Happy Sunday! Can't believe Thanksgiving break has gone by so quickly! I did get one card made, and I am seriously rusty!! I thought I'd share it anyway! :)I used the Colour Q Challenge #112, looks like I missed the deadline for posting it on their site though, dang! Don't you love these fall colors?! At least I got one fall card made, now looks like it's time to start thinking about Christmas!I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed time with family and friends! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Paisley Prints, Fabulous Phrases.
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Real Red, Whisper White.
Ink: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie.
Accessories: Daffodil Delight 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Antique Brads, Red floss, paper piercer/needle.
School is kicking my b*tt, argh, but I finally have pictures of my classroom to share! I actually got them a few weeks ago, but am just now getting time to post them. We have a new, rather complicated policy on taking pictures in our classrooms, but I'll spare you the details! :) This is my classroom in our new building! These were taken before school started and before I was completely done, and I've already changed things (of course!), but you can get a feel for the space. I do love my room, and it's a good thing since I spend more time there than anywhere else! ha!Love my pennants! I found the idea here. Around the whiteboard are these adorable teddy bear lights from Urban Outfitters, although they don't seem to be on their website anymore. They look so awesome turned on with the lights dimmed! The new Ikea red rug is super soft too, and the kids love it!
The plain black part in the next picture is my magnetic, chalkboard that I made for my old classroom. Now it looks more like this.
Next is this wall area, next to my Guided Reading table. Even though I teach math/science, all teachers teach one hour of Guided Reading, so I still need to have a space for reading strategies, etc. My green "bulletin boards" are twin flat sheets from Wal-Mart for $5, a Pinterest idea! 
My Guided Reading table is to the left here, you can't see it, and these tables now hold the 6 student laptop computers. Nice! The two bulletin boards here now have Science posters on them covering things we've been studying...lab safety and the scientific method. Fun stuff! The blue bookcase is full of math manipulatives, games, etc that the students can play with. To the right is a blue locking cabinet for supplies and a restroom. You can barely see the super cute curtains to the left, also from Ikea.
This year our school is working to join the "No Excuses University" and really push college awareness. Every classroom "adopted" a university and ours is Texas A & M at Kingsville...the Javelinas! I cannot tell a lie...I Googled Texas colleges and picked my top 3 choices based on mascot colors! lol! I just couldn't risk purple or orange and brown!
Below is the favorite area of the kids...the library! I got the cool canopy thing at Ikea, it kind of inspired the whole room. I cleaned this old carpet the best I could, it's had 2 tough years already! ha!
Below is behavior stuff, class rules, class jobs, and not shown is a birthday cupcake graph poster we made the first week of school. The door is the entrance to the room.
This pic is by the front door entrance, there are two blue bookcases that hold lots of frequently used supplies. The silver box holds our classroom "clickers" to use with Smart Board software, very cool! You can kind of see the teddy bear lights better here, although they are not turned on. See the little white signholder for 99 cents from Ikea? It's going to hold something like this. So many ideas still, so little time!
Another view of the front:
Hope you enjoyed the classroom tour! Like I said, it's very different already (and much more full with walls covered!), so I guess I need to start the process of getting more photos taken!Hopefully I will stamp again someday! In the meantime, thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy everything!
Happy Saturday! Hope things are well in your world! Let's just say I'm glad this week is behind me and looking forward to a new one! ;-)I loved the colors in the CQC#101 challenge this week, so decided to play along. I *really* heart Pool Party, and I found this little card had been stamped and abandoned, so what a perfect starting point! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Delicate Doilies, Friendly Phrases.
Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White.
Ink: Rich Razzleberry.
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon, Etsy crochet flower, Whisper White designer button, In Color polka dot brad, Corner Rounder.
Happy Monday and Labor Day! I'm so grateful for our long weekend and for the COOL weather in Dallas, finally! I got up to 69 degrees this morning, SO heavenly!!
I squeezed in time for one card today, yippee! The challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays is to create a project inspired by a book, and use the colors black, red, and white in honor of International Literacy Day on September 8th! Seriously, how could a teacher not participate?! :)
I used the SU set Forever Young, and my design is based on the book The Picture of Dorian Gray. I embossed the images using Versamark ink and black embossing powder, then fussy cut the little frame. A lot of sunlight in the picture, sorry about that!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!
Recipe
Stamps: Forever Young, Bring on the Cake.
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP.
Ink: Memento Black, Versamark.
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 5/8" Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Black designer button, sewing machine, black thread.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!RecipeCardstock: Marigold Morning (retired), So Saffron.
Accessories: K and Company chipboard accent, We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Stitch Piercer and floss.
Happy Sunday! Have you had a good weekend?! I had a fun Saturday night with some girlfriends seeing Crazy, Stupid Love and then hitting Borders today with dh to get some teacher stuff and use up a gift card before they closed up shop, so sad! I have a quick little card to share that I made for my niece Emma (just realized I used part of the Emma's Shoppe collection by Crate Paper for this card, sweet serendipity!) when I returned home from Missouri last month. It never got sent, I know, I know, because it got a little smashed up and need to be renovated. So I just finished redoing it so I can send it out tomorrow! While working on the Great Stamp Room Overhaul of 2011 (it's almost done!), I made a small pile of cards that needed surgery. Has that ever happened to you?! Okay, gotta keep moving! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Pattern Pieces
Cardstock: Pool Party
Ink: Pool Party
Accessories: Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe stickers and die-cut.
Happy Friday! Another week gone, can't believe the end of July is so close!I've been working so hard in my stamp room the last couple of days...cleaning/organizing/purging...that I haven't had time to stamp. I think the end is near, and I should be able to take pictures to share soon. Yeah, I know I said that last year too, then never finished, ha! But I really think I'm going to make it this year! *smile*One of the things I've been doing is going through MOUNDS of cards and trying to get them organized, plus prepare a lot of them for donation to Operation Write Home. I happened to come across this card that I made with my niece while home in Missouri last month. It was for a special friend, and clearly never got sent, but it will tomorrow. See why I needed to organize?! Although it's late, I hope it will still brighten her day and let her know that friends all over are praying and sending love for her and her family.Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!
Happy Wednesday! Two weeks from today I have to return to school, and I'm just letting you to know so you can start preparing yourself. *smile* I should probably start preparing myself too!In the meantime, I whipped up this little card for my friend's wedding (and I'm late, doh!) using the new SU Forever Young set. Yes, a set with silhouettes, and beautiful matching paper to boot! To play along with the Little Red Wagon challenge #91, I heat embossed the clock with black embossing powder. I was going to add the couple's initials to the decorative label punch piece, but I ended up liking the little boy and girl silhouette images so much, I couldn't cover them up.So I finally got my hair cut today, long overdue since the last cut on March 5. (Yes, I looked it up in my checkbook while waiting, ha!) She styled it straight and flatironed it, and now dh has been looking at me like I'm an alien, ha! No worries, it'll be messy and curly again in a day or two! Will I ever break down and buy a flatiron, hmmmm....Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping! RecipeStamps: Forever Young, Word Play
Cardstock: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Timeless Portrait & First Edition DSP.
Ink: Black, Versamark.
Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Antique Brad, Heat Tool, Black Embossing Powder, 1 1/4" Black Striped Ribbon.
Happy Tuesday! Y'all staying cool out there?! Nothing like 103 degrees outside and making a snowflake card, it's all in the head! I loved the Clean and Simple FTL #150 sketch and thought it would be a great chance to use some of my rub-on stash for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #12, so this is what I came up with. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, but it has a white insert with a rub-on sentiment and more snowflakes. I even made a matching envelope (like my friend Cindy always does!) with even more snowflake rub-ons! I'm feeling Pretty Good about using up some of my stash, hehe!Stay cool, peeps! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeCardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, retired DSP.
Accessories: Baja Breeze snowflake, Glitter Brad, retired rub-ons, Snowflake Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Webster's Pages ribbon.
Happy Monday! I almost forgot I worked on this card last week for Cath's Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World! I had the scrap of yellow paper laying around and wanted to use up, plus I'm still trying to win people over to the *mustache* side! ha! I keep seeing the little mustaches on sticks so you can hold them up to your mouth, so I attached this one to a little wooden mini dowel rod...it just slides right out of the stitches! The stitches were inspired by the black buttons on the coat, then the vertical line of the numbers on the paper also followed the vertical lines of the jacket.I need to get back in the stamp room, got way too involved in a 6 book series that I read last week. Now I'm so sad it's over, sigh. So it's time to stamp, right?! I'm always up for some challenges...Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Many Mustaches
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Basic Black, Just Add Cake DSP.
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Heat Tool, Black Embossing Powder, black thread, Thickers, Cosmo Cricket letter stickers.
Happy Friday! What a week, a lazy week, that is! hee! hee! I've stayed up until 5 am the last two nights reading books, yikes! That has to be my wake up time in just 2 1/2 more weeks! My poor husband, it is NOT going to be good! :)Here's one more card I made during my virtual stamping session with Cindy, see here super cute card here, using the Card Patterns Sketch #24. I just love a long card, don't you? This card is 3 1/4" x 6 1/2", one of my favorite sizes, and SU has cute long envelopes that match. I first attempted making this an extra long card (like long business size, I forget what that ones called), but didn't like it, so shortened it up.I used a super cute new sentiment set from SU called Perfectly Penned and some of my favorite retired paper. It's hard to see in the picture, but stamped the "Happy Birthday" in Real Red craft ink then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I need to get more colored embossing powder, but this worked for now. This card actually went postal to a dear friend for her, you guessed it, 32nd birthday. Hope she likes it!On a side note, after Cindy and I stamped, we took pictures of our challenge cards and emailed them to each other. I took five pictures and this is the one I chose to edit and email:
I didn't even notice until Cindy emailed me back, I had an extra embellishment on the card! Yikes! Do you see it? So I chose the next best picture from my iPhoto library to edit and this was it:
Seriously?! What are the odds?! I've had this blog since May 2007 and almost 900 posts, but this was a first! (Plus, I think I need to check my glasses!) I guess this card is just super sweet or maybe since it's going to a super sweet friend...I know it's a stretch...ha!Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Perfectly Penned
Cardstock: Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Play Date DSP.
Ink: Real Red Craft.
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Thickers.
Happy Wednesday! Big day...humpday and I have plans to get out of the house, going a little stir crazy! ha! I have another card to share from my virtual stamping challenge day with Cindy...see, I told you we got a lot done, ha! We used the Friday Mash Up Challenge #15, choosing to use both the sketch and the colors. I did flip the sketch, as you can see. Don't you love the new cameo paper from SU?! It just happened to match my new polka dot fabric so well!Hope you have a great day and be careful in the heat...that's a note to self too, since I'm actually leaving the house today! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeCardstock: Early Espresso, Timeless Portrait DSP.
Accessories: Big Shot, Flower Folds Bigz XL Die, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler button (retired), October Afternoon 5 & Dime Miscellany ticket, Janome Sew Mini.
Happy Tuesday! I hope you read the title of the post and complied!This *colorful* card uses the Clean and Simple FTL #149 and Dawn's Color Cue 16, which I love, I just think some white space would have been beneficial here! ha! Cindy and I used these challenges during our stamping session on Sunday, you can see hers here, it is beautiful! She encouraged me to go ahead and share this card, even if it was outside my normal comfort zone! heehee! Maybe I can find a nice, small child to mail this to! :)Well, I should go do some housework now, but I may just pop into my stamp room for a quick minute! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!RecipeStamps: Under the Big Top
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Big Top Birthday DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Black; Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, and Going Gray markers.
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot ribbon, Star Punch, Big Shot, Polka Dot embossing folder, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Aquapainter.
