Teacher Appreciation!!

Hiya everyone! I know I said I would post every other day, but what can I say---I can't stay away, LOL!! Actually I wasn't able to get this project up yesterday in time so I'm doin' it today. I also wanted to share some exciting news with you--

When I started my blog back in March of this year, I had 5 Goals set for myself (I'm a big believer in writing down your goals and seeing them everyday) and as of this month I have achieved them all. When I wrote my first blog post, my actual goal was to have 5,000 hits in my first year---well, I must say that as of this month I will be at 80,000 hits and I'm expecting to hit over 125,000 on my 1st blogaversary in March! I still can't believe that you all visit me, encourage me and like what I do---I appreciate each & everyone of you and I read every single comment you leave me!! So thank you for helping me over-achieve my goal and thank you so much for your friendship, support & kindness!!

But onto my news---I am happy to say that I will be published in a craft book next June for a project that I did. I was sooooo excited when I was notified that I almost passed out, LOL! I can't wait to share the details with you, but sadly I can't until June! Being published was one of my goals for this year too and I'm so happy to cross this last goal off of my list. But enuff about me and onto my project for today!!

This project was made for this week's Whatchadoin' Wednesday #19 over on the Storage Units, Ink & More blog. This week's challenge was to create a "holder or package" for a gift. Well, I used this cute set "A Touch of Class" to make a Teacher Appreciation card that has a gift card pocket inside. Teacher Appreciation isn't until May but you could also use this as a teacher thankyou or birthday gift too. The backpack was stamped and cut out and then I cut a small piece of the straps out & then attached it so it would look like she was holding the backpack. My colors were all based on this fun dp by Making Memories (Cheeky Collection-Emery) which I thought matched this lil' gal perfectly. This front layout is also this week's SCS sketch #207--I like this sketch alot so I'll probably be using it again :o)

On the inside of the card I made a gift card pocket with thin foam tape and stamped more images from this set randomly for a fun & colorful look. I left the front of the pocket blank so that it could be stamped with a teacher's name at a later date. So if you'd like to see more ideas for this challenge make sure & visit SUINK's blog! If you want to join in, and we'd love to have you, upload to SCS using the keyword "SUINKWWC19".

I will be back tomorrow with another project for ya, cuz' like I said I can't stay away---LOL! I'm leaving this weekend for NYC but I will have a project up on Christmas Eve as a treat for ya & there will be sneak peeks here on Dec. 28th too!

holiday hugz,
Suzanne

Copics Used: R24, R22, YR23, YR21, E35, Y21, B95, B91, C2

Back To School!!

Happy Wednesday Mornin' to ya!! I'm hoping the weather stays nice so we can get over to the pool today for awhile. Not too many more pool days left sadly, so I gotta get there while I can. The kids are each bringing a friend and then my son is having a sleepover at his friends house--hopefully he'll get some sleep (ha ha) so he won't be grumpy the next day--wishful thinking right?

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***BLOG CANDY***If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, you can do so until Thursday 8/21 11 pm EST here.

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With all this school shopping, I thought it was also time to start a couple of my projects for the actual "first day". I always make my kids a special card to put in their lunchbox the first day, along with a "sweet" treat to wish them well. Today I made the card for my dd and a small gift for my son to give to his new teacher the 1st day.

The card was made using one of my Magnolia stamps "Tilda w/ Pencil" that I recieved from Diana Crick (contact her directly for ordering info at magnolia.us@shaw.ca ). I just got my new DCWV "Grade School" dp from Joann's -- it is so cute and perfect for school projects. I loved this doodly notepaper dp, it doesn't need too many embellishments to make it stand out. Tilda is colored with my Copics and then I used my nestabilities to cut the rectangles out of SU cs. I used the black rectangle like a chalkboard and outlined it with my Inkssentials pen. Tilda's jacket was paper pieced to match the corner brackets and I added yellow glitter dots to them for some sparkle. The little apple is a button I got from Michaels in a pack--I just cut off the back loop and glue dotted it to the card. The sentiment is from Gina K's "kindred greetings for kids" stamp set and I thought it was just perfect for this card. Hope you likee!

The second pictures are of a 3x3 notecard gift set I made for my son's teacher. Laurie Schmidlin did a fabulous tutorial for this box on SCS that you can see here--fun and easy. I will definitely be making more of these. Again the dp is from DCWV "Grade School" pack--lovin' it. I used my JustRite Monogram stamps to make the circles--I used the small letters to spell out "From The Desk Of" on the border and the "S" is from the Curlz font (JustRite is coming out w/ a bunch of new products that are fabulous--check 'em out). I stamped them 1 at a time with the different SU inks. The cute apple on top of the box and on the envies is from SU's "Tart & Tangy" set--I added red stickles to the apple for extra sparkle. All the circles were made w/ my Nestabilities from various SU cs. Really easy to assemble and put together. I made 6 notecards and matching envies for this set (I bought the envelopes from Michaels). I think everyone could use a set of notecards like this--great gift idea for anyone.

That's all for me today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project and card. Until then...

Suzanne

Last Day of School--Yikes!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry I was MIA yesterday, but the kids had their end of year picnics and my daughter had a poetry presentation to attend. They're done with school for the summer--as I've said before, its a mixed blessing. No more school stuff, but lots of "I'm bored", "he touched me", "can I..."'s in store for me (aka no quiet stamp time)-lol!! We're having a sleep in & stay in your jammies day tomorrow (a Dean tradition) and go nowhere!!! yippee!!! Thursday we'll head off to the pool with friends and hang out. We have nothing on our calendar, blissfully, this weekend--how exciting is that? Love it!!

Ok, this first gift card holder is one of 3 I made for my kid's teacher presents. They hold Starbucks gift cards inside (they also got a box of 6 notecards made by me). I just love these gift card holders, they're so quick & easy to make. If you read regularly, you'll remember the one I made previously w/ PTI stamps. The measurements for this are 4 1/4 by 11", scored at 3, 51/2, and 8". I'm not real good on instructions but the original tutorial is here. I used my teachabella from Stamping Bella and the dp is from Fancy Pants (celebrate/play). Accessories included Prima flowers, stickles (but of course), American crafts ribbon, Copics, & some diamond glaze on the apple. I colored the chalkboard black which colored over the ABC's originally on the stamp and wrote over it with my white Inkssentials pen to say "thanks". On the inside I used PTI's "polka dot basics" w/ SU ink to stamp a random pattern. Hope they liked them.

The second card I made for a bella sketch challenge over on SCS. I have had this "craftybella" for awhile & she's never seen ink, so I had to get her out (she was lonely). It took me a second to realize the thing on her right is supposed to be a jar (I made mine paint)--guess I had never examined it closely enough--lol! I just love this new line of dp from American Crafts called "spring & summer scones"--nice bright, summery colors. I used my cuttlebug a little, added some stickles and there is diamond glaze on all the jars. I added the matching sentiment and some buttons to tie in the "crafty" theme.

I'll have some new projects to post tomorrow. I got the rest of my stamps from Funky Kits in & I'm real excited to get them inked up (Sugar Nellie-Sweet Ebony). I wanted to see if anyone has any particular projects or stamps they wanted me to use in the next month or so--leave me an email or comment and I will try my best to try and do some (always looking for new ideas).

Until tomorrow...

Suzanne