Little Acorns

 Can I be honest? I think we've been friends long enough, right? Okay, here goes; I am REALLY burned out on teacher cards! LOL! I made so much stuff for Teacher Appreciation Week, I really got a good dose of it! I am ready for summer, sunshine, no homework and fun, fun, fun!!!!! I have been counting down the days and now it is finally here! So...I made my daughter's teacher a very simple card. I checked out this week's mojo monday sketch and was thrilled to see it fit the bill perfectly.  It was supposed to be tall and skinny, but I had already cut the base and floral layer, so it is a standard size. Oh yeah...before I forget, I made a baby ensemble that you can check out here if you are interested!

 I love, love, love this quote and knew I wanted to use it for the card. Because of the sketch, I knew I would want the tree to be die-cut, but the tree that is included in this set doesn't have a coordinating die or at least, I don't have it if they do. So....I used "Trendy Tree Tops" for the tree and trunk.

 I kept all of the details simple as well and even used the white hearts from the tree when I diecut it...twice because I accidentally used a dirty piece of paper. I did take the extra time to die-cut a red felt heart to go inside the tree as well as a tiny bird from one of the other dies in the set. These are the little details that really can make a difference, though.

I stamped another sentiment on the inside and called it good. I got her teacher an Olive Garden gift card that I will tuck inside. Easy Peasy and I am sure she will like it! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I have a little birthday ensemble to share with you soon!

You are *Amazing*!!!

It's mid-May and around here that means it is dance recital time! I always like to make a card to give to my daughter and write a note of encouragement and congratulations! She will be earning her 5 year certificate on Saturday as well. I am so pleased with her and she is becoming an amazing dancer! She will have 5 numbers; tap, ballet, jazz, soft shoe Irish and hard shoe Irish and then throw in the finale and she will have danced her heart out! I can't wait!

For the card, I actually had to go raid her "Sassy stamps" from her room to find one with a dance image. I know, I know...how could I not have a dance stamp set!?!! I really have never fallen in love with any that I have seen. I actually really like this little stamp and used it last year as well. I never posted the card, but she keeps it in her room on display. Maybe I should go snap a picture.  I also used the Boutique Border: Love set for the piece it is adhered to. The jumbo ticket is from PTI as well. I haven't even used those very much, but I love them.  I didn't mark the "my favorite" column because I knew it would spark some ill feelings with the rest of my kids. She is definitely my favorite girl, though! LOL! She is also my favorite dancer!

I knew for sure that I wanted to make an accordion medallion with a layer of tulle on top. I thought it would mimic the look of a tu-tu. I also added a little bit of Star Dust stickles to the edges as well as the tu-tu on the focal image.  I added a few sequins and pearls to give some detail and shine and heaven knows how many sequins she will be wearing! LOL!

I was also excited to add one of the new button stacks to the card. I was over the moon when I saw that PTI had come out with these die cuts. They will be getting used quite a bit, I can already tell! Thanks for fluttering by!

I'll always love you!

Can I just say how much I love my daughter? She is the greatest! She has a field trip today and when she wrote out the grocery list of what she needed in her lunch she wrote all kinds of treats, but she also asked for a "lunch note from  mom". How cute is that? How could I NOT include THAT!!! When I showed this card to my husband he said,"Wow! I thought you were just going to rip a piece of note paper and write something." Doesn't he know me well enough by now? So...this little gem is for my darling Emma!  I just have to make sure she doesn't see it until lunch time. My husband is going with her so hopefully he can help keep it hidden until then.

I chose a bright, fun, cheery color combination that seems perfect for a 5th grader. I diecut the saying four times; once with coral cardstock, once with spring moss cardstock, again with brown cardstock and finally out of the pattern paper I used in the shaker part. I also made a sweet little felt heart stack to incorporate some more "love" into the card.

The portion where I stamped "sweetheart" is actually just a piece of pattern paper that happened to have a paper clip printed on it. I thought it was perfect for a "school" lunch. For the shaker, I added two different colored sequins and some seed beads. I chose a fun floral pattern paper for the background as well to give it some extra dimension. It is slightly different than the card base. I also scattered a few of the same sequins that I used inside the shaker scattered here and there on the card as well.



 I chose all of my patterned paper from a paper pad, but chose to use patterns I have never used before. I seem to gravitate towards the same ones all of the time and I decided to mix things up.  I hope she is pleasantly surprised to see that everything on her list was taken care of and that she has a fun time with her Dad on the field trip! Thanks for fluttering by!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

 Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and an enjoyable Mother's Day! I know I did! I don't think I changed a single diaper!  My cute kids made me some fun stuff and my husband got me just what I wanted! I always get spoiled at my mom's house and my In-law's house, so after all of that kindness, I thought some thanks were in order! I quickly cleaned off my desk from the Mother's Day projects I was working on and looked at this week's Mojo Monday sketch. It was perfect because while I was cleaning up I spied this cute kite image (that I have never used) and really wanted to use it. Once I saw the sketch, I could envision exactly how I wanted it!

 I wanted something fresh and springy so I used an old pattern paper pad from SU! with all of these fun papers with the exception of the green. That was a scrap left over from my other projects. Since I was making four, I got into "mass production" mode which turns out is so much tidier and controlled for me. I don't have near the mess I usually have.

The kite was stamped with Pure Poppy ink, cut and then I adhered the kite string with clear tape on the back. I also wanted the string to come directly from the point of the kite, so I dabbed a little Tombow Mono multi glue to keep it down. I also added some glossy accents to the kite for some shine.

 I manipulated the string in the pattern that I liked and then tacked it down with the two ribbons and once where the string intersects on the loop. Hopefully that will keep it where it needs to be. I also diecut some felt ric-rac and stitched it down with my sewing machine. I really love little details like that.

On the inside, I chose to use a cheery sentiment; Thank you just didn't seem like enough.  I really had a lot of fun making these cards and hopefully they will bring some sunshine into the lives of those who get them! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. You may have noticed that I have been doing a ton more blogging than usual. I won't be doing it every day like I did during Teacher Appreciation Week, but you can expect to see me pop in twice a week or so.

Happy Mother's Day!

 Happy Mother's Day! I hope all of you Moms out there have a great day! I know that sometimes today can be hard, but I hope that you get spoiled in all the ways that matter to you!  After the creative week I have had, my desk looked like a bomb went off. I tried to clean it up and as I did, I started to make a pile of scraps that seemed like they could be worked into a card for my mom. I knew I would be using a "garden-y" theme so it was easy to pick which ones would work alright.

 The first thing I did was to make all of the background panels. After that was done, I diecut all of the garden elements from the coordinating dies. The stamp sets I used were Garden Variety and Garden Variety II from PTI.  Once they were all cut and stamped I worked on the placement.

I hope my mom likes it. She loves to garden and be outside, so I thought it was fitting! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I am still waiting for my  Mother's Day gift to come, but when it does, you will all know! Ha Ha!

*Little One* baby gift ensemble

 I took a break from Mother's Day cards to work on a baby gift for a shower today! I'm not able to go, but I wanted to get the gift over there before the shower. It seems like if you wait, it takes forever to get it delivered.  I wanted something simple, yet thoughtful. I just used supplies I had on hand but I think it turned out nicely. The card is 2 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 inch. I wanted something small to tuck inside the gift. I don't know the mom-to-be and didn't have a lot to write other than best wishes. Tiny cards like this are the perfect solution when you are short on time and words! LOL! You all know how much I love using this tiny carriage. I love paper piecing it and adding some bling here and there!

 I made a simple box out of cardstock and embellished it with some old SU! pattern paper I have had forever. I think it is called "Tea Party". It is cute and I love using it! I used quite a variety of stamp sets for this gift, but they are all from PTI.  The onesie and coordinating diecut are from "Bitty Baby Blessings" I think.  The "little one" sentiment is from the Boutique Borders: Baby stamp set. I told you I love them!

You can see here that I adhered the doily to the box, but the rest is a belly band to go around the box. I love having a lot of detail on my boxes and 3-D items, but I have always found the recipient never likes "messing it up" or so I have been told! LOL! A belly band is the perfect solution!

 This box is the perfect size to fit the handmade goodies inside.  I made 2 headbands, a onesie and a bracelet. Hopefully these are all thing the mom-to-be will enjoy.

 Here is one of my trademark headbands that I make for most of my baby girl gifts. I had someone ask me about the felt that I use in the card I made for my daughter's teacher. I think it was the garden one. I use felt from PTI and My Favorite Things. It is way better quality than the kind you get at the craft store. It is wool felt and I love the quality. The pink I used here is Bubble Gum from My Favorite Things. The die-cut I used is from PTI.

 Here is headband number 2 and I used yellow and purple felt from PTI and Bubblegum pink felt from My Favorite Things. The rolled roses are a die-cut from My Favorite things as well. I clustered them and added some half back pearls to the center with hot glue. I put these on a smaller elastic.

 I wanted to make a handmade bracelet but was disappointed in my bead selection. I know I have more, somewhere or I lent them to someone. Who knows, so I had to make do. I love this stamp set that I used for the packaging. It is Boutique Accessories from PTI. I make handmade stuff all the time and this is only the 2nd time I have used the set. I love it and need to use it more. It gives your handmade items such a great feel. It takes this simple bracelet up a notch.

This is the plain white onesie that I decorated. I used the same diecut for the fabric flower as I did for the pink headband. I like putting together a cohesive gift. I was a little disappointed when I stamped the sentiment because the last E was darker than the rest. I had already put the flower and button on, so it had to do. I hope you enjoy this little gift ensemble and Thanks for fluttering by!

I'd Flip Out without you, Teacher! and a WINNER!!!!

 Before I get started with the last and final project for Teacher Appreciation week, let me announce the WINNER! I had my cute Rowan draw the name and since there were only 6 to choose from it was easy. Miriam Prantner....you are the winner! Email me your address to kellyrory1@msn.com and I will get your blog candy mailed out to you! Thanks for the sweet comment! I am sure you all want to know which book it was, too. I think I may have misled some of you and it was not my intent....the book I used was simply for display and photo purposes, not to actually give to the teacher. The book is "The complete works of Jane Austen Volume 3". It is such a pretty book and I knew it would showcase the bookmark nicely.

 Okay...for Friday, we could pick anything we wanted to give the teacher. The dollar store and I have been friends this week and I saw this fun hibiscus print tote bag and decided to use it for the "container" for her gift. I got her a water bottle, raspberry crystal light stuff, gum, and some yummy lotion and shower gel from Bath and Body Works. I thought the flip flop theme would be cute and a reminder that summer is JUST AROUND THE CORNER! Yay! I made a cute pillow box using the PTI die and embellished it with this fun flip flop stamp set and coordinating die, also from PTI. I put the gum in here. I am slightly worried that she might be misled with the sentiment and think there is a gift card to a spa or something inside! LOL!

 For the tag, which could double as a bookmark if she wanted, I simply die cut 3 pairs of flip flops. I added some stickles to the top and bottom pair for some shine.  I thought the sentiment was cute for a teacher, too. The colors I chose are Barely Banana, Tempting Turquoise and Cameo Coral. Fun, fresh and tropical! Makes me want to be on a beach somewhere!  Each pair is layered on a circle in the coordinating cardstock and then they are all layered on Kraft cardstock. Kindof reminds me of a sandy beach.

Here you can see it all tied up on the bag, ready to go! My daughter's teacher keeps telling her all week it has felt like Christmas! I am glad she is feeling loved! That was my intent and I REALLY hope she doesn't think we are brown nosing! I would have done that a LONG time ago, if that is what I wanted to do. I just like themes and fun things to do. Don't give me a theme and not expect me to run with it! LOL!

If you haven't had a chance to participate in Teacher Appreciation week, you could use any of these ideas for the end of year. That is coming up in just a few short week, so now I am really going to have to get creative and think outside the box! Thanks for fluttering by!

Mother, I love you...I really do!

 I decided to take a break from teacher stuff and focus on Mother's Day since I am a day ahead anyway.  This is extremely "non-traditional" for me as far as Mother's Day cards are concerned. I usually tend to go floral, probably purple or pink, but definitely not this. I am in the mood to switch things up and step out of my box. But really and truly, I wanted to make something that matched the gift bag. Had the gift bag been purple or pink the card would have been, too! LOL!

I got this stamp set before Valentine's Day and never used it even though I love it. I have loved all of these sets in the "Boutique Borders" mini stamp set series. There is a song the kids sing at church on Mother's Day that says, "Mother, I love you, I love you, I do!" I tried to re-create that with this card as you can see. Hopefully my MIL will catch on. If not, I will clue her in. I can't have all of that hard work go to waste! Ha Ha!

 I die-cut the boutique border shape out of the pattern paper. I then layered a piece of white paper underneath and stamped it with black. I popped up the gold layer with foam squares which you can see better in this photo. The sentiments are then layered over the top. The "I love You" sentiment is stamped using gold ink onto Pure Poppy paper for a bit of shine and cohesiveness.

The ribbon is tied in a simple bow around the red sentiment panel.  I really needed a pop of green to steer it away from being a total Valentine's Day looking card and it really made it look springy rather than wintery. It does look nice with the bag which is what I was wanting. I still have to make a card for my mom and hers will definitely be garden-y, or something like that.  Thanks for fluttering by!

You can see it here with the gift bag.

Blooms, Bookmarks and Blog Candy!!!

 Yes...that's right, you heard me; BLOG CANDY! It has been a while since I did anything fun like that, so here we go!  I have made a blooming bookmark for my daughter's teacher that she will give her tomorrow. All you have to do is guess which book I have it wrapped around. Easy enough?  Whoever guesses first will win the prize. Unfortunately, only those living in the continental U.S. will be eligible.  If no one guesses correctly, I will just do a random pick from the comments, Okay? Okay! P.S. I will close the contest at Noon tomorrow, May 8th MST. Now....on to the projects. Tomorrow's  theme for Teacher Appreciation week is to give your teachers flowers.  As much as I wanted to give her a vase of beautiful flowers, I could just imagine all 24 kids bringing vases and such and how in the world would her teacher get all of those home? So....the creative, yet practical side of me, decided to give her gardening gloves, seed packets, one of those crazy solar dancing flowers and a floral bookmark.  I had been wanting to make bookmarks for my book club, so this was the trial run.  I am pleased with the results.

 Since I have already made two cards for her, I made a tag instead to go on the bucket of goodies I am giving her. I have always loved this stamp set and coordinating die. It is called Garden Variety and I usually end up by pulling it out this time of year.  I thought the sentiment worked well for a teacher also.

The bookmark, like I mentioned, was more of an experiment, but I like how it turned out. I used my felt and diecuts.  I also used some colored elastic that I had saved to make baby headbands, but it worked perfectly for this project. I love the shine that it gives it.  I first cut two pieces of felt using the label diecut from PTI. I used my sewing machine and stitched around the edge sandwiching the elastic. I also sewed the elastic into a circle using a zig-zag stitch before I started.  It was easy to get it all aligned because the elastic had a center stripe that I could easily line up with the point of the felt. Once that was done, I diecut the flowers using some MFT dies that I love. The leaves are from PTI. Everything was hot glued and it was done! I hope she likes it. Thanks for fluttering by!

A is for Apple!

 Before I get started with today's project I will answer a few questions that have been asked. The stamp set that I used on the tag for this project is called Teach and Inspire from PTI. The bike set  is called Pedal Pusher and has coordinating dies. Also, I am glad you liked my poem. It really wasn't an assignment that I took away from my daughter. I hope you know that I would NEVER do my daughter's homework for her. She happened to be at dance and gave her approval for me to put it together. It really was something suggested by the PTA that we could do as a family for the teacher's during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Okay... so on to today's project. Tomorrow's theme is to be like the Pilgrims and bring a bountiful harvest of fruit. So....as much as I wanted to make chocolate dipped strawberries, I thought I had given her enough sweets. I decided to do as instructed and give her yummy fruit!

 Of course that meant that I could make a fun apple card. Yes...I realize that I have already given her a card, but I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to say to her. She really is a fabulous teacher and has done so much for my daughter. This particular set is called "Back to School" from PTI and has some super fun images. It is perfect for making cards, but also memory books and scrapbook pages.

 I stayed with the bright, fun colors that seemed perfect to accent a fruit basket.  The apples and books were diecut with the coordinating dies.  I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I was really pressed for time and it was perfect for what I needed to accomplish. As much as I wanted to add some sequins, I steered away and added some buttons instead.

Here you can see the card with the fruit. It is washed out from being overcast and overhead lights being on.  I wrapped the basket in cellophane and a big bow after I photographed it, but I am sure you can imagine it.  I am really excited for the next project which will have a few more elements to it. I hope I have time to put it all together.  Thanks for fluttering by!

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

 Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, this post is weird, but I am too! LOL! Today is the 2nd installment of what I am putting together for Emma's teacher. Today's theme was to write a poem for the teacher but I wanted to take it up a notch and add some candy bar names to incorporate into the poem.  You probably can't read it and that is most likely a good thing, but if you are curious, you might be able to enlarge the photo. Remember people, I had to work the candy bar names into the poem and I only wanted to buy the ones that were on sale. I have already dropped some cash on this project and we're only on day two. LOL!

                                                                              

 I had this cute box on hand so I decided it would be perfect to box the candy up and the poem. It already had the cute polka dots on it and it worked nicely with my theme colors. I chose to use the same paper that i used on the card and tag yesterday.

 My creativity had been seriously tapped from writing that AMAZING poem so I went simple with the packaging. Ha Ha!  I simply added a piece of pattern paper over the logo that was originally on the box. I then added a teacher quote, punched it out an added a button. I used two foam squares on either side so I could easily slide the ribbon down the center.

I think she will like it. I will be back tomorrow with another teacher appreciation idea. Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. Mother's Day is this Sunday, so I will want to share the cards I make as well, so stay tuned!

Thank You, Teacher!

 This week has been incredibly long and extremely exhausting, but teacher appreciation week starts tomorrow whether I am ready or NOT! I spent the day on Friday visiting local businesses collecting donations for the teachers at our school, I have been working on teacher gifts for each of the teachers for the PTA and now it is finally time for me to focus on my daughter's amazing teacher.  I had remembered that this bike set had a teacher thank you sentiment in it as well as some apples that you could include in the basket.  I really wanted to veer away from my traditional color scheme and overall look that I tend to use for my teacher appreciation cards as well as the end of the year.

 This color scheme just screams spring to me! I love it! I have had this paper pack for awhile and I always love using it.  I die-cut the bike, clouds and the word "teacher". Once I had all of those elements cut, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy to put it all together! I know that I have made similar...if not identical cards before.  Like I mentioned, I have been short on time! LOL!

 I had an apple left over from the other project I was working on, so I added it as well. I normally don't stick gigantic apples trailing from a small bike, but I really didn't care because I liked it.   I also really like the sentiment that I added to the inside. It is probably better suited to a "romantic" card, but I thought it actually fit for a teacher, strangely enough. Emma's teacher has been incredibly kind and patient with my emotional daughter! LOL! I can't say I didn't warn her, though.

  Actually, I guess I probably need to back up a bit, too. This year, the PTA has come up with the theme "Out of all the teachers in History, you are the best! Cute, huh? So...each day we can give the teachers something for the daily theme. Tomorrow we are to be like the Romans and help build our teachers supplies. Well....I haven't made it to the store to do that, so I will be including a gift card and some candy. Much easier and then she can get what she likes.

This poor picture was taken on my mantel with the overhead light which washed it out, but you can get the idea.

You can see the little berry crate and tag that I will package everything up in. I will take a picture when it is all done and add it here tomorrow. I just really wanted to get a head of the game. Hopefully, I can keep my momentum and have things posted a day ahead of time. Thanks for fluttering by and for all of you teachers out there, thanks for all you do!