Teacher Gifts

One of my favorite crafts to do is gifts for my kids' teachers!  I have so much respect for the teaching profession - in large because I know I couldn't do it! - education is truly a calling  & I love how the right teacher can make all the difference in a child's life.  This year was particularly special because it was Dillon's 1st year (PK) and Erin had an AMAZING teacher this year after an extremely frustrating last year.

Erin's teacher had a wilderness theme to her classroom with the slogan Children Actively Making Progress (C.A.M.P) and a moose named Maggie as the mascot.  So I made her a wooden "Welcome to C.A.M.P" sign with a moose sitting outside a tent & a card to match - unfortunately I didn't have time to take pictures so you'll just have to take my word that it was cute :-P.

For Dillon's teacher I made a plantar box with some metal pails that could be used for plants or school supplies.  All year I had the phrase "Bloom where you planted" running through my head because Erin had the same teacher but at a different school so while they didn't get the same PK experience it was still a good school career start.  It was even more appropriate because this teacher happens to love flowers and gardening as a hobby.


Again I wish I had time to get nicely staged pictures so you can see all the details!  My husband built the box out of basic poplar (can't see the embellished pails :-( ) and then I did several layers of white washing with dry brush streaks of Hickory Smoke,Vintage Photo & Walnut Stain distress paint.  In between each layer of paint I sanded some paint away & the edges/ corner so that in the end it looked like it was well-worn. I then stenciled wildflowers around the sides with Tarnished Brass & went over it with a wipe to make it look faded.  Finally I hand lettered the phrase on one side in acrylic paint before coating the whole piece in polyurethane for durability.  The pails I got from the dollar spot @ Target, painted chalkboard rectangles on each one, embellished each one with wildflowers (in chalk paint) & labeled them "Love" "Patience" "Time".  All in all this was one of those projects that seems so simple in your head but ends up taking WAY longer then you thought!  So thankfully she loved it lol, said it was going on her kitchen counter as a reminder to herself & her kids :-D.
** Entered to Simon Says Stamp Monday "Summer Garden" Challenge

Bonus:  The pails I made the teachers for Valentine's Day but didn't have a chance to share; both were the same with an embellished heart "You're a hoot!", a Starbucks gift card in holder & a bag of M & Ms :-)


Hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Special blessings...

It seems that the entire world does the "I'm thankful for..." in the lead up to Thanksgiving but for me the time to reflect & count my blessings is Advent. This week, my husband is going to see some friends of ours & I wanted to make a card to tell them how special they are since I can't be there myself.

I love this stamp set, I was able to buy it during Simon Says Stamp Stamptember event this year & have already used it several times!  Our friends, my husband & myself are all band geeks so this set couldn't have been more perfect for them.  I blended Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar & Antique Linen Distress Ink through a damask stencil (Hero Arts I think) on watercolor paper & then lightly sprayed Perfect Pearl for a soft look.  The marchers are stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink on specialty stamping paper, cut out with Cameo, then colored in with Copic & Distress Markers & embellished with Stickles on the instruments & hats.  The ribbon is Tim Holtz crinkle ribbon colored with Distress Markers (as shown by Tammy Tutterow here) & topped off with a gemstone colored with Butterscotch & Gold alcohol ink.

**Entered in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Anything Goes" Challenge

Sparkle and Shine

As a kid, I wasn't much of a glitter or sparkle kind of girl but I've come to enjoy using both in my crafts after having my glitter loving daughter ;-).   So I decided to embrace this week's Wednesday Challenge over on Simon Says Stamp to use "sparkle & shine" on what else - more cards for the autumn!

I was playing with watered-down Gelatos on watercolor paper and really liked the sploshy look, so built the rest of this card around it.  Die-cut the butterflies out of Tim Holtz's Melange tissue paper, sprayed them with Perfect Pearls & some leftover watery Gelato and then made the thoraxs with gold Faber-Castell Texture Gems.  Attached the butterflies with a spot of glossy accents on the thorax so it looks like they're flying off the card.  Finished it off with a stamped Hero Arts sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink.

Making cards for all the autumn birthdays in our family made me realize that Halloween is just around the corner as well!  On the first card I started with the zig-zag paer from My Mind's Eye Halloween Basics collection, then distressed & inked the edges to make the card base.  Then inked up a piece of kraft paper from MME Haunted with multiple orange & purple distress inks.  With my Cameo cut out the pumpkin, made the faux-stitched borders and cut out the bat (then coated it with Distress Stickles).  Outlined the pumpkin with foam tape & filled it with American Crafts sequins.  Finished it off with a second generation stamping of Tim Holtz's Halloween stamp.

On the second card I wanted to play with texture & dimension, so I cut out several different pumpkins (on Cameo) from various MME orange patterned papers.  Some of the papers had pre-embossed designs so to help the other ones stand out I coated them Distress Stickles.  Stacked & layered them on a piece of green cardstock and adhered it to the card base.  The card base is the same kraft paper from the other card, inked with brown & green Distress inks.  To keep with the rustic feel, I cut down a piece of burlap & stamped it with the same Halloween stamp - but the ink barely showed up on the burlap.  So I coated the stamp with Distress Paint (Black Soot) and stamped it over the inked image which worked much better (except for the spiderweb for some reason).  Finished it off with a piece of twine.