I Love My Boys

Recently I came across this picture that I absolutely love.  I don't have a lot of pictures of myself with my boys because I'm always the one behind the camera, so I cherish the ones I do have.  For this layout I used the following supplies:  Cardstock: DCWV and Bazill Basics Dotted Swiss; Patterned Paper: K&Company; Chipboard: Tim Holtz idea-ology; Mist: Tattered Angels; Flower Stickers, Paper Clip, & Tag: K&Company; Ink: Ranger Industries; Punches: Martha Stewart Crafts; Letter Stickers: Cosmo Cricket and Making Memories; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L and Glue Dots; Pen: Sakura Jelly Roll.

Teacher Appreciation Card

I can't believe another year of school is coming to an end!  It seems like once kids start school time passes in a blink of an eye. For me this is bittersweet, because I love watching them grow and become who they are, but at the same time I just wish it would happen more s-l-o-w-l-y.  With the end of the school year approaching it's time to appreciate teachers and thank them for helping to teach and inspire our children. 

I wanted to create a card not only to thank my boys' teachers but also add something that would serve a purpose. So I liked the idea of a removable function that is part of the card, but also can be used for something else such as a bookmark!!  I really like the way it turned out, if I do say so myself!  I scrap-lifted the design layout for this card from a friends blog.  She has some of the best ideas.  I loved her idea of a pocket on the front.  And her removable eye chart in the front pocket I thought would be great as a bookmark for a teacher!

The base of the card is Kraft cardstock, which I seem to be using a lot of lately!  Then I used pattern paper from DCWV's The Grade School Stack. All of the dies are QuicKutz.

 Here is the list of dies used:

Chalkboard    REV-0045
Owl               REV-0138-S
Apple            RS-0579

Apple            RS-0734

Star               RS-0281
Tab               QKDS-11

On the chalkboard, I used white pigment ink to give the appearance of real chalk when I stamped the message.  I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo around the edges of the apples to give dimension and also used Pop Dots to raise them up.  After cutting the stars out I wanted to give them a little more pizazz so I applied yellow Stickles to them.  And just to give them a little more dimension I raised one of them with a Pop Dot. 

The bookmark is an old-school style library card (the one's you used to find in the back of a library book). On the front of the card I stamped "Teachers Rule!" at the top.  And added a scrap piece of paper from the front of the card to the bottom with another stamp that says "Thank you for being my teacher."  I added google eyes and some flowers to my owl to give it some cute character.  I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo on the edges of my owl to give it some more dimension and also so it wouldn't blend in too much to the background of the card it's on.

On the back of the card I attached a piece of ribbon with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (I love this thing!).  On a piece of gold vellum I printed an inspirational teacher quote from Carl Jung on my computer/printer.  Immediately after it finished printing I poured green embossing powder over the wet ink and heat set it.  I love the way it turned out.        

For the inside of the card I adhered yellow cardstock that I printed a small teacher quote on.  I'm really happy with the way the whole card turned out.  And most important, the boys are super excited to give them to their teachers!  Thank you to all the wonderful teachers out there!    

                                                                       

Thank You Card

The layout design for this card is from PageMaps Blog.  I started with a base of kraft cardstock, then adhered 2" squares of paper from Cosmo Cricket Everafter.  The 'thanks' is a QuicKutz diecut (CC-PHRASE-01).  The yellow frame is also a QuicKutz diecut (C-0105-S-REV) cut from yellow Bazill Dotted Swiss Paper.  The butterflies were cut using a Martha Stewart punch.  I wanted to give the card some depth and dimension, so I used pop dots on the yellow label and glued only the middle of the butterflies down so the wings would have the appearance of taking flight.  All the edges have been distressed using Tim Holtz distress ink in Vintage Photo.

Mother's Day Card & Frame

Happy Mother's Day!  I've been wanting to make my mom a special frame for quite some time now.  So with an organized scrap room complete and Mother's Day here, I figured what better time then now!  I started with an unfinished oval wood frame that I painted vintage white.  Then using Mod Podge Matte I adhered K&Company Paper Classic K Bailey.  After drying I sanded the edges smooth and distressed using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.  For the words "Adore" I used my QuicKutz Flirt Dies and distressed them also.  On either side of the word adore I attached white cameo roses from Prima Flowers that I distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tattered Rose.  And last but not least I inserted a picture of my boys that I also distressed using Photoshop Elements. 

My Mother's Day card is based off of a sketch on Pagemaps Blog.  I started with a kraft cardstock base and then cut 2" squares using K&Company Paper Classic K Bailey. The squares are distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. I used Tim Holtz Distress Powder in Vintage Photo to emboss a Mother's Day Stamp.  My flower diecut is from the QuicKutz Flirt gift set.

Oklahoma Land Run

Today both of my boys are celebrating the Oklahoma Land Run at school.  They celebrate by dressing up as cowboys and making their own stick horse to ride with their pretend family to stake their claim of land.  Fun and educational!  Can't beat that.  A couple years ago I helped them make (okay who am I kidding, I made them) stick horses for this celebration.  The kids are encouraged at school to make their own stick horse and whoever has the best one gets an award!  Only one of the stick horses has survived thus far, so I had to make another one.  They are really easy to make. 

I used the following supplies:

1.  Sock

2.  Batting

3.  Two huge google eyes

4.  Ribbon

5.  Black & Brown Felt

6.  Braided Rope

7.  Dowel Rod

8.  Hot Glue Gun

9.  Pinking Shears

First, I stuffed the sock and shaped it to look more like a horse head than a big foot. 

Second, I attached ribbon and huge google eyes with the hot glue gun.

Third, I cut the black felt in two parts with the pinking shears.  I cut a smaller part for bangs and attached them with hot glue.  Then I cut a bigger part for the mane and attached it with hot glue as well.

Then, I attach the braided rope with hot glue under the ribbon.  And last but not least, insert the dowel rod into the sock through the stuffing and put a couple of rubber bands around the sock to secure it to the dowel rod.  Stick horse complete!!

Happy Land Run Day!!

My Time is Now!

At the beginning of this year I intended to make myself a fitness journal, it being the time for New Year’s Resolutions and all, but life just got in the way. I finally got it done this weekend…better late than never! I wanted to make this journal not just for the purpose of logging my daily feats, but also to help motivate and inspire me on this journey to a healthy and happy me.

For my journal I started with a recycled 1 ½ -inch chipboard binder (that I picked up at Wal-Mart on clearance) and since I’m what people would call a “QuicKutz junkie,” I used lots of my QuicKutz dies to embellish it.

Recently, I came across an awesome layered template created by Cathy Zielske that I will be using inside my journal to keep track of my progress. I was so excited about this template, because it really completes my journal and has already begun to help motivate me on this journey.

It’s never too late to start your journey!

Wink..My New Love

I love photo booths. They are becoming harder to find now, but every time I see one I get all giddy. I just love having that little photostrip of silliness! So when I recently got an email from Shutterfly to try their new service, Wink, I just had to try it!

I had some really silly pictures that I took a while back of my son, Jonah that worked perfectly. After making my photostrip online it came in the mail just a couple days later and I was in love! Cheap, fast shipping, and an AWESOME photostrip…I will definitely be making more. Even better you get your first photostrip free just for trying!