Teacher Appreciation Week - Friday

Whew! I made it... five gifts (well, ten since they're for two different teachers) in five days. See the smoke coming from my paper trimmer?   ;) 

All of the gifts were fun to make, and the teachers deserve them very much! Both of my boys have talented, kind, helpful teachers. We are so blessed! 
I'm not sure how I will live without the Fancy Favor Bigz XL die. I was actually shocked to find this "go-to" Big Shot die on the Retiring List. Well, I won't exactly be "living without"... it will go into my vault!
Anywho, I assembled the Fancy Favor box to hold gardening gloves and seed packets. The largest flower (Mixed Bunch) is stamped in Melon Mambo ink onto Twitterpated DSP and punched out with the Blossom punch. The other two flowers (Fruit & Flowers) are also stamped in Melon Mambo ink; one onto Blushing Bride card stock, and the other onto Whisper White card stock. 
I've seen the sentiment "thanks for helping me grow" added to a nice flowering plant. That would have been a super gift, but as I mentioned in the other "teacher appreciation gift" posts, the boys are the delivery service for all of these. And they ride the bus to school, for about twelve entire minutes. Boys can do lots of things in twelve minutes! Can't you just picture the dirt trail from their bus seat, down the steps, into the school, down the hallway... Ummm yeah, seeds work just as well with this sentiment. I created the sentiment using My Digital Studio, and then trimmed it to fit. Easy peasy! To make sure it all arrived inside the Fancy Favor box, I slipped the gifts into Gusseted Cellophane Bags and tied them closed with Melon Mambo Scallop Dots Ribbon.

And now... the conclusion to Aaron's animal alphabet book! I hope you found some inspiration for your classroom and/or punch art creations in this book.

 

Teacher Appreciation Week - Thursday

A week of teacher appreciation gifts was a great idea... right up until I saw Tuesday's and Wednesday's gifts in Aaron's backpack! Aaagh! I emailed his teacher so she could ask him if he has anything in his bag to turn in. Silly little boy...

Sometimes a gift card is the perfect gift. I do worry that it doesn't seem very personal... that's where the "delivery system" takes center stage. Once a gift card is wrapped up in pretty packaging, it becomes fabulous!
Using a 4 x 12" piece of card stock, I designed a pretty gift card holder. Since my gift card is for that yummy coffee shop we all know and love, I thought the BIG mug in the Tea Shoppe stamp set would be perfect. I put the holder together so that it looks like the card is sitting in the mug.   :} 
I used a 22" piece of Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon to tie the gift card holder closed. Since I didn't want the ribbon to fall off once the holder was open, I adhered a 4-1/4" square of Chocolate Chip card stock to the back. 
If I were personally hand-delivering these gift cards, I would have stopped there. But since they were being delivered by two little boys, I enclosed them in Clear Envelopes for a little extra safe keeping.   :}  

And now... a few more pages from Aaron's animal alphabet book- 

happy Easter everybunny!

Don't you just love stamping cute Easter projects??? I have a fun Easter card to share today that shows a great way to use up some scraps! 

I had some card stock and Tea for Two DSP scraps left over after cutting kits for my card class at the bakery, and I just can't bear to waste. Soooooo, I put them to good use on this Easter card. 
Isn't that bunny in the balloon just the cutest?! I stamped this image from the Everybunny stamp set in StazOn® ink so I could "watercolor" without the ink smearing. After adding spots of color gently with the Watercolor Wonder® Crayons, I smoothed out the color in each section of the image with a Blender Pen.

Here's a close-up so you can see all the details. The Chevron Embossing Folder adds the needed texture to the So Saffron card stock... and I folded the "blue" DSP strip back and under (on the right side) before adhering that card stock layer. Everything is adhered with my favorite liquid glue except the focal point, which uses Dimensionals for some height. 
I liked the simplicity of this card, so I kept the embellishments simple too. A Certainly Celery Button with a bow of Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine is all this card needs.  :} 

After I finished the card, I thought it would be fun to create the same "layered strip" look on a digital scrapbook page! 

Aaron is so sweet... don't you just want to hug him?! I LOVE this Easter Bunny basket he brought home from school, and I had to take a photo right away. 
I used pieces from a few downloads on this layout, but most of the "supplies" come from the Eggceptional Easter kit.

Here's a close-up of the basket-

The top and the two flat sides opposite the handle are cut away to create the opening. The handle is left intact in the back. Aaron got to draw a bunny face on the front... "with a PERMANENT MARKER, Mom!" The two bunny ears are stapled to the top, and the students got to play Easter Bunny by bringing some goodies for each basket. How fun!!

one sketch... two cards

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! It was sunny and kinda warm (51 degrees in the afternoon!), so the boys spent the day running around outside keeping you all safe from pirates, dragons, storm troopers, and aliens. AND, I had soooo much fun at my afternoon stamping class. Do you know what we will be doing today? Shoveling!

How do you like the contrast of our palm branches in the snow??? Crazy Spring weather! 

For both of the cards I'm sharing today, I used the same card sketch:

Here's the simple birthday card from yesterday's class-

stamp sets: Spring Sampler, Made for You

Embossing Folder: Chevron

DSP: Tea for Two 

And here's the card from the craft night I held at the grade school last week- 

stamp set: Madison Avenue 

Embossing Folder: Vine Street 

DSP: Sycamore Street 

Well, whatever kind of weather Spring has brought to your door today, I hope your day is fabulous! Thanks for stopping by my blog... now go stamp something!!  :} 

blue and orange

Here are two more of the crayon gifts that Aaron brought to help celebrate Blue Day and Orange Day. His teacher told me the kids are loving it! It's nice to be able to make something as simple as a new crayon into a fun gift :} 

 Blue Day

I kind of "hit a wall" when I was planning the Blue Day gift, because Stampin' Up! doesn't really have a color that matches the crayon wrapper. If I were one of those Moms who gets everything done months in advance, I could have used the "color picker" tool in My Digital Studio and designed a perfectly matched tag. But... well, I'm not even close to being that prepared. Soooooo, I solved my dilemma by using every shade of blue! And I love how it turned out! It's even more fun and "kid-like" than a perfectly matched tag :}

I used a Window Sheet (acetate) to create a window for my little astronaut. And I had to add a heavy layer of shimmer to that cute alien (rubbing alcohol in a Spritzer with a few drops of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint) :} 

Orange Day

Drawing on my creative use of color from the Blue Day project, I chose Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, and Cajun Craze to create this fun flower tag. Stamp set: Printed Petals. Framelit: Floral Frames. 

I'll bet you can't wait to see the next two colors...  ;)

Happy Groundhog Day!

Every time Groundhog Day rolls around I get that old Sonny and Cher song stuck in my head for a few weeks (thanks to the Bill Murray movie). "I got you, babe..." Even though it is very cloudy here today, I'm sure the groundhog saw his shadow. I mean, we've hardly even had winter yet, so I'm sure we'll spend the next six weeks making up for it!   ;}
Anywho, today is my friend Nikki's birthday. I made her the cutest little card, that is in the mail, but will arrive a wee bit late. But, I'm sure she'll forgive me when she sees how adorable it is.

This card was totally inspired by my years of teaching Kindergarten! I decided to use Crumb Cake to make my punch-art groundhog. Then I used the Color Coach to choose the Bashful Blue and Real Red.
I tore strips of Chocolate Chip card stock to make the "ground," and the groundhog is attached to a small craft stick. Here's a view of him popping up:

I stamped the sentiment (from Elementary Elegance) in Soft Suede ink, which is the ink I used to sponge the punched pieces. I can't wait 'til Nikki opens her card!

Have a super fun Groundhog Day!!   :}

Bashful Blue

Today's card from the Color Coach is Bashful Blue, which is in the Subtles Collection. The "Dynamic Duo" colors are Bashful Blue and Marina Mist. The "Creative Combination" colors are Bashful Blue, Rose Red, and Wild Wasabi. The "Sweet Set" colors are Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, and Certainly Celery.

This card was super easy to make! I used the Movers & Shapers Curly Label Bigz XL Die to cut the card stock to standard card size with the cute little "window" exactly where I wanted it. The sentiment didn't want to photograph well; it reads "my friend". I stamped the image (from the Perfect Punches stamp set) with Marina Mist ink onto Marina Mist card stock. Then I punched it out using the Curly Label Punch. I stamped a little flower from the Punch Potpourri Hostess stamp set and punched it out with the Boho Blossoms Punch. It's attached to the punched sentiment with a Marina Mist brad. Then I used Dimensionals to attach it to the card through the window. Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon adds the finishing touch.

I will be using this card for my Spring card class tomorrow. It features the adorable Bold Blossom stamp set (Occasions Mini p31). I used the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to add some texture to the Bashful Blue card stock. 4 punches really "punch" up this card: Decorative Label, Oval, Modern Label, and 3/4" Circle.

This card uses the fabulous Framed Tulips Embossing Folder and the Dreams du Jour stamp set. I cut the 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon to give it a raw edge for a more "vintage" look.