sets that I decided to make them all different.

And here they are all stamped and ready to package up!

And here they are all packaged up and ready to give out.  The thank U sentiment is from a very old Stampin' Up! set that I love and could never get rid of.  Thanks for looking!! :)

Painted Pillowcases

In our family, we have eleven nieces and nephews that we still do Christmas gifts for (plus a couple).  That's alot!!!  It's hard to buy them toys because kids are into and out of stuff so quickly.  You know me, I love to make gifts.  This year I decided to make pillowcases with each child's name on it.  These are great to bring to sleep-overs and to use everyday also.  I wrapped a few other items inside but this was the "main" gift.

I used a technique that I haven't used in a couple of years--Tulip fabric soft paint and freezer paper.  Since discovering Heat Transfer Vinyl  I don't use the paint/freezer paper technique for making shirts.  I have noticed that the HTV doesn't always do well in the dryer and I knew that pillowcases would need to be washed frequently so I decided to go the "old school" route.  I have a few shirts that I've made with the paint/freezer paper that have washed and dried several times without any problems so I knew that would be ok.

Sock Monkey Card

Some friends of our are expecting their first baby.  I wanted to send a little card in with the package I'll be mailing to them.  The invitations for the shower were in the these colors and had a sock monkey on them.  I thought it was the cutest and that is where I got the inspiration for the card.  I used the cricut B is for Boy cartridge for the monkey and the Base Camp cartridge for the name letters.  I embossed the monkey with the SU sizzix lattice embossing folder and a cuttlebug polka dot folder for the white layer.  Thanks for looking!

Shaker Card

My best friend's little girl turned 5 a couple of months ago and I wanted to make her a fun card for her birthday.  What's more fun than a shaker card?  I used a couple of cricut cartridges to cut the number and the candles.  I used a Stampin' Up! stamp and die for the happy birthday banner.  It was lots of fun to make and she enjoyed it!  Thanks for looking.

Halloween Treats

I needed some crafting therapy this weekend after a very long week at school so I decided to put together some treat bags for my team teachers.  With this being Halloween and Red Ribbon week, the kids are  extra hyper.  We may need a couple bites of something sweet to help us "survive"!!!!!

I used the Stampin' Up! treat cups for the pumpkins and I filled them with the orange starburst candy corn.  I used the Cricut cartridge Create a Critter to cut out the pumpkins and a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the texture.

I used the Stampin' Up! thin cello bags along with the candy corn M&M's (which by the way are really good!)  For the candy corn image, I used an old Stampin' Up! set Tasty Sweet (retired).

I had so much left over candy corn and I decided that it wasn't a good idea to keep them in the house so I bagged them up in the Stampin' Up! small cello bags. *Not sure if they still sell these or not. I used an older set called Got Treats (retired) for the phrase and the candy image is also from the Tasty Sweet set.

And here they are all bagged up!!  I haven't made teacher gifts in a while and I really enjoyed putting these together.  If you have any questions, please let me know!  Happy crafting!

**all paper from Stampin' Up!

Superhero Gifts

We are invited to a birthday party for two brothers who are 4 and 2.  They both love superheros.  Their mom always does such great parties for boys so I love seeing everything that she comes up with each year.  This year I decided to make their gifts using my new silhouette cameo machine.

I first found a .png image for each logo online by doing a google search.  I then put it into my silhouette designer edition software and created a cut file by tracing the image.  (This is probably my favorite part of the cameo.  I could NEVER do this with my cricut!)  I then make the file and cut it from black paper.  I attached it to the yellow background and placed the red 'S' into the superman frame and viola!  Framed names!!

I decided to make a matching birthday card for each boy using the same cut file just modified a little to fit on a standard A2 size card.

If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thanks for looking!!!

Summer Re-Cap

Oh WOW!!!  It's been forever!!  I won't bore you with all the details about what has been going on.  A LOT has happened since this summer and I hope to be sharing some projects with you really soon!  I have been crafting, just not as much as I would like.  Here is a recap of my summer.....

In late May I got this in the mail!

I got a great deal here and I couldn't resist.  I purchased the designer edition when it was half off this summer and I'm still learning all the quirks but so far I'm in love.  I still have my cricuts and gypsy and I don't plan on getting rid of them.  I will still use both machines.  I made this purchase mostly because I want to use all my true type fonts from my computer instead of having to purchase new cartridges and still not have the exact font that I want.



June was the annual CKC Houston with my besties.  Here is a pic of my goodies.

We had a great weekend (as usual!) and made lots of memories!!!

July was pretty quiet.  I took lots of naps and organized my scrapbooks.  I've been so busy of the last couple of years with showers and other projects that my scrapbooking was neglected.  I purchased the above page protectors a couple of years ago (not sure if they are still available but I know several companies are now making similar ones).  I decided that the pages didn't have to be perfectly pretty and done just so.  I wanted to get the pictures out of the boxes and into albums so that I could share the memories.  I placed the photos in the pockets by event and added a little journaling spot to note the date/location of the pictures.  If I ever have time to go back I can make pretty pages with them.  For now, I'm calling them done and officially saying that "I'm caught up!"  I no longer feel overwhelmed and uninspired because I am "so far behind."

August was back to school time.  I didn't make too much for my classroom other than a few teacher math manipulatives to use in the classroom.  Poster sized ten frames to use with my students since my white board is not magnetic and a set of numbers and math symbols that have magnetic tape on the back that I use with a small hanging magnetic board over my math board.  The "counters" have a red side and a yellow side and each side has a Velcro dot in the middle.  (I store the numbers in the blue and red pockets below the ten frames and the counters in the alphabet pocket under the frames as well)  Everything on my math board is attached to the flannel fabric behind it with Velcro.

Stay tuned for more news later.  I'm trying to get back on track of posting projects.

Thanks for looking and happy scrapping!!!

Project Life

So I purchased some Project Life goodies this weekend.  I'm not quite sure what I am getting into because I haven't ever done anything Project Life, but since I have a new little one on the way I figured this would be the best way to document his first year.  I've been searching for some inspiration and I've found a few blogs that have some inspiration.  The price dropped on the kit and the binder over the weekend and I couldn't resist.  I can't wait to get my goodies in the mail and get working!!  If you have any suggestions or ideas, please let me know!!

Here are the blogs that I have found using this kit.  If you know of any other good project life blogs, please let me know!!

http://www.lovinglifeslittleblessings.com/
http://www.avegasgirlatheart.com/

Thanks for looking!

School Thank You Cards

My class is taking a field trip next week to the zoo.  I currently have ten parents signed up as chaperones.  I wanted to send them a special thank you for going with us.  I made these cards about four years ago for the first time that our grade level ventured to the zoo.  I thankfully saved the design on my Gypsy so I was able to do a bit of adjusting for my paper and cut them out and piece them together.  I love this bus from the Doodlecharms cricut cartridge.  The road and grass is from one of the paper doll cartridges and the cloud is the Fiskars cloud punch.  All paper is Stampin' Up!

I used the white distress marker to make the lines on the road.  It worked really nice for this project.  (Not sure how I feel about those yet.  I bought a two pack (black/white) from HL and only the brush tips work on them.  I returned them for a second package and the same thing.  Has anyone else had this problem?  I've contacted Ranger twice and they have yet to return my email about the product issues so I don't know what I think about that yet!)

I used this Martha Stewart custom stamp setting kit to stamp out the school's name on the side of each bus.  It fit perfectly and was the perfect size. (I did blur out the first name of the school) I really like this stamp kit.  I noticed that they have a couple new fonts at my Michaels.  I'm going to have to pick up the loop script alphabet set because I think it is so cute.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thanks for looking.

My Last Baby Shower.....For a While At Least

So my BFF was having her third child and she had NEVER had an official baby shower!!  Can you believe that?!?  I couldn't!!  I told her that even though she was having her third girl that she still deserved a baby shower.  So, I hosted one for her.  Here are some of the pics.  It was a Jungle Jill themed shower.  I did a lot of my usual, just with ALOT of pink!! :)

The food table.  I made hair bows and used them to clip up the pink table cloths

centerpieces

The so cute cake, tutu punch bowl, and the diaper cake

Not my best work.....it looked much better on Pinterest and in my mind

The sign in table with the purse favor boxes (giraffe & zebra print options) as well as the glass block light for the baby's room

Violet's diaper cake.  (I LOVE that giraffe)

Thanks for looking!!  If you have any questions, please let me know!!

Scrapbooking Tax Day Humor

I saw this on Blitsy's Facebook page today and had to share.  It was too cute!!

If you don't know what Blitsy is, check it out by clicking HERE.  Its a great site where you can purchase scrapbooking/paper crafting supplies at great prices.  I've ordered a few times and I've always gotten great products quickly!!  Let me know if you have any questions!!!

What I've Been Up To!

I realized my last post was from almost 5 months ago.  Here are a few things I have been busy with:

 December:  Christmas and all the celebrating.  Here is a picture of my first green been bundles that I made for Christmas dinner.  I got the recipe from pinterest and I must say....Yummy. 

 

January:  I hosted a baby shower for my BFF at my house!  Details to come!  I got some croppin time in with my Besties!  We haven't had a scrapbook weekend in FOREVER!! (We didn't take any pictures though :(  go figure)

February: Celebrating the birth of my BFF's baby and enjoying Valentine's Day with my honey.  Again another Pinterest idea for hubby's gift.  I got the image from a freebie by Hero Arts (I think last year) and I colored it with my copics. (I need to use those more!)

March:  Enjoying Spring Break with my favorite little guy!  My nephew spent the whole week with me!  I think I was just as excited as he was!!  We celebrated Easter with the family but I didn't dye one single egg this year!!  The first year in the last five to NOT dye eggs!!

I did have a lot of projects in the last few months:
LOTS baby shower decorations
2 diaper cakes
many, many, many cards
baby gifts
ugly sweater sweater (I think I'll save this to share closer to the holidays)
treats for my students
and the list continues.......

Owl Baby Shower

I know it's been forever since I have posted and I don't want to bore you with all the excuses as to why I haven't blogged in a few months, so...... My sister welcomed her second child into the world in October. She is a precious baby girl and we are all enjoying every bit of her! I hosted a baby shower for my sister back in August (the weekend before school started!! I know I'm crazy!!). Here are some pictures from that!

Lets just say that since my discovery of pinterest, I have way cuter projects!!

Pinterest inspired favor owl boxes and an owl paper lantern

The beautiful cake

Another pinterest inspiration.  A mobile made with cricut cuts

Elegant diaper cake

Hospital door wreath.  (We used a paint pen to add the details after Abby was born)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you have any questions, please let me know! Thanks

Still Here!

I know it has been forever since my last post but I promise I'm still here!! I have been very busy in my scrapbook room and I haven't had time to blog about it. I have lots to show you. Check back soon for some "hoot" inspiration!!

Power Ranger Birthday Card

While walking through Joanns one day I saw an new product called Honey Bee honeycomb paper by Colorbok.  I've been wanting some of the Honey Pop paper that you can buy at Archivers for a while.  Since Archivers is over 2 hours from my home, I haven't gotten any.  I was really excited when I saw this at Joanns!!!

This is a paper that is "honeycomb" like and when opened creates a 3-D image.  I freehand cut a candle and flame from the honeybee paper and placed in inside the card.

I've been seeing a lot of cards lately that are created with digi stamps.  I'm a red rubber stamp girl myself, but I have seen many very cute digi stamp images colored with copics.  I did a youtube search and found that I can print the images with my inkjet printer and color them with my copics the same as using momento ink!!!!  I thought I'd give it a try on my nephew's birthday card!
 

For the outside I found a Power Ranger image and printed it onto Neenah card stock and colored it in with my copics.  It was really fun and my nephew really enjoyed it. I used a Stampin' Up! set for the birthday greeting and background paper was also from SU!

If you have any questions, let me know!! Thanks for looking!!!

CKC Scrabook Convention 2012

I'm off to the CKC Scrapbook Convention in Houston for the next few days.  My two best friends and I have made this a yearly tradition!!  It's a blast and we have an all girls weekend.  I'll post my goodies when I get back!!  I can't wait!!!

Power Rangers Birthday Shirt

My nephew turned 5 this year.  :(  I can't believe he's gotten so big!  I decided to make him a shirt for his birthday this year.  This year it was all about the red power ranger samauri.  I had to paint the front of it using the Tulip Soft fabric paint and the freezer paper stencil technique.  It is really easy, just takes some time.  I found an image online and printed it onto white copy paper.  I then used that and traced the image onto the freezer paper, cut it out, and adhered it to the shirt for painting.

On the back, I went easy....Heat Transfer Vinyl!!  A friend introduced me to that stuff last year and I love it.  It is so easy to use and apply!!  I cut out my nephews name an age and applied it to the back.  I ordered the blue vinyl from H & H sign supply and it is a really nice quality vinyl.  The red is from CraftVinyl.com and it is nice too.

Check back later this week for the birthday card I made for him.

If you have any questions, let me know!! Thanks for looking!!!

Caterpillar Card

As you may know, I'm a first grade teacher.  I love my job and my students are always very special to me.  This is my third year to teach and every year I send a card to my students in their final report card.  I don't tell them about it so I never know what they think of it.  I had a student come up to me about three weeks before school was out and tell me that they still had their card from last year and that they kept it in a special place and looked at it often.  That sure did make me feel good!!!!

Anyway, I do a different card every year for my students.  This year, I used the caterpillar from Create a Critter cricut cartridge.  I also used Locker Talk and hid some of the outer shaped from the first grade sign cut and welded it into a rectangle.  This was one less layer I had to cut by had b/c the cricut did it for me!!!  The letters are not make to cut out completely on this image so I took a silver sharpie marker and traced them in.

I used the Peachy Keen Stamps critter XL face stamps for the caterpillar.  I thank ran the caterpillar through my big shot with the Tim Holtz notebook embossing folder to give the caterpillar some "wrinkles."  I used SU! red dazzling diamonds glitter glue on the nose and orange stickles on the antennae.  I decided to glue on some google eyes to make it more fun for the kids.

If you have any questions, let me know!! Thanks for looking!!!