Saturday, August 27, 2011

It's a Wrap Holidays Sneak Peek


Happy Saturday! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and all the East Coasters are staying safe!

I have one little card to share that I made for my Stampin' Up! upline, Jackie Ross. She's a wonderful career demo who was #9 Demonstrator of the Year last year! SU asked her to model a sample workshop at the Charlotte and Las Vegas regionals, so a few weeks ago, a few of her downline gathered at her house to make some samples for her to show during her presentation. What a fun day it was! I wish I could have gone to one of the events to see in her action, she truly is amazing!

I used the new It's a Wrap Holidays stamp set that will be in the new Holiday Mini catalog available September 1st. (You could do something very similar with the new It's a Wrap stamp set in the main catalog.) It's designed to stamp on labels to wrap around little Hershey's nuggets. I wanted to show another way to use the stamps, so I tried to make a ribbon/medallion thing.


I also used my favorite thing in the new holiday mini, jumbo buttons! They are called Spice Cake designer buttons, and they are SO cute! They come in Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede, and Pear Pizazz. There are more cute buttons too, some decorative ones called Holly Berry Bouquet. Love, love!


On a non-stamping note, I survived my first week back to school, and I LOVE my class! I know we are going to have a great year! I'm trying not to panic thinking about getting them ready for the Texas STAAR test in spring, which is new and harder, but we'll get there. I wish the heat would let up on us, we had to have indoor recess all week, but they were super awesome. I spent the week without air-conditioning in the car, which was NOT super awesome!! Groan! But dh took it in today and got it fixed, schwooo!


Thanks so much for stopping by and (hopefully) not forgetting about me during my intermittent absences! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: It's a Wrap Holidays, Tiny Tags
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Frostwood Lodge DSP, Whisper White.
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon, Cherry Cobbler 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread, Jewelry Tag Punch, 3/4" and 1 1/4" Circle Punch.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Back to School!

Happy Monday! It's officially the first day of school with the students! Can't wait to get started!


I made this simple little card for my 3rd grade teammates. I had much loftier ambitions for a cool project to give to them, but it didn't quite work out that way. I'm so excited for the new year and to be part of such a fabulous team! I moved to 3rd grade this year to teach math and science. I have a co-teacher who teaches English Language Arts and Social Studies, so we flip our 22 kids in the morning and afternoon. We've been working hard to get everything ready, and I hope to have pictures to share soon (new school policy on photographing, so bear with me!). I LOVE my new classroom so much, I can't wait to share it with y'all!


I'm hoping to come to some sort of *normal* schedule to allow for occasional stamping, soon, wish me luck! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Edited to add: That darling apple embossing folder is from Quickutz!


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Get Well Wishes

Happy Tuesday! Tomorrow is the big day...the first day of in-service at school. I've already spent several days in my classroom, unpacking and inventorying, it came along very slowly. Think I'm finally ready for the fun part. We get next Wednesday to work in our room, then Open House/Meet the Teacher on Thursday night. Hmmmm, why do I think I'll be up there all weekend?! :)


I finally finished up another card last night, one of my self-induced challenge cards, with left over parts from this card. (The Lucky You card below is another one.) I have parts for one more and it's sort of started, hopefully I can finish it soon! For this one, I used the SU Tasteful Trims die to make the big scallop pieces, then folded the top edge over. The little flowers are made from the scallop circles. There are lots of tutorials for theses, but here is one, wish I would have found it earlier, it's easier than how I did it! Hehe!


Okay, I'm off to play with my new SU pennant die and it's school related! Pics to follow! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Lucky You

Happy Saturday! My last *official* weekend off before returning to school on Wednesday! Shocking! (Are you tired of hearing about this yet?! Feel free to tell me to stuff a sock in it!)


Here's a so-so card I have ready to share. *smile* Here's the back story...back in June I posted this retreat make and take card (and see below) that I designed for my friends to make. Well, they didn't all make it, so I had leftover parts for 3 more cards. I decided the other day to challenge myself and make 3 more different cards with the parts. I had a ton of those scallop circles because each flower on the original card required five. Anyway, the other 2 cards are almost finished, so I'll try to post those tomorrow, maybe it will make more sense then! :)



So, I finished up a rough floor plan for my classroom using the room planner on Thomasville's website (it's SO easy, anyone can use it!), because dh didn't really want to move the furniture 12 times until I figured out how I liked it. I guessed on some measurements, so it's not perfect, but it was close enough for us to use, with some minor tweaking, of course! Here it is, just for grins. Oh, and the big box in the corner is a restroom. For the first time ever, I'll have a restroom in my classroom. I guess it's good and bad...it will be super convenient, but it will require extensive training in proper use and maintenance! :)
I got about a dozen boxes/tubs unloaded before dh started losing interest, so I'm heading back up tomorrow afternoon to work some more. Yesterday my bff Lori was kind enough to accompany me to Ikea and we found the cutest stuff ever for the classroom. I'm super excited! She also accompanied me there my first year teaching. I didn't have my blog yet then, but you can see the rug she helped me pick then here. Ummm, it's long since been out of commission! ha! Rugs seem to last about 2 years, we'll see if my new one can make it longer!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Have a Wonderful Day!

Happy Thursday! How's it going? Hot enough for you?! hahahahaha, what an original thought!


Wow, am I getting busy now that the "final last days until school starts countdown" has started! I have had this Pleasant Av card for a long time, but all it had was the grass, the street sign, and the sentiment. I could never decide what to put on the grass. So In the meantime, when I was working on the Great Stamp Room Overhaul of 2011, I found a tag swap thing with an Andes mint inside (old and ewwwww, from the looks of it, didn't try it! ha!) and this owl on the outside of it.


Lightbulb!


Rip the owl off that tag swap thing and plant him on the grass on Pleasant Av. And yes, I think it works, good enough! Between you and me, I have had that owl punch since it first came out brand new (was it last year's catalog?) and still never used it! Argh! But now it looks like I have! ha!


If you're still here after that long story, God bless ya! Here's another old card, kind of simple, but he seems to go with the other one.




Feel free to skip this teacher part if you like...


Now, my brand new campus was opened today and teachers could start moving stuff in! That's good...and bad...you know what I mean?! ha! But I was thrilled to start getting this huge pile out of my living/dining room. Two carloads later, it's looking much better!



Here are some pics of my brand new classroom, just the way it looked as I walked in, before I started hauling my own junk inside! You can see some pictures from last year here and here, and two years ago here.






Everything is so shiny and new! I'll keep you posted with after pictures, I have lots of ideas! Luckily, I don't need to buy many things (she says after a *little* trip to Target today!), but here's a rug I love, I just wish it came larger...it's only 4' x 6':
Lastly, I'm thinking of starting a teaching blog, unless someone can stop me...


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Paper Crafts Color Inspiration #7 Challenge



Happy Tuesday! How's it going?!


I saw on Paper Crafts Connection tonight was the deadline for the Color Inspiration #7, and you know how I love a deadline to get me moving, ha! I found the spinner wheel from an old K & Company chipboard accents thing on my Clip It Up (yes, during the stamp room revamp, the Clip It Up is up again!) with the right colors, so I started with that. I did the flag pennant stitching with the Sew Easy Stitch Piercer, a little gift from my in-laws that I love now!!


I have to get up EARLY tomorrow for a math workshop in Fort Worth, aye yi yi! Wish me luck! I guess it's good practice for returning to work next Wednesday, lol! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Cardstock: Marigold Morning (retired), So Saffron.
Accessories: K and Company chipboard accent, We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Stitch Piercer and floss.